Gymboree at Home!

I took Molly to Gymboree classes once or twice a week from when she was 6 months old until her 2nd birthday.  She LOVED it!  We made lots of new friends there and she loved all the music and climbing!  Molly and I decided to re-create Gymboree at home for Kate this week, since she's never had a chance to go.  We took all our pillows and stuff and made a big climbing apparatus and played fun kids music really loud!  Kate had a blast - and so did we!

Story Time on the Plaza!

The girls and I met some friends on the Plaza this morning for Story Time at PB Kids.  The book was THE GIVING TREE, which is one of my all time favorites! It rained all morning, so Molly was super excited to get to wear her rain boots.

Brooks' little brother, Hank was giving Kate's lots of kisses during story time . . . even took his pacifier OUT of his mouth and offered it to her.  She had NO interest once she realized it was not food.  Come on Hank - the way to any girls' heart is with food! But so very thoughtful of you - love all your kisses and tenderness towards Kate.

Sleepy girl - eating her toes.

Lucy & Molly with their own drawings of trees after the book was read.

Two Minutes in the Car with Molly . . .

Why are they called polar bears?  Why are they white?  What do they eat if there is snow all around them?  Can we get one to have at our house?  What is the day today? Is tomorrow Wednesday?  Does Daddy have to work tomorrow?  Can I have breakfast with him?  Did you buy Rice Chex at the store?  Do you think I could get a jump rope for my birthday?  I really like jump ropes.  Mom have you ever jump roped before?  Why are we parking here?  Where are we going?  Do they have bathrooms there?  Is Kate going to bring her stroller?  

Kate Feeding Her Self

Kate is just as independent as Molly was and is LOVING this new freedom that comes with feeding herself!  I still feed her cereal, yogurt, pureed veggies - but she is learning to eat a new food every week on her own and is so proud!  At this particular lunch she was having avocado, watermelon, cheerios, bananas and organic ground beef I made plain just for her . . . she loves it all.  I can sometimes get her to wear a bib, but usually she rips it off as is the case on this particular day.  Yes, she is a total mess after each meal - from top to bottom - I often find mushed up bananas and avocados in her onesies.  Yes, I still bathe her every single night - out of necessity now!  But I don't know what it is about babies concentrating on picking up their food and trying to hit their mouths that I find so irresistibly cute!  These photos make me smile!

T-Bones Minor League Baseball Game!

So anyone who has known Mike or I for more than a few minutes, knows that we are HUGE Royals fans - we love our boys in blue and love supporting our hometown MLB team!   The Dennos invited us to join them for the local minor league team - the T-Bones on Sunday afternoon - and we were so excited to check it out!   

The stadium is very small so it's great for kids!  We decided to bring our blankets and buy seats out in the grass - as we knew the girls would want to run around anyway!  

I loved all the yummy food options!   

Kate was a little tired as the game was at 1:00 - right when she normally naps - but she rallied!  

Thanks for inviting us - what a fun day!

Saturday Night Date Night!

Enjoying a BEAUTIFUL summer night - outside under the stars - while Molly's favorite babysitter, Lauren, came over to play!  

In the 'Hood . . .

Friday was a GORGEOUS summer day and some of the older neighbor kids were hosting a bake sale for a child who is very sick in their class - to help with medical bills and such.  Have I mentioned lately how much we LOVE our neighborhood???  Madelyn, Molly & Ellie had so much fun "sampling" all of the baked goods and fresh lemonade!  

Beautiful girls!

Kate and Olivia didn't miss a bit of the action either!

Happy Friday!!

Stuck!

I find Kate "stuck" in spots like this often.  She climbs in and around - and through - furniture and then will get stuck and start crying out for me to rescue her - today I ran in to get her and somehow her dress was half coming off too . . .  stinker!

Friday Dance Class!

Another Friday morning dance class!  Molly looks forward to it ALL week!  This week the theme was Angelina Ballerina.  They played some traditional classic dance music and made pink sun visors - it was fun!

Ellie & Molly

Reading Fort (Not a Cage!)

So, after I found Kate a third of the way up our wooden stairs this week - I searched in Kate's bedroom closet for this old contraption we bought when Molly was little - but NEVER used - never needed to really.  It has a door on it that swings open and is basically a modified playpen, whatever it is - when I'm cooking dinner or getting stroller out of the car or pouring milk for Molly or really just about anything that requires me to not be watching Kate 24/7, I have decided I need something safe for Kate - as she is WAY more adventurous than Molly ever was.  Not only does she climb under and over furniture, but she gets stuck in the oddest places - if there is a tiny little place to crawl to or sit on top of, she will find it.  So, again - I dug this out of the closet yesterday even though I hate these things.  Molly said to me,  "Are we going to put Kate in that cage!??"  I was mortified.  I told her it was just a cool reading fort for kids.  Moms and Dads can't go in it.  She continued calling it a cage, "But Mom, it looks just like the cages like at the zoo . . ."  Today, we are not allowed to say the word "cage" in our house, or you are in time out.  

So far, Kate has not been in it by herself - and really only with Molly for about 10 minutes total - so we will see how this works out.  My goal is to keep her alive the next couple of months - so this might be just what we need to give Mom a 2 minute break once or twice a day.

Two Sisters & A Watermelon Dress . . .

Two sisters - Same age, same dress.  Wish I could have Molly back at 9 months (only for a few minutes) - I can only imagine how much fun these two would have!