Exhausting

I guess the girls found church exhausting this morning.  When we got home, we just sat in the car to let the girls continue sleeping while Todd and I were on our iPads.  I wondered what the neighbors thought, but enjoyed a few moments of peace.

iPhone Dump

I found quite a few pictures on my iPhone, so here's a post with a picture dump.

Reese walked out of the pantry and told me she is having "fish and chips".  Her version is Goldfish crackers and potato chips.

Reese has been learning about the post office at school, so we decided to experience it first-hand. We wrote a letter to Grandma Haag, them bought a stamp and mailed it at the post office. Reese thought this was great!

Reese takes games very seriously, especially when they involve cupcakes.

Reese woke up one morning and this is what she suggested for breakfast.  Unfortunatley, I had to say no.

Emmy was very proud of herself for eating an entire bun one night.

Reese continues to love her tumbling class.  Her coach tells me that she continues to be improessed with Reese's progress and confidence.  So proud!

Heather sent me this picture of Emmy taking care of babies at her house... in high heels.  :)

Ellie and Reese - two goofs!

Carnival

We attended the "PIE Carnival", a fundraiser for Rockford Elementary School, today.  Reese had a blast playing various games to win little trinkets that I want to throw in the garbage.  We also spent $10 at the cake walk and FINALLY won a box of cupcakes.  And the highlight was the unicorn face paint to match her shirt.

Baby Stuff

It's time to say good-bye to some of our baby stuff and free up some space in our house!  I'm putting this in a blog post as an easy way to email the link to some friends to see if they want any of these items.



 

BundleMe for car seat in light pink - $10



 

 

Animal/ABC bedding - includes comforter (shown hanging on the wall), bumper, crib skirt, sheets (4 styles - ABC, multi-colored polka dota, green with polka dots, white with polka dots), diaper holder  -- all for  $40



 

Curtains (2, 1 is not shown in the picture) and Wall Decorations (also have a giraffe and zebra not show in the picture) that coordinate with the Animal/ABC bedding - $20

 

 

Pink bumper with white polka dots - $5

 

 Crib - $250 (We originally paid $600 for it, and was on sale from originally $730).  I'll be honest, this has been used very little, which is too bad for Todd and me!

Waterproof mattress (high-end (we paid $180), as seen in crib picture above) - $50

 

Light green breathable bumper (as seen in crib picture above) - $5

 

 

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!  I could not get these two crazy girls to sit still for a picture, so here's a variety.

Ice Cream

Ice cream cone #1 for Emmy, and #41,879,452 for Reese.

Rainbow Party

It's time to party... rainbow style!  When Reese requested a rainbow birthday party, I started searching for ideas to decorate.  I might have found a few too many ideas and had a little too much fun with all this color.

Thanks to Grandma Cipra for spray painting a welcome sign for our guests as they arrived.

 

Thanks to Grandpa Cipra for blowing up all these balloons!  But you would have thought he had to do it without a balloon pump based on all the complaining he did!

A rainbow buffet with some of Reese's favorite foods -- Cheetos, Mac n Cheese, broccoli, etc.

Punch with rainbow ice cubes.  Just one of the MANY places food coloring was used at this party.

Daddy sent Reese rainbow roses!

Rainbow sand art!

Rainbow fingernails!

 

Rainbow dice game!

Twister!

All the kids at the end of the scavenger hunt, where they found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  This was my nod to Reese's GOLDEN birthday.

 

Elsa wasn't quite old enough to participate in the scavenger hunt.

Of course we could not forget about the bounce house!

Another huge highlight of the party was the amazing cake (and cupcakes)!

 

This amazing cake was made by our friend and neighbor Tracy Ickes.

Reese approves of the cake!

The dads finishing the kids' pieces of cake.  Yeah, good excuse.

 

Reese waiting patiently for everyone to finish their cake so she could open up presents.

Hi Aubrey!  Love your rainbow shirt!

 

 

Funnies

A few funnies by Reese lately...

While watching the movie Sleeping Beauty, she told me, "Her first name is Aurora, middle name is Rose, and last name is Sleeping Beauty.  Wait.  No.  Her name is Sleeping Beauty Aurora Rose."

When I picked up Reese from ESP one day, I found her playing with some fellow Pre-Kindergarteners, and we had this conversation...

• Mommy: "Reese, did you tell them what kind of birthday party you are going to have?"
• Reese: "Rainbows and hearts!"
• Ava (age 4): "Wow.  When I turn 5 I'm going to have a Justin Bieber party!"
• Hannah (age 4): "DID YOU KNOW JUSTIN BIEBER AND SELENA McGOMEZ BROKE UP????"
• M (laughing): "Oh good, now he's available!"
• Ava (again, age 4): "Yeah!  I LOVE him!!!!"
• On the drive home, I asked Reese if she knows who Justin Bieber is.  She simply responded, "No.  Can I have a cookie when I get home?"  I'm glad to see her classmates are not influencing her about boys yet.

Reese is becoming interested in the crazy English language.  She recently told me, "Mommy, did you know there are two lates?  Late like we're late to tumbling class and late like it's time for bed."  So smart... and I think we do say "late" in our house quite often.

One day Emmy was fussy, and Reese said, "Why is Emmy so cryful?  Maybe it's because I didn't share."  It's true, Reese is still struggling with sharing.

Reese's latest tactics to avoid going to bed are to say, "I need to brush my teeth again."  and "Let's read the Bible."  Ha!  How do you say no to those things? 

Miss Independent

Emmy is now Miss Independent. Here are a few examples...

• She likes to walk around to check out different areas of the house just acting like she is busy (hmmmm... maybe she learned this from her daddy who walks around acting like he's busy on the weekends, too).  Emmy walks around all day long, and maybe that is why she's been sleeping a little better lately.
• She will walk into a room, sit down, and contently reads books to herself.
• She responds confidently “Yeah” to all questions that you ask her.  I have to get this on video soon -- it's so cute.  She sounds like she's about 10 years old when she says this.

Hearts

Let the decorating begin for Reese's birthday party!  This is what happens when...

1. The girls spend the day at Heather's house
2. You buy a new heart punch and want to make it pay off
3. Your decorations can serve two purposes - birthday party and Valentine's Day
4. You watch The Bachelor TV show on the ABC App to distract you while crafting
5. You have OCD.  Really, I think I may have a problem.

Report Card

Reese brought home her first report card today.  We could not be more proud!  She is a little shy (like her daddy), but sounds like she likes to present in front of the class (like her mommy). 

Happy 4th Birthday

Happy 4th birthday to our little lady!  We love you so much, Reese!

Reese woke up early, grabbed her balloon, and sat at the top of the stairs waiting (not so patiently) for everyone to wake up.

FINALLY, it was time for sprinkle doughnuts, then PRESENTS!

 

 

 

Yes, she even liked her new dust pan and broom.

 

 

Reese requested spaghetti and meatballs for supper.  I decided to make a "real" version of this dish, instead of the "fake" version we sometimes make with frozen meatballs and spaghetti sauce from a jar.  Click here for the recipe I made.  The adults thought it was delicious, but I was disappointed when Reese opted to eat the spaghetti noodles plain -- go figure.  And, we could not forget about CAKE!