Playin in the Rain

Sunday afternoon found the kids outside playing in the rain. Poor Izzy couldn't find her rainboots (I think I gave them away?) so she decided to wear her snowboots.

For all those who have been asking, her walking has greatly improved! We are hoping by the time our trip to Disney arrives she will be running to greet her favorite characters :)









Examining a daffodil

Boys and Boogers

Me (noticing Drew has something in his mouth): "Drew, is there something in your mouth? What are you eating?"

Drew: "It's okay Mama. I just eatin my booger."

Last week Izzy said Drew got sick cause he swallowed a "bug". Now she says he got his cold cause he swallowed his booger.

Either way the kid is gross!

Doughnuts With Dad

Friday was a very special day for both Isabelle and Pete. It was Doughnuts With Dad day at school. Pete took Izzy to school and then stayed for doughnuts.

Izzy was BEYOND excited for this day. In fact, she insisted on Pete helping to pick out what she wore. She picked her shirt and then asked him to pick the bottoms.



When I was getting ready to do her hair, she wanted pigtails because that is how she wore her hair when she went to the movies with Pete once. She remembered him telling her that he really liked her hair in pigtails. How cute is she.



Pete brought several things home from his morning: a green construction paper tie that had frogs on it made out of Izzy's fingerprints; an I Love You Bunches picture which had a bunch of grapes on it made out of Izzy's fingerprints; a self portrait of Pete in which Izzy put Pete in a green shirt (his favorite color) and gave him light brown hair (even though Pete still thinks he has blond hair); a DADDY bingo game; and a questionnaire regarding Pete.

Here are the questions and Izzy's answers:

1. My Dad likes to: play Little People
2. My Dad is good at: Wii Memory
3. My Dad and I like to: play tag (but I'm faster)
4. I love it when my Dad: scrambles eggs for me
5. My Dad likes it when: I tickle him
6. My Dad is great because: he's the best Dad ever!

When I picked Izzy up from school she was all a flutter about how much fun she had with her daddy at school. She is certainly his little princess!

I was dreading our Friday afternoon because Drew was showing no signs of napping and I was not feeling well. I decided to make a quick run to the grocery store (triple coupons) and pick up a Redbox movie for the kids. Side note: Since we are having triple coupons currently at our grocery store I have been twice this week. The first trip I got $46 worth of groceries for $16. The second trip I spent $14.18 (and bought a bag of Cheetos for which I did not have a coupon - that was $3) and saved in coupons $31.71. I am totally getting this coupon thing. So, once back at home we watched our Eloise Goes To Hollywood movie and then decided to bake a cake! We got a near free cake mix and frosting at the store, so why not?

Beware, some may not like that the kids are eating cake batter...so if it bugs you then don't look!







Pete surprised the kids by bringing home Mario Kart for the Wii. Our weekend calls for lots of rain, and with 3 out of the 4 of us feeling crummy we figured it might be a fun way to pass the time. So far Mario Kart has been a huge hit!

Last Sunday

I spaced and completely forgot to write about last Sunday. Last Sunday Izzy sang at church. She did great! ...and was way cute doing her pageant wave to us from the stage.





Drew did not do so great. He was fine up until the sermon then at that point Pete left with him. They went for coffee, put gas in my car, and then came back for us. After church we headed to Costco for a lunch of samples. I love that we can eat our way through that place.

Once at home we got to work. Drew, still in his church clothes, was in charge of cleaning out our sand/water table.



as well as the rocks and a bucket


Doesn't he look handsome :) And so big! He is just a few days shy of 2.5 years old :(


Izzy was in charge of cleaning off the sand/water table toys. She did this in our kitchen sink.



Pete was in charge of his newest project. He is installing some shelves in our playroom as well as putting in a pocket door. I LOVE that he is so handy. I didn't even know this when we got married - it is just a nice added bonus :)

This is where the pocket door will be:


And this is the wall the shelves will go along:

They will be to the left and right side of the door.

We really really really need some storage options in this house so I am super excited for the finished project. It will house our craft stuff, vacuum, iron, laundry stuff (the laundry room is just across the hall from where the pocket door will be - it really is a laundry closet!), kids toys, and books. Izzy refers to it as our own library. I like that I can keep the puzzles up higher so a little man, who shall remain nameless, can't dump all the pieces forcing me to spend time putting them back together.

You may wonder what I was doing while the other members of the family took to projects? I supervised, of course :)

Potty Training Drew

Much to my dismay, Drew is showing interest in going on the "big potty". I turned this task over to Pete since they are made up of the same parts :) Onto some excerpts of our experiences with Drew and his potty training journey.

I came home from shopping one day and Pete told me that Drew went on the potty. I was shocked, since he has only ever peed on the floor for me, and asked how he did it? Pete told me that he had to go to the bathroom and said, "Drew, wanna come watch me?" Drew ran back to the bathroom to meet Pete, and Pete asked him if he wanted to try to. Drew declined, but watched Pete. A little while later Drew said, "Daddy, wanna watch me?" and then took off for the bathroom. Sure enough he went in the potty.

Another time Drew was running naked and I asked him if he had to go potty. He went back to the bathroom and attempted to go. When nothing came out he looked up at me and said, "I can't do it. It's broken."

Most times if I ask him, Drew will tell me that he doesn't have to go potty. So one time I just said, "hey, can you show me how you go potty?" That was just the challenge he needed as he was off and running for the bathroom. When I got back there he said, "First, I move da stool right here (and pushed it in front of the toilet). Den I pick up the seat yike dis. See Mama. (good boy lifted the seat - he couldn't have possibly learned that from Pete!) Then I take my p3n!s (starts with a "p" and ends with an "s") and I pull it yike dis! (He proceeds to pull apart the tip of his wee-wee)." He got the funniest, hardest look of concentration on his face and then he peed! Hooray, he peed!!! Notice that I didn't say where he peed :) With those little fingers in the way streams of pee were flying all over the bathroom. I think I scared him when I tried to reach in and adjust his sprayer.

Finally, Drew was in the bathroom watching Pete pee one day and looked up at Pete and said, "Wow Daddy, you have a really big p3n!s". When Pete was retelling me the story he said, "It doesn't matter who says it honey, you never forget the first time you hear that!" :)

Another Izzy Update

We are currently 11 days post cast. Progress has FINALLY been made. When I picked up Izzy at school on Friday she came "walking" out. A teacher held each hand, but by golly that girl was finally upright.

Sunday, Izzy sang at church, and we ran into Dr. J. He asked how she was doing and I said, "better, but not great." I asked if he would take a look at her after the service and he agreed.

So, for Dr. J, Izzy demonstrated how she could jump, balance on her "broken" leg then kick with her other foot, and also kick with her "broken" leg. Dr. J reminded Izzy that her leg was no longer broken and she just needed to work to make it stronger again. ...wasn't this what Pete and I had been telling her? Regardless she now refers to her broken leg as her "old broken leg" ...kind of like the artist formerly known as Prince.

Sunday night rolls around and Izzy wants to go to the grocery store with me. I tell her that she can't because I am tired of carrying her. "I will walk. I promise." Good to her word, slowly but surely she held onto the cart and walked. Once we got home I dug out the kids walker from the deepest darkest corner of the basement. I presented it to Izzy and told her she learned to walk with this walker once, and would learn to do it again.

I wish I would have thought to use this earlier. Here she is this morning getting ready for school.


Look, no hands! (and I had yet to do her hair for school)


On the drive to school this morning I said to Izzy, "won't your teachers be so surprised when they see that you can now furniture walk? You can show them how you can hold onto the table to walk around and balance." Do you know what she told me? She told me that her teachers had already seen her walk the last day (meaning last Friday) when she walked around in the play kitchen. I was shocked and said, "You did this at school last week and didn't come home and show me? How come you did it at school, but not for me?" Wanna know what that little bugger said? Do you? She said, "cause my teachers asked me to." Yup, her teachers asked her to stand up and try walking. That is why she did it. Excuse me, but I have been trying to do that for over a week?

On a scary note, once we got home from school I put Izzy in the kitchen and went back out to the car to get some stuff. When I left her, she was standing. When I came back upstairs she was in the family room, crying and clutching her left ankle (broken leg side). She said she was walking on her own and then fell down and hurt her foot. I assured her that it was not broken again, and that it was just weak which is why she fell. Sheesh!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Izzy update: we are on day 6 post cast and she still is not walking. In fact, she is not even attempting to walk. Pete and I are trying to encourage movement, but I think we are both frustrated with how cautious she is being. We are supposed to head to Disney soon and might need to really rethink that plan if she doesn't show some major improvement quickly! We already postponed the trip when she broke her leg so we won't postpone it again, but rather cancel. I spoke to Dr. J when he dropped his daughter at school the other day and he said not to worry until the 2 week mark. I will try not to worry, but I might not continue to be so understanding with the little miss and her lack of motivation.

So, today both kids got dressed in green and we headed out for some errands.

Izzy making us some green pancakes


Add little food coloring and the kids inhaled an obscene amount of food


Drew in his new favorite spot - in front of my computer!


So today the kids and I went to Stride Rite to buy new shoes. Drew officially has passed Izzy in shoe size. Drew is a size 9XW and Izzy is still and 8.5 (no longer a wide though). I knew this day would eventually come, but really I didn't think it would be quite this soon. So, both kids got new tennis shoes, only Izzy's are also a size 9 so she can wear them in the fall (heck, her 8.5 still fit).

After shoe shopping we went to lunch with some friends. Both kids were so well behaved! I never worry about Izzy, but Drew I never stop worrying about! I feel as if he could crack at any minute, anywhere. He always keeps me on my toes.

After lunch we made a quick stop at the pet store to look at fish. Pete has told the kids they could get a fish after we get back from Florida. Izzy wants a pink one to be named Cassie and Drew wants a blue and green one to be named Zak and Wheezy. Both names are from Dragon Tale characters, the kicker is that Zak and Wheezy are a two headed dragon. So, we did find a pink fish, but not a two headed blue and green fish.

Once home Drew took a nice nap and Izzy watched a movie. Pete came home and I went for a run. While on my run I found $5! I looked around to see if anyone was around who may have dropped it but there was not, so I picked it up. I then looked around to see if I could find anymore money! No such luck.

...guess who is treating herself to a venti mocha from Starbucks tomorrow after she drops Izzy at school :)

This Is Not An Announcement

...I repeat, that this is NOT an announcement.

Izzy drew this picture last week.

I asked her who was in the picture and then labeled them accordingly.



I guess if we choose to have another baby we know which way she is voting.



I love how all the girls have long hair, and all the boys have short. I don't know where she falls on the "drawing" scale of kids her age, but I don't even care. I LOVE how she draws just a head, always smiling, and then legs.

Washable/Smashable

Me: cutting out construction paper and cardboard in circles for Izzy to use to make Backyardigan Hopscotch chips. ...cause of course she wants to play hopscotch - the kid can't even stand on her own yet!!!!!

Izzy: coloring in her highchair

Drew: armed and dangerous with a WASHABLE marker

Exhibit A: the molding around the door between the back hall and playroom.


Exhibit B: a drawer and cabinet in the kitchen.


As soon as Drew proudly finished his artwork he immediately called me to see his oh so fine creations. I was SHOCKED, to say the least. At almost 2 1/2 years of age this is the first time he has ever colored on anything other than paper. Why now?

I immediately tried to clean off the magenta marker only to realize that washable is not really all that simple to clean!


Thank goodness for that Mr. Clean and his magic eraser! Marker marks are now gone :)

The Cast is Off

Yesterday was the day. What a day it was!

Izzy was super excited to get her cast off. Pete and I thought we had prepped her pretty well for the visit. We were cautiously optimistic about the cast coming off for good. We made her aware that there was a slight chance it might not get to come off. We also told her the doctor would use a saw to cut it off and while it won't hurt her, it would be loud and might feel funny. We also let her know that her leg wouldn't feel quite right and it wouldn't be strong enough to immediately start walking on.

On our way...


Look at this smile while we wait our turn...


I thought Izzy would have x-rays to determine whether or not she would get her cast off. I was wrong. First the cast is removed and then x-rays are done.

Starting the saw...


The saw was loud. Izzy was nervous and scared but did not start crying until AFTER the cast was removed. Drew just wanted to get to the saw. Hey, if it is loud and dangerous then it is right up his alley.


Getting ready to pop the cast off.

...after this picture the camera batteries died. I even changed them right before we left - apparently not with new ones, huh?

So, as soon as the cast was off Izzy became VERY emotional. Pete took Drew back to the waiting room so I could concentrate on Izzy. I wasn't really sure why she was so emotional honestly. She wouldn't answer any questions I tried to ask her and she couldn't tell me why she was crying? Apparently she didn't really know why she was so emotional either? Next it was time for x-rays. Those were tough! She couldn't move her leg and the techs were trying to get her to keep her knee down, toes pointed up, blah blah blah. Thankfully I was able to stay with her this time (the first time I was not allowed to stay in the room).

Once the doctor came to go over her results, Pete and Drew came back into the room. Thankfully the fracture has healed. I have NO IDEA how I would have gotten her to sit through another cast being applied? She is on restricted activity for the next 2-3 weeks. No jumping, running, rough playing, playground activity, etc. She can walk, once she is able, but that is about all. Her leg is VERY stiff from what the doctor says and could take a week or two until she feels comfortable enough to walk on it.

Currently she is still acting like her cast is on. I continue to carry her everywhere. Her mood yesterday was very sad to witness - almost like she was very depressed. She had a nice long bubble bath last night and I think that helped loosen her up a bit. Shortly after her bath she was much more active and I could see her touching her leg as if she was trying to figure it out.

Today we went to the pool for a couple hours. She was able to float on her back and kick both legs. She really enjoyed swimming so we will try to go every other day until she starts trying to walk again. She also took a "bath" in our kitchen sink this afternoon. Drew was sleeping and she wanted to soak in the tub while I was cleaning. I suggested the kitchen sink and she played there for 45 minutes! While I want her to be able to walk again so I know she is okay, I also think the longer it takes her to get fully mobile the less time I will spend telling her "be careful".

Going to the Zoo Zoo Zoo...and the Doctor

So for Izzy's last day in her cast we decided to take a trip to the zoo. It was a perfect day - sunny and low 60's. The kids and I packed a picnic lunch and headed out!

As I was putting the kids in the stroller, I noticed Drew was messing with his ear. He had also been pulling at it the night before. I asked him if it hurt and he told me no. As we were walking he continued to pull at it and then started scratching it (with his dirty boy hands). It was then I remembered that two days earlier I had wiped some dried blood off his ear from what looked like a bite. I took a look and noticed there was now a rather large red bump. Hmmmm, I am quite cautious when it comes to head wounds being so close to the brain and all. Sooooooo...I put a call into the doctor and they set us up for an appointment later in the day.

Into the zoo we went. After seeing a couple exhibits we reached the playground. No stopping Izzy in her cast - she can slide with the best of 'em.



Drew being all boy quickly left the actual playground equipment and decided to climb the retaining wall.



We saw some more animals and then stopped for ice-cream. It is after seeing this picture that I wished I knew how to use my photoshop stuff. I think it would be so fun to mess around with...



Unfortunately it was not easy for me to take pictures of anything or anyone due to the girl in the cast. I had to lift her quite a bit to get a good look at most of the animals. My favorite animals are the elephants so I did snap a picture of them.



Once we left the zoo we headed to the doctor's office. Drew fell asleep on the way and I realized I would be faced with my first real "cast" predicament. How was I to get both kids into the doctor's office? I certainly couldn't take in the double jogger stroller due to the size. Izzy couldn't walk, and Drew was asleep. Hmmmm. Are you wondering? Sitting on pins and needles waiting to hear how I did it? Well, I got a parking space right out front so I took Izzy in and sat her down and then went back for a sleeping Drew. Not too bad - 4 weeks and my first major cast problem.

While we waited on the doctor the kids decided to model their new shades.



Really, how cute is she? Come on!

...and she strikes random poses too :)


Let's not forget about the little guy - looking oh so studly.



It was a good thing that I did take Drew in to have his head looked at (I was feeling a bit silly) because it is infected. The doctor took one look at his head and said, "Oh my. That is certainly infected. It is a good thing you brought him in. We will want to start him on antibiotics right away." Now I hate that something is wrong with him and that he has to be on the nasty tasting antibiotics, but glad I wasn't labeled as "one of those moms" who over reacts :)

Next up....cast off!

To Nap or Not To Nap

For a couple months Drew has been toying with the idea of not napping. It started about 8 weeks ago, with him napping 4-5 times a week. Since Izzy broke her leg he has napped maybe 1-2 times a week. I am REALLY hoping that it has to do with the fact that we have not been ask active. I need Drew to nap. I have found that without him napping, Izzy has no quiet time. With both kids in my presence at all times I have lost control of my house, and probably my mind. Moms all around the world can back me up here when I say it is amazing how much can get accomplished in one hour of kid free time! Some how cleaning is even more enjoyable without children underfoot. ...I don't even mind the cleaning, but rather really enjoy the quiet.

It is a tricky transition going from nap to no nap. It makes my day longer and ultimately uglier around 5 at night. I find at 5, I begin to count down the two hours left until bedtime. I remember this transition with Izzy being hard and I think it will be harder with Drew. I actually don't mind him not napping, because bedtime is so much earlier (with a nap he is my night owl - and I love having him up with Pete and me for some one on one time) but I do need him "out of sight" for about an hour. Some days I put him in his own crib, and other days I let him have quiet time in my room.

One day both kids were being really quiet in my room for quiet time. Izzy came downstairs after about 40 minutes because our friends came over. I expected Drew to follow. When he didn't, I went to check on him and found this...


So tired that he fell asleep with his hand in his snack bowl...

Weekend Recap

We had such a nice weekend. It was beautiful outside! Mid 70's and sunny. ...hard to imagine that only 5 days earlier the city was shut down due to 6 inches of snow.

Although the weekend was beautiful I was fearful that it would be our hardest weekend yet for Izzy due to her cast. With less than a week left of her cast (assuming it has healed) she finally let me start to work on it. I got as far as writing her name on the bottom of her foot before she decided she didn't want me to "mess it up". Oh well.


She did a little creative doodling of her own as well.


We made our first trip of the season to Brusters. It happened to be PJ day, meaning anyone who wore pj's got a free waffle cone. The cones were huge! I didn't wear my pj's but it was all good - I still ate 3/4 of each kids cone.



Here's Drew waiting for his cone and checking out Scoops. Drew is still well under the free cone height limit.


Good Stuff










Once we got back home, Pete and Izzy took a trip to Build A Bear. We told her she could build a bear for her birthday and she finally called us out on it. I gave Pete the 411 on how Build A Bear operates and told him to not encourage additional accessories.

Here is the finished project...





Hello Kitty: complete with pj's, slippers, bow, purse, and added sound (a kitty meow). Pete said, "I stood firm and didn't let her get the chair for Hello Kitty to sit in." Good for you big guy. Good for you!

This cast has been the most expensive injury ever! ...and to think we are planning a "cast off" party at her school. Chances are she will get some sort of gift as well. Maybe, just maybe, she will get her Hello Kitty chair.

Hey Pete...why don't you pick that up for me big guy ;)