Our blog has moved

I've accepted the fact that  life with two kids is busy and down time is little. When there are a few minutes to spare in the day I end up falling asleep - leaving me no time to blog - so I'm becoming a microblogger (aka short-form blogger). Here's our new site, which will be updated a lot more. http://peekingunderthehood.tumblr.com/

A few more daycare moments.....

First water day was a big success

Oliver loved it

A visit from Maelin

Daycare Begins!

Oliver started daycare last Tuesday, we were sad to see the nanny leave, but the adjustment surprisingly hasn't been too bad. He is seeing and doing a lot of things for the first time, most of which he is very uncertain about!!! Below are some updates we've received over the last couple days.....

"Oliver is such a chatty  little guy, he keeps smiling and babbling rather than focus on his bottle"

"Oliver thinks his teachers are crazy already--perfect :) Dressing like an archeologist"

"Fell asleep in my arms while taking the last few sips of his bottle"

"Going for a ride in the space shuttle (its tilted back so Oliver can sit up)"

"Oliver does NOT want to leave Earth in the space shuttle (cutest sad face ever)"

"Ahh much better - just exploring the box instead"

"Oliver seems a bit apprehensive about his first art project at school"

"Today we painted with blue and green pain on coffee filters and then scrunched up the filters like we were making tie die to explore colors of Earth! Oliver stuck his arm in the green paint"

"Just relaxing and looking at his masterpiece!"

"Learning to hold his own bottle, good job buddy!"

Baptism and Pedicures

We celebrated Oliver's baptism last Sunday. He was a good little guy, slept during the mass and woke up just in time to get water dumped on his head. There was no crying, a few looks of confusion and a big smile when the priest commented on his x-large size.

Outside Church

Waiting for mass to start

Got bored and past out

The dunk

Our holy Maelin

Family shot

Godparents

Cake

Maelin and Charlie waiting patiently for the cake to be cut

Maelin is getting to that age where she is beginning to develop fears. Recently she has been waking up extra early because she says she doesn't like to be alone. This early wake up is killing us, especially since Oliver is struggling to make it through the night and we are both working. So we decided to try the alarm clock tactic and bought an alarm that turns green when its "OK TO WAKE". I originally rolled my eyes at the thought of this thinking no way would Maelin listen to an alarm light, she doesn't even listen to me. But we thought we would give it a try and pair it up with a reward if she obeyed the light. The deal was if she stayed QUIETLY in bed or in her room until the light turned green every morning for a week, she would get a pedicure (she has a slight obsession with painted toe nails, she especially likes when Daddy paints them......Brett was not a good manicurist at first but has much improved). Much to my surprise it worked and has continued to work now for a few weeks. We adjust the time for a later wake up on the weekend which is nice.....hehe!

Some mornings I find her sleeping on the floor next to her gate waiting for the light

Green light!

A bit big for the chair

Enjoying being pampered

Finished product

Checking if they are dry

Applesauce from California

Each week Maelin has to bring in show and tell for the letter of the week. Her "presentations" always crack us up, but this one in particular is worth sharing.....you might need to refer to the script below to understand her. The letter this week is "A" so she brought in applesauces to share and she 100% lies about where she got it from.......

P.S. - It was drizzling this AM, hence the ladybug rain boots which clearly do not match her outfit, a bit of a fashion faux pas, but no sense in reasoning with a three year old when trying to get out the door in the AM.

Teacher: Maelin what did you bring for show and tell today?
Maelin: Applesauce
Teacher: You brought applesauce, what letter does applesauce start with?
Maelin: (not sure what she says here)
Teacher: It starts with A.....who did you bring the applesauce for?
Maelin: mmmmmm.......I got it from, from California, I got it from California
Teacher: You got that applesauce all the way from California? How did you bring it to school from California?
Maelin: I carried it
Teacher: You carried it?
Maelin: Shows everyone how she carries it......

Summer is here....

My favorite weekend of the year finally arrived, being Memorial Day. I love the kick off of summer knowing over the next several months the forecast is full of warmer temps and sunny days, at least we can hope. Its MUCH easier to parent in the summer. Maelin can play outside all day - a million things entertain her from watching the ants, to yelling at Dad to kill the bees, and playing chase with Begley. She even has her own squirt bottle and meticulously washes the flowers, we probably have the cleanest flowers on the block because of her.

Professional greenskeeper Brett - I'll hand it to him, the lawn looks good after a long winter

Oliver watching Maelin and I attempt to build an outdoor storage box

Gardening Queen (even though she is watering the empty pot)

Speaking of Begley, Maelin and him are closer than ever - according to Maelin they are best friends. There is no question why Maelin is Begley's best friend, she locks him and her in the pantry and secretly feeds him dog food, along with several others snacks and the occasional hot dog. We are working on training Begley, seeing he is five and has yet to be trained. He now sleeps in a crate at night (instead of our bed) and we also have a shock collar on him in order to teach him some boundaries about barking, begging, and jumping. With the shock collar comes a remote. Our first day with the collar, Maelin found the remote and pressed level 6 (the highest level). Begley made the most atrocious noise, ran under our bed and we did not see him for a day.......poor guy! He however behaves better with the collar on and the shocks are limited.

This is a hook that needs to be hung on the wall, Maelin thought it was a dog hat  and Begley just went with it

She thought it would be best if she tested out Begley's "house" before he did

Mister Oliver just turned four months. He weighs in at 15.3lbs which puts him right in the 50th percentile. He is taking a lot more interest in the world around him and is just learning to reach and grab for toys. He's a chill little guy and I am happy to say that at least 80% of the time is sleeping through the night finally :)

He is loving to stand (I need to work on my leg tan a bit, yikes!)

Graduated from the sink tub to the baby tub

This is what happens when I run downstairs quick, Maelin  put a watch on him, gave him a makeup brush, flashlight and toy elephant

Being fed by big sister

Enjoying the worlds ugliest bouncy seat, its hard to believe how big he is already!

Back to work it is

Oliver is getting super big. His cute little hair is also starting to fall out, total bummer. I am hoping he doesn't loose it all before the new stuff starts to grow. He also has recently started to laugh, he thinks its absolutely hilarious when you take his shirt off and just starts laughing uncontrollably. Maelin thinks this is great and has also begun to thank me almost every day for "getting Oliver out of my tummy and bringing him home." She loves "her baby" (as she calls him) and is always telling him how cute he is. The other day she dressed him up with a few different bracelets, a watch, and a necklace. He was tolerant for two minutes before he started screaming, but who could blame him.

Easter Egg Coloring (we are a bit behind on blog postings)

Admiring her work

Final Product (these were eaten within two days b/c she thought they were a treat since they were colored)

Maelin loves to tickle Oliver and he seems to like it as well

Lazy Sunday AM

So Big!

Exploding out of his PJs

HELLO camera

Princess Belle at Dance 

Birthday Party Dance

So the time arrived last week and I headed back to work after my maternity leave....sigh! We originally planned on getting a nanny for both kids, but plans fell through (long story I wont bore you with) and we have Maelin at daycare still and Oliver at home with a temp nanny until he can start daycare on July 1st. The first day leaving the little guy was rough, I cried and miss him lots during the day, as does any Mom returning back to work. Here's to hoping it gets easier!

Our afternoon cuddle times I miss the most :(