"Swim Like a Fish"

Kendall started swim lessons this week. She keeps telling us that she can "swim like a fish" now. She was great at splashing and even put her mouth under to blow bubbles but she hated the climbing out. She would scream as soon as I let go. Hands on...smiling, hands off: "NOOOOO", hands on...smiling, hands off: "NOOOO". I couldn't help but laugh.

If you ask her what her nickname is now she'll tell you "Missy Moo". I don't know why I started calling her that but she loves it and sometimes even calls me Missy Moo. Kate is sometimes Sissy Lou and sometimes Birdy now. Buggy/Birdy or Missy Moo/Sissy Lou.

I think that I have the two sweetest girls in existence. Kendall is so lovey and sweet and always wants to love and kiss on us (especially Kate) and she likes to give Eskimo kisses now. She is a great big sister already. She is so funny because she likes things to be neat a lot of the time. She'll take off her shoes and put them on the stairs to go up and if we are anywhere and there is trash on the ground she'll point and say "uh-oh" over and over again. However, if there is food on the ground she wants to eat it. Luckily for me she asks permission first, she'll pull dried old peas out of her booster seat and bring it to me, "bite???" No that is dirty. "Throw it way" And Kate seriously is so happy all the time. Even when she is sad she can't decide if she wants to laugh or cry. Every night I stay up as late as I possibly can so I can feed her one last time (sadly this is usually only about 10:30). It is one of my most favorite moments of the day, she doesn't wake up but she is just so cuddly and sweet. No matter how tired I am (yes, exhausted by 10:30) I am so fully in that moment I couldn't fall asleep if I wanted to.

Been Through the Water by Kyle Matthews

Preacher pulled the boy up from the water
Alleluias rose from the banks
There was a new suit of clothes from his Father
And a prayer of thanks

The boy walked barefooted all the way home for dinner
And when they laughted at his muddy feet...

He said I've been through the water and I've come out clean
Got new clothes to cover me
And you don't wear your old shoes on your brand new feet
When you've been through the water
Ah been through the water

Preacher turned them around at the altar
Pronounced the boy and his girl "man and wife"
In two years they were Mother and Father
And they built them a life
And his old girlfriend saw a moment of weakness
And she said "If you're lonely come see me sometime..."

He said I've been through the water and I've come out clean
Got new clothes to cover me
And you don't wear your old shoes on your brand new feet
When you've been through the water
Ah been through the water

He baits a hook with his grandson of seven
And says "Soon, I'll be free from these pains."
The boy asked if he's ever been to heaven
He says "No... but I think I know the way... 'cause I've been through the water..."

I've been through the water and I've come out clean
Got new clothes to cover me
And you don't wear your old shoes on your brand new feet
When you've been through the water
Ah been through the water

Brian,

He speaks in coos and babbles

He takes his Little Bug to the playground

He sits on the floor and becomes the playground

He goes on bike rides

He gets up with Kendall on the weekend

He changes diapers

He cleans up messy hands after meals of macaroni

He plays on the floor

He works hard so that "His Girls" can all be home together

He brings home Happy Meal toys

He makes sacrifices so that we can get things he knows that I or Kendall wants

He gives up his much needed alone time to have daddy/daughter time

He and Kendall have their own special times like getting the paper and getting comfortable after work

He loves

He is loved

Happy Daddy Day to the best daddy around, we miss you

Rollie Pollie Ollie

So I am currently without a camera but amazingly at an impromptu photo shoot at the Weires residence this week we caught Kate rolling over from her belly to her back. Really none of the other pictures turned out (Kate wouldn't put her tongue in her mouth) but here are a few for your viewing pleasure.

Who?

This is Kendall but I think that the shape of the eyes and the hair makes it look just like Kate. And would you just look at the size of that pacifier, is that not the ugliest thing ever? Kendall was super sweet today and dishing out lots of voluntary kisses and Kate was super smiley and was having trouble nursing because she wouldn't stop smiling and laughing at me. We had the girls' rooms painted today. Kendall's is cute (yellow) but I LOVE the color we picked for Kate's, "Celery Stalk". I wish that we had put it in Kendall's room too!

Brian took the camera with him on his trip so unless I can borrow a camera you will be seeing old pictures here. However if I'm this tired in the coming days you may not be seeing any pictures or new blog posts at all. Two little munchkins can wear a girl out!

Summer Lovin'

Ah, I love summer. Time for painted toenails. I finally redid my toenails and Kendall kept saying, "Cute, Mommy" so I couldn't resist giving her a pedicure of her own. She likes to show everyone now.

I've been going to the gym a lot lately, saw a couple of really funny things. Our gym has a long line of treadmills (10-12ish?) with about 4 TVs in front of them in various places. The other day only four treadmills were in use and they were all being used by women and they were all directly in front of the TV broadcasting the Food Network. Another thing that made me smile is the teenage boys that have flooded the gym since school let out. They always put WAY too much weight on the machine and then on their third rep they get the bar about half way down and they start shaking violently and can't go any further. Couldn't help but smile at them.

Anyway, loving the Flickr website right now. I haven't uploaded any of my own photos but you know me I like to hijack other people's photos! I used this site to make a mosaic of a few of my favorites.

Give a Mama a Break

Geez, I kind of have my hands full at the moment don't give me grief about not posting!!!

We had a fantastic time with Susan and Ron (aka Gram and Pop) last weekend. Kendall loves them so much. She had a very interested audience of two for all of her tricks and talents.

Today Jennie, Anna, and Noah came over to 'play'. Kendall loves Anna and she got very excited to hear that she was coming over and then she walked around saying, "No, my Mimi, my toy, my Kate, my..." Poor Anna was terrorized she couldn't pick up anything without Kendall being right on top of her. Really, she did share before Kate was born. The "mine-ness" started when she discovered that she was no longer the only child.

We also took the kiddos over to the Summer Reading Program kickoff at the library. The girls wanted NOTHING to do with the girl in the Clifford the Big Red Dog costume but they were actually VERY good as we waited in line (for 45 minutes) to get the animal balloon of their choice: Elmo hats. I fear the tantrum when this thing pops. During the long wait we had one near miss of broken toes, one near miss in "chalk baby outline" (what Jennie calls temper tantrums) and a couple close calls of the little ones waking up. But we made it and Jennie and I have decided to nominate each other for Mommy of the Year for our bravery. It takes a courageous woman to leave the house with two children.

Oh, and Kendall also discovered the nice breeze from our air conditioner vents.

Can't Get Enough of this Everyday Love

Nothing is better then spending the weekend with my family! Brian and Kendall washed my car, Kate and I made cupcakes. We all just hung around in our "comfy clothes" & played. Love it

Oh Where, Oh Where Has This Blogger Gone?

Well, we've been to Kansas and back. in a moment of excitement (or possibly insanity) I decided to drive to Kansas for Jessy's graduation. I couldn't have done it if it weren't for Lorie (who drove with me). On the way up we even stopped in St. Louis to visit Bruce which was super great! I loved seeing where he lives and seeing his garden and briefly meeting a couple of his friends. We were only there for an hour but we had a lot of driving left to do. We also had a lot of screaming left ahead of us as well as a lot of stopping left to do too. Kendall and Kate had a tag team crying fest going on towards the end causing an eleven hour trip to take us fourteen hours getting us there at about 2am. The first night was rough after getting Kendall to sleep I was so worried that Kate would let out a cry and wake Kendall up that I was pretty much all over her all night trying to keep her quiet, she got fed up with that and had a bit of a crying spree of her own. Finally, I fell asleep at about 6am (7 our time). After that we did a little rearranging of sleeping arrangements (Sara had it set up so nicely for us) and from then on it was a piece of cake. Kendall was very good about going to bed and Kate kept her nap schedule up. I had such a fun time visiting with everyone. Sara's kids are great. I meant to take pictures of their newly finished basement bathroom because it was FANTASTIC! I loved it. The trip home was slightly less eventful and only took us 12 hours. I have spent the rest of the week recovering my sleep and house. I think I have gotten the ENTIRE house clean for the first time since Kate has been born, ahhh what an accomplishment.

Yesterday was well check-ups for both of the girls. Kendall had a bit of a breakdown and demonstrated her amazing strength when it took both the doctor and I to hold her down just to check in her ears and throat!! Luckily she didn't require shots...unlike poor Kate who got four. Kate is quite possibly the happiest baby ever. During one of her feedings today she couldn't stop smiling at me and the other night while sleeping she busted out belly laughs! She is completely holding her head up on her own and cooing and talking up a storm. She and Brian carried on a five minute conversation tonight gurgling and cooing at each other. They are keeping me busy and off of the computer resulting in these sporadic blog posts, sorry!!

Kiss Me Kate

I don't think people have been believing me when I say that Kate smiles now (and has for three weeks) she even smiled at her doctor, the little ham. I caught it today with my camera in hand. Phew.

Not a lot of blogging going on lately with TWO sick kiddos. Not cool. But something funny did happen yesterday.

Preface: When I get anything out of the oven when Kendall is nearby I say, "beep, beep" and she backs up out of the way until the door is closed and then she knows she can come close again. Well yesterday she was playing with my pot holders and oven mitts. She comes into the kitchen with two oven mitts on her hands and says, "beep, beep, oven hot" and goes to the oven door. Too cute.

Speed Bump

I never thought Kendall paid attention to the TV when it was on but I guess she caught the coverage of Brittney driving while holding her baby (who, like Kendall, was trying to escape the paparazzi. By the way thi

s car doesn't even belong to us, Kendall has decided our neighbors have a much better yard then us and she makes herself at home (with permission) on their toys and swingset.

Congrats to Jenn & Justin on running their first marathon, you rock!

NSD

Guess what today is? Well yeah, it is Derby day but more importantly it is National Scrapbooking Day (NSD). Yep, we have our own day (and acronym). But there was no scrapbooking done here in the Paper Chick household. Despite three separate party invitations we were held hostage by a two year old with a hideous rash resulting from her high temperature and we topped off the day with a trip to the urgent care center since her breathing and cough became so yucky. She received various cocktails (cough suppressant, Tylenol, & antibiotic) but she isn't a pleasant drunk. All joking aside she is truly miserable and I hate to see my little girl that way!

I haven't taken any photos lately since Kendall has the polka dots so instead here is a picture from back in the day (pre-kids) when we actually got to go to the Derby!!

Word of Advice

When yawning in front of a toddler keep your eyes open. Luckily I opened mine just in time to see Kendall getting ready to put her bouncy ball in my mouth.

I have a sick Kendall on my hands, she has a "fever virus". Which basically means I have a very whiney toddler on my hands and I can only treat the fever. She spends have the day in a whiney dreary stouper and the other half in a whiney spastic hyper crazed period. Fun times.

Update

• I had to drop mom off at the airport on Monday...I cried



• I can go to the gym now!



• Had tons of fun in Indiana last weekend, I love my cousins and they are all multiplying like crazy so Kendall is going to have lots of cousins to play with.



• Yesterday I went back to the gym, Kendall was playing outside on the playground and heard Kate fussing and demanded to be let inside to check on her!