Melissa’s Blog

This morning started off with daddy taking Nicole to Starbucks. Justin and I stayed home and played trains. We had so many errands to do this morning, that Bret just went out and ran them himself. He had to go to Toys R Us and exchange Justin’s new track set, it stopped working. This toy has now been exchanges three times but he loves it. When daddy got home we packed up to go to Lexie’s 3rd birthday party. It was a princess party. We were hoping to do another errand on the way to the party but ran out of time. Dad dropped us off at the party and he went off again to do more errands. The kids had fun at Lexie’s party. I tried to get Nicole to dress up but she just wanted to be a train conductor. So both kiddos wore their train conductor hats, oh well. Nicole has a love for these pink shorts and wants to wear them daily. Too cold today and even before bed she just wanted to try them on. Silly. Cinderella came to Lexie’s party. Nicole and Justin weren’t so sure about her but they warmed up to her when she passed out lollipops.

The kiddos seemed tired at the party, but of course they didn’t fall asleep on the way to Grammy’s. Nicole wanted her teddy bear so we took that to mean she wanted to sleep. In the car she held my hand and finally fell asleep. We let her sleep for about 15 minutes before going to the kinship party. It was a cute party, lots of crafts, etc. There was a cute little park outside the party so the kiddos went and played for a while. There was this slide that had rollers on it, sort of and the kids just loved it. Then it got cold.

I wanted to run to Ann Taylor Loft at Crystal Court, so we all went with Grammy. Daddy and Grammy walked around with the kiddos while I shopped. Then we just got sandwiches for dinner and went to Grammy’s to play. Grammy finished the top to Justin’s bed; it came out great. She also gave them Dora/Diego comforters. The only problem is it is after 9:00 and Nicole is still awake.

The kiddos woke up to the downstairs decorated for their birthday. I wanted to start birthday traditions and I guess decorating the house will be one. The kiddos came down and said wow, so cute. They loved the doorway decorations that are hanging down, they call them the maze as they go through it. We were out and about early this morning. We went to Toys R Us and the kiddos picked out a new toy for their birthday. Nicole picked a swing for her baby and teddy, and Justin picked a “Cars” race track. We got a couple other things that were on sale as well. We went to Target after. Nicole and daddy mowed the lawn. Justin is so into trains today, building tracks everywhere he can. We all washed daddy’s car. The kiddos were a little screamy for a while. Both begging for our attention, it is so hard to talk to one another. They watched a little TV then we did a quick bath. We took the kiddos to the Spectrum for their birthday. Of course we went on the carousal and the train. I did a tiny bit of shopping while the kiddos and daddy watched the ice skating. It was fine until Nicole really wanted to ice skate. We had dinner at Red Robin. It was cute when they sang for their birthday, Justin seemed a little embarassed and Nicole was just staring. They got ice cream so whatever embarassment was worth it. They chose to have corn dogs for their birthday dinner. When we got home the kiddos were pretty hyper. We measured them on the wall of their closets. They have grown so much. I can’t believe they are 3!!!

This morning I decided to take the kiddos to Disney. We have ther greatest time there. We went on so many rides, Wild Toad, Pinnocho, Dumbo, Carousal, Circus Train. Rockets, Tiki Room, etc. The kids loved Dumbo the best they say. Of course the shuttle ride was a ride to them too. It was pretty hot though at Disney today. We ran into some friends as well. It was a great day just exhausting for me. On our way home we stopped at the grocery store as Todd and Penny (Victoria is away) are coming for dinner. The kiddos watched a little TV to rest when we got home. Then we just went out to the front yard. The kiddos rode their bikes and I got some gardening done. All stopped when we ran into Zoe the dog. The kiddos were so happy to see her, Justin threw the ball to her. Nicole decided to ride her trike down the grass hill and over the curb but then she crashed and fell. We brought Zoe and Andrea (neighbor) in to see our house. They have the same floor plan but theirs is totally updated. The kids loved having Zoe in the house. The kids showed her their room. Nicole held onto Zoe’s leash going down the stairs and fell, poor Nicole had lots of falls today. Then she was crying and Justin started, he couldn’t get his underwear down. Both kids are crying, Todd and Penny show up, both kids are still crying….ugh daddy comes home and Nicole starts crying again. The kids went out in the backyard and swung for a while. After dinner the kids played a bit then upstairs. We just read them lots of books. Justin decided to surf on the ottoman and fell off, ugh more crying. The kiddos are sound asleep now.

Today was my day to be snack mom at pre school. I planned it this way so I could bring the kiddos cupcakes to celebrate their birthdays. They both wore their crowns throughout pre school, so cute. They had so much fun at pre school. My job for the day was to make apple sauce. The kids loved cranking the machine peel apples and they loved cutting them up. Also at my table was play doh. It was my kid’s turn to share. Nicole brought her barky dog and Justin brought his measuring tape. Everyone sang happy birthday and the kids got to blow out candles (their friends)-it was really cute. Near the end Nicole decided to paint her hands, arms, pants, etc. Oh well, it was ok and bath was necessary when we got home. On the way home though we stopped at the grocery store to get a few things for dinner. The kiddos took the longest bath ever. I actually had to add more hot water for them. They were enjoying it and relaxing so I just let them be. After bath we had a quick snack then went out to play in the front yard. Paula and kiddos came over. The kids all rode bikes, did play doh, and drove the electric cars. Nicole and Justin loved riding Mikey, Katie, and Sarah’s big kid bikes with training wheels. They did pretty well on them but had some problems going from the street to the side walk. Bernice, our neighbor came over for dinner. Her hubby is away so she came to play for a bit. Nicole loves her and wouldn’t stop talking to her, so cute though. Nicole showed her the Dora and Diego rescue and backpacks. We had a nice dinner and then Justin wanted to play trains. So we all sit in the living room while the kiddos played. We went upstairs, brushed teeth, and lots of books and stories.

This morning was all about play. We ran to the grocery store to snack for pre school for tomorrow. Of course the store and pushing carts is always fun for the kiddos. Well we had a big play date planned, but then little by little people called and said they were sick. Candice and kiddos ended up coming over. Nicole was a little screamy but got over it when she had a snack. The kiddos had fun playing together, dress up, trains, scooters, etc. We had lunch then the kiddos and I made cupcakes together to bring to pre school. The kids love adding ingredients and mixing, so fun. Then I let them watch TV for a bit to distract them while I finished the cupcakes. After we went outside in the front yard and just played. The kiddos helped me clean out the garage a bit. They drove their little electric cars, but Nicole’s wasn’t working that well. I hope that the battery just needs to be charged but we will see. The kiddos rode their trikes, played catch, ran on the greenbelt, etc. We had a great time outside. Maggie and Aliya came by as well to play too. Dad’s car can come back into the garage finally. We had dinner then the kiddos played games (Don’t Break the Ice and CandyLand) with daddy. Justin loves to play games! While playing Candy Land someone got sent to the peanut and dad said “fricken Peanut”. Justin stood up with his arms raised a bit and said fricken peanut. It was so funny but bad at the same time. We read lots of books tonight and the kiddos were pretty tired, we love that!

This morning I had to go to the dentist, yuck. I really dislike the dentist. It went ok and Bret took the kiddos to pre school. The kiddos loved daddy taking them to school. Nicole wanted daddy to stay, so cute. I didn’t do too much while the kiddos were in school, I just sulked abotu the dentist. Daddy went to vote but I decided not to vote. I know what a bad American I am, but my vote wouldn’t have made a difference.  I picked up the kiddos and Nicole was so clingy. We came home and had lunch then we played a bit. I decided to give the kiddos a bath as it is hard at night; I always feel like we are rushing around at night. After bath Justin played trains for a while and Nicole played with her babies. Nicole wouldn’t leave me alone though, very sweet but sometimes I need to do some other stuff. We met Carin at the Spectrum. We went on the carousal, of course. We just walked around and let the kids just play together. We shopped a bit too. The dads came and met us so we could all have dinner at Red Robin. It was nice. Nicole was melting down a bit tonight, both kids were pretty tired. Tonight we have a new President: Barack Obama, first African American President.

This morning we made a new track on the train table and Justin played trains for a long time. Of course he wanted to play the game Break The Ice again. Today was our play ball class. So cute. Nicole was a little shy at first but she came around. Today I am just trying to catch up on things, we ran some errands. We came home and ate lunch then the kiddos played trains for a while. We played at home for a bit-the kiddos were playing with the oven and sticking magnetic letters in there. We ran to Target and then to the grocery store. The kiddos were great. I was afraid I was doing too many errands. They have so much fun at the grocery store with the little carts. I let the kiddos help me find things in the store and get things out of the freezer. They loved the cold, silly kids. They helped load the car and bring in the groceries. And the kiddos even made bringing in trash cans fun! We watched a little TV then I took the kiddos to the Kid’s Gym for open play. They were so excited to go and had a great time. They were really into this swing that had a rope and a disk at the bottom. They were so silly, swinging on it and screaming cheesy for some reason. Paula and her kiddos met us for open gym too. Now that it is getting darker earlier, I need to do this more often with the kiddos. We came home and had dinner. Justin couldn’t wait to play Break The Ice again. When we went upstairs I hid from the kids and they would find me. They were screaming when they found me-it was so silly, then they would run into their rooms as fast as they could. We read lots of new books and told some stories, it is pretty quiet up there now.

Well we woke up this morning and felt like we had been hit by a bus, we are exhausted. Somehow we gained an hour sleep but it doesn’t feel like it. This morning the kiddos opened up their presents, so cute. Justin was so excited opening things and saying oh wow. They were really into opening presents this year. We couldn’t get the video camera out fast enough. The kids were so excited to see all their presents. So far of what we opened, the kids favorite is: the cash register. the t ball set, the hockey sticks, and the game Don’t Break the Ice. This is the first time we have played games with the kiddos.

We ran a few errands this morning and have just been getting organized around here. Nicole has still been wearing her birthday crown again. She loves being the birthday girl. We played with the crystal climbers. I think the kiddos got it about a year ago but now they are big enough. Justin loves the building things. The kiddos watched Thomas and Elmo’s World. Then we decided we needed to get out of the house. We put the kiddos in the bike trailer and went to Woodbury Park. The kids had a great time at the park. When we got home we go the game Candy Land out. Oh my goodness the most frustrating game ever to play with them. They weren’t listening and were just so excited to play it was hard to get them to pay attention. Finally after dinner they got the hang of it. Justin loved it and wanted to play again and again. We read lots of new books tonight that the kiddos got for their birthday and finally are sound asleep.

Today was spent pretty much getting ready for the kiddo’s party plus playing with the new camera. We gave the kiddos a bath and then took pictures. We got some great shots. You may have to click on the picture to see as the thumbnail cuts it down a bit.

Getting ready for a party is a lot of work. It turned out great though. We have wonderful friends who helped us. All the kids played really well together. Nicole and Lexie were playing together so well at the party. It was so cute to watch. We had way too much food. The weather was beautiful and the park lights were perfect. The kids had fun with the glow things and it was neat to look around and see all the glowing (bad for pictures though). Nicole wore her crown the entire night. Nicole and Justin had a blast with Jeremy. It was so cute. They were on the see saw together for a long time. We need to get together with Holly and Jeff more often. The party was wonderful. The kids were hungry and tired when we finally got home. The kiddos loved blowing out their candles-this was the first year they were able to do it. I can’t believe they are going to be 3 soon.