More Random Catch-Up!

It's been beautiful weather this week and we have been enjoying it! Every evening our cul-de-sac is packed with kids having a blast. Connor, Kaitlynn, and I have been taking regular walks to our neighborhood park. Connor has become quite the bicyclist these days and really loves it.



Kaitlynn's favorite outdoor activity is, what else, playing with the neighbor's dogs. It cracks me up that we are the family who swore we would NEVER have a dog, and then we have a daughter who is truly, madly, and deeply obsessed with them. She finally calls them "puppies" instead of "puppas" and all of our neighbors marvel at how she'll take a good lickin' from the dogs and just squeal with delight.



We are loving this spring weather in February!




I took the following pics of Kaitlynn yesterday. She has a recent obsession with the utensil drawer. She goes there frequently throughout the day and digs around until she finds the kids spoons to play with. I removed them from that drawer, and then she decided to start playing with the adult utensils. This girl doesn't take No for an answer. After seeing these pictures, I noticed how much she is really slimming down. She has been wearing the same size for about a year now.




My last random topic: I have found a new favorite grocery store. HEB. I first started going there because they carry things that I just can't find at my Kroger stores (which are WAY more convenient for me). Then I noticed that the produce section at HEB is incredible with tons of different items and everything always seems much fresher. So now I usually go out of my way to drive to HEB at least once a week. At the checkout counter, the attendants will give Connor and Kaitlynn "Buddy Bucks". These are little papers that look like money that you can take to the HEB Buddy machine in exchange for points and prizes. This is the kids' favorite part of our grocery trip now. Even Kaitlynn figured it out after the first try and does it all by herself now. Anything to keep the kids happy!

Random Catch-up

Because this blog is our family's scrapbook, I try to make sure I include pictures and updates from all of our family activities and events. I take so many photographs that sometimes I just end up with a ton of unrelated pictures, but I still want to make sure I get them posted so that they'll end up in our blog book at the end of the year. So this is my completely random catch-up post with lots of pictures that have nothing to do with each other!

Kaitlynn has been really enjoying her shopping cart and baby stroller that she got for Christmas. She loves strapping in her babies and strolling around the house. Or in this case, strapping in her Buzz. And just because Buzz is a space ranger doesn't mean he doesn't get thirsty.



Speaking of Buzz, he and Woody are Connor's absolute favorite toys right now. He loves anything Toy Story. A while back, I went to give Connor a kiss before I turned in for the night and I walked in to find him surrounded by his best "friends":



Connor has really been into his artwork lately. Drawing and coloring are great actvities for him. He is always so proud of his "masterpieces" and gets his feelings hurt if he later finds them in the trash. (Oops.)




Another thing Connor is really into these days is scanning groceries. He knows all about bar codes and begs to go through the self-scan line at the store every time. It takes us about 10 times longer, but he loves it.



One thing about boys, it just doesn't get easier than this:



And now on to Kaitlynn... She has always been ahead of her age when it comes to food. She was eating Chick-fil-A nuggets at 8 months. She doesn't like it one bit when you try to cut up her chicken, pizza, bananas, you name it. She wants to eat it whole and manages just fine. She has been using utensils for a while, but usually I try to feed her myself to avoid the mess. I hate messes! Connor learned to use utensils at daycare and I was very happy about that. So it'll be a miracle if Kaitlynn ever masters the spoon because I don't like to let her.



We "recycled" Kaitlynn Christmas dress for Valentines Day. It was red, white, and had snowflakes. That's OK for February, right??? :-)



And speaking of outfits, this one is probably my favorite right now. I like to call these her hot pants, ha!



I started fixing her hair in ponytails and her Mother's Day Out teachers say it just makes her look so much older.




We've been spending a lot of time outdoors this week with the nice weather. Connor and Kaitlynn LOVE going for walks to the park. Our neighbors also have this little scooter that is Kaitlynn's favorite toy. She will stand on it while I push her and she squeals with delight. Jeff noticed me pushing her once and scolded me for not putting on her helmet. So the next time, I made sure to put on her bike helmet before she got on the scooter. And wouldn't you know, she fell sideways into an oncoming bicycle and her helmet-covered head landed straight on the spiky bicycle pedal. So just a reminder...ALWAYS wear helmets!!



Finally, I couldn't resist throwing in this picture of me with my favorite little 4-month-old, Lily Jo. PRECIOUS!!

Valentines Day Fun

It has still been COLD this week and we've been indoors a lot. I think I've decided I'm a much better Mom when I can get out of the house more often! Even so, the kids and I have had a lot of fun this week gearing up for Valentines Day.

Connor made Valentines for his classmates. This is the first year he's filled them out himself. He did a great job!



Both kids were excited to open their Valentines from Meme and Granddaddy. Especially Kaitlynn with her Valentines Day card - "puppas" are her favorite!




Connor looked dashing in his new shirt for his Valentines Day party at school. Everytime I ask to take his picture, he gives me this pose:



As for Kaitlynn, thank goodness Valentines Day is only a couple months after Christmas and we can re-use some of our favorite red outfits and accessories.



Here's brother and sister before their Valentines Day parties. These two adore each other!




Finally, opening all of their Valentines' goodies from their parties:



Happy (early) Valentines Day!!

Time for Time-out

At almost 20 months of age, Miss Kaitlynn Faith has been going through a not-so-fun stage lately. She recently learned the word "No!" and uses it all. the. time. At first it was kind of cute but lately it's becoming a problem. She shakes her head emphatically while spitting out the word "No!" in a very naughty tone.

She also seems to be going through a hitting phase. She doesn't usually strike very hard, but she definitely gives people or things a good slap when she's unhappy about something. She has perfected her scowl, too. Where does this behavior come from? I remember going through a tough phase with Connor at this age but he was never so openly defiant like Kaitlynn.

(Did you just hear that? That was the sound of my parents chuckling loudly as they realize I FINALLY have the child I deserve.)

Anyway, after witnessing Kaitlynn's naughtiness for a while, I decided it was time. Time for time-out. She is old enough to "get it" and her behavior definitely deserves it at times. So last week after one of her many episodes (to put it kindly) I warned her that if she continued then I would put her in time-out. I think at that point she swung back and slapped me. I picked her up and said in a stern voice, "Kaitlynn, you are going to time-out for 1 minute for hitting Mommy and acting naughty." I set her down firmly on a spot on the floor by the fireplace saying again, "Time out."

Cue the red-faced, screaming fit.

Kaitlynn got up to run to me and I placed her back down in time-out. We did this over and over and over again. She was NOT a happy camper and screamed louder each and every time I put her back down. I probably put her back down more than 50 times. She eventually stayed put, and then after a minute or so I walked over to her and asked her to stand up. I told her, "Kaitlynn, you were in time-out because you were very naughty and hit Mommy. Now tell Mommy you're sorry." She said something that in no way resembled "Sorry" but at least it had 2 syllables. Then we hugged and kissed and all was well. For about 2 minutes, and then we had to do it all over again.

Since that first night, Kaitlynn definitely understands what time-out is and when I ask her if she wants to go to time-out, she says (what else?) "No!" Except for one time when she said "Yes" and walked to time-out by herself and sat down calmly. I have no idea what that was about except possibly another show of open defiance. Definitely my child.

Cold

It has been in the 20s for 3 straight days. That may not be cold for some but for Houston, that is COLD! And I find it ironic that the Energy Capital of the World can't seem to keep up with the demand. We've been having rolling blackouts where we lose our electricity for an hour or so at a time. That is NOT fun with 20 degree weather and 2 small kids at home. Last night we had lots of sleet so most of the city is at home this morning avoiding the highways. I'm sure the Northerners would laugh their heads off at us being crippled in mere 20 degree weather, ha!

What to do during rolling blackouts? Use the laptop as a DVD player!





Lots of indoor playtime and TV time going on around here!



I'm ready for the normal Houston winter temps to return! Luckily they'll be back tomorrow. :-)