Spring?

Well, it doesn't feel even slightly Spring-ish around here yet. But it's time to get that Christmas wreath off the front door. And the snowman off the mantel...perhaps tomorrow. Friday we "celebrated Spring" by making Snow Dough (box of corn starch + 2/3 C. veggie oil + glitter). Mostly because Mommy didn't even realize that Spring had arrived. 

They loved it. It mashes together, holds a shape, is silky soft to the touch, and crumbles apart again.

Absolute mess. But for the (almost) hour they were completely content (we're talking barely a bickering word!), the clean-up was worth it.

No wonder there's so much laundry around here.

Predictably, Vivian spent quite a bit of her time taste-testing. The glitter may make an interesting re-appearance at some point. 

Now onto Spring-ier times!

Only the Marshmallows

Because you're wondering, no baby yet. 38 weeks this week! However, we've been plenty busy getting ready for that big arrival. Last week our parish priest, Fr. Derrick, joined us for dinner to talk Baptism Prep. And to color pictures (supervised by a few of his youngest parishioners).

And we got new carpet. TA-DA!

So soft, so clean...

Which was a TON of work for Tim. Moving furniture, tearing up old carpet, fixing things as he went, cleaning up all the dust and carpet mess, moving furniture back, etc. And at nine months pregnant, Sarah isn't much good for any of that. So two of her cousins came to help during their spring break, while Mommy and the girls disappeared to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a few days. Where they discovered something new: Lucky Charms. And did what every kid does...eat only the marshmallows (as often as they could get away with it).

We also did some little projects for St. Patrick's Day. Stickers are always a hit with these two and Mommy found this idea: read the number, put on the correct number of stickers, color the number. Easy and they loved it. Viv needed some help, but she actually was more engaged in the whole idea than Mommy expected, so that was good!

And we read lots of books on our mini-vacation to Grandma and Grandpa's. It's always great to have new books to read (which is why we're at our library at least weekly)! PS check out the t-shirts again. The girls LOVE them and wear them all the time. Future Xavier Musketeers!?!?!?

But we're back home, in our own beds, with our fabulous new carpet. And today we did some fine motor work. Only they have no idea they're doing work. Another easy project that the girls spent at least a half an hour fully concentrated on: beads and shoe stings from The Dollar Tree to make necklaces. Success.

While they were engrossed in that, Mommy was making a grocery list for over 20 crockpot freezer meals that she hopes to put together before Baby arrives. Perhaps this will help avoid absolute chaos at 5 PM every night? Well, it can't hurt.

Any ideas for keeping these girls good at the grocery for what is sure to be a two hour trip??

Busy Busy Busy

We're keeping busy. We got the new mini-van, we're STILL working on getting them into the same room (Viv naps in the crib because she just CANNOT stay in that big girl bed during naptime; at least bedtime is going really well), we're keeping up on our theme weeks (last week we did seasons...didn't take any pictures somehow...), we're getting new carpet (finally) at the end of the week thanks to a very unexpected tax refund, and of course, continuing to prepare for Baby. We ordered size 1 diapers from Amazon. That's it...anything we're missing? We hit 37 weeks this week. Which means Baby is pretty safe and healthy whenever it decides to show up. That's always a relief.

A few pictures of what we're been doing (sorry, mostly taken quickly on the camera phone)...

Friday, we went to the Botanical Gardens with our friend Jill and her little boy, Pete. The computers were having a problem so we got in free. And they validated our parking, so that was free, too. What a day!!! Here are the girls in a "pod" at the kids' jungle exhibit that's going on right now - loved it!

Friday night Tim left for the weekend to do this:

He was actually helping with a youth retreat for the diocese and somehow ended up in a skit as a member of the cast from Duck Dynasty, which hadn't entered our radar until Tim had to be one of them...Reality TV...no, make that 97% of TV is so very, very bizarre.

While he was with the high schoolers for the weekend, the girls and Mommy had a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's. As you can see, it was super fun and full of cheese-y smiles. (Huge thanks to Amanda for the adorable Xavier shirts. We love them!!!!)

Finally, these two are currently obsessed with making nests. AKA piling up every pillow and blanket they can get their hands on to cozy up. Often, their books, fake food, toys, dolls, animals...EVERYTHING...has to be in the nest, too. Apparently, Mommy isn't the only one with Nesting Hormones these days.

Naptime

Apparently a good, regular naptime is now a thing of the past in this house. When we moved the girls into their room together, Daddy said, "Now begins the millions of words they will say to each other that we will never hear." Two little girls wiggling in bed, maybe falling asleep, frequently talking, giggling, getting up, getting back in. But not really napping all that well in the past week.  Some days are better than others. Some days they talk for an hour before passing out. Some days they talk for two hours and just as we're about to spring them free...they fall asleep. Miriam is certainly past the point of needing to nap everyday. Vivian definitely is more comfortable if she take that nap. Mom and Dad miss the certain peace of naptime. Mercifully, bedtime is going smoothly.

In other news, we got the stomach thing that is going around. It was bad. We won't go into the details. And we won't try to visit your homes for a few more days. Luckily, Miriam has escaped it so far. Heaven only knows how. But we're grateful for that blessing. And for Tim's mom who practically lived with us for two days to make sure the girls got fed and cleaned and played with.

And this picture was taken about a year ago.

As we continue to wait for Baby #3...and to negotiate names for Little One...we realize we're about five (fast) weeks from our due date. And we can't wait to meet the one who will sit next to these two in a year.

Big Girl Beds

Today we moved the girls into their new big girl beds. A set of bunk beds from Sarah's grandma's house. Painted "Snow Fall" with new hardware. In a room recently painted "Velvet Slipper". With quilts and pillow shams that Mommy made just for each little girl. (Basically non-stop painting and sewing around here.)

Before:

During:

After:

Much girly-er. Something on the walls might be nice. But it would probably just be taken down. The adjustment to a shared room and real big girl beds is proving to be just that. A true adjustment. It took the girls two hours to fall asleep at naptime today. We put Vivian on the top bunk in hopes that it would convince her to stay in bed. No such luck. She jumped out several times with no problem whatsoever. At one point, Mommy walked in to find Miriam trying to hoist Vivian back into her bed. Viv's taken down the crucifix above her pillow and there are bite marks in the fresh paint on the guard across the length of her bed. Miriam complained that the bed was just "too cozy" so she couldn't fall asleep. Well, there are certainly worse things.

When we started moving furniture and clothes from Vivian's room (aka The Nursery) into the now shared bedroom, Vivian wasn't sure she liked this plan at all and blamed Baby. "Baby is taking away my bed," she stated as she lay in her old crib as motionless as possible (not very still at all, really, because she is just the Viv after all), trying to reclaim the space for herself. But by nap time she was thrilled about this new bed and could hardly contain herself, much less try to lay still.

They are very excited about their beds. Hence not being able to fall asleep. And we know it will get easier to go to sleep in the same room as time goes on. But we'd really like that to go a little more smoothly in the future. If for no other reason than we'd feel more prepared for Baby.

So we'll keep you posted on the new shared bedroom situation. Until then, pray for our parental patience.

Love, Raincoat, Baby Bump

This week's theme was easy: Valentine's Day. Easy because there are about a million craft ideas, free worksheets, children's books, activities, etc. that people have come up with for Valentine's Day. Virtually think-free for Mommy. Here are a few photos of one of the crafts we did. We'll spare you pictures of every other heart related project this week.

Vivian worked so hard on this Valentine Kitty!

Miriam also face-planted in the driveway this week. Hence the scrape under her eye.

Finished Valentine Kitty

Mommy made the girls valentines with special messages.

And Daddy even bought each of his three Valentine's cards. Glittery as can be!

 We had a red themed supper. Strawberries...

...and Apple Beet Waffles. (Our waffle maker is heart shaped. Perfect!) Sounds weird. Tastes fabulous! And has no food coloring!

Daddy gave Mommy a very sweet card and a bottle of Moscoto d'Asti. Mommy gave Daddy a nice card and a 12 pack of beer. So that was our Valentine's Day.

Also, this week, Mommy sewed Miriam a raincoat! She loves it!

And finally, we are now at 33 weeks.The baby has surpassed the "bump" status. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to call it a cute little baby mountain?

Snow(less) Week

Last week our theme was SNOW. We talked all about snow. Colored about snow. Pretended about snow. Read about snow. Crafted about snow. Snow. Snow. Snow. And it almost feels like this blog post should be titled "Pinterest FAIL". It didn't really snow. Well, not enough to actually cover the ground. And one day it was about 60 degrees. We took a walk in the rain. And as you'll see from the pictures, our snow projects were more messes than anything else.

We attempted to make an igloo out of packing peanuts. Which didn't want to stay together with Elmer's glue, glue sticks, or the hot glue gun.

 

And Vivian ate the glue.

 But Miriam is definitely getting better with glue!

So Mommy broke out the cake testing broom. It was a Christmas gift that is handmade locally and each little "stick" can be broken off and used to test if baked goods are done.

So this ended up being a great way to work on our fine motor skills.

 But not a great way to construct an igloo.

The girls moved on to packing peanut cupcakes!

 And packing peanut jumping bags (which could feel like walking in snow??).

Another day we attempted snow paint. (Mix together equal parts flour, salt, and water.)

They enjoyed it!

However, the "paint" was so thick it was hard to spread around with a paint brush. Snow finger painting ensued.

And of course, snow body painting.

But this week, it is snowing! We have lots and lots of snow to play in. Last night we made snow ice cream. It was actually really easy and really tasty. So snow week is being extended into this week!