Tennis anyone?

The ladies had their first tennis lesson of the year last night (or quite honestly, of their young lives).  You never know what you're going to get with these two when starting something new (mainly Reese).  She has thankfully taken to Spanish class but perhaps that is because you are encouraged to drop off the kids and go (an hour free with my little Emerson, hells yeah I'll take it) so coming out to find me isn't an option.  At tennis class, not so much.  You watch (which is darn cute and fun in its own right).  But a little too easy for Reese to find an alternative to actually following direction and playing.  She started out okay but quickly opted for life outside the courts.  And when I talked her into going back in to give it a shot, she did what she does best, ran right up to the teacher who wasn't expecting her and got nailed in the face with his hand.   You can guess how that turned out.
Anyway, Ryan took to it.....Monica Seles she is not but she gave it her all and our vampire who can't stand two things:  sun and hot weather, listened well and tried her best.  Major props to her considering her allergies have been out of control lately.  But she definitely looked the part.

 When Reese was out there, every time she hit the ball she would then jump up and down shouting "I scored...Mom, I scored"

 Killing time by practicing our Elvis impersonations....

 Warm up stretching....

 And there she is....making her escape as every other child follows direction

 My sweet bud.

Reese tells me she is going to try again tomorrow night...."and I won't cry mom".
Stay tuned....

Drooly McDroolerson

Emerson goes through more wardrobe changes in a day than Reese.  And we all know that is saying something.  The girl is constantly drooling.  Constantly with as many fingers in her mouth as possible.  Constantly soaking her shirts.  Let the teething fun begin.....I suppose I could bust out a bib.  But I don't like bibs.  I really couldn't even tell you where one was - somehow they've gone missing in this house.  I'd venture to guess that Ryan and Reese's dolls know where they are.....So for now, we'll continue to dress, soak shirt, undress, repeat.  

Tummy time

Three ways....each gal around the 15 week mark

Reading

Let's just file this one under the "how is it possible I have a daughter who will be shipped off to all-day kindergarten in the fall" - seriously, how is it?  Tonight is Kindergarten night at her future school.  I will tour and meet with teachers who will end up seeing Ryan more than I will come August.  Her current preschool is amazing and is part of the school district so they really help prepare the little nuggets for what's to come.  Thankfully Ryan loves it - loves to learn - loves to play 'school' - etc.  We've been working on reading.  Insane to think this girl is beginning to read.

Anyway - she's really getting the hang of it.  We have some level 1 books, notebooks, stickers (and princess chapsticks - naturally).  When we read each story and get through the tricky words (which we write down the words she gets stuck on and practice in our 'school' at home), she gets to pick a sticker per sentence and add to her 'field journal'.   The chapsticks (which were intended purely to cure those darn cracked lips from a loooooong winter) apparently get paired with the matching princess from her books.  It's pretty precious to watch how happy and proud of herself she gets when she tackles a new sentence.    And even crazier to listen to her read a page to us.

Now if I can just perfect her typing skills, I'll hand over the blogging duties.

Weekend wrap-up

It was a win-win this weekend.
Win:  Grant was actually in town.  His work (or perhaps his second secret family) has been taking him away quite a bit (including weekends) so to have him home is delightful.
Win:  The weather was pretty darn good - nice enough to play and get some work done outside (and most importantly, tire the girls out just before baths and bedtime)
Oh and I suppose win-win-win as Emerson took her first marathon long nap yesterday - pushing 3 hours.  And considering we were getting 30 minute stretches at 'nap' time, this was unheard of....and prompted numerous checks to ensure she was in fact still sleeping and breathing.
We celebrated Grandma's birthday - Grant smoked some mean ribs all afternoon yesterday and the girls were more than happy to help with blowing out the candles.

 Saturday, I politely suggested that Grant take both Ryan and Reese to pancakes Sunday morning so Emerson and I could have some quality coffee time (read:  not chase around any toddlers in a room full of hot coffee)....

 One of the coffee regulars gave Emerson a long talk on life as the youngest.....she has three daughters of her own and she so rightly told me "watch out for the second one!" --- essentially the first and third daughter will aim to please....the second is a wildhorse.  Oh how right on she is with that....

 Meanwhile, over at Spencers, Grant and the girls had a nice breakfast together...

 What has become Ryan's signature move....hanging on to the door handle and 'riding' it in...sorry Panera.

And while it was by no means hot out, the girls were anxious to get some water play in.....they even asked to get in their bathing suits...we squashed that one pretty quickly but they got their water fix in nonetheless.

Happy Earth Day!!!!

Saturday smiles!

And considering today is Grandma's birthday, an all-smiling post is apropos this fine Sunday.  

 Besides being a laughing queen, she's also a fierce Project Runway fan (go Michelle!).

The party planning committee is gearing up for a little dinner party in Grandma's honor tonight.  Must run and check on the debauchery decorations.

On the move.....

When I said yesterday Emerson was "oh so close" to rolling over, I should have waited a few hours.  While technically it was 14 weeks, 6 days,  let's round up and officially say the semi-mobile stage commenced at 15 weeks.  Back to front and then over again from front to back.  Ugh.  Might as well give her the keys to the car, she's growing up too fast.  But I suppose with a sister like Reese, mobility is essential to survival.

Babies, maps, iPads and, oh yes, a wardrobe change

My long, lean string bean....  Whom is the easiest baby of all time, but we are quickly learning she is the 'easiest baby of all time' for me.  Only me.  Kind of the little stinker for grandma and dad.  So as long as she and I never part ways for more than 3 hours at a time, or we wait until 8pm to get a babysitter, we'll be good.   Fine by me.  I can only hope this lasts through college.

She is oh so close to rolling over.  Funny how with the first child I was encouraging and excited about all these little milestones, this time I want to push her back down so she stays my cuddly, immobile baby 4-eva.   I bet you're diggin' her mini-mullet hairdo.

 I love when the girls bust out the world.  They get a kick out of finding the 'funny' countries.....Turkey, Chile, Greenland and for some reason Georgia is a hoot as well.

 On the prowl....

 Ryan rocks in the big sister department....she already has Emerson (or 'Emme' as the ladies call her) well versed in the iPad language.

 It is 7:30am....what is your 3 year old wearing?  Her big sisters' party dress?  Backwards?  Of course.

 Buds

 Melt my heart.

Happy Wednesday!

Whole new world....

Facing forward in the Bjorn

I've got nothin'

Seriously, nothing of note.  But it's been over a week so here is a hodgepodge of randomness....
With the addition of Gwyneth's new cookbook, comes the addition of a whole lotta fancy schmancy ingredients in my kitchen and the subtraction of a whole lotta dough from the ole checking account - thanks to Whole Foods.  Which, PS, I braved last week with all three girls.  Take a moment to visualize that if you will.  Emerson in the Baby Bjorn, Reese in the front seat of the tiny shopping cart and Ryan leading the charge attempting to throw overpriced food after overpriced food into the cart.  Recipe for disaster?  Of course.  But in reality, I was mildly shocked at how well behaved the crew was.  The joke was on everyone else in the store when out of nowhere (and I mean NOWHERE) the eldest two ladies started begging me for steamed broccoli when we passed the prepared foods section.  Seriously.  Those two wouldn't sooner touch steamed broccoli (even smothered in amazingly saucy cheese, let alone plain) more than I would touch any deceased rodent in our basement.  People were looking at me like I was mother of the year.  Three kids under control.  Two begging for plain ole steamed veggies.  A cart full of Gwyneth approved health foods.   I was practically a saint.  Of course I got the broccoli (it did look damn good)....who turns down that request?  And of course when they got it home, the begged for it for lunch, took the most minuscule bite known to man kind and then Ryan asked if she could just keep it in the fridge for awhile.  Like a science project.  It lived another day before I put it out of it's plucked and played with misery.  Anyway, back to Gwennie.  There are a lot of tasty looking recipes in the book but I quickly took to the easiest one in the bunch (if this even qualifies as a 'recipe' ) for my daily lunch the past two weeks:  whole grain toast, sliced avocados (or smeared fresh guac if I've just made a batch) and veganaise (surprisingly good), the bestest (totally a word) darn vegetable chips I have come across (Terra: Sweets and Carrots) and some fresh fruit.

We've been doing the History Museum every Friday as they have a great program for kids....these girls still remember last year's painting with their feet so they were beyond thrilled when the first week this year included the same: 

 With the nice weather, Grandma and Grandpa have put them to work in their front yard...

 Chillin' like a villain...

 Family trips to Lowe's always include a stop for a riding lawn mower photo op...

The joke is on me as this lovely blue line on our TV randomly appeared last fall.  It's annoying and ridiculous.  It prompted an argument with the folks at Samsung.  We lived with it for a few months.  Magically one day in December we looked up and it was gone.  Grant coined it the 'Christmas miracle'.  The TV has been perfect ever since.  4+ months of no line.   Can't see the line, can ya Russ?  Seeing as I can't make it to the gym everyday (logistically speaking and we'll be honest, motivationally speaking), I bought Jillian Michael's 'Shred It' on Apple TV.  No freakin' joke but halfway through the first 'cardio' portion of the workout I look up and that mother effer blue line is smiling back at me, mocking me.   Feel free to insert your weight jokes here _______.  
**For the record, it is gone again, but I have also moved back considerably when doing the cardio since then for fear of jarring it with my mighty force.   So what if I'm on the back porch doing my jumps and lunges, at least the TV is looking good again.  

Today we were kid-TV free (all freakin' day - no Sprout, no Disney Jr, etc...) due to some attitude issues at bedtime the night before.  Perhaps the desperation for anything to watch overcame the girls as they asked to 'do their exercises with Jillian' long after mom was done.   I'm not sure why it's so hard to keep a shirt on Reese but let's hope this little issue resolves itself before she hits high school.  

 Grandpa and little Miss Muffet

Ryan and I had another little coffee date this week....discussion topics included some birthday party planning and our trip to her birth state this summer, Colorado.  She's pumped.

 When Grant travels, Ryan and Grant like to share text message pictures.....she's sending him a kiss.  So sweet, right?  Except for the fact that Ryan only lets us kiss her forehead these days (which she made me stipulate in the text to daddy - her cyber kiss was forehead only too).   A very intricate bob and weave is required if you want to kiss those lips.

 This girl though.....man oh man,  does she like to cuddle.  I'm surprised her cheeks still have skin on them.  I kiss on those puppies all day long.

Alrighty then, I'm done.  Time for bed.  Have a good weekend!!!!