Sunday, February 27, 2011

Silver Springs and Ponte Vedra

Joe has a business trip planned and Terra decided to stay in Florida for a little longer, so I packed up the kids and headed to grandma and grandpa's house for a short weekend trip. Joe caravanned with us to Ocala where Silver Springs was hosting a special event called Kidfetti. We met the family there for the day. Here are some pictures.

First up was a glass bottom boat ride down Silver River. The boat route was staged with all the old archaeological dig stuff and it made me itch to get back into my anthropology state of mind. It was really cool to hear all about Florida's first underwater archaeology dig and hear about the history of the area. I certainly would not have survived as one of the first settlers in Florida!

There were 20-something booths set up with crafts and activities for the kids. Rosemary only wanted to go to booth #2- decorating a picture of a ducky, with glitter and stickers. After that the day got a little, well, three-year-oldy (if that makes sense), but was saved after a pretzel and big drink of lemonade.

Kidfetti is essentially a craft and music fest for kids. Here is the main stage. I rolled my eyes at the thought of spending the day listening to kid music (in my mind I was thinking of Justin Bieber and Jonas Brother wanna-bees). But then Gina Marie got on stage. She was diagnosed with Autism at age 2, didn't start talking until 3, and now at age 9 is one of the most sought-after artists in the country to sing the national anthem at events. So it was hard to not be in awe and inspired by this little lady on stage (even though it's hard to see her in this picture, she's there!). And she has such charisma, too. What a surprise!

Rosemary found this little boat ride and was so excited when two other kids joined her in it. She talked all about her "friends" after getting out!

After a few hours, we gave kisses to daddy and hopped in our cars to head to grandma and grandpa's house for a couple days. Here are the grandparents with all three grandkids.

Tomorrow I'll pack up my herd and head home. I really hate leaving. Hopefully one day my whole family will be in one place.

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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Glazer, take 2

We attempted the childrens museum again today. I figured it might go better now that she had a good experience there with her daddy. It was much better this time! I didn't take any pictures, but she is currently napping, so that tells you she had a good time!

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Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Future Gymnast

We have thought long and hard about how best to transition Rosemary to preschool. We decided it would be a good idea to get her started in an activity one day a week that is fun, but also requires her listening to and following directions from, an adult other than mommy. I have taken her to playgroups, baby and me classes, and toddler classes since she was 2 months old to socialize her and expose her to different things, but she's always with me. We tried getting her in swim lessons this summer, but that didn't work out, and then Xander came and things got a little hairy around here for a few months, so it's taken some time, but we were finally able to enroll her in a gymnastics class. Her first class was today. Here she is all dressed up and ready to go! She was so excited for class!



We got there a little early so we were able to go up to the observation area and watch the class before her. She became SO excited when she saw the other kids! You can tell by the look on her face that she couldn't wait to get out there!

Here is the actual gymnasium with all the equipment they use. It's hard to tell in the picture, but the entire studio is lined with trophies. It's pretty neat to see!

When it was finally her turn, she ran onto the floor and started jumping on the equipment! Unfortunately, they start in a circle doing warm up exercises before getting onto the floor so I immediately had to redirect her. After the warm up activities (which include singing and dancing and silly stuff that she enjoyed), they broke into small groups, I think by age, and I went back up to the observation deck with Joe, who lovingly took the morning off work to watch Rosemary go to her first day of gymnastics and Xander. It ended up that she was in a group with only one other girl. One other girl that has probably been doing this since birth! She was doing cartwheels and backflips and able to do everything pretty much on her own while Rosemary struggled with doing a forward roll and wasn't really sure what was going on. She was having fun, though, until it was time for them to move to one station to another. She did NOT want to leave the trampolines. I actually had to go down to the floor and pick her up and carry her to the next station. At least I know her persistence and stubbornness are not solely directed at me since I wasn't even there! Overall, I think it's going to be a good experience for her. It will help her follow directions, give her some exercise, and get her used to listening to someone other than me. I just hope she does a better job of listening to the teacher next time!

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

Parenthood certainly has it's fun times and lately we have had our share of them! As a Christmas present, we bought Busch Gardens tickets for the whole family. They have definitely been paying off. Today we actually got to see Joan Jett live in concert! Sure, I may have been Rosemary's age when she was at her prime, but as a teenager, and still today, I became immersed in the world of good 80s music and who better represents that than Joan Jett?! Rosemary was so excited when the first song came on- Bad Reputation, a classic. Or as Rosemary recognized, "it's Shrek!" (yes, this song is featured in her current favorite movie.) I think she had more fun rolling down the hills and playing chase with me, and then a group of other kids her age, than she did watching the concert, but she certainly enjoyed it! Xander slept the whole time. Joe's parents came with us, and I think all 3 generations of us had a great time!
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Saturday, February 19, 2011

Ambitions

I have so many things I'd like to do, and no energy in which to do them. So I'll just leave you with some cute pictures of my kids.

I was trying to get a picture of her modeling her new FSU regalia gifted to us by another FSU alum whose own children have sadly outgrown them, but she was not all about the posing for a picture. But she LOVES this outfit!!

Doesn't he look mad? He wasn't really. He just makes this face a lot. I'm pretty sure lots of people think he's giving them an evil glare, but I think he's just a deep thinker.

He has started taking a pacifier, thankfully! It's been a big help this week. I'm sure I'll regret sticking with it when he turns a year and is still sucking away, but for now, I am SO thankful to have a way of pacifying sometimes that doesn't involve my boobs.


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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Xander beats the drum

Hehe. He loves the drum!
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Monday, February 14, 2011

All-American Valentines Day

We thought it would be fun to take the kids to Johnny Rockets for Valentines Day for a good, old-fashioned burgers and shakes kind of date. Over dinner I realized that last year, in the throws of morning sickness, we went to Five Guys on v tines day, so we thought it made for a cute tradition. And what better way to end an All-American meal than with a Big Apple milkshake- a slice of apple pie blended with vanilla ice cream. Rosemary liked it so much she ate it with all three straws!
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Happy Valentines Day!

Last night Joe took Rosemary on a very special Valentines date. The Glazier Museum hosted a Sweetheart's Dance, her very first ball. I helped get Rosemary all pretty for the dance, including shiny lip gloss, and sent them off. The night sounded magical. Rosemary even made a new friend, a little girl she danced with all night long who was also on a special daddy date. I hope Xander and I can join them next year!
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Sunday, February 13, 2011

Some pictures

Last year I made of goal of improving myself as a mother and made some promises to myself that have just recently started coming to fruition. I have been immersed in the world of playgroups since Rosemary was 2 months old. They have been a great support in helping me combat the loneliness of stay-at-home-momdom and I have made some great friendships. But there were some things that I have felt lacking since I started staying home. I've been trying to find some sort of spiritual support group, and this past week I found a moms circle at a church. It is a discussion group mostly based around books. I went to my first meeting on Friday and I am so hopeful that I will learn a lot from these women. The book they are currently discussing is "Building Better Families" and the questions brought up for discussion were things that I am constantly trying to improve in myself. It was very comforting to be around a group of moms of all ages and levels of experience and know that these are things so many people struggle with and work to improve in themselves. I'm hopeful that this group will help me to grow as a mother and wife and help provide some guidance where I need it most.

On that note, I'll leave you with some pictures I've taken recently with my phone.

I take pretty much any chance I get to snap a sibling photo, especially when they're both wearing their pajamas! Rosemary's favorite thing to do lately is to hold her baby (she always calls him "my baby" and sometimes I'm not so sure she doesn't believe it. She tells me she's his mommy.) I love his little pouty lip in this one!

These are the kinds of memories I want Rosemary to have of growing up. Inline skating in her princess dress and party hat.

I recently rearranged the patio furniture so there is more room out there for her to inline skate and move around and she is putting that space to good use.

We are headed to a Valentine playdate tomorrow with some of our friends and I saw this adorable idea on a website so I wanted to try it out. They used sticks of gum, but I used packs of Smarties. Rosemary has never had a Smartie before so I'm sort of dreading the rush of sugar that will come with this treat, but I thought it was a cute idea to share with her friends and was more fun than store bought Valentines! Plus, the whole thing only cost me $1 for a pack of Smarties because I had the rest of the materials at home! Rosemary helped me attach the heart-shaped "wings" to the body.

I love sleepy baby photos so I had to share this one of my sweet boy. He's growing out of all his clothes so fast! This is one of my favorite onesies of his. Our Nikki gave it to us before he was born and it's just so darn cute and perfect for my geek husband. We have so many photos of Rosemary in her favorite outfits, but not as many of this little boy so I wanted to take one before he outgrows it!

Stay tuned for a special Valentine's post tomorrow!
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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

First solids

I think he likes it! Like the bib? (It says "Star of Mommy's Blog")
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Saturday, February 5, 2011

Things

He's happy now. Isn't he cute?


The other day I was cleaning Rosemary's dollhouse and couldn't find the Xander doll. I looked all over until I finally found him under her dollhouse sink. I posted it on facebook and had some cute ideas speculating as to what he was doing there. One person suggested they were playing hide and seek. Another guessed he was fixing the plumbing. And another guessed that he found a creative spot for taking a nap!

Daddy joined in last night's tea party. You can see our assortment of "tea." I had my nursing tea. Rosemary had her chamomile/crystal light tea. And daddy had his Bud Light "tea." It was that kind of day.

And finally, today we went to a sweet little boy's second birthday party. Here is Xander modeling the cute birthday hats! I love this picture!


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Test

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Thursday, February 3, 2011

Preschool

I enrolled Rosemary in preschool today. In 6 months my little girl will have her first day of school. Where did the time go?
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