Dexter's first bath

I know this seems a little late, but Dex had his first real bath last night. We were having some plumbing issues (the washer was backing up into the kid's bathtub) so that bathroom wasn't being used for a while. We got that fixed yesterday, which was just in time since our little chunky monkey has outgrown sink baths.

He really enjoyed himself and was ready to fight if I took him out before he wanted to be done.

Milestones

This has been a big year for Asher. Last September he started speech therapy twice a week, and preschool twice a week. I was very nervous about both of these. He has so much energy, and I wasn't sure how he would do in school. I pictured him arguing with me about going. He has surprised me so much. He loves school and is so excited about going every day. He has made great friends and always has so much to talk about. He has also done so well in speech. He has made a lot of progress and now only needs it once a week. This is a picture of Asher and his preschool teacher. I can't even describe how thankful I am for her. She is so patient, and loves the kids so much. She has made the year so great for Asher, and has started off his schooling on such a positive note. I'm so grateful for Ms. Melissa.

More colors

Asher loves to play with shaving cream. Last week I stripped Piper and Asher down and got some out.
This was Piper's first time playing with it, and she was a bit timid at first.
I decided to incorporate colors into this activity again. I let Asher pick out the ones he wanted and he mixed it in with the shaving cream.
Piper got in on the action too, and decided she wanted a more artistic approach to the activity by putting the shaving cream on different surfaces.

And by different surfaces I mean all over herself.
Asher thought that would be fun as well.

Dexter had some music time in his crib while they were playing.

Mornings

One of the things I feared the most about having three kids was mornings. We have to be somewhere every day at 9. I was worried how I would get a shower, feed two kids, nurse the other, pump, get all of them dressed and get everything we needed ready to be out of the house by 8:30. Asher and Piper pretty much solved that dilemma by getting up at 6:30 everyday. Two hours is plenty of time to do all of them. The downside is the sleepiness throughout the day. We usually have time to spare in the mornings, so this is what we were up to yesterday.

Dex enjoys lounging in the boppy pillow.

Ashman tries to use his charm to manipulate me into letting him have candy.
Pipes stares at her reflection in the TV. Even she is astounded with how cute she is.

Colors...again

I posted this yesterday, but for some reason it disappeared. Let's try it again.

I've been getting some great Montessori ideas from different books and blogs to do with the kids. Asher knows all of his colors, so this week I wanted to teach him about mixing colors together to make new colors. We filled up a bowl of water and he used an eye dropper to fill up an egg crate with the water. He then added food coloring to some of the crates. After that he mixed different colors together to make new colors. He really loved this activity, and we will be doing different variations of it this summer.

Colors

I love the Montessori approach to learning. I've been gathering resources and coming up with different activities to do with the kids. Asher knows all of his colors, but I wanted to teach him about mixing colors to make new colors. While the younger kids took a nap a few days ago we had fun learning about this. I set up an egg carton and filled up a bowl of water. Asher transferred the water using an eye dropper into each carton. He squeezed food coloring into some of the crates.
He then took different colors and put them into new crates and mixed the colors together. He loved doing this. Our activity ended a bit abruptly when we realized there were holes in most of the crates. Maybe we'll do this activity outside next time.

Ducks

Yesterday morning we headed downtown to feed the ducks. Asher and Piper love to do this. Ash tries to throw the bread as far as he can, and Pipes just screeches every time a duck eats the bread she throws.

After we ran out of bread we walked over the the cupcakery. In my mind I thought I'd put Dexter and Piper in the stroller and Asher would walk nicely beside me. We would go in and all have a cupcake, Dex would be sleeping and the kids would be so grateful for this morning treat that they would behave nicely. Yea, that didn't happen. Dex screamed the entire stroller ride, Piper kept trying to climb out, and Asher was very very upset I didn't let him push the stroller. When we go to the cupcakery Ash couldn't decide which one he wanted, so I chose for him. Of course he didn't want the one I picked out (yet he managed to eat it all). Piper dove in head first and made a huge mess. Dex still continued to scream, so I started to nurse him. At the same time Asher and Piper got out of their chairs and tried to push the double stroller around the store. Needless to say our adventure didn't last much longer. It did help the morning go by quickly, and both kids were pretty worn out by the time we got home. Dexter took a long afternoon nap and only woke up once last night! Yea for another sleeping champ.

Breakfast cookies

Lately I have been in a rut when it comes to breakfast and lunch. We do the same couple of things everyday. I've been trying to add some healthier options to our meals, so I headed over to my friend Clarissa's blog this weekend. She has some yummy breakfast recipes and I made her breakfast cookies last night. They are surprisingly healthy and the kids loved the fact that they got cookies for breakfast. I made enough to put some in the freezer, so I can add these into our breakfast rotation.

Mother's Day

Today is supposed to be a bit rainy so we decided to celebrate Mother's Day yesterday in Virginia. We took the kids to the Fun Forest as soon as we got up there. Nate played with the big kids while I fed Dex when we got inside the park. After a bit we swapped kids and I took Asher and Piper over to the swings. I stood in front of them and pushed them for a while. At one point as I pushed Asher I leaned in to kiss him. He thought it was great and wanted me to kiss him every time I pushed him. Piper of course wanted to be kissed as well. Most days lately are so crazy and I don't remember specific moments, but that is want I want to capture in my mind. In a few years Asher won't want me to kiss him at all, let alone in public. That will be a really sad day for me. I will also remember this morning listening to Nate tell the kids to come in and tell me happy mother's day. Asher ran in and screamed it, Piper ran in and screeched "Mommmmmmy car". I'll take what I can get out of her. Dexter decided he wanted to spend every hour of Mother's Day with me, so he was up every hour last night. I love these kids so much, and there is nothing I would rather be then their mom.

Asherisms

This morning I told the kids we were out of milk. Asher replied "Oh crap, now we have to go to Walmart".

A few minutes later we had the following conversation:

Asher: Poopy, poopy, poopy

Me: Asher we do not use bathroom words

Asher procedes to run to the bathroom

Asher: POOPY, POOOOOOPY

Me: Asher I told you we do not use those words

Asher: But Mommy I am in the bathroom, I am allowed to use bathroom words here

Fun Friday

Last Friday our friend Casie had the day off work. Dexter also mentioned that he had never been out of North Carolina so we thought it was the perfect time to go up to Virginia. We picked up some lunch and headed to the Fun Forest.

Dexter spent most of the time in the stroller.
If any of you have ever met Asher you know his obsession with strollers. He loves to push them, especially at parks.
Piper is living up to her name and loves all things musical. She found some little bells and had fun playing with them.
She is also my daring child. No slide is too big for her.

Asher loved having his auntie Casie there to play with. He loves to climb on anything big. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon. Unfortunately as soon as I got home I started feeling really sick. I've spent the last few days with strep throat. I'm on meds now and hopefully will feel better soon.

Easter

When I was eighteen I started working at the Gap. I worked there for a couple of years and spent a good amount of time working in the baby section. The majority of my time was spent folding and organizing the clothes. I would day dream about having cute little kids and dressing them in gap clothes. My dream has come true, especially with Piper. I love dressing her in these cute clothes. These pictures were taken on Easter. It was such a gorgeous day out.