Wells is Two!

Wells turned 2 on June 3. Life has been so busy lately that I'm just getting around to posting it. I wrote the post below during his birthday week - some of his favorite things as a freshly minted two-year-old. It's amazing to me that some of things these have changed in such a short period of time.

We moved just 3 days before his birthday but decided that wouldn't keep us from partying it up. We hosted a small group of family and friends for his big day and I'll pepper those photos throughout.

Loves:

Gue-tar
Doggies
Plow trucks
Doing "gigas" (Basically tackling mommy.)
Music class
Singing (So much that it warrants a list of his favorite songs. See below.)
Lucy Dog + Wilbur Dog ("I love Wibur dog." "I love Lucy dog." "Where Lucy dog go?")

Favorite songs:

Hello, Everybody
Goodbye, So Long, Farewell
ABCs
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Sandpiper

 

Funny Sayings:
"Eek! There's a mouse in Mr. Newhof's plow truck."
"Eek! There's a mouse in Mr. Newhof's car."

Playing:
Rocket ship, rocket ship, to the moon - fly! On mommy's legs.
Driving his Fisher Price car with his bike helmet on.

Eats:

"Macancheeeese"
Wadamelon
Pack packs
Waffle toast

Wells continues to be such a source of joy. He is sensitive, sweet, joyful, and charming. We couldn't love him more if we tried. Happy belated, sweet boy, we love you oh so much!

The Big 0-4

Yesterday my first baby, Elia, turned four.

I normally say that I can't believe (enter offspring's name here) is (enter said offspring's age here) but four I saw coming.

Elia has grown so much in the last year. I think it's in large part to her starting preschool in the fall. She knows all of her letters, can read maybe a dozen familiar words, has picked up little phrases and mannerisms (for better or worse) from kids at school, and has become more confident since the fall. Honestly, it has felt like she was four for a while now.

Regardless, we were so excited to celebrate the big 0-4 this weekend. We hosted a painting party for her and some of her classmates at the Grand Rapids Art Museum on Saturday. The party was great and included a tour, story, time to paint, and of course, we had time set aside for cake and gifts.

I was so impressed by how nice and well-behaved these kids were. It was so much fun to watch Elia play with kids she spends time with every day.

She was over the moon about the party and it seemed like all of our guests had a nice time too.

After the party, I took Elia to an Easter egg hunt while Todd took Wells home to nap.

We followed up her big party day with Easter Sunday. A combination birthday/Easter weekend is kind of loco guys. We had Easter baskets and bunny pancakes before church followed by Easter brunch with both sets of grandparents. Followed by cake and gifts.

It was SO MUCH FUN AND EXCITEMENT for the kids.

Seriously, so much celebration. How lucky are we? And we're not even to her actual birthday day yet.

Since her birthday fell on a Monday, it wasn't the most celebratory day of the multi-day celebration but we did presents before school and she got to wear her "It's My Birthday' t-shirt to school, which was a hit.

Yesterday was also the first day of a cooking class she and I are taking for the next few weeks so e grabbed a quick dinner at Donkey and then headed to class. We had a great time and are looking forward to the next class.

All in all, it was a fantastic birthday for Elia.

I cannot wait to see how she grows and changes this year. I wrote a sappy Facebook post about how wonderful this little peanut is and I'm going to conclude the longest birthday recap post of all time with a large portion of it:

"My girl is a thoughtful, careful, creative, inquisitive, gentle and caring child. She has the memory of ten elephants. She loves singing, playing school, drawing, practicing her letters, and cutting with scissors. She made me a mom and helps me learn how to be a better one every day. She asks the most amazing questions that make me think about things in new ways. She is growing more independent every day but still needs me (which is good for a mother's heart). I can hardly remember life without her. Elia Grey, my love for you is fierce and deep and I pray your year is one of both joy and growth. Happy birthday, my little love."

Spring Break - Kiawah Island

If you follow me on Instagram you know that we just spent the most wonderful week in South Carolina. This was Elia's very first spring break so we decided to take advantage of her time off from school and join friends and their families in renting a house on Kiawah Island.

Kiawah Island is about 35-40 minutes outside of Charleston. Todd and I have planned to visit Charleston multiple times over the last few years and just haven't actually made it for one reason or another. We were thrilled when friends proposed renting a house so close to Charleston so we could finally explore the area.

Indoor Play - Shaving Paint

The gross cold bug that's been going around has made its way to our household. Actually, it's more like it moved in here around Christmas and decided to stay a while. I've been sick for almost two weeks now and finally went to the doctor yesterday and I officially have a sinus infection and a mild ear infection. Yuck. I'm the last of us to get truly sick this season. Every single one of us have been prescribed antibiotics in 2017. This fact is, to quote my dear husband, "Crazy. And gross."

BUT

I am all about silver linings and I have two for this bout of ick.

1) I hate being sick but love sick days. And I'm taking one right now. After filling up my entire work trash can with tissues (so gross) and seeing the doctor, I decided it was time to take one full day of rest. So here I am, in my quiet house. Resting. And hopefully healing. (Antibiotics, werk!)

2) This sick day has given me time to update the blog with all of the indoor fun we've been having.

So without further ado, I give you shaving paint.

Here's what you do:

1. Gather materials. You'll need:

• Shaving cream
• 2 colors of paint
• A large zip top bag
• Masking tape
• Postage tape

2. Squirt two different colors of paint into the corners of the bag, one color on each side.
3. Squirt the shaving cream into the bag.
4. Seal the bag.
5. Tape the top for an extra secure close - I used masking tape followed by postage tape but duct tape would work too.
6. Let your kids go to town.

This activity allows kids to experiment with color mixing and completely eliminates the risk of getting paint everywhere. No mess, no problem.

This is what we started with. One bag for each kid.

And this is what they did with them.

indoor play - sticker tracing

Here in Michigan, our winters can stretch for months, sometimes from November to March, sometimes even into April. We've had a fairly mild winter so far, including a glorious 60 degree day last weekend but it's very possible that that day was the last time we'll get out of the 30's for the next month.

Our weather doesn't allow for regular or predictable outdoor play and, let's admit it, I'm not super enthusiastic about playing in the snow. Or being cold. This means I've been spending time on Pinterest lately looking for indoor play ideas and trying them out with the kids.

We've been having so much fun trying these new activities out and I'll be sharing them all here on the blog over the next week or so. I hope they inspire you and your family to play in new ways this winter.

First up... Sticker Tracing!

sick day, er...week

Well, our 2017 is off to a bit of a second rate start. Not awful, just not first rate.

First, Wells got sick. My happy little guy was just not quite himself and when daycare called to tell me he was "just so sad" I knew something was up. Turns out he had a double ear infection. Ick! Thankfully his course of antibiotics have worked wonders on him and he's back to normal again.

A few days after that call from daycare, Elia started coughing like crazy one night. The next night, it was worse and barky so I suspected croup. I took her to the doctor the next morning and they thought it was just a bad cold. We hunkered down for a sick day from school with lots of snuggles and rest time. Three full days of fever later, we were back at the doctor and it turns out she has pneumonia. Oof.

christmas recap

Happy New Year! I hope your 2017 is off to a bright start.

I thought I'd do a quick holiday recap before we get too far into January. Plus, I need to share all of the adorable photos I took over Christmas, right?

Are you ready for photo overload? Here we go.

The kids met the big guy at a Breakfast with Santa this year. One of them was more interested than the other.