Night-Night Gowns

Awww... my little angel! If that isn't cute, I don't know what is!! I always wondered at what age little girls decide they want to wear gowns to bed instead of the long sleeve, long pant pajamas that will actually keep them warm. At what point do they switch to the fashion-over-comfort style philosophy? Well, now I know. It's at about 3 years old. Yesterday, Maya wore a very cute cotton dress and tights to play in, and when bedtime rolled around, I suggested that it was time to put on her jammies. She informed me that the dress was her "night-night gown... with dese tights". So, she wore her dress to bed... and again all day today! This afternoon, we shopped for some new night-night gowns, and she chose one with Tinkerbell and one with Princess Tiana. I could hardly keep her from ripping off her clothes in the middle of Kohl's to put her gowns on right then and there! She couldn't wait to get home and change. As a bonus, one gown came with a wand, and one came with slippers. Both are pictured here! Maya will frequently cast "spells" on us with her princess wands. She points her wand at us and says, "Sell! Now you're _____ (pink, a pince, can't talk... whatever the case may be)!" Buddy's had so many spells casted on him that he does it now, too. He'll point his wand/graham cracker stick/whatever he's holding and say, "Sssseh!", I act surprised, and he just giggles. It's pretty cute.
So, we go from a total picture of innocence in the first pic to THIS! She actually WANTED me to take her picture with this silly face. She said, "Take another one!" Then, she struck this pose. When I showed it too her, she laughed. What a goofball!

Buddy's First Ice Cream Cone

"... he stuck in his thumb and pulled out a... bunch of ice cream! And thought, 'What a good boy am I?!'" I'm not really sure what prompted this unorthodox way to test the ice cream waters (Peg, any insight??), but this is how he went after his first of many ice cream cones. Then he decided to give it a little lick-test...
Hmmm... I think I like this stuff...This is how you do it, right?
OH! You've GOT to be kidding me right now! I can EAT this dish?!
Yeah! Just try and stop me now! I double-dog dare you! This is AWESOME!!!
Check this out, Papa! You can eat the WHOLE thing! Can you believe it??
Oh, yeah. Now THAT'S how it's done!
Papa!! Don't forget I JUST devoured an entire ice cream cone!! Wheeeee!!!
Please take note of the "... one sock off and one sock on. Diddle, diddle dumpling, my son... Liam." Hahaha... I bet 90% of the time, that's how he walks around the house. That would drive me crazy, but he doesn't seem to mind at all! Once I finally locate his sock, I'll tell him I need some piggies for the sock, and he always sticks his naked pigs in the air! So, he KNOWS... he just doesn't care. Drives. Me. Crazy. It is one of those things I love about that boy!!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Madeline!

Our little friend, Madeline, turned 3 years old! Here's a little line-up of some of the kids at her birthday party: (from left to right) Sedona, Maggie, Claire, Max, Maya, Anna, Madeline, and Charlie V. The party was at the local YMCA, at the Ace Place, and they did a fabulous job! Here are the kids doing some dances (lead by Coach Leah and Coach Tara, who are also Maya's gymnastics coaches!)... Head, shoulders, knees, toes, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and chin... something!
My personal favorite, "The Chicken Dance"! Look at Madeline get down! The girl's got quite a twist...
Our Buddy, Max...
Maya, Liam, and Charlie V. on the rock wall... Maya was actually pretty good with just a little assistance. The scary part was when she was done (and had climbed above my head) and just leaned away from the wall, turned, and let go! Luckily I had a hand on her and managed to catch her! What a daredevil!
Liam always goes for the basket ball hoop! Anna was giving him some pointers on shooting a basket...
Maya and Madeline spent most of the time climbing up the obstacle course and sliding down this slide. Madeline always went first, and Maya was always trailing right behind her...
Sometimes a bit TOO close behind (amazingly, nobody was ever hurt)...
I just love this HAPPY girl...
Maya and Liam under the parachute...
Maya and her new best friend, Anna, walked every where holding hands. It was so cute. Maya is just enthralled by older girls, and Anna clearly loves to help the littler ones. Even though there's not much of an age difference, there is a clear difference in maturity. After Maya very eagerly gave Anna a big hug, Anna turned to me and said, "After you turn 4, you're not quite as playful as you used to be." Oh my goodness! She is so funny (and I hope that's not true!!)...
Here are most of the kids, singing "Happy Birthday" one more time while Madeline blew out her candles...
Buddy, Buddy, Buddy... all the kids are running around on sugar-highs, and he's playing with the weights. Seriously?
A balloon! Finally, Madeline left her post at the birthday-girl chair, and Liam rushed over to get the balloons...
Aaaand... we're back to the weight stacks. GOOD GRIEF!
After cupcakes, Max and Maya hung out on the window sill, eating raisins and Popsicles...
This was a super-fun birthday party! What a great idea, Kysa and Brandon! I wonder if everyone would mind returning for Maya's birthday party?? Although, after the Y, we met up at K2, a pizza place, to eat dinner. Maya and Madeline played at the arcade games (without any money) the entire time we were there, pausing only for a few moments to eat a couple of bites of food. As we left, Maya said, "I want to have MY birthday party HERE!!" Hmmmm... could be!

The Irish Jig 5K

This morning, Karen and I battled the 32 (feels like 25) degree SNOWY weather to run through the streets of E. GR in the Irish Jig! Just yesterday, I ran my longest run to date, 5 miles, in the nicest sunniest 55 degree weather, so I kept checking the forecast for today, thinking, "No WAY is it going to snow!" I could NOT believe it when I got up this morning and there was snow on the ground! I expected that for our run 2 weeks ago, but I did NOT expect it for our run today... on the 1st day of SPRING! It was crazy! It was freezing outside, and because of the snow, by the time I finished half of the race, I was sloshing in my shoes! My clothes were soaked! Ick. I don't think there's any right way to prepare for that kind of weather, except of course, to just stay out of it! Hahaha... too bad that's no longer an option! Anyway, my dad was there to wish us luck, hold our stuff, and see us off at the start, then he retreated into the warmth of Starbuck's during the race. Smart man. He joined back up with us at the finish line to congratulate us on a job well done. It's always SO NICE to have a fan there! Because of a series of camera/operator malfunctions, there's no picture of me and my dad to post here, but I was able to salvage one from a short video to put in my running scrapbook. Anyway... Karen was able to shave about 25 seconds off her time and finished in about 25:30-ish. WOW! That's so awesome. I finished in 34:34. Not as good as my 1st 5K, but it was still under 35 minutes. I'm happy I was able to pull that off, considering my slight hang-up trying to fix a minor wardrobe malfunction! I had tucked my Under Armor shirt into my running pants, and because the outside of the shirt is a little slick, my pants kept riding up and up and up... until they finally reached the bottom of my ribcage! At about 1.5 miles, I couldn't take it any more, so I fought to free my shirt from my pants, got my pants pulled back into place, and readjusted my top shirt, all the while trying to run! Apparently, I can't layer my clothes like that. Lesson learned. I also don't think I will run my "long run" of the week right before a race again. I was a little drained and probably shouldn't have been running on the day that my body should be repairing my muscles from the trauma of such a long run. This is such a learning curve! I'm amazed at how much a learn every single time I put on my running shoes. There's always some new aspect of running to consider... wardrobe, weather, water, shoes, accessories, etc... All I know is that I still have a VERY long way to go! Hahaha... no pun intended. : )

1st Trip to Rycenga Park

When we first got to the park, I put Buddy down and he froze. He didn't want to move. My only guess is that he wasn't sure how to walk on wood chips and leaves. Once I took his hand and lead him around, he was fine with it, but he sure looked grumpy when we first got there! Maya is using the big-kid swings now! This is the first summer that she immediately wanted to swing on those instead of the baby swing. She actually even pumps her legs a little bit! What a big girl!
Buddy was thrilled with the swings! He had the biggest smile...
One of my favorite pics of the kids swinging together...
Liam was not afraid to climb on, over, or through anything! Maya was the same way at his age, completely fearless. He loved crawling through this tunnel, and I loved him crawling through this tunnel because it meant he wasn't trying to walk off some step or ledge somewhere. The ENTIRE time we were at the park, I was on top of him, trying to keep him SAFE from himself. I remember that I taught Maya how to turn around and go down steps feet first, on her belly... in a day. I bet I've sat Liam down, turned him around, and showed him exactly how to back down steps, at least 100 times. Nope. He won't do it. He will not back down steps or off ledges, no matter the height! He's SO thick-headed!! Grrr.... So, you see, contained in a tunnel is the perfect place for him (and my sanity)!
About halfway through the trip, with some coaxing from his sister, Liam started going down the slide all by himself. Sometimes he went feet first, on his belly (the ONE thing he will do that way), and sometimes he went down feet first, on his butt. Either way was fine with me. Notice that tongue sticking out (again)...
Overall, we had a great afternoon at the park with our friends. They even supplied my kids with lunch (that I didn't pack because last time neither one of them wanted to eat)! I think the highlight of the trip for Liam was the play structure. He is definitely a climber! Maya's favorite part was playing in the dirt in the baseball diamond. Her and Claire sat out there for a long time, just digging and playing. Easy entertainment! We will be coming back to this park for sure. It was a hit!

The Big-Girl Bed!

Here's Maya's big-girl bed! We ordered it today and should get it in 4-6 weeks. Her bed will be full size (this one is twin), and there will be a twin size trundle under it (where the space is in this picture). It is the width of a king size bed, and the drawers are fully functioning big drawers! I love the bedding, too, so I will definitely be keeping it in mind as we shop for sheets and blankets. I have a feeling, though, that Maya will want something a little more girly! I'm excited to get this in her room and get rid of her crib. I'm sure the transition will be slightly painful, but we have to do it. I suspect that like potty training, it won't be nearly as bad as I'm imagining and will go just as fast. But, just in case, lets keep our fingers crossed!

Meijer Gardens - Butterfly Exhibit (3rd Annual Family Trip)

I couldn't help but dig up some old pictures from our last two family trips to the Gardens. Can you believe this was taken just 2 years ago?? This was from our first family trip to the Meijer Gardens, during their annual Butterfly Exhibit (March, 2008). Maya was 10 months old!One year later (March, 2009)... Here I am with ANOTHER baby strapped to my body! Maya was about 22 months, and Liam was about 3 months old. Look at the difference in Maya's hair! Not to mention the fact that Liam actually looks BIGGER than Maya did when she was 7 months older than him! Based on weight alone, I'm pretty sure he WAS bigger!
We made the trip back today, for the third time. It's such a fun 1/2 day trip, and this year, I didn't have ANY babies strapped to my body! Both of my "babies" were up walking around by themselves, giving me some good opportunities to snap some pictures of the beautiful butterflies. Here's one of my favorites... there's just something about a blue butterfly...
When we first entered the little indoor flower garden, there was this nice cut-out, so of course I made the kids have their picture taken in it! They both made very cute caterpillars! Here's Maya...
I made a few failed attempts to get Maya to pose as a butterfly, so you get a grumpy looking butterfly and a super-cute caterpillar (again). Here's Liam...
Here are the "babies" this year... walking around, exploring the plants, flowers, and butterflies (sometimes) together... awwww.... : )
Buddy hung out in this spot most of the time. I think he liked it because he could actually stand in the dirt, off the sidewalk, to get a closer look at the butterflies. He spotted the black one one the yellow flower. Such concentration...
"Look, Mama!" Showing off his butterfly...
This is Will's favorite way to tote Maya around. She was showing me how she wanted to "hode one of the buttersies". She kept putting her hands together, as though to make a cup, and stretching out her arms towards the butterflies, in hopes they would land on her hands (though, truth be told, I think she would have freaked out if one actually did land on her hand!)...
Again, holding her hand out, trying to coax a butterfly off of a flower, so she could hold it. She's SO loving of animals and PRETTY bugs, like butterflies. Sometimes when we read books, she'll cup her hands around an illustration of an animal and go, "Awww..." and give it a kiss. There's one book, called "The Christmas Cat" or "The Cat Who Climbed the Christmas Tree", something like that, and every time we read it, there's one illustration which shows the cat starting to slip off the tree branch. Maya always cups her right hand, puts it around the cat's butt, and says, "I dot you, tat. Don't worry. I dot you." It's SO darn cute!!
Okay, so we go from super sweet Maya... to THIS! I have NO idea what this face is all about, but I know it was accompanied by a loud growl! I'm guessing he was getting hungry or just being a boy... one of the two!
Here they are at Noodles & Co., our annual lunch spot. Neither one of them had much of an appetite, surprisingly enough, but they both had lots of fun coloring on these boards. They are mirror images of each other, Maya, our lefty, and Liam, our righty. Check out how well Liam holds the crayon. Both kids picked that up really quickly...
Chasing all those butterflies wore Buddy out! He was out about 20 minutes from home, then continued to sleep for 4 more hours after we got home, and I put him into bed!! I love his super-tired sleeping face... drool, snoring, the works! He's SO CUTE...
Stay tuned for our 4th Annual Butterfly Garden family trip in March of 2011! By the way, Maya kept calling it the "buttersy patch". I love her little expressions!