A Train Ride...

Sometimes the best days are those that are spontaneous and completely unplanned. A perfect example... we had such a great day when we stumbled upon a train ride in a neighboring county. Daddy whipped our car into the parking lot just as the train was about to depart. We hopped on and enjoyed an hour long ride through the most beautiful green countryside with breathtaking river views. There was a closed car and an open air car and we spent time on each, but when BP found the window in the open air car and made a couple friends, that is where we stayed. Alex and Felix sat beside BP and the threesome enjoyed the ride and talked amongst themselves. They read a Thomas book while chugging down the tracks and then Alex tickled BP's toes because he like her toenail polish. She keeps talking about him touching her toes. It was a fun and relaxing day... Thanks to Daddy for finding this adventure.

Potty Roadblock

The Barefoot Princess in picture #1, showing her beastly mood all morning because she has to go #2 and is afraid for some reason. We need help and advice on going #2 on the potty desperately!!! You would not believe the whining, crying, and drama all morning... until she finally just goes in her pants and then is so upset because she had an accident. Picture #2 was taken ten minutes later after all had been cleaned up... I found BP coaching Kirsten through #2 on the potty. I had to laugh because we had such a rough morning.
I have to look this up in my toddler books and on-line, but any help would be appreciated. She has mastered #1 on the potty, but this is a whole different challenge.

Sitting Like a Lady

The Barefoot Baby often sits like this and I think it is such a cute BB characteristic. Something I definitely want to remember!

Super Baby!

Here is The Barefoot Baby hanging in the garden while The Barefoot Princess and I water and weed. She does this new thing where she props herself up on her hands and knees and then lets go... and looks like Superman flying through the air!

Love You Daddy...

Your Two Princess'

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Open House at BP's School

Ready or not... here IT comes... IT is pre-school for The Barefoot Princess. I don't think we will ever be ready, but she is excited and on Saturday we all attended her school's annual open house for new students and current students. Within five minutes of being there, BP took a header off the swings on the playground and blood pured out of her mouth. Thank heavens there was no major damage, just a little cut in her lip where her teeth hit. Needless to say, they will definitely remember her in September.
We were able to meet BP's teacher, who was a former student at the school. Then we took a hike and stopped at each of the six learning stations the classes had set up along the trail. We grabbed some ice cold water and chocolate chip cookies and played on the other playground until it was time to go. Oh, I almost forgot, BP and her Daddy checked out the school's garden and of course the chickens!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my husband, the most selfless (if that is a word) person I have ever known. He loves, cherishes, and adores his girls. BP and BB appreciate all you do for them...from cuddles and kisses to doctor's appointments and suprise visits at the gym. They know that you will always be there for them in every way everyday. XOXO

Garden Update

With the extremely hot weather we had last week and lots of water... our garden grew like crazy. So did the weeds so we have been watering and weeding everyday. Here are some pictures from this afternoon. I cannot wait until the teepee is completely covered. I think BP will have so much fun hiding in their and having a place of her own in the garden.

The Fruits of Our Labor

We have some strawberries that are almost ready to be picked. The Barefoot Princess just made the connection today between the produce in the grocery store and what we are trying to grow in our garden. It happened when she saw these strawberries. She said, "Just like we buy in Hannaford, mommy?" "For our smoothies." So simple, but so cute!

BB's New Cow Seat

Here is The Barefoot Baby in her new Britax Marathon with "cowmooflage" cover. She loves being a big girl in her new seat, can you tell? The Barefoot Princess kept telling us that BB should have a cow seat too. Luckily they still make this particular seat and cover so BB and BP can match. I like looking back at the matching seats in my car... it makes me smile! I agree with BP matching seats are nice! BB only made it seven months in her infant carrrier. She reached the 22 lb weight limit and we were both getting some serious back problems from carrying her in the seat so it was definitley time!

Happy Belated Birthday Nana!!!

Blogging has been very scarce for me since the weather has been so nice. So I apologize for the little vacation I have been on and I will try to post more this week. Last week was Nana's Birthday so...

Happy Birthday to BP and BB's Nana!

The picture above is of a castle in Kilkenny, Ireland and Nana's big birthday surprise was a trip to Ireland. She and Pop-Pop will travel in November and I am sure they cannot wait!

Pizza Party

The other night we had a pizza party at our house with our friends Tom and Jenny, BP's buddy Gavin, and of course we cannot forget little baby Nola, who is just six months younger than BB. BP has always been very fond of Gavin or "Gavy" as she calls him. Today she actually called him her "other prince." Watch out Daddy! Gavin brought his Jeep over to ride and BP was so excited beacause it has two seats and seatbelts. I got one shot of the two of them in the Jeep, but that thing is fast, so it was kind of hard to get a good picture. Gavin was nice enough to let BP drive and she loved it!!! Gavin had more fun watering our flowers. Thanks Gavin! When it got too dark to play outside we headed in for dessert... cookies and delicious pie, which I just finished a slice of. Thanks Tom and Jenny for bringing the pie and coming over.

Trying to Stay Cool...

Family Resemblance???

I think The Barefoot Baby looks a lot like her twin cousins who are just 6 months older than her. Can you see the resemblance too? The twins live in Colorado so we don't get to see them as much as we would like. They are coming home in late July and we cannot wait. Oh, and Happy Belated First Birthday Girls!

A Pink Tutu...

While playing dress-up today, The Barefoot Princess wanted The Barefoot Baby to join the fun. Luckily, in the bottom of BP's dress box we found a small pink tutu. BB was all smiles while sporting her new tutu and BP was thrilled too!

If You Give a Moose a Muffin...

After reading Laura Numeroff's 'If You Give a Moose a Muffin' last night BP asked to make her own muffins today. She chose Cranberry Orange at the grocery store this morning. She stirred the mix with water and spooned the batter into the muffin pan. Fifteen minutes later we shared warm muffins and milk.

Smoothies

BP's New Favorite = Strawberry Banana Smoothies

She loves them!

I love them because they are healthy and she is eating lots of fruit and does not even know it.

I found this recipe in Parenting magazine...

1 cup ice

1 cup low-fat or fat-free vanilla yogurt

1 ripe babana, cut into chunks

1 cup frozen strawberries

1/2 pomegrante or cranberry juice

Dash of vanilla

Place ice in blender, whirl to crush. Add remainig ingredients, and blend until smooth, abput 30 seconds. Serve immediately. Yeilds approx. 3 cups.

BP really enjoys pushing the buttons on the blender, but BB freaks when she hears it. Her bottom lip immediatley juts out and she starts wailing.

(photo above from flickr)

Barefoot Beach Baby

Memorial Day was The Barefoot Baby's first beach experience. (Oops, I almost forgot... our Christmas card picture was really her first time. That was a 60 degree day in December when she was one month old.) So we sat BB in the sand and of course as expected she looked at it, grabbed a handful and ate it! She had a good time and went home with sand everywhere!

Garden Update

A quick garden update...

Almost everything has been planted. I still have to plant the morning glories and beans around the teepee for the second time because the first time was unsucessful. We had to replace a ton of topsoil that we bought with better dirt from our neighbor's compost pile. (Jack and Lorraine save the day once again.) With the new dirt everything we had planted is much happier and thriving once again. It was sad to watch the little seedlings that BP tended to in our sunroom slowly wither away when we transplanted them into the "bad" dirt. Thank goodness we figured out the problem just in time and before we lost everything. Apparently we had a compaction problem, at least that is what our internet research told us. Live and learn!

So far we have an herb garden with...

Basil

Thyme

Oregano

Lavendar

Mint

Sage

Pineapple Sage

Rosemary

We have a vegetable garden with...

Sweet Cherry Tomatoes

Yellow Heirloom Tomatoes

Pink Heirloom Tomatoes

Sweet Peppers

Broccoli

Zuchini

Slicing Cucumbers

Pickling Cucumbers

Heirloom Carrots

Regular Carrots

Peas

Beans

We have a flower garden with...

Zinnias

Sunflowers

Nasturiums

Pansies

Scented Geraniums

The garden has been more work than I ever realized, but so fun and totally worth it. We (all four of us) have spent many hours together outside enjoying each other, talking, and playing while we work. It has been a learning expereince in many ways. I will keep you posted as our garden grows.

BP Grows Up...

Here are a few pictures showing The Barefoot Princess from Spetember to June. When I look at these pictures I see such a huge change in BP. She has grown so many ways since the becoming a big sister and turning two and a half. Physically she has stretched out and lost all her baby roundness. She is all legs now. Her hair has grown a lot. BP went from speaking one and two word phrases to full sentences and sometimes even full paragraphs before we are able to get a word in. She has become the ultimate negotiator and can debate the with the best of them. She rarely naps and is capable of putting in quite a long day. Sometimes we cannot even keep up with her.

Another big change for BP is saying good-bye to diapers and hello to big girl underpants. She has not worn a diaper in three weeks and has not had an accident in days! What's amazing to me is how she picked up on potty training so fast. I think she had been ready and we were holding her back because the diaper was the one thing that kept her dependant on us and kept her our baby for a little longer. The other day on the way to the grocery store she said to me...

"Mommy, you are so proud of me?"

I said "Yes, of course, I am."

She replied, "Because I go pee-pee on the potty, and I get to go to school next year and see the chickens."

I laughed and said, "Yes, you do BP!"

You see the incentive to potty training was that she gets to go to school when she can go pee-pee on the potty. 100% potty trained is a school rule and that is what we told her. The chicken thing needs some explanation... Her school has chickens and she is very excited to see them and collect the eggs. The staff uses visiting the chickens and collecting the eggs as an icebreaker for the new children. Especially for those who may miss their mommies and daddies in the beginning. So BP is over the moon about this. I think she will be distracted enough when we leave her with the chickens, but what about Daddy and I? We will be hiding our tears as we leave.

Sorry to get sidetracked with my little story. The point of my post is to say that our Barefoot Princess has become a little girl... a little lady. She is very good company and I can easily call her my friend...my little buddy, who I can count on her for pleasant conversation, a good laugh, help at home, and lots of fun. She is very sweet to her sister and has not shown any jealousy thus far. She loves her friends and talks about them all the time. She is very attached to her Daddy, her prince, as she often calls him. She is very spirited and has her not listening moments and occasional meltdowns, but can easily be distracted. She loves her babies, princess dresses, and shoes as well as tractors, trains, and working with Daddy. She is such a combination of girly girl and tom-boy it makes me laugh! Watching her grow and change has been the most amazing, fulfilling, and rewarding expereince of my life! So Thanks BP, because someday you will be able to read this and know how special you are, how loved you are, and how much joy you have brought to our lives!

7 Months

The Barefoot Baby will be 7 months old tomorrow. I cannot believe it! She is happy and growing very well. A week and a half ago she was 21 lbs. 10 ounces and 28 and 1/4 inches long. I would tell you what percentage she is in, except she is off the charts. Hard to believe of our little preemie.

BB got her first tooth yesterday, and as you can see from the photo above where she was chewing on a metal JD tractor, she drools a lot. She loves squealing and screaming and making raspberries and motor boat noises. She loves her big sister and especially loves to pull on her princess dresses as she walks by. She loves taking a bath and splashing in the little pool outside, eating grass and sand, and trying new foods. Her favorite foods are sweet potatoes, watermelon, bananas, and teething cookies. Her smile is huge and dangerously contagious. Her eyes, just like her big sister's, are the most vibrant and beautiful shade of blue, almost like blueberries with flecks of white in them. Her hair has turned a sandy blond color over the last seven months and let's not forget those adorable cheeks! BB has brought so much joy to our lives. Just seeing her face in the morning makes my day wonderful! Happy 7 months BB!