Natural Springs Garden
We were fortunate enough to be able to tour Natural Springs Garden. Karla was a gracious host who had a lot to tell us about the vegetables they are growing. The kids weren't as into as I thought they'd be, but that's okay! It was educational for me. We are planning to put a garden in our yard so I was interested to hear what she they were able to grow, etc. The tour was free, so that was great but I do wish the kids ad been able to plant something--even if it was just to play in the dirt with seeds and think they were actually planting. I think they would have enjoyed it! But--it is a working farm, not a place for kids to play. :-)
They had a great shaded area with a picnic table so we were able to sit down and have a snack after our little tour.
You can join their CSA and get fresh veggies delivered...although I think there is a waiting list. I asked if they were at any of the farmer's markets around, but she said they weren't right now. They are thinking about setting up some kind of farm stand out in the Lakeway area.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Story Time at Barnes and Noble
The Barnes and Noble near Lakeline Mall has story time on Wednesdays. They have it at 9:30 and at 11:00. I can't seem to get there by 9:30 a.m. , but have made it to the 11:00.
The man that does the story time is great! He sings songs with the kids, always does the same little countdown routine to story time so the kids know what to expect, and he's lively while he reads the books.
He usually reads two books with a little break in the middle for getting out the kids' wiggles. He also does a great job of reading over the noise. It's never silent in there....after all you're reading to a group of children! But he just ignores the noise and reads on. :-) And then at the end there is always a little coloring activity for the kids to do.
We always have a good time. It's a great free (and air conditioned) activity to go do!
The Barnes and Noble near Lakeline Mall has story time on Wednesdays. They have it at 9:30 and at 11:00. I can't seem to get there by 9:30 a.m. , but have made it to the 11:00.
The man that does the story time is great! He sings songs with the kids, always does the same little countdown routine to story time so the kids know what to expect, and he's lively while he reads the books.
He usually reads two books with a little break in the middle for getting out the kids' wiggles. He also does a great job of reading over the noise. It's never silent in there....after all you're reading to a group of children! But he just ignores the noise and reads on. :-) And then at the end there is always a little coloring activity for the kids to do.
We always have a good time. It's a great free (and air conditioned) activity to go do!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Brushy Creek Splash Pad
We LOVE the Brushy Creek Splash Pad! It's at Brushy Creek Lake Park over near Avery Ranch in Cedar Park.
Wonderful things about it:
It's a splash pad so we don't have to get out all the floaties and life jackets just to cool off in this blistering heat.
There are bathrooms!
There are a trees and a grassy area to spread out blankets so we can picnic
There is a playground nearby so the kids can go back and forth if they want.
Plenty of parking
The splash area is partially fenced in.
It's free!
Downsides:
The picnic tables that are right next to the splash area are NOT shaded.
It does tend to get really crowded...so get there early!
The bathrooms can be a little gross, but at least they have bathrooms
The playground isn't really shaded at all so the kids always complain about how hot the equipment is.
My girls love it there. I always forget buckets or balls for them to play with in the water..but other "good moms" bring them and the other kids are always willing to share! :-)
We LOVE the Brushy Creek Splash Pad! It's at Brushy Creek Lake Park over near Avery Ranch in Cedar Park.
Wonderful things about it:
It's a splash pad so we don't have to get out all the floaties and life jackets just to cool off in this blistering heat.
There are bathrooms!
There are a trees and a grassy area to spread out blankets so we can picnic
There is a playground nearby so the kids can go back and forth if they want.
Plenty of parking
The splash area is partially fenced in.
It's free!
Downsides:
The picnic tables that are right next to the splash area are NOT shaded.
It does tend to get really crowded...so get there early!
The bathrooms can be a little gross, but at least they have bathrooms
The playground isn't really shaded at all so the kids always complain about how hot the equipment is.
My girls love it there. I always forget buckets or balls for them to play with in the water..but other "good moms" bring them and the other kids are always willing to share! :-)
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Memorial Park in Round Rock
We went to Memorial Park the other day. I had never been there before. It was really peaceful and quiet. There is a river or stream that goes through it that is really well shaded. The ducks seemed a little full because they weren't racing after our bread--but the kids still liked to try and get the ducks to catch the bread in their mouths.
They have a pretty nice play area for the kids. My older daughter (5) loved climbing the "rocks". My 22 month old didn't really have too much to do there. There were two baby swings and also a smaller play area. The smaller play area wasn't very well shaded and she kept saying the slides were too hot. But, I know that's the price you pay for living in Texas and going to a park anytime after 10 am!
The one really big downside was that the bathrooms were across the street next to the baseball field. So, when my 5 year old had to go to the bathroom, we had to put the little one in her stroller and walk a ways to get there. Luckily she's able to "hold it" til she gets to the restroom! Potty trainers should be aware of that! :-)
I heard from another mom that the park gets really crowded on the weekends. We went on a Tuesday late afternoon and there were only a few other parents with kids there. Don't forget your bread for the ducks! Oh and there are picnic tables if you want to take a picnic.
We went to Memorial Park the other day. I had never been there before. It was really peaceful and quiet. There is a river or stream that goes through it that is really well shaded. The ducks seemed a little full because they weren't racing after our bread--but the kids still liked to try and get the ducks to catch the bread in their mouths.
They have a pretty nice play area for the kids. My older daughter (5) loved climbing the "rocks". My 22 month old didn't really have too much to do there. There were two baby swings and also a smaller play area. The smaller play area wasn't very well shaded and she kept saying the slides were too hot. But, I know that's the price you pay for living in Texas and going to a park anytime after 10 am!
The one really big downside was that the bathrooms were across the street next to the baseball field. So, when my 5 year old had to go to the bathroom, we had to put the little one in her stroller and walk a ways to get there. Luckily she's able to "hold it" til she gets to the restroom! Potty trainers should be aware of that! :-)
I heard from another mom that the park gets really crowded on the weekends. We went on a Tuesday late afternoon and there were only a few other parents with kids there. Don't forget your bread for the ducks! Oh and there are picnic tables if you want to take a picnic.
Friday, May 07, 2010
Mueller Lake Park
We went to Mueller Lake Park today. The girls always have a good time there and I like that it's fenced in. There is a lot of street parking and they have a parking lot. The bathrooms have always been clean when I've used them. They have quite a few picnic tables so taking a lunch is pretty easy. If there aren't any picnic tables available, there is a big grassy area where you can sit on a blanket.
The playground is totally fenced in so the kids can't run off into the water! The playground has a smaller playscape for younger kids and then a bigger one for the older kids. There is also a sandbox and several swings. There are quite a few trees, but they aren't huge trees so they don't give that much shade. After playing you can walk down to the water and feed the ducks. I've seen people fly kites in the big grassy area. There is also a great walking path around the whole park so you can get in some exercise too!
The one downside to this park is that the trash cans are outside of the fenced in area. That makes people think they don't need to throw their trash away! We picked up quite a few empty water bottles and other trash so our kids could play. Throw your trash away people!
We went to Mueller Lake Park today. The girls always have a good time there and I like that it's fenced in. There is a lot of street parking and they have a parking lot. The bathrooms have always been clean when I've used them. They have quite a few picnic tables so taking a lunch is pretty easy. If there aren't any picnic tables available, there is a big grassy area where you can sit on a blanket.
The playground is totally fenced in so the kids can't run off into the water! The playground has a smaller playscape for younger kids and then a bigger one for the older kids. There is also a sandbox and several swings. There are quite a few trees, but they aren't huge trees so they don't give that much shade. After playing you can walk down to the water and feed the ducks. I've seen people fly kites in the big grassy area. There is also a great walking path around the whole park so you can get in some exercise too!
The one downside to this park is that the trash cans are outside of the fenced in area. That makes people think they don't need to throw their trash away! We picked up quite a few empty water bottles and other trash so our kids could play. Throw your trash away people!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Three Christmases--not Four.
So--this year we happened to have three Christmases. I think we had more fun than the movie Four Christmases. Adeline hasn't grasped the calendar yet and Emerson is only 18 months, so we can pretty much tell them whatever we want about the days and holidays and they believe us!
So, we made Christmas Eve Christmas at our house! The night before, we read Adeline the real Christmas story out of the Bible...actually found a child-friendly, easy to understand version online after we started reading out of the Bible and realized she wasn't grasping any of it! Adeline sprinkled the reindeer food on the lawn and put out cookies and soy milk for Santa. We also put a small dish of syrup with little bits of candy cane in it for our "Elf on the Shelf" who she named Buddy (think of the movie Elf with Will Ferrel in it).
We opened presents the next morning...had some breakfast..let the girls play with their toys for a little bit....and then packed up the girls and took off for Houston. We had decided to try to make the 4:00 Children's mass service at a church down the street from Josh's parents house. We got to the church at 3:30 thinking that would be plenty early...boy were we wrong! We had to park on the grass and stand behind the pews of the church where we couldn't really see anything. Then as the service got started, we quickly realized it wasn't really geared towards children. Adeline liked listening to the bells, but Emerson wasn't really enjoying any of it. In previous years the children's mass has been very different. So, we either got the time wrong or they just changed it! So--we left at about 4:30 and decided God would forgive us.
Then the next morning (Christmas day) we opened presents at Josh's parents house with his sister and her partner. We all had fun and ate a yummy lunch. Afterwards, while Emerson slept at home with Grandma and Grandpa, we took Adeline to see the new Chipmunk movie. I had never heard of going to the movies on Christmas Day until I became a member of the Merritt family. I think it's a great tradition! It gets you out of the house when everything else is closed. FYI...Adeline loved the Chipmunk movie, but Josh and I didn't care for it at all! But we suffered through for her. I now have Beyonce's Single Ladies song on my Ipod for when Adeline requests the chipmunk song. LOL.
The next day, we went over the my parents' house for the Staples family Christmas. I have a big family that has a mish-mash of people in it! The adults played a kind of white elephant gift game where one of the hot presents was a book about poop (brought by Josh). Then we let the kids tear into their presents. I never know who gives what present to Adeline and Emerson because the present opening goes so fast over there. We did have four less kids there this time because some of them were sick and couldn't come...but it was still chaotic! Even with the four kids missing that were sick we still had six kids there.
All in all we had a good time at our Christmases...the girls ended up with some nice gifts and I didn't have to buy more storage for all their stuff!
So--this year we happened to have three Christmases. I think we had more fun than the movie Four Christmases. Adeline hasn't grasped the calendar yet and Emerson is only 18 months, so we can pretty much tell them whatever we want about the days and holidays and they believe us!
So, we made Christmas Eve Christmas at our house! The night before, we read Adeline the real Christmas story out of the Bible...actually found a child-friendly, easy to understand version online after we started reading out of the Bible and realized she wasn't grasping any of it! Adeline sprinkled the reindeer food on the lawn and put out cookies and soy milk for Santa. We also put a small dish of syrup with little bits of candy cane in it for our "Elf on the Shelf" who she named Buddy (think of the movie Elf with Will Ferrel in it).
We opened presents the next morning...had some breakfast..let the girls play with their toys for a little bit....and then packed up the girls and took off for Houston. We had decided to try to make the 4:00 Children's mass service at a church down the street from Josh's parents house. We got to the church at 3:30 thinking that would be plenty early...boy were we wrong! We had to park on the grass and stand behind the pews of the church where we couldn't really see anything. Then as the service got started, we quickly realized it wasn't really geared towards children. Adeline liked listening to the bells, but Emerson wasn't really enjoying any of it. In previous years the children's mass has been very different. So, we either got the time wrong or they just changed it! So--we left at about 4:30 and decided God would forgive us.
Then the next morning (Christmas day) we opened presents at Josh's parents house with his sister and her partner. We all had fun and ate a yummy lunch. Afterwards, while Emerson slept at home with Grandma and Grandpa, we took Adeline to see the new Chipmunk movie. I had never heard of going to the movies on Christmas Day until I became a member of the Merritt family. I think it's a great tradition! It gets you out of the house when everything else is closed. FYI...Adeline loved the Chipmunk movie, but Josh and I didn't care for it at all! But we suffered through for her. I now have Beyonce's Single Ladies song on my Ipod for when Adeline requests the chipmunk song. LOL.
The next day, we went over the my parents' house for the Staples family Christmas. I have a big family that has a mish-mash of people in it! The adults played a kind of white elephant gift game where one of the hot presents was a book about poop (brought by Josh). Then we let the kids tear into their presents. I never know who gives what present to Adeline and Emerson because the present opening goes so fast over there. We did have four less kids there this time because some of them were sick and couldn't come...but it was still chaotic! Even with the four kids missing that were sick we still had six kids there.
All in all we had a good time at our Christmases...the girls ended up with some nice gifts and I didn't have to buy more storage for all their stuff!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
The Witching Hour
There is an hour (or two) when the kids go crazy almost every single day. It's the hour or so before dinner. It doesn't matter what time you eat...if you eat at the same time every night or if your dinner time varies from night to night. Even if you don't know what time you're eating that night; somehow the kids know and are run around like banshees the hour before you eat! Josh (my husband) and I call this hour the witching hour.
This is what usually happens in my house:
Josh gets home from work. I try to give him 15 minutes or so before I put him in charge of the chaos. Then his job is to try to keep order while I cook dinner. Problem number one: our kitchen is totally open to the living room. I originally thought this was a great thing. Yay! I can see the kids while doing dishes, cooking, etc. WRONG! The girls treat the kitchen as a race track, running circles all around me while I cook.
Problem number two: Emerson, 16 months, loves me so much she wants to be with me no matter where I am. Not that she doesn't love her Daddy. She adores him! But, she thinks it's really fun to be in the kitchen with mama, trying to act like mama. She opens cabinets, takes things out, and tries to touch the stove. And when she's not in the kitchen with Mama, she won't just sit next to Daddy on the couch reading books with him--she wants to run across the couch, throwing all the pillows off.
Problem number three: Adeline (our almost 5 year old) knows I want her out of the kitchen, but she loves to cook! She wants to help me cook...but then it's really impossible to keep the baby out of the kitchen. And when Adeline isn't helping me cook, she tries to get her sister to chase her all around the house...including chasing through the kitchen.
So, this is what we go through almost nightly. And by the time dinner is ready, I'm frazzled and everyone else is crazed. I'm thinking of buying a big bubble to put the girls in so it's easier to cook. Who knows? Maybe I could be making wonderful gourmet meals but am impeded by the craziness.
Luckily, after dinner is calmer!
There is an hour (or two) when the kids go crazy almost every single day. It's the hour or so before dinner. It doesn't matter what time you eat...if you eat at the same time every night or if your dinner time varies from night to night. Even if you don't know what time you're eating that night; somehow the kids know and are run around like banshees the hour before you eat! Josh (my husband) and I call this hour the witching hour.
This is what usually happens in my house:
Josh gets home from work. I try to give him 15 minutes or so before I put him in charge of the chaos. Then his job is to try to keep order while I cook dinner. Problem number one: our kitchen is totally open to the living room. I originally thought this was a great thing. Yay! I can see the kids while doing dishes, cooking, etc. WRONG! The girls treat the kitchen as a race track, running circles all around me while I cook.
Problem number two: Emerson, 16 months, loves me so much she wants to be with me no matter where I am. Not that she doesn't love her Daddy. She adores him! But, she thinks it's really fun to be in the kitchen with mama, trying to act like mama. She opens cabinets, takes things out, and tries to touch the stove. And when she's not in the kitchen with Mama, she won't just sit next to Daddy on the couch reading books with him--she wants to run across the couch, throwing all the pillows off.
Problem number three: Adeline (our almost 5 year old) knows I want her out of the kitchen, but she loves to cook! She wants to help me cook...but then it's really impossible to keep the baby out of the kitchen. And when Adeline isn't helping me cook, she tries to get her sister to chase her all around the house...including chasing through the kitchen.
So, this is what we go through almost nightly. And by the time dinner is ready, I'm frazzled and everyone else is crazed. I'm thinking of buying a big bubble to put the girls in so it's easier to cook. Who knows? Maybe I could be making wonderful gourmet meals but am impeded by the craziness.
Luckily, after dinner is calmer!
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
The State of My Bathroom
I used to have a maid. When my husband and I made the decision that I should stay at home after our second child was born, the maid was something that got cut from the budget. Most days, it's not a big deal that we don't have a maid anymore.
Then...I walk into my bathroom. I'm pretty good about keeping up with laundry, the kitchen, dishes, etc, but my bathroom is the most neglected area in the house! I clean the girls' bathroom because if I didn't, CPS might come take them away! I keep the guest bathroom clean because...EWW! You don't want guests in your house to think you're a disgusting person. (Even if it's true). I just haven't figured out how to get my bathroom back into the rotation!
It's not like I NEVER clean the bathroom. It just never gets cleaned all at one time anymore. And I know it is bad when Emerson, my 15 month old, followed me into there the other day and I told her, "No, Em! Don't touch, it's yucky."!! LOL. Guess that means it needs to be cleaned!
So, I miss maid day. I miss coming home at the end of the day and having the whole entire house clean at one time. But--I don't miss it enough to go back to work! :-) Someone just needs to gift me a maid service...even a one time cleaning would make me deliriously happy.
I used to have a maid. When my husband and I made the decision that I should stay at home after our second child was born, the maid was something that got cut from the budget. Most days, it's not a big deal that we don't have a maid anymore.
Then...I walk into my bathroom. I'm pretty good about keeping up with laundry, the kitchen, dishes, etc, but my bathroom is the most neglected area in the house! I clean the girls' bathroom because if I didn't, CPS might come take them away! I keep the guest bathroom clean because...EWW! You don't want guests in your house to think you're a disgusting person. (Even if it's true). I just haven't figured out how to get my bathroom back into the rotation!
It's not like I NEVER clean the bathroom. It just never gets cleaned all at one time anymore. And I know it is bad when Emerson, my 15 month old, followed me into there the other day and I told her, "No, Em! Don't touch, it's yucky."!! LOL. Guess that means it needs to be cleaned!
So, I miss maid day. I miss coming home at the end of the day and having the whole entire house clean at one time. But--I don't miss it enough to go back to work! :-) Someone just needs to gift me a maid service...even a one time cleaning would make me deliriously happy.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Mommy Brain
I say-- Blame it on Mommy Brain! Whatever the problem...that's what happened. I can't be held responsible because I'm a mom and my brain doesn't function normally.
I have decided that this ailment occurs shortly after you conceive. You may not know why you put the clothes and the laundry soap in the washer and then didn't turn it on for a few hours (or days) or why you have your bank deposit sitting on your dashboard...start driving to the bank...then drive completely past the bank, forgetting why you are in your car in the first place! After a few weeks of similar occurrences, you discover your pregnant and it all starts to make sense! When you're pregnant, you blame your forgetfulness on the baby using all of your extra blood so there isn't enough pumping to your brain! You tell yourself that after the baby is born, you'll be able to remember to buy chicken from the store--especially when it's already on your grocery list!
Then, you have your baby. You realize you're more forgetful than ever before! You have to write down which breast your baby last nursed from, how long the baby ate, and when the baby pooped. Why can't you just remember those things without having to write them down? Seems easy enough! Your husband will think you're crazy that you can't remember the simplest things--like where those freaking keys are! You blame this forgetfulness on sleep deprivation. You think, when the baby is sleeping through the night I will be back to my normal self who can remember to turn the car off before getting out of it!
Then--8 weeks later (if you're lucky) you're baby starts sleeping more. You get to sleep for 5 hours in a row. This goes on for several weeks. Yet, somehow, you still forget to put gas in the car, call the vet, or go to the post office. Yep--you now realize--you are a MOM! That means.... MOMMY BRAIN! Ahh!! You just CAN'T remember things like you used to.
My daughters are four and 15 months. I still am suffering from this affliction. This morning my daughter told me she was out of night-time pull-ups. I said, okay...we'll get some this afternoon when we go to Target. On the way TO Target we talked about the 5 or 6 things we needed to get. Night-time pull-ups was one of the things we mentioned. We walked through Target, getting the things we needed, a few things we didn't need...paid and took our stuff home. We had dinner, went to soccer practice, and then came home. I told my daughter it was time to get ready for bed. She went upstairs, went the bathroom, changed into her nightgown and then....."MOM! I'm out of pull-ups! You FORGOT!" Well, why didn't she remember? She's not a mom! What's her excuse?? I don't know the answer to that...probably because from the moment we stepped into the store, she was talking about all the toys she wanted me to buy her!
So, now she's in her bed and I'm about to go wake her up to go the bathroom so we hopefully won't have to change the sheets in the morning.
All of you people out there that haven't experienced this phenomenon and are just wondering..."Why doesn't she make a list of stuff she needs to do?" Well, guess what, I DO make a list. I make MILLIONS of lists. I email things to myself, have a grocery shopping app on my phone, have a paper list on the fridge, have things posted on the calendar, etc. etc. It doesn't help if you forget to take your list to the store, or don't read the list, or can't remember what you read 10 minutes later becasuse of your MOMMY BRAIN! And...I think it gets worse the more kids you have. My sister have 5 kids and I'm surprised she remembers to get herself dressed in the morning. I'm keeping with the two kids for now and will decide later if I'd like to be more forgetful and have another child.
Now, I have to go wake up my daughter to potty before I forget and end up changing wet sheets in the middle of the night!
I say-- Blame it on Mommy Brain! Whatever the problem...that's what happened. I can't be held responsible because I'm a mom and my brain doesn't function normally.
I have decided that this ailment occurs shortly after you conceive. You may not know why you put the clothes and the laundry soap in the washer and then didn't turn it on for a few hours (or days) or why you have your bank deposit sitting on your dashboard...start driving to the bank...then drive completely past the bank, forgetting why you are in your car in the first place! After a few weeks of similar occurrences, you discover your pregnant and it all starts to make sense! When you're pregnant, you blame your forgetfulness on the baby using all of your extra blood so there isn't enough pumping to your brain! You tell yourself that after the baby is born, you'll be able to remember to buy chicken from the store--especially when it's already on your grocery list!
Then, you have your baby. You realize you're more forgetful than ever before! You have to write down which breast your baby last nursed from, how long the baby ate, and when the baby pooped. Why can't you just remember those things without having to write them down? Seems easy enough! Your husband will think you're crazy that you can't remember the simplest things--like where those freaking keys are! You blame this forgetfulness on sleep deprivation. You think, when the baby is sleeping through the night I will be back to my normal self who can remember to turn the car off before getting out of it!
Then--8 weeks later (if you're lucky) you're baby starts sleeping more. You get to sleep for 5 hours in a row. This goes on for several weeks. Yet, somehow, you still forget to put gas in the car, call the vet, or go to the post office. Yep--you now realize--you are a MOM! That means.... MOMMY BRAIN! Ahh!! You just CAN'T remember things like you used to.
My daughters are four and 15 months. I still am suffering from this affliction. This morning my daughter told me she was out of night-time pull-ups. I said, okay...we'll get some this afternoon when we go to Target. On the way TO Target we talked about the 5 or 6 things we needed to get. Night-time pull-ups was one of the things we mentioned. We walked through Target, getting the things we needed, a few things we didn't need...paid and took our stuff home. We had dinner, went to soccer practice, and then came home. I told my daughter it was time to get ready for bed. She went upstairs, went the bathroom, changed into her nightgown and then....."MOM! I'm out of pull-ups! You FORGOT!" Well, why didn't she remember? She's not a mom! What's her excuse?? I don't know the answer to that...probably because from the moment we stepped into the store, she was talking about all the toys she wanted me to buy her!
So, now she's in her bed and I'm about to go wake her up to go the bathroom so we hopefully won't have to change the sheets in the morning.
All of you people out there that haven't experienced this phenomenon and are just wondering..."Why doesn't she make a list of stuff she needs to do?" Well, guess what, I DO make a list. I make MILLIONS of lists. I email things to myself, have a grocery shopping app on my phone, have a paper list on the fridge, have things posted on the calendar, etc. etc. It doesn't help if you forget to take your list to the store, or don't read the list, or can't remember what you read 10 minutes later becasuse of your MOMMY BRAIN! And...I think it gets worse the more kids you have. My sister have 5 kids and I'm surprised she remembers to get herself dressed in the morning. I'm keeping with the two kids for now and will decide later if I'd like to be more forgetful and have another child.
Now, I have to go wake up my daughter to potty before I forget and end up changing wet sheets in the middle of the night!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
When I posted the one post years ago; my daughter, Adeline, was only 14 months old. After she was born many things in our house adopted 'line' at the end of their name! My husband, Josh, became Dadaline, Froggy (the dog) became Frogaline and I became Mamaline. Four years and another child later, we still call things with "line" at the end of their names. So after I made that blog, we made princessadeline.com where I wrote more about Adeline and now that's moved on to adelinecooks.com because she is into cooking. While we do post on both of those occasionally, I thought that I'd get my space back and write about whatever I wanted! But, really, being a mom is who I am and what I do, so this will mostly be about that.
So, Adeline is four and half now. And our baby daughter, Emerson, is 15 months old. Adeline and Emerson are two very different girls already! Adeline was a lot more reserved then Emerson is. Adeline also knew a lot more words than Emerson does at this age. Emerson is really independent and doesn't seem to be afraid of anything! She will run into the backyard without looking back to see if I'm anywhere near her. I don't remember Adeline being that brave about being alone!
So, we live in Austin...well...actually in the suburbs of Austin but we say Austin cause it's cooler. I am a stay at home mom now and like it most of the time! I'm learning to like cooking, especially since Adeline likes it. I would love to be a crafty mom, but I'm just not that type. I would also love the be what I call "an earthy mom". But I like my fast food too much. So, I try to strike a balance and think I'm doing okay. My bathroom doesn't get cleaned as much as it should and my children eat too much junk and watch too much TV . . . but on the flip side, we do go to many parks, cook dinner and eat together most nights, support local businesses, and try to teach our kids to give back to their community.
I have found that whatever your mothering type, everyone does what works for them and what they think is best for their family. That's all anyone can do and hopefully we can all help each other out along the way!
So, Adeline is four and half now. And our baby daughter, Emerson, is 15 months old. Adeline and Emerson are two very different girls already! Adeline was a lot more reserved then Emerson is. Adeline also knew a lot more words than Emerson does at this age. Emerson is really independent and doesn't seem to be afraid of anything! She will run into the backyard without looking back to see if I'm anywhere near her. I don't remember Adeline being that brave about being alone!
So, we live in Austin...well...actually in the suburbs of Austin but we say Austin cause it's cooler. I am a stay at home mom now and like it most of the time! I'm learning to like cooking, especially since Adeline likes it. I would love to be a crafty mom, but I'm just not that type. I would also love the be what I call "an earthy mom". But I like my fast food too much. So, I try to strike a balance and think I'm doing okay. My bathroom doesn't get cleaned as much as it should and my children eat too much junk and watch too much TV . . . but on the flip side, we do go to many parks, cook dinner and eat together most nights, support local businesses, and try to teach our kids to give back to their community.
I have found that whatever your mothering type, everyone does what works for them and what they think is best for their family. That's all anyone can do and hopefully we can all help each other out along the way!
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
I am new to this blog thing. I thought I would join the rest of the world and create a blog about our lovely little family. This will be mostly about Adeline, of course! So that you are able to get to know our family, this first post will be some interesting information.
Josh and I got married in July of 2000. We are currently back home, in Houston. We have our wonderful daughter, Adeline Raleigh (14 months) and our two dogs, Froggy and Jennifer Juniper. Josh works for a local software company mainly in communications and I am a teacher. Now, onto more important things....
Adeline Raleigh! We love her to pieces. She has many nicknames. Our favorites being "babyline" and "bear". If you know her dad, you know that he can come up with a ton of different names for her and put them to tunes to make her giggle. She loves the dogs, and to our dislike, really loves to bend over and give them kisses. And of course, the LOVE to kiss back! Her favorite word right now is no. She shakes her head and says no to every single question you ask her. We amuse ourselves in the evenings asking her silly questions that she will reply "no" to. She knows a lot of other words also.... mama, dada, dog, puppy, ruff, moo, yum, outside, duck, and quack are at the top of her list of words to say. She loves to read books and will bring you three in a row when we let her. She also is working on her coordiation with popblocks. They are building toys, similar to legos. She can point to her nose and ears when asked. We are still struggling with where her eyes are!
She seems to have gotten over her hitting phase fairly quickly, although I'm sure it's able to come back at any time! Right now we are working on sitting on the couch. She thinks it's her own personal playground!
I don't think she has latched on to a "lovey". She does sleep with two in her bed, but so far she hasn't wanted to bring them out of her crib. She lovingly gives her stuffed sock baby (Baby Bob) and her pink lamb blanket (Best Friend) a kiss every night before she goes to sleep.
Oh, and anyone that knew me as a child would love to see Adeline throw a fit. According to my family, it's exactly how I looked when I was little. She FLINGS herself on the ground and cries. Luckily she hasn't hurt herself yet and she seems to get over them within a couple minutes. We have been ignoring her when she has these fits, seems to work!
So, now you know more than you EVER wanted to know about our mostly sweet Adeline. I'll post about once a week. Look forward to hearing about Adeline's Easter Egg Hunt in our neighborhood.
-Kelly-
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