Lil Beans

We are on spring break this week, which doesn't sound like much since Abigail's only in school two mornings a week and I only watch my other two peanuts 2 afternoons a week, but it really has been a great week...much more relaxing than I anticipated.  We have been able to move a little slower in the morning, get to the gym more, and actually nap at our house more! 

We've had a bunch of visits to great-grandma this week because grandma and grandpa are in Arizona rooting on the Cubs (and although I'm not a psychic, my prediction is the girls will have some new cubs gear by this weekend).

We had some fun playdates with friends we haven't seen since Christmas (Thanks Nicole for having us over yesterday!).

Today we are going to do a BUNCH of errands!!!!

Our highlight of the week so far was Monday when the girls got to meet Gwen!  Gwen is my bestie's daughter (ha ha, I love the word "bestie"...it's so ridiculous for a 33 year old woman to use it..makes me laugh).  Abigail has been talking about "Aunt Katie with the belly" (as opposed to my sister "Aunt Katie who lives on the train"...because she takes the train in to visit us) and was a little confused at first since Aunt-Katie-with-the-belly has no belly anymore.

We met at Lil Beans Cafe in the city, which is a playhouse and coffee house.  Katie and I are able to include coffee into ANYTHING we do, sometimes 2 coffees (and yes, there have been a few 3 coffee days in our lives...mostly Vegas or Xmas shopping).  The playhouse is really cute.  It has lots of different houses.  It also had lots of shopping carts, strollers, baby dolls, and plastic cars, which of course meant the girls were in heaven.

We had so much fun catching up and meeting Gwen.  The girls were having a little too much fun playing to play with Gwen, but there is plenty of time for that in the next 18 years!

The Wennerstrom/O'Connor girls!!!!  So much fun having another girl in our mix!  How many years will we all get matching running shoes and start running together????

Abigail with Gwen

Caitlin with Gwen

Mommy with Gwen...she's adorable..and really loves me!  :)

Gwen was sporting her "Mommy Needs a Latte" onsie, which both my girls also wore when they were this age thanks to Aunt Katie!

Abigail in the construction area (don't worry, she was in here cause there was a phone...not cause she likes construction.  I mean, look at her.  She's in a "tights" phase which is driving me crazy!  I just asked her "Abigail, want to wear jeans today?"  Her response:  "No, tights and a skirt".  I can't wait for summer to get here so she can just wear sundresses and we can all be happy. Sorry, off topic.)

Caitlin is in her "no picture" phase.  She loves anything that involves taking care of a baby doll.  She also loves the red plastic car that every kid has (including her)...and was a little possessive of it...there were a couple screams when another kid got in "her" car...we are working on sharing!

It was a fun day and the girls finally got to meet Gwen!  And mommy got much needed catching-up time with Katie!!!!!  Great seeing you girls...can't wait for our next coffee playdate!

Fun Family Weekend

We had  really low-key, fun family weekend!  Friday night mommy got a little "adult" time at a jewelry party at Auntie MoMo's, but before I left, I was witness to how smart this little bug is:

She wanted this pink chair that Abigail was sitting in and they were fighting over it (even though there is another one right next to it).  So she went by the toys, found Abigail's "jumpy" toy, brought it next to the chair, and the second Abigail got up to jump on it, she DOVE into the seat.  She then proceeded to keep her toe on the seat while she reached for books or toys she wanted so she wouldn't lose the chair!

And the whole time, she had the most devious smile on her face....she knew she "won" by outsmarting her sister!  :)

We spent Saturday morning running errands (Rob spent 3 hours at a TakeCare Clinic trying to get meds for a sinus infection) so after nap, we headed over to the Children's Museum and then out for dinner!  It was so nice to both be at the museum because the kids could split up and do the things they wanted, and get one-on-one attention with both mommy and daddy.

Water time

Playing together

This is how Caitlin played...on the very corner of the stool.  It was amazing she never fell off.

Maybe a future scientist?????

Loving the wind tunnel!  Maybe an astronaut or pilot!

Sunday morning we did what all good Catholics do on Sundays...headed to the bowling alley!  :)

It was Abigail's first time bowling and she really loved it!  Rob and I used to be in a league and are hoping to start it again...bowling is so fun and relaxing!  Abigial had bumpers...and it's absolutely amazing how slow the ball can roll down the lane and still hit the pins.  Caitlin came bowling too, but she just wanted to crawl up and down the stair.  There are rides and games at our bowling alley so she got her "fun" at the end!

Daddy teaching Abigail how to bowl.

Look at that form!  She's a natural!

Watching....watching....watching.....still watching.....

STRIKE!  (sort of)

Caitlin, are you having fun?????  "Cheese!"

By the end, she was bowling alone!

Finally...time for RIDES!

It was a great, family-filled weekend!  Abigail is on spring break this week, as is the family I watch on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so we planned lots of playdates and fun activities!  And we are the most excited for Friday to get here, when Lucy comes for a sleepover!!!!!!!!

"Aba"

As most people know, Caitlin isn't talking yet.  She had a delay in hearing so I'm not too worried about her delay in talking (she's like 16 1/2 months old).  But I wait, wait, wait for the day when I hear "mama" or "dada".  She does say "hop" when you ask her what a bunny does, and makes a "d" sound for dog.

Today Abigail fell asleep in the car and I was getting Caitlin out first.  She looked over and Abigail and said "Aba"!  I couldn't believe it!!  She said it again and again!

It may be a fluke, but I'm putting it in the books that "Aba" is her first word!  I think saying her sister's name is even sweeter than mama or dada (but I still can't wait)!

Here's two not great videos of her saying "Aba". 

Melt.  My.  Heart.

Swinging Around

We are hopefully on the up and up here at the Wennerstrom house!  Abigail has a double ear infection...but she's on meds now and should start to feel better soon.  I really hope those meds get the fluid out of her ears soon...she says "What?" a million times a day!  :)  Caitlin has 3 (possibly 4) teeth coming through all the at the same time, which makes me happy because she's a rough teether, so the more at the same time, the better! 

I sent Abigail to school today (fever free of course) because it was my turn to be story mom and I didn't to miss it!  Rob's cousin, Chelsey, came over to watch Caitlin while I headed with Abigail to school...after a delayed start due to someone (not mentioning names...cause it's me) leaving the battery on in the car.  Luckily we have the BEST neighbors...we really do....and Ryan came over and jumped my car!  Thanks so much, Ryan!!!! 

All the kids in Abigail's class told me stories and I wrote them down.  It was fun and made me miss my classroom a little big (but not enough to not LOVE being a stay-at-home mom)...but what was more fun was seeing how Abigail plays with the kids and meeting all the kids.  At the end of school I could tell she wasn't feeling great, and she had a fever back by the time we got home.  She's napping now and hope she feels better when she wakes up!

Here are some pics from our trip to the park last week. The weather was so beautiful here..we had to get out!  That weather can come back anytime now!!!!!

We had to run to Target first...and found a great buy in the $1 section!!!!

Caitlin really loves the swings this year! 

She was laughing so hard she was snorting! 

Miss Abigail had a great day too... 

but is starting to get a little too big for the "baby" swing.

So onto the big swing for her.  And she even got the "leg pumping" thing down! 

And for our yearly "swing" comparision shot...here are last year's 1st swing pictures: 

Getting so big...and having more and more fun every day!!!!

LUCKY

We don't have much to blog about our weekend because Abigail has been sick since Friday.  Her fever has come and go (we got a short trip to the outlet mall in on Saturday before she went downhill)...but by tonight (Sunday night) it's the highest it's been, so we are off to the dr. tomorrow! 

Caitlin is starting to go a little stir crazy in the house...she's got quite a funny personality...she has been diving and jumping off of everything...and starting "screaming" for no reason!  All.  The.  Time.  She's so devious and sweet at the same time!

This picture pretty much sums up Caitlin lately:

And we LOVE her so much!!!!!!

 So since our weekend pics would consist of popsicles, tylenol, and laying on the couch watching movies, I though I'd post about our St. Patty's Day.

We had a really fun and simple St. Patrick's Day...this shirt sums up how I feel about my family!!!!

 
We started our morning with green pancakes and green milk (not a big hit...it looked "gross"): 

And got dressed for the occasion: 

(Speaking of getting dressed, we have got some really cute bows lately (See Caitlin's cute bows in the first picture and the last post....I'm gonna do a post about where we get all our bows soon).

Abigail went to school, Caitlin went to the kids place at the gym, then we headed home for lunch and nap.  When the kids woke up, there was a trail of green M & M's: 

that lead them to

some small green gifts! 

We had to head outside to play with our new green bubbles and green balls.

We blew some bubbles: 

And ate some too: 

Caitlin LOVES her new car from Aunt Julie and Uncle Joe: 

I had my new camera with me...so here's my "attempt" at an artistic picture of Abigail and her bubbles: 

After a little more playing: 

we headed to Nana and Papa's for a traditional St. Patty's Day dinner of corned beef, potatoes, carrots, and irish soda bread!  Papa did a great job making dinner....it's the "Irish" in him!  I'd say the girls are about 1/16th Irish, but no matter how Irish they are, we celebrated with the best of them!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Happy St. Patty's Day

Happy

Saint

Patrick's

Day!

(More to come about our fun day of green, including green breakfast, our treasure hunt, and our St. Patty's Day dinner....)

Bye Bye Paci!

Do you know what this is????

It's my baby sleeping without her pacifier. I noticed on Sunday that her front teeth were starting to push forward...so we decided it was time to get rid of the paci.  Here's how that went:

Sunday night:  We said "bye bye" to her paci, then she saw me hide in on her dresser.  That was at 7:00pm.  At 9:00pm, she was still up.  Not crying or anything...just standing there staring at the direction of the paci.  What did I do?  Gave it back to her.....

Monday nap time:  Decided to be firm and not give it back.  She again never napped, but never cried...just stood in her crib.  I realized that the paci signaled sleep time.  She was just looking at me like "What?  I can't go to bed cause I'm missing something...."

Monday night:  I told myself, "Self....she's not crying, she's not in danger...she's fine.  Eventually she'll get tired enough and go to sleep."  That was at 7:00.  7:30-still up.  8:00-still up.  8:30.....SLEEPING!   Thank goodness because her not sleeping was really interfering with my Bachelor watching....I needed peace, quiet, and wine to enjoy Emily and Jake fall in love!  :)

Tuesday nap:  Fell asleep in car, but without paci and stayed sleeping in bed when I moved her.

Tuesday  night:  I wasn't home, but when I got home at 8:30, she was sleeping!

Wednesday nap:  See picture above!

I'm so happy we stuck with it.  I can see how the older she got, the harder it would be.  She is really attached to Glowie, the Gloworm, but I'll take it!!!

Did I mention I'm still a little sad....I sort of want her to stay a baby forever and so I secretly LOVED the paci because she still looked like a baby with it in....I miss it, more than she does! 

Diaper Deal!

I wanted to mention the way I have saved A LOT of money on diapers!  I know a lot of moms read this blog and I feel I need to share....

Amazon.com is absolutely the best, easiest, and fastest way to save on diapers!!!!!

And if you have a Parents or Parenting magazine, the deal will just get sweeter!

1.  Go over to amazon.com (I have a link to my right to get you to the right place quickly) and find the diapers and size you want!  Add them to our cart.  Our favorite diapers are the Pampers Cruisers!  We get the big box (140 count) normally $46.99 on sale for $41.99.

2.  When you add to your cart, don't choose the first option, but the second option which is for Amazon Moms (Subscribe and Save).  That drops the price by 30% to $29.39 and FREE shipping!!!!!
(I will explain at the end how easy it then is to un-subscribe...I've done it many times).  When you subscribe, choose every 6 months (that means, they are setting you up for instant delivery of the same box of diapers every 6 months).

3.  If you get Parents or Parenting Magazine, you will find a coupon like this in it:

Enter the code and you get another 20% off.  My final price at checkout was $20.99 for 140 diapers!!!!  And my diapers almost always arrive the very next day!

4.  When you get the confirmation email about signing up for the Subscribe and Save, there is a button that says "manage my account".  You go to your account and there is a button that says "Cancel My Subscription".  You cancel it...and that's it!!!  I always wait until my diapers get here and then cancel the subscription the minute they get here so I don't forget!

Amazon.com is such a great place to browse and shop for everything...but this diaper deal is the BEST!!!!!  It's well worth the few minutes it takes to save over 50% on diapers!

Make sure you link to amazon on the right side if you are going to try this deal so the know I sent you!  :)  Happy Diaper Shopping!!!!!  (and email or comment if you have any questions)....