Quick Kru update

This is way overdue.  And I know I owe a post on the girls, but I am not keeping a baby book, so this is my record keeping.

CRAWLING: Kru has been "crawling" for a couple of months now.  I haven't posted anything about it because he started with an army crawl and then just got REALLY good and REALLY fast at that.  He never got off his belly!  We joke all the time about the fact that he has a pretty big belly to lift and that we can't really blame him. 

I know that counts as "crawling" but I still thought he'd eventually do a normal crawl, but I guess not, I think this is Kru's crawl.  Although, we went to a water park the other day and he was sitting in the weather, he went to crawl and realized the ground was rough, he lifted that belly up and crawled without any problem. 

FOOD:  About 3 weeks ago Kru started to become very aware of our food.  He would be content with his baby food but as soon as he caught a glimpse of the other food at the table all he wanted was that!  He pretty much gave up baby food cold turkey.  I had forgotten how hard it is to come up with finger foods!   But he makes it easy, anything I put in front of him, he eats.

WALKING:  The real reason for this post.  I have to document the fact that Kru took his first steps today!  I don't think hes going to start running around the house anytime soon.  He is still very shaky and unsure but he was standing on his own and he lifted one foot up and moved it forward.  And then, HE DID IT AGAIN!  We were at Great-grandmother, Great-grandaddy and Aunt Susan's house so they got to witness it, too.  Awesome!!!

TEETH:  He has 6!!  He has had 3 for quite a while now.  Bottom two and one of the teeth outside his front teeth on top (not the middle two, but one of the ones on the side of that) and overnight last night the 2 front teeth and the other side tooth came in.  Thats right, 3 at once, and believe me, David and I have paid for it!  Phew!!  He didn't make it easy on us!

TEMPERMENT:  He is an absolute joy!!  I know, I'm biased, but anyone will tell you.  He is such a charmer, he hasn't met a stranger, he can make anyone and everyone fall in love with him.  His smile is magical.  And those big, blue eyes.... Oh my goodness!  They just make me melt.  He is all boy, loves to move, loves to play but he is also one of the cuddliest and most loving children I've ever met.  And his sisters... they are CRAZY about him!!  They are always cooing to him "Hey, bubby!", "I love you!" and Lyla's new favorite thing is to "teach" Kru.  She wants to teach him everything!  And they are both so proud of him.  They celebrate all of his "firsts" with him and get so excited for him.  Its wonderful to watch.

CUTE BABY TRICKS:  He can give high five.  He claps -- his favorite thing is to clap for himself.  So cute!  Anytime you say "Yea, Kru!"  he just starts clapping.  He waves.  And he is starting to blow kisses.  He brings his hands up to his mouth but thats about it.

VOCABULARY:  "Ma!", "Mom!", "Mama!".  I think thats about it -- at least those are his favorites and not necessarily because he loves his mommy so much but because he is in that stage where when I walk out of his line of sight he just starts calling for me.  So, I hear this about a million times a day.  He also says "Dada" and "Nigh, nigh" and "ba-ba" -- for bottle and bye-bye (same sound).  I guess thats about all.   Not too verbal yet.

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I think thats a fair update.  He is one amazing boy and has blessed our family in so many ways.  He thank God for him!!!

Kru's first carousel ride

I think its safe to say he liked it.

2010 House Projects

I have decided to make a "Project List".  These are chores and projects I hope to complete by the end of the year.  I'm going to "page" that you can get to at the top of the blog so you can check back to see where I'm at!  A few of these projects will cost some money so if I'm not able to complete them by the end of the year you may see fabric and paint on our  Christmas lists.  These are in no particular order and I will add to it as more things come up.

• Clean out the girls closet -- its pretty organized but there are old Dr. Brown and Playtex bottles, sippy cups, receiving blankets that I held onto in case another baby needed and since Kru didn't -- its time for them to go!
• Set up the "office" corner in our bedroom
• Paint our bedroom
• Make/buy curtains for our bedroom
• Make a headboard for our bedroom
• Paint our bathroom
• Pait our cabinets in the bathroom
• Put things on the walls in our bathroom and bedroom (can you tell our bathroom/bedroom has always been at the bottom of the list?!?)
• Make/but curtains for the den/dining room and kitchen -- all of downstairs.
• Paint the powder room and buy a new hand towel
• Repaint the picture frames hanging in the den -- they are black now and I'd like to paint them blue or something (a color to match the new curtains!) to add a pop of color to our den.
• Put new pictures in the frames in our den -- Kru is not represented AT ALL!
• Organize our craft supplies.
• Organize the toys in the garage 
• Make buy some curtains for the playroom
• Come up with a creative way to display the girls artwork -- which is multiplying very quickly these days!
• Paint the upstairs hallway
• Convert the girls to twin beds.  They are in toddler beds now and I'd like them to be in twin beds by the end of the year.
• Paint all the brass door knobs 
• Buy some plants!  I've always killed plants, but I'd like one or two around the house.  I've kept a basil plan alive and thriving for 2 weeks now and that little burst of green life on my kitchen windowsill has brought me a lot of joy and I'd like more.

For now, thats it.  There are lots of little things I'd like to do, a picture frame here or there, etc.  But this is the bulk of it.  Wish me luck!

LOVE this boy!

Summer fun!

Click to make it larger.

Kru is learning how to eat Cheerios!

Clearly he has a long road ahead of him, 
but when this is your teacher, what do you expect?

Daddy Daughter Date

David took the girls on a "date" tonight.  They were so excited.  They wanted their hair done, they didn't fight me when I got them dressed.  It was cute to see them look forward to their date.  I was also surprised they seemed to know what a "date" was.  They kept asking if they were going to go on a "big boat" like Mommy and Daddy or if they were going to go on a plane like Gaga and Papa (my parents just got back from a trip to France).  I guess I use the word "date" more than I thought! 

They went to Chick-fil-a for Kids Eat Free night.  David got them Sprite which is a very rare treat.  He said they didn't enjoy it as much as we thought they would.  They might have enjoyed a juice box more.  They played in the playground a little bit and then got an ice dream.  All 3 of them really enjoyed themselves.

Kru and I stayed home, cleaned up the house a little bit and he went to bed early.  I can't wait till hes old enough for us to go on dates, too!

We have a consonant sound!

Kru started saying the "B" sound yesterday! He says it all the time now and today I think I've heard a few "P" and "G" sounds, too! He is certainly having fun with his sounds.

Getting big so fast! Too fast!!

One of my favorite nights

This is going to be more like a journal entry than a blog post for me tonight. I just don't ever want to forget this night. David is out of town and I typically HATE putting the kids down when he is away. I'm usually impatient and grouchy. And of course, when I have a bad attitude going into it, my kids feel it and respond unfavorably. Its just a bad cycle all together.

But not tonight.

My mom and dad were here and the girls were loving their time with them. We danced to the songs of Glee for about an hour. It was so fun (who needs the gym?!? Talk about a workout!!)!! We calmed down, the girls were still entertained so I was able to put Kru to bed without them getting impatient and then my parents left and it was their turn.

It was just precious. They had the happiest hearts, obeyed without me having to ask more than once and were just a complete joy! We read stories, cuddled and kissed.

I started reading a Bible book to them last night -- its a Bible story book for Mothers and Daughters that I got from David's mom when the girls were born. I thought they were still a little young but wanted to start the habit of reading Bible stories to them as soon as possible.

Well, I was wrong.

They got it.

They really got it. It was so amazing (Thanks Mother, this book really blessed the 3 of us tonight!). We were reading about how Eve disobeyed God and ate from the tree God told her not to. They immediately responded to the word "disobeyed" and said Eve should get a spank-spank or go to time out. It went on to say she was punished and I asked the girls if they get punished when they disobey (I wasn't sure they knew the word) and they said they do. They knew what punishment was. And the book talked about how Eve's punishment was to leave the beautiful garden where all the animals were and the girls were sad for her and said "Disobey is a no-no. She has to go to time out".

I don't know if I'm even coming close to portraying what a beautiful moment this was for us. I think more than anything God is really showing me that he is HERE in our lives. I've prayed every day for almost 3 years (I got pregnant in June 3 years ago) that my children would truly KNOW him and now that they are at an age where they are understanding the world around them I've wondered if I was doing a good job. I'm sure thats something I'll always question, but tonight, I feel at peace. My girls know who God is, they are beginning to understand that we lift our hands to him in praise. That we obey him and his commands and when we don't there is punishment.

Next time you see them ask them "Who is the apple of your eye?". They will be sure to tell you that its Jesus! And I'm beginning to think they actually have an inkling of what that really means.

Thank you, God!

Love this!

Here is a video of Pressley dancing in church. We attend the 2nd Service at our church and the kids are in nursery. We've started taking them into the beginning of the 3rd service so they can enjoy the singing. We've been teaching them that we are singing to God and tell him how much we love him!! They really enjoy this time and although I'm sure they don't "get" all of it right now, I know those precious seeds are being planted. I can't watch this video with out tearing up. My hearts prayer is to raise my children to know the Lord and have a personal relationship with him. I hope Pressley's heart (and Lyla and Kru's!) always dances for our Heavenly Father.

I love when she stops to lift her hands (like they are doing on stage), I told her later than when she does that she is lifting her hands to God telling him how much she loves him. She lifts her hands during songs we sing at home now! For some reason Lyla was in a cuddly mood this week and was in David's arms but she can really get into it, too. I'll try to capture that another time.

Family Date night

David and I went on a cruise a few weeks ago.  We had a blast (I'm sure I'll post about this more later), we have desperately needed to reconnect.  A LOT of things have changed for us in the last 27 months!  This was our first time away since becoming parents -- my first night away from my kids other than when I was in the hospital giving birth to Kru!  We decided we needed to have more date nights, go away for a night or two a couple of times a year and save the big trips to do with the kids.  We did NEED this cruise and wouldn't have traded it for the world but we just kept seeing things we wish we could have shared with the kids.  David's family loves to go on cruises so I'm sure we'll go again soon and will get to share it with our kids, I can't wait!

Anyway, as I said, we want to do more date nights.  I was planning one for David -- one I knew HE would love -- a LOST series finale date night.  I woke up one morning and decided to do it that night, so it was kind of thrown together but come off really well.   I got all my ideas from this great website The Dating Divas, they are a bunch of married women that give ideas on how to date your hubby.  I love it! 

So, our date...

I planned on doing a few theme things for David and I to enjoy after the kids went to bed but as I was getting ready I realized the girls would really enjoy a lot of this, too.  So, I decided we would have a family night first, put the kids to bed, and then we'd have our date night time.  It was a great night!!

Our "Dharma" stuff.  Food, a manual (love notes from all of us), a gift which was a shirt with the Dharma symbol:

Our LOST cake. This could have looked a lot cuter but like I said, last minute.

Here we are in our jammies, eating our LOST cake and watching The Incredibles in our life boat (kiddie pool).  This was my favorite part of the night.  Playing in the life boat was SO much fun!  I blew it up while the kids were napping and it was standing up in the kitchen when the girls woke up.  Lyla walked into the kitchen and gasped, she said "Its my big boat!".  She has been so hung up on boats lately!  She is CRAZY about them.  And I thought it was hilarious she knew it was a boat!!  Its very similar to the kiddie pool my mom has at her house so I thought I'd have to convince them it was a boat and not a pool but, nope. 

Playing in the boat was so fun! They loved to "fall out" and let David and I save them. They loved to swim in the "water". They loved to ride the side of the boat like a horsie. Let me tell you, putting a blow up kiddie pool in your den creates a ton of creative play. We will do this again just for the heck of it!

Then the kids went to bed, we turned on the season finale and drank our Dharma White Wine.  :o)  Good times.

More Funny stories

Yesterday after naps Lyla announced her name is now "Juicy".  The girls have never named anything before.  I've tried to get them to name their dolls but the "names" they come up with are always "Dollie" or "Baby".  So when she gave herself a name I tried to encourage her and asked her what Pressley's name is.  Before Lyla could answer, Pressley said "My name Strawberry!".  So cute.

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This morning the girls have been spending a lot of time playing with their kitchen set.  They were putting the play food in their "purses" and chatting with each other, it was sweet.  Then Lyla comes over to me with her purse full and says "bye-bye Mommy!  I'm going shopping for new shoes!".  I think it struck me as cute because she was so specific.

And now...

Tooth #2!! 

Go Kru!!

Kru News

First of all....

WE HAVE A TOOTH!!

It must have come through last night because it was not there yesterday.  I knew it was coming and told my mom this week that I thought it would be soon, and sure enough!  There it is!  Its his lower left (if you're looking at him) tooth.  And I've tried to get a picture, but its not quite big enough to show up, but I'll get one soon.  

And, just to document for myself.  I've been making Kru his big boy food, just like I did with the girls.  He started on carrots, just like the girls did and he's also eaten homemade pears.   I hate to admit this, but he has had 3 jars of Earth's Best.  The girls never ate a bite of store bought food but I just wasn't sure I'd have the time this go round, so I bought a few jars.  I even started Kru on Earth's Best and he wasn't crazy about it.  I thought it was just the new taste and tried again, still not to crazy about it.  So I tasted it and it does that that "store bought baby food taste".  I know they don't put any junk in there, but it still tastes weird to me.  So, I whipped up a huge batch of organic carrots and pears -- it took me all of 30 minutes from start to finish and I now have 4 ice cube trays of each.  

The first time I fed him "my" carrots he couldn't get enough!  Kept opening his mouth for more.  IWe even ended up with a clean bib because he didn't spit them out.  It made me so glad I did it.  And I had forgotten how fast it can go and how rewarding it is.  I remember with the girls thinking I could seriously make baby food for a living.  And now I remember why I felt that way!  I just love it.   So did my girls.  And now, so does my boy.  Yay!
 
 

I love this picture

Pressley's Owie Eye, Day 2

Pressley's Owie Eye

My girl has an owie.  She fell off a stool in the kitchen.  Every time I look at her it breaks my heart.  But she is fine.  Playing like she always does.  I'm praising God for his protection, it could have been much worse.

Greenville Children's Museum

A couple of weeks ago the Moms of Multiples Club paid for all the members to go to Greenville's new Children's Museum downtown.  I didn't think I was going to be able to make it but in the end we were able to go!  My mom watched Kru so I could have a fun morning out with the girls.  It was so wonderful!  One of the best days I've had in a long time.  I just loved being able to explore with my sweet girls.  And, they loved it, too.  We have been hoping to go soon but were a little put off by the cost but now that we've been I would tell anyone to GO!  Its well worth the money.

There was a kid-sized grocery store that the girlies LOVED.  This was probably their favorite thing to do.  They both loved filling up their grocery carts but all of the pictures I got of Pressley she is looking away from the camera -- at her groceries, apparently she was either too busy to give me a good picture or I just didn't do a good job of getting a good picture of her.  But, I did get some good ones of her working the cash register, which she loved.  All of the food items had big barcodes that would actually scan at the check out and she thought that was just too cool.

They also had a little cake decorating station -- just like in a real grocery store.

They had this AWESOME play area in the middle of the museum. The girlies were still too young to climb on it (you have to be 3) but enjoyed playing under it and around it. There were also some other little play things around it they enjoyed. Like the mirror steps you could walk on.

They have a fun little construction-site room.

And a light-up tube you could crawl through.

They also had a farm room. It was adorable. It had a little farm house with fully stocked kitchen, fireplace and child-sized lounge chair. It also had farm animals. A hen-house, with eggs that fell into a basket. A cow you could milk and some rows of "dirt" you could plant flowers and veggies in. I loved this room, it was my favorite. The girlies loved it, too.

We can't wait to go back!  And hopefully, Daddy and Kru can go with us next time.

Changes...

We've been making a lot of changes around here.  Good ones!

We are eating MUCH healthier.  We got rid off all high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils.  We are eating hormone/antibiotic free meats.  Eating more veggies and beans (since the healthier meat is much more expensive).  I feel this is the way God designed our bodies to eat.  There was no chicken nugget tree in the garden of Eden.  These amazing bodies he has given us have adapted very well and we are able to eat the crap thats all around us, but it isn't part of his original design for us.  So, we're trying to be a little more natural with our eating habits.

Its been wonderful!  I love watching my girls snack on fruit, hummus and edamamme -- all of which they LOVE.    Instead of cookies or fruit snacks.

I'm back to making my own granola.  Yummy!!

I've started making my own wheat bread.  There is nothing like the smell of a fresh baked bread.

We've only been this way a little over a month and I can see a big change in the way I feel.  I have more energy and less of that rock-in-my-belly feeling.  I'm also losing weight!  Yea!

We are doing more organic.  I"m trying very hard to at least stick to the "dirty dozen" when buying produce but if I do buy something non-organic am using fruit and veggie wash -- at least that makes me feel better.

I just can't tell you how much better I feel knowing this way of eating is what I"m teaching my children.  Not to eat out or buy processed foods -- which we used to eat a lot of.  

Now, don't get me wrong, you will still see us eating "bad for you foods" from time to time.  But if we abide by this new lifestyle at least 80% of the time, thats a HUGE change, right?  Every little bit helps.

Funny Kru

Well, there is no real "story" for Kru.  But he is one funny boy.  He loves to be happy, he loves to laugh.  The other day I took Pressley to the pediatrician and one of the nurses took Kru and started bouncing him and he just laughed and laughed, she took him all around the office bouncing him in front of other people and he would just erupt in laughter.  It was hilarious!  And it brought so much joy to my heart to see so many other people enjoy my precious boy.

In other news:  Kru rolled over!  On Tuesday I put him on his belly for some tummy time, I went in the kitchen to put some dishes away and when I came back he was on his back!  I missed it!!!!

He is also sitting very, very well.  Can stay on his bottom for several minutes at a time, plays with the toys in his lap and usually falls over because he turns too far on one side (usually to see what his sisters are up to) or because he laughs and throws his body backwards.  He's getting soooo big!

And lastly, just in case you didn't know..... this boy LOVES to eat!!!  We started feeding him cereal this week.  And as you'd expect, the first time or two he wasn't sure what to do, mostly just spit it back out and didn't seem to enjoy it.  But the fourth time we tried everything changed.  He opened his mouth when I brought the spoon to him, he swallowed it right down and cried every time I had to refill the spoon.  I even made him a second bowl and he ate ALL THAT!   So right now he eats a BIG bowl (the size the girls used to split) of rice cereal twice a day and he still drinks 40 ounces of formula a day.  Unbelievable.  Its no wonder this sweet boy weighs 23 pounds.  Thats right, not quite 6 months old and already weighs 23 pounds.

Funny Lyla

We were leaving the gym the other day and as we walk to the car I always try to get the girls to tell me if they had fun, what they did, etc.  They hardly answer.  They usually just say "had fun" or "play at gym", that sort of thing.  So the other day we were walking to the car and Lyla was in front of me.  She stopped, turned around and said:

"I go to MY gym.  I have fun.  I play cars with boys."

Then she turned around and kept walking.  I loved it!  I love that she told me what she did and I love (for now anyway) that she was playing cars with boys.

Doesn't this look like a girl who would enjoy playing "cars with boys"??

Funny Pressley

I was having a conversation with Pressley about "my babies". I asked her who my babies were. I said "Is Pressley my baby?" She said yes. I asked "Is Lyla my baby?", she said yes. I asked "Is Kru my baby?", she said yes. I then asked her if we should have more babies. She again said yes. Then I asked if we should have more boy babies or girl babies.

Her answer...

"More Pressley's!"

Ha. I don't know if I could handle that. :)

6 Days of Potty Training under our belt!

We're doing really well! Lyla even stayed dry all night last night! I was shocked! That girl talks herself to sleep and often talks for an hour and a half or more. I thought getting her to stay dry all night would be impossible since during the day she pees every 45 minutes and takes so long to go to sleep. But, she did it! Pressley hadn't gone all night... yet.

They both stay dry during naps.

Pressy poops on the potty regularly and will tell me every time she needs to go. Yesterday she pooped on the potty 4 times, AT ONCE! You may want to skip these next few sentences but I'm going to "document" this story in all its glory. She came to me and told me she needed to "poopy", I put her on her potty and she filled it up, literally. She stood up so I could get rid of it, and I also cleaned her up. I was ready to let her go play and she said "more poopy", so I sat her back down and she filled it up again! She did this a total of 4 times. It was truly a sight to behold! Ha! I guess any nerves she had about going poopy on the potty are gone.

Both girls are averaging 1-2 accidents a day. Which is pretty good, I think. Pressley is doing better than Lyla so far.

Today we ran errands all morning. We put one of the potties in the car and let them go before we went in or out of stores. They did AWESOME! Not a single accident!!! And, while we were in Whole Foods Pressley told David she needed to go pee pee. So, we went to the potty, there was a line, of course, she held it but I didn't want to push her too hard in her first week so one of the workers checked to see if the boys room was empty. It was, so she guarded the door while I took Pressley in. She went. Lyla was in the stroller and before I could ask her if she had to go she crawled out of her stroller and came over to me and asked to go, too! She did. I was sooooo proud of them!

So, we're doing quite well. Not 100% yet, but we're getting close!

Potty Training..... Day 2

Well, I saw a LOT of progress today. Both girls woke up wet, but that didn't surprise me since I had pumped them full of liquids just before bed trying to get them to pee pee on the potty one last time before bed. I took them both to the bathroom anyway, Pressley peed, Lyla did not. After that Pressley had 2 more accidents pretty quickly and hasn't had another since about 10am! Woo hoo!! She even stopped playing this evening and said "Poopy!". David and I both dove for her thinking she had already started but she hadn't! We put her on the potty and she pooped. Yea!!

Lyla on the other hand.... will sit and sit and sit. I finally believe she may not have to pee, let her up, put her panties on and then she bends over and catches her pee in her hands. yes. seriously. She has done this twice today. I know the fact that she is "aware" is a good thing, but come on! After those incidents I started making her sit on the potty until she peed. She would sit and sit and sit but I kept pushing. Finally, I got frustrated, stood up, and said "I'm leaving, let me know when you pee." I closed the door and in about 5 seconds she said "Mommy, I peed". And she had. sigh.

This little girl might be tough. She is too stinking smart for her own good. She knows full well what is going on and will give in when she is good and ready. I probably just need to come up with something new and exciting to steal her attention. She'll get bored of potty training and just give in.

I suppose only time will tell....

Potty Training..... Day 1

Lorren told me a few things to have on hand (since she potty trained Savannah last week!) so I was sure to pick up some juice the girls loved, training panties, and a reward system (stickers that has turned into candy or pretty much whatever else they want). But she forgot to mention a maid, a cook, a nanny for Kru and a well stocked bar for me!

Phew! What a day! It started off ROUGH and was pretty difficult all day long but I did see a lot of progress. Our biggest problem is they really influence each other. At one point they were playing outside and I caught them both hiding behind a table peeing together right through their panties. And when they sit on the potty we will sit and wait for a L-O-N-G time before one goes and as soon as one goes, the other goes. Ugh.

What a day.

I can only hope tomorrow is better.

Easter Weekend

We spent Easter weekend in Raleigh with all the Kruithofs.  It was great!  Brent and Katie flew in on Friday night and they got to meet sweet baby Hailey for the first time.

From there is was just constant fun and excitement.  Saturday morning we got up and did Easter baskets.  We didn't think we'd have time on Sunday since we planned on going to the early service at church, plus the kids all got some outdoor toys we could play with.  After that we got dressed and went to the park.  It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun!  The park Lorren and Cole took us to didn't have a playground and I'm so glad!  We had fun just running around, picking flowers, playing with a t-ball stand Savannah got for her Birthday and just exploring.  David and Cole went to get some sandwiches from Subway so we ended our trip with a picnic.

Saturday night we grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and celebrated Savi's birthday. Oh, and the girls savored some of their Easter candy.

Sunday was also a beautiful day. We went to church as a family to celebrate our risen Lord and then went back to Lorren and Cole's for a wonderful, traditional Easter ham lunch and then we hit the road. It was a wonderful Easter and made many great memories.