Another Fab Year!

I had a great bday! Thanks to everyone who called/txt me yesterday! We spent the day relaxing and not doing a whole lot of anything which is just what I wanted! I woke up to two excited girls bouncing on my bed with the fabulous breakfast they made for me. Running Man took me to dinner at Woodfire Grille. It was so yummy, and I can't wait to go back. Kyle watched the kids down at the Y for us, and Banana is already dying to go back. I don't think I mind at all that bday's aren't the huge celebration that they were when we were younger. It is so nice to have it be so low key, and just be with my family. They surprised me with a new purse!! Those of you that have seen the one I've been using know why I desperately needed one! Of course it is pink. Banana wouldn't have it any other way. Thanks Cole for giving Running Man your input!! Running Man took the girls shopping over a week ago to get it, and Banana has kept a secret the whole time. I can't even believe it. Three year olds aren't known for keeping anything to themselves. Thanks Mom and Dad for your gift, and my inlaws for my awesome isabel bloom ballerina!! I've been eyeing that thing for two years, and it was such a surprise!
The countdown is on for Utah. We can't wait!! I'm trying to not think about the drive, and just enjoy the fact that we will soon be with our families!! My FIL and SIL are coming out for a few days this week so my FIL can compete in a triathlon with Running Man. I'm only slightly jealous that they are flying back to Utah the same day we are driving... :) Here are some highlights from this weekend.

My new purse! Banana had to show off her cute pink purse as well :)
I don't know why I keep showing you pictures of Running Man doing these things with my children. I'm bound to get in trouble one of these days...

The girls love climbing on Dad and making him do push-ups. I enjoy seeing how long he can last ;)

So It Begins

Let me set the scene for you. Those of you who have met my two little girls know that their personalities are night and day. Banana has always been quiet, pretty easy going, and not prone to screaming/crying/meltdowns of ginormous proportions. Em, though only a year old, is the complete opposite. She is a total sweetheart, but can flip the switch to monster child pretty quick, then switch it right back off. She is constantly harassing Banana and loving every minute of it. She has a mischievous side to her that I don't know how to deal with. Banana usually takes it all in stride, but I think she finally reached her limit today. And so we have this conversation...(after Em had been beating up on her/bothering her for a while)
Banana: I want a baby brother, can we get a baby brother?
Running Man: Why do you want a baby brother?
Banana: I want to take this one back to the hospital. Can we take this one back to the hospital? This one hits. I think we should take it back to the hospital and get me a different one.

Silence.
Then laughter that we tried oh so hard to restrain.
I thought little sisters were supposed to love each other all the time. I know my sister and I were perfect examples of that growing up : )
So I think Banana is starting to learn to fight back, and not let her little sister rule the playground. Here are some other cute things Banana has been saying lately.
We have been telling her that when we get a bigger house we can get a puppy, and almost every day she brings it up. Finally she just asked me. "How do we make our house brow big so we can get a puppy?"
She has also started having some imaginary friends, which I love because it is bringing out a really creative side of her. The other day she informed me that her friends name is Cheety Chaws. When I asked her what she looked like she told me she looks like a lady. Well mommy..kind of a freaky lady actually.
And she is always telling me when I do something funny that I am making it too hilarious.
I love my girls so much, and it is conversations like this that remind of how cute they really are.

No, this is not a form of punishment in our house. The girls LOVE when dad swings them like this. I just pretend I'm not seeing what they're doing, then I don't have to freak out!

Playing Catch Up

Hey all! Sorry I've been such a slacker, but we've been super busy and having a fabulous time with my mom here. She left this morning so things are settling down some. I think we're all having a little withdrawal. She spoiled us. A LOT. It was great to have some helping hands, and I enjoyed some peace and quiet while she kept the girls entertained. (Or they entertained her). I also got to see my little brother and his fiance Debbie. She is adorable, and a total sweetheart. The girls instantly fell in love with her and she was so sweet with them. We can't wait to see everyone again in a few weeks.
Banana also had her first dance recital over the weekend. I only cried a little. I didn't want to cry through her whole dance and not be able to see anything :) She was amazing. She had zero stage fright and was such a ham up on the stage. She hasn't stopped dancing since Saturday. She puts on her music at the house and does all of her routines for us. I need to record it so you can see how funny/cute it is. My class did great, and I was glad that I only had to stay in the wings and dance with them and not on the stage. They made all of the teachers come on stage at the end, and I could see Banana out in the audience with my mom waving at me the whole time. The studio I teach for is incredible, and I love the ppl there. I can't wait for next year!!
We also had a Em's bday party while my mom was here. I decided to make her the same cake that I made Banana for her first bday and I think I'll make that a tradition for my other future children. If you can't tell what it is, it's a caterpillar. It was fun to make and Banana loved frosting it (frosting meaning eating the frosting while I tried to frost...)
I think that catches you up on the last week. Life is getting crazier as Running Man gets ready for finals, and we get ready to head to Utah. Hope everyone is having a great week!


Riding the ponies at the zoo. Both of the girls loved it. Em doesn't look too happy in this pic, but she really did have a blast!
The bday cake before...and after.


Enjoying some of her presents!

Running Man and I gave Banana her first "dancing" flower. She was so cute with it.These didn't turn out that great, but I still wanted to put them on her. Isn't she cute?!

This was Em during the recital. She made it through about five numbers then spent the rest of the time in the lobby.

My cute class. I'm going to miss them!
What's the best way to celebrate her first recital? Lunch at Steak 'n Shake!

We HEART Chicago

Well blogger is being lame and won't let me change the order of pics...sorry!

The post is at the bottom because it's not letting me copy and paste it up here.

They finally passed out on the drive home!



My friend Val and I!

Em enjoying her bday ice cream :)

On the ferris wheel

Banana and Kyle in her favorite room. It had tons of interactive water displays, and it was pretty awesome.

Em being too silly

Running Man was in heaven with this giant chess set. Banana helped him set it up, and she actually got all of the pieces in the right spots!

Em had a great bday! We celebrated by going to Chicago, and it was so fun. We spent our time on Navy Pier and at the Chicago Children's Museum. That place is HUGE! There are three stories that are just packed with things to do. I think Running Man, Kyle and I had just as much fun as the kids. They had some great rooms that were designed for younger babies, so were able to let her crawl around most of the time. Great for her...not so great for her clothes :) Her knees and hands were black by the end of the day. The pier was pretty neat, and our favorite part was the ferris wheel. Kind of expensive for such a short ride, but way worth it cuz the girls LOVED it! Banana just squealed the whole time, and Em was trying to crawl out and get to the ppl in the next carriage thing. They were all smiles the whole time. I got to meet up with one of best friends from HS Val who lives in Chicago. We haven't seen each other in probably six or seven years, and it felt like no time had passed at all. She was always someone that was so easy to talk to and it was great to see that that hadn't changed one bit. There was a lot more we wanted to do, but we were only there for one day and it started raining in the afternoon so we decided to head home. We can't wait to head back.

My mom, brother and soon to be SIL are coming into town tomorrow and we can't wait!! We are having a little party for Em, and Banana has her recital on Saturday so I promise a lot more pics soon!

One

Happy Birthday My Sweet Em!!

Whilrwind Weekend

We survived our weekend apart and are happy to be together again! I know I'm a big sissy, but I think I have a good excuse. I was sad to not be in Utah to see everybody and to be at the wedding, sad that Hannah didn't get to see everyone, sad to be away from Running Man, and it KILLED me to be away from Em. I've never left either of my children for more than half a day...I dream about getting away with Running Man, but have never had the perfect opportunity. (Strike that, I had one chance when my wonderful MIL offered to stay the night with the kids when she was visiting last time. And being the smart girl that I am I didn't take her up on the offer. Smart, smart girl).
From all of the accounts I have heard it sounds like they had a fun, yet whirlwind weekend. I am so grateful to all of the ppl who stepped up and took care of them while they were out there. They had a great time, and even though it wore Em out, I heard she was a great little traveler.
Banana and I had a really great time. I cried a lot that first day, but I blame it mostly on sleep deprivation. I didn't sleep the night before and then we were up at 4:00 a.m. to take them to the airport. That was not fun. I'm sure people thought I was special when they saw me leaving the airport and sobbing like a baby. I had a nice Mother's Day with Banana, who spent most of the time cuddling with me and telling me "happy mother's day" over and over. So sweet. She missed her sister and her dad terribly, but is definitely tougher than I am :)
Now life is back to normal and we are looking forward to some visitors in two weeks and our trip back to Utah!!
Here are some cute pics of our "adventure" and the goings on the last few days. (I'm hoping to get some pics of the Utah trip, so those will come soon!)

Just the two of us.
Talking to her Daddy. I think at this point she was telling him it was time to come home...

Her Piggy she painted at the Painted Penguin. The girl working tried to tell her how she should paint/what colors to use/she wasn't doing it right...I kindly informed her that she was three and I wanted her to be creative :)
Together again! Banana is really into dress up and make believe right now so naturally she wants to include Em. Aren't they cute cheerleaders?!

She is so close to walking, but is being such a chicken about it. She is fearless about everything else, but can't bring herself to take more than one step without reaching for us...

Here's Em's first tooth. Now she is working on three more. Here's to hoping they all come in now so we can get it over with!


Banana loved to pull all of these dvds off the shelf when she was tiny, and Em has discovered the joy of it. She can clear the shelf in about twenty seconds. She wasn't thrilled with me telling her to stop so I could take a picture!

It's Gone

I think I fell off the wagon...(is that the right term)? The P90X wagon that is. I was doing so well, then I hit a wall. I have had one of those weeks that I can't even muster up a spec of motivation to get off my behind and do it. It's really not a good thing right now seeing I'm trying to get ready for the BIX. Blah. So if you see my motivation wandering around somewhere please send it back in my direction...(but only after I finish these cookies)! That's all I have to say about that.

The gorgeous weather just keeps coming! We celebrated Mother's day this past weekend because Running Man and Em will be in Utah for his little brothers wedding on the actual day. He planned out a fabulous day for us to enjoy together. After we finished working in the morning we went on a picnic at West Lake and had a great time. The girls loved running around and being outside. It is gorgeous there. Banana loved trying to skip the rocks, and Em showed no fear as usual by trying to repeatedly crawl into the lake. She wasn't impressed when we had to hold her to keep her from going in. After we put the kiddos to bed my awesome husband took me to see "Wolverine." Loved it. We only had a minor setback when Kyle (our sitter) txt us to ask how long he should let Em cry...this happened oh maybe two minutes after we bought our tickets. Running Man started to head home to help remedy the situation but Kyle insisted that he had in under control. And he really did. ( Keep in mind he's a single, twenty something guy with no children). He rocked her right back to sleep. We have some pretty awesome friends!
I'm super sad that Banana and I don't get to go to the wedding, but we lots of fun things planned for our "adventure." I'm sure we'll be plenty busy so the time will fly by. We aren't telling Banana that they're going to Utah because I fear the meltdown if she found out. I'm more sad that she doesn't get to go and see all of her grandparents and aunts and cousins. But we'll be home soon enough. And we just found out my mom is coming out for Em's bday and Banana's dance recital! My little bro and his gf are driving to Michigan to see some people and are dropping her off on the way. Bless my mom's heart for making that drive twice in less than two months!! We can't wait.
Ok...that's enough. Here are some pics from our fun day at the lake!

Em's first bite of pickles. She takes after me and loved them. Well she really just sucked on them, but that's basically what I do...

Banana asked me to take this picture of her. Doesn't she look cute?!Eating the dandelions. She also ate rocks, grass and some mud :)
We wore her out! Right before this she told us that it was the most perfect picnic in the whold wide world!