March 29

My little helper.

March 28

Progress!

March 27

Leila had a birthday party to go to on Saturday evening and she was very excited about it. Friday night she told me with a sad look on her face that her friend had said that Leila's little sister was too small to go to her birthday party. Of course she is, and she did get to have a fun evening out with Daddy alone while Leila and I both tended to our other plans, but I can't get over how sweetly Leila looks out for her sister and the fact that she asked if she could bring her sister with her to the birthday party speaks volumes to me about how she feels about Thea.

March 26

Weekends are awesome. I love a good Saturday morning with the family. On this particular day Daddy was giving the girls horsey rides, and then they decided that he should have a turn too. Priceless.

March 25

Babies having babies...

March 24

The window sill in the bonus room. A medley of Brand new baby Leila pictures, two vases...one from my dear friend Amanda, one from my aunt Sheila. The centerpiece would probably be the Buddha, that I found in the closet at my Grandma's house when I was a teenager and she let me bring home. Behind that is one of the most precious pictures that I own. It is of my Grandpa Warren, holding Leila. Leila is probably 2, I think the picture was taking during the week we spent in Tabor after Grandma died and I love the positioning of my dear grandpa with my beautiful baby against the backdrop of the family farm. You can't see the picture, just the frame, but take my word for it. Or look at the picture in question here:

March 23

Sometimes a girl just needs to buy herself some spring blooms.

March 22

The beginnings of our project...our first veggie garden. Leila and I picked up the seeds and supplies ourselves. She wanted carrots, and radishes for Papa Carey. I wanted Jalapeños. We will see how this experiment turns out.

March 21

A visit from the Howard/Phillips family is as good a reason as any to have an impromptu family dinner. I am reminded all of the time of how lucky that I am. I have great siblings and beautiful Nieces and Nephew. My cup runeth over.

March 20

Junie B. Jones is a bedtime favorite at our house, and even Thea wanted in on the action.

March 19

One last birthday gift that I had to post about because it is too stinkin cute for words. Bryce and Eli painted this name train for little Thea, how sweet is that?!

March 18

We have this very nice Friday night routine with our friends the Weber's. Though it is probably only once a month, it is such a nice time to get to hang out and let our kids play. Matt and Cindy are our oldest couple friends, and they have both been there since the beginning of "Cory and Tricia." It is kind of crazy to think that 10 years ago we were hanging out at mine and Cindy's apartment on Lincoln Ave, drinking beer and watching our 19 inch tube TV, and now here we are hanging out with our FIVE children and still drinking beer. Luckily, Leila and Thea seem to have quite a bond of their own with the Weber boys, their Friday night dinner dates.

March 17

I am winding down the week of Thea with a shot of her bedroom wall. Both of the girls have some uppercase living decals up in their rooms, and that is about it for decorations. I put these up in their rooms the day we closed on the house, before the girls had even been in their finished rooms yet. Gift of God is the Greek meaning of Thea's name. Wait for April and the week of Leila for a shot of her special decorations too!

March 16

Everyday when we get home from School we have to determine who will get to get the mail from the mailbox, and who can push the button the shut the garage door. Generally, Leila gets the mail and today she ran across the yard, "Mommy! There's something for kids in here!"

The girls were occupied by the Target Easter catalog long enough for me to get dinner going. Win win!

March15

And yet another Birthday present...This is one lucky little shoe girl.

March 14

This kid loves shoes, a lot.

March 13

March 12

Isn't she pretty? Thea loves stickers. In fact, her teachers at school tell us that she really loves art time. I am grateful that they have art time at school so I rarely have a mess like this at home because of course, the stickers didn't stay on her legs for long, though she did tell me that she was "pretty."

March 11

Still 2 days until 2 years old but the sass has set in. I asked Thea to come over and get her jammies on. She turned to me, said "no!" and was off the other direction!

March 10

Most evenings we got about 30 minutes with just Leila after Thea has already gone to bed. Tonight Daddy and Leila were curled up and rocking in the recliner watching wipe out. I was busy making birthday cupcakes for Thea to take to school tomorrow and I said to Leila from the kitchen, "Leila, what was the best part of your day today?" Her response? "Right now."

March 9

I know that I gush about my husband quite a bit, but how cute is this? He made a beautiful dinner for his two little princesses while Mommy went out with friends.

March 8

Another visit from Papa Ed and Grandma Sandi!

March 7

A new attempt to keep Leila's hair out of her face. We will see if she accepts this one.

March 6

(Camera phone picture)
Grandma and Papa decided to take the big kids to build a bear as a pre birthday treat. I had only been in there once before, to make a gift for our flower girl when Cory and I got married. It is a pretty cute experience and I think Leila really enjoyed it, though the others were probably too young to get the full effect.
Leila, Sawyer and Thea each got to pick out their new friend and they all picked something different. All week the girls have been bringing their friends with them in the car...Leila's hello kitty, that she named Dora and Thea's Owl, Hootie.

March 5

In the house for almost 5 months and we finally put a few more things up on the wall. We put up a couple of shelves in the living room and this shelf holds two gifts from my friend Tiffani. The Willow Tree figurine is called "remember" and Tiffani and Cheryl got it for me after my grandmother died. The Isabel Bloom was a thank you gift for throwing a baby shower for Tiffani just over a year ago. Today was a big day for Tiffani, and I got to be there to help celebrate the first birthday of her beautiful twins, Rex and Barrett. I did take my camera with me, but I never even got it out. There were a lot of cameras in the house though, and if I could have captured one picture, it would have been while the boys were sitting in their high chairs having pieces of their birthday cake. With all of the camera in the house pointed in their direction I would have loved to snap a picture of all of those proud and happy faces celebrating the moment...it was a precious moment for sure. Instead I took this picture when I got home to signify what great friends I have met through my work.

March 4

Whoever gets the seat next to Thea tends to get an extra job. She yells out in her little baby voice, "help!" I love watching Leila take care of her sister.

March 3

Spring is just around the corner. Here is proof.

March 2

I really have no words. Time flies.

March 1

I know that I already put one picture on my blog of deer. And really, I am not all that impressed by the rats on stilts, but I did think that a scene of at least thirty of them grazing like cattle behind our house was noteworthy.

February 28

Gorilla Pose. I discovered recently that Leila knows some yoga poses. They do them at school during transitions and Leila was more than happy to show the poses to her family! I found some additional poses online and it was so cute watching Leila demonstrate and Thea mimic. Adorable.

February 27

Leila is picking up a spare at the Bowl for Kids Sake event. This is the second year that Cory has been a team captain for the fundraiser. It is a great program and I am really happy that we can support it. It also happens to be a fun event to include the kids in!

February 26

The Smith's had a grown up event, so Cory and I watched the Smith babies. I was a bit nervous about having four kids, since the last time this happened we spent a few miserable hours watching a screaming baby and three cranky big kids in a cabin on the lake in Missouri. I may have gone a little overboard when I made the cupcakes, knowing that if the whole day was a miserable crankfest I would earn myself at least 10 minutes or so of quiet with some chocolate cupcakes. Thankfully we had a fun day, with basically no tears and the cupcakes turned out to just be a special bonus.

February 25

Cooking with Daddy!

February 24

This past year we have had more ties to the state of Wisconsin then ever before. First my brother Clay moved to Madison for a job opportunity, and then my Mother in Law Sandi spent lots of time in LaCrosse for Cancer treatment. During our Wisconsin stint we were introduced to the Spotted Cow. Now our ties to Wisconsin are broken. Mother in Law is healthy and Brother (along with new sister in law and niece) is back home in Iowa. I am happy to cut the cheese state ties, except for the Spotted Cow.

February 23

Thea used to be really scared of everyone, including Papa Ed. After their stay with us in January though, both Grandma Sandi and Papa Ed are in Thea's good graces.

February 22

Dinnertime entertainment. I love having the breakfast bar in our new kitchen. In the old house our breakfast bar was too high for the girls, but now I can easily talk to and entertain the girls while I prep food. It makes it a little easier to spend some of the only time I have with the kids, cooking when I have my helpers so close by.

February 21

A pretty productive Monday night for this mom. Ever since I started working out in the evenings I have had to put a lot more thought into meal planning. This photo represents the beginnings of homemade mac and cheese, corn bisque soup and enchilada casserole.