It's About Time

Oliver could be showing up any day now, so I decided I should give my poor, neglected blog some attention before filling it with all things baby.  Here are some pictures from the past month and a half:

Eleanor's half birthday!

Arthur was very excited to move from his crib to a big boy mattress...

...and even more excited to move to his new room/bed!

Yay!  He has done a great job with the transition at night, though naps have gotten much more difficult.

We had visitors!  Arthur loves playing with his cousin Reagan.

We went out on a boat to see dolphins

Sweet baby Katie

  

Eleanor LOVES to help me with chores.  One day she told me that she is too big to take the recycling out and she wants more "big girl" chores.  So even though I normally just throw all of these rags in a basket, Eleanor got to fold them and thanked me profusely afterwards.  I wonder when they outgrow this helpful stage!

We had a library story time about princes and princesses and both kids wanted to sit down and do their coloring sheets as soon as it was over.

Arthur:  I am a princess!

Me:  No Arthur, you're a boy, so you're a prince.

Arthur:  NOOO!  I am not!  I am a PRINCESS!

This is what happens when you're surrounded by your older sister and her friends.  :)

Another trip to SeaWorld - checking out an aquarium

Very, very cool

Sweet girl on Valentine's Day!

This has only happened one time...so far!

This is Arthur's favorite way to eat.  We sit at the table for most meals, but sometimes he gets his lunch like this when Eleanor is at school.

So proud of necklaces that he beaded all by himself

We love February in Florida!

"Mama, I am swimming like a monkey!"

Eleanor baked her first cornbread!  Hunter told her the recipe and she scooped and added all of the solid ingredients.  She had him to do the liquid ones, and then she stirred it all together.

We found a great art studio that offers a $3 kids' workshop on Saturday mornings!  Eleanor LOVED it!  And of course, it helped that the topic for our first visit happened to be sea creatures.

Helping Daddy with his woodworking

Frozen yogurt!

Our year so far

I'm way behind, so I'm just going to skip Christmas and start with January.  I know my kids have had a lot of funny quotes lately, but unfortunately if I don't write them down I forget.  Here are a couple though:

One afternoon I laid down on the couch to rest for a few minutes.  Eleanor went and got me a blanket and then Arthur came over.

Arthur: "Sleep tight, Mama." He tucked me in a little, kissed me on the cheek, and kissed the top of my head.  2 seconds later:  "Okay, time to get up!"

Me: "Oh really?  Why?"

Arthur: "Hunter driving car to come home."

Eleanor talked about fossils a few weeks ago at school, and she came home with a handout that had a diagram similar to the one above.  She pointed to it and said, "This chart shows how deep the fairies bury their dead."

Helping Daddy clean the fish tank

Eleanor and Arthur got blocks for Christmas from their Grandma.  Hunter helped them build this dinosaur palace, but everything else in these pictures they built on their own.

I was impressed by Arthur's tower building skills.  He says it's a rocket, of course!

More towers

Eleanor built a castle for "sea people".

She wanted to get a picture that had Arthur in it, too.  I love how he's looking at her!

She loves to dress up!

This is how I found Eleanor one day - she went and got a towel to wipe condensation off the window.

Watching a show on the Kindle while I mopped the floors.  I like these pictures that make it look like they get along so well.  ;)

Sweet kiddos in Publix.

Eleanor was so excited to get her costume for her dance recital.  It's not until June!  There was pink glitter all over my room after this.

Another block creation...  "I make bench.  This two peoples on bench. This Mama and Arthur!"

Snuggling up with books on a chilly morning.

SeaWorld had a pretty great deal going on today, so we took advantage of it.  Now we can go back as much as we want for the rest of the year!  The kids LOVE it there.

"Mama, can you take a picture of me?"

And of course Arthur wanted one too!

A few quotes

Arthur and I went to Target and I picked up a bag of white chocolate peppermint M&M's.  "Want candy?"  "Okay Arthur, you can have a couple of pieces when we get in the car."  "Shop fast, Mama!!"  (By the way, these candies are amazing!!)

Eleanor wanted to sing a song to me at bedtime (to prolong bedtime, of course).
"Give thanks to the Lord
For he is good
And there is a baby growing inside Mama's tummy
Because she is the WINNER
And she's having the baby for MEEEEE!"

We went out to eat the other night and it was dark on our way home.  We pointed out Christmas lights in several place and Eleanor asked, "Why do some people just skip Thanksgiving?"  Hah, I don't know!!

Eleanor's class had a little Thanksgiving party yesterday and sang these songs for us. She's on the front row on the far left. I brought my camera but the second I turned it on it said the battery was out! So I had to use my camera on my phone that has a scratched lens.  Anyway, my favorite part is after the second little chant when Eleanor says, "Some people are taking pictures instead of clapping." You can barely hear her, but you can hear all of the adults laugh! We were sure to clap after the other songs.

Camping trip!

We went camping at Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine with some friends and had a great time!  We have been very fortunate in the past to never have much rain on our camping trips, but I'm afraid our luck has run out.  We had to set up in the rain and eat Chick-fil-a in the tent that night, but we still were able to enjoy our trip.  The kids definitely had a blast!

Breakfast time!

We were able to walk to the beach from our campsite

The kids loved playing on the beach!

Fall update, part 2

Just pictures!

I love this boy, and he loves this hat.

My little sea turtle and dolphin at Boo at the Zoo

"Mama, we are in boats!  And these are our treasure maps!"

Little cutie

Eleanor set the table for the first time!  Not pretty, but we all had what we needed!

I love finding him like this.

Eleanor helped me make pumpkin mufffins and was actually able to scoop the batter out with an ice cream scoop all by herself.  And don't you love her choice of clothes/accessories?  :)

Eleanor had a little pumpkin painting party, though I forgot to take pictures of the actual painting process.  Arthur loved it too!

How to entertain your children: let them "paint" with water!

They loved the pumpkin painting party so much that I let them have a round 2 and add more color to their pumpkins.

Halloween pre-trick-or-treat pictures

She can ride her bike!  She doesn't particularly enjoy it or want to do it for more than a few minutes, but I think that will change as she gets better at it.

First fresh squeezed orange juice of the season.  My Florida boy loved it!

Arthur is REALLY into trains now.  He loves to hook every one of his trains together and take them all over the house.  No tracks necessary.

He lines everything up and calls it a train, just like his "train" of Little People here.

Arthur is 2!

Arthur turned 2 over a month ago, and he loved every second of his birthday celebrations.  We had an informal little party in the park with a few friends, but sadly I forgot my camera!  He insisted on a "yellow circle cake" with nothing else on it, and that's what he got.  He was thrilled!  

The day before the party was his actual birthday, and we spent the day at "Sea Whoa-whoa", aka Sea World.  Both kids LOVED seeing all kinds of sea creatures and they especially loved the dolphin show.  We squeezed just about everything into one day - 4 shows, several rides, and we still managed to see just about all of the animals.

Arthur didn't get to blow out candles at his party because it was too windy, so we recreated the moment at home later that day.  (That's what the pictures are from.)  He loved us singing to him and blowing out his candles.  He is such a sweet, sweet boy!

At two years old, Arthur is starting to talk non-stop and picking up new words every day.  He makes sentences and communicates really well.  I used to be worried about his speech, but he is getting easier and easier to understand.  He is extremely happy and outgoing, though he can be timid in new situations.  He loves turtles (and all animals really), trains, the color yellow, playing outside, his sister, helping out around the house, and balls.  He is a pretty sensitive kid and seems to really care about how others are feeling.  He is a very tall boy too - at his 2 year well check he was 37", which the pediatrician said puts him almost off the chart.

We are so lucky to have had this little boy in our family for the past 2 years!  Happy birthday, Arthur!