Why?????

A month or so ago, I was mentioning to a friend that Reese had not begun asking 'why?'. My friend responded that Reese was a pretty black and white kid, and maybe she just didn't need to know 'why?'. Well, magically after she turned 3, that question started coming out of her mouth. And wow, is it exhausting. I used to enjoy taking just one kid on errands with me, it was much less stressful and a bit of a bonding experience. But now, all I hear is, 'why this', and 'why that', until I'm feeling a bit crazy. I'm glad to know she is developing normally, but no one ever told me how tiring it was to answer why questions ALL DAY LONG!
And just to add a picture, here is one of the kids getting ready for their trip to the beach. Reese keeps bringing me books that have ocean scenes in them, I think she is pretty excited to go.

Meeting Ronald McDonald

As part of the Derby festivities, we went to a parade preview, where they had floats and much of what would be in the parade indoors, where you could walk around and look at it. Sounded like fun, really, it was mass chaos, but we did get to meet Ronald McDonald. I think I posted a previous picture of Reese with a Ronald statue, so I thought it would be fun for her to meet the real guy. It was very interesting. Isaiah took quite a liking to Ronald, and visa versa. There was a long line, but he didn't want to let Isaiah go. He even had someone get his camera out and take a picture of him with Isaiah. He seemed almost tearful and it made us wonder what his story was. It made for some great pictures though.
Isaiah's had us on our toes the last few days. I was outside during his naptime the other day and I heard him crying in the house. It isn't unusual for me to hear him through the walls, but as I went inside to investigate, it turned out he had gotten out of the pack and play and was crying because he couldn't find anyone! Then later that day, I ran bath water for them, left the room, came back and found Isaiah in the bathtub with all his clothes on! I'll post pictures of that one someday soon. And now he has another ear infection. But thankfully it's been almost two months, so hopefully this one will clear up quickly.

Chuck E Cheese

Enjoying some of the rides at Chuck E Cheese. Here are Isaiah and Wesley, a friend we spend a lot of time with (her mom is the one who helped me with the cake). Isaiah and Wes are less than a month apart in age and are about the same size, which is fun because my kids look like giants around most kids their age!
This is a ride made for one, but they all decided to ride it together, or should I say sit on it, because it wasn't even working!
Here's Reese on the jet ski. It's fun that my kids still get just as much excitement out of sitting on the rides than actually riding them, saving mom and dad lots of money.
The drums are a favorite, as is the school bus. I sure hope the Chuck E Cheese in Cincinnati has a school bus, Isaiah's already been telling me that's what he wants to do for his birthday. It's fun, because I had many of my birthday parties at Chuck E Cheese growing up also.

Reese's Birthday

Here's the cake that my friend Andrea and I made. Not too bad for my first attempt at cake decorating!
Reese is opening her 'Ariel friends', which are a bunch of Disney princesses. She loves to play with small figurines like that, so she was pretty excited about them. Go, Mom and Dad! It's fun to know your kids so well that you get them gifts they love, although I know that won't last forever.
Classic Reese. She is at Chuck E Cheese, but stops to watch the TV that is showing cartoons. What a couch potato!

An almost 2 year old boy!

So, lately I've been looking back at Reese's 2nd year with regret. Regret at the fact I didn't realize how good I had it! I spent so much time worrying about her development (something that I rarely worry about anymore) that I didn't realize that her two's weren't really all that terrible. She was great at sharing her toys, she was laid back about most stuff that kids her age get upset about. She threw tantrums, but they were 'frustration' tantrums, not 'anger' tantrums.
And then there is Isaiah. He HATES the word 'no', he can't handle it when he doesn't get his way, all the way, right away, and he is into everything. Just the other day, we put him in his crib for a time-out of sorts. We look in on him and find him ON THE CHANGING TABLE, playing with his new sunglasses. Looks like he'll be going to a big boy bed a little sooner than Reese did.
Not that life with him is all bad, in fact, much of the time he is a joy. He loves to laugh, he loves to make his sister laugh, he is generous with his hugs and compassionate to others. He is a lot of fun, definitely much more of a 'people person' than Reese. It's so fun to watch thier personalities emerge and wonder what kind of people they will end up to be, and how they will use their gifts to glorify God.

Happy Birthday Reese!

I'm sure every parent thinks it every year, but it's really hard to believe Reese is 3 already! She has definitely made our life much more interesting. She is a very unique little girl who always has us laughing with her unique way of expressing herself. She has an amazing memory and is a bit like a computer. You say one thing, and you know she will respond with the same comment she always says. One funny thing she does, every Sunday (for well over a year) when we hit the speed bump in the church parking lot, she asks, 'where's Catherine?'. A year ago I really worried about her development, she still does quirky things, but now I'm (mostly) able to love it and know that that's 'just Reese'.
Today we went to Chuck E Cheese and had a Care Bear cake that a friend and I made. The kids ate pizza and played. I can't think of anything they would have enjoyed more, except if we went to the zoo too. Maybe we'll do that in a few days...