"big pool"

We went to a friend’s pool over the weekend and since there was not a baby pool the girls spent the whole time in the “big pool.” They swam and swam for 3 straight hours. Such fish. Av can now climb out of the side of the pool and jump back in totally unassisted and Camille just needs a touch of help climbing out. They had a ball. At one point Camille kept telling John, “big pool.” He thought that’s what she was saying but was confused bc they were in the big pool. The only pool. She was getting frustrated and he was as well. Finally figure out that the big pool she was referring to was the deeper end they had been swimming in earlier. Being almost 2 is hard, no one understands!

Fashionista

Av has become my little fashionista! She is cute. We all know she totally cares about her pretty dresses she wears but now she is helping me out. Nothing fits right these days and I needed a tank top to wear to something. I just wanted something cheap so while at Target I was trying on tops and she said, “no momma, that’s too big.” Then she picked out the one she thought looked the best on me. I agreed. Last week I decided I had to have a new bathing suit. I have been wearing the same all black maternity bathing suit and I wear it a lot. Like 4 times a week, every week. I was going to throw up if I put it on again so while at Target I was looking at the maternity suits. I found a few that were ok and asked her which one she liked. She had very strong opinions that one was the best so that’s the one I got. Shopping with her is going to be fun!

July 13th

Is the day 9 years ago that John and I met! It’s an anniversary of sorts that we always ‘try’ to remember. Really it’s the day we started dating too because we were inseparable from that day on. I knew shortly after that day that he was the one! I say ‘try’ to remember because we don’t really celebrate it just say a special “I love you and I am thankful for you” to each other. Anyway this year my incredibly sweet husband came home with flowers and a card for me. Being an almost stay at home mom I never know the date and had not thought at all about it so it took me totally surprise. He is so sweet and wonderful and I am so lucky.

wild child

Camille was in rare form yesterday. Wow! Made me ready to come to work today. I took the girls to the zoo. Camille has not really had to ride in a stroller in awhile and I knew she was not much of a fan but I thought at the zoo we would be all good. So in the parking lot I got us all unloaded and tried to put her in the stroller. The fit started immediately. If I had been trying to leave the zoo with her instead of walking in I would have been worried someone would have stopped me for kidnapping, she was making that big of a fuss. The whole time I was thinking just make it into the zoo and she can walk as much as she wants in there. Well when we got in I got her out and told her she could walk. Nope that was not going to do it either. She wanted me to carry her. No way that was going to happen. My friend Melissa finally thought to let her ride with her son Max and I could push the big girls as they wanted to. That kind of worked but she was still fussy the entire time and we had a few more fits. So much so that she had red marks on her neck from where she was fighting against the stroller straps so much. Ugh. She was tired. So we went home and put her down for a nap. She took a great nap and Av and I had to wake her after 2 hours. She did not like to be woken and threw another fit for 30 minutes. Finally we were able to distract her and that was the end of the grouchiness for the day. She is still wild though. After dinner we went with John to Bass Pro Shop so he could get a few things for his trip coming up. She didn’t want to be in the cart in there (can’t blame her lots to do and see) so Av and I spent a long time following her around. She was everywhere exploring and Av is so good. I can always count on her to be right with us following her crazy sister. Avery thinks Camille is very funny. They laugh a lot together. Anyway, Av had to go potty and I could not find John so off we went. They have bathrooms there where the entire men’s and women’s bathrooms do not have a door on them. So as I was trying to wipe Avery, Camille takes off. Out of the women’s bathroom and right into the men’s bathroom she runs!!!!!!! She thinks it’s very funny to see mommy chasing her. After that I handed her over to John. This morning before school she was in time out twice bc she kept turning off the TV while Av was watching and she broke a glass candle that was on the counter. Who knows how she got it. As soon as I walked into her classroom her teacher said, “wow, she seems to be in a bubbly mood this morning.” Hehehheeh If that’s what they want to call it. They have no idea what they are in for.

Barren River Lake

We went to the lake this weekend. We had such a blast! I really love it there and feel so thankful that we have such nice friends that let us borrow their lake house. It is so nice and peaceful and the kids just love it. We got there late on Friday night and had a Hoekstra dance party until the rest of our group arrived. Jennie and Brandon and their little boy Jake and Jeff and Kristal and their little girl Maya all joined us. The kids went to bed way too late on Friday. I knew it was going to make Saturday harder but we were having so much fun. I think we got them to sleep about 11. I was very hopeful they would sleep in esp since I didn’t go to bed until 1. Very late for me these days. Av would have if Camille were not up right as 7 standing in her pack and play saying, “Avery, Avery.” Kind of cute. John and I were also in the room; I tried to grab C before she woke Av up but no such luck. So the girls and I got up. We played until the rest of the group woke up. Around 10 we headed down to the lake. We swam and the kids went on their first jet ski ride. It was a blast. After lunch Av was still going strong so John took her back down to the water with the rest of the group while C and I took a nap. Not sure how it happened but in those 2 hours Av grew up a few years. When I got back down to the lake Av was jumping off the dock by herself (life jacket on), had been tubing and doing tricks with daddy on the jet ski! Where did baby Avery go??? We swam and played awhile longer until dinner time. I got stung by some huge black and white bug and also got a splinter in my foot. No fun. Felt kind of beat up but it was still a fun day. We all cooked dinner together and had the kids in bed by 8pm that night! The next day we went back to the lake and swam the morning away. Camille kept telling John, “more boat daddy” meaning the jet ski. By the afternoon it was time for lunch and to pack up. After an easy drive home we were home in time for dinner. Perfect weekend! I thought we had made it without a “Camille incident.” I was wrong. I talked to Jennie that night and she told me that Brandon had found a mark on Jake and thought it was ringworm. She took one look at it and said, “nope, that’s a Camille bite.” Heheheh Kind of funny. I had warned her but she was not too concerned. She just thought Jake would bite her back. They must have somehow figured it out between them bc we didn’t even know it happened.

cots

Since Av started at Cornerstone she has been pretending to put all her “friends” night-night on cots all over the room, I guess like she does for naptime at Cornerstone. It’s pretty cute but they are all over the room we happen to be in and keeping little sister from messing them up is impossible. Avery will put usually a pillowcase down first. That’s the cot. Then she puts down one of her favorite “friends” with a pillow and small stuffed animal to cuddle with and then covers it all up with a blanket. Heheheh it’s pretty involved. After a while she will say, “it’s time to wake up friends!” That part cracks me up every time. I am sure that’s what they say to them when naptime is over.

writing her name

We have been working on Avery writing her name. She is doing great. She has the A, the V and the E pretty well mastered. Goal is to have her writing her name by the time she starts Friends back in the fall.