Thank You Uncle Darryl!!

Brixie Lee went to Bakersfield with Grandma last Sunday for some crazy B-town style fun. One of the days they went to the shop to visit Uncle Darryl and he gave Brixie Lee $10. She told me all about it when she got home and I asked her what she wanted to buy. At first she said she wanted to buy "lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of bananas!" That means 5... but, I told her that $10 would buy lots and lots... of bananas and she would still have some money leftover for something else. She then said, "I want to buy a train ticket!" Perfect, I had some coupons for the Irvine Park Railroad! So we called up the Carters and decided to head down to the park on Friday... now today... the hottest day of the month!

We were there a few minutes early so Brixie Lee had time for a quick photo-op with Miss Tracey on the wagon wheel bench! Brixie Lee is showing off her $10 and coupon for free ice cream like a proud big girl.


We practiced what she needed to say all morning and she got most of it out when I picked her up at the ticket window. She said, "Train ticket please." Which was pretty good, but we practiced, "I need 1 train ticket, 1 pony ride and 1 free ice cream please." She totally forgot the best part! The free ice cream. Good thing mommy was there to keep her on track! ;) Mommy doesn't miss out on free ice cream!

While we were waiting for the train she saw all the other stuff that she could buy. Lucky for me she was a dollar short for even the cheapest thing! Very good math lesson don't you think! I explained that she could save her $2 that she had left and when she earns or receives more money we can come back and she can buy a toy. Very good saving money lesson don't you think! Look what you started Uncle Darryl! She's getting more than you ever could have realized out of that $10!

Here she is giving her ticket to the conductor so she can get on the train. Lucky for us he was very understanding as we kept giving her each of our tickets to give to him so we could keep trying to get a good picture. Too bad none of them worked! Oh well, we'll blame it on the fact that we had 3 laughing women taking photos instead of our handsome Daddy photographer :)

Here we are! The Mathewson Girls and the Carter Girls! Great group of girls!

Tracey tried to convince Brixie Lee to scoot back into the hole in the tree. As you can see, Brixie Lee was pointing out the fact that there were spider webs in there! Mommy's girl! Love it!

After waiting an hour for the pony rides to open (in the extreme heat, not fun for us, but Brixie Lee didn't care) Brixie Lee and Tracey were able to take Freddy for 3 laps around the track. Poor Tracey had to witness Freddy relieving himself. I thought I was going to have to take over for the poor girl! Love you Tracey... you always make me laugh!

Now for the ICE CREAM! Now that was a much needed treat after all our hot-fun adventures! As Brixie Lee said over and over and over... THANK YOU UNCLE DARRYL!

Party Kingdom Open Play!!!

Kelly has now made the last week of August Stroller Strides official End Of Summer Fun Week! Today's activity was at the local jump house called Party Kingdom. We've been to several parties there and even had Brixie Lee's 2nd Birthday party there. She's just now starting to really enjoy herself in the jump house. Today she got a little crazy (yes, this is crazy for my shy, calm girl) and decided to kick it up a notch ;)

We started off with the normal, calm bouncing on the race horse (poor horse)...
Then when I had my back turned... she decided to climb a little wall... not such a big deal...
Then she climbed to the top of a rather big ladder... I thought I might have to help her down, but...
Nope! She flew down the slide like a pro! In fact, she did this about 20 times!

These pictures are pretty bad (except for the first one, thank you Kim!) because all I had on me was my phone. Next time I'll try to get some better shots. You can't see it here, but she smiles from ear to ear when she's going down the slide. You make me so happy Brixie Lee! Mommy loves you very, very much!

My Baby Is 2-1/2 Years Old...

On Brixie Lee's 2-1/2 Birthday (July 11th) we went to Wahoo's and Yogurtland to celebrate. She LOVES it there!

First she relaxed on her bench...


Then she gave her sister some love...


Then she wanted to dunk Helene in the water...


Then she stuck her head in the fountain...


And finally we went home with totally happy, totally wet 2-1/2 year old...


Where does the time go????

If you want to see all the pictures from this day you can check them out on Don's Gallery.

Hugs!

It's All About Eating...

Around here we do A LOT of eating!

Helene now knows exactly what she needs to do to get some grub...



And Brixie Lee was very excited to get her first lollipop at Gavin's birthday party...

Estep Driving School

Thank you so much cousin Tommy for giving Brixie Lee her first driving lesson on your Jeep. You're a great teacher!

Mini-Movie Stars...

For playgroup last week me made a movie staring some of our favorite kiddos! Gotta love it!

Helene 4 Month Update...

Doc Appt 5/28: Weight 14.4 Height 23.75 HC 15.75

Helene Update

I know it's been a LONG time, but there is a good reason that I'll get into later.

Helene had her 2 month check-up with Dr. Warren today and he said she's perfect! We knew that! She's 10 lbs 13 ozs and 22.5 inches long; 50th percentile for both. I believe that's exactly the same as Brixie Lee was at this point. She's sleeping much better now that we're back to Stroller Strides! Love it! Tonight may not be good because she got her shots today and we didn't go to Stroller Strides. We'll see!

Brixie Lee is even more loving to Helene now. She always wants to lay down with her and give her love. If Helene starts crying, Brixie Lee runs over there and starts singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. My big girl is such a sweetie!

Now, for why we have not be posting any updates and pictures. We've decided to sell our condo and get a new/bigger home. It's a crazy process, but needs to happen. The stairway leading to our condo is just to dangerous for me and girls to go up and down several times a day. We'll keep you posted on the sale, but for now we don't have a computer.

Take care everyone!

For Goma!

Sorry we're so late Goma! Your girls made you some Birthday cookies, but we'll have to make you more because we've almost eaten then all!

Here is your Birthday song!


And here is your Birthday dance!

Helene Marie Update...

Helene Marie is now 2 weeks old. We broke out the baby scale for the first time this morning and she's exactly 1 lb over her birth weight (she's 7 lbs 4oz). She's a great eater (just like her big sister) and starting to be a better sleeper (just like her big sister). We're hoping to take her announcement photos this weekend, so hang in there!

Her first week was spent going to the doctors office everyday, followed by a trip to the lab to get her jaundice levels checked. It was a bit extreme in my opinion, but her doctor wanted to keep a very close eye on her. She's perfectly-perfect now and starting to adjust to life outside the womb.

In fact, I think she's adjusting faster than we are. Going from 1 child to 2 children has been more difficult than we imagined. With Brixie Lee, it took me a couple of months to accept that going anywhere with a kid takes 3 times longer than going it alone. Now I'm starting to accept that it's going to take 10 time longer with 2 kids than with 1. I think that's one of the hardest things for me because I'm a go-go-go kinda girl.

Today Don took his girls shopping and we made it out the door by 9:30am! We started getting ready at 6:30am. And to think, Jerry used to say it was ridiculous when it took me and hour and a half to get just myself ready for high school. This morning all I got to do to myself was brush my teeth, pull my hair back and get dressed! Actually... that's all I do most days!

If you want to see all the pics from Helene's 2 Week photo shoot, check out Don's Gallery.