Kid Stuff That Rocks

We're packing for our Disney cruise with my family. I can hardly explain how excited I am. We're going with my folks, my brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law, and our dear friend, Jamie. And let me mention again, we're going on a DISNEY cruise. If you know me, you know I'm kind of a Disney fan. Riley and I can quote nearly every Pixar movie, and now that we're without cable, I find myself trying to choose between watching Batman Begins and Up. Tough decisions, you know?

But packing for the girls has got me thinking about absolutely awesome kid stuff that I am so glad exists. Here's what comes to the front of my mind:

1. Keen shoes. These things are not only super-durable, but they're also cute and waterproof. Their biggest downfall is that they're ridiculously expensive. I mean, like $40-$50 (gulp). I found that if you search, you can find some of last season's styles for closer to $25-$30. It's still a little pricey, but if I'm going to splurge on baby shoes, these are the ones. Riley wore hers, last year, the entire spring, summer and part of the fall, and they are still in great shape. And she wore them pretty much every day.

2. Nalgene and Camelbak bottles. They make them, obviously, for adults, but they have slightly smaller sizes that are perfect for Riley and Noelle. Riley had one already, and, this morning, Noelle got her own purple version. She hugged it the whole way home.

3. "Snacky cups". We have a few of the munchkin brand, and they are awesome. Being able to give the girls cereal or pretzels, while they're in the car, and not worry about the snacks being flung all over is just amazing. I mean, whoever came up with this super-simple idea is a genius.

4. Sani-Hands for Kids. These really aren't totally necessary, but it's nice, when I'm in the car, that I can just chuck a wipe at Riley and not have to turn around and squirt anti-bacterial gel into her hands. Not bad.

5. Mo Willems books. The man is hilarious and awesome. Currently, our favorites are a couple Elephant and Piggie books, Knufflebunny and Edwina, the dinosaur who didn't know she was extinct. They're fun to read aloud; they're hilarious for parents; the kids love 'em. They are all-our winners. Oh, we also like Leonardo, the Terrible Monster, but my parents own that one, so we only get to "read" it over Skype.

6. Judy Sierra books. I especially like Born to Read and Wild About Books, though we just picked up a pile of her others at the library, so I could be adding to that list soon. And I am a little partial to a book about kids (and animals) loving books. :)

7. Veggietales. I'm not super proud to admit that the girls have gotten to watch more movies than they should over the past few months. I'm blaming morning sickness. Valid, right? I really love throwing one of these on for the girls (which is, actually, the only way I can a shower before noon). Their current faves are God Made You Special and Jonah, but they're really not that picky. Noelle also really likes the collection of Silly Songs.

8. 100 Singalong Songs for Kids (from Cedarmont Kids). My dad, apparently, bought this for us on a whim, so he could get free Amazon shipping, and it's a great kids' CD collection. By that, I mean that it has enough songs that I'm not listening to the entire CD eight times through, just on my way to Target. It also isn't too obnoxious with bad kid voices or overly-comforting adult voices. And it has some Christian songs, so that's kind of fun.

Ta-da. There it is. Maybe you can enjoy some, too. :)

Duck, duck... duck

Riley and Noelle just love ducks, which is pretty nice because they're a very accessible animal. I mean, seriously, we only need to walk or drive for less than five minutes and-- voila!-- ducks! So on Mothers' Day, after church, here's what we did:



Riley got a big kick out of feeding both the ducks and the geese, though these were very well-fed birds who, let’s be honest, needed not an ounce more food. Noelle liked watching, and we tried to give her a piece of bread, but it went straight to her mouth. Maybe next time.

Today, being an amazingly warm, even HOT, day, we headed over to Cosley Zoo and got to see even more ducks. The place was packed. Of course it was. We weren’t the only family who was anxious to break free from our homes after a ridiculously long winter. When we arrived, there were only two—TWO!—parking spots in the whole place! Insane.

I am so grateful for Cosley. It’s the perfect pace for us: it’s small (so the animals are nearly always visible), it’s free, and it has ducks. We really couldn’t ask for more in a zoo, except maybe free popcorn? I’ll need to bring my camera next time. For now, here’s another adorable picture of Noelle that just requires posting.

DQ Disaster

Riley is potty-trained, which is pretty awesome. We now get to use half the wipes, buy half the diapers and wipe half the poop... just in time for another little one to come along and bring it all back. However, when she was only semi-potty-trained, we had probably the most memorable and hilarious playdates we've ever had.

The cast of characters included Becky and the girls' dear friend, Gracie.

We headed over the Becky's place, and since the weather was actually nice (rare, being that winter lasts for 10 months here. I'm not bitter), Becky suggested that we take the 20-minute stroll to Dairy Queen. Sounded like a plan to me, and after trying, without success, to convince Riley to go potty, we set off. All was going well.

After a pleasant walk to DQ, we ordered blizzards, upon which Riley promptly informed me that she had to go pee-pees. The girl at DQ told us that a restaurant down the way would let us use their restroom, so Noelle stayed with B and G, and Riley and I walked a few doors down.

The restaurant was closed-- perhaps never to open again?-- so I asked Riley if she thought she could hold it till we got back to Gracie's house. I'm pretty sure she had no idea what I was asking, but she really does try to please, so she told me she could. I was a little anxious about the whole situation, but what was I going to do?

We went back to DQ, and two steps from the entrance, Riley tripped, scraping her knee a little. So I walked into the place with a screaming 3-year-old who hadn't been allowed to pee. Fortunately, M&M blizzards heal most, if not all, wounds.

We took our blizzards and sat at the bench outside DQ. Naturally, we got our share of blizzard on our clothes (a prospect which is always a little disconcerting to my slightly-OCD 3-year-old). I leaned over to Becky and laughed, "She's going to leave this place with a scraped knee, covered in ice cream and drenched with pee."

Not three minutes later, Riley let out a cry and a shower of pee went down through the bench slats. Perhaps this wasn't the correct response, but what's a mom to do but choke down as much of the laughter as she can while she comforts her kid? I think Riley was a little too distraught to notice my giggles anyway.

I wiped her off as best I could with napkins, and we beat a quick retreat, Becky informing me that she was pretty sure the DQ workers had witnessed everything. (Dear DQ people, sorry! I didn't mean to laugh that hard.)

Riley recovered quite well and rode on the back of the stroller till we got back to Becky's. Then she got to be thrown into Gracie's tub with Gracie's toys, get a quick rinse-off, and get to wear nothing but underwear home.

See, happy ending! :)

Becky and Gracie, thank you for such an entertaining playdate. We wouldn't have wanted to share it with anyone other than you!

My favorite 3-year-old

And now, of course, Riley needs a little showcase. She has to be one of the sweetest girls I've ever met. She loves to snuggle, make people feel better (I get lots of kisses if I'm ever sick or hurt), and just love on everyone around her.

Her sassy pose, which I think is pretty awesome.

And now, excitement!

A fun hat picture with Da-dad (aka Granddad)

The little princess in her Disney princess attire

My gorgeous girl

Happiest Baby Ever

Just a few pics to show Noelle's sparkling personality. She is just too cute. And the helmet does nothing to hurt that adorableness! :)

Moms' Day

The girls are playing together, so I have time to post Mothers' Day pics (which I absolutely INSISTED ON this year). It's hilarious, getting more than one kid to look AND smile. Love it.

Kisses for Mom. Does it get any better?

The best of the three of us... Noelle trying to escape, Riley being a goof. :)

Hello, Old Friend

Noelle is currently asleep (after a 6 am wake-up and put-back-down), and Riley is contentedly playing with her Easter eggs (fun all year round!), cars, and new plastic bugs. Well, now that I've started typing, she's come over to investigate, but I can get a somewhat complete sentence down while opening and closing eggs and commenting on how silly she is.

So, clearly, it's been awhile. Not that there's really any excuse, but here's my excuse. This pregnancy has been KICKING MY BUTT! I won't go into details, but I will say that-- praise the Lord!-- I'm finally feeling like a normal pregnant woman as opposed to an incapacitated, off-her-rocker, my-kids-are-watching-more-movies-than-I-care-to-admit-while-I-lie-in-fetal-position-on-the-couch pregnant woman. And just in time for our Disney cruise with my fam, this coming Saturday!! Could there be a better time?!

There are, obviously, more stories to relate than I possibly could at this time, so let's start with some super-cute pics of the girls. That's why you come, anyway, right?

These are from the day of the party we had for my college tennis coach (25 years! Yeah, Jane!!!). The girls were in coordinating Wheaton gear, and it was almost too cute to handle. Plus, I'm kind of a fan of the fact that they both seem to be big tennis supporters. :)

Best fans ever? Quite possibly. :)