The Fighter's

The girls in their new sleep caps!  Katelyn has had a habit for the past few years of sucking her thumb and twirling her hair...which normally is harmless (and often adorable)... but... she twirls so much that she ends up pulling her hair out in clumps:-( We have tried everything over the past few years...lots of positive reinforcement and some taking away of privileges...different types of textured blankets for her to hang on to, dolls with hair for her to run her fingers through, gloves, toys for her to sit with to keep her hands occupied, cutting her hair short, baby oil (so her fingers would slip out of her hair and she wouldn't be able to pull), talks with the pediatrician, talks from grandma, grandpa, grammy, us, Ava even has encouraged her... and it finally seemed to be working for a few months...up until the last few weeks:-( So...we're trying something new.  I ordered "sleep caps" online.  At first Kate was really resistant to wearing a hat at bed time,

Olivia went potty on the potty tonight!  Probably just a fluke...not pushing any potty training at this age...but she wanted to try...so I let her...and she went!  You should have heard the squeal that came out of me!  She then waved and said "bye-bye" when we flushed.  After that, she wanted to go every 5 minutes.  When I put her to bed, she looked at the bathroom, waved and said..."night, night."  I think she was very proud of her accomplishment...as am I:-)

...3 girls in a tub, and who do you think stole the show? She's small but mighty...and she thinks her new "hat" is hilarious.  She kept laughing at herself histarically in the mirror:-)  I also have to say...I love the toothy grin in the first pic.  One of my most favorite things right now about Livvy Lou. Another fave...love the facial expressions in this one! After a beautiful spring day, a bike ride and LOTS of playing outside yesterday...we had a rainy day today and spent it indoors doing crafts, coloring, taking a bath in mom & dad's tub (we save our tub for special occasions -aka rainy/snowy days-the girls love to "swim" in that tub) and making muffins (Ava has preschool snack tomorrow...made the first two batches with her during the day and the last batch after they went to bed.  This last batch wasn't too successful...I couldn't remember if I put flour in them or not and stood staring at the bowl, flour bag and mixer for about two mi

babysitters, tappas, wine...and most importantly...a date night out with my favorite person in the whole wide world!

We ventured down to Grammy's for the weekend!  Got off to a rough start...315 proved to be too much for Kate's little stomach, and before we knew it, we had a puker!  Ava tried to help the situation by punching out a hole in the side of her happy meal box, handing it back and saying..."here Kate...you can throw up in this".  Poor little Kate didn't quite make it into the target...but a nice try on Ava's part to help the situation. :-) We finally made it...and had Doug and Grammy there waiting to help scoot Kate to the bath and clean the van.  Thank God for teamwork!  The girls love spending time at Grammy's...they adore her.  We spent the weekend playing, relaxing, visiting some of our favorite spots (and people) around Columbus...Doug and I even got to sneak out and watch the Buckeye's win with friends (thanks Grammy!).  A fun time was had by all!

We celebrated with green outfits and green milk!  The girls thought green milk was the coolest.  Ava asked me on the way to picking up Kate from school...."Mommy...who are those little green guys everyone talks about on St. Patricks Day?"  I was always confused by the day growing up - thought it was a day for my brother Patrick, so I don't blame her for wondering about those little green guys:-)  May the road rise up to meet you, May the wind be ever at your back May the sun shine warm upon your face And the rain fall softly on your fields And until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of his hand

Today was a bit of an annoying day.  Woke up tired with a cold, only to find Ava with the croup cough and miserable.  Instead of taking care of her and resting myself...it was a work day.  Powered through back to back meetings, one of which entailed a tough conversation...standing my ground against a boss I don't quite see eye to eye with.  Not fun.  Laundry is piling up, the dishwasher needs to be unloaded, floors need to be swept...the continual list is endless.  Most days I don't let it get me down.  But after this day, the unchecked to do's are annoying me. Then, as I sit tonight playing the saddest tune on the smallest violin for myself, I'm convicted at how annoying I would sound to most people, wallowing in the self pity of my "annoying" day.  Really Kim? This is nothing.  I look at the devastated people in Japan and the real life nightmare they are living.  Heartbreaking. And the young two girls of a friend of ours who passed away a few short hou

My Ava seems to be growing up faster than I ever thought possible (sniff, sniff), but I can still catch her from time to time getting some Z's.  After a 3 hour nap I peeked in on her to make sure she was okay and found her like this...and had to take a pic.  SO sweet if you ask me.  I love my Ava Bean so very much!

The 5 of us were heading out to do some errands...the girls ran out the door ahead of us (we thought to get in the van) and when we came out, we found Ava & Kate in Doug's rental car...looking ready to go.  I can just see them hopping and bopping down the street together...sissies...listening to tunes as they chat and drive with the windows down.  Couldn't help but sneak a picture.

Olivia is 18 months and into EVERYTHING!  She climbs, explores, climbs some more, sometimes hides in cabinets and today...I found her in her room in the Huggies box.  I yelled to Doug to grab the camera!  She is talking a whole lot more...my favorite...when she says "eeese" and "dank ooo".  :-)  She tries to keep up with her sissies but also needs her space.  We often find her in her room surrounded by books...just looking at the pictures.  She loves the Backyardigans, her elephant Ellie, popsicles, wearing dresses and her black patten leather shoes:-) 

Ava, Kate & Doug had a date to the daddy/daughter dance Saturday night at church.  The girls were SO excited...we went shopping on Friday and I let them each pick out an outfit for the dance.  Ava insisted on purple.  Kate had actually picked out a pink dress but when she got it on, thought it was too "itchy" and decided she'd rather wear a purple dress like Ava.:-)  They were bursting with excitement the entire day...couldn't wait to wear their dresses and they especially couldn't wait to dance with daddy!  You should have seen them as they were getting ready.  My favorite moment...as I was curling Ava's hair, Katelyn stood right in front of her straightening Ava's dress and staring right up at her, touching Ava's cheek with her hand.  Then they kept giving each other hugs and saying..."you're my best sissy ever".  My mind flashed forward 20 years from now...giving me a glimpse of what their wedding days may like.  Best sissies, pr

Olivia and her cousin Jet are 4 months apart...and we're finding they like to explore and get into everything together.  It's funny how they both light up when they see each other...partners in crime.  Below, a few pictures taken for evidence.  Exhibit A: Getting into the craft cupboard... Exhibit B: In Olivia's headquarters, conspiring with farm animals and Dora the Explorer Exhibit C: smuggling crayons under the basement door. Exhibit D: Dropping bombs (aka...filling pants) Exhibit E: The day after - Jet playing innocent and looking at the snow outside with his other two accomplices.  Olivia still asleep after a night full of shenanigans.