Zoo!

Caroline and I went to the zoo today with our friends Katie, Emmet, Maryn, Jesse and Lars. I LOVE the zoo and I think I was more excited about it than Caroline was. I mean she had fun but we could have seen a goat and a chicken and she would have been just as excited. She was definitley interested in the animals but I think a dog is still her favorite. Weather wise it was a perfect day for the zoo, and it wasn't too crowded. Remind me never to let my kids go on a field trip to the zoo without me, there were all these school kids there and they were OUT OF CONTROL. The monkey's are always my favorite, there was a chimpanze that was right up at the window waving at people, I thought it was so cool and carried Caroline over to see and she freaked out trying to get away from it. Oops. This is neither here nor there, but when I worked at McLean Bible we took our Junior High kids to the zoo one year during summer camp and it was mating season and seriously every animal at that zoo was mating. It was super awkward to try to explain and the kids were definitley fascinated and asking lots of questions that I would have prefered not to answer. I mean the prarie dogs, the monkeys, the peacocks, the hippos the galopagas turtles (that you could hear the turtles through the whole zoo). It's funny now but at the time I was dying. The entire rest of the week kids were imitating noises the turtles were making, I have never heard anything quite like it. I am happy to report that there were no awkward mating moments today.

This video is from the end of the day, 2 hours past naptime, kids were getting sloppy. And I know that the floor of the elephant is not the cleanest place to let your baby play, but honestly this one licks tires and the toilet. My cleanliness standards have gone way way down.

Easter

I am shamefully behind on blog posts, but that seems to be a theme. We have had a lot going on the past few weeks, both of my grandmother's died within a few weeks of each other, various family members have been in town. Caroline has been a little sick, and I am tired all the time which is to be expected but I thought I remembered being full of energy during my second trimester last time. Oh well, luckily my sweet husand encourages me to rest and be lazy while he cooks and cleans and tends to the baby. He is seriously the best husband ever. And so hot:) Anyway, here are some pictures from our Easter, we spent it with my godparents and it was so fun. Caroline loves their dogs and they tolerate her quite well. We went out on their deck for awhile because it was a beautiful day, but a little chilly so I put some pants on her under her dress and by the time we left she looked like a little homeless baby, she was all dirty (from the deck) and covered in food (this girl loves to eat) and wearing mismatched clothes to keep her warm. She is so much fun, and everyday with her is a gift. She still won't walk, but totally could, crawling is faster so she is sticking with it. This girl is stubborn and does things her own way. She is becoming very affectionate, gives kisses, hugs and pats on the back. She is going through a mommy stage that is really annoying. I mean I love that she loves me but she wants to be clinging to my neck 24/7 and freaks out if I put her down or someone else tries to take her. She is all about other people though (as long as I am holding her) when we are out she fake laughs to get people's attention, she loves to be noticed. She makes a moo sound if you ask her what the cow says (she actually makes it no matter what animal you ask about but we try to set her up for success and pick the cow) she talks to herself all day long, straight jibberish and sometimes laughs at the end of a "sentence" she dances and sings and hums to all music and no matter how bad of a mood she is in she almost always snaps out of it if you start to sing "if your happy and you know it" she loves to clap. We love her so much and while I think we may be in for it with this one, I still want to wake her up and play with her about an hour after we have put her to bed because I miss her. Not to say that some days aren't hard, I am still overwhelmed at times by the fact that I am responsible for someone else 24 hours a day. Especially on the days when I am tired and feel pregnant and just want to lay on the couch all afternoon. Not happening. But the fun times far outweigh the bad and I am very aware that someday soon I will really miss these days with her.

Last week's swim lesson

Look at Jacob waving to the lifeguard, that kid is so sweet and good natured. Last week definitley was better than the first week, the pool was a little warmer and Caroline was less squawky. We have another lesson in 2 hours, lets hope she will let go of my neck long enough to do some kicking or blow some bubbles.

Is this normal behavior for a little girl?

In the first picture she is literally doing a pull up (which I could not do to save my life) and in the second one she pushed the rocking chair over to the desk so she could climb up to reach the top of the desk. Pretty clever in my opinion. And what does she want to do once she can reach the top? Pull down, destroy, eat, rip, throw, etc. My little destructicon, she spends all day pulling the house a part and I spend all night putting it back together. Good thing she is so very cute.....

Swim lessons

My friend Christine found swim lessons for babies at Claude Moore Recreation Center in Sterling and we signed Caroline and Jacob up. Today was our first Friday (the lessons started last week but Caroline and I had a prior commitment) and it was very fun. For me anyway, I think Caroline was really cold and confused about all the other babies, some of which were crying and she always gets upset if she can hear a baby crying. Anyway I didn't get any pictures of all of us but I will next week, oh and I did get a few of Caroline and I but there is no way I am posting any of those. Me 10 weeks pregnant (thought it was 12 till yesterday when they knocked me down 2 more) in a swimsuit looking like I am about 20 weeks along is not making the blog today!

bunny ears

Caroline and I went shopping at target today and bought these bunny ears, she won't keep them on her head for very long but they look so cute on her for those 2 seconds. This picture was taken approximately 1 second before she ripped them off. On a side note, Caroline is starting to get so whiny which I wasn't expecting for at least a few more months. Not only did she want me to hold her at target she wanted to touch everything and just whines and whines if she doesn't get her way. I finally bought some goldfish (crackers) which kept her busy and quiet until we left. I know that isn't the best way to manage whiny behavior but I am not sure how to curtail it until she starts to speak and understand english. Any tips?

A few from Kappa (Brian's dad)