Dallas Heritage Village

After living on the east coast where buildings can be as old as the 1700s, it's sometimes funny to visit a place where the oldest building dates back to the Civil War.  But today, as our final trip while Grandma is here, that's what we did.  We went to the Dallas Heritage Village downtown  and toured their collection of buildings that range from the Civil War to about the 1920s (ish).

My pictures are terrible because it was a very bright day and a point and shoot can't really adjust for that but then there wasn't a lot that was notable anyway.  The girls were ok, although that's probably to be expected given that we were touring old homes where everything is display only.  Mom and I enjoy that sort of thing and I suppose the only thing that saved us from disaster was that we were outside in between houses.  Still, it was pretty tiring.

 Abby, Megan, and Grandma peeking out of the cutouts of the gazebo.

 Yes I had to take a picture of the building mural advertising Dr. Pepper.  What kind of wife would I be if I didn't??????

I do love Victorian homes.  

There were a ton of school kids running around too.  But it wasn't so crowded that it was unbearable -- and they looked like they were doing scavenger hunt type things so the village itself is probably just more appropriate for older children.  But we had a nice time.

What was really nice was the quick trip to IKEA on the way home where Megan played in their (supervised) play area and Abby slept in the stroller the entire time and so mom and I did some shopping in complete wandering peace and quiet.  And then a trip for frozen custard at Double Dip.  So it was a nice but very full day.  And now mom goes back to Michigan.  I know how I feel about that but dad already told me she wasn't allowed to stay longer so I guess I won't whine too much!!!!

She's a Stinker

Stir-fry for dinner tonight.  Usually I can get the girls to eat a little bit, or at least the rice, but tonight there was no way.  Maybe because of I did brown rice instead of white.  Or maybe because it's typical for the girls to turn up their noses at dinner.

So after NOT eating dinner, Abby goes into the pantry and shuts the door.  And I'm not worried at first.  After all, how much trouble can she get into with the light off.  

And then I hear a crinkling.  

And when I go to investigate, what do I find?

Yes, that is one hand in the bag of DRIED brown rice and the other stuffing it into her mouth.  

Because apparently it's better dried than cooked? 

This is why I don't worry about making "kid-friendly" meals anymore.

Easter Weekend = Family Time

Every weekend in April is just swamped so we took advantage of Easter weekend and spent some fun quality time together. 

On Saturday we finally made it to the Dallas World Aquarium downtown.  It was a little bit of a surprise.  It's not the best aquarium ever but it has animals too!  Each part of the museum (?) is a different theme -- jungle, with exotic birds, monkeys, a sloth, aquarium, Mayan world, bugs (ewwwwww), penguins, etc.  It was fun -- small enough though and not busy at all so the girls walked (or ran) everywhere and had a lot of fun.

 Chopper took a lot of pictures of animals which I didn't feel the need to post but I had to post these -- can you imagine the dinner you would get out of this?????

This is actually really cool.  They had a blacklight area with the jelly fish and then these weird little fish.  The glowing part?  That's their eyes!  I'd never seen these before!  And they're kind've alien looking . . .

When we got home the Easter bunny had come to visit and left baskets of goodies and fun things.  Like really weird butterfly glasses . . . 

and chocolate bunnies.  Abby can say the word chocolate really well.  In fact, she found Chopper's stash in his backpack this morning and was very excited to tell me all about the "chocolate in my mouth!!"

 I can't remember why Megan was making this face but her mouth is full of sugary goodness.

After nap (and yes, Abby actually took one) and a lot of yard work (oh the battle of the crab grass) we dyed Easter eggs.

 Waiting for the dye to set -- the girls were not that patient so we ended up giving Abby the blue dye because they were in and out so quick.  Big mistake.  Abby ended up pretty blue herself.

 The fruits of our labors!!

Grandma Whittacre sent us an awesome box with lots of adorable boy clothes (ok Danny and Denise, I admit, they're not all boring!) and matching dresses that the girls wore to church on Sunday.  Chopper neglected to take a picture before church (probably not his fault because he did get them ready and to church on time by himself -- he's wonderful!) but after church the girls were NOT complying.  Megan was just being contrary.

And Abby was out cold.  Even though we've switched her back to her own room, she's still in her own bed and has been fighting bedtime hard every night.  Add that to no nap because church is 1 pm to 4 pm and she's out in 10 seconds in the car and we have to wake her up for dinner and keep her awake so she'll go to bed at night.

 But they were adorable and very poofy and we got lots of compliments on their outfits (not that that's what church is about of course . . . ).

Today Megan wanted me to take pictures of her dancing.  I misunderstood, she actually wanted me to take video but was content with the few I took because I was in the middle of making dinner.  She's a funny girl.  So here she is dancing.  I'm so confused about why she fights me about going to actual dance class.

So Much For That

It's been a week since we moved Megan and Abby into the same room and I was so excited.  Partly I was excited to "finish" Megan's room with Abby's bed, quilt, butterflies, etc.   And I have done most of that (I'm still waiting for the quilt to come back and I need to finish the wall art).  I was also excited to transform the other room into a little boy room and I've been working on several projects for the little man on his way.

But alas.

It's been a rough week.  The playing, the constant getting out of bed, the early rising were all things that I expected and got.  Abby has loved the freedom of being able to get out of bed and the only thing that kept her in the room was a baby gate across the door.  Megan has been back and forth on it.  I think that she liked having Abby to play with at night but she did tell me once early on, "mommy, I'm tired of this."  And when I asked her what she was tired of she said "I'm tired of Abby in here".  When she's ready to go to sleep, she wants things the way they should be for her.

Unfortunately, we've had some violence.  I don't know how intentional it is -- I think a good part of it starts off as playing.  The problem is that Megan doesn't stop when Abby cries or even when Chopper and I tell her no.  We have to remove her entirely from the situation.  That's true during the day at least.  So I've caught her twice at night with Abby crying pretty bad -- once because she was pushing her into the bed -- potentially smothering her, and the second because she was pulling repeatedly on a necklace around her neck.  I'm fairly sure there's been a fair amount of hitting and kicking too.  And Megan will NOT stay out of Abby's bed.

So last night, after the necklace incident, I put Abby back in her crib.  They were both out within about 10 minutes.  And today, I dismantled her crib and we moved her twin bed back into the other bedroom.  She'll still have a bed but no roommate.  The baby can share with us for a while and when we're ready for him to move out of our room we'll rethink things then.  Maybe Abby and the baby will share for a while.  I don't know.  We'll see what happens!  But that's the scoop.

Texas Bluebonnets

The bluebonnet is the state flower and it's a big deal around here in the spring.  People search out the fields (they're wild but I don't know if they're "planted" or if they just happen) and take pictures galore.  The kids get all dressed up in complimentary or coordinating colors and I have seen some really beautiful pictures in these fields of bluebonnets.

A friend of mine told me about a field up the road and then at dance class today several women were commenting on how overrun the bluebonnet fields are on the weekends so after Abby's nap I packed the girls up and we went off to see if we could find it.  And we did!

 We got out of the car and the girls took off -- they love being able to run and explore and not only were there bluebonnets, there were also some little yellow flower and quite a few butterflies.  And it smelled so good!  I have to wonder if they're related to the hyacinth because they smelled like that, but not quite as strong.  But with a field full, you could smell them on the air!

 See this picture?  Know why Abby is looking at the ground?  Me neither until I take the picture and she turns to me and says "mom, ants.  They hurt."  Remember we've had a run-in with them before and lucky her, she got them again.  Fortunately it was mostly her feet and they didn't get very far but after frantically brushing and searching and slapping (because they DO NOT come off), I think we got them all but then she wanted to be carried the whole time.  Not that I blame her.

 Megan was fine though so we continued up the hill and down and enjoyed the scenery and the butterflies for a little while longer.

 I tried to put Abby down at one point and get her picture and this is what I got -- an upset little girl desperate to get back to her mommy and be safe off the ground!  My poor sweetie!

Up close they do look a little like a hyacinth too.  They were pretty but honestly I don't know if they're worth taking the girls back in cute dresses and trying to get nice pictures.  The thought of them ending up covered in ants is too icky.

When we got home I put some calamine lotion on Abby's feet where the bites have swelled and Megan insisted that she had been bitten as well and needed medicine.  Now that would've been really bad if she had -- I would've had to haul BOTH girls down that hill back to the car!  Plus this 20 pound baby.  Yeah, probably won't be going back anytime soon.  Maybe with Grandma.  Maybe.

General Conference Bags

This year Chopper and I got to watch a little bit more of General Conference thanks to to General Conference bags.  I found the idea on Pinterest and it turned out generally well for Megan and Abby to stay occupied and somewhat interested.

All I did was take 15 paper bags and glue the pictures of the prophet and apostles on the front.  Each one had an activity or a treat inside.  When that person spoke, we matched up the pictures and then opened the bag and did the activity.  Some activities were quieter than others and more successful of course but this is what we had in our bags (so I remember for October):

Treats or snacks in 4 bags

Coloring pages in 2 bags

church puzzles (pictures from the friend glued onto cardstock and cut up)

beads and elastic (the girls love playing with beads)

Easter shapes with foam stickers (also a big hit)

Ice cream cone cutouts

growing sponge bugs (the capsules you put in warm water -- the girls loved them but we also didn't hear any of that talk because they kept yelling "look, they're growing!!!")

We glued popcorn onto trees (popcorn popping)

A matching game (2 conference bingo boards cut up)

Playdough

Is that it?  I'm missing some but I already can't remember!!  Anyway, it was a great idea and I will be using it for a few years yet I'm pretty sure.  I'll probably mix up the ideas too -- I tried to get activities that I know they enjoy but are things they don't do often so it would keep their attention.  And since it worked well, I'll probably spend the next 6 months collecting cheap, fun things to use in the bags as well.  And it also got Megan learning the apostles.  She asked about every speaker and then wanted to know their names, etc.  And since they stayed in the living room with us for the activities, they did listen some.  Megan repeated a few things that were said.  Abby was fascinated by the round light thing at the top of the organ -- she thinks it's the moon.  No I take that back -- she thinks it's "Abby's moon."  But it was good.

 I made these nests as one of the treats.  The girls thought they were great but the chow mien marshmallow treats were a little hard to eat, more than regular Rice Krispie treats.

The girls building their popcorn trees and yes, we managed to keep Abby from eating any popcorn coated in white glue!!

Night One is Done!!

Well we got through the first night of sharing a room with very little sleep but also very little screaming so it should probably be counted as a victory.

We put the girls down early knowing that they would probably play and talk (which they did) and hoping that going down early would help them get to sleep at a decent hour.  They spent about an hour talking and playing, putting on slippers, reading books (which reminds me I need to take those out), and asking for milk.  Then Chopper and I left to go to a movie!!  We haven't had a date in so long and April is already packed with scout stuff so we took our chance and ran!  The babysitter said that they were up for about another 45 minutes after we left but gradually just quieted down.  And when Chop and I checked on them at 11:30 when we got back, they were each sleeping in their own bed, covered up and snug.  Very sweet.

And then 1 a.m. rolled around.  Mind you, the movie we went to see was The Hunger Games and while it was very good, I could NOT get my mind to settle so I was STILL AWAKE at 1 a.m. and here comes the patter of little fit and a sweet little voice at my bedside says "hey mom!  I need milk!"  That would be Abby.  When Megan comes in at night she's either crying or needing to go potty.  But Abby was ready for the day and taking advantage of being able to get out of bed.  So I got her a drink and put her back to bed and about 1:10 a.m. I hear the patter of little feet and "hey mom!".  So again we go and this time I turn off the flashlight and pull the door to, but not quite shut.  The third time it happened, I shut the door and she cried for 45 minutes.  Miraculously, Megan DID NOT wake up!  She does sleep like the dead -- thank you!

Megan never had this issue -- when we switched her to a bed she physically couldn't get in and out by herself!!

But this morning they were both up at 7:30, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.  Abby is currently taking a nap in her bed and I have no heard a peep.  I think she's pretty tired.

We also went to a an Easter egg hunt this morning before General Conference.  Actually they were just spread out on the field but the girls enjoyed it.  They had an Easter bunny there of course who looked EXACTLY like the Easter bunny in Steel Magnolia.   It completely freaked Megan out and she would not go anywhere near him and hid behind me most of the time.  Abby on the other hand kept seeking him out and then went right up to him, told him "I have eggs!" and smiled for a picture.  

They are so different!  It's actually so fun to see it too!

 A field of eggs.  If you lay them, they will come . . . 

 Concept very easily grasped.  Megan insisted on the smaller basket -- you know how she likes small things.  And eventually decided that she had enough eggs.  Fine with me!  There's were kids with piles and piles though.

Look at this!!  How funny is that?  Especially when I compare it to the ONE picture I have managed to take of Megan with Santa Claus and she is screaming her head off.  This just really makes me laugh.

Sweet Moments

As much as Megan and Abby fight and torture each other, there are moments when I have hope for a great sister relationship.  At least, I hope they will someday!  Last night was one of those.  These are long videos and not very exciting but they literally sat together for almost a half hour (they're not that long though) and read books to each other.  It was so sweet.

But right now I hear screaming!

The Weeds Aren't the Only Thing Growing (Finally)!!

Happy Birthday to Abby with a well-child check!  And believe it or not, there has been a growth spurt!  We have now entered the realm of double digits which means that she is still really tiny but  at least she's growing!

Weight -- 23.8 pounds (14%)

Height -- 32.5 inches (17%)

Head -- 46.5 centimeters (24%)

Also, her 4 teeth kind've on the sides that have been missing for ages are finally coming in.  That partially explains why she wants ice all the time.  Her iron is a little low too and she loves to chew anyway but it's about time on those teeth!  We caught up on one immunization we were lacking and she hated it but is happy now about her Bugs Bunny bandaid.  Big difference from Megan who dragged herself around by her hands the last time she got shots.  (I haven't told her she has an appointment for a few shots next week too).

Megan's closet and dresser have been cleaned out to make some room for Abby's things so we can go ahead and move her this weekend.  I still haven't gotten her quilt back but it shouldn't be too long now and then I can take pictures of the finished room.  It's too cute!!  Then it's working on boy stuff!!  I'm actually really excited for that.  Boys may have boring wardrobes but there are cute ideas out there for decor!!

So Long, Farewell

I think this is our last Arboretum trip for a while.  I know, I know, you can't get enough of the posts that are 55 pictures long with all the bragging about how beautiful Texas can be in the spring (or fall).  Sorry.

Our membership expires on the 31st and with everything coming up for us, I won't be renewing right away.  Maybe when the children's discovery garden is finished.  Or next fall when I get a hankering for pumpkin.  But today will be it for a  while and it was a beautiful day to spend there -- 80 degrees and sunny with a fantastic breeze.  Which I so needed.  80 degrees may actually be my pregnancy limit which is a bad thing since I'm pretty sure it won't stay 80 degrees for the next 3 and a half months . . . 

 A puppy dog face today -- a little different from usual.  And then she kept asking me if I could paint her whole body brown!  I'm not exactly sure where this is coming from really.

This little pettiskirt is the cutest thing ever and at only $10 I might have to go back to Target and get one for Megan.  They are so much fun with all their bounce and twirlyness.

In other news, we are experiencing major potty regression with Megan.  It started as one accident a day and culminated (I hope anyway) with Megan not using the potty AT ALL yesterday.  I have been so emotionally drained by this that I snapped and put her in pull-ups -- not snapped in another way unless you count the crying.  Looking online it seems that this happens when there is stress in the child's life.  So I might have to experience some potty regression.  Ewwww.  Anyway, everyone says just let it go and give them ownership and praise when they're doing it right but don't punish them for not and it'll eventually end.  I really hope so because I hate this.  Thankfully, I got a good deal on carpet cleaning that I will be using as soon as the issue is resolved.  But what stressers can Megan possibly have in her life?  Maybe the new baby coming?  I have no clue.  I wish I could see inside her head.

Abby is going through a crying streak -- this morning she melted down because she missed seeing the garbage truck.  Thank goodness the second one comes around in the afternoon.  The other day it was because she wanted her swimsuit on.  Complete meltdown and I can't understand what she wants!  By the time I figure it out I'm tearing my hair out and then when I do figure it out she's completely fine.

Things have been very draining lately, can you tell? 

But then I feel bad because I'm trying to keep life in perspective.  It's really not all tortuous.  Abby tried to say M&M's today and that was good for a laugh and Megan has actually not thrown a single fit today so there are good times.  They sometimes just get swallowed up in the not so good.  But that's life I suppose.  Ok, I'll start being more positive -- I think I've done quite a bit of ranting lately actually!!!  Sorry!