It's Fall...Kinda

Could it be that September is just about over?!? Wow! It flew by. Well this month has brought us healthy, happy kiddos, and cooler weather. I know that in some parts of the country the weather dips to the 60's right about now but that is not Vegas by far. We've had some rain and cool nights though and this past weekend we even went without the air conditioner.

I even busted out a sweater and scarf on Sunday for an early dinner out with Randy and the kiddos. 

And look at Rian's outfit... She's just the cutest!!!

Rory:

I'm going to start with Rory this time. Now this is my little spot of the world and I'm going to use it to brag about him. I'm not sure if it's the change in the weather or his new class/teachers at school or maturity (4 going on 5 is awfully mature) or the kids' new bedtime or all of the above, but he has been this super duper kid this last month. His school work has improved, his attitude has been great, he's taking initiative with his chores and with helping with Rian. He is quickly learning that good behavior equals a trip to buy more Legos. For now Rory gets his allowance paid in Lego currency. Those tiny little building bricks are worth more to him than the dollar bills!

{I'm not sure why Rory put a R at the end of his name}

He manages his own bath routine now, complete with some Kevin McAllister-style grooming

He doesn't mind when Rian snuggles up to him to see what video he is watching. Sometimes he'll even explain to her why the video is "awesome".

Two things going on here:

1) He is indeed feeding Rian some of his yogurt. And

2) Rory's sportin' his junior fire fighter sticker.

1: I'm on the phone talking to my Nana when Rory keeps bugging me to eat his third Ninja Turtle yogurt of the day. Ask mommy for something I know she'll say no to when she's on the phone, because I can wear her down to say yes. This is a tatic he has perfected and uses often. So my compromise was that he could have the yogurt but he had to share with Rian, who is now also bugging me for a snack. His solution: he gets them each a spoon and proceeds to switch off as he eats a spoonful then serves her up one too (on a baby spoon of course!) I only wish I would've gotten a pic of him wiping her face oh so gently after they devoured that tiny container of strawberry yogurt.

2: So we're coming out of the market and we notice a giant yellow fire truck in the parking lot. Now this isn't a rare thing, we do our shopping at the same time the local fire fighters do theirs most weeks. Anyway we're loading into the car and I hear what I think is someone's car alarm going off. No big deal, I pay no attention except for that Rory is fixated on something that is happening behind the car. I'm telling him to get in his seat as I'm busily loading Rian in hers when Rory is frozen mid hoist into his chair. I look up to see a fireman approaching the car. We exchange hellos, he pokes his head in to say hello to Rory, only to find Rory's head buried into his seat. The fireman hands me two sticker badges and heads back to the fire truck. It then occurs to me that what I thought was a car alarm, was in fact the firemen honking at Rory. Once Rory can see that the fireman is climbing back into the truck he hurried into his seat and tells me to hurry up so we can follow the truck (the fire house is not far from the house). Just about every week I have a story of how Rory gets the firemen's attention and then can't handle it when they come over to him to say hello.   

He was so proud of that sticker and he wanted Rian to wear hers too. She however, was not so impressed.

Rian:

I can't believe how much this little girl has grown this month. Ok maybe not so much physically, but she is becoming this little person! (Where's my baby?!?) Her new thing is to point to something and ask "What's that?" Or "Who's that?", as she points to a picture. She's oddly obsessed with lights. She's looks up and points to a light and then says "light". She now goes to the refrigerator or pantry if she's hungry. She has a new love for Minnie Mouse. Maybe it's from months of Rory giving her everything Minnie Mouse. He deemed Minnie Mouse her favorite months ago. 

If you tell her it's bath time she puts her hands to her head and pats her head like she's washing her hair. She'll do the same thing if you tell her to wash her hair. She's learning that if she decides to dump her milk out on the table in protest to show her newly dislike for it, mommy is going to make her clean it up.

She still loves her shoes and mine for that matter. There is a glimmer of the start of toddler curls above her ears. And the pretend play has begun. She slipped on her "bracelet" and took her baby for a stroll around the house yesterday.

{toddler curl in the making above her ear! Yay!!!}

October is going to be an exciting month for us (not that there aren't going to be some challenges). I'm dying to go to the pumpkin patch and I got so gitty when I saw that the giant red and white striped tent was up. I think I subconsciously plan my errands so that I can drive by and stalk the pumpkin patch looking for signs that it's now open. 

Here's a pic from two years ago 

{cutest scarecrow ever!}

Starting tomorrow we are participating in a Halloween-style Secret Santa called You've Been Boo'd. I'd love to share some of my ideas for this but there is a good chance that I'd give it away if I post anything. I will share all of the fun once we reveal ourselves to our chosen family. I'm super excited but I hope Rory doesn't give us away. Wish us luck!!!

xoxo
-aMie

Fashion Find

For some time now I've been wanting a pair of black Vans classic slip ons for the fall and winter seasons. I love my white slip ons, but feel like they are a little too summer-like. Yesterday we stopped in the Vans outlet store in the hopes that I could score a little bit of a discount, but sadly no such luck. When I saw that they were full price Randy said to just get them. But I went in looking for a deal and I really didn't want to pay the $45.00 sticker price, even though they are totally worth every penny. I decided to leave empty handed.

When we got home I was determined to find a deal. With a little research I discovered what I was looking for-a sale-and a discount! Yay for me!!!

Kohl's website had these black suede Candie's slip ons on sale for $16.99! So I got them in the black suede and the leopard print, also on sale for $16.99! And Kohl's has a promo code good until today for an additional 20% off (YES2FAM). The 20% discount equalled the shipping cost, so I got the 2 pairs of shoes for less than the cost of the vans. 

If your looking for a specific item, do your research. You may be able to find more than you're looking for!

Happy Hunting!

xoxo
-aMie

Happy Friday!

After what seems to have been a month of sick, cranky and unhappy kids, this past week has been great. The kids seem to be back to their happy selves, full of laughter and fun. So I thought I'd blog about our day today. 

Good morning! 

Breakfast, actually it's more like brunch around here

She's still sporting her bed head 

 

Stacked Lego peanut butter sandwiches for my master builder

Then a little monster truck action. He likes a monster truck named Jurassic Attack. I mean what's not to like?!? It's a monster truck that looks like a dinosaurs!

{photo from Yahoo! search}

And then some sibling time together

After watching the Dodgers kill the Cubs 14-5 we took the kids to Toys R Us to feed their Lego/Duplo obsessions. Little did we know that we would find the one set that Rory has been asking for. He's been watching videos on it for months. 

And so the building began

And Rian got a zoo set

But she decided that while the boys put together the Ecto-1, she wanted to go play outside.

And since Randy said that I never include our pups on the blog...

 

Because one dog is just not enough on my lap, they both have to sit on me.

{and no I didn't mean to show off my manicure and wedding & engagement rings}

When it was time for Randy to go to work he passed the Lego torch to me to finish up. Those tiny pieces are a pain!

And finally the Ecto-1 was done!

Bath time fun!

Shampoo hairdos are so fun

Bedtime 

Yes my love, you are small but you are strong and mighty

And for whatever reason, Rory sometimes sleeps at the foot of the bed.

Today was a really good day! <3

Goodnight everyone! I hope everyone has a really good weekend. 

xoxo

-aMie

Life Lately

Today we had plans to do a science project at the park with our Playgroup, but Rory said that the park was too hot yesterday and he didn't want to go. So he decided that he was going to play with his Legos and I thought it's a good day to blog. 

Life lately has been filled with illusions the fall season although we are still experiencing 100 degree weather. The fall decorations have made their way up around the house, the kids are creating fall-inspired crafts, the new school year is in full swing, and yet it still feels like summer.

Rian has had a bit of a hard time lately...

After a morning of running errands, I pull into the driveway and I hear Rory say, "No, no Rian! Bad girl!" Turns out the bottle bandit struck again. Seconds before I could get her out of the back she decided it would be a good idea to once again push the nipple of her bottle into the milk. To make matters worst, she then poured the milk out on her lap as I opened her car door. That was it, the final straw. We are now knee deep in operation sippy cup. 

It's been a little tricky because she doesn't like sippy cups and prefers to drink from a straw or a pull top like the ones on sports bottles. But I can't exactly give her that at night for her milk. I finally found a cup that she will use for water.

Sorry these are a little blurry. She thought it was funny to run around the island as I tried to take her picture.

But because she refuses to drink milk from these cups, nap time and bed time were a nightmare. An overly tired toddler that refuses to go to sleep just screams fun times, doesn't it?!?

A week into this mess, Rian started teething with a fever and all. No bottle and teething, I know I was at the top of Rian's list now! This in it self was tough to say the least, but then she had her 15 month wellness check up complete with shots!

She got an A+ from "Dr. Popsicle" as Rory calls him... Our pediatrian gives the kids otter pops. Rian is super tiny with her height at 4% and her weight at 2%. But she loves to eat and she is hitting all her milestones so the doctor is pretty happy with her growth. Let's face it, she didn't exactly get a wide variety to choose from in the gene pool, short and shorter. 

A few hours after her doctor's appointment, Rian started to feel bad from her shots. I felt really bad and knew a bottle would make her feel better, but also knew that giving her one would only be harder in the long run. So she suffer through the rest of the week with a fever and refusing a sippy cup at night.

We spent a lot of time like this

A coconut fruit bar made her feel better

And we spent A LOT of time like this

{I love how Rian's crying doesn't even phase Rory. I'm sure he's use to it by now.}

And finally there was some peace at 12:00 in the morning. I was so afraid to move her to crib in the fear she'd wake up in transit.

Things started to get better after that very brutal night. Rian now highjacks my water. I guess it tastes better from my cup than her sippy cup.

I cut my hair on Saturday, I cut off about 5 inches. And Rian loves to play with my hair.

The happy times were short-lived when I told Rian she couldn't have a doughnut.

No joke

{my mom captioned this pic the drama}

Our happy girl is finally feeling better

As for Rory, he's been doing really well. He's enjoying school, mostly in part because his new class has Legos! Oh the perks of getting older! This has only fed his abnormally huge obsession with the tiny building blocks. It's been Legos, Legos, and more Legos around here.

He created a truck for all his first responders to ride on

This morning he made a trash truck. He's been talking about a Legos trash truck that he saw, everyday. So I guess he decided that he could make his own. The little blue pieces by the wheel and the lower left are cans to be recycled. The brown box on the orange separator is a trash can with a can inside it. And the orange separator was attached to the front of the truck and that's what lifts the trash cans over the truck. Rory is a master builder!

We've been playing this game a lot lately. My MIL gave this game to Rory a few months ago and he absolutely loves it. I really like it because each round of cards are kept in separate bags and if I know we're going to be somewhere with a long wait time I grab a bag so we can play on the go. 

We had a little visitor the other night. Yup that's a baby lizard. He's maybe 2 inches long with his tail. 

Rory decided that he wanted a tail since the lizard had one

He loved the new rolling stools at the pediatrian's. He said they looked like the one in Daddy's garage.

Yes, this is Rory asleep wearing a Dodgers batting helmet. When I showed him this picture the next morning, he said that he didn't want to get hit in the head by a baseball. Smart thinking kid. I'm just not sure how many baseballs are being thrown in your room in the middle of the night. Maybe he thinks that Randy and I play baseball in his room after he goes to bed? Or maybe he dreams that he's on the Dodgers? 

And here's my new hair

After months of trying to grow it out and trying to hide the uneveness from my post pardom hair loss, I decided that it was time to let it go. 

Whenever I think of my hair long, I imagine it looks like this

All photos are from Pinterest

In reality even at its healthiest, and without the post pardom regrowth, it still doesn't look this good. It spends most of the time pulled back into a ponytail.

So I've been itching to cut it, and with the guidance of my hairdresser {yes, I finally found a hairdresser I like, after 11 years!} I took the plunge. I only wish I would've cut it shorter. I think I'm going to wait until the new hair is a little bit longer and then cut an a-line bob. 

And well if you're wondering what Randy's been up to... What? Did you think he escaped the fun!

I hope everyone is having a good week.

xoxo
-aMie