Introducing, the dirtiest girls in the world!

We went to Lucy's class picnic today. We got up and got all gussied up. The girls each wore cute little dresses and had their hair fixed and were clean and cute when we arrived. 10 minutes later Lucy came over to show me a spot of water that she had spilled on the front of her dress. She failed to mention the mashed strawberries on the skirt, the orange popsicle on the collar, the purple popsicle on the front or the partial tattoo that was emblazoned on the sleeve. That was 10 minutes into the party. By the time we left, she had added pizza, juice, dirt, cheetoh cheese, watermelon, and the dye from cookie sprinkles. She was sweaty, stinky, sticky and one of her knees was bleeding.

Her sister was no better, she was covered in watermelon (I mean covered, she ate three whole slices and her purple dress was a new, darker shade of purple from the fruit juice), she was so sticky that rocks, straw and dirt were clinging to her. Her legs were slippery from bubbles, she had eaten dirt and there were traces of it around her mouth. She also had the requisite pizza, cheetoh cheese and cookie mess on the front of her. I took her to the bathroom three times to rinse her off and she was still a total mess. Oh, and ditto on the bloody knee. By the time we were leaving, she was tired. She could barely walk. Keeping up with the big kids is hard work. She fell asleep in the car on the way home, usually meaning a no-go for nap, but she, for the first time ever, stayed asleep when I transferred her to her bed. When I laid her down in her crib, rocks, dirt and straw fell from wherever they were sticking onto her sheet. She even stayed asleep while I sponge bathed her in her bed. One tired kiddo.

Lucy is bathed and both are resting. Harper has a date with the tub. By the time Ian returns home they will be back to their blonde, sweet smelling little selves. I'm sure Harper will still be able to pull a rock or a chunk of dirt from somewhere, though.

All good dogs go to heaven

We said good-bye to Reggie today. After several months of watching our formerly strong-as-an-ox dog dwindle down to fur and bones and struggling to get him to eat or drink anything for days now, we said good-bye. The girls went to a friends house and Ian and I drove him to the vet (Ian rode in the back so we could let the furry guy stick his head out the window on the way there, it was the happiest he had been in weeks.) No worries, he still tried to pick a fight with a pack of about 12 dogs in the entryway of the hospital, scrappy until the end.

Lucy has been sad off and on for a few days now but some of that is just because she knew how sad we were. She has already started asking about future pets. For now, we are content with remembering "Reggie, Reggie, he's our pet, he's the greatest, don't forget!" Here are our favorite memories of our favorite dog:

-Back it up- the booty was for scratching and he didn't care who you were, you were expected to scratch.

-The fact that he loved to lick the mixer beaters, just like a kid, when we made any sort of batter. Or the fact that turkey bacon and baked chicked would make him act like he had ants in his pants with excitement.

-Ears that rivaled Dumbo's

-The biggest sneezes, ever, many times followed by whole body shakes

-Faster than a cheetah, he knocked me clear into another atmosphere once when playing fetch

-Seeing him and Lucy looking out the window at the world below

-Reg running full speed into the glass door at Pops and Grandma's

-Coming home to find him having eaten all the molding in Ian's apartment, or photo albums, or lattice siding, or drywall

-His always knowing when Ian was out of town and coming and begging to sleep in the bed with me, on Ian's pillow.

-Sitting with his butt on the top stair and his legs on the stair below, watching the backyard and protecting us all from the evils of squirrels.

-Licking Lucy upside the face

-Closing him up in the downstairs kitchen when we first got him and were training him, only to realize that he had indeed escaped and snuck under our bed, scaring the living daylights out of Ian in the middle of the night.

-Doggie paddle days in Lexington. He loved it so much that he would exit the pool, vomit and then cannonball right back into the pool.

-He would run so fast and so far at once that he would have to make the largest, most amazingly fast loops to turn himself around. And he could jump, too. No ball was too high to try an catch mid-air, all while doing some crazy twist.

-When he swam several feet off the banks of the Potomac out to a couple of guys in a fishing boat so they could feed him a sandwich.

-His pink nose when he was a puppy

-After the ice storm when he would drag whole trees around the backyard

-Not waiting for Harper to leave her highchair, he would nuzzle his nose under her legs and behind to get at her scraps, she always laughed and giggled.

-Being the first to greet us, always, even when we were coming home from the hospital with Lucy or Harper when each of them was born.

We already miss him and he will always remind Ian and me of our time together before the kids came along. He was the one that was in the car with me when we left Lexington, left Pittsburgh and arrived in Virginia. He was my companion when I didn't know anyone in Pittsburgh and Ian was at school day and night and he was the one that kept me company and when I knew no one in Virginia and was home with Lucy. We met great friends because of him and explored new places with him. He was a great bud, a loyal protector and the funniest dog around.

So long GAO

Today is Ian's last day at GAO. We went to see him at work today, to play at the building museum next door and to load up the stuff from his office. The girls were excited to see him at work, to be able to have lunch with him and to explore the museum.
The GAO has been good to us. It was what brought us to northern Virginia, it provided Ian with a great work schedule so he could be home in the evenings to see the girls each and every night and the travel was very limited. It allowed him to work from home when I needed him to and take time off when our girls were born.
But now it is on to a new chapter. He starts work at the Department of Transportation on Tuesday. Travel will be even less, hopefully his commute will be about the same and his hours will pretty much not change. We are excited for the change of pace and some of the other perks will help us out as our family grows this fall.
So for those of you who are keeping track of the changes going on in our house over the coming months, a new job for Ian can be checked off. Next on the list (in no particular order): take care of sick dog, find and get new home that can fit our brood, see if our car can actually fit 3 carseats then (a) buy such carseats or (b) buy new car or (c) refuse to leave the house until we can afford new car, rent out condo to reliable and respectable renter, decide if Lucy will go to kindergarten in one or two years, and oh yeah, have a baby in mid-September. Checking something off the list feels pretty good, but no time to celebrate, time to move on to the next order of business.

Field Day

Lucy's school had field day last Thursday. Let me just say it should have been called "Lu Day". The day consisted of a moonbounce, happy hoppers, tunnels and other assorted bouncing activities, followed by popsicles and coming home to Pops and Grandma at the house. Teachers wre amazed at how well Lucy could get around "as though she lived on a happy hopper". Little did they know that she pretty much does at home. She said that it reminded her of her birthday party and she wants to have field day at her house sometime. That's easy enough, we just have to take the fun outside.

Hey Mister, drop a dollar in the hat!

We went out for Pops' birthday dinner and afterwards Lucy wanted to take a walk by the river so we headed down to the Torpedo Factory to see what was going on. Apparently, Lucy was ready to take her show on the road because when she saw this guys playing his steel guitar and a box of shakers next to him, she was ready for her close-up. Watch the video, you'll see what I mean. Afterwards she went up on a gazebo and performed "She'll be coming around the mountain" for the masses along with some dancing and some freestyle, free form singing which usually consists of her singing about whatever she sees. Oh, and the guitar player, he raked in the chips after her performance. She's quite the ringer!

Harper is 1!

Happy 1st Birthday Harper! We celebrated Harper's first birthday with a visit from Pops and Grandma, lots of cake, a birthday party and celebrating Pops' bday, too! Harper is a walking and talking machine. In fact, she has begun throwing tantrums everytime I won't let her walk or make her change direction (for instance, she wanted to walk into the Potomac River the other day at Mt. Vernon, I did not find that acceptable. She threw a tantrum. Good times.) As far as talking goes, she will repeat anything but her new words include "belly button", "moo", "hair", and "bowl". But perhaps the most notable vocals she performs are her screams. They are not crying, sad screams, but rather ones of protest, stubborness or just for kicks to let me know that she is in the backseat of the car and not happy about her situation. She screams in the car, at the dinner table, or whenever she doesn't get her way. Again, good times.

She has also become the total copycat. If she sees Lucy doing something, she is bound and determined to try it, too. That means when Lucy is finished eating snack, then so is Harper and she demands to get down from her chair the moment that Lucy does. If Lucy gets up in the morning and Harper wakes up, she no longer goes back to sleep, no, she has to get up too- and screaming begins with intermittent "Momma, Momma, Mommmmmaaaaaa!" until I rescue her from her bed. She will try to climb, she will laugh because Lucy laughs, and she wants to play with whatever Lucy is playing. Lucy is being mostly patient with her and is finding ways to incorporate her into her play.

She loves her babydolls. She cuddles them and takes care of them. She will pretend to feed them, rock them, pat them, hug and kiss them. They are one of the few distractions that usually work when she is being her rotten self. She loves to stick her entire head in the shower while I am in there. This leaves her soaking wet as well as the floor, she usually slips and falls and there I am, mid-shower, drying her off and picking her up, drying the floor so that she is ok. If I happen to mention "where's you baby?" when she enters the bathroom, it is as though she forgot where she was going and she will promptly and turn around and go and find her baby. She also now has a little Harper-size baby that she carries in the car, to the playground, etc when we leave the house. It is her new pal, although it still has not taken the place of the full-sized baby that she has been loving on for about 6 months now.
We've had a great first year with Harper, and all the spunkiness just makes her all the more fun. It was great for her to have additional family here to give her lots of attention and lots of birthday fun. She accepted the challenge of cake-eating a bit hesitantly, but came around in the end with some good cake smashing and lots of it on her face and hands. We are so proud of her and all the things she has learned to do and can't wait to see the next challenges she tackles next- as long as they are done without the screaming. We prefer giggles.

Mother's Day 2009

After a long couple of months of taking care of ill dogs, dipping our toes in the housing market, doctor's appointments, Ian traveling overseas, Harper and Lucy each accomplishing new and exciting things, I have been wiped out. But no more. Ian came home early on Thursday and surprised me with my first Mother's Day gift: he was taking the day off on Friday and I was on my way to a pedicure and then book group that night. On Friday I had lots of time to myself and was able to get ready for our yard sale the next day and take Lucy to a birthday party without all of it being hectic and with Harper in tow. Sat was the yard sale- made some nice extra cash, crashed on the couch afterwards and then went out to dinner. And on Sunday Lucy was so excited to celebrate Mother's Day with me and presented me bright and early with a drawing, banana coconut pancakes and lots of love. Harper gave lots of kisses and hugs herself. Then we walked a couple of miles into Old Town, played at one of the playgrounds there, had a picnic and headed home. Then I got to spend some time with Reggie in the sun in the backyard while Ian handled dinner and the girls. All in all pedicures, flowers, hand-painted flower pots, cards and pictures were wonderful, but so was the extra time we all got to spend together.
Now if only the jumping bean in my belly would take a time out. He likes to keep me up all night (and yes, we still have half way to go!) He didn't get the memo that Sunday was Mother's Day and all that rest and relaxation has gone straight out the door. I had my time, now it's back to work.

Little Artist

Harper started coloring last week. I found Lucy's old giant crayons so she can't bite through them in a single chomp, but she tries....

Her favorite color is purple. No question about it. No matter what I offered, purple had to be in one of her hands. The only other preference she showed was yellow, although she would be willing to put that one down from time to time to use another color. Coloring consisted of some long lines, lots of hammering the crayon on the paper to make dots and like stated before, tasting the crayons from time to time. Once the art is complete she then will crumple it, crawl or walk around with it, play peek-a-boo with it or otherwise trash it. She is very protective of it though. You cannot touch it until she is finished with it. She sat for her first coloring for about 30 minutes- that's a very long time for her short attention span so I am eager for art everyday!

High and Tight

Lucy thinks this is hilarious. This took place a couple weeks ago and she is still talking about it and how funny it was. The video is just hilarious because she is getting a kick out of herself. I have to say, there is something funny about pants pulled up high, a booty a little too tight in the pants and definitely the giggles that ensue.

Baby!!

We know that Harper has a love for babydolls, or at least, HER babydoll, but today we discovered that she loves babies as well. I thought she might be a bit jealous when I held baby Tate Butler, but instead she walked over and smiled and squealed at him, blabbed to him and touched his feet, his belly and and patted him on the leg. She loved him. The love and excitement was so strong that when his older brother asked to hold him and I put Tate in his lap, Harper threw herself backwards and began to throw a tantrum. When I put her in my lap so she could see the baby better, she calmed down. Keep it up kid, we need this type of attitude in about 4 months.

This video isn't her with a baby, but rather really wanting to load her babydoll, and two pairs of flip flops into a stroller. She tried to pull this off for about 30 minutes. Whatever keeps her occupied, I guess!

Getting married and having babies

Lucy has been talking a lot lately about when her babies are going to be born, not her baby brother, but rather, HER babies. This week her schedule is a little hectic: Tuesday, one baby comes out, Wed two babies comes out and then later in the week another baby comes out. She then topped off her schedule with getting married today. She talked about it all morning and told me that she was going to "need to change her shirt before her wedding this afternoon." Then, while we were at the zoo with the Butler gang, she said that she wanted to "dance with Eli, like they were at their wedding." She then proceeded to put her hands on his hips and drag him around. Eli made some sort of noise like "Ohhhhh. Ayeeeee. Ohhhhhh!" Not so sure what was going on or why this blonde was talking marriage and taking the lead in their wedding dance.

Ellery's bday party

Lucy went to her school friend's 4th birthday party tonight. Lucy jumped on the trampoline, played in the ball pit, went on the zip line and climbed, chased bubbles and danced herself silly. The highlights of the party were the blowing out of the candles (where another kid blew them out before the birthday girl was even at the table) and when there was about 10 minutes left in the party and Lucy wasn't finished eating. I told her that she could go play and then finish her dinner and cake at home. She replied, "Ok, but I'm just going to sit here and eat my pizza and fruit, because its healthy and you can save my carrots with my cake." And that's just what we did. What 3 year old makes sure the carrots are saved with the cake? Certainly, when we got home she ate the carrots and about half the cake. Good girl.

Another highlight isn't really a highlight but rather a peculiar observation that I have noticed over and over again when I take Lucy out and about. People love to hold her. I have no idea why. They think she's cute and petite and she is usually a bit smaller than the other kids, but she is never looking for someone to hold her. A couple teachers at school hold her, the teens leading the bday party tonight held her and when we have gone to plays, etc the performers will pick her up, but not the other kids. It is a very strange thing. She usually politely tells them that she wants to get down but sometimes she just sort of sits there waiting for them to do so.

Overall a great bday party and Lucy was hoping on the way home that when Ellery turns 5 she will invite Lucy to that party as well. We have a whole year to secure the invite.

Walking!

She might not be steady as she goes, or fast but Harper is walking! She is definitely walking around the room, outside across the yard, down the hallway, etc. She beat Lucy by a week (Lu walked right on her birthday). It is still funny to us to look over and see this pint-sized person walking across the room!

now that would be a quick and easy delivery...

When I went to pick up Lucy today at school somebody had parked their newborn baby in a carseat that looks a lot like Harper's right under Lucy's hanging backpack. A little girl said to Lucy, I love your baby, referring to Harper. Lucy looked over, saw the little newborn and yelled, "Alright! my mom has my baby brother and she didn't have to stay in the hospital." Then she performed a 3 minute monologue about how she didn't know her baby brother was coming today and it is so great that we didn't have to stay in the hospital, etc.
When I told her that that wasn't her brother she replied, "Well, he is a baby, but I'm glad he isn't yours. But MY baby might pop out of my belly any minute now!"

Doing the four step

Harper walking update-
She is now taking up to 4 steps at a time. She'll then get a look of oh no! and slowly drop down.
Today I saw her doing just this and said, "Harper, you did great, were you walking?"
She replied, "Nooooo." Then, clapped and did it again.

Buckets of fun!

And they'll have fun, fun, fun while there Daddy is away...

While Ian was in Europe last week we had four days of hot weather. So it was time to bring out the sprinkler. Lucy has been asking to do so since Feb when the weather was, uh, less than warm. Just add water and you have fun around here.

The very sight of the sprinklers brought all the neighborhood kids out and they squealed and ran in and out of the streams of water for hours at a time. Harper even got it one day when a stream of water made its way to her face. She just sat there and cried while she got beaned with a tiny stream of water right between the eyes. She sometimes forgets that she knows how to crawl when she is on the grass- go figure.

Buckets and watering cans were filled and emptied and impromptu picnics were had. We certainly found a way to beat the heat.