kamnikars.com

"But I wanna wear a dress!"

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 13:44:00-0500

Last night I had one of those moments as a parent where the only thing you can do is look away and try not to laugh out loud. Here's the set up. The past week, ever since school got out, our daycare lady has been having some "issues" with Lily being very clingy to Maggie. Has to eat with her, can't do anything without her, and all around being very whiny and miserable if Maggie is not around. Although very cute at the beginning, it's starting to wear on poor Kelly. Also at the same time, Lily has become very adamant about wearing a dress like a "Princess" every day. Now, we do not have 7 dresses so she can wear one every day, nor does the weather always cooperate with our dress loving freak of a daughter. Needless to say this has led to quite a few confrontations in the morning as Daddy tries to get Lily ready before he has to leave for work. Now - yesterday - Once again Lily had to be place into "timeout" at Kellys because she through a fit because Maggie had finished her lunch and was leaving the table but Lily wasn't done - but since Maggie was done she HAD to be done. Kelly is not a fan of children leaving the table without finishing their plates and they ended up butting heads over this. After a temper tantrum (Lily, not Kelly) Lily was put into timeout and then had to eat her unfinished lunch at snack time. All of this is to show that when Danelle got to daycare to pick up the girls we once again got a less than glowing report about our girl Lily. So - as part of the punishment to try and teach her she can't behave that way we told her she could NOT wear a dress to Kelly's tomorrow - in fact she could not wear one again until she went a full day without any time outs at Kellys. I made sure to repeat this a couple times throughout the evening so that i knew it was sinking in with her. Flash forward to 10:15 pm - We had put both kids to bed an hour and half earlier - Maggie was sound asleep and Danelle and I were watching the news in bed - I got up to feed Wrigley when I saw movement in Lilys' room - I peaked my head in and there she was in her bed - WEARING A DRESS! - not just any dress - but a formal dress her Grandma Janet had given her at christmas for dress up - complete with pink fuzzy slippers for shoes and tiara on her head. "Lily" I said. "What are you wearing?" Lily looked at me - put her chin to her chest and just said "But I WANNA wear a dress!" Apparently she figured that if she wasn't going to get to wear a dress to Kelly's - dammit - i'm wearing one to bed! At that point the only thing I could do was turn away before she saw me laugh. I just left her like that. When i woke her up this morning she was still in the dress - I didn't say a word - just took the dress of and got her into shorts and t-shirt for the day. This stubborn kid is gonna kill me when she's a teenager.

Fair Warning...

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:02:00-0500

OK - so when you go to your own website and it doesn't even recognize your password to log in - that's a sign you haven't blogged in a while. (For the record - I update passwords I use every 6-8 months last blog entry was August 8th 2008). Anyway - I realized that we are just not blogging very much lately - It could be because I have nothing to say - or it could be I have nothing to say that I think YOU the reader, might be interested in. I've always felt that if I blogged - it had to be a recap of what we had done, or what the girls are doing - or some other sort of diary entry to keep a record of our lives. But I'm just not that good at that type of stuff. Starting today (maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, whenever I get around to it) I'm going to start blogging about stuff that interests ME. The Cubs, cool stuff on the internet, Comic Books, Movies, TV.. Anything and everything. I still will continually blog about our two little girls and everything they do - I just won't try so hard to make EVERY post about them. So here is a fair warning to all - If you are not interested in getting email updates about me trying to pick the best lineup for the Cubs - or awesomeness of Twitter - or the silliness of Scrubs - then feel free to unsubscribe. I won't be offended - You can always check in from time to time on this here website and check the category "Family" for any new updates on the girls - i'll try to keep them all in one place for you :) And don't forget to check our flickr stream for all the latest photos - Those are probably more up to date than anything. . . http://www.flickr.com/photos/kamtom Cheers!

"B-cation" day 6

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:13:00-0500

Thursday - Today was a big day! We woke the girls up and quick showered and 4 adults and 2 kids piled into the van on the way to Denver. We had breakfast in the van on the way and drove (and drove) to pick up Alex & Emily to join us at the Children's Museum. Alex was very excited by the time we got there. Then we sang songs on the way to the museum. Chris met us there around 10am and we played and played and played. The kids had so much fun together - we'll have to post pictures (I'm too tired to explain it all) but there was a firetruck, huge legos, a tree to climb in, painting, dancing, costumes, vetranarian's office, grocery store, a house, etc, etc. It was definately worth the hassle of getting there. We picniced outside for lunch and went back in to play until around 3:30pm = a good 5+ hours of fun. Once all buckled in the van L was asleep in seconds and E within 10 minutes and M & A were entertained with a movie (the TV in our van according to A) on the way to drop off the kids. L was super and continued to sleep most of the way back to G&G's and once we pulled in the driveway she didn't even want to get out of the van - just stand there and play with the buckle of her carseat. M didn't sleep at all and was ready to get out and play. We had a relaxing evening - supper and playing and even learned L likes cheese. Finally around 9pm we got L to lay down with no complaints and Grandma read several books to M and Dad layed down with her for a few minutes before she was out. It was a long day for everyone - but so much fun!

"B-cation" day 5

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:37:00-0500

Wednesday I got up and went for a nice early morning walk - a nice sunny morning and then on my way back the fog set in. Thankfully the weather cleared up and it turned out to be a very nice day. We let the girls have another donut for breakfast (it's vacation) and just play for awhile. Then we went to Kohls thinking of looking for shoes for T & Chris and ended up finding great deals on PJs, a dress and swimsuit for M to wear next summer. She was having a great time running in and out of the dressing room trying on clothes. But we hit our time limit and ended up draggin both girls out of the store kicking and screaming. So we headed to BK for a quick lunch - M was so excited we could all go eat inside. Both girls ate good (if you consider chicken fries and fries good??) but apple fries were a hit with M - so we'll remember that for the future. Then off to City park (all 7 of us in the van) for the girls to play. L was so tired that she laid down in the stroller T & I took her for a walk and she fell right asleep. M had a blast playing with G&G and Aunt Chris, she was making up games and stories to act out. When L woke up we took the girls downtown where they had fountains. We changed them into their swimsuits (M in her new one) and they had so much fun. L seemed to have perfect timing of dodging the water while M stood right over the top of them. It was so cute to watch them run and squeal and run some more. We put L in her little ladybug towel and coaxed her in the carseat. She was adorable turning her head back and forth trying to look around the hood. We came back to G&G's and got them changed into their matching yellow PJs and planned out supper for them before T & I headed out on our date. We drove to a new shopping center in Loveland and walked around a couple hours and then had a nice supper. It was very relaxing!

"B-vacation" Day 4...

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:11:00-0500

Once we got everyone cleaned up all the girls headed down to Fossil Creek park. We had fun running, climbing, swinging, sliding, etc. Then when the guys finished golfing they met us at the park so M had to show them how she could tight rope walk and climb the huge rocks. L wanted to do everything the big kids did and then her desire to swing took over and she swang until almost falling asleep and then she would get down and run to wake herself up again. Once we pried the girls out of the park we came back to G&G's for lunch and naps for everyone - it was WONDERFUL! The well rested crew packed up and went back to Fossil Creek park to check out the waterfall area. It was really neat - large rocks with a big waterfall and then water channels just big enough to walk through. The girls had a lot of fun - M kept running under the "shower" and L kept trying to catch water in her hands and was perplexed why it wasn't working. They both had fun floating things down the channels - especially the golf ball. We came back and got everyone cleaned up and fed and then the 3 big girls left for a night out. We went shopping (more than a 5 second running into the gas station for a gallon of milk) and then went to a late movie. It was really nice - I love my girls but they aren't shoppers yet. Grandpa and Dad kept the girls entertained with a movie and popcorn. A great night!

"B-cation" day 3

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:39:00-0500

Monday was much more relaxing. L had all morning to conquer and destroy G&G's house while M, Grandma and I went to story hour at the book store. M was excited just to go somewhere by herself plus she listened to 3 books read to her, decorated a pencil box with all kinds of stickers AND Grandma let her pick out a book for her and L. She was super excited! For lunch we packed a picnic and went to this great new handicap accessible park they built here in Ft. Collins. The whole playground was covered in foam floor so they couldn't really fall and get hurt. Both girls loved just being able to run and play. L insisted on doing everything the big kids did. After 3 hours of hard playing in the sun everyone was ready for a nap. L layed down without any complaints and M did too after Grandma read her the new books. T & I sat out on the deck and enjoyed adult conversation in the shade in the peace and quiet - it was wonderful! Then we ate a terrific supper out on the deck and watch the golfers go by. M was chatty Kathy but she did eat her supper and so did L so after cleaning up we drove to Old Town for ice cream at the Walrus. M got a whole chocolate ice cream cone to herself complete with sprinkles. L decided licking off G&G's cones was much better than sharing a bowl and eating off a spoon with Mom. By then it was dark and past their bedtimes so we drove back to G&G's and eventually got them both down (it was a stuggle after that much sugar) but they were very happy so it made it worth it. T&I challenged Don to cribbage and lost horribly so we called it quits and went to bed ourselves. This morning I had plans of getting up and going for a walk before T & Don went golfing but L had a dream and called out for Daddy and woke L up so I just played with L until M woke up. Then Grandma watched L while M and I went to the store to pick out donuts as a special treat while the guys were golfing. M ate one and a half and L devoured one herself - sugar all over her face, PJs and hair. So I took them directly from the table to the bath - they had a great time playing in Grandma's big bath and eventually they were all clean! Now I'm being summoned to play doctor and help feed the baby dolls - so I better go play - Later --

Vacation!!

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 10:09:00-0500

The Kamnikar's are on "b-cation" as M says. Friday we were on the road by 3pm and the girls were asleep by 3:10pm. M slept for an hour and a half, L for 2 hrs and Mommy for an hour - it was great! Then I moved into the middle seat of the van and sat inbetween the girls to help referee, supply drinks out of the cooler and pick up toys dropped/thrown on the floor. We packed PB sandwhiches, grapes, and yogurt for supper to eat in the van. We only stopped twice the whole way down - once in Kadoka to gas up/potty break and once in Cheyenne to gas up. As we left earlier this trip we actually saw some of the Black Hills - M & I enjoyed the scenery; L we tried to entertain with anything we could think of. Finally around 9pm (our time) it started getting dark enough the girls could sleep - so I crawled back in the front and we got them their blankets but it was after 10pm when they finally settled down. Poor L did NOT like being buckled up and started crying a few times in her sleep when she tried to stretch out and realized she couldn't. But they did both sleep, Dad got to listen to the whole Cubs game and we pulled in town and crawled in bed a 1am. The girls actually slept in Saturday morning and by the time they woke up T & I felt like we had gotten a whole nights sleep (our normal 6 hrs). It rained quite a bit on the way down and continued raining most of the day Sat. so we all piled in the van (G&G, Chris, and the 4 of us) and went to the mall. We had the coveted Chik-fil-a for lunch and took the girls to the playland to burn off some energy. Then back to G&G to discover all their toys, watch some Olypics and off to bed. Sunday was a big day. We all piled in the van and drove to Denver and met Jeanne, Al & the kids at the zoo. M & Alex had a lot of fun but L did NOT want to ride in the stroller and didn't want to walk (or wear shoes to walk) and didn't want to be carried upright - she preferred upside down or sideways. What she really wanted to do was sit on the front bar of the stoller standing on her head playing with the buckles - not exactly safe but it kept her happy for a brief moment. The highlight was the baby giraffe - so cute, everyone slowed down to look! We took all the kids on the train and the carousel and after 3 hours the adults had had enough and were ready to move on. Thankfully L fell asleep on the way to Jeanne's so I sat in the van while she napped. The 4 cousins had a great time playing together - they are finally all old enough to play together (although Emily kept calling L "baby"). After a very nice supper we headed out and watched a movie on the way back to Ft. Collins. We had to let M watch the rest of her movie with Aunt Chris and L burn off some steam before heading to bed - Mom had had it and fell asleep on the couch shortly after the girls were in bed. I figured I deserved it if I had gotten up at 6:30am for a walked before everyone's day had even started. I hope the rest of the trip isn't as exhausting :-)

"But Squirrels Can Jump In My Bed!"

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:22:00-0500

So I've been feeling pretty sorry for myself a lot lately. I've had a to come to quite a few realizations that have severely damaged my self worth: I've discovered I'm not the cool hip person I think I am. I know now that I'm no where near the essential cog in the wheel of work that I always thought I was. My knowledge of what I do for a living is about 1/3rd that of a young 20yr old coming out of college, and even at home Danelle fares way better at handling the day to day tasks of getting M & L to calm down from a tantrum, or to eat there supper, than I ever could. Basically I've been feeling a little useless. Wondering exactly what it is I do that makes an impression on the world. That all changed last night. About 2am last night I awoke to the sound of panic'd screaming coming from Maggies' bedroom. As soon as my mind came back into focus from the realm of sleep I jumped out of bed and ran to her room - thinking she had gotten sick or perhaps hurt herself. What I found was a terrified little girl standing up in the corner of her room screaming "There are squirrels in my bed!" Now before I go any further I should note that over the weekend we had her cousin Austin stay with us and he slept both nights he was here in Maggies room on the air mattress. Maggie decided the last two nights that she wanted to sleep on the mattress - We didnt think it was a big deal - it got her to bed with out complaints - and thats always a bonus. So anyway, here was maggie - pinned in the corner by this mattress scared out of her mind because of some dream she had about squirrels. As soon as I entered the room she latched on to me. I told her it was all right and that nothing was going to hurt her. I then suggested she lay donwn in her bed - that is off the ground - so that she would be away from the squirrels. To this she replied, in the most panicked voice "But the Squirrels can jump in my bed!" My only solution was to lie down in the bed with her and promise to keep her safe. "yeah - only if you stay with me" she said. Even then she needed to be covered up by her sheet - no skin exposed so the squirrels couldn't get her. After about 20 minutes I tried to get out of the bed (sleeping on the edge of a single bed is not the most comfortable) and she grabbed me again and whimpered. I told her I would turn on her night light (currently off) and chase all the squirrels out. This seemed to go over with her and I was able to go back to bed. Later in the morning Danelle informed me that Maggie had told her that she had squirrels in her room but 'Daddy chased them out'. Surprisingly that did a world of good for my sense of self. I may not be the best web coder or funniest guy in the office - or most dependable husband (when it comes to laundry and day to day chores) - but to one little girl whose opinion I value more than I could have ever imagined, I'm the squirrel chaser. And somehow, that's ok with me.

Happy Birthday Princess!

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:15:00-0500

I'm too tired to write anything more - But I wanted to mention all the birthday pics from today - plus more pictures from the playroom makeover are all in our photo gallery.. So head on over and check them out!

Extreme Playroom Makeover..

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 15:37:00-0500

First off, Happy Birthday to our little princess! Today M turns 13 .. er.. I mean 4! (It just SEEMS like she's 13 sometimes.) Danelle and I struggled for a while as to what to get M for her birthday. We discussed a new bike, new doll, new shoes . .but ultimately decided on the big enchilada.. To make over her playroom. The kicker being we wanted to do it all WITHOUT M knowing about it! The old playroom: So for 3 weeks we have been talking and planning and secretly shopping for items to put into the playroom. Finally Friday came and it was time to get serious. Friday Our plan involved painting one wall with chalkboard paint on top of a metallic primer base. Not as easy as it sounds, becuase first you have to make sure you have a smooth surface.. which involved me sanding the wall like crazy. The scope of our plan quickly changed from the painting the whole wall to just a 3 foot strip (plus it would be way too dark in that room.) So after we got the girls to bed we started the task of cleaning out all the toys and junk that had accumulated down there. Again, not an easy task because we wanted to keep it secret, so that meant stacking everything up in the furnace room and my office. I also had the idea to repaint and re-top my old art desk. A can of Krylon Fusion white paint worked great on the white frame of the desk. Then we found some wrapping paper that matched the colors we had picked out and placed that over the top of the desk. Finally we took an old poster frame that had plexiglass for the glass and secured that on top of the paper. The end result looks pretty cool if I do say so myself. That took us until about 1:00 am - I foolishly thought that since it was a Saturday and the girls had played outside most of friday they would sleep in a little.. Not so. 7 am came way to quickly. Saturday For Saturday Danelle took the girls grocery shopping and then to see her cousin Paul perform in a show choir competition here in town. Meanwhile I stayed home and began sanding. This is not something I'd want to repeat anytime soon. I was covered in dust and everything I ate for the rest of the day tasted like drywall. But I did get it all sanded. After that was all done it was time to start laying on the metallic primer. This stuff is cool,but the magnets we have are kind of old and it took 3 coats to make the surface metallic enough for them to stick to the wall. Saturday ended with the third coat of paint on the wall at about 1:30 - again I thought I'd get to sleep in. This time Danelle was nice enough to get up and let me sleep till 8 - Of course that meant getting up and rushing to get ready for church - but the extra hour of sleep was worth it. Sunday For sunday during the day we didnt get a whole lot done since M had a birthday party to go to - Bowling - her first time. She had a blast with this. Once the primer was on it was time to start painting the walls themselves. Because of the way we planned the room with two different colors on opposite wall, that meant getting 2 walls painted, wait for it to dry - the re-tape and do the other walls. So again, a late night was had by Tom - this time i got to bed sometime around 2:30 am but I did have the chalkboard all painted and 2 walls done with 2 coats of paint. Monday Monday started like any other monday morning - I got up and got ready for work and helped get the girls dressed. Got them in the car and took them to Kelly's. Except instead of going to work I headed over to Lowes to pick up a few more supplies and then back home to continue working. I had arranged to have Monday off from work so I could have a full day uninterrupted to finish up. Next time I have such an idea please slap me. :) First thing I did was paint the opposite walls - then work on the stairway and start putting together the cabinet we bought to put above her art desk. Mid afternoon monday: By 3 in the afternoon I was really starting to drag - but knowing how much we still had to do I kept pressing -- Fortunately for me the Cubs played a 12 inning game monday - so I had baseball to listen to ALL afternoon! At about 6:00 Danelle came home with the girls (they had gone to the grocery store to buy a cake for M, they came home with cupcakes - go figure.) We fed them and played upstairs till bed time - then it was back downstairs to start loading in furniture and toys -- This may have been the hardest part- deciding which toys went where and which toys went to storage. BUT we got it done - A few touches here and there and by 12:45 we were heading to bed... The final result: Tuesday - The Big Reveal I'll skip the details of the actual birthday and get right to the reaction. We had decided to give M a hop skotch carpet and after she opened it she HAD to play it -- So we told her that I would go pick up her play room so she could play it .. . When she came down she was stunned.. It totally made the whole weekend worth it. L was amazed as well - both girls just walked around and kept bouncing from one item to the next. L was the receptionist at M's "Dr. Office" So thats our weekend. I'm exhausted, but like I said seeing her play in it tonight makes it all worth it. I need to post a Huge thank you to Danelle. I think she worked harder than I did keeping M occupied. Overall I'm really proud of what we got accomplished in such a short time. The bad news is we kind of shot ourselves in the foot -- Now we know how fun it is to make a room all our own - and we have eyes on re-designing my office and the guest bedroom.. But I think if we do tackle that .. it will be in a couple months!

New photo galleries...(hellloooo Flickr!)

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 12:57:00-0500

I've switched our photo galleries from a non-user-friendly way of dealing with photos to using Flickr ... I wont go into all the geeky details but suffice it to say there is a new tab at top called 'Flickr Galleries' this is where all the new pictures will be posted .. And they should come a lot faster now that it easy to upload them .. All the old photos can still be found in the old gallery. TK

Happy New Year

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 10:41:00-0500

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday and a fun New Years! I know we sure did. I can't believe it is over already it seems like just yesterday it was Halloween. I guess with a new house, two full time working parents, a toddler and a baby things happen pretty fast. I'm not very good with New Years Resolutions but I'm going to try this year to remember to blog when I can and not feel like I need to update you with the details of every day in the Kamnikar life. On the same token you should see pictures posted quicker as one of T's Christmas gifts is a camera card that automatically downloads the pictures off the camera and onto our computer. Don't ask me to explain the details, just keep your fingers crossed it works :-) Our New Years party included a picnic of appetizers on the living room floor, a 9 month old crawling through the food, and watching part of Shrek 2. We counted down to the New Year (at 8pm) and M received her last Christmas gift - a Disney Princess comforter for her bed. She was very excited to sleep with her new blanket. Both girls were asleep shortly after 9pm. T & I watched a movie on the couch, toasted in the New Year and went to sleep ourselves. After the jam packed last 10 days it was exactly what we wanted. New Years Day we watched part of the parade and unpacked, did dishes, laundry and found spots for all our wonderful Christmas gifts in between playing with the girls! Thank goodness there are only 3 work days left in this week, cuz I'm tired :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 08:43:00-0500

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you had as wonderful holiday as we did. Our girls even let us sleep in until almost 8 am. We watched part of the parade snuggled in bed; it was so cute when M realized the balloons on TV were the same ones we had seen at the dome. "Mommie, there is Hello Kitty. Mommie, look, look!" She had about the same reaction to Shrek. We continued watching while we got dressed and had breakfast, T pointed out that is more of the parade than we have gotten to watch in the last few years. The turkey was cooking in the oven and the table was set. L enjoyed her rice cereal and peas for lunch and T, L & I dozed on the couch while M watched Curious George not so patiently waiting for cousin Amy to come. That lasted about 20 minutes when our first guests arrived - Darlene and G Zweifel, then G John & G Val and Steve, Helen, Amy & Paul. M was so excited, she has been waiting a week for Amy to come play with her. Everyone brought delicious food and we had a perfect dinner complete with turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, corn, rolls, bread, and fruit salad. It was a little cozy but very nice that we could all sit at the same table. L did pretty good sitting in the high chair for most of the meal. After dinner Amy & M went down to her toyroom to play and I fed L and laid her down for a nap. She didn't want to miss out on any of the fun but she eventually fell asleep for two hours. With her cough and runny nose she needed it. We visited (some napped) and then got everyone involved playing Catch Phrase and had a lot of fun. When L woke up I fed her rice cereal and bananas while the others enjoyed pumpkin pie, cheesecake, krumkaka, and cookies. It was sooo good. When Steve's took off - poor M didn't want them to go and didn't want to say goodbye, but we promised we would have Amy come play with her another day. Then Darlene and G Clarence headed home. We visited with Mom and Dad, looked at the ads, and played with the girls until they started getting klutzy tired and had to put them to bed before they hurt themselves. They both tried to put up a fight but both girls fell asleep and were out for the night. T & I watched a little TV and looked at the paper until I was ready for bed and he dressed in his survival gear to go for his all night hunting adventure. It was a wonderful day!! Thanks everyone :-)

11-6-07

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:30:00-0500

Well - to those of you who actually look at our website you will notice that it has been a little out of sorts lately. I was doing pretty well about blogging every day while pumping at work. Then work got busy and life outside the office got even crazier, so needless to say the blogging stopped (or at least wasn't getting posted to the public). Then I picked up again when L turned 7 months old for a few days and then stopped again. Here is the hard cold truth, I won't write every day but I will try at least once a week to post AND to make up for it we have posted 11 folders of pictures so far. That makes us only 3 weeks behind :-) So a brief recap on the photos: Friday 9-14-07 - Little Zachary Zweifel was born this morning at 12:14am. M was very excited and it made me realize my baby is not so little anymore. 9-15-07 - L's first attempt at eating baby cereal. We made it a big production with M getting to help and feed her baby at the same time. L wasn't so sure about all that - one bite equaled five as she kept spitting it out. 9-15-07 L is six months old - each month we have taken her picture by the same baby doll and her big sister so we can see how much she has grown over the month. My Cub Girls - The Cubs made it into the playoffs this year, so Tom dressed the girls for the occasion. L in her little pink Cubs cheerleader outfit and M in Daddy's Cubs jersey - she added the sunglasses, phone, etc. Late September - We took the girls downtown SF to the Harvest festival on Saturday. Other than a little windy it was a beautiful day. M and I rode in the train and we all went on the horse drawn carriage ride. Then Sunday our dear friend Donna came to visit us. She also has so much fun playing with the kids. Princess party - M's good friend Serie invited her to a princess party in the park. It was so cute - there were six little girls (ages 3 to 4) and three older girls to help read stories, etc. The little girls all dressed in the princess dresses, complete with jewelry, make-up, and hats. They were so cute! They listened to stories, played games, found wishing stones, danced, blew bubbles, and had a tea party complete with cupcakes and butterfly frosted cookies and lemonade. Sitting up - The day before we left for vacation L figured out how to sit up on her own. Mostly when positioned that way and only stayed for a minute, but she was sitting. Tennessee Vacation - October 3rd to the 10th we flew down to see Janelle, Greg and Austin. It was a wonderful time!! 10-14-07 The first time Grandma Val and Grandpa John had all four of their grandkids together! 10-15-07 L is 7 months old! Our baby is 7 months old today! It hardly seems possible. But on the same token she has gotten big all of a sudden. Part of it is the change of seasons, now that she needs long pants or sleepers to cover her toes she now needs 6-9 mo clothes. We also fed her real food for the first time yesterday - sweet potatoes. 10-16-07 Daddy's b-day!

10-19-07

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 15:30:00-0500

After last night we knew what we had to do was let L cry it out until she fell asleep. So we gave both girls a quick bath (we were not letting M play very long as she wouldn't try a bite of pineapple or lasagna and even gagged on a bite of bread with the red sauce on it). Then Dad read to M while I got L's PJs on and let her play quietly in her room - except she kept wanting to taste the knobs on her dresser drawer and hit her head trying to get it in her mouth. After that she was getting fussy so I started feeding her a little before 9 pm and we both fell asleep, so I rocked her a little and laid her down in the crib and immediately she started screaming but I was strong and just closed her door. Dad convinced M we could close her door until L stopped crying. T & I took turns sitting in the hallway and each took a turn checking on her but after 45 minutes she finally was quiet. T & I were both holding our breath so when we heard a click T jumped out of bed to see what was going on. M was in the hallway and said she was opening her door now that L was done crying. I feel bad we kept M awake, but on the same token she would have been singing or talking and not sleeping in her bed yet anyway. So I should have gone downstairs at that point to get something done but instead I was exhausted and went to sleep. It is amazing what 7 hours of sleep feels like! The ironic part is L was the same happy go lucky girl this morning as she was yesterday morning - except today T & I enjoyed it a lot more!