A day in the life....

So, my friend Sheri did this for her son and so here is our day in a life of Kara and Jana.

Our day started with Kara waking up at about 6:45. Daddy got her out of bed at around 7. After a quick nurse, we got dressed, and headed downstairs for some great Mommy-Kara time. (Notice the tylenol bottle in her hand. Both my girls seem to love to chew on the top part of the bottle.)


After a little breakfast of oatmeal and applesauce (and Os of course), she was ready to face the adventures of the day.


Jana woke up about this time and after joining us downstairs, proceeded to steal Kara's cheerios from her tray.
During Jana's breakfast of yogurt and Os, she let me do her hair for the day. Once she discovered the camera was out, she really, really wanted the camera.

We put Kara down for her first nap of the day around 8:30, so Jana and I were able to get some good Mama-Jana time. The first goal for the day was to play with some legos.

Next, we were on to play dough.

Apparently I was a little behind on cleaning up after Kara and Jana found Kara's binkie. Jana's such a binkie-thief. I'm not sure why, but she was having kind of a rough morning and wanted her blankie too. So, we broke the rule and she was able to have her blankie out of her room

Next, we headed to the garage for some swinging time.

And after the swinging, we played in the sand box.

It was now 9:30 and time to get Kara up and head to the gym for my 10 - 11 class. Even though I remembered to bring the camera, I managed to forget to take pictures of them playing there. After the gym, we headed to Target for some new Play dough toys.


We got home and got ready for lunch. Jana was back in the garage playing in the sand box and Kara hung out with me while I got their lunches ready.

She had a great time playing "Peek-a-Boo." Notice the Tylenol again. No, we don't give them it that much, she just loves to play with the bottle.


We finally settled down for some lunch. Kara had some oatmeal, peas, carrots, and apple chunks, while Jana had cheese, crackers, and grapes. I was a bad Mama and let Jana watch Dora & Diego as she ate her lunch, that's why Jana has the spaced-out look.

Then the girls went down for naps.

Kara woke up first and was all smiles.


And we had some wonderful playtime together before Jana woke up. I'm noticing she spent a lot of time in the Bumbo today, which is funny because it hasn't been out in weeks.

Jana woke up around 4:30. While she was slow to wake, she instantly wanted the camera again. I don't know if you can get a true idea of how many "friends" she has in that bed with her. Apparently she loves to feel cozy!


After a quick snack of animal crackers and dried fruit (eaten with Moosey, of course), we were ready to go enjoy the beautiful sunshine.


We headed up to the top of the street - to the street of the new development behind our house. Jana rode her tricycle and Kara rode in her car.


Jana didn't last long on the trike before it was time for "a-run, run, running."

The little girls from the cul-de-sac were riding bikes and running around up here too, so Jana had a good time chasing them, but turned back and sprinted to me when they acknowledged her. Jana did slow down for a little while to push Kara around.



Kara had a wonderful time watching everyone. Notice her giggling as she tries to stand up in the car, but reaches the end of the belt and falls back onto the seat.


Jana did stop running for a little while, to go dig in the dirt. Good thing she doesn't mind getting dirty!


And she slowed down long enough to pick up and throw rocks. (Unfortunately, not all "rocks" were rocks. Ewwwww! Not a fan of little dog-owners who don't pick up after their dogs. Needless to say, we washed our hands and sanitized them before dinner.)


Back to the house we went and into the swing again. The only way I could convince her to leave Moosey behind when we went up the street was to let him swing while we were away. So she instantly wanted to swing with Moosey.


Once we convinced Jana to come inside, Kara had a little dinner of Chicken & apples, sweet potato and applesauce.And Jana was back to the play dough.


Then off to bed for Kara. (Somewhere in there Jana had dinner, but I guess I forgot to take any pictures.)

When I came back down, I found Jana watching TV with Daddy and tromping around in my flipflops. (Ugh! I don't know what her deal was with the binkie today - we normally don't let them out of bed.)

And the bedtime routine started with a not-so-subtle hint: Jana stripped herself down to her diaper, grabbed a final drink of juice and asked to go to bed.

Phew! And now you know why we're so tired at the end of the day!

Kara Mae is 9 Months Old!

She's getting to be so big! She's so much fun.

She continuing to be a good sleeper (once we got her to sleep through the night) and is adjusting well to her new schedule. It's working out well for all of us - we get to go to play dates and I get to go to the gym.

She's an eating machine - food that is. She's not so interested in nursing as much anymore, but I guess that comes with being 9 months (Jana stopped around this time too). She loves fruits, likes oatmeal, and tolerates some green veggies. We can now say that she likes green beans and garden veggies, and will eat peas (when mixed with carrots). She's now starting to actually eat cheerios - not just suck on them and spit them out - and she likes apple chunks.

She's such a giggly little girl. While she's not as much of a flirt as Jana was, she certainly notices people and studies them. She attracts all kind of attention wherever we go with those eyes of hers.
She's an absolutely drooly mess - as you can see from the previous pictures. She's getting three teeth on top: left center, left outside (of the front teeth), and the right outside.


She's also very coy. She appears to be shy, but then gives great big grins.

She's a well traveled girl - okay, not well traveled, but she's got one up on Big Sis - she's been on a plane. Here we our at Sarah's baby shower.


This was a memorable month as she also got to meet GG (Great Grandma Virginia).

We had a wonderful day at the local kids' science center. Kisses from Mama.

Showing off that adorable grin!


We were much better about reading to Jana at this age than we are with Kara, but she's showing off that she enjoys books - the way they taste at least.


Hmmm! How do I get to that toy over there.



And finally, here are some new Jana and Kara pictures. I'm finding as they get older that it is more and more difficult to get pictures of them together. Usually it's Jana who won't sit still, but on the rare occasion they will sit together, Kara seems to get upset and cry.

Kara loves to watch Jana and Jana is so sweet with her. Jana talks to her, brings her toys, and makes her giggle.

A fun day with the cousins

During the weekend of Jana's birthday party, when all my family was in town, we took a trip to the Gilbert House, the local children's science center. We had a great time, and we got some wonderful together time.

The kids had a blast, despite being really young. It was a zoo (no school and they had special events going on), though.


Here's GG, Grammy, and Kara enjoying the sunshine of the beautiful day.

Here's GG and Kara enjoying a little chat while they observe the chaos.


They have a giant climbing maze with slide, ladders, ramps, and steps that Tyler loved and Jana ventured in once. Here's Papa, Uncle Ryan and Tyler leaving the maze to come find us.

Jana and Justin had a great time in the spider web.


The Bubble Room was an absolute hit with everyone.

Here's Tyler standing inside a bubble tube that Ryan is making around him.

Jana was fascinated by all the different bubbles. She loved the wall of bubble that Tyler made.

Everybody watching Tyler pop the bubbles.

Everybody was getting into playing with the bubbles.

Jana trying to blow bubbles.

Grammy and Jana blowing bubbles.
We enjoyed the toddler room.

Jana had a wonderful time trying to play with everything that Tyler did, but she wasn't so great at the whole sharing part.


Grammy and Kara looking on.

Jana and Justin playing together.

Nothing better than the Mama and some cheese crackers.
But mostly we enjoyed our time together.


When the little tummies started to growl, we wandered out to the Waterfront Park and took a few family pictures before Papa and Uncle Ryan headed back to Washington.


The whole gang (minus Jeremy).
Papa took his turn at taking some pictures of the gang.

Mama and Kara enjoying the great afternoon.

Then off we walked to a local bakery and sandwich shop for some yummy sandwiches for lunch. Trying to eat lunch ourselves, get an almost 4 year old and a two year old to sit long enough to eat their lunches and feed the two babies, would have been a comical sight - if you weren't trying to manage the circus, that is.

Justin decided that eating in his stroller was the way to go. He has such an adorable smile!
On our walk home, I couldn't resist this pictures. Jana insisted on walking out ahead of us and was enjoying the discovery and company of her shadow.