Picture of the Day

This picture is such a common occurence at our house; I figured it deserved another picture. Anna-Kate loves to "write! write!" She will write with her crayons, and then she will hold it out to us and yell "write!" In keeping with the toddler-enjoyment-of-self, her favorite for us to write is her name!

Quote of the Night

Will and I babysat our nephews, Camden 6 and Anderson 2. We had so much fun, trying to skip rocks and having a pizza picnic. The quote of the night goes to Anderson and Anna-Kate:

"I love you Anna-Kate" says Anderson.
pause to take it in by Anna-Kate, then "Elmo...Elmo..."
"Don't worry Anderson; that is what she says to me too. Elmo is her first love," adds Will.

How sweet that Anderson told AK that he loved her, out of the blue while riding in a wagon down the road! How funny/odd that AK's response was "Elmo," which is her default response to many comments and questions.

My Little Ponytail

Why does the first ponytail feel like such a documentable moment?
Maybe because it is so stinkin' cute

the way it just sticks straight out,

or the way it shows off her sweet little face.

When we feel better,

we sweep!

Isn't that what you do?!

PS. I went to the doctor today, but my eye had cleared up already and my ear no longer hurt. The Simmons family is [almost] back to normal!

A Happy Girl

I am sure all of us had the same idea today: enjoy outside!
Amazing weather + outside + balloons = a happy Anna-Kate

This picture is also a happy Anna-Kate. New Year's weekend we went to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. Now every time we pass by it, Anna-Kate yells, "Nonuts!!"

This picture, aaahhh, this picture, uuummmm,

*sorry distracted by the coffee*

Coffee + strawberry-frosted donut = happy mommy

Quote of the Week

"This Way!" laughs Anna-Kate. (pronounced a little more like "dis way")
"Get you! Get you!" responds Mary-Knowles laughing.

Then they run away, giggling happily. It is soooo cute to watch how playing near each other has started to become playing with each other. If I run after Mary-Knowles saying, "get you!" she says, "No no becca. Anna-Kate." Yeah, playing with each other is way more cool than playing with becca! Love.it.

Shoppers in Training

Good morning shoppers! Welcome to Trader Joe's!
Not sure what's good...

follow us!!

I was low on fruit, so a trip to Trader Joe's sounded like a good (ahem, brave) idea. The girls were so well-behaved. My favorite moment was when the girls stopped and started dancing to the music in the middle of the aisle. Hopefully the other shoppers were not in a hurry. ;)

Enjoying the Weather

With the soooo great temperatures today, I knew we had to be outside.
I left the stroller and let the girls walk around a lot farther than normal.

Can you tell they had a blast?!

Tumbling Time

**Warning: Lots of pictures in this post! So many pictures, so little time!**

For the past two weeks, on Wednesdays, Anna-Kate, Mary-Knowles, and I have joined Anderson and Ashley at a "Tumbling Time" for toddlers at a local Gymnasium. It is pretty much an open gym with all the cool stuff the gym has to offer. These kids had a blast! Check out what they get to play on and with: This "sidewalk trampoline" is where the kids spend a lot of time. We seem to come back to it in between other activities. The kids enjoy jumping, dancing to the music, and looking in the mirror with the unashamed vanity of a toddler!

There is also a smaller, more springy trampoline that they love. It is only one kid at a time; they don't have the patience to sit and wait their turn so we don't spend as much time here. I love Anderson's face and his feet off the ground in this picture!
And, it is back to the longer "sidewalk trampoline"...

I had to show this picture. I love MK's happy grin, and, even better, I love that Mary-Knowles invited me to join her. She thought it was cool to jump with "be-cca! be-cca!"

In between jumping on the trampoline, we...

hoola-hoop

We play in "the circus." (This was one of those large parachutes, held down on the sides by mats. They had fans blowing air inside the parachute to keep it in a dome-shape. There were balloons inside for the kids to play with.) Several times when Mary-Knowles "slipped away" from me, I simply had to look at the circus.

At the end of the "sidewalk trampoline," there is a 5-foot-deep pit of foam blocks. The first week Ashley and I steered the kids toward all the other options. This week, we knew we had to try it. Mary-Knowles thought it was okay for a few minutes.

Anna-Kate couldn't quite decide what she thought. Anderson stayed the longest. Ashley and I agree that this is one of the hardest to navigate. Props to Ashley for staying in with two of the kiddos while I ran around with the third.

In one corner, there is a playset with two slides. Anna-Kate points out slides as we drive down the road, so you know we have to spend some time here! Enlarge this picture of MK and the following of AK. Their facial expressions are so fun!

This picture is included because of the victory it represents. Until this week, Anna-Kate has never sat down on her own to go down the slide. She has terrified me on more than one occasion when she looked as though she was trying to walk a plank rather than slide down.

This picture gets the "best action shot" award! (not the best lighting award, haha)

There is also a large open space in the middle of all the cool balance beams, trampolines, "circus," play set, ... There are balls to play with, music to dance to, kids to run around with.

This is a 45-min gym time. At minute 40 in week one, it was Anna-Kate that just sat down. This pose was how she remained for the last 5 minutes. Mary-Knowles used her last minutes to jump a little bit more.

This week it was Anderson who decided to take a break for a minute at the end. Right after this picture was taken, he rallied for three final minutes before time was called.

North Raleigh Gymnasium, we look forward to seeing you next Wednesday!

Pig Tails

How cute is she! Anna-Kate wore her first pigtails this weekend! It was another moment when I said, "wow, she looks like such a big girl!" Ignore the crooked part. I am still working on getting AK to sit still and patiently through getting her hair done, which means do-overs are just not an option currently.

Can I Get an Amen?

I have been reminded recently why it is better to say I will try rather than the definitive I will or I will never statements. For example:

I will try to 'stop and smell the flowers' more often, enjoying life's sweet moments. (I wish this was a scratch-and-replay picture; then you too could chuckle at Mary-Knowles only leaning in a little and then sniffing comically hard.)
I will try to spend more quality and intentional moments with the people in my life that I love.

I will try to do more fun and creative things with the girls (this one not necessarily creative but so fun for them).

I will try to be more patient with messes and a toddler's need to have at least 5 toys out at all times.

I will try to remember to let others help me, even when I want to yell "I do it myself!"

I will try to find ways to save more money (sorry for the Marbles reference to you non-Raleigh readers).

I will try to exercise more!

....and the list could go on! The inspiration for this post is from the very naive statement "I will not let my child walk around with a crusty nose." Uh, yeah, definitely have to change that statement to "I will try to pin my child down and endure the tears in order to wipe her nose at least 3 times a day." Anna-Kate has had a head cold for almsot a week now! The crustiness that is her nose just won't stop. She has shared that head cold with me. I guess now we can just have Mommy-and-me crusty noses!