Lately...

A Day in the Life of a "Stay at Home" Mom -

(when you get bored, scroll down for pictures...)

6:00am - Wake up, feed Carina, go back to sleep for 30 minutes
7:00am - Wake up again and wake Mia and Laney, get them and myself dressed, teeth brushed, hair done, faces washed, make lunches, make breakfast
8:00am - eat breakfast, wake up Carina, get her dressed
8:25am - Out the door into the car
8:40am - Drop off Mia at school
9:00am - Feed Carina in the car at Laney's school (Laney gets a video)
9:20am - Take Laney into her class, wash hands, get her started on an activity
9:35am - either head home or run a quick errand
10:00am - Carina naps, do housework (laundry, pay bills, take a shower, bathe Carina)
12:00pm - Wake up and feed Carina and feed myself
12:30pm - Out the door into the car
12:50pm - Get Laney from school
1:30pm - home, Carina is usually asleep again at this point, have one on one time with Laney
2:35pm - Out the door into the car. Carina is usually asleep, sometimes Laney is too.
3:00pm - Be at Mia's classroom door for pickup.
3:25pm - Arrive home (unless it's Wednesday, then we head straight to gymnastics and Carina will have eaten at 2.) Feed Carina.
3:40pm - Work with Mia on her homework, Laney does a "project" or watches a TV show
4:10pm - kids fight play, I make dinner
5:15pm - Dinner for the kids and sometimes myself
6:00pm - TV time, kids fight play, I check email
6:30pm - feed Carina
7:00pm - bath time, or major playroom cleanup time
7:30pm - get kids in jammies, teeth brushed, books read, prayers, water
8:00pm - big kids in bed
8:20pm - feed Carina, Patrick and sometimes myself, watch some TV
9:00pm - try to get Carina to bed
11:00pm - my bedtime

Well, this past few weeks we had a week of the sickies, two weeks of the snow, and now Carina and I are just getting over the crud. I think I had/have the flu, so I guess Carina does too. My guess is that we got it from the doctor's office. Isn't it ironic? Also, we missed posting about Valentines Day, Carina's 4month checkup, and Laney's new amazing whistling! Here are some photos and a video to catch you up. Now I'm off to bed to try to kick this thing...*cough*!




the spoon sticks to nose trick!

Mia and Patrick are experts!

A "swim" party / makeup party playdate
Carina is 4 months old, 25in. long and weighs a whopping 15lbs 4oz! (and, she seems to be teething)

Mia's Sledding Hill

Patrick Digs us Out

Carina Update

Carina is now 3 months old! She's a good eater, and weighed 13lbs, 4 oz and was 24.25 inches long at her last checkup. She is beginning to "talk" to us, and to her favorite toys, but still hates her car seat. :) Her eyes are still blue, but Mia's changed at about a year, so you never know... She's just a happy girl now that we've identified a dairy allergy, and we all love her dearly!

Cien!!

This evening Mia wanted to show me something she could do.

So I sat here as she counted one number at a time from Uno to Cien (yes, in Spanish!) Evidently today was her 100th day of school.

Bravo, Mia!! Muy Bien!!

Mia's First Day of Kindergarten

Today was Mia's first day of Kindergarten. No tears, no hard goodbyes, just a seemingly regular day at school - can you believe it?!?

She's attending the Spanish Immersion Magnet program at Rolling Terrace Elementary School here in Takoma Park, and will be taught in Spanish for the day, except during Art, Music, PE, and Library time.

Her teacher is one of the "good ones", I've been assured by veteran parents we know, and she reported that she had a good time! Aside from that, we didn't get a lot of feedback from her in regards to what she did today, other than that she went to the "Sports Room" (aka Gym) for some games, and learned the word Peacock in Spanish. I'll be looking forward to Folder Wednesdays, where we get info and homework from the teacher.

Congratulations to our little school girl!

Laney visits the Dentist!

Laney had her first dentist visit yesterday, and all went well. Her favorite part? The toothpaste and Mister Thirsty! It didn't hurt that she got a PINK toothbrush as well. Here's hoping all her visits are this good.

Summer Flu?

Well, yes. It's a case of the Summer Flu for me. I guess I was just doing too much. (right- in the summer?!?!?) Anyway, I'm pretty much through the trenches and only the nagging croupy cough remains. If history has taught me anything, it's that a lingering cough can stay with me for many weeks and annoys even the most patient of acquaintances.

On a lighter note, Laney is now in a BIG GIRL BED!! We found wonderful beds on Craigslist for a great price, and I'm so excited about them, but I don't have pictures yet. Hopefully tomorrow you can see them, but for now I'll try to describe them. They are actually a girl's bunk bed set in white wood that can be made into two twin beds, using a tall head board and a short foot board each. We have them set up right now as the bunks, but not on top of each other. Basically, Laney has the top bunk: two short foot boards as her head and foot board and we attached the rails as well to keep her from falling out of her bed; and Mia has the bottom: both headboards as her head and foot boards. Again, both on the floor, not on top of one another, lest you think we'd put our two year old on a top bunk in bunk beds. No way.

And, just as Mia got to pick out her bedding when she got her first Big Girl Bed, Laney and I went shopping last Monday to pick out hers. I had no idea she was so opinionated about design. It came down to plaid or Hello Kitty, so I steered her towards the plaid, which matched better with both Mia's spread (they share a room) as well as my general dislike of licensed characters in bedroom decor.

PS: Mia now has a bedrail as well. We switched the girls' sides of the room in order to fit the taller headboards in the taller space, and Mia fell out of her bed. She didn't wake up! I had to wake her. Anyway, amid all sorts of protesting, we put the old guardrail up until she gets used to her new setup. Poor sweetie.

UPDATE: Here are the girls in their new beds!!

Mia's Birthday Party

Mia's party was a lot of fun, and definitely worth the extra week of cleaning, purchasing and cupcake eating baking. The party started out with a little horse decorating, where the kiddos got to color faces on their hobby horses and then they took them to Patrick to add the stick and bandana. Then, outside, we had swings, panning for gold in the sandbox, bean bag and ring toss games, a chalk drawing and bubble blowing station, snacks and juice boxes. Later a hot dog lunch was served along with cupcakes and a pinata finale. The pinata did not burst forth with it's goods, however, and we had to tear it to get the goodies out. But it was sure fun for the kids trying to hit it. Mia had a great time seeing her friends that she's missed over the summer and loved her party - we were so lucky to have many of her friends available for a second date.

And here's a funny video of the Pinata Whacking:

Mia Turns 4!

Saturday was Mia's 4th Birthday - Happy Birthday Mia Bug! Unfortunately, she was sick with a cold bad enough that we had to reschedule her birthday party for next weekend. She is a tough cookie, however, and maintained her bubbly personality and exuberant energy level the entire day.

We still had her friend Catie (who already had this particular strain of cold) over to play in the pool, we still had cupcakes and her favorite dinner, we opened gifts, and one of her school friends dropped off a present that kept her occupied most of the rest of the day - Thank You Jakob and Mindy for the Do A Dot markers!

She also got to take a special trip to Toys R Us to pick out her new bike with training wheels today and try it out at the local park.
Overall, I'd say she had a great 4th birthday and now we still have a great big party to look forward to.

Oh, and for a preview of the "labor of love" Patrick created for Mia's party, check out these hobby horse heads. WOW!

Happy New Year 2008!

Happy New Year to you! Today I am sitting here drinking a pint of Martinelli's Sparkling Cider, something I like to toast with, but lately have been drinking like a coke. Last night we spent the early evening celebrating New Years' Eve at our neighbors' home a la Greenwich Mean Time (7pm here). It was fantastic! A little beer and wine for the grownups, a little juice for the kiddos, some fantastic Indian food, homemade mac-n-cheese, and noisemakers and glow necklaces for the big hurrah! Just a great family night for all. The best part was that we got Mia down to bed at 8:30, and she didn't feel the least bit slighted. Laney, on the other hand, is sick and didn't go to bed until 1am, so Patrick and I definitely made it to midnight and then some. Ah well, such is life as a parent.

Christmas week was spent in Raleigh with my parents, Aunt Amanda and Uncle Travis, Uncle Neil and Jessica, and cousin Jacque. Jacque and Mia played and fought like sisters, and Laney spent the time trying to woo her favorite Uncle Travis, as well as getting baptised at my parents' church. Gracious thanks to GrandMary and Santa George for hosting brunch afterwords - what a wonderful day.

The 23rd, Jacque turned 5 so we had a birthday party and Santa came to visit that night before his big day on Christmas Eve. Mia again reported that she'd like none other than a horse for Christmas, but Santa is a practical man and knows we aren't allowed to have a horse on our property, so she got a My Little Pony instead. :) Laney was a bit frighted by the prospect of sitting in any man's lap except Daddy, Grandaddy or one of her uncles, and let us know exactly how she felt. Very loudly.

Uncle Neil made a fried turkey this year, and whoa what a difference from our first experience - this one was fantabulous, as Amanda would say. The girls decorated gingerbread houses made of gingerbread graham crackers (thank you for the idea, Ms. Janise!) and enjoyed many many sweets and candies, much to my chagrin and to their sleep deprivation.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and are having a great New Year's Day celebrating the passing of the last year, and optimistically planning for the new one.



PS: Thanks to Julie for showing me how to post an album link!! You can view our Christmas slide show via the link to the right under Volpe Photo Albums - enjoy!

Fun Fourth of July Pictures

Ok, we have some really cute pictures of the girls from the 4th of July parade and later in the day. We were part of a privileged set of neighbors who got to enjoy some of the best seats at our friends' home along the parade route, and Mia got to dance the day away with her friend Lottie. Enjoy the photos!

Laney is One!!

Laney celebrated her actual birthday by attending the Takoma Park 4th of July parade and staying up way too late to watch fireworks.



We didn't actually go to the middle school to see them. We thought it would be too late, there was a large chance of rain, and a tornado warning, so we stayed inside and watched the National Fireworks on tv. We were lucky though, and were able to peek out our window to see the local fireworks just above the trees. Laney was mesmerized and kept hitting the window everytime she saw one. It was really cute.









Laney has come a long way in a year. She feeds herself, chatters nonstop (though we don't understand what she's saying), dances whenever music is on, is learning to sign a few words ("milk", "more"), and LOVES baths, electrical cords (!!), ripping paper, dolls, and of course Mia. She hates putting shirts with sleeves on, she hates when Mia is in timeout, and she really dislikes it when I take things out of her mouth that she finds on the floor or has ripped from a magazine.
Next on her list is walking, which could be any day now.









Happy Birthday Laney Bun!!

Princess Party!!

This year, we had a joint princess birthday party for Mia and Elena. Both girls had a great time, and Marme and Grandaddy got to come up to join in the festivities.



I made a castle cake I copied from the Coolest Kid Birthday Parties website and the kids played with bubbles, playdoh, hobby horses I picked up from the thrift store, and we decorated foam tiaras and princess hats with foam stickers. We also tried a version of the duck pond game, but I realized rather quickly that 3 and 1 year olds don't really know all the numbers and so everyone who got any number on their duck won a prize (which was everyone).

























We gave the girls a swingset as their gift this year, and Patrick and Grandaddy picked it up and put it together in the back yard. It's perfect.





Planning this, I realized that I really like to plan and throw parties! Who knew?

Mia is 3!!!

Mia turned three yesterday. As I look back over the last three years it amazes me how long three years can be, as well as how quickly they can fly by. I don't feel like it has been that long since I left the workforce to stay home. Yet, some days seem to take every ounce of patience and creativity I can possibly muster and can seem to last a week.

I'm reminded of the song "Sunrise, Sunset". My mom used to sing that around the house, now I know what she was feeling as she sang it. Some mothers of older children would probably think it was too soon to look back in this manner, but a three year old is now really truly no longer a baby. Mia dresses herself, feeds herself, uses the bathroom (mostly - sometimes she prefers to use "nature"), and pretty much wants to do everything "BY MYSELF, MOMMY!" It's wonderful in SO many ways.








Happy Birthday, Mia Bug!