Meatloaf

It is official. We have another monster on our hands!!! At Cali’s 4 mth check up, she weighed in at 17lbs 2 oz and 27 ¼ in long! OFF THE CHARTS! NO WONDER she was getting up THREE TIMES a night to eat!!! She is growing like a weed!!

We got the go ahead from the Dr to start feeding her cereal and eventually fruits/veggies 2 times a day. I can’t believe it is time for that stage already. Having these monster babies makes me feel a smidge jipped in the little baby stage. Lugging Cali around in her car seat is beginning to get a smidge difficult. However, I will say it is a pretty sweet work out. If you see me in the parking lot…you may or may not witness me doing lunges and lat raises with her in tow. Hey…how else am I going to lose this last pound of pregnancy weight??

Cali and I went to meet Kaia for lunch at school. One word for the event: Hilarious. Kaia was VERY proud of her little sister and was quick to inform her classmates what  they could and couldn’t do with HER little sister. My favorite comment was from a little friend that said, “WHOA. That is the biggest neck I have ever seen on a baby.” (Referring to Cali’s delicate neckline...ok, ok her three chins.) Little kids are so brutally honest. I am not sure what was my favorite part of the day was…how mature Kaia interacts with her classmates, eating school slop or witnessing “Cheese Touch” (a game that is played in the Diary of a Whimpy Kid Series). It was pretty funny watching kids school each other without them knowing. Ahhh. To be a first grader again…

Mother’s day was a blast. Matt and the girls took me to a hotel downtown (The Depot) that had an indoor waterslide and arcade. It was a relaxing weekend filled with lots of family time. During the day Saturday we went to a Cinco De Mayo Festival in St. Paul. They had all of Kaia’s favorite things…Horse Rides, Super Jumps and Mini Donuts. I am surprised her head didn’t pop off!!

We added a new member to our family (no…not another furry or squirmy creature). My sister Angie had a little boy, Michael Reid Willson, on April 29^th and he was 7lbs 6oz and 19in long. We finally have a boy in the family!! He is going to look so smashing in his pink hand me downs from Cali…

So close to sitting up on her own!

Daddy and his pea pods

A drooling Panther Fan!

Sister snuggle time

Daddy's blues



Mother's Day walk downtown



Horse Rides=Happy KJM

TICKLE MONSTER!!!

Featuring Cali Mitchell in..."Mommy the TICKLE MONSTER!!!'

Credits

Videographer: Kaia Mitchell

Appearances by: Mikka

Happy Chubby Chatterbox

Cali is a busy baby…and growing like CrAZy!!! A few new milestones we’ve reached by 4 mths:

-          Grabbing for toys and mommy’s face!!

-          New voices {She’s always been quite the chatter box…but she has added some new screeches to her vocab}.

-          Getting up 3 times a night to eat!!! She likes to party…and loves spending as much awake time with her mommy as possible…

-          NO MORE SICKNESS J

-          SIZE 3 diapers!!!!

-          9 month clothes!!!!

-          Mommy found socks that FIT her chubby feet and cankles!! No more cut off circulation or bare feet required! Thank you Target and Trumettetoo! Link to Chubby baby socks

Dr appt is in a few weeks. I am excited to see where she is at for growth. Not so much for round three of shots...

Video of Cali at 4 months. We were dining at our fav breakfast spot, the Pancake House over Easter Weekend. Here she is doing what she does best...talking, smiling and talking some more. We just LOVE her!!

 

Spring has Sprung

Spring has sprung in Minneapolis!! Well, at least for the last few days...according to the weather man, we are supposed to get snow this weekend!! UGH. Damn Mother Nature.

But, we refuse to let that ruin our fun in the 'sun'! Over the last few days we've had a lot of fun out enjoying the weather. We were able to take Cali for her first walk in the Bjorn for breakfast at a great spot in Uptown.  The girls and I enjoyed a walk around Lake Harriet and had our first picnic of the year! And last night, Kaia and I had a blast at First Avenue Downtown for a Greyson Chance concert. {While Daddy had some special bonding time cleaning Cali's blow out diapers...}

Don't know who Greyson Chance is? That little man can sing! Here is a link to his youtube video that made him famous: http://youtu.be/bxDlC7YV5is 

First picnic of the year!!



Kaia and Mikka




Kaia performing at the Lake Harriet's Band Shell. So beautiful!



Lots of love on Daddy's lap

Mikka likes to share



Feed me. NOW.




Walking around Lake Harriet



Cali's first picnic.



Kisses at The Greyson Chance Concert at First Ave



 





8 hours. Overrated.

It’s Sunday, April 10^th. All is on the sick mend in our house {finally}. Cali’s cough is minimal, her oxygen levels are on the rise…and she is sleeping without having to be propped up. {YAHOOO!}. I am so ready to waltz into work on a Monday morning with a continuous 4 hours of sleep under my belt. {sarcasm}.

Enter 2:34 am. I awake to a silent little tip toe into mommy’s room. It is Kaia. Poor little thing is complaining that her hips hurt. I pull her into bed with Cali and me. Minutes later, she is crying in her sleep that her hips still hurt. I grab some Tylenol and ice packs and start the infamously requested mommy back scratching, thinking she is having growing pains. Moments later…she has to go to the bathroom. We start walking…when FLARPSHBASCKSH!!!!! PUKE. EVERYWHERE. {Literally}.

Please see definition:

Puke:

intr. & tr.v. puked, puk·ing, pukes

To vomit.

n.

1. The act of vomiting.

2. Vomit.

3. One regarded as disgusting or contemptible.

As we are running to the bathroom with FLARPSHBASCKSH flowing everywhere…I am AGAIN. Drenched. In vomit. {See line 3. In definition}. That makes three times in one week I've been puked on by my darling children...

SICK. Literally. Figuratively. SICK. How it didn’t get on Baby C is beyond me. Daddy came to aid the stank volcanic explosion {while nursing his own illness} in the wee hours of the morning.

The scene upon his arrival:

-          A now, happy baby smiling in her swing

-          Sick, feverish 7 yr old on the couch (chuckling at the now 'comical' explosion)

-          FLARPSHBASCKSH on floor, wall and mommy

-          A physically sleep deprived mommy ready to CrACk

-          Washing machine running. With neatly sorted piles of FLARPSHBASCKSH laundry ready to roll. (With the door closed to ward off our small furry family’s scavenging tendencies).

So right when Kaia is supposed to return to school from her nice Spring break, she gets to stay home another day and be a little couch potato. Thank goodness for our live-in nanny {That shout out is for you Auntie Agex}…or my PTO could be referred to as KTO {Kid Time Off}.

So much for my 4 hours. Sleep is overrated anyway...

Sick Kaia (and buddy Mikka)

Healthy Kaia.





Sick Cali.





Healthy Cali.



Kaia for President

I am sure if you asked Kaia she could recite my ‘mom lines’ without hesitation: “Wash your hands. Don’t talk to strangers. Remember your Please and Thank You’s. Be a great leader. Do the right thing. Have FUN. And the Hawkeyes suck.”

Well, I think all that repetitive ‘mom chatter’ has paid off. I know we are partial….but she is SUCH an amazing little girl. She is hilarious, leads by positive example at school and can debate with even the most passionate Hawkeye fan of her utter distaste for the black and gold.  

I’d like to share a few of Kaia’s goals:

1.       Buy a farm. {No joke. She’s been saving since she was 3. She WILL NOT touch any of her piggy bank money}.

2.       Become a veterinarian {clearly caught the animal gene}.

3.       Own a pet grooming business

4.       Be an animal scientist

5.       Be the first woman President. {She plans to rid the world of littering and animal cruelty. What better way than to do it from the top??}

6.       Play soccer at UNI {GO PANTHERS}.

As you can see, there is an animal theme present. So to continue to nurture this passion of hers, we try to find ways for her to volunteer. {A great advantage living in the city}. Her non-profit of choice is the Animal Humane Society. As most know, her first big step towards this was having friends donate items of need for the Humane Society, rather than gifts, for her 7^th birthday. {I kid you not. All her idea. What kid doesn’t want presents on their birthday?? I cried}.

Up next is the Humane Society’s largest fund raiser of the year…the Walk for Animals. We did it last year and had a blast with all the great animal and people watching. We def need to take the old collar and leash combo up a notch this year!! She plans to push her mouse, Squeaks, and 4 hermit crabs in her doll stroller and walk our dog Mikka in a costume. It will be quite the animal parade!

Kaia has set a goal to raise $500 because that amount helps three dogs through the Adoption Preparation Program. Check out her fundraising page and contribute to this great cause, EVERY little bit helps: http://events.animalhumanesociety.org/site/TR/Walk/General?px=1463690&pg=personal&fr_id=1150

I have no idea how we got SO incredibly lucky to have two AMAZING, happy, beautiful little girls. But we did. And I have no intention to let all that genuine, positive energy and go getter do gooder attitude go to waste!

Now…if I could just figure out how to get her to eat her vegetables…

Uncle continuing her love for ALL animals. Cookie the python. Xmas 2009.

Daddy. The best soccer coach in the world.




PERFECTION.

 


She LOVES her Mikka




where there is one, there is the other. July 2010.






Snot Sucker

Attention Parents!!! Have a sick wee one??! Better yet…do you HAVE a wee one??! Do yourself, your sanity and your child’s wellness a favor and purchase the Nosefrida. Trust me, I wasn’t a believer…until last night.

This handy little device just kicked the blue ball hospital syringe’s A#$.

Not only can my children BREATHE, it provided an evening of entertainment. Thank you amazon.com! {Also available at Target.com and Walmart.com}.

Need some tips? A reviewer on Amazon had this to say:

“this thing works. it sucks boogers out of noses. it even stores them in a little tube to eat later. or, you can just wash them out in the sink. anyway...it works better than any of the other things we tried...and we tried pretty much everything. there's a technique to it:

- suck in quick short bursts with your mouth muscles first...to loosen things up
- then, suck in long hoover-style bursts to get those boogies out
- if the boogies get stuck near the surface, try pulling the end of the thing out a little mid-suck a few times
- use a tissue or q-tip to get any nose goblins that are loitering anywhere accessible
- repeat

if i was a professional booger sucker...and it was my job to suck the snot out of noses 8 hours a day, i would insist on using this thing. but i would want a longer tube, and a holster.”

Below is a handy 'how to' on YouTube…

Along with the photog montage of the Nosefrida expedition with the girls…

You WILL thank me. {You are welcome and happy sucking}.



Our first attempt. NO CRYING!!




IT WORKS!! MUCH better than the blue syringe!!



Kaia wasn't so sure...



cheers to being sniffle free!



Get over here mama, it is your turn...