Sunday, February 21

Another Funfilled Winter Saturday

Weekends drone on when it's just the Bear and I, especially cooped up in this tiny house.

Yesterday, we kept busy first with a trip to Babies-R-Us where N tried out a tricycle, knocked lots of toys off the shelf as Mama followed behind picking up her mess, and met some new friends who loved picking her up and pushing her in a wagon.

Next, we headed to the pet store. N enjoyed all of the animals but there was one puppy she loved the most. He adored her, and they were super cute together.

After she told the puppy bye and blew him kisses, we drove to the river to find some ducks. At a scorching 40 degrees, we lasted about 15 minutes outside throwing crackers (and trying to stop N from eating the ones on the ground) before concluding the ducks must not be hungry :)

By the time we were done, Bear was tuckered.


Hopefully that takes care of our craving for adventure -- the weather forecast predicts we'll be staying in for a couple days.

Friday, February 19

I Said Something Today

that I think sums up my parenting philosophy perfectly.

You see my baby sister -- who is not technically a baby anymore; in fact, she's an adult -- is writing a paper about me. She asked a question having to do with the influences of my parenting style, to which I responded that I sometimes wonder to myself, if I only had a short amount of time left with N, how would I parent her differently? My answer is always "I wouldn't", and that's how I know I'm doing it right.

Of course I have had moments where I wish I would have handled the situation differently, but the basic principles I put my faith of child rearing into I would not change. Yes, this is basically just me bragging about how well versed I can be...sometimes. :)

Happy Friday!

Wednesday, February 17

Tuesday, February 16

Family Museum: A QC MUST for Little Ones

Winter has gotten the best of me, and I've been feeling some serious cabin fever in our teeny tiny place lately. I had heard rave reviews about the Bettendorf Family Museum from other parents in N's tumbling class, so on Saturday we decided to check it out.

I forgot the camera ::sad face:: but I can't say enough great things about it. It was cheap ($6 for my ticket and N was free!) and there was so much to do. N got to try out some musical instruments, play dress up, learn about shadows and reflections, and -- her favorite -- cook, clean, and talk on the phone in the four and under playhouse.

The house had two phones: one in the kitchen and one on the other side of the wall. When you would pick up one, it would make the other ring. When it rang, my tech-savvy daughter would drop everything and run to answer the phone. She would then procede to pace back an fourth with the phone to her ear moving her hands as she said "blah ba me do blah ba na..." When she had finished her conversation, she'd hand the phone back up and go back to whatever she had been previously occupied with. I wish I had the video camera, it was hysterical.

We will definitely be going back.

Tuesday, February 9

Officially a Quad Citian

It's like a rite of passage. And she handled it beautifully.

Wednesday, February 3

Monday, February 1

Gonna Party Like It's My Birthday

Well there probably won't be any partying, but I did have a delish homemade breakfast this morning ala the hubbs. I'm also hoping to get a couple of vacation days approved for the end of this week so I can do some much needed reconnecting with the fam after a hectic couple of months.

N and I this morning (sporting the new sweater Mimi got me!).


I'm sure everyone has this realization at one point or another, but it seems so funny to think back to when I thought 24 was old...not old as in going to die soon or anything, but just grown up -- I don't feel grown up :) Cheers to another healthy and happy 24 (and hopefully more!) years!