Going to the Park

Last weekend, Stacey went away for a baby shower and a conference for work in Washington, D.C. So that left the girls and I at home for some Daddy time. We had fun, but we certainly, missed Mommy. One of the things we did was go to the park. We kind of had to go because Drea also went to a baby shower with her Nunnie, while they were leaving there was some swings and other playground equipment. Nunnie let her play for a while, but finally told her it was time to go. Drea said, "That's okay my Dad will take me later". Of course, I told her I would go, so we had to go. Here are some pictures of our visit.

Drea and Charlotte swinging on the swings

Charlotte's first time on the swings.....Sorry Stacey

Drea enjoying her visit

This is the big slide at the park that Drea is usually scared to go on. On this trip she finally went to the top. With Daddy and Charlotte's help she finally went down the slide, too!

One final note from our trip. We went to the park on Monday and by the time Stacey came back on Wednesday, Drea's voice was hoarse. I assume it was from our visit because it was a little cold and windy at the park. So I told Stacey that and Drea agreed. Now, every time since then, when she coughs or sneezes, she says it is from our trip to the park.

Charlotte's 1st Birthday

Charlotte's party was a bug themed Birthday

The girls of course had to dress like lady bugs

Here's the spread of food Stacey prepared for the Birthday girl & guests. Stacey made most of the food, pepperoni rolls, sausage balls, chocolate covered pretzels that looked like butterflies, guacamole, taco dip, strawberry lady bugs, and tomato lady bug crackers. She really did an awesome job and everything was delicious.

Here are some pictures of Charlotte enjoying her cake

Charlotte opening some presents

Singing Happy Birthday

Charlotte enjoying her cake

This is what was left of Charlotte's cake. I think she enjoyed herself or at least the cake.

Thinking I would be smart

So this is the sand and water table my Mom brought the girls for Charlotte's Birthday. It is really nice and I think the girls are going to really enjoy it. However, there is a story behind this post regarding the table.

The table my mom brought had a crack in it so it had to be returned. After waiting for the receipt from my Mom (which wasn't long), the girls and I decided to return it. Thinking I would be smart, since it was just me, Drea, and Charlotte, I decided to call first to make sure they had one in stock. No luck. Thinking I would be smart, I checked online and it showed that they did have the table. So I decided I would drive up to Bridgeport to Toys r Us and see for myself. For some reason, I thought it would be smarter to go in and see if they had the table, before I lugged it in the store. Don't ask me why because either way I still had to take it in. Anyway, so we went in and they did in fact have the table. Thank God because I think Drea would have been devastated. You should have seen the tears when she found out it was cracked. So the girls and I when back out to the car to bring the table in.

We then made the exchange and also received $18 in change because it happened to be on sale this week. Nice, huh? Then we got back into the car and drove around back to pick it up. Once around back Drea wanted to get out, so we all got out and walked up to the desk and got the table. Thinking I would be smart I opened the box to make sure it was not cracked. This time it was fine. We got back into the car and while doing so I noticed 50 lb bags of play sand on a pallet. After some debate I thought it would be smart to drive around front and go back into the store instead of driving over to Lowes. We drove around front, got out of the car again and when into the store. Again, thinking I would be smart I checked in the store at the display to see how much sand I needed. I did not see anything specific, but I notice it said the table could hold 32 lbs. which equals less then one bag. When I went to check out the lady said, I needed more then one bag, in fact I needed 5! My $18 profit went to a $13 loss.

Thinking I would be smart, I listened to the lady and bought 5 bags. So we got back in the car and drove around back to get the sand. The more I thought about it, the more I knew that couldn't be right. So when we got to the back I checked on the water/sand table box for specifics. Clearly on the box it said, no more then 10 lbs of sand. I asked the gentleman working the back if he could take my receipt and get my money back and he replied, "No". Again, we drove around front, got out of the car, and when into the store for our refund. We received our refund, got back into the car, and drove around back for the sand.

All and all, it was pretty funny, but after 3 trips to the customer service desk, and 5 total trips in and out of Toys r Us, we definitely needed a trip to Dairy Cream Corner for ice cream. Which we paid for with our extra money. So thanks again, Mom.

Big East CHAMPS!

Yes, you were right...

...all of you who told me Drea wouldn't be going to kindergarten and still pooping in her pull-up.

Yep, to all of you who had heard my pooping in the potty woes for the past couple years, my 4 year old finally poops on the potty. It is wonderful. We haven't cleaned up a dirty pull-up at 10pm for at least a few weeks. It's great!

My favorite part of this story...one night we were praying before bed and she out of the blue asked God to help her poop on the potty. It was like she just decided she was ready. And then the next day she started doing it on her own. It was nice for her to see God answer her prayers. And now she adds it to her prayers every night. It's so cute! She probably also prays about it every night because she gets to choose a prize out of her Poopy Prize Box every time she goes.

Sorry if this post was a little too much information for you but I know if you have kids you get it.

Playdate with Madison

Drea's friend Madison came over to play the other day. The girls had so much fun. They played dress-up most of the day.

They had to take turns being the bride.

Check out Charlotte in the laundry basket having lots of fun, too.

See Diana, I'm doing housework not sleeping on the couch all day.

Nostalgia

There something about seeing your youngest daughter wearing her older sister's clothes.

Maybe I'm just super sensitive right now because my youngest will be one on Saturday. I went through the next size clothes bin downstairs to get out bigger clothes for Charlotte yesterday.

For some reason, when I look at Charlotte wearing these clothes I get all sentimental. I think I can remember seeing Drea in them and I remember things she did and her mannerisms and now she's four. FOUR. I just can't believe it! My baby is FOUR! And now my other baby is on her way to FOUR. It's just hard to believe, that's all.