Watermelon, anyone?

Mmmmmm.....

....yummy!

Clip, Clip, Clip

To answer the burning question this week:

To cut or Not to cut?

We cut.

Daddy was sad (yes, he took it harder than Mommy) but he didn't cry (like Mommy did).

Here's a recap of Kara's big day in pictures...enjoy.

Before shot: The Girly Mullet

Before shot: Cousin IT

During: Kara did great. She didn't cry during the actual hair cut.

Saying good-bye to the "TAIL"...

Then the hair dryer came out and our happy girl turned on the water works. What a face!

After shot: Ryan got his hair cut too. He loves to visit Ms. Michele at Kids Cuts. Kara looks absolutely adorable! Ryan did not want to sit still during this picture, so he looks quite silly.

After shot: The beautiful bob. Mommy is happy. Kara is happy. Daddy needs some time to get used to the style. (he is not a fan of short hair on girls...)

After shot: Kara's hair looks so much fuller now. She's just so darn cute!

A Special Surprise

Yesterday was the day for videos apparently! I actually tried to upload this video last night but Blogger AND Vimeo both gave me troubles. Tonight no issues, so I am playing catch up!

When Ryan turned one (November 2006), Santa brought him a cute little Cars themed push or sit car for Christmas. It quickly became his favorite toy. Even now at three and a half years old, Ryan still rides it and is not happy that Kara has started to take a liken to his beloved car. When she isn't standing on it, she is pushing it. Yesterday, jealousy got the best of Ryan and he insisted on sitting on the car while Kara push/walked behind it. I thought it was cute so I grabbed the camera....

What I thought was going to be short clip of Kara pushing Ryan turned into something bigger within seconds. It was a bittersweet surprise and I am happy that I caught it on film!

Kara Walks! from Bobbi-Jo High on Vimeo.

Caged Animals!

After my evening yoga class last night, I tried to enjoy dinner before taking the kids upstairs for bath and bedtime. As you will see in the video below, the RK Alliance had other plans...

You will also see just how naughty Ryan can be and how much Kara hates being gated up!

Gated Up! from Bobbi-Jo High on Vimeo.

Ryan Funnies

Any guesses what this could be...?

Here's a different view...

When we asked Ryan why he left the cars this way...

His answer was..."They are sleeping."

Happy 11 months!

Hi!

(I think it's hilarious that I keep catching her in this pose!)

Kara turned 11 months on May 14th...so yes, I am a little late getting this post out. Please forgive my tardiness!

A lot has happened in the last month. Our little peanut is not so little anymore!! Kara has been growing like a weed lately and we are excited to see just how much she's grown at her 12 month wellness visit next month.

She has perfected her "pulling up" skills, which forced us to lower the crib finally.

Here's some video of that night....

Just in the last two weeks, Kara has started to really show signs of wanting to walk. She takes about 2-3 steps and then gets down to crawl. With this new found way of getting around, comes the dreaded boo-boo's from falling. Her poor forehead has taken a beating! She also sustained her first boo-boo caused by a plastic egg and her naughty brother.

(the cut near her left eye is from Ryan)

It took about a week but all the marks did finally heal up.

We are starting to plan her 1st birthday party, which will be held in exactly 3 weeks on June 14th!

C0uld someone please tell me where the past year went? I still can't believe we are almost in toddlerhood with our second child...

Pretty girl. Clever girl. Daddy's girl.

So true.

Kara is into everything and anything now that she is mobile! She hates to be "locked up" and wants to explore every inch of the house. She just showed us last week that she is able to crawl up steps! I caught her climbing our kitchen step and that same evening Chris put her on our staircase that leads to the second floor and she climbed the entire staircase with no problems. I hope to post a video showing off her new skill soon..

Here she shows us that reading with our feet is fun.

And why ride the car when you can surf it? She has no fear!

But the biggest question on our minds lately is...

To cut or not to cut?

What do you think? We will have an answer on Friday...stay tuned.

Happy 11 months, sweetie!

I love you just the way you are...

I would listen to I love you just the way you are, a million times over (I believe I already have listened to it a million times!) just to experience this...

PS- I know I've been MIA lately...sorry. I accept the blame for being completely exhausted and not staying up late creating posts about our exciting adventures....but BLOGGER hasn't exactly been cooperating lately and hopefully their issues will be resolved soon. Please know that there are plenty of fun and picture-filled posts to come! Stay tuned...I have a lot to catch up on!

We Heart Art!

Join the Three Bay B Chicks, Domestically Challenged and Helene from I'm Living Proof that God has a Sense of Humor as they celebrate art and being creative this week. These three blogs are sponsoring an event called "We Heart Art," which gives you the chance to not only showcase your artwork or creative projects, but also your kid's handiwork. Prizes for children and adults will be awarded to a few lucky winners selected at random.

Ok, so I normally do not post for contests on my family blog...but this one seems like a lot of fun, plus it gives me the opportunity to show off my beautiful and extremely gifted child!

And yes, talk about being last minute... Today is the last day to enter into the contest! Click here if you would like to participate!

There is no denying that our son, Ryan takes after his mama in the creative department. Just scroll on down to see his many "artsy" talents!

He can finger paint Picasso off the books!

He LOVES taking pictures...these candid shots were from his 3rd Birthday Party.

Seriously, could you get more artistic than this?!

With a little help from Daddy, he created this beautiful craft flower for me on Mother's Day 2008...soooo creative!

And what's a post without videos? Here is my talented son showing us that he can....

Play the piano...look out Beethoven!

Dance! He's got the moves!!!

(sorry the video is sideways!)



And finally, he proves that he wants to be just like Mom when he grows up by...

Singing! The voice of an angel!

(once again, sorry it's sideways!)

See? Can't get more "artsy" or talented than that!

I hope you enjoyed the show!

Feed Me!

Ryan asked me the other morning if he could feed Kara her breakfast.

I said he could and grabbed the camera....

"Open wide Kara!"

" See Mom, I can do it!"

"Kaaarrrraaaa! Open up you mouth!"


Here's a short clip of the messy but cute event.

Happy Mother's Day ~ 2009

Just a little reminder why I am able to celebrate this special day....

Mommy and Ryan

(December 2006)

Mommy and Kara (6.14.08)--------------------------------------------

Now for my Mother's Day review. (warning: a long rambling vent below, if you would like to skip the venting and see pictures, keep scrolling down...)

Today did not go as well as I had hoped or how Chris had planned. It started with three little words that came echoing down the hallway into our room early this morning. "What IS this?", my husband asked our son. Then he yelled for me to get up and come help.

What? Wait...where is the traditional greeting of hugs and kisses while I stay in bed on Mother's Day? What could possibly be wrong that my husband, who is supposed to be on duty all day, would need my help?

As I walked into the hallway, Chris came out of Ryan's room with Kara in one arm and a trashcan in the other. His expression said it all. One word- poop. Before I continue my story, I need to say that Ryan has been doing AWESOME with potty training the past few weeks. He gets up in the morning and goes potty right away. He rarely has accidents and finally let's us know when he has to go OR just goes to the bathroom when he feels the need. We are extremely proud of him and I can't tell you how much better I feel now that he using the potty.

I reached Ryan's room to find him standing in the middle of the room fully dressed for the day. At this point, I am confused because I do not see poop on him or around him. Also, how could he have an accident when I specifically remembered leaving his door cracked open before I went to bed last night...as I do every night. Just as I was about to ask him why he didn't go to the potty, a gush of wind came blowing through his room and there was my answer. It was VERY windy last night. I left a few windows opened and his door must have closed shut sometime during the night. When he woke up, he was not able to get the door open. So it wasn't his fault that he had an accident.

He tried his best to clean himself up. I could tell he was embarrassed and fearful that we would get upset with him. He even tried to "hide" a huge stain on the carpet by putting a bucket over it. So while Chris steam cleaned the carpet, I got Kara changed, then ran a bath for Ryan. Little did we know this was only the start of a crazy morning!

While Chris gave Ryan a quick bath, I fed Kara. She was full of spunk this morning and thought blowing razzberries with a mouth full of oatmeal was fun and hilarious. She also thought my skin must have needed an oatmeal bath because I ended up with a good amount on me. While I can smile about it now, I have to say I was a bit annoyed at the time. I mean, wasn't today supposed to be my day to relax? Daddy was in charge but it sure felt like any other day for me!

As Kara was finishing up, the boys came downstairs and Chris started breakfast. I spent some time in "the pit" with the kiddies so he could cook in peace. He threw some sweet rolls into the oven and started making my favorite breakfast...eggs, hashbrowns, turkey bacon and sausage. We chatted about how crazy windy it was outside and joked about living in a wind tunnel again. The sun was shining but it was deceiving because it was very chilly outside. About 20 minutes had past when Chris realized he forgot to set the timer on the sweet rolls! So needless to say, the buns were a little crispy...and the hasbrowns turned out a little on the dark side too. At this point, my husband is starting to get frustrated.

What else could possibly go wrong today? It was 10 am and we still hadn't eaten. Sensing Chris' frustration at wanting to give me the perfect day but failing miserably at it so far, I decide to take the kids upstairs to give him some space. I open the door to our office to find yet another casualty of the crazy wind. All 4 cactus plants had blown over and we now had potting soil ALL OVER the carpet. As I turn to go back downstairs, I stub my toe on the doorway and break the nail on my big toe (now I really have an excuse as to why I need a pedicure!). Ouch. Now it's my turn to start getting frustrated...only I am in full PMS mode. (yes, to top it off- my monthly friend decided to make a visit at 1:30am on Mother's Day...just lovely! Sorry if that's TMI but it only made matters worse!)

I make my way back down to the kitchen with Kara in tow to let Chris know about the mess in the office. Bear in mind that I am in pain and getting crankier by the minute. Chris is also still upset about having to clean up poop, give his son a bath and then burning breakfast so far this morning, so you can only imagine his reaction to the news about his beloved cactus plants.

He let out a deep sigh and told me that we will clean it up later. For now he wanted me to head back upstairs and wait for my breakfast. A few minutes later, he arrived with a tray full of yumminess! So I eventually got the traditional breakfast in bed...we just had a few obstacles to overcome first. Then my hubby and kiddies gave me a beautiful flower that they crafted on paper and some very awesome cards. It seems Chris is starting his own tradition of creating beautiful crafty flowers with the kids for Mother's Day...I love it! See my post and cute flower that Chris and Ryan made from MOTHER'S DAY last year HeRe.

I got to relax a little bit after breakfast, or shall we say brunch! Before we knew it, it was early afternoon and the kids needed to be fed lunch and put down for a nap. But they had other plans and the RK Alliance reared it's ugly side. Both refused to take a nap!

Later in the afternoon, we stopped by my parents. It was nice to see them and my grandparents on both sides of the family and my older sister Tara with her family. Tara gave me a beautiful plant and wind chime- thanks sis! We had a lovely visit and packed up to leave around 6 so Chris could cook up my all time favorite dinner: Pot Roast!

Turns out we should have just stayed at my parents and ate pizza because we arrived home to find that the roast was still hard as a rock! It would have taken forever to cook, so we fed the kids something quick and went grocery shopping. It was bedtime when we arrived home, we gave the kiddies baths and tucked them in for the night. Around 10 pm, I finally made myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dinner. Yes, not exactly gourmet or special...but Chris did promise a Pot Roast rain check for tomorrow's dinner.

I will always remember this Mother's Day....the one that was filled with chaos and frustration... but above all, I will remember that my husband loves me so much that he still tried to make my day special even with all the craziness, that I got to see my Grandma Delp have a good day with her Alzheimer's (first time in a long time and she knew Kara was my daughter. I almost cried as I hugged her), that I got to visit with my cousin Lisa (we don't get to see each other very often), and that my children are happy and healthy. What MOM could ask for more?

Now it's time to pepper the post with cute pictures!

My sweet baby girl...
...and my adorable son!
Our attempt at getting a picture of me with my sweet and adorable children. (please excuse my crazy hair, it was the end of the day and I had it just pinned up...I think it's time for some highlights again!)

The cute cards and beautiful craft flower that Chris and Ryan made. Ryan got to glue and glitter everything. I loved Kara's card (it's the one with the little girl on it below). It said, "Are you going to have a happy Mother's Day...(inside)...or am I going to have to throw a little tantrum?" HAHA! It couldn't have been a more perfect card!

Of course, my husband picked a card that made me cry. He is so sweet and this year he surprised me with printing out words that he felt described me and glued them inside my card. It was so thoughtful and it made my heart smile! (the cook one cracked me up because really he is the cook in our family!)

Finally after like 30 attempts, we got a good shot.


Happy Mother's Day!