Time for Your Check-up

I took both girls to the doctor today for their check-ups - two-month for Liza and eighteen month (i.e. WAY overdue) for Kara Jane.  I so wish I'd had a camera, because Kara Jane just melted my heart today.  I decided not to pull out the stroller to get the girls into and out of the doctor's office.  So, I had Kara hold my hand, which she did SO well.  Whenever I have her little hand in mine, my heart melts just a little bit more.  Anyway, we get into the doctor's office and wait just a few minutes.  We get back into the room and I have the privilege of getting both girls undressed to their diapers for weight and height checks.  I balk at the idea for a moment, and then get down to business.  Once they are both sporting the diapered look, we head out to the general area - Kara Jane prancing, I mean, leading the way.  She is absolutely precious and melts the hearts of the nurses just a little bit too.  She stands up on the scale like a big girl, lets the nurse measure her height and her head - like a princess crown.  Then it's Liza's turn, and Kara Jane just stays right with me.  We go back to the room, and Kara just plays around as we wait for the doctor.  When the doctor comes in, there is no fussing, just absolute sweetness.  Even when she got her one shot, she cried for about two seconds and then it was over.  I was simply amazed by her today.

Wish I could say that Liza's portion of the appointment was as easy...

The girls' stats:
Kara Jane weighed 25.6 pounds (70th percentile); 32 1/4 inches tall (75th percentile); 19 in head circumference (90th percentile).
Liza weighed 9 pounds 3 ounces (10th percentile); 21 3/4 inches "tall" (25th percentile); 15 in head circumference (15th percentile).  

Messy and Learning

This is how Kara Jane greeted the day this morning.  Apparently, this kid is a rough sleeper.

 

Levi has taken an interest in cutting his food by himself.  My little guy is becoming much more independent.  I'm having a very hard time believing he is going to be going to kindergarten in the fall.

Two Months and Mario

Liza is two months old today.  Her tummy issues are pretty much non-existent, except for the gasiness.  I tend to think that's just normal baby stuff, though.  She is starting to smile at people, but she still isn't nearly as happy as Levi and KJ were.  She does not take naps very well.  I suppose that's more my fault than hers, though.  Despite her "not as happy" demeanor, she is still a sweet baby and is LOVED by her siblings.

Kara Jane found Levi's Mario costume and decided she'd like to have fun as "Myio".

Valentine's Party

The ladies in our small group at church had a kids and mom Valentine's party the day after Valentine's.  We had a very fun time.

Levi got his first tattoo. 

Daddy got home a little after we did.  He was really excited about Levi's choice of tattoos.  ;-)  I tried to get a picture of all of them, but my camera wouldn't cooperate any more than this blurry picture.

Here's one of the boys with Liza.  Levi thinks it is fun to smile like this.

Happy Valentine's Day

I am definitely NOT a creative or artistic person.  However, since I was home and we were all home the week before Valentine's, we needed a few creative things to do.  So, this year, we made the Valentines for Levi and Kara Jane to give away.  I found this blog post pinned on Pinterest.  I am not nearly as creative as "One Artsy Mama", so my version is much more "engineered".  Regardless, we had fun making them - and here's how we did it:  We used thumbprints for the olives and oranges and pinky-prints for the grapes.  The olive on the left was for one of Kara's teachers and says, "'Olive' you, Ms. Grace!"  Levi's "olive" Valentine says, "'Olive' having you for a friend!"  The grape Valentine says, "I think you are 'grape'."  The orange Valentine says, "'Orange' you glad we are friends?  I am!"  We gave their friends Hershey's Hugs and Hershey's Kisses with the Valentine.

When I was looking at Valentine craft ideas on Pinterest, I occasionally saw some pins of Valentine food, so I decided to try to be at least a little more creative for the presentation of the kids' meals on Valentine's Day.

For breakfast, they had heart shaped whole wheat biscuits (which were not nearly as easy for me as she makes them sound), with strawberry butter, and heart shaped fruit (although I did have to cut Kara's up a little bit more once she saw the heart).

For lunch, the fruit in Levi's bag was heart shaped.

And for dinner, heart shaped Italian meatloaf with a smaller heart shaped biscuit. 

Kara and Liza

Kara loves to "-old" Liza.

She also loves to hug Liza - yes this is a hug.  I promise!

Mama Rains Visits Liza

Mama Rains was supposed to come last weekend but didn't get to see us because of the stomach problems we were having.  We were so glad she finally made it today.  

Kara Jane was very happy to see her.  Before Mama Rains left, Kara Jane ran up to her and hugged her.  So sweet!!!

Grandmother and great-grandmother enjoying their girls.

Mama Rains holds Liza for the first time.

 We had a fun visit, and Liza loved having someone hold her all day!!  

Four generations together...

Later that day, Daddy had some time with Liza on his chest.

Kiss for Liza

Pig Tails, Puzzles, and Hugs

I've kept Levi and Kara Jane home from school every day this week.  After the stomach thing this past weekend, Kara is finally coming around to her old self - but Levi hasn't been acting like he feels too well.  So, we've been home together.  

Kara's hair is very fine and thin.  It is very hard to get it to do much, but we attempted pig tails again.  Even though they are definitely not perfect, it is still fun to do!

Kara got a Tag Junior for Christmas and has really started to enjoy it.  Although, she also likes Levi's "regular" Tag.

Levi has done several puzzles, including some Angry Birds Star Wars puzzles from Great Aunt Kathy.  He loved them!!!

Although they fight every once in a while, I also have seen many instances of genuine love - helping one another, sharing, and even unsolicited hugs.

Miss Independent

Kara Jane loves hair bows, and she particularly loves having her CC wear hair bows with her when she visits with us.  Kara Jane found one that CC had left behind after a visit.  Kara decided she needed to wear "CC bow" AND her bow.  Kara is also trying to master things on her own.  She's been determined to feed herself since around Liza's arrival. 

Feeding yourself with a spoon can be messy, I mean, tricky business, though.

Stomach Bug

Kara Jane was sent home from school yesterday because she had two really, really yucky diapers back to back.  This morning, Kara still did not feel well.  She sat like this for at least an hour right after she woke up - only to fall asleep again about an hour after that.

I started to not feel so great, so Kevin ended up watching Levi and Kara Jane for the majority of the day.  Daddy's version of watching the kids, usually means watching TV and playing the Wii.

Kara Jane started feeling a little bit better as the day went on.  For the kids' snack before bed, Kevin let them watch TV.  Here's how they looked.