Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Kid's Club ... A Day at the Gym!

I am so horribly behind in my blogging - it is quite embarrassing.
At night, I dream about what I'm going to write ...
but seem to never quite have the time to get to it.

I wish I had the gift of multitasking and boundless amounts of energy ...
but instead, I've been given the real gift of my kiddos and the gift -
mainly because of my mom who watches Blake for an hour or two - of napping.
It is a joy but it means I just don't have the time to blog ...

It is what it is ...
and I'm trying to enjoy how busy I am because before you know it,
I'll be complaining of my empty house - because the kids, who are now all grown up
are too busy with friends for their boring 'ol mom ...
You can hand me the tissues to dry my tears then.

Two weeks ago, it was another great "Kids Club Craft Day" at the Viljoen's house.
Our friend, Mia, decided on the theme of "Gymnastics" and the little ones running and rolling, stretching and creating ... it was a fun, fun day!

Running ... running ... running ...
Sophie's all-time favorite game!


Everyone needs a sweat band!

Cone hopping

More hopping!

A necessity when exercising ... a much needed water break.

Everyone ... STRETCH!

Balancing on the ball

Summersaults!

Sweet "Baby Bake" was there too!
Happily watching from his seat.


Side-stepping ...

Shanna and Addie kickin' the ball ..

Hula-hoopin'

Cheering!

Sophie, Addie and Anabelle eating yummy sweets!

Sweet Anabelle

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Happy FOUR Month Birthday Blake!!!

My sweet Blakey-boo,


Four months ... really Blake?
Can I just bottle you up right now and keep you from growing?

It's funny all those nicknames I've started to call you:
Blakey-Boo, Baby Bake, Buddy, Little Man
I sure hope you don't get confused!

You are still your smiley little self - so cheerful and so mellow
... but you are showing signs of being a mama's boy, anxious when Mommy is not around.
Admittedly, it makes me feel loved and wanted but I am glad that you don't seem to be as clingy as your big sister was at your age.

I LOVE your smiles.
You smile at just about everyone
and talk to anyone that will listen
You are such a charmer ... especially with the ladies.
I think we might be in trouble!

As far as Sophie -
She loves you and you adore her.
It warms my heart to see your face when she's around
and to be able to watch your relationship grow.
I can't wait to watch you grow into the best of friends

.... BUT ....
I will still allow you to plank over her,
rub your face in hers,
scream in her face and
slobber her with kisses ...
when the time comes.
I keep warning Sophie that at 4 months, you are
1/2 the weight of your petite sister!
But keep in mind that your sister loves you oh so much!

You are starting to want to roll over ...
you're constantly on your side and trying so hard.
I'm glad that you are firmly holding your head up now.
Doesn't the world look so different when you can hold your head high?

You are an incredible sleeper ...
especially when you are swaddled.
I think that if you could, you would sleep from 8pm until 9am.
When you aren't swaddled, you still do pretty well but I
could really do without the 5am wakeup call! I love my sleep!

The worst part of this month was when Sophie pulled you off the couch ...
and you landed onto our hardwood floor with a loud ...
KER-plunk!
Thankfully you seem to have recovered quickly and seem to be fine.
We've had you checked out by the doctor ... don't worry.
I will never leave you on the couch again, even just for a second.
I promise.

I love you Blake.
Forever and ever.
And then forever more.

You and Sophie are miracles to me ..
and I am so thankful to call you mine.

Yours for always,
Mommy

Thursday, September 8, 2011

San Diego

Since Blake's actual due date was June 1st, we began the summer with no plans for a vacation, figuring that with a newborn around, travel just might be a thing of the past ... at least for the time being. What we didn't expect was an incredibly mellow and sweet baby. So why not? A summer is not a summer, after all, without at least a short getaway right?

So we talked about it and talked about it but it wasn't until the Thursday before Labor Day that we finalized our getaway to San Diego. San Diego was far enough away to feel like a trip, close enough to home that we could get there by car in a few hours ...

The trip started out kind of rough ...

... with both kiddos crying -
seemed like a little bit disasterous to me ...


But soon enough, everything (and everyone) was calm ...
And the rest of the drive was relatively uneventful.

First Stop.
La Jolla.


Lunch at a bakery.
Sandwiches and sweets.


Then a walk down to look at the beach ...

Mommy's attempt at a photo with the kiddos ...

Family photo in La Jolla

After a quick pit stop in La Jolla, we headed off, in crazy traffic, to our hotel on Coranado Island. We played in the pool. ate dinner sitting on comfy chairs, slept and went back to the pool.

It was exactly what we needed but we sure did travel far ...
to play in the pool.

Wheeeeeee ....

Practicing blowing bubbles with Daddy

Wading in the fountains

Drinks by the pool ...

A Daddy and Sophie snuzzle by the side of the pool

Silliness ...

All the while, Blake and I sat happily by the side of the pool ...

Speaking of which ...


Why do a lot of my photos with my kiddos look like this ...

... and Andrew gets these lovely smiley photos???
It just isn't fair ...
Ah well, it's not about us, it's about the kids.

And at the end of the day ...

Everyone got squeaky clean ...

And closed their eyes ...

... and went to dreamland ...

And on the way home,
we were rerouted through Temecula
so we called up one of my good college buddies and his family ...

Andrew, Blake and Sophie (who was under the table)
with the Lilligs - Matt, Becky and Grayson ...


Much fun was had by all.
Until the next trip away ...

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Pre-Labor Day Fun

Andrew had a 1/2 day at work on Friday so he decided to "work" from home. Earlier in the week he told me that his (awesome) boss told him that if he wanted to work fine, if he wanted to play with his kids, fine. I decided to omit the work bit (of course, why not???) and instead chose to hear "play with the kids". Great ... yay! It's always nice to have Daddy home because we all enjoy having him with us, especially Sophie who gets tons and tons of undivided attention and selfishly for me, I have help with the kiddos (though lets be honest, my parents help me on just about a daily basis ...) and can run errands without feeling rushed. I love my hubby! Well, as it turns out, I shouldn't have omitted the work part because (if you wouldn't believe) Andrew actually did have some work to do! But, I still went on my day as planned ... with a little bit of planning.

We began by playing with our sunglasses ...
even Blake joined in for the sunny fun!

One of my big goals on this day was to go on a one-on-one date with my daughter (a huge treat for us both) so, while Blake napped, I took Sophie on a date to the Lakeshore Learning Center. I don't think I was entirely prepared to become a kid all over again ... but I did. The Lakeshore Learning Center is an educational toy store ... filled with fun goodies for kiddos and parents, as myself, who would like to relive their childhood. It is just like a playground of goodies and wouldn't you know it, we filled our cart very easily with toys and lots of fun educational tools. I think I had a harder time than Sophie deciding which things would come home with us and which ones would stay at the store ... that was by far the worst part about our otherwise most lovely mommy-daughter date!

After lunch, and with both kids napping, I ran to Costco to pick up some essentials ... but let's be honest, I really went for the food samples :) But while I was there, I got a frantic phone call from my poor husband who reported that both kids had woken up ... and now both were crying ... COME home immediately!!! Ah, the "break", if you can call Costco a "break", was nice while it lasted.

After I got home from Costco,
Sophie found joy in playing with one of the boxes I carted home.

And went on a bike ride ...

That was Friday ...

Then, on Saturday, after a lovely day of doing a lot of nothing, Andrew and I went out on a date to see "The Help". Movies are a treat these days ... because I rarely get to watch a movie on the big screen. And "The Help" was definitely worth the 2 1/2 hours. Now, if I could only find time to finish the book ....