...more fun with Grammie

We had lots of fun with Grammie this last weekend.  Stella points to the flowers Grammie gave me and says, "OH Pretty! Those are flowers Grammie gave me (Stella)." 
I asked her if she knew what tomorrow was...she responded, "Grammie Day!"  It is actually Mommy day, but it is sweet her mind is still on the weekend.

I love the morning face. 

Have I ever mentioned how much I love the dollar bins at Target in the front?  Well I do.  I walk through those quite often.  This last time, we found the capsules that dissolve and turn into a foam shape.  One of the best dollars ever spent.  It kept Stella entertained while I made waffles at the same time created a moment.  This was one of my favorite moments from this weekend;  Stella and her Grammie watching and waiting to see what would slowly grow in the water.

Do you see my baby?  The one pulling herself up to standing? This was only the beginning.  She is a busy little girl, busier than her older sister was at this age. 

A Day with Grammie

Bye-Bye Park, see you later !!!

New Smile

Esme has a new smile...she scrunches up her nose and squints her eyes.  No matter how I feel at the moment if I see this, I can't help but smile.

Aren't you smiling too?

Here is another smile to look at:

Yeah, I didn't smile back at this one either.  This is what happens when I leave the room to put the baby down for a nap.  We definitely had a talk about where marker goes.  She was very proud of her "lipstick."

Stella's naps, around the house, soon a project

We have been working hard on the kitchen.  Thursday we started to tear into the backsplash ultimately cutting the wall off to put up new drywall. I started the painting...lots of painting...LOTS OF PAINTING.  The laundry/butler pantry is almost done.  Man, progress is so much slower with two little ones.  I had hoped to have that project done by now.  Nap times are hard to sync or not long enough sometimes.  But they are so much fun when they are awake...we try to forget the disaster in the kitchen and the fine layer of dust everywhere to stop and play.

Enjoying the weather.

Love that morning sunlight. 

Esme hanging out in her room, while I open Stella's door after nap time. By the way, I have a few plans for that little black table back there; also thinking about something artistic for the wall back there too.  Hmmmm...

So...onto Stella's nap time.  She recently figured out door knobs.  Yeah, that's fun.  At night it became a problem as she would get out of bed and sneak down stairs into the play room.  During nap time, she would venture somewhere other than her room.  We recently bought safety doorknob locks.  It helps some, until she gets so mad and BREAKS the safety lock.  Yes, we lock our daughter in her room when she sleeps.  Can you imagine if we didn't?  We might be those people on the news, with the two year old  that was found walking the streets or driving a car into something in the middle of the night. Anyway, now that she can't leave her room...she plays or usually reads a lot.  But occasionally there is this:

"It's a diaper train mama!"  

Wednesday, it was the same thing, only she took off her clothes and changed her own pull up diaper (never done that before), and managed to find some infant socks from the closet (there is a safety lock on that door now) and put her new favorite shoes on.

Notice the infant socks are holiday themed and the shoes are on the wrong feet. 

Oh, she makes my heart laugh.

Easter Weekend

Thankfully we had nice weather this weekend so Stella was outside...a lot. 

This was the start of the weekend, out on the deck grilling with Daddy.  This deck, by the way will be a topic in May as it is coming down! 

Doesn't she make you smile back?

These two are so cute together.

And the next day...

Since it is coming down soon, we like to chalk on our deck.

We are thinking she will be taking off soon.  She rocks back and forth, sometimes inches up or pushes backward.  I am not quite ready for this.  Stella was not mobile until 9-10 months. 

And the night before...working on baskets:

I thought it would be fun this year "making" baskets.  I found little lady bugs, birds, nests, bunnies, flowers, butterflies (etc) and glued them on the baskets.  I had fun, but Stella did not seem to notice. 

Easter Morning:

Did I mention this post is long???

The important thing to note about this picture is her feet.  This is during nap time.  I picked these shoes up for her to wear with her Easter dress.  I love the dainty sandals, but they seem impractical for Stella.  The girl needs to move, climb and run and I need to know her feet are protected.  I did not expect her to love them this much, though. 

Easter fun at Yaya and Papa's house:

Yup.  It's a princess kite.

If you are still with me...this "basket hat," as Stella called it, has a story.  She put this on her head and was being silly, dancing and telling everyone to look at her "basket hat."  A few moments later, she was ready to find more eggs.  She wanted her basket to find her eggs.  The poor girl forgot she put it on her head.  We probably "looked" for the pink basket (that was on her head) for about 15 minutes.  Ben video taped the whole thing.  Could it be America's Funniest Videos material?

Everyone took turns hiding and finding the eggs.  This was our first year doing this and it was so much fun.  I look forward to when both girls are doing this together.  I had hoped to also be blogging about our laundry hall/passage makeover but it is still progressing.  Ben and I did work during nap time today...so maybe soon. 

Happy Easter.