The Week in Pictures

 R attended a birthday party for a schoolmate. There was lots of inflatable bounces plus this awesome levitating t-ball setup!

 Ned treated us to a Kitchen Aid stand mixer and we finally broke it in with some homemade brownies. He and R love to bake together. 

 MC, our little early riser, enjoys some Mickey while I try to get some extra sleep at 6am.

 R diggin' up rocks at the Ranch!

Sister loves preschool dropoff/pickup. She walks right into R's class and sits down to play with the big kid stuff. R has taken to holding her hand sometimes when we walk, it is the sweetest thing in the whole world.

Legoland!

We took R and MC for a mini staycation a few weeks ago. We spent a couple nights up in Carlsbad and went to Legoland and the beach! The kids had a great time but I think their favorite thing was eating dinner off paper plates in the hotel room while watching TV. Such a luxury!

 MC played in the fun Lego cars for a while.

 A cool explorer's tunnel had lots to look at and touch.

While R and Papa rode some bigger kid rides, MC and I played in the baby fun pit. She didn't want to leave :)

Oma's Pumpkin Patch!

This week I got to take Rutherford on his first field trip of the school year - Oma's Pumpkin Patch. He was stoked and he had an even better time this year (I think being a little bigger/older he was able to do more of the activities).

We went on a hayride, played with the water pumps, ran through the haybale maze and more. Here's some pics of our guy:

 They had this huge field with bouncie balls and inflatable horses to wrangle!

 Water pumps were his fave.

 He was disappointed he couldn't start the tractor :)

 Farmhands.

 Maze!

 Sitting with Miss Aly, one of his teachers, on the hayride!

 College Park Preschool represent.

Happy Birthday Rutherford!

Rutherford had an awesome construction birthday party! We invited like 10 little kiddos and their parents and had a blast in the backyard. We played games like the clothespin game (an old family favorite), had some parachute fun and R even picked out an awesome firetruck pinata. I found some construction birthday cake inspiration on Pinterest and even though mine wasn't as pretty we all thought it was pretty cool! We used chocolate grahams for the dirt :)

Everyone wore construction hats and I think one of the most popular things was the ice breaker - literally I mean. I froze some toys in tupperware, then popped them out onto the cement. I gave the kids play tools and they were seriously all occupied for a good 45 minutes busting into the ice. All the parents loved it.

The grandparents and Ned and I all chipped in to get R his very own big kid tricycle. He loves it and now that we've had it for a few months he's getting really good at riding it.

R had a wonderful birthday and we're so proud of our beautiful, sweet and smart four-year-old!

 Our awesome cake - R requested strawberry with strawberry frosting.

 R dropping a clothespin into the jar.

 The firetruck pinata!

 Papa had to bust it open :)

MC had a great time too!

MC Turns One: The video!

And yes, only six weeks late on this one but I did finish it!

Happy Birthday, Mary-Charlotte!

Of course I'm sooo behind on our birthday post, it's harder to keep up with two babes!

Mary-Charlotte had a wonderful birthday celebration! We hosted a small ice cream social at our house for family and even had some special guests from Texas AND New Orleans! Ned's parents came in from Houston and his sister and her husband surprised them by coming, too. It was awesome to have everyone together.

The next day was Mother's Day and we hung out again with Ned's fam. Everyone (except me!) worked together to assemble the dome we got for R. I'm sooo glad they were all here, because if N and I had to do it on our own, it would have never been put together!

Here's some pics of our beautiful birthday girl and our fam!

 The ice cream setup - R was very interested in buying all the toppings and he selected all the flavors: Neopolitan, chocolate chip and cookies and cream.

 Her hat and pretty banner was my birthday splurge for her!

MC and Mimi C

R was first in line!

MC and Mimi reading one of her new books :)

MC Loves Hats!

I have never seen a baby love hats as much as MC does - it is hilarious. She'll find a hat on the floor and put it on by herself. She gets quite proud when she does it. The other day she found my baseball cap in the kitchen and put it on while crawling around. A few minutes later I took her downstairs to put her in the stroller to go for a walk and I took the hat off her head and put it on. She was so upset! I had to find another cap to put on her and as soon as I did she was happy. Too funny. Here's some hat pics, I have a million of them!

Easter!

Easter at the Ranch was super fun. My parents are in renovation mode so it was just them and us for brunch which was pretty chill and relaxing. R was EXCITED to hunt for eggs and loved running all around the Ranch to find them. He gots coins, dollars, chocolates and some cute lil toys. He was stoked.

MC had fun for her first Easter. She likes watching R run around and we hung out on the lawn with them most of the day. A wonderful spring day with our babes!

The Week in Pictures

 MC browsing at Louis Vuitton.

 I have been taking the kiddo to the park and we're starting to have a lot of fun with MC there - R likes going on the slide with her and also pushing her in the swing. He is such a wonderful big brother!

The Easter Bunny brought R some watercolors, we made an under-the-sea pic!

 MC watching a baseball game in the grass. She was very happy. 

 R has a serious construction dig site at the Ranch.

 MC loves laundry.

And also the giraffe! She likes to be pushed around the playroom. She is very adventurous!

Talking?

MC *might* have said her first words this week. A few different times I'm pretty sure she said "hi," and she said it appropriate times, like when I come in to get her up from her nap and that sort of thing. And yesterday I swear she was saying "Boo" on command. We'll see but I think those might be her first words!!!

Bye Bye Breastfeeding

I am weaning MC!

Yes, breastfeeding is awesome. I am so, so happy that I stuck it out with both kiddos and got through the totally shitty beginning impossible stage and successfully breastfed them both for almost a year. So happy.

But I am done. And MC is done, too. It's funny, she is exactly the same age as Rutherford was when I decided to wean him. They lose interest, your supply dips and the new wide world of solid foods is (understandably) much more intriguing to them. MC is becoming an excellent eater. Meatballs, chicken, pasta, veggies, fruits, cream cheese (her favorite I think!), waffles, etc. It is wonderful to watch her explore her meals, discover foods she likes and get excited by her favorites.

She is almost one. She is no longer an infant, a tiny newborn that needs me in that way. She is becoming her own little person and we are finding out what she likes, what makes her laugh and how much fun she is. She is no longer an extension of me that relies on me and my body to provide her with nutrition. She is able to do that on her own now.

It is definitely bittersweet. On one hand I am delighted to stop. She loves to pick at this mole I have near my right armpit. It hurts. Pumping at night to keep up my supply is annoying and no fun. And I haven't had a margarita in like two years. TWO YEARS!!! And not having to plan every outfit around what's easy to get my boobs out of will be really nice.

But of course it is also heartbreaking. I will never again cradle her little body to my breast and watch her eat. I will never again bring her into our bed and quiet her cries by feeding her.

I will miss her messing with that mole, I am sure.

Rutherford's Tummy

R does this cute thing lately where he tells us "his tummy" does stuff. Like... "my tummy has been to the moon and he really likes it there," or "my tummy told me that game is really fun." It cracks us up!

DISNEYLAAAAAAND!

We just got back from Disneyland! We surprised Rutherford with a trip there and went for three whole nights. It was totally exhausting but so much fun. The kids were both awesome and had a good time. R probably more so than MC but she was still a trooper and had fun too :) Here's some highlights:

 

 MC exploring the room. She tried to pull herself up on everything - chests of drawers, the sofa, the doors, even a trashcan. Fearless!

 R on the monorail for the first time. It was raining pretty good a bit while we were there - but we got R an awesome monkey slicker and brought his wellies so he was totally happy!

 Riding the Mark Twain riverboat.

 I got MC her first ears!

 R and Papa on the teacups.

 R's first set of ears too!

 On Small World, one of Rutherford's favorites.

 Bumper cars at A Bug's Land.

 Rain!

 Something I noticed a lot was that MC was SO excited to be part of the action sitting down at the table to eat. She was so happy and pounded the table and would just chitchat with herself.

 Happy girl on the train.

 R and Papa bumper car action!

 Character breakfast! MC wasn't scared at all and liked seeing all the dudes!

 R and Papa waiting for the parade at California Adventure.

 Meeting Minnie :)

 R and I got in early to DCA and rode Toy Story THREE TIMES! Usually it's at least a 30-45 minute wait but we got to walk on it every time. He loved it.

 More happy high-chair hijinx. And yes that is a macaroni-and-cheesehot dog on my plate. I did it.

 Firehouse Dalmation Mint Sundae! R chose it.

 The drive home. Tuckered out.

Times two.