A month late because we like to pretend we're an actual employment establishment.
But here are some of the ways we've been keeping busy:
Some more ballet.
Some housecleaning, which we're thrilled with.
Building block towers and insisting on taking a picture of it.
While the Olympics were on, I found her doing this. I asked, "What are you doing?" She said, "Ice skating."
Stuck the landing!
Did some painting. Zoey's Blue Period.
Sit and Be Fit came on after Sesame Street so she sat and was fit.
Need to keep in shape for all of those fancy meals we attend.
Or the runway.
Like child, like mother, I suppose. My Sister-in-Law, the Rachel Ray/Martha Stewart hybrid, made me these RAD leg-warmers. I scoffed a few years back when I first spotted leg-warmers back in stores, but now I'm warming up to the idea. Since all I wear are leggings and I don't have a wide selection of boots that don't have 4-inch heels, leg-warmers come in handy.
Zoey saw a camera and seized the opportunity.
Turning her into a little worker-bee. Finally I understand why you have children: getting to laugh when your child pouts for having to do chores because you were in the same position as a kid but now you're THE BOSS. So great. So so great. :-)
One weekend, Jacob and Zoey had a Daddy Daughter Date to see The Lego Movie. They both very much liked it and Zoey was a champ in the theater.
After they got back from the movies. Mermaid Ariel, her Mermaid friend, Zoey, a hot tub, what is this, an episode of The Bachelor?!
Meanwhile, I've just been baking away... (18.5 weeks)
20 weeks (5 months), halfway done baking! We still don't know the gender but we *do* plan on finding out. Like Tori Spelling said, when you don't find out the gender, you wind up with a lot of yellow. I do know that - per the doctor - I'm slightly bigger than normal but he's not concerned about it, and all of the baby-movements I feel are at the very bottom of my belly, whereas it felt like Zoey sort of hung out in the middle.
Well, at least the belly is fun for someone! I mean, on the outside.
Giving me raspberries.
Besides baking - literally and metaphorically - we met some new friends. At at a work function back in December, Mer met a couple who moved into our neighborhood a few months before we did so we all got together for dinner one night. They have a dog, too, so they came over a few days later for a doggy play-date. Unfortunately, Durbin had to be locked in the garage because he couldn't get his humping under control.
With the weather warming up and me enjoying bursts of energy, it's finally time to tackle the walls. First up: the mauve/weird purple-ish color that runs all over the house.
Since I'll be painting the entire wall in the living room, I don't have to bother with taping just yet (and I might try to find a way to not tape at all). Through the hallways and up both stairs, however, I'm not quite sure what I want to do so I taped it up so I can keep things neat and tidy, something whoever did the trim in the first place didn't make much of an effort to do.
Taping up all of the trim - and soon painting it - quickly turned a funny new-house thing into me wanting to murder whoever thought this color was a good idea. If you scroll through previous pictures and posts, you'll notice its presence everywhere.
I had the camera out so...
Makin' strides! It got very frigid for a few weeks so we did some indoor activities.
Coloring a picture of The Cat in the Hat in celebration of Dr. Seuss' birthday.
Then we got as crafty as I can muster (Dollar Store) and made some jewelry.
The Puzzle Queen of course wanted a puzzle and chose this ambitious 100-piece Spider Man. She didn't do quite as well but as someone who has been doing puzzles since I can remember, they take practice. She is starting to get the hang of the strategy.
We got some Play Dough, too. Watching her with this and her other craft-ish items, I noticed she must get her creativity from me in that we have none. Neither of us had any idea as to what to do with the dough other than flatten it and stack it up. She even gave up on the dough and just played with the containers and lids. Then Daddy gets home, plays with it and constructs a whole snow village.
This is what we do best..
We also like book-ish activities like Story Hour at the library. Zoey listened, followed instructions, and really enjoyed herself. I was the mother in the back, smiling like a goon and trying not to sob. I can't stand that she's almost a kid!!
Afterwards, she needed to spend every last second in the play area.
Dressed in her best for her friend, Trenton's, 4th birthday party. She's Miss Social Butterfly as well (as if that wasn't insanely obvious), being invited to a bevy of birthday parties within the last few weeks.
Trenton's was held
Kid's Klubhouse, a giant child care and learning facility that also does birthday parties in the evening and on the weekends. Basically, it's heaven for kids and adults. Well, ok it would be if it had alcohol.
Trenton's mother is Zoey's former daycare teacher so Zoey was reunited with some of her old friends.
Everyone had a great time, especially the birthday boy.
And the place had these things.
Ice cream CAAAAAAAAKKKKKEEEE!!!
After awhile, she insisted on going down the slide herself. And she insisted it was SO FUN despite the look of sheer terror on her face as she came down.
Daddy took a turn.
Gettin' down to the business at hand.
One weekend, Zoey had her friend, Eli, over for a few hours (his mother is a friend of mine). It was nice outside so they got good and muddy in the backyard. Then Jacob happened to find these gems. Zoey loves it and has even included it in her toy repertoire.
Eli didn't quite get the hang of it but enjoyed looking at the little pictures on the discs themselves.
The weather shaped up enough that Jacob could use the BBQ without having to bundle up. Look! Flip flops!
Of course the morning after looked like this.
My mom asked if I miss the work-force and I think she barely got out the sentence before I heartily replied, "NO!" And it's not just because I'm pregnant and exhausted after every activity. Or because I can chuck an activity for a day and the boss won't be mad. Or because if the boss does get mad I can just lift up my shirt and all is forgiven. It's because I still don't know my place in this world, what my influence should be. But right now maybe it's raising my children and making sure they're not assholes.
