Mother's Day

What I want for Mother's Day
-A shower... without the soundtrack of Elmo's World playing within earshot or the fear of the baby monitor lighting up and beginning to scream
-To eat dairy.  Just for a day.
-A maid...whose services are free.  I want a clean house without the guilt of knowing that I've blown next week's food budget on the service.  Especially since the house will be a wreck by the time we see next week.
-A nap
-A diaper bag / backpack / stroller / car that loads itself whenever it's time to leave the house.  And it needs to RELOAD itself every time Charlotte's taken the snacks, sippy cup, and toys out

Ahh...to dream

Enjoying breakfast by the fountains in Columbus Circle

Enjoying sweet baby Cailin in Bryant Park

Enjoying each other...and hoping Charlotte's not planning to hit Cailin...

In all seriousness, I love my girls more than anything and I'm happy to have a day to spend enjoying them...but in case you're at a loss for ideas next year Matt, feel free to see above.

Beach Babes!

It's supposed to reach 90 degrees this afternoon.. which honestly scares me since we've been in the north for the past 3 summers.  We hit the beach this morning to beat the heat and it was amazing.  Loading up the stroller with all of our beach stuff seemed a little crazy but it made trip so much better.  I even set up our umbrella (that's right, I'd like an applause).  A playground buddy happened to be there and she gave Charlotte the motivation she needed to go into the water.  My goal was to spend more time AT the beach than I spent preparing for the trip.  Mission successful!

Chilling under the awesome umbrella

 

She went in the water!

And she brought the water back with her

Cailin loves the beach too! (and check out those teeth!)

 

Lucy tells Charlotte to get her cup so they can "Cheers" it up

The Pruning Phase

Whenever we move to a new place, I sign up for a million activities and walk/train/drive all over the new area to meet new people and keep busy.  I have staying-inside-too-long-a-phobia.  After a few weeks or months, I start the pruning phase.  Activities outside of my immediate radius get cut back.  I don't like driving and I don't like having the girls in the car all day, so the closer an activity is to my house, the more likely I am to keep with it.  The current schedule includes the following:

Stroller Strides- I strap the girls into the stroller while I work out.  The more calories I burn, the more Charlotte consumes from her snack cup.  And Cailin smiles at the trees until her feeding time... at which point, she freaks out.
MOPS (Mother's of Preschoolers) - A program held at our church.  I pay 5 bucks for 2 hours of child-free time and a hot breakfast.  It's unfortunate this is only twice a month.  Really.
Library Class- A (free!!) weekly class for 2 year olds with reading, letters, singing, dancing, and bubbles.  While it's not made for babies, Cailin gets a kick out of it too. 
Music Together - A class we started in Boston, continued in Arlington, and are now enjoying in VA Beach.  Charlotte studies her songs all week so she can sing (and shout) the lyrics on Thursday afternoons.  Cailin enjoys eating maracas, bells, and scarves.
Playdates/playground- We have started having more frequent playdates with neighbors and  people from the activities above.  The goal is to be able to: walk/drive to a play date, play for a while, and get home...all within Cailin's awake windows.  It's a challenge, but we are finding more people within our zone.

 Cailin thinks it is HILARIOUS that Charlotte insisted on tutus for music class

 Dada gets home the same time we do after Music

 She took off her tutu (obviously) and snuck outside.  Sumo pose.

 Her shadow is a fabulous dance partner

 After Stroller Strides, Charlotte watches Elmo on the Ipad so I can 

shower.  I'm greedy and refuse to use nap time for personal hygiene. 

 Cailin waits as we get ready to go.  We have a million fancy baby 

chairs...yet she's plopped on a towel on the floor

 Charlotte gets ready for "Running!"