Pictures, video and updates from our family
Mella has obviously just given up because she let Emily pretend to change her diaper.
Emily was in the kitchen with me while I was preparing dinner. She had some juice and was watching me. She said "I need to put some juice in it." I told her that the recipe didn't call for juice. She said, "just a little bit mommy". I said that I didn't think that would be good on the pork chops. She said, "no, just a little bit. Daddy will love it.".
Mimi and Grandy took us to an Astros game. Mark looked around for a while and then fell asleep in the baby bjorn. Emily really loved the game. She especially liked dancing to all the music in between plays and cheering for the players. She actually liked it so much that she cheered for both teams! She kept asking to go on the field too. She had a hard time understanding why she couldn't play with the Astros. Here are some pics from the game.
Here she is checking out the merchandise.
Wasn't sure if it would work but Mark grabbed the wheel and didn't want to let go. I was worried he was getting too tired and he kept grabbing Emily's wheel and making Emily mad so I switched carts about half way into our trip. Emily was a little hesitant to share the shopping cart and was not very excited about the transfer from the car but I'm still excited that we no longer need the car seat in the cart!
One more pic of Mark driving. So sweet.
This is what Emily looks like about two seconds after a nap. She is just getting warmed up...
I set up the water table for Emily yesterday but she kept asking to get inside the table. Can't blame her in this heat, I would have gotten in if it was big enough! Turns out it is a great place for Emily and Mark to sit. Emily also told me that it had "cup holders". Not sure what the little holes are supposed to be used for but she is right - they would make perfect cup holders. I initially set up the jumper for Mark but he wanted to swim too so Mella stepped in and took Mark's spot.
We had a busy week and then had a big time at the splash pad and park this morning with friends. So I decided we would take it easy and not go anywhere this afternoon. Here we are enjoying a nice Friday afternoon at home.
Mark and I went to a playdate yesterday and one of his friends, Preston, gave him a rain forest jumper to use. Thank you Preston and Amy for hosting the play date and for the rainforest:). Here is a pic of Mark enjoying his new toy. In MDO news, I went ahead and requested a refund for the remainder of the summer program. There were several things that I found sub par about the program yesterday and this morning. No security cards or check in and out process, no info on what they did during the day, total mess and chaosI could go on Marks naps are interrupted to take Emily to and from school and he cried so hard both times that he threw up in car seat twice. (to be fair, he has a sensitive tummy and its not un heard of, but still). Emily cried and clung to my leg saying she didnt want to go today and I left her still crying. She never did that at our other school or at church or gym nursery. Also, Emily misses her nap on school days they nap there but its for an hour at most and Em usually takes 2-3 hour naps. In short, school days are always a recipe for two strung out crying babies. I can handle it if its worth it for Emily, but this isnt worth it. And its not like its a true mothers day out for me because Im still at home with Mark. I have high hopes for next year though because the program is awesome from what Ive seen so far and they have a drive thru car pool so I dont have to drag Mark in and out, and it only goes until noon so Emily still gets her afternoon nap. But until then I will try to refrain from rambling on about mothers day out programs.
I hate to say this about a school that is a part of my church but I have been repeatedly underwhelmed and frustrated by MDUMCs MDO programs. After looking around at schools, meeting staff, teachers, looking at the curriculum offered and observing school in action I decided to put Emily in the program at Christ Memorial Lutheran next year and I am so glad I did. Emily is no longer a baby that just needs to be watched while I run errands, I think the quality of the school is important now especially considering it is expensive and Im not working! So, before I get into this I know I might sound like a crazy mom but I dont care. These programs cost too much money and Emilys development is too important for me to shrug it off. We signed Emily up for the summer program at MDUMC because the days worked out for us and Christ Memorial doesnt have a summer program for her age. Tallowood has a summer program but it is only a few days the whole summer so I decided to pass. I now regret it because at least I know it is a good program. I was the first to register for summer at MDUMC. I talked to the staff, found out info about what they were going to do, class size, age etc. and then decided to pay the one time lump sum payment. Figured summer school doesnt have to be perfect, just something to hold over until school year starts. Well, we arrive today and go to the class room where she was assigned. I look around and it was filled with crying babies with pacifiers. None of the kids were talking or playing they were just all crying and were clearly all much younger. I asked the teacher if there had been a mistake. She said she was just the teacher and has a list to follow and Emily is on it, and that I needed to talk to office. I asked her how old the kids were in the class and she said 18-23 months. I know that Emily just turned 2 a few months ago, but most of the babies in there looked much closer to 18 months and the difference between a one year old and a two year old is huge. I went to the office and waited on the coordinator. She informed me that the 2-3 year old class had more kids and Emily was the youngest in that age group so they put Emily in the younger class. The problem is that they never had the curtesy to call me and let me know prior to arrival. The coordinator let me put Emily in the appropriate classroom today and is going to look into whether she can continue to do so for the remainder of the summer. If not, she said Emily could either be in the room with the 1 year olds or I could take a refund. Of course, Im going to look around for something else regardless. My mom was a MDO director for many years at a few different schools and my moms word for this is shoddy. And I know that one bad experience doesnt always speak for the whole, but apprently several other moms have been unhappy with the MDUMC school as well. I guess a program can become too complacent and start to lose its edge once it has sufficient numbers. I am sure that she would not be harmed or set back by spending the summer in the one year old class, but she would not gain enough to make the cost of the program worth it. They should have let me know the situation before hand, especially since I had been told she would be in the 2-3 year old class when I cut them my check!!
A friend of mine started a cooking blog with lots of good recipes and cooking advice. Check it out if you are interested. I especially like the recent blog post about kitchen staples to have on hand for throwing together meals. I'm not very inventive in the kitchen so I need inspiration from people like Lacey. Here is a link.
http://literalcooking.blogspot.com/
Here are some more pictures from our week on the beach...and in the pool.
We are in Galveston for the week with my parents. Ben is going to join us tomorrow and my brother will come on Thursday. This is our first trip to the beach with the kids. Emily likes playing in the sand and the water. Emily especially likes the outdoor shower at our rental house. It's always the little things that turn out to be the biggest hit. Mark seems to be enjoying the beach too. Here are some pics from our first day.
Emily wanted to fix Mark's hair this morning. I'm sure this is only the beginning for Mark.
How does it look?
We spent the weekend with Ben's parents at their house on Lake Travis. Emily had a great time on the boat and swimming in the lake. Jon, Cassidy and Jack spent the weekend with us too and we enjoyed spending time with them and watching the kids interact. I can't wait until Emily, Mark and Jack are old enough to really play together. They are going to have so much fun! Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Karcher came out to the lake saturday night as well as Glen and Mary Ann Horn and Daniel. It was great seeing the whole family. Here are some pictures from our fun filled weekend.
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