Pony Rides

It was Eowyn's 3rd bday party this past weekend and I gotta tell you it was a wonderful celebration. At first the stress was palpable only because there was a great threat of rain, but once a few drops fell and the clouds moved along everyone was able to relax and just enjoy themselves. Marisol had created a sandbox where the kids went looking for "gold". And you know kids and sand are always a hit. They had a good time playing there well after the "gold rush" was over.

They had individual horseys made out of a stick and a horse head attached to it and each child got to decorate their own horse as they wanted. That was a great idea.

And then it was time for pony rides. The horse, Teacup, came in to the backyard giving each child a ride around the deck and Kimberlee and Nemi had a good time as well as all the kids that rode him. They all got to feed the horse carrot before he had to go home.

I wish my camera was working to have gotten more pictures because it feels good as a parent to see your child, along with everyone else's, playing and having fun. Seeing them right at that moment and know they are all having a good time.

The kids came home beat, but we had to bathe them before putting them to bed since I feel weird about putting them to bed with bug repellent spray all over their bodies. Right after that they crashed and slept well.

The next morning Nemi woke up opposite his usual self. Usually he wakes up saying, "I want school" and he gets right up to get dressed. This day he woke up and I said, "come on, it's time for school" and as he laid himself back on his bed he said, "No, no school. I want pillow!" Boy did I totally understand that, but alas I had to force him out of the house. (wait is this a sign of things to come as he gets older and begins to not want to go to school every day like he does now - I hope not).

Well, all of that to say, we had a wonderful time at the party. Happy Birthday sweet Eowyn, here's to many more pony rides..... or at the very least super cool birthday parties.

Stealth Nemi

Recently, Kimani and I were talking about the fact that Kimberlee waits until she thinks we are asleep to sneak into our room and jump in our bed with us. Yesterday, she got caught right at the door to our bedroom and Kimani called her over and asked her if she was ok, knowing her intentions, kissed her and sent her back to her bed. Surprisingly, she did not come back.

As he told me the story we began to remember how Nemi would tip toe his way to our room and would walk right up to our faces to see if our eyes were open. He was so quiet I would often be startled to see him in front of my eyes in the middle of the night. Other times he would go next to one of us and if we said go to bed he would go around the bed to the other parent and try to get in the bed that way. That technique worked more often than not.

Dora was Here

Yesterday (Friday) Kimani had come home from work and he was on the lap top looking for a movie for us to watch once the kids had gone to bed.

It was about an hour passed the kids bed time and they were feeling it. For no good reason and with no set time to put them to bed the kids were just hanging out with us. So to play around a bit I said to Kimberlee that I was Dora the Explorer and began to sing the opening sequence song. Then I said to her that Nehemiah was Boots; she was Isa the Iguana and Daniel was Benny the Bull.

Kimberlee then turns to me and points to Daddy and says, "What's his name?" I said, "That is Swipper the Fox"

What I did not expect was for Kimani to turn around and laugh like Swipper (ha ha ha) and he said. "you'll never find her now" and he took Kimberlee's kid sized Dora doll and he hid it in the closet all the while I was yelling Swipper No swipping, Swipper No swipping, Swipper No swipping.

OMG!! Nehemiah and I began to crack up so hard. Kimberlee and Daniel ran after Daddy (Swipper) to rescue the Dora doll and when she could not reach it she began crying hysterical. It was the funniest scene ever. I could not move I was laughing so hard. Boots (Nemi) was laughing, but hiding from Swipper behind me and Isa (Kimi) was screaming to get her doll back.

I think what made me laugh so much is that I thought Kimani was completely consumed by the movie search so when he turned around and joined us in our make believe world, it surprised me so much. He jumped right into character. It was unexpected and on point I was literally rolling on the floor laughing.

Potty Training Follow up

It has been now a few weeks since we began to officially training Kimberlee on the potty. The last post regarding her potty training progress I was going to just go for it and let her sleep with no pampers overnight.

Well, she did pee on the bed, but it was only one time. She woke up wet that night and when I went to change her she was burning up with a fever that showed up out of nowhere. I gave her medicine and slept next to her over night to make sure she was all right. The next day she was still feverish so I did put a pamper on her to avoid any accidents. However, she woke up the next day with no fever and a clean diaper.

Now we don't even buy pampers for her anymore. She has been doing great. She used to announce when she had the urge to go so that I would go with her, but the past few days we have found her on the potty all by herself. She takes care of business and then asks to be cleaned. So proud.

Smooth Sailing

Recently we went to a friend's house to hang out with them and go in the pool on a hot day. I was not sure how Daniel was going to react as it was the first time getting him in the water. We strapped him up with a life vest and laid him on the round inflatable. Small enough for his little body to fit right in and be comfortable. Well, he floated around the pool and before we knew it he was sound asleep. He spent a good 35 minutes sleeping on the raft as we played all around him. it was so cute. As a mom i was never further than arms length away from him... just in case.

It was so sweet to see him sleeping as he floated around. We almost did not want to wake him up.

Nehemiah's update

Well since I published and update on Kimberlee and Daniel, I had to continue the brag night with some 411 about my boy Nemi.

He finished first grade with flying colors. Getting several 100% on spelling tests. He did really well. At the beginning of the school year it was considered that if Nemi had a hard time with the class work then the curriculum would be adjusted to suit Nemi's learning needs. Thankfully, the curriculum was never altered. He did all the lessons along with his first grade class. He was fully transitioned to have lunch with his class in the cafeteria. Previously, he would have lunch with his special needs class in the classroom. However, he progressed so well socially that they began to shift him to the cafeteria. At first it was only of Fridays, then it was Thursdays and Fridays and so on until he was in the cafeteria all week long. that was a big step as lunch with 75 first graders can be overwhelming and noisy in comparison to eating with five others kids in a classroom.

Now he is in summer school gearing up for second grade. We are looking forward to another successful year.

So proud of you Nemi, keep up the good work.

Daniel One Year Later

The little chubster, Daniel, turned one a few weeks ago. He is so big already.

-He began to walk about two and a half weeks before his birthday.

-He has three teeth up top and three on the bottom (which is odd because teeth usually come in pairs - so in my head there should be four up top and bottom).

-He gets pretty bad diaper rashes as his teeth come in, which I feel so bad for him every time.

-His hair has it's own personality. We style it differently depending on the occasion. It varies from sleek with some baby oil, to pulled back in a pony tail, ninja/samurai style or even just left out - curly and wild. To us he looks gorgeous every which way.

-He talks a lot. Well sort of, he tries to repeat what Kimberlee says most of the time. He says, nana for juice; Daddy; No and a bunch of sounds that make sense only in that situation.

-He, like his brother Nemi, has been wearing clothing bigger than his chronological age. At the moment he wears 18 - 24 months stuff.

-Loves sleeping with Mommy and Daddy.

-He looks for his brother and sister when ever he wakes up from a nap or in the mornings.

-He loves to drink out of open cups, though he loves his bottle.

-He throws kisses with his hand.

-He gives kisses and high 5's when asked.

-He is very mushy in terms that he loves to be kissed and hugged and carried and cuddled.

for his birthday we had grandma Aida, tio Alfert, his cousin Nano, god-mother Marisol with Kiana and Eowyn as well as his siblings and of course Mommy and Daddy. We had a beautiful BBQ with delicious brownie pops for cake.

Over all it has been a great and exciting year with all three kids hanging out with us. Daniel is a wonderful addition to our family as his brother and sister love to play with him and feed him and help him (sing of things to come).

Love you Daniel. Continue to learn and soak the blessings of the Lord.

Potty Training Kimberlee style

I am so blown away by Kimberlee's progress with potty training. Since I decided to actually follow through and leave her without diapers she has not gone #1 or #2 in her pamper. She has been going to the bathroom consistently. She has not peepeed on herself even during nap time, nor in the car (even as far as NYC).

I am gonna jump on and follow her lead and just let her sleep through the night without diapers. I have actually skipped over the pull up stage all together. So proud of my stinker. I told Kimani that it seems like she was totally ready to do it I just needed to stick to it.

Here we go with only undies to sleep. I hope to be back to give you the update.