What we did in January

The kids rarely give me time to blog during the times of day when I am inspired to do so, and at this rate I'll barely have anything to look back on when I want to remember all we did during this busy time. I'm going to try to start doing a post at the end of each month with pictures of some things we did, and a few words to explain. Here's what we did in January.

1/2: Went to Build-a-Bear for Cousin Michael's third birthday. Suzi and Ivey both made dogs. Ivey picked out a beautiful Esmeralda costume for hers. And then named it Bullseye.

Suzi named hers Spot, even though it didn't actually have a spot.

Ivey loved the pretend bath station best, mesmerized by the way air came out when you pushed the pedal. She finally pulled up a seat to get comfortable and stay a while. Eventually we had to pry her off of it because a line was forming behind her.

1/7: The weather was so freakishly warm we decided to take the kids to the zoo. The animals were so active! That elephant in the background pooped right in front of us and then another elephant ate it, as a horrified, gagging bunch of visitors looked on. So educational!

A rattlesnake in the reptile house slithered up to look at Ivey through the glass. She stared into his beady eyes. It was eerie. Then she burst into tears and we moved on to the next area. We visited the orangutans and the baby looked at us through the glass, too. Then the mama took the baby over under their shelter and they all looked at us like dumb humans don't even know to go in from a shower of rain. The monkeys screeched and fought, and then when the rain stopped and we got to play on the playground, the girls pretended to be monkeys too.

1/8: We finally started our homemade vanilla extract, after having the beans for weeks. It is so simple, just drop some split-open beans into a bottle of vodka and let steep for several weeks, shaking every few days. I can't wait for it to be ready to use.

1/10: It's been a slow month for crafts, after an almost-too-crafty December. But I did manage to get these arm warmers made for my mom, to match her pullover. I used the Katwise arm warmer tutorial, which you should definitely buy because it's great.

I spent a lot of time during this whole month reflecting on how wonderful our floor is compared to the carpet we used to have. It was an early Christmas present from my awesome in-laws.

Robert continued to eat lots of potatoes and Cheerios and some bananas. Bananas are his favorite thing to toss in the floor. At least half his potatoes end up smeared all over him, in his seat, and thrown in the floor too. But he does eat a fair amount of them, as evidenced by his diapers (yuck). Photo taken 1/10.

1/13: Suzi and Ivey watched The Nutcracker, which we DVR'd in December, and then performed their own unique rendition, which was pretty entertaining as well.

1/15: I made a toy pick-up sticker chart for the girls to help them get into the habit of cleaning. Not really my style, but I figured it was better than yelling at them. When the first row of stickers was complete, their reward was baking and decorating a cake. Mama and Daddy ate a lot of it too. Yum! The next reward is a special movie night with popcorn.

1/20: Robert figured out how to push up onto his knees! He now plays while sitting with his fat, adorable little feet sticking out from under his butt.

1/21: We have to bathe the boy a lot more now that he's in the habit of coating himself in sweet potatoes on a daily basis. He still hates it, screams, refuses to sit down in the water. But he is so cute and cuddly afterwards.

1/24: Allowing Ivey to feed the baby made such a mess, but it was totally worth it for the cuteness. Suzi fed him, too. She did a neater job.

Not pictured:

1/25: Zonker day. We spent about four hours at our favorite park letting the kids run out some energy and get some sunshine after several rainy days. Our friends Baby Adelaide and her dad came to play too! Then we went out to dinner with Daddy and bought Suzi some Beyblades and Ivey a Sing-a-ma-jig. A wonderful day and the kids slept great that night.

1/26: Casserole day. My mom and I went grocery shopping and then spent all day preparing a total of 12 casseroles (white chicken lasagna, pesto chicken penne, spaghetti bake, chicken pot pie). While the kids wore Grandpa out. Full freezers, tired mamas.

That's a little bit of our month so far! Now I'm off to spend some time with Ivey while the baby (hopefully) naps and Suzi plays at Grandma's house.