Love Fest

Isabelle and her best buddy (who she thinks is HER baby..even though she is just a few months older than him) are like a little old married couple. They fight, make up, hug and prefer to be together even if they aren't speaking to one another. It's adorable and SO in the spirit of Valentines.

 

 Her daddy wasn't so thrilled with this cuddling action.

 Seriously? We have tons of toys and of course they play with the 2 month old birthday balloon.

 

Quiet Time

 

Lately, my "quiet time" hasn't been so quiet. I have a new guest that also wants to sit and read quietly with me and she brings along her little flash cards to work on.

 FYI. The picture above was taken by Isabelle and she captured out "quiet time" together. My bible on top of her play-dough crafts.

 I have no doubt that I am going to miss this one day.

Making Valentines

This week we are making Valentines for all our relatives that don't live so close by. We are trying to teach Isabelle that special holidays aren't JUST for her, but that she needs to give out love as well....plus projects are fun.

 

The craft is simple: get some puffy pipe cleaners and put some cute beads on them. I tried to get Isabelle to stick with the whole red and white Valentines day colors, but in true Isabelle fashion, she made sure she made some that were blue (sister LOOOOVES blue, or as she likes to call it BAHLUE).
Toddler world is an interesting world. One week, I am ready to turn in my mom card and just quit and then the following week I can't imagine spending more than a few hours away from my girl. I believe that kids have a "parent detector" so that they know exactly how far they can push their parents to the limits before they need to do something super cute to reel them back in. Right now she is in the super cute, talkative, sweet phase which is awesome.
Her vocab is exploding which makes things even more fun, but at the same time it can make things more challenging because she is vocalizing EVERYTHING. Yesterday, she fell down and said, "Owww I hurt my feelings!" (girls are uber sensitive at EVERY age). She also told me while we were eating lunch together to "slow down and take little bites mommy. It's not going anywhere" which made me feel like Jillian Michaels was joining me for lunch.
Toddlerhood is awesome, right?

SO What!

  This week I am saying So What:   -That I started spin class last week and I have been peeing sideways ever since. That ol' bike seat is made for neither man nor woman. No one told me that this class would strengthen my legs AND my lady bits (gross!).   -Mr. T said, "Look at those little grimy little fingerprints all over the iPad that Izzy left. It's so cute!" I agreed, but in reality I know it was my grimy fingerprints all over the iPad.   -I am loving the Bachelor, but I am loving it so much because of Miss Crazy pants Tierra and I know she won't last much longer so I'm getting a little sad. She's the drama and I have a feeling after she leaves everything will be a snoozefest.   -I am becoming obsessed with Instagram. Come follow me @anotherstepmel.   -I haven't bought ONE single thing for our new baby that's due in 8 weeks. Our Story is a little different so there's a lot of nerves and clothes and "stuff" is getting a backseat.   What are you saying So What! to? Come on over and link up!

Lovie Dovie

So are you celebrating the whole Love Month thing? I always think Valentines Day is so stupid, but I am a sucker for themes and I do happen to love, love so I am jumping on this bandwagon of gooshiness. I am doing my part and watching The Bachelor look for love in all the wrong places and make cute crafts with my little lady and her little valentine buddy.

 They had a great time making toilet paper hearts (via Erin) in the awesome weather we have been having.

Maybe it's the California-like weather we have been having, or maybe it's the "Love Month", but either way I am loving February.

Dancing in the rain

We're doing a lot of that lately.
Embracing all of life's little surprises.
Taking it all in and leaving nothing behind.

 

"The days are long, but the years are short"-Gretchen Rubin

Making life fun

Being a stay at home mom can sometimes make you feel like you are the most uncreative human being that has ever lived....and then Pinterest comes along. It is great to give you new, fresh ideas or remind you of old things that you forgot about. That's exactly what happened with this little activity. When I was a teacher back in the olden days, we used to do this activity quite a bit with some of our special needs kids because it's such a blast and it's such a fun sensory activity. When I saw it again on Pinterest, I knew I had to do it with Isabelle.
It's simple, easy and a blast. Buy Shaving cream, put it all over a table and let your kids go wild.

Also, get a clean towel and your camera ready. You'll need both.