Strawberry Patch

On Tuesdays during the summer Terhune Farms does a "Read and Pick" program for children where they read a story about an in-season fruit and then let them loose to pick them! This past Tuesday was Strawberry Day, and I took my two little shortcakes for some strawberry picking and lots of fun!

They had fresh picked peonies, and gave one to Lindsay. We put that little flower in some water at home and it lasted a week!

Madison was in heaven (you can see the happiness on her sweet face) and loves to hear stories!

The story they chose to read was one of our favorites, The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear. This was a story I begged my grandparents to read me over and over again. I love the illustrations, especially the little mouse's expressions!

After the story they each got an empty pint and ran into the strawberry patch to fill it with red ripe strawberries. Lindsay helped Maddie, and there were only a few berries that were stepped on :)

Love that they were holding hands :)

Displaying her treasure

We met our friends from the Mom's Club, and Lindsay had fun with her bestie, Lila.

They had lots of animals on the farm, and Madison had fun checking out the geese, horses, sheep and donkey!

The geese were wandering around the farm, and Madison was fasinated... more on that later!

They rescued a beautiful white peacock wandering the streets of Princeton. When it fluffed its tail, the feathers looked like lace...gorgeous!

The girls checking out the peacock and chicken...

Lindsay said "Hello" to a nice bunny, Alice. Lindsay told me, "She's a little shy today, Mama".

Waving at the sheep and trying to get them to come over.

Smile Maddie Grace...lol.

I can't believe Lindsay remembered riding a white pony named "Sweetie" at the farm last fall. This brown horse's name was "Mexicana".

Delighted!

Before you think, "Awww" Lindsay is loving on her baby sister, check out the next photo.

Lindsay was really using her baby sister as a human shield against the roaming geese.  LOL.

Scardy Cat!

To be fair, the geese were getting a little aggressive. I probably shouldn't have put the basket of strawberries next to Maddie. LOL. When we got home we made Chocolate Strawberry Shortcakes (gluten free of course!), and fresh picked strawberries are just simply the best! The girls had so much fun that we will probably go back next Tuesday for blueberry day!!

Little Miss is Walking!

Little Miss has been walking for several weeks now, and I finally got around to posting her first steps video! She had been cruising like crazy, and would take a few independent steps between furniture.  I can understand the hesitation... hardwood floors can be pretty unforgiving! When she worked up the courage to take her first steps, she took off and hasn't looked back! She has been walking everywhere, and has mastered the sit-stand-walk in the middle of the floor (instead of crawling to couch, and pushing off). We knew after her huge verbal and fine motor growth spurt, the physical gross motor was finally here! I love how in the video she is SO proud of herself. She was like, "Look Sissy!" and started walking towards her when Lindsay called her.

The girls have been pushing their babies in strollers around the house now that Maddie can walk.

 Big Girl!!

How is my baby a toddler?!?! Love you Sweet Maddie Grace! xo

Lulu's 1st Ballet Recital

One word could describe Lindsay's first ballet recital: ADORABLE!! Our little prima ballerina did a fantastic job on stage... I was unsure how she would do with an audience and lights (it is pretty overwhelming) but in her typical Lulu-ness, she danced her little heart out no matter who was watching :)

Can you find her? I had to drop her off at her special seat in front to sit with her class as she waited to perform her piece. She loved sitting in the very first row with her friends and a perfect view of all the dancers!

 As the parents were filing in and finding seats, they were playing the music from the pieces as background music. Well, as soon as Lindsay heard her recital music, she and a few other little dancers JUMPED on stage and began giving us a preview!

 

Obviously it was a pretty informal recital, and the teachers were busy wrangling other students and didn't seem to mind the pre-show too much! Daddy had to work (but went to the dress rehearsal the day before and got to see her perform!) so we invited Miss Kristy to come with us. Her daughter and husband were out of town at a wedding and she had to stay home and work and was lonesome. We are so, so grateful to have her come along and help out so I could get some great pictures and videos!!

 

 

Here is the video of her dance: *It's a little long (3 minutes), but very cute!*

 

 

 

A few highlights:

*There were three little guys in her class that were the "super heros" and had muscle costumes!

*I love how hard she was trying to balance, you can see the concentration on her face!

*She was pretty concerned about the empty dot next to her (she saw the audience and decided not to perform after all). It was cute when she was pointing, "Get back to the spot!!"

*I was so proud when she fell down she got right back up and kept going! Way to go! There was another precious little girl who helped her out a couple times by grabbing her hand. Sweet :)

*They had to literally pull her off the stage. LOL.

 

Proud Ballerina Lindsay

 Funny Story....At the end of the recital the director got up and wanted to thank all the teachers and give them a bouquet of flowers. Well, in two of Lindsay's favorite ballet books, "Fancy Nancy and the Mermaid Ballet" and "Tallulah's Tutu" the dancers get a bouquet of flowers after their performance. My sweet girl remembered this and jumped out of her seat, walked on stage and stood in front of the teachers with her arms outstretched for her very own bouquet of flowers. The audience thought it was adorable and laughed, and the teacher graciously handed her bouquet to Lindsay and helped her back to her seat! (Thank goodness Daddy got her very own flowers which were waiting for her when we saw her!!) It was pretty hilarious!!

 

Madison was enthralled watching all the dancers and sparkly costumes! A few times she would put her hands over her head and mimic the moves...maybe another future dancer on our hands?!

 

 

Cape May Saturday

This past Saturday we decided to take a mini road trip before Memorial Day traffic to visit Cape May, NJ. A few friends have been telling us it is a cute, sleepy little beach town to visit, and we would have to agree! (I forgot my camera, so a few of the pictures were from places we visited that I borrowed online)

Cape May is around 2 hours from us, and at the bottom tip of the New Jersey. With a quick ferry ride, you can set foot on Delaware's shore. The first place we checked out was a local institution called The Lobster House, where we did not have any lobster, but instead shrimp and chicken fingers (hey, we're a family of four eaters now!). It was an adorable restaurant.. my favorite part was the waitresses uniforms. They are red, white and blue with scarfs... flashback 1950's and so cute!

 

Drinking her apple juice.. Look at all those teeth!

Somebody thought the lobsters at the table next to us were a little scary.

 After we had lunch we drove to the Cape May Lighthouse. It was overcast and a little chilly, so obliviously this was a picture I borrowed. You could pay to go inside and climb to the top, which I would have probably tried if I didn't have to carry a 20 lbs. child :)

 

Practicing walking.. big stuff!

We visited Washington Street Mall, which is sort of like 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, except the shops are more touristy. They had a shop dedicated to bubble baths, soaps and comfy robes. Jarrett had to bribe me to leave with a visit to an ice cream shop.

 

Washington St. Outdoor Mall

Lindsay saw the horse and carriages and got SO excited... she thought Princess Sophia was riding in one of them. Madison saw the horses and called them "Pup Pups". She did see her fair share of doggies that day too!

This is for you Deb... Tons of adorable Victorian houses!

 They had blocks of Bed & Breakfasts, all in restored Victorian mansions. I've never stayed in a B & B, but if I did, would like to try one here! We walked to the beach and let the girls put their feet in. Lindsay was fine until a rogue wave soaked her pants, and Madison giggled with delight when the water touched her feet. Maddie wasn't a fan of her feet touching the sand.

 

Wind = Crazy hair

 

We took off  Maddie's jeans to let her get her feet wet... look at those itty bitty legs!

Here's a video Jarrett took of Madison getting her feet wet in the ocean!! Enjoy!

 

Mother's Day 2013

 

Happy Mother's Day!! I had a lovely day celebrating together with my loves. We started the day off with a 5 mile run called "Run This Mother" (so NJ right?) which raised money for an epilepsy non-profit. It was a beautiful day, and the course ran through Mercer Park which has gorgeous tree-lined paths and a lake. It wasn't too crowded, and the best part was getting to see my sweet loves at the finish line!

Off to a good start...

Sprint to the finish line...

Just made it under 51 minutes, 5th in my age group ;)

Jarrett and the girls had fun at the park playground, and made some friends while waiting for me to finish. I got a little misty-eyed when I saw a Mother-Daughter team running together and encouraging each other... maybe Lulu or Maddie will run with their slow Mama someday  :)

We spent the rest of the day hanging out, eating ice cream and turkey sandwiches with chips and dip. If you haven't tried Honeybaked Ham's Turkey (just discovered they also made turkeys) it is delicious!! I got to Skype with my Mama, Sister and Nonna and played with the girls. So blessed to spend another year celebrating being the Mama of my sweet ladies!

Lulu, 3 years

Madison, 15 months

The two sweet reasons I get to celebrate Mother's Day!!

Ice Cream Truck

"Look Mama!! There's an ice cream on top of that car?!?!"

We were outside playing in the backyard a few days ago, and Lindsay told me, "Mama I hear music!" Hearing the tinkling of what I know was an ice cream truck, I grabbed Madison and said, "Hurry! Let's go out front and get an ice cream!!" Lindsay was puzzled, but followed her crazy Mama, and saw a van with a giant ice cream cone on top. Needless to say, she was pretty excited. After surveying the ice cream pictures on the side, she chose a cherry flavored icee. And a Chocolate Chip Ice Cream sandwich for Maddie. And an Oreo sandwich for Daddy.  Yum!

Sweet Treat... Enjoying their 1st ice cream truck experience on the front step.

Want to try some Sis?

Cherry Icee.... Always reminds me of Kmart ;)

The more messy it is, it will taste better!

Sticky, Icky Sweet Girls!!

When I was a little girl, we lived out in the country where there were no ice cream trucks. It was pretty cool to have our very own ice cream truck go down our street on hot afternoons. I also asked the driver what days he comes to our neighborhood, and so next Saturday we will be keeping him busy when Daddy is home to pick his own ice cream :)

Fifteen Months

Miss Madison Grace turned 15 months a few days ago... and let me tell you, she is simply irrestistable. With those big brown eyes, and toothy smile, that girl has got us wrapped around her tiny finger.

Peek-a-Boo!

Nice try making me wear a hat Mama.

Here's what she's been up to:

*Big Talker' Betty Crocker'.... Madison has made leaps and strides in the language department the past couple of months. Here is her word list: Mama, Dada, Pup Pup (puppy), No, Baaa (ball), Baba (balloon or bubble), Car Car (car), Go Go (let's go Mama!), Duc (duck), Papa, Nan Na (Nonna), Mi (Grammie), Pak (park), Ball, Wat tat (what's that?) and of course, Elmo. She isn't into signing as much as Lindsay was, but can sign us "All Done" and "Eat".

*Physical... Maddie is a cruisin', crawlin' machine. She has teased us by taking a few steps every day to either her Daddy or her Sissy, but prefers crawling as her favorite mode of transportation. She is our climber, and will attempt to climb anything that moves, which includes: table and chairs, baskets, stroller, stairs, beds, legs, drawers etc... Our girl has also had the bumps and bruises to prove her adventurous spirit.

*Emotional... Always my little cuddler, she gives us big hugs and will lay her little head on our shoulder and grab on tight. Recently she decided she didn't want to rock before bed anymore, and will just give me a hug, and point to her crib to go night-night. I miss the snuggling! She has been sleeping through the night for a few months, and will go to bed around 7-7:30pm and wake up around 6:30 or 7am. Nice!

Love that little peanut!

*Feisty... Although pint-sized, she will defend herself and also packs quite the punch of sassy when prompted. I had a friend and her son over for a play date who is a few months younger than Maddie, but bigger in size. He happened to be playing with a toy she fancied, and she crawled right over and grabbed it. The little guy wouldn't let go, and so Little Ms. began pushing and shoving him in the FACE until he let go. I was so embarassed, and luckily the little guy (and his Mama) were pretty laid back and let it slide.  We are working on not hitting (and recently kicking), and she has already thrown a few tantrums. Yikes!

*Dancin'... Maddie loves music with a beat, and will clap and dance in the car when a song comes on. Sissy has been taking ballet lessons on Mondays, and Madison wants to watch so badly. She hears the music in the gym where they practice and will stand and bounce her little legs.

*Pretty Girl... Madison has been teething up a storm, and now has 2 molars, 4 teeth on top, and 3 on the bottom. Her hair is light brown, and is SO long in the back. She has been rocking a mullet, but I have no idea how to cut it evenly. I am hoping the top catches up soon, or we will be making a trip to the hairdresser. She has the most gorgeous eyelashes, and big browny eyes.

Already trying to use Daddy's plastic...lol.

*Eating...I think eating is her favorite thing to do. Boy, this little lady can put it away. I don't know where she puts it... it's not in her skinny little legs. She LOVES Kraft Mac n' Cheese, turkey, blueberries, strawberries, yogurt, cheerios, oatmeal, pancakes, scrambled eggs, cheese, spaghetti, mashed potatos & gravy. She is not into veggies lately... but we are still trying!! Madison will frequently eat all her meal, and then finish off Lindsay's.

Lindsay feeding Maddie ice cream

*Funnies & Favorites... Playing with Naked Baby Doll, Reading, Lifting up her shirt and patting her tummy, lifting up your shirt and poking your belly button to see if you laugh.

Playing Baby Doll... she prefers her baby au natural.

Reading up a storm. She has been known to look at books for an hour! She loves to be read to, and will bring us books.

Love you Peanut Butter!! xo