Cincinnati Zoo

I have no idea why it's taken me over a week to post these pictures. They've been sitting on our blog waiting for me to add text. So maybe I'll just make it easy on myself and only add a few comments to the pictures.

My parents, sister, her husband, and Drew and I decided we wanted to visit the Cincinnati Zoo together. So we randomly picked an August day and luckily had WONDERFUL weather. It was gorgeous!

They had a carousel so we got a ticket for Jenna. It cost $3 for about 25 seconds. I think Brian actually counted it and said there were 3 full rotations...wow!

Jenna loved these animal statues around the zoo. I was going to have Jenna sit on the mama gorilla, but it was way too HOT so we just stood next to it.

Jenna and Paw-Paw in the monkey house

The kids looking at the penguins.

There were specific feeding times for the giraffes where you could buy a cracker to feed to them. We stood in a line and then one by one fed the giraffes. It was so fun for Jenna to do, but, I have to say, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (near Denver, CO) was much cooler. You could buy these little food pellets and feed the giraffes as much as you want. They just walked up to the platform and whoever was there could feed them. There were no lines so you could stand there and look at them without having to move out of the way for the next person. Even so, it was still a neat experience for Jenna!

Love this picture of the kids. Can't believe I got one of both of them looking at the camera and smiling. You should see all the other pictures before this one...haha...it took a while to get a good one.

Jenna especially loved this elephant statue.

Love this picture of Grant peeking over his shoulder at the elephant.

Family picture...at the end of the day.

Group shot.

We had a great time doing something with the entire family. Hopefully we'll get to have another outing again soon. Maybe Newport Aquarium next...?

Wegerzyn Gardens with Oakley

The kids and I have thoroughly been enjoying having my cousin's family in town. They have a 2 year old boy named Oakley and we've been able to have some play dates together. I've loved catching up with Ashley and having some heart-to-heart Mommy conversations. :) And I know Jenna's enjoyed a playmate.

A few weeks ago we planned to get together for another play date and decided to go to a local children's discovery garden called Wegerzyn Gardens at the Dayton Metroparks. I took Jenna once last year, but it was in September when the water play area was closed, so I wanted to take her back before it closed again. So we went there for our play date. The kids loved splashing around in the water, running through the waterfall, exploring the cave, watering the plants, playing in the sandbox and mudpit, and playing musical instruments in a garden maze. :)
















We had a great time! Thanks Ashley and Oakley for a fun date. :)

Jenna's Mommy Date

When Drew and I talked about him taking the kids on dates so they could have one-on-one time, I decided I'd also like to have dates with the kids. Even though I'm with them 24/7, I don't get individual time with each one and would like the opportunity to spend some time focusing on just one.

We decided we'd start the dates when the kids turn 2 - that seems to be a good age when they're becoming more independent and communicative. So we'd like to do 2 days/year with each kid - possibly more since we only have two right now. The dates don't have to be expensive or long, just some special time together doing something fun!

Since we hadn't been to an outdoor pool at all this summer (aside from the blowup pool in the backyard), I thought that would be a fun date with Jenna. She loves to swim and play in the water, although she's not a fan of water on her face - a fear she'll have to face before too long. :) So we ventured to the Troy pool on a Saturday morning right when they opened at 11:30. I thought we'd get a good 2-2 1/2 hrs in before we needed to head home for her nap. I was hoping it wouldn't be too packed and to my surprise there were maybe 10 other people there. We had a wonderful time traipsing around the pool, trying out the water slide, splashing through the baby pool, swimming to the deep end to watch the "big kids" jump off the diving board, and sitting on the small water fountains - yes, I did it too!

(I just love her squinty smile)

It's rare that I get to focus my complete attention on her and lately I've seen her desperately trying to get my attention...by acting like Grant - throwing food on the floor, screaming, acting like a baby...all natural things, I'm sure. So I loved getting to focus completely on her and do whatever she wanted to do. Nothing held me back. I didn't have to just watch her while taking care of a baby or tell her, "hold on Jenna, Mommy needs to....". It was just her and me...and I loved it!! :)

I'm realizing more and more how quickly kids grow up. I look at pictures of Jenna, like the one above and can't believe that my baby is THAT BIG! I want to treasure these moments with them before they're gone and on to the next stage in their childhood.


I want to be that parent who's involved with their child and in their child's activities - not sitting on the sidelines staring at their phone. I want to communicate, love, and foster a healthy relationship.

So, needless to say, I love these special moments alone with one child - when I'm away from the housework and daily chores, away from Facebook and email, when I can focus on my child and give her the attention she needs and deserves. I already have a winter date in mind for us...and I already can't wait! :)

Our life

Here's a sneak peek into our lives right now...

Drew saw this in the paper and we just had to cut it out and share. I think I might frame it! :) Haha...but I know I'll look back on these days with all the (LOUD) noise and miss it, so I'll try to "enjoy" it while I can.

July Update

Here are some random pictures from July...

Jenna got this dress-up outfit from B when she was visiting. She was in love with it and wore the outfit pretty much the entire weekend.

Jenna enjoying our dome climber

B brought the kids a new book, Good Night Gorilla. It's so cute, and Jenna loved it! Here they are reading it together.

Early in July Grant began climbing the stairs. He's very good at it now and will even "slide" down the stairs on his tummy when going down.

Grant enjoying the outdoors in his swimsuit

We picked up this push car at a garage sale and it has quickly become a favorite around here! Mommy and Daddy love it because of the handle and seat belt for Grant. They both love riding in it - Grant loves honking the horn, and Jenna likes pushing her brother. Probably our best garage sale buy!

A classic picture - curious little toddler

Absolutely LOVE this picture. Grant enjoys sitting on the "couch" (another garage sale find) in his room while looking at books.

Fast asleep with his behind up in the air

Jenna has become really affectionate with Grant recently. She likes giving him kisses and gently rubbing his face - it's so sweet!

Playtime with Daddy

Aunt Kelley took Jenna on a play date with her friend and her friend's daughter, who is 1 month older than Jenna and about half her size. Apparently the girls really took to each other and enjoyed playing together.

Last week Jenna and Grant both had well-visit appointments with their doctor - Grant's 1 year and Jenna's 2 1/2 year. Grant is 25 lbs, 8 oz and 31 inches, which puts him in the 95th percentile for height and 90th percentile for weight. Jenna is 43 lbs and 40 inches. The doctor didn't give me her percentile because she's off the chart. In fact, he said she's bigger than the average 4-year old. Hmmm....wonder where she gets it?! Grant doesn't seem to be growing as quickly as she did at his age, however, when looking in their baby books, he's still bigger than she was at 1 year. Wonder what's in store for Grant...? :)

Quick update on the kids:

Grant has been walking for about 3 weeks now. He rarely will crawl anymore and wants to walk everywhere. He also seems to be understanding and responding to a lot of what we say to him. Biggest phase right now - yelling and screaming at the top of his lungs, even when happy. He' s a LOUD boy, but such a joy! :)

We've really seen changes in Jenna this summer. She's a very happy little girl who loves being a big sister to "Granty-boo" (as she likes to call him). Her vocabulary just amazes us and continues to expand on a daily basis. She routinely speaks in 6-7 word sentences and has started questioning us when she doesn't understand what we say. She enjoys dress-up and her new favorite activity this summer is playing with the 7-year old neighbor girl (who comes over multiple times a day to play with Jenna). Jenna loves the Disney princesses and can name them all. We rented the movie "Tangled" (the new Disney movie about Rapunzel) to watch with her and that has now become her new favorite princess. We've made comments about how long her hair is getting and Jenna responds by saying that it's long like Rapunzel - so funny! I guess long is a relative term. :)

This Mommy is very happy - I love my little blessings!!