How to Properly "Shing" Webs

Lest there be any confusion out there about how the Spiderman web "shing" goes, it looks like this:

Not like this:

Because, apparently this means 'I love you' in sign language and they are two VERY different things.  Don't make the same mistake I did.  Consider yourself educated.

The Richmond Zoo

A few weeks ago I took the kids to visit our very own local Richmond Zoo.  I was told to keep expectations bridled, and so I did.  If any of you have seen the recent movie, We Bought A Zoo, it's reminiscent of that.  It's an LDS family who owns the zoo and lives on the grounds.  What started as just a few animals has grown into a pretty cool little zoo.  

The best part about this zoo is that since it is so small, you get to be really up close to the animals.  No need for binoculars here!  Just a few centimeters of glass separate my sweet little guy from 450 pounds of man-eating carnivores.

I always love the tortoises.

The best exhibit at this zoo is the giraffes.  You can feed them.  Say WHA?!  Where else in the world can you feed a giraffe?  Rex was really hesitant, but I thought it was awesome!

And what trip to the zoo would be complete without a ride on the carousel?  Good thing the zoo wasn't busy because there are only about 10 animals on this thing!

And like a champ, Evelyn spent her zoo experience in her stroller except for the minute I took her out for a photo.  She is seriously the easiest baby alive.

Rex Starts Preschool

Quite an exciting week for our family!  Rex started preschool at the Gingerbread Cottage Preschool here in Richmond.  He goes three days a week for 3 hours.  He loves it and so do I.  Here he is just before leaving for his first day.

One of my favorite things about Rex is his outgoing personality.  He is never shy and makes friends easily, which made dropping him off VERY easy.  

Since Rex is such a busy little guy, I find it almost impossible to provide him with enough to do during the day.  School is the perfect thing to help him.  I can tell this is going to be great!

And lets not forget about this little cutie...

Evelyn will be 7 months in a week - how the time flies!  She is getting some serious personality and I love who she is becoming.  She is still very easy going, but now she is MOBILE.  Yes, she can army crawl - everywhere.  Which means she's not as content to be in her car seat, exersaucer, bouncer, etc.  All she needs is a little floor space and a few toys and she's occupied for a while.  She still chooses not to sit up, she has no interest at all.  

She's also quite the picky eater.  She loves baby food veggies, but not fruits.  In fact, she is just barely starting to eat a couple fruits if they are mixed (in trace amounts) with rice cereal.  Funny girl.

This girl LOVES her big brother and her dog.  They can elicit smiles that daddy and I cannot get.  She is the ray of sunshine in our lives.  It's impossible not to love this happy little girl.

Paul Ryan Rally

So last Friday morning, Paul Ryan came to Deep Run High School, which is about 5 minutes from our house.  It's actually the high school Rex will go to, assuming we're still in the area.  I wasn't planning on going until I woke up that morning.  I couldn't shake the feeling that this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity so I quickly found a babysitter, threw on makeup, and was ready to go in about 45 minutes!  When I arrived, I ran into some friends which made the 2 hour wait much more bearable.  

What else made it more bearable?  This guy.  He's awesome.

 

After the rally, he came by and shook hands with the people in the crowd.  Turns out he favors Republicans in Green Bay Packers uniforms!  And thanks to one such Republican who happened to be behind me to the right, I snapped this close up pic while they chatted.  

Hearing his speech made me excited and hopeful for what the Romney/Ryan ticket could do for our country.  I decided it's fun living in a swing state - they'll be back quite a bit over the next couple months.

Our Peach Adventure

A couple weeks ago we went on a serious adventure, just me and the kiddos.  I was a little nervous at first, but it was almost empowering to realize that I can do things like this with 2 kids and I SURVIVED!  Not only did I survive, but it was really fun.  Now on to what we did!  We went to Charlottesville, which is about 45 minutes away, to Carter Mountain Orchard to pick our own peaches.  We got there a little early and soon after some of our new Richmond friends showed up.  We had fun picking peaches and walking on the rotting, slippery, peach carcases.  Next time I won't wear sandals! :)

First of all, I was amazed at the beauty of this place!  The orchard sits on top of a mountain - there are orchards, vineyards and mountains as far as you can see.  

Thank goodness for this bad boy that helped us navigate the rows of peaches and kept Rex's feet mostly clean.

We found a few perfect trees and Rex helped me pick some really good ones.  He wasn't afraid of getting dirty or having to climb up the tree to get them, either.

And finally, he found a ripe one and bit right in.

And now I'm looking forward to apple season so we can go again!

Faith and Smoothies

Rex LOVES Danimals smoothies.  I started getting them for next to nothing when I used to coupon and haven't been able to stop buying them.  He just loves them.  Well, we ran out yesterday and when he wanted one today, we had a funny little learning experience:

Rex: Mom, do we have any more smoothies?
M: Nope buddy, I'll pick some up at the store tomorrow.  Let's pick a different snack.
R: Maybe if I pray, Heavenly Father will bring me some more smoothies.
M: (in an effort to manage expectations)  Probably not, buddy, let's just get some at the store tomorrow.

I hardly got those words out before he had started praying and scolded me for not folding my arms.  He specifically asked for strawberry-kiwi smoothies.  After his prayer he immediately went to the fridge exclaiming, "I hope that worked!"  I flinched as he opened the door knowing he was about to be seriously disappointed.    "What in the heck?" he exclaimed with a look of absolute shock on his cute little face.  Hopefully his faith wasn't shaken too bad.  It provided me the opportunity to talk about how our prayers aren't always answered immediately, but I'm pretty sure that fell on deaf ears.  Ahhh, to be a 3 year old!

Which reminds me, the other day he asked me why he couldn't have 2 mommies.  Laughing I asked him why in the world he would want 2 mommies.  He said, "so in case you get dead, the other mommy can bake me stuff."  I should have been offended that I am that dispensable, but I chose to look at silver lining, which is that he's already showing traits of being a dynamite planner like his mommy.  Just making sure his treat supply won't suffer if I happen to "get dead".  Such a funny little guy.

My Baby Girl

I am having the hardest time remembering to take pictures lately!  And it's giving me all kinds of mommy guilt, because (especially with Evelyn) these phases are going to pass quickly.  Here are a few things our little gal is up to:

At her 4 month appointment, her doctor thought that she seemed "a little petite" compared to her previous visit and suggested I start her on formula and cereal.  We went home and later that night I whipped up a formula bottle which I expected her to down.  I mean, why wouldn't she love it? She was taking a bottle PERFECTLY since week 4!  Well, she hated it, gagged, spit it out, she HATED it.  I thought it was probably just a fluke so I tried it again a little later.  Same thing.  Then I got desperate and tried breast milk in a bottle - she wouldn't take that either.  Silly little gal just decided she was done with bottles.  I think she decided she didn't trust us after that formula bit.  So, that was about a month and a half ago and she still isn't taking bottles.  Good times.

So we did start cereal soon after that fiasco.  She, of course, spit it out at first, but quickly took to the yummy stuff.

Rex really got a kick out of feeding her and seeing her scrunchy face when she didn't know what to do with it. 

He kinda looks like the devil in this picture, laughing at her disgust.

One morning I went to get her after her morning nap and she just looked so pretty.  So I grabbed my camera and did a little photo shoot, right there in her crib.  

If you look closely you'll see she now has 2 teeth.  I was in denial when the first one started coming in at 4 1/2 months, but I've accepted it now.  She is growing up too fast!!