The Aquarium and More Loftins!

Last week we enjoyed a visit from some more Loftins - Aunt Kay and Uncle Mike were in town for a minute so we were thrilled to spend some time with them.  We had a girls day at the aquarium with Nonnie and Aunt Kay, it was Kenzie's first trip and both of the girls had a great time!

This pretty much sums up Marley's entire trip to the aquarium, it was really the first time she had been that she could fully enjoy the experience and it was like sensory overload.  Running full speed and trying to take it all in at once - needless to say she loved it!

Kenzie was so thrilled to meet Aunt Kay for the first time that she was willing to overlook Aunt Kay's inability to see her striking resemblence to her mother!  I carried them for 40 weeks shouldn't they have a little bit of me in them! Lie to me people!

This is a pregnant MALE seahorse - I still find this to be a fun little trick.  Thanks Mother Nature!

Nonnie and Marley got to pet little stingrays, they reported them to be "slimy".

This is King Midas the sea turtle in the Gulf of Mexico exhibit, he did not turn any sharks to gold while we were there.

A Day at the Lanier House

Me:  Marley, make Kenzie laugh.

Marley:  Calmly walks over to Kenzie and begins SCREAMING in her face.

Kenzie:  Laughs hysterically

Tre': WHAT THE HELL!?!

Jeffrey!

We were lucky enough to spend a little time with my cousin Jeffrey as he made his annual migration south for the summer.  Kenzie was very pleased to make his acquaintance and looks forward to meeting several more Loftins in the very near future. In the few hours that he was here, Mars got Jeffrey fever and was pretty upset when it came time to say goodbye.  She did feel better after we told her that he was on his way to meet Cinderella and then marry her and decided that she could no longer stand in his way.  Good luck with that Jeffrey,  Marley talks about your wedding every day!

Can I help?

I have eagerly been awaiting the day that Mars would be old enough to hang out with me in the kitchen helping me bake cookies and ice cupcakes.  Well that time has come and it is just as good, if not better than I had imagined, most of the time.  It is pretty trying to keep her little fingers out of the dough, every time I turn the mixer off she's there like a hungry puppy, "can I taste?!"  On this particular evening she was "helping" me cook dinner by consuming ALL of the edamame before anyone else could ruin their appetite with these tasty treats! 

Peas? No Thank You!

We are taking our time introducing new foods into Kenzie's diet - this, pretty much sums up her feelings for peas.

Potty Training: Not for the Weak (Stomach)

A few weeks ago we got to the end of a super size box of size 4 cruisers of which I had told Marley would be her last.  So I stuck to my guns and we spent the entire week at home wearing big girl undies and constantly asking - "do you need to go to the pot?"  After countless wardrobe changes, several puddles (including one on my SOFA!) we have achieved success!  It has been an interesting journey and it is still a work in progress but Mars is on the road to being a full fledged big girl. It has also been proved that having a potty training child along with a nursing infant can lead to some interesting crime scenes in the bathroom, see below.

Not pictured is the entire roll of toilet paper that she flushed away (luckily she spent two flushes on that roll!)  We may save money on diapers, but we are spending that money on more paper.  

She has also mastered the hand washing, during which she has learned that dragging her chair to the sink is also useful to help me wash dishes and cook dinner.  Her new favorite saying is "Can I Help?"  Immediately followed by the sound of her little chair banging it's way to the kitchen.

We have found that using a potty chart with a sticker reward system has been really effective with Mars.  After five stickers she gets to choose a toy from the reward bag.  Once the entire chart is filled with stickers, she earns a trip to toys r us! 

Take a bow Mars - congratulations on a job well done!

New, New, New!

Kenzie has gotten to the age that she is aware when everyone leaves the room and she does not like it!  She will fuss whenever we are somewhere else besides with her and she will continue to fuss until we bring her with us.  This week Marley was kind enough to let Kenzie borrow her high chair so that she could help us make lunch.  This is the first time she has used it and she quite enjoyed it - she looked so tiny in it compared to Mars who is nearly outgrowing it!

Another new feat this week is Kenzie's newfound ability to sit up unaided.  This is a great new progression for her as being upright allows for more playing with her big sister!  Marley seems to be pretty excited about it too!

And yet another exciting occurrence is Kenzie's first taste of a real food besides bland cereal.  Yayyy!  She finally got to try some carrots which she throughly enjoyed.  She really seemed to savor each bite which was pretty cute to watch!

One of the many perks!

Being a mom is awesome - it is without a doubt the MOST amazing, rewarding, hardest, scariest, funniest, best part of my life thus far.  That being said - there are certainly many perks to this sometimes difficult title.  Free back rubs and hair brushing sessions, laughing until you cry, a little midget who tells you(and means it) you look pretty when you feel nothing of the sort, and learning to thoroughly enjoy the small things in life.  Another one of said perks is the ability to dress your children up in silly things, laugh (lovingly) at them, take pictures of it, and even sometimes put these pictures away in a file called blackmail - for future use.  This picture isn't quite that good, but it is pretty cute!  How can you do such things to an innocent baby you say - don't forget that this innocent baby will one day be a teenager and I may need reinforcements!  Just call it insurance!!!

Zoo To Do

Last Friday we were fortunate to enjoy the annual fundraiser for the Audubon Zoo - The Zoo to Do Kids.  Both sets of grandparents and both of Marley's godparents and their respective spouses were able to join us so we all got enjoy the wonderful evening together!  It was a great night with lots of food and the zoo is turned into an even bigger playground than usual with giant slides, bubbles, face painting, and just about anything a kid could want!  It was an absolute wonderland for children.

One of Marley's favorite animals at the zoo are the elephants so we HAD to stop by and visit them - I think that they were bigger than she remembered!  Efffalants go Prrrr!!!

There was a clown making balloon swords and flowers - perfect for an epic battle with Batman!  FLOWER POWER!!!

We finished our perfect evening with a ride on the carousel - that's Marley on the horse behind the tiger.  Tre' and Kristin were lucky enough to accompany Mars and Brody on the turbo spinning carousel ride.  I'm getting dizzy just thinking about all of that spinning!  We can't wait to go back next year when Kenzie will be able to enjoy the festivities too!