Crayons COLOR our world!

There is something about Crayola crayons that brighten my day. I don't know if it brings me back to my childhood or the happiness it brings me to see the flat points of a freshly opened box of crayons. Either way, I happen to love crayons and coloring. Losing or breaking one crayon makes me have to start a new box. Lucky for me they sell for dirt cheap around August. Anyways, I seriously could drop everything right now, grab the Sesame Street coloring book downstairs and color the night away. Coloring brings me peace.

I recently came across this long forgotten idea of melting crayons. I can remember back when I was in middle school and we were hanging out at my bff Jamie's house melting crayons. Then I came across the idea again. So, I headed out to ACMoore and picked up a mini heart pan. I collected all the broken crayons I could find, plus a new box and Jon and my mom helped me peel the paper off. Nicolette helped break them into smaller pieces and we baked them for a short while. They cooled out in the snow and popped out easily! We packaged them up for friends and kept a ton at home!

This might very well become my new favorite thing. Who said kids crafts are just for kids?!

Have a heart day!

We love to celebrate holidays! We get new outfits and do at least one holiday related activity. Valentine's Day was no exception. We got a head start a couple weeks ago and made some hearts with our hands. Cole was less than cooperative, but hey- he doesn't like his hands messy and he wasn't feeling well. I wish these little hands could stay this little forever.

Our next heart themed event was a process. Thank goodness because my two-year old princess would not have lasted for making dough, cutting out heart, frosting and -our favorite- sprinkling (yes, it's a new verb) all in one day. She was happy to help me mix and couldn't wait to lick the beater, all while my 20 pound munchkin slept the day away.

First we had to read the recipe.


Then we had to add some vanilla.


Mix together the wet ingredients.


Add some flour.


And finish off with Nicolette's favorite part!


Later, she was my little helper and rolled, and floured and floured some more, and then some more and then a little bit more. Her little fingers kept making their way into the flour and before we knew it our perfect little hearts were covered in flour. That's the way we like it here.
She kneeded...


and rolled...


and cut out...


and picked up the hearts...


and floured...


and baked!


During our quick trip to Niagara Falls, NY we frosted all our hearts. Nicolette proved to be the very best sprinkler in town. Truely. She saturated the cookie tops with beautiful hearts and pink and red sprinkles. They were perfect. Halfway through our frosting session the little man woke up and wanted to help. He definitely helped to eat our beautiful work.





We can't wait until next year (or St. Patrick's day because ya know, they are already baked and in the freezer, ready for next month)!

There is finally enough!

My little princess was born with almost no hair at all, and then lost most of it shortly after. I remember using gluedots, much to her daddy's dismay, just to keep a bow in her hair. Then she got these new bows and they seemed to hold the little bit of hair she did have, so that made me happy! It wasn't until right before her 2nd birthday that her hair started to grow in more and I could maybe get it into a teeny tiny ponytail. Now at almost 2 1/2 years she finally has hair! I can't quite pull the mullet into a ponytail in back, but we can do some pretty cute things with it (if she'll me, that is!).

I was at my favorite store, Target, and couldn't resist picking up some clips they had on clearance. I bought ribbon a couple weeks ago to make her bow and I am hoping I can finish them up today, but in the meantime we needed some new ones!

butterflies make me smile!

How can you not be happy when you are surrounded by hundreds of butterflies and warm temperatures (even if it's not real)?!

While at the Museum of Play we had the opportunity to go to the Butterfly Garden. We've been there before, but this time we got to hold the butterflies. Nicolette opted to let the white butterfly go on her shirt instead. We decided to skip letting Cole hold one simply because we wanted them to live =) Butterflies are beautiful creatures and it was a blast getting up close and personal with them!

a golden birthday!!

A lot of people have never heard of a golden birthday! It's when you turn the age that your birthday falls on... so mine was this year when I turned 29 on the 29th of January! Birthday are really not a lot of fun past, say 25. Thirty is nothing to look forward to! I think 29 is a hard age because it's so close the 30, and 30 just sounds SO old! In my mind I am still 25 and I am sure I don't look a day older than that!! Heck, I could probably pass for a middle school kid with the right outfit on! So, moving on...

We were going to celebrate this wonderful birthday by going to dinner. I was craving chicken francias so were had reservations at The Retreat! Unfortunately Cole got sick and we had to cancel dinner plans. Instead we ordered pizza and went over to the rents to play games with them and the Wolf's. It was still a really fun, and late, night!

My brownie birthday cake, specially made by the best 2 year old and her grandma!

I had some help blowing my 3 candles out!

And on Sunday we got to the Retreat to celebrate. It may not have been a birthday I was looking forward to but with such a great family I had a blast!

PLAY PLAY PLAY

We had a Pollard family day not too long ago and we all had lots of fun! The Strong Museum of Play is less than 1.5 hours away and we just had to go. Our favorite thing to do is PLAY and it's and excuse for mommy and daddy to act like kids again!

Cole walked right up to the wall, turned around and posed for this picture! I wonder if he's learning from the constant camera in his face!


Nicolette had a blast shopping at Wegmans!



I was holding nicolette's hands and looked over to see her holding cole's hand... too precious!



Cole loved playing with Legos which were just the right size!


Dancing and making a music video! I love that both kids dance as soon as the music starts!


Some bakers hats that mommy and daddy helped make!



The end to a perfect day!

hmmmmm...

So, I have been thinking since I last posted about the angle I want to take with this blog. I've recently began reading blogs of friends and others and there is so much variety! I hope to get onto a groove soon and make this blog my own!

dance like no one is watching... or don't dance at all!

So, nicolette started dance last week. I was really excited for her to go. She's going with Sophie, my friend Colleen's daughter. We went out and got them leotards, skirts, and tights. I bought a cute dance bag, the perfect size for nicolette awhile back and was lookng forward to giving it to her. When I gave it to her she said, "I loooooove it!". It was so cute!

So, we get to dance and nicolette will.not.leave my side. She wouldn't even sit on the floor in front of me; it had to be on my lap. Yes, we had that child! When the blue mat came out towards the end she came out of her shell a little bit, but I thought we were done! So, throughout the week we've been practicing at home and really talking it up. It would crack us up when I would ask her if she listened to Miss Brandy and she would shake her head no. I would also ask if she did what all the other girls were doing and she would tell me no, but promised to listen next time!

Today was our second time and she did GREAT! I was so proud of her. Of course I am always proud of her, but this morning I was SO happy. It's a great feeling to see your child doing a good job when you aren't standing right there! When we got in the car to go home she told me she loved going to dance.

Cole went to the doctor this week for his (late) one year appointment. He is 20 pounds 4 ounces (around 12th percentile) and 28.5 inches long (less than 10th percentile). He's doing really well! I love love love when he pulls my shirt up and blows kisses on my belly. My belly gets all wet and he laughs and laughs! He is getting to be so much fun!!

I need a drink!

So, awhile back nicolette was having some sleep issues. She would not go to sleep unless we laid with her. Being a bit clueless, Jon and I laid with her because it was easier to fight with her until 11pm. We knew it was a bad move, but sometimes in parenting you make choices to make life a little less stressful. Finally we got sick of it and in 2 nights solved the problem (we let her CIO, basically). FF to this Christmas... The week of Christmas nicolette refused to take a nap. She did go in her room for some quiet time, but no sleeping. Although she was tired- falling asleep all the time in the car- she was sleeping fine. Well, this week comes around and she is takng naps again. Because of that, bedtime has been awful. She's not ready to go to sleep at her normal 8pm time and plays in her room. Well, this playing has once again turned into manipulate mom and dad. Finally, I had had enough and I let her CIO. This is how she looked when she finally stopped and I went to check on her! I literally could not even open the door to move her. I tried and then she moved on her own so I was able to slightly manuver myself to get in and put her in bed. She is one stubborn girl and she is really showing it lately!

Cole seriously just melts my heart. He is growing up way too fast for me. I know they all need to grow up and learn, but I want him to stay my little baby boy forever! He woke up with all the crying at our house tonight and I rocked him back to sleep. I was so stressed out from nicolette that just holding him made me feel better. It's the only time I get with him to cuddle and hold him. He's definitely on the go all the time.

Some funny things from the last couple of days:

* There were 2 identical waters at dinner yesterday. Cole kept pointing to them, so I tried to give him a sip. He pushed it away and kept pointing. Not thinking he wanted water since he just pushed it away, I didn't offer it to him. What he wanted was... yup, the other water. I gave him some and he was happy as can be!

* When Cole is crying, nicolette will say, "It's okay little boy" or "It's okay coley-man" or "mommy's here, okay?". This usually occurs right before or right after she pushes him down.

Some odds and ends...

* nicolette starts dance tomorrow

* nicolette didn't have any accidents all week with Heather

* cole eats way worse than nicolette did at a year and I'm hoping I'm not creating bad habits for him

2 posts in 2 day!

So, since I have a few minutes, and the toys are already picked up, I thought I'd post again! I need to start making this a habit!

Today was a lazy day. Jon had to work for the beginning of the day, so it was just the kids and me. We've been watching lots of videos lately. I'm not a huge fan of tv for kids, but I don't see any harm in watching Signing Time or my wedding video. Nicolette has become obsessed with it. I literally have all the speeches memorized because we have to watch it so much.

I love that Nicolette is learning from the Signing Time videos. She has learned the signs for so many words, and even asks what the signs are for words she doesn't know. I love when she does cold, because you kind of shake like you are cold. Today she told me, as we were walking out of Target in the snow, that she was freeeeeeezing and did the sign for cold.

We are potty training and it's oh so much fun! Can you hear the sarcasm? No, she is really doing well, but going poopy has been a bit of an issue. Well, today she went multiple times. I love that she gets so happy. She'll say, "I'm so happy. Mommy's so happy!".

Cole has been a little bit attached to me lately. He's having a hard time going to sleep, and I think it's because he doesn't want to be left alone. He's fine when you are in there. I hate to do it, but I let him cry tonight. He really only cried for 10 minutes, so it wasn't that bad- for me or him!

Off to bed, on this palindrome day!

a new year, an updated blog?

So, I keep saying how I am going to blog and then I post once and stop. Ugh... I promise myself I will blog at least twice a week. I really want to have a record of all the fun things our family is doing!

So, today was New Year's Day. Last night we went to Coppertop to eat and Jon lost his wallet. NO FUN! I know I was sleeping when the ball dropped.

Today we went over to my parents house and ate awesome food... lobster, filet, shrimp and more!

Nicolette is finally potty training. She is doing pretty well and even goes on her own. In the car today she said, "oh my god". I've been trying to correct her to day oh my goodness/gosh but she refuses. Jon finally said I don't care if you say oh my god. Right after he said that, nicolette said, "no, you say oh my goodness". She always makes us laugh.

Cole is talking so much and it really has just been within the past week or so. Today he said the light was hot, but he whispered it everytime! I love when he say night night... melts my heart! He also says ball, mama, dada, papa, up, and all done!

seriously!?!

Okay, I thought I wanted to start a blog and keep it going, but I somehow that didn't happen! It's been well over a year since I last posted and I just remembered recently that I even started one. I really want to keep this up and be able to record all the awesome things my kids are doing!

Cole is a 10 months and just took his first steps yesterday. Jon and I ran to the store and left the kids at my parents. When we came home Cole was standing, holding onto the chair and I was kneeling on the floor. He gave me a huge smile, let go and took his first steps right towards me. It was so sweet! He's not real steady and probably won't walk for a little bit still, but it's progress towards walking!

My baby has gotten to be SO fun in the past couple of weeks. You can really see his personality shining through. He is so happy and so smiley!! He loves watching people, especially his sister. He gets mad when she isn't nice to him, but you can tell he really loves her.

Nicolette is a little over two years! She makes us laugh so much! Yesterday she got mad at me for something and started hitting things. When she came over to me and I stopped her she started to cry. She layed on the floor pretended to cry and then stopped and said, "Mommy, I'm crying". When I ignored her she called Cole and told him she was crying! She is SO dramatic. I have no idea where she inherited the dramatic gene. Her new phrase is "sound good??". I know where she got that one from!

Not only is Nicolette cute, she is smart too. Today we were at the bagel shop and I was getting ready to leave when my car wouldn't start. Jon came out and we decided I would take his car. He took my keys and went to go get his car. Nicolette kept saying mommy's keys. I couldn't figure it out until she said daddy had them. She knew we needed to keys to drive the car and was trying to help!

Hopefully I will keep this up!!

So much news!

Well, again I guess I am not so good with keeping this up! It's been a month and a lot has changed!

Since the last post Nicolette ...
* Started walking EVERYWHERE! She hates to crawl and pretty much refuses to do it. She can get up in the middle of the room and doesn't have to crawl to something to stand anymore.
* Says dada, ball, doggie, papa and what sounds like I (I always tell her to say "I do").
* Understands so much. It just amazes me everyday how much she understands.
* Loves to give kisses still which is just my favorite.
* Has a birthday in 2 weeks!!

In other news, we found out we're having a BOY! We're very excited about this news. Jon is ecstatic! Now our dilemma is the name game. We just cannot agree in anything! So far we have Street (sign) and what Jon keeps telling me... Peter (pollard). Lovely.

We also had a scare when our nural tube defect test came back elevated. We did a second round of bloodwork and it came back even higher. So, we found ourselves at the PNC, yet again. They did an ultrasound and couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. The genetic counselor was great and so informative. We were given the option of an amnio, but declined. It just wasn't something that we felt was right. There is a risk of miscarriage, which neither of us wants to even go through again and even if the results were not ideal, we wouldn't do anything different. So, we'll wait until December when this little guy comes and see what happens. In the meantime, since there is a higher risk for multiple things, including low birth weight and pre-eclampsia, they will monitor me closely for the remainder of this pregnancy.