Blast From the Past

Recently, I was upstairs with Luke and decided to clean-up the kids closet.  I came across a few baby items that were knitted for me some 30ish years ago by my Great Aunt and Grandma Perry.  Since they were neutral colors, I decided to try the hats on Luke.  So adorable!

Night, Night

Tonight we said goodnight to Mer in a true, big girl bed.  She did really well with her mattress on the floor, so today we assembled the frame, box springs, and headboard along with a bed railing.  We also let her sleep with a true pillow for the first time, ever.  She is such a big girl and I was almost in tears as we left the room.  Here's to hoping she has a good night's sleep and maybe this is the magic formula for her to sleep past 6:30 a.m. (I know, not in a million years....maybe I just need to wait until she's a teenager).

She usually never wants to have the blanket over her, but was okay with me tucking her in tonight.  Such a sweet moment for me!

She just said "cheese".

Luke Updates

Luke is growing up so fast!  I probably don't see it as much since I'm with him practically 24/7, but I can tell he's growing because he's getting much heavier to carry around.

It's hard to believe, but he is almost sitting up independently.  I'm thinking in a few weeks, he will be much better with his balance.  He tends to fall over to one side or the other right now, but can sit independently for 20-30 seconds at a time.

Practicing sitting up with help from Daddy.

Sitting up on his own!

We took Luke swinging this past weekend for the first time and he loved it!  Actually, I had first taken him swinging a few days before, but I didn't have my camera and it happened by chance.  During the day, we went to the park while Chad was working; I needed to lift Meredith up to the swing and couldn't do it while holding Luke, so I sat him in the baby swing briefly and he started smiling and then laughing.  He took to it very well!

Mr. Funny Face

Swinging with Sissy

Love that smile

Love this picture (minus the Cardinals hat!)

Lately, the only thing she wants to do at the park is swing. 

Luke has started to go through bibs at about the same fast rate as his big sister.  But, not for the same reason.  While Meredith was our spitter-upper, Luke is our slobber monster.  He slobbers all the time, regardless of whether he is chewing on anything.  Still no teeth, though!

McLean County Fair

This past weekend, we took the kids to the local fair.  It was really nice!  We say this a lot, but we can't wait until they are older and can do more things.  I know, I know...one day we will wish they were "babies" again.  We were thinking how nice it will be when they are a bit older so we can stay out longer/later and they can go on big kid rides.  However, we did have fun at the petting zoo, looking at all kinds of different animals, and of course, eating the fair food!

Meredith was a bit apprehensive around some of the animals, but warmed up to them after a bit.

She LOVED the baby chicks.  We first went to the fair with some SAHM friends, then later as a family.  When we went later, she was asking about the chicks from the previous day.

Future Farmer!

Watching horses with her friend, Reese.

This was so cute!  Reese and Lauren gave Meredith a hug as we were leaving.

Watching the pig races with Daddy.  Luke and I were too short to see anything :(

Chad took Meredith in the petting zoo.  I couldn't believe they let the kids get that close to the animals.  She saw a zebra, camel, kangaroo, and many farmyard animals.

Her first corndog!

The Prentice Family at the Fair

Big Girl Bed

Big news - Meredith moved to a big girl bed last weekend!  We had been debating for a while about whether to move her to a toddler bed or a twin size bed and when to make the move.  For the past three months or so, Luke has been sleeping in Meredith's crib and Meredith has been sleeping in the pack n' play.  It was just supposed to be a temporary solution since Meredith was a bit cramped in the pack n' play, but she seemed to like it and slept well in it so it worked good for us.  Meredith's original crib converts to a toddler bed, so we even thought about getting Luke a new crib and just using her crib for her new bed.

Well, the straw that broke the camel's back came a few days prior to her big move.  After laying her down in her pack n' play for naptime and leaving the room, Meredith threw a fit.  I thought she was just protesting her nap like she does sometimes.  Well, instead the next thing I hear is a loud thump, scurried feet moving rapidly, and the opening of the bedroom doorknob.  She had escaped!  This made our decision to move her a no-brainer at this point.  We realized that rather than spending money on another bed, we would just utilize one of the extra queen-size beds (we had two, since we each had one when we got married) we already had in the basement.  Right now, we just have the mattress on the floor so after she gets a bit more accustomed to sleeping on the bed, we will move the box springs and frame up as well.  So far, she usually stays on the bed and doesn't get off once we close the door.  I only caught her once so far, and when I walked in she had about twenty books on her bed since she wanted to read in bed :)

Meredith waking up from her first nap on the big girl bed.

Reading with Mommy before bedtime.

First morning after a good night's sleep on her new bed.  She calls it "my own bed".

It's a miracle!  I got a picture of Meredith asleep. 

I had to add in this picture of Luke sleeping.  We never, ever get one of him sleeping since his naps are so short, but Chad managed to snap this one so we have proof that he does sleep :)

Just for laughs, this is what Meredith looks like just after she wakes up from a nap! :)