Easter 2013

Happy Easter from the Kiers!

Remember This

We Heart Quiet Time

"The world is quiet here."

-Lemony Snicket

Needling Me

Now I see why it is almost impossible to buy a personalized handmade needlepoint belt.

THIS JUST IN: They take forever to make.

I started a new belt for Rhett back in January.  Granted, it does take awhile, needlepointing can be tedious, and I don't have a ton of free time, but STILL.  It takes so long.  Here is where I am after two and a half months of stitching on and off:

Oh hey Maj, how did you get in this shot?  You are such a hoverer.

I'm probably 60 percent done, not counting the month it will take to have someone put the stitching on leather.

I used to have visions of stitching custom belts for a little side job, and while I haven't totally abandoned that thought, I could maybe get through a whopping four a year.  Time to dream up a new goal...

It's in (Her) Kiss

My sweet Charlotte is giving plenty of heart-melting hugs and kisses lately...but refuses to do it on camera.  Below is an outtake I got when I tried filming her...yet again!

One day I will get you on camera Charlotte... :)

Today's Reminder

Cate's School Picture

Here is Cate's school photo from preschool.  What do you think?  I was expecting a classic Olan Mills shot complete with faux blue background, but I guess the photographer is a little more...I don't know...21st century?  Anyway, she did pretty well...

Love you, Cate!

My Husband Was Right

This past Saturday I had to do something I really dislike--admit that Rhett was right and I was totally, completely, 100 percent wrong.  Oh, the pain!

We're transitioning Charlotte from two naps to one and it has been a little rough.  She's doing ok, but is understandably fussy after waking up from her single midday nap.  This happened Saturday afternoon so Rhett suggested we take advantage of the nice weather and head down to the National Mall so the girls could get a change in scenery.

I'll say it--I thought this was a terrible idea.  Stuck in downtown DC with an unhappy little one?  No thanks.  However, I wasn't sure what to do with a fussy baby for the rest of the day so I told him ok.  I then proceeded to give him my death stare and PLENTY of heavy sighs--in the house, while getting a screaming Charlotte into the car, when we hit traffic on 66, and while we were unable to find a parking spot.

After ten minutes of circling, Rhett was exasperated and asked if I just wanted to go home.  I said that we should but offered that we could look for a spot on the way out.  Serendipitously, one appeared in the perfect location.

You know what?  We had an awesome time.

The sun felt so good and it was warm enough to take our coats off--hooray!  Rhett and Cate rode the merry-go-round first and Cate was loving it.

After that, we hit up the Museum of Natural History, a place we could have spent days in.  Our crew checked out the mammals exhibit first and Charlotte nearly got whiplash from flipping her head around so fast to look at the all of the animals.  We then headed to Cate's favorite area, the gems--that's my girl.  

After drooling over all that sparkled and grabbing some well deserved ice cream, we walked around outside.  Charlotte is becoming evermore confident and walked a good bit of the trek back to the car.  I didn't get any shots of her but Cate did request that I get a shot of her and the castle--aka the Washington Monument.  We had so much fun.

Sorry Dear, you were right.

Friends Forever

"We'll be Friends Forever, won't we, Pooh?" asked Piglet.  "Even longer," Pooh answered.  

-A.A. Milne

March Snow

I told Cate back in January to hold tight for March because it would start to get a little warmer by then.  Ha--we finally made it and wouldn't you know, we're staring at tons of white stuff today.  Here's what we've done to stay busy today...

The day started out bright and early.  We were definitely up before the roosters.  Cate and Charlotte were promptly parked in our bed with Cheerios, milk, and that trusty babysitter, TV, so Rhett and I could keep our eyes closed long enough to find 7am on the clock.

Hmmm, this getting up early thing is smart!  We should do this more often.

By 9am, Cate and I left Rhett upstairs working--his office was closed--and Charlotte napping long enough to take the dogs out for a snowstorm-style walk.  Cate was a trooper.

Soak it up kid, Texas doesn't have this.

What a little helper, right?

We came inside and dove into our toys, include the new tinker toys.  I think these toys are supposed to foster your "little engineer."  For us, they are fostering our little candy maker because Cate makes the pieces into lollipops and starts selling them to me out of her lollipop shop.  I can only buy one at a time, apparently, because I am told they have too much sugar.

Welcome to Cate's Lollipop Shop!

Charlotte is an awesome kid, did you know?  When we pull out toys, she just walks around playing with things quietly and contently.  Here she is showing me a turtle or, in Charlotte language, a "tuuuuuuuuuur."

Don't I look so much older, all of a sudden?   Ok well, Mom thinks so.

Because we were stuck inside, we headed downstairs for a change in scenery.  In the basement, we got into dress-up and taking care of our baby dolls.

I'm bracing myself for the rest of the day--both girls are resisting naps as I type this.  Fingers crossed for sleep-filled and toasty rest of the day.  And March?  We are not friends right now.

Thought of the Day

via

Charlotte Angel

Mmmmmm...food...

This big girl--and I mean BIG--just had her 15 month check-up.  She continues to dominate the growth charts, although not like she did when she was an infant.  We've dropped down to the 75th percentile for weight.  Charlotte now weighs almost 25 pounds and is just over ten pounds behind Cate.

Not to bore you with more numbers that only Rhett and I actually care about, but her height and head circumference are about 95th percentile.  I keep telling Cate one day Charlotte is going to be bigger than her so she better be nice now, and I think that day is rapidly approaching.

Otherwise, the doc said Charlotte is doing all the stuff she needs to be doing at 15 months.  We had two awful, stingy shots.  Blech--that is the worst part of being a mom.  She did recover quickly--below is a shot of Charlotte in the car about five minutes post-trauma.

Quick, let's get out of here!

We love you, Charlotte Angel!

The Fault In Our Stars

One of my goals this year was to read six adult(ish) books which, for those of you who aren't math whizzes like me, is one every two months.  Around mid-February, I remembered my idea to read something beyond books targeted at preschoolers and decided I better get on it.

I stumbled upon a glowing review of The Fault In Our Stars by John Green and decided that would be book number one.

I didn't know anything about it beyond the fact that a mommy blogger and the New York Times Bestseller List really, really liked it.  And it is awesome.  Very Jodi Picoult-ish--I laughed and cried a lot throughout the book.  Highly recommended!