Happy (Belated) St. Patrick's Day!

The week leading up to St. Patrick's Day we spent as much time as possible outside.  MiniM.E. is so excited to be able to go out that she tries to put on her shoes first thing in the morning.

MiniM.E. loves walking.  Everywhere.  

Peek-a-boo!

This swing is a little big.

MiniM.E. did this slide all by herself!

She doesn't really understand that it's not quite spring yet, and not every day is a nice day for playing outside... I don't particularly care to be pushing her in a swing when it's 20 and windy.

So on days when I don't want to play outside, I have to find MiniM.E. things to do that are equally as or more fun that outside.

We went to the Tiny Tots Tea Room again, which MiniM.E. loved.  There were a ton of kids there this time, and most were her age.

Driving around...

And we bought some Dollar Store painting utensils.

We spent St. Patrick's Day weekend putting in an attic pull down ladder (actually Bob and my dad put it in and my mom and I were on MiniM.E.-duty), which I'm SO excited about because we have SO MUCH baby stuff to store already and MiniM.E. is only one-and-a-half.  Needless to say there wasn't much St. Patty's partying.  It was cold anyway, so we probably wouldn't have gone to a parade, and with a one-year-old we probably wouldn't have gone out drinking...  AND now we have a useful attic!  Yay!

Hole in MiniM.E.'s ceiling

 It was a cold weekend, so we had to keep MiniM.E. busy inside.

Playing with Mardi Gras St. Patrick's Day beads

Cleaning up a mess

Trying on some new accessories.  What do you think?

 Overall, a good week and a fairly un-festive but super-productive weekend.

Spring Is On Its Way!

About a week ago we got a glimpse of spring.  It was sunny and the temperature was around 40.  Something in our kids must sense that the weather is nice because we had a belated-birthday brunch with our playgroup and the kids were itching to get outside.

Then, just when I was ready to pack up our winter jackets and break out the sandals, we saw inches of snow at the end of the week.  But with temperatures in the 50s over the weekend, it's all melted and MiniM.E. and I couldn't be happier.  I've never had a worse case of cabin fever than I did this winter with a one-year-old running around the house!

While we waited out the temporary snow on Friday, we played at the Wilton Mall play area and visited the new Rainbow Room at the Saratoga Public Library.

Maybe we shouldn't have gone so close to nap time

The new Rainbow Room is fantastic and will definitely be added to our list of rainy day spots.  It was perfect for MiniM.E. and we could have stayed for hours!

Crawling through a caterpillar

Riding on a snake

In the caterpillar

Firetruck!

Over the weekend I worked on MiniM.E.'s play kitchen while she and Daddy had some quality Daddy-Daughter time.  Which went really well until MiniM.E. realized I was just in the garage... 

Daddy did a quick diversion and took MiniM.E. to her favorite wagon riding spot, the car wash down the street.  (In all fairness, I don't think she knows it's a car wash... she thinks it's just tunnels.)

The rest of the weekend we tried to spend as much time outside as possible.

Stamping snow

Watching water drip into puddles

Swinging!

Puddle jumping (we need to buy rain boots!!)

Yesterday we were hoping for some more springy weather, but with the cloudy skies and wind, it didn't feel very nice out.  Good thing we had a play group to go to!

new toys!

hugs!

 MiniM.E. is finally starting to play with the other kids at play group so I think she's really starting to enjoy it, but the nicest part for me is having other moms to talk to.  Though this photo is probably my favorite thing about play group EVER:

16 Months Old!

... and two stomach bugs!  MiniM.E. really hasn't been a sick baby with the exception of a few colds and an ear infection.  Then last week she got a stomach bug and just as she got over it, she woke up this morning with another one.  Poor MiniM.E. has been throwing up all morning.  Fortunately, she was able to fall asleep for a nap.  I'm hoping she feels better when she wakes up because there's only so much throw up I feel like cleaning up in one day.  I'm already up to one couch, one blanket, one carpet, three loads of laundry, and the entire kitchen floor.

Despite being sick, she's been in pretty good spirits.

Her favorite indoor activity is playing on the stairs.  With the amber necklace she no longer allows us to put on her.  And yes, I do realize that that is potentially dangerous.  But she LOVES it and it's the only activity that keeps her entertained for more than five minutes.

And on the plus side, she's getting really good at going down on her own (she mastered up a long time ago).

We've also been taking a lot of walks and getting outside as much as possible.  Even with a stomach bug!

taking a break

and another...

who wants to ride when you can push?

happy as long as I have my bunnies!

mittens on!

 The best part of our walks (if they're downtown) is always feeding the ducks.

When it's too cold to go out but we want to get out of the house, we usually go play at the mall.  Unfortunately, last weekend the playground was closed.  At least there were balloons...

And RVs.

MiniM.E. has also been pretty good at playing at home.  Probably because we keep so busy that we aren't there much and she doesn't have a lot of time to be bored.

who can be bored when you're not wearing pants?

figuring it out

peek-a-boo!

LOVE this expression

 The best part of the day is always bath time.  MiniM.E. would spend days in the bath if I let her.

It's always nice to have a little extra time when your sick baby takes a long nap.  Hope she feels better when she wakes up!