Our favorite children's musician

We were lucky to find Patty Shukla while we were in Florida over the winter. She writes her own children's music and does performances all over Palm Beach County. She also held Mommy & Me classes that I took Michael to almost every week. He loved it and I loved it. We miss her classes now that we are back in California. 

We listen to her CD all the time in the car though. This morning, coming home from Easter church and brunch was no exception. This was the song that started playing in the car:
Patty Shukla - The Elephant Song


It was so awesome because Michael is really starting to know and sing outloud all the words. Chris and I looked at each other, completely stunned, as he was almost able to sing this song to us! It was so cool.

One of Chris's favorite songs from this CD is this one: Little Red.

Check out all the video's and music on You Tube and iTunes. And if you are ever wondering what we are listening to in the car, you know it's "Miss Patty's Guitar."

Strawberry juice

It's the time of the year when all the strawberry stands pop up on the corners of the farmer's fields out here in the Central Valley, CA. There is so much grown in the valley, the chances are very likely you have something in your kitchen that was grown here. It's good for us when we can buy this beautiful, fresh fruit and nuts just steps from our home! It's not always great for our allergies with everything blooming, but we manage.

Yesterday, we bought a big box of these beauties. Michael loves strawberries. He calls them "strawbabies." They are so juicy the juice was dripping down his mouth onto his chin. His shirt was full of strawberry juice yesterday! They go bad fast though so we'll be eating them at every meal for a couple of days!

There is a farm a little north of where we live that does "U-Pick." We will go there and pick off the trees and bushes what looks good to us and then pay for it. We may head out there soon to see what they have. I have really fond memories of picking strawberries with my mom, sister and brother at a little farm off Donald Ross Road in Jupiter, FL. That land is now a major mecca of shopping, dining, housing and baseball stadiums. Hopefully these little U-Pick farms will continue to survive, its a great way to teach our kids where our food comes from and its a fun family outing for all of us. Do you all have any U-Pick farms near your home?

The fun just never ends

The first picture is of Michael and Chris at the Friday gymnastics indoor playtime. I just love his smile here. He LOVES this place. We go every Tuesday and Friday. The last 3 pictures are from our friend's 2nd birthday party. Michael had a blast! It was a Bingo's in Visalia, Ca. The pizza picture cracks me up because he just looks so tired. After an hour at these bounce houses, he is wiped. The cupcake picture was taken pre-meltdown. He wanted to do it the way he wanted to do it. Daddy was apparently touching the cupcake wrong. It was funny to us, not to him. And the blue Croc's. You will be seeing those in every picture this spring. He loves them, would wear them to bed if we let him.

My lost maternity clothes

When I was pregnant last year, I had this nagging feeling that I had lost some of my maternity clothes. But I searched my closet and put it out of my mind. It turns out they were not lost, but just buried at the bottom of a bin of Michael's old clothes that I saved for Luke. Why I thought that would be a good place for them, who knows. But there were some cute items! A good pair of jeans and some cute tops! I wish I had them last year.

For a fleeting second I thought to myself: Hey, maybe I need to have a 3rd baby just so I can get some more usage out of these cute maternity clothes. I even verbalized this thought to Chris who got a big smile on his face.

I immediately came to my senses. Cute. Maternity. Clothes. Can't believe I actually had that thought. More importantly: I'm bordering on insanity with that thought. It is the sleep deprived part of my mind talking. Funny how sleep deprivation will make me think crazy thoughts!

The car seat dilemma

Before I had two children, I always naively assumed that any baby would:
1. Take a pacifier
2. Drink from a bottle
3. Love car rides

Neither Michael or Luke will take a pacifier or bottle. Believe me when I say I've tried. Michael loved car rides and still does! Luke hates them! We just recently switched out his car seat from the Graco infant car seat to the Britax Marathon convertible seat. He still hates car rides. I guess we will just have to deal with frayed nerves in the car for a little while longer. He will eventually get used to the car and not cry, right?

This kid has the life

Here is a picture of Michael basking in the primary color explosion that is a parachute. At first, he was not sure what to think of this huge thing. Now, he will lay on it and Daddy pulls him all around. He plays hide and seek in it too.

One of the cool things that Hanford, CA has is the United Gymnastics Academy.  On Tuesday's and Friday's they offer indoor playtime. There are a bunch of soft play mats and trampolines for the kids to play on (like what you would find at any Gymboree).

Michael LOVES it! I find, at his age, it is more fun for him, and easier on me, when he has unstructured playtime. He can just run, bounce, jump, and explore without me or an instructor telling him how to do it. Usually after 45 minutes of this he is completely wiped and he will head to the door. It's his way of telling me: Mom, let's go! But the smile on his face when we pull up each week reminds me of how much he loves his playtime here. I think I love it more!

The three greatest inventions

#1. Penicillin and modern medicine (vaccines, etc).
#2. The Air Conditioning Unit. It revolutionized the south. Without it, the southern U.S. surely would not be as populated as it is now.
#3. The Comfy Baby Nasal Aspirator.  I found this in the One Step Ahead catalog. 

You are thinking: comfy+nasal aspirator=Molly is crazy. Maybe. But the snot running through my house right now could fill a gallon milk jug. I detest the bulb suctions because I feel like I am sticking a pen up my child's nose. This thing is amazing. It just barely enters the nose and you can pull the snot out with even the gentlest of suctioning. I know it looks gross, but it is so much easier than the regular bulb suction. Trust me on this one, I'm off to suction another nose. Oh, and after you read this: please say a prayer that this snot leaves my house soon! I am so tired of being sick and my babies being sick!