These Four No More

The Best $2 Ever

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Sat, 26 May 2012 15:20:00 +0000

I've been in search of cheap, fun things for the girls to do this summer. We've already signed up for a dance class at a local church (4 lessons for $15), and we'll be visiting two local libraries for preschool story time on Tuesdays and Fridays (it's free and air conditioned). I'm sure we'll head to the mall's play area, and we've just invested in one of those mid-grade pop-up pools for the backyard.

I picked up a few things at the local Dollar Tree store, and these water pumps are a HUGE hit. I got my car cleaned, the flowers watered, and the porch mopped off, lol.

Her face kills me, lol

Can you guess who got squirt 1.6 seconds after this picture was taken???

Fakest smile ever

Wordless Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:51:00 +0000

8th Grade Day (A Few Days Late)

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:49:00 +0000

I'm fairly sure I'm still recovering from our 8th Grade Field Day on Friday. We spend the entire day out of class with 330+ students - having an awards ceremony, games, lunch, basketball game, ice cream, and year book signing. I also got a pretty nasty sun burn on my shins, lol.

The countdown is on - 3 full days, 3 exam days, and 3 teacher work days left!

And if you'd be so kind as to click the link below - we've fallen out of the top 10 :(

Happy 6 Months, Little Man!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Sat, 19 May 2012 20:34:00 +0000

I can't believe he is half way to being a year old!

8th Grade Dance

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:58:00 +0000

Last night was our 8th grade dance. Every year, the PTA moms go above and beyond to put on a really nice night for our students. I took Audrey for the first half of the dance, but she wasn't having it. I actually ended up switching and bringing Natalie back for the second half, and she had a blast. Unfortunately, it was starting to get dark and I didn't have my flash - so no pictures of the actual dance. The last dance was We Are Young and then entire 8th grade (all 300+ of them), crowded on the stage waving their arms - like something you'd see in an 80s movie. Overall, it was a very fun night.

Wordless Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:29:00 +0000

Mother's Day Silhouette Project

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:56:00 +0000

We have a lot of moms in our family, so I knew anything we did for Mother's Day would have to be inexpensive, but I also wanted it to be something that our moms and grandmas would cherish.

Growing up, I remember my grandma having silhouettes of my mom, aunt, and uncles hanging in her house. I always loved how simple and timeless they were. So I decided to try my hand in making some of our kids. But instead of the old fashioned shadow against dark black paper, and hours cutting out the tiny details in scissors, I turned to my computer.

First, I bribed the children (except Corbin, he was easy)to stand REALLY still and look at the wall. It helps if you use a background that doesn't appear in their skin tone or hair color. I had read a tutorial that said shooting a picture against a window would work, but Emma's was probably the hardest to do because the sun washed out some of her features and made them harder to select.

Then I opened up paint.net (which is a free download) and used the magic wand tool to select their profiles. It was definitely hit or miss, and took about 5-10 minutes to do. Once I was happy with the selection, I pasted it onto a white background, and filled it with black. I zoomed in to make sure I had filled every part black, and that it looked decently smooth. I chopped off their profiles at the shoulder, and saved the files.

I had purchased frames from Walmart that already came with the matting - $5 for the ones with four 3.5 x 5 slots, and $3 for the one with two 3.5 x 5 slots and the one 5 x 7 frame. I purchased scrapbook paper for about $0.22 a sheet at Hobby Lobby. I tried to pick colors I knew would match the decor and tastes of the moms I made the presents for.

I loaded the paper in my printer (I bought standard printer paper size, or cut the 12x12 paper down), and selected to print the 3.5 x5 pictures. I cut them out, and then taped them behind the matting.

Voila. A timeless, cherish-able, and inexpensive (less than $5.50) Mother's Day gift!

Friday Phone Dump

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Oh hai there!

Happy kiddos!

I am so in love with the storage the girls' beds have!

Corbin has a girlfriend ;)

It's 6:30am...and everyone is wide awake!

He's wearing 9 month clothing already

I love my lilies (I bought one small plant about 3 years ago)

My husband rocks!

I keep saying he is such a happy baby - and I really do mean that!

Natalie being goofy

Holy cheeks

Trying to eat his shoes that daddy bought him

Magnetic paper dolls = awesome

Almost done with the front yard!

Grab the button and play along on your blog!

Testing, Testing...

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:35:00 +0000

I'll go ahead and apologize for being MIA for most of this week. We have our state standardized tests this week, and we take it very seriously, yo (which might be why my students had almost a 90% passing rate last year, oh yeah!). When else do we hand out granola bars & water for breakfast, or give the kiddos chewing gum during class? Or when else do we spend 4+ hours with the same group of students who really have to go to the bathroom, and are so hungry I worry about becoming lunch?

And if there are any other teachers out there, you might appreciate the humor in this.

Severe Weather Testing Protocols

1. Should a severe weather situation occur during testing, please remain calm. To display any kind of anxiety would be a testing irregularity and must be reported.

2. Please do not look out the window to watch for approaching tornadoes. You must monitor the students at all times. To do otherwise would be a testing irregularity and must be reported.

3. Should students notice an approaching tornado and begin to cry, please make every effort to protect their testing materials from the flow of tears and sinus drainage.

4. Should a flying object come through your window during testing, please make every effort to ensure that it does not land on a testing booklet or an answer sheet. Please make sure to soften the landing of the flying object so that it will not disturb the students while testing.

5. Should shards of glass from a broken window come flying into the room, have the students use their bodies to shield their testing materials so that they will not be damaged. Have plenty of gauze on hand to ensure that no one accidentally bleeds on the answer documents. Damaged answer sheets will not scan properly.

6. Should gale force winds ensue, please have everyone stuff their test booklets and answer sheets into their shirts, being very careful not to bend them because bent answer documents will not scan properly.

7. If any student gets sucked into the vortex of the funnel cloud, please make sure they mark at least one answer before departing…and of course make sure they leave their answer sheets and test booklets behind. You will have to account for those.

8. Should a funnel cloud pick you, the test administrator, up and take you flying over the rainbow, you will still be required to account for all of your testing materials when you land so please take extra precautions. Remember, once you have checked them out, they should never leave your hands.

9. When rescue workers arrive to dig you out of the rubble, please make sure that they do not, at any time, look at or handle the testing materials. Once you have been treated for your injuries, you will still be responsible for checking your materials back in. Search dogs will not be allowed to sift through the rubble for lost tests, unless of course they have been through standardized test training.

Back on Track

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:14:00 +0000

I'm done with excuses, and I want y'all to help hold me accountable.

I am a measly 10 pounds less than I was right before giving birth to Corbin. Meaning, I weigh roughly what I weighed when I gave birth to twins. And I hate it. I have no pants that fit me that aren't a double digit number, I hate what I look like in the clothes I own, and I refuse to have my picture taken (it took some serious goading and guilt tripping by my husband to take my picture at the zoo this weekend).

And I don't want to live like that any more.

So what does this mean? It means that I went outside and ran for the first time since September 2010. And if you know me, you know this is huge. I don't run unless something's chasing me. Especially not in heat, with humidity, and on hills. But I completed Week 1 Day 1 of the C25K program on my phone, and ran/walked 1.5 miles in under 20 minutes.

I'm also canceling my gym membership. Wait, what? You heard me right. I've used the excuse that Eddie isn't home in time for my classes, the girls are in bad moods, or I don't want to take the baby to the gym, or I need to cook dinner, etc, etc. I'm scouring Craigslist for a used elliptical machine, so I can run inside when it is way too hot, or too cold out. Plus, I have several apps on my Kindle Fire that are step by step workouts. I did the 10 minute ab one last night, and I feel the burn today.

And maybe I'll post before pictures - if I'm brave enough, lol.

Do any of you have weight loss goals this year? How are you doing? What are you doing?

Riverbanks Zoo

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Sun, 06 May 2012 14:28:00 +0000

Yesterday, we loaded Emma & Corbin into the van and headed to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia. Eddie checked the weather before we left and said we'd have a high of 88 - sweet. Not so much - it was close to 96 there. We had to laugh when he found a t-shirt in the gift shop that said "Columbia: Famously Hot". Because, yeah, it is. Here in Greenville, we have breezes from the lakes and mountains. Near Charleston, the beach gives off a nice breeze. There's a reason Columbia is often referred to as the "armpit of the state", lol.

Anyway, the kids had so much fun! I had taken Natalie there for a playdate last year. Corbin only napped for about 30 minutes. He just loved to see the animals and people watch.

Love my boys!

Ready to see some animals

Looking at birds

Going on the Kangaroo Walkabout - you can actually walk amongst the Kangaroos. Except they were all laying near the air conditioner vent, lol.

Staying hydrated...with icees

OMG his shades slay me with cuteness

Giant snapping turtle

Inside the aquarium

The nosiest, stinkiest birds

Nap time

Penguins

Don't touch my icecream!

I really want one of these!

Feeding the birds

Going home!

The Donkey

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:00:00 +0000

First, some cute pictures of the girls outside yesterday. When I got home from work, I noticed that our new bushes looked a tad bit dry. And since we don't have a hose in the front yard yet, I had to fill up a watering can and water all 12 of them. Thankfully, the girls helped with their little watering cans, too.

And now you might be wondering why this post is titled "The Donkey". Well, I live in a small town, that is right smack dab in the middle of a huge county. Which means that I can drive 1 mile, and pass 4 churches, a grocery store, 3 gas stations, a handful of schools, and more. But it also means that right across my street I have two farms. One has goats and a horse, and the other has cattle. The girls have always loved living so close to the farms, and I've found them nice, quiet neighbors as well. Until this past week.

Eddie and I were in our room, after all the kids were put to bed, when we heard what could only be described as a dying, barking dog. Except the dog never died, and just kept going on and on. We were wondering what in the world could make such an awful noise, when Eddie said "I think it's a donkey". Um, ok husband of mine - I doubt it.

Except when we woke up the next morning, we realized that yes, indeed, our neighbors now owned a donkey. And it's the most miserable neighbor ever. It literally brays all night long, non stop.

The worst part? Corbin sounds like a small farm animal when he wakes up hungry, so I'm constantly waking up and playing the Peeta "real or not real" game, but it's more like "donkey or baby".

And just in case you've never heard a donkey - you're welcome:

The Princess Is Here

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Thu, 03 May 2012 12:52:00 +0000

This is Corbin's "Lawd help me, I have 3 sisters" face

Wordless Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Wed, 02 May 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Bedtime Routine

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Tue, 01 May 2012 13:42:00 +0000

Our bedtime routine is somewhat like a Choose Your Own Adventure book. We have one routine that takes about 30 minutes to get the girls to bed, and the other where they stay up for 2 extra hours. Here's how it works...

We eat dinner, I run a bath, gather jammies, and get the girls in while Eddie cleans up the kitchen. I quickly fold some laundry on my bed with Corbin while they splash like mermaids, and then go in to wash their hair and brush their teeth (yes, in the bathtub). Every other night I'll plop Corbin in his bath chair and the girls help bathe him. By this time, Eddie is done loading the dishwasher and helps me get all three down and wrangle clothes on them. I brush out hair, towel dry, and usually put pigtails in (well, not on Corbin).

Everyone heads out to the living room where we either watch Yo Gabba Gabba or Bedtime for Francis (which we fast forward through since it's kind of long). Eddie gets the girls a little bit of warmed milk, and I make Corbin a bottle for now, and an empty bottle of water to put in his room for when he wakes up between 5-6:30. Now here's where it gets interesting....

Option A: Eddie takes Corbin to his room, swaddles him, feeds him, and he's out like a light within 5 minutes. I take the girls to their room, read them one story and sing one song, tuck them in, and all hell breaks loose. They have to hug each other. They have to kiss each other. Audrey has to pee, Natalie has to pee. They can't find their 2,375 stuffed animals. They want a vitamin. Audrey smells poop. They need more lights on. It's too bright. They want chips. They want something. They need Mommy, Memaw, Nana, Annie, Eddie, Corbin, Santa, the Easter Bunny, and Jesus. They sing loudly. They'll try to switch beds. And this goes on, and on, and on until after I'm in bed and fed up and go in 5 times telling them to cut it out.

Option B: I take Corbin to his room, swaddle him, feed him, and he's out within 5 minutes. I enjoy the extra baby snuggles. And then I lock his door, and camp out for 30 minutes with my Kindle. Eddie tells the girls mommy had to go to the store, herds them into their room, reads them a story, tucks them in bed. AND THAT'S IT. Maybe every other night Audrey will ask to go to the bathroom. But they don't play games, whine, ask for extras, or stay up. I sneak back out to the living room, and we're able to enjoy some TV time together.

How does bedtime work in your house? Link up with my girl Melissa at Growing Up Geeky with your story.

Favorite New Mom Moments - $100 Target Giveaway Brought To You By Baby Orajel Naturals Tablets

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Tue, 01 May 2012 13:30:00 +0000

As I’m writing this, I sit here looking at my children and think how time has flown by. The girls are so big, learning new things every day. I swear just yesterday I was able to hold both in one arm, and now I’m barely able to hold both at the same time.

I remember the first time I saw the girls, and how tiny they seemed. At less than 4 pounds each, I was terrified of harming them. They spent two weeks in the NICU with trained nurses, so how was I supposed to handle taking care of two tiny, little beings?

But surely enough, we survived those first few days. I think my favorite new mom moment was saying to myself, “You can do this”.

And now, three and a half years later, I fondly look at pictures of them and get teary eyed. The little pink hats, footie pajamas, baby snuggles, and yes, even the farm animal grunting noises, are so precious. I really wish we could bottle those moments.

And then there’s Corbin, who is growing too fast for my liking. The night before he was born, I had a panic attack. How was I going to care for another baby? I wasn’t ready to have this many children at home! I begged him to stay in for a few more weeks, because I was scared.

And then I met him and fell so much in love. His big blue eyes, his pursed lips, his sweet little cries, which were barely louder than a cat mewling.

Being the last baby, he so far has been the easiest baby. Maybe it’s because I’m more confident of my mothering skills, or maybe it’s because he takes after his father and is laid back.

He’s already hit so many milestones: making eye contact, cooing, rolling over, big belly laughs, and trying so hard to sit up by himself. I swear the next time I turn around, he’ll be walking and talking.

In fact, after a few weeks of drooling and soaking his clothes, I think we’ve found the culprit - the start of his little, bitty baby teeth popping through.

He chews on his hands, though he prefers chewing on fabric like bibs and lovies (and is it weird that none of my kids really took to the pacifier but all loved chewing on fabric?). I thought about using a teething necklace, but I was worried that one of his big sisters might try to yank it off of him.

So, I tried Baby Orajel Naturals Teething Tablets, a homeopathic remedy made of Chamomilla. At first, I was hesitant about giving a 4.5 month old a tiny tablet. But they really are small and dissolve very quickly. What I like the most is that they seem to pacify Corbin when he seems especially cranky or drooly.

What was your favorite moment as a new mom? Share yours in the comments section to be entered for a chance to win a $100 Target gift card, courtesy of BlogHer and Baby Orajel Naturals!

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 5/1 – 5/31/2012.

Be sure to visit the Baby Orajel page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers' reviews and find more chances to win.

Orajel® is a registered trademark of Church & Dwight.

iMove

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 17:51:00 +0000

What a tiring weekend! I swear I feel like I didn't do anything but work and do laundry. Luckily, we're within the final countdown (I think less than 25 days) of school until we're out for summer. Unfortunately, in that time we have district level benchmark tests, state standardized testing, awards night, 8th grade dance, 8th grade field day, final exams, and grades due - on top of managing a student body that really doesn't want to be here, lol. I'm tired just reading that! Our school had a fundraising 5k on Saturday that I volunteered at - to help out in our community, and within our school. Overall, I think it was a great success.

Zumba warmup

National Anthem

Getting ready to start

And go!

My co-worker and her daughter (she's 2 months older than the girls)

This little guy ran half of the race!

And the boy in the red was our winner - coming in around 17 minutes! It was also nice to see some of my former students

Random Ramblings

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:59:00 +0000

Is it just me, or does the new blogger format put wonky spaces in between pictures and paragraphs if you switch from the compose to html format? For instance, it will NOT let me put spaces between these bullet points (phew, switched back to the old interface and it worked). Grrrr. I'm not sure how well I like it.
I have 25 days of school left - they can't fly by fast enough! Especially after the day I had yesterday. During class change, we're required to stand in the hallway to monitor traffic. In that time, I had a student come into my classroom and hide underneath my couch cushions. Y'all, I can't make stuff like this up. I came in, took attendance (marking said student absent), and started teaching. About 5 minutes in, I noticed another student (his buddy) laughing and looking that way, and I figured it out. But the rest of the class was on task, working, and I didn't want to interrupt them. So, I decided to let it be until after my lesson - and to see how long he'd stay hidden. 30 minutes later, he rolled out and started laughing. I hit the button on the wall, had an administrator come to my room (for the first time in 8 years) and escort him off. And then the whole class and I started laughing. Oh my goodness, WHO does something like that?
I finally went to Zumba again for the first time in a long time. I used to take the Hip Hop class at my gym, but the teacher started teaching elsewhere (too far away), and I'm not that great of a Latin dancer, anyway. So, I stopped going for about a year (well, and was also pregnant). But they now have a new teacher, and she does more Hip Hop moves/music, so I'm hoping to go at least once or twice a week. I also love doing Pilates on Tuesdays & Thursdays. Operation Lose 30 Pounds of Baby Weight is a GO!
I'm not sure the cold turkey on pull-ups is going to work all that well. Audrey, who has been pee/poop trained for a year, had accidents two nights in a row. She is SO sensitive about it, too. I don't want to upset her, because I really don't think she can help it (she's a deep, fitful sleeper). I have insisted that Natalie wears her princess panties, and she had to throw away two pairs yesterday. I made her take them off, dump the poo in the potty, flush, and throw the panties in a trash bag. And when she had an accident while wearing her tutu, I made her throw that away as well. THAT really made her mad. Also, we sat down and negotiated, and her prize for being completely poop trained is....wait for it...don't laugh too hard....a mermaid tail. And not a Disney Princess dress up costume, a certified tail that she can wear in the bathtub. So I figured I should probably search etsy, and sure enough - I found one.
I'd really like to take some small trip with the kids this summer. But finding somewhere for the 6 of us to go, not too far away, for not a lot of money, that has age appropriate fun stuff to do is proving to be a fairly hard task. So if you know of anything that would fit that criteria, within a few hours drive from Upstate South Carolina - leave a comment!

My Little Ewok

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 02:21:00 +0000

I call Corbin my little Ewok all the time. Maybe it's the ears, or the cute face - I dunno. But he sure is the most cute, slobbery, little baby boy I've ever had.

A Pull-Update

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:52:00 +0000

So I followed the advice of many and we've done away with pull-ups in the house. The only time Audrey used them was at bedtime, because the girls' bedtime routine is dinner, bath, milk, Yo Gabba Gabba, brush teeth, story, and bed. Last night, we cut out the milk after bath time and watched Elmo's Potty Time instead of Gabba. There was almost a full blown riot over no milk, but I compromised by offering peanuts instead (I know, random, right?).

I also had 3 of those hospital bed pads from my pregnancy with the girls. A nurse had sent them home with me after my month long hospital stay just in case I needed them. So, I put those on their beds. I also added two little night lights (they have these LED star lights adhered to their beds as well), and a lamp in the bathroom. I gave them the pep talk that if they needed to go potty in the middle of the night, that they needed to just wake up and go. They shouldn't cry, wake each other up, or wake me up (unless they pooped and needed to be wiped).

And you know what? Natalie woke up dry! I gave her a huge hug and told her how proud I was of her, and that she was a big girl. Audrey had a small accident, but it must have happened around 6:30 when I was in the shower, because I had checked in on her before and she was dry.

I'm making sticker charts today to see if that helps with the pooping issues with Natalie. Though she doesn't do well when it comes to paper & stickers (she's half goat, half shredder) - so we'll see how well it holds up.

A Post About Poop

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:58:00 +0000

Please, someone tell me that Natalie will be potty trained before this Fall when she starts preschool (and they don't change pull-ups)! I mean, at this rate I feel like Corbin will be potty trained before she is. Seeing that this child waited until she was 22 months old to start walking, enduring test after test with an official diagnosis by Shriner's Hospital as "stubborn" - she might just be wearing Depends to college.

She is great at going #1 - but we're dealing with a #2 issue here. A handful of times she's gone #2 in the potty, followed by a phone call to me that she just "pooped a castle" and wanted "two pink prizes". So I know she is able to, but at this point in time, she's not wanting to.

Natalie won't tell us when she's gone #2 - we either have to smell it, find it (yeah, this is gross), or Audrey yells, "Sis smells like pooooooop!".
Natalie wears undies during the day, because if she's in a pull-up, she'll wet in it as well. She will purposefully not wear the cute Rapunzel & Hello Kitty ones, because "I don't care if I have to throw the white ones away - they're not princess panties anyway".
She has been known to take off her undies, and put on a pull-up by herself to poop in
She waits until 10 minutes after I put her to bed to poop. And then I change her. And then she poops 10 minutes later. Basically delaying bedtime for 30 minutes.
Last night, in a sing song voice, she said "I'm gonna crap again, and you're gonna change it!". First - where'd you learn the word crap, kid? Second, it took ever fiber of my being not to either bust out laughing, or glue her to the toilet.

Can anyone out there commiserate? It's so hard not to compare children, and especially children born 2 minutes apart - so I do have to keep reminding myself how different they are (Audrey's been trained for a year). Any ideas? Suggestions? Donations to the pull-up fund? LOL.

Sisters

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 20:12:00 +0000

Friday Phone Dump

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:06:00 +0000

Ok, I'm starting something new here. If you have a Friday Phone Dump post, feel free to link it up! Also, try grabbing the button below and adding it to your post.

Snug as a bug in a...woombie

Corbin going in for the kill on the Kindle. His grasp is so strong!

A picture of a picture I took for the wedding I helped shoot this past weekend

Why yes, that's Natalie in one of Corbin's woombies, lol
Sleeping Audrey

Sleeping Natalie

He loves his lovies

But not as much as he loves food (but I couldn't get this picture to upload all the way...)

5 Months Old

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:09:00 +0000

Corbin is now 5 months old!
If I had to guess, I'd say he weighs at least 15 or 16 pounds.
We're already up to size 3 diapers (the girls wear size 4, lol) and outgrowing 6 month clothing.
He loves blowing bubbles, and if you blow them, he'll blow them back.
He still has blue eyes, and his hair is a light brownish color (like mine).
Corbin can roll over from front to back - and back to front. However, he would much rather fall asleep during tummy time instead.
He adores all 3 of his big sisters. Anytime they are around, he is watching them. I have a feeling they'll be thick as thieves pretty soon!
Corbin had been tripod-ing for the past few weeks. Anytime he is flat on his back or in his chair, he tries to sit up. Little dude is strong!
Corbin loves his jumperoo, and wants nothing with sitting. He'd much rather stand while we're holding him, and attempt to take steps. I really do think he'll be my earliest walker (Audrey was 12.5 months, Natalie was freaking 22 months old!).
He loves playing with his Oball. It's perfect for him to grab and try to shove in his mouth.
EVERYTHING goes in his mouth. He's even trying to shove his feet in - and the poor fellow is not nearly as limber as his sisters were. I'm willing to be his teeth are going to pop out soon.
He sleeps a good 9-11 hour stretch at night. Yes, he is a magical baby. You know, the kind you always hear about, but then have children who wake up every hour instead (ahem, Audrey & Natalie).
He has started babbling a whole lot more, but the past few days has been hoarse. We think it's allergies because everything here is blooming.

Blog Stats

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Wike) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 12:02:00 +0000

You know, my favorite thing to do every now & then is pull up my site statistics for my blog. For instance, my top 5 sites that refer people to me are (http://lettenbergertwins.blogspot.com/, http://www.pyjammy.com/, http://www.astheforestegrows.com/, top mommy blogs, and pinterest).

But even better than that, are some of the search terms people plug into Google and find my site with. Here's just a few of the more recent ones.

Monthly income from blogher kellys korner blog - Dude, I don't know, but it HAS to be a lot. I'm willing to bet at least 10 times what I make from BlogHer - which would be more than I make teaching.

Living room wall art - I guess this post is fairly helpful for people? It's gotten 75 visits from search engines in the past week.

Kellys korner haters - Ok, this makes me sad. I adore reading Kelly's blog, because it's a life that I don't lead. You know, the perfectly put together mom with kids always wearing nice clothes, bouncing off to party after party. I'm lucky if my hair isn't in a ponytail and my kids don't look homeless. She just seems so sweet. (Update: y'all, I just got 24 hits in less than one day for this term. Why do people hate on her? If you searched and landed here, would you mind sharing?)

alice in wonderland costume - Hey ya'll? It's April. Why, oh why, are you searching for Halloween costumes already? Psssh, just kidding. You totally know I am, too.

mckmama without pity - Ok, I'll own up to reading this one. I mean - I can't imagine having the balls to be a "Christian" blogger, all the while pushing diet pills, running away from nearly a million dollars of debt, and spinning the truth a million and a half ways. It's like a reality tv train-wreck for those of us who don't have cable.

little gym birthday - two words for you: do it! The girls had their 2nd and 3rd birthday parties there, and the staff and location was awesome. You literally just have to show up (unless your lifetime goal is to end up on Kara's Party Ideas and you spend countless hours cutting out mermaids for your children who decide the NIGHT BEFORE that they want a Rapunzel party instead).

burt reynolds vaseline - so, the time Natalie decided to take a tube of baby orajel toothpaste and smear it on her toy piano, and herself - it so reminded me of Burt Reynolds in Striptease. So I spent a good bit trying to find a picture of it. And apparently, other people do, too.

Scary Elmo - This post tells the tale of how my children were traumatized by a 6' tall scraggly looking Elmo - and how they were horrified at the children who were beat the crap out of an Elmo pinata.