Miss Florida

The Miss Florida Pageant is here in Miami and apparently staying at the Hilton where we are. I've seen a dozen 7-10 year old girls running around in white wedding-ish dresses with tiaras last night when we were checking in. And then they were all swimming and running around the pool this afternoon. I haven't seen any of the adult Miss Floridas yet.

Lounging by the pool in Miami

So we got into Miami last night at around 9:30PM EST.

While John is at work, this is what I've done so far:

11:00am - Breakfast (room service of course)
12:00pm - Lounging by the pool and reading Rick Steve's London 2005 (in preparation for our trip)
2:00pm - Lunch by the pool (chicken ceasar salad and a virgin pina colada)
2:30pm -Lounging again
2:45pm - It starts to rain like crazy
3:00pm - Walking around the hotel for something to do. I found some very colorful friends.

Daddy's Ami

John and I are headed off on our first trip without the kids - ever. VISA has asked John to attend a meeting in Miami. He was there a few months ago with his VP and SVP and they went to Joe's Stone Crab. He came back raving about the stone crab. So with this opportunity to go back, he wanted me to go along and try the "best crab in the world" since the trip will be paid for, with the exception of my plane ticket. So, it'll be the most expensive crab in the world, too.

Lauryn was sitting next to me watching tv one night as I was on the phone with Yo and telling her that we're going to Miami. Hearing that, Lauryn said, "Mommy, not your Ami! Daddy's Ami!" I stared at her blankly for about 30 seconds. Then I had to laugh. John apparently had told her that he was going to "My Ami".

So anyways, John's mom is going to be staying at our house and watching the kids while we're gone. She's also going to be staying with the kids when we head to London a week after we get back from Miami.

*Sigh*, I miss my girls already....

Do you TIVO?

John's been wanting a TIVO for a while, so for Father's Day, I said we could buy a tivo. He found a guy selling a new one on craigslist that came with a $155 credit for the service, so he bought it. He was soooo excited. He's been playing with it everynight since. He saw a deal on the tivo site and bought another one....well, it was actually a free box, but you still have to pay for the service. How crazy are we?

So things we're tivo'ing right now:
Dora the Explorer
Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends
Blue's Clues
Kim Possible
Jackie Chan Adventures
NBA Finals
American Chopper
X-Men
Top Ten Ways to Win in Vegas
Oprah

I'll let you guess who's shows are who's.

Pig Tails!

I finally found a cute hairstyle for Sydney! The pig tails work! Before, I think her hair was so wild and out of control that she looked like a mop. I tried the headband thing and it just kept sliding off her head. And clips weren't staying in either. She actually looks like a little girl now!

Steppin' Up

Lauryn just completed her first year at Sea Breeze Preschool. Last Thursday the class had a Step Up Celebration and sang songs with motions for their families and friends.

All the kids learned and practiced their songs throughout the weeks before the big day. Lauryn was so excited to sing her songs to everyone who would come over to our house.

On the big day....we waited for her big smile and motions to the songs she had been singing nonstop for weeks. During the performance, I swear I have never seen her stand so still and so quietly for that long - EVER. Her hands were folded neatly in front of her almost the entire time.

We finally got a few shots of her doing a couple of the motions. That night, at home, she sang and did all the motions for us on video.

When we asked her what happened at school, she said that she didn't want all the other mommys and daddys to look at her, only us.

Here's one of the poems:
A Fuzzy Wuzzy caterpillar wiggled up a tree.
It wiggled long, it wiggled short,
It wiggled right to me.

I put it in a covered box.
Now don't go away, I said.
But when I looked inside the box,
There was a butterfly instead.

I could never make one, even if I tried.
Only God in heaven can make a butterfly.

Our little caterpillar is becoming a butterfly...

Father's Day Prayer

Sometimes at bedtime, Lauryn will pick a name from her nightstand (written on individual strips of paper, made with one of her teachers at our church's preschool class) to pray for specifically. Befitting of Father's Day, she happened to pick Daddy. This is what she prayed:

"God, please help daddy not to leave the toilet seat up and so I have to put it down for him everyday. Please help him not to leave his toothbrush downstairs."

Then I asked her to thank God for things that she loves about her daddy.

"God, thank you for my daddy. Thank you for letting him play with me and making me yummy food to eat. I love it when he makes me laugh and calls me 'Cutie'. Thank you for daddy being silly cuz I'm a silly girl."

Sydney and the Zippy

I was a little obsessed a few months ago about finding a new stroller for Sydney. I had been reading the message boards to find out what everyone liked and didn't like. There's a great forum on baby products that I like to check at Baby Bargains Book.

My history with strollers hasn't been too great. Our first was a Graco Metrolite that lasted about a year. I liked the lightweight frame and the large basket, but the padding was stiff and when the seat was reclined, or the infant seat was snapped in, you couldn't reach into the basket at all. It finally stopped opening.

Our second stroller was a Combi Z that I got off of ebay for $80. It was super lightweight, had a cupholder and decent padding. However, the basket was small and after a while the steering was stiff. We took it to DC and John broke the napper bar on it carrying it up and down the stairs to see JFK's grave.

My next one was the Maclaren Volo. I ordered it through a friend of a friend's employee discount at Babystyle.com. I paid about $75. Oh my gosh! I loved this stroller! It was light as a feather and mesh. The steering was amazing! No other stroller can beat the steering on Macs. It was perfect for when we lived in SF during our remodeling. Grandma Lucy would push Lauryn in it to go buy groceries.

So why did I need to buy another one? Well, when we had Sydney, I bought the Swan Snap N Go stroller frame from the same contact at Babystyle.com during a sale. I paid about $25 for it. And since we kept Sydney in her infant seat until she was 11 months old, it served us really well. It was light and had a large basket. The only thing I didn't like was that the basket was not easily accessible with the car seat snapped in.

Eventually, we thought we had kept Sydney in her infant seat far too long. Her legs were sticking out about 2 inches, so I got her a convertible...The Britax Roundabout.

So left with the only stroller I had, I put her in the Mac Volo. It was so easy to push and so light and small. I thought it was going to be perfect....Until I took her shopping one day at Stanford. She fell asleep in the stroller. But the stroller doesn't recline! She looked very uncomfortable with her head flopping and tilted forward. So I would walk around with the stroller's front wheels doing a wheelie. But doing that, I couldn't do anything else.

So...I finally got our newest stroller, the Zippy by Inglesina. I got it from Babycenter.com from a friend who works there. Thanks Fran! There's a toddler step on the back of it, and Lauryn loves to ride on the back. The padding is very comfortable and it reclines all the way. The steering is nice, but not as nice as the Mac. The only thing is that it's heavy compared to what I was used to. I think this is close to 18lbs compared to the Volo which is around 9 lbs. But it has an amazingly easy one hand close.

If you know Sydney, you know she can sleep just about anywhere, even now. When she eventually grows out of napping on the go, we'll go back to the Volo.

My next obsession is a diaper bag that actually makes life easier....

John says I have OCD. Do I though? Do I?

Kids and Bark

What is it with kids and bark? For some reason, they think it's food. Sydney obviously thinks that it's a new cereal and she's sitting in lots of it, so might as well try some. Lauryn used to do the same thing when we went to the park by our house.

This was taken when I went on a field trip with Lauryn's class this past Thursday. We walked to a nearby park, and the kids got to play and blow bubbles. Sydney and the other younger siblings watched and played as well.

Lauryn decided she wanted me to take pictures of all her friends...one at a time.

After the park, the kids got to have ice cream sundaes back in their classroom.

Lauryn's Preschool Birthday

Since Lauryn's Birthday is in the summer, we thought she wouldn't be able to celebrate it with her class. But to our surprise, her teachers always take a day right before the end of the school year to celebrate all the summer birthdays. Lauryn happened to be the only one. So we brought ice cream cups and treat bags for her whole class.

This picture shows one of her teachers, Mrs. Price, putting the birthday hat on Lauryn. Lauryn apparently had fallen and scraped her knee right before the party and was having a "moment". Our drama queen/birthday girl was so injured she couldn't enjoy herself until Mrs. Price put a band-aid on her knee. She was fine right after, and enjoyed her ice cream and passing out the treat bags to all of her friends.

Johanna's Birthday Party

We had a great time at Johanna's 4th Birthday Swim Party. Here is Lauryn with her friends Marissa and Ashlyn. Lauryn was so sad when the party was over. Now we have to look into swim lessons!