Baby Bookworms : May

Even when it's hot, Ida loves to crawl under the covers and read a good book. Ida picks a lot of the same books to read over and over, but Cora is always picking a new favorite. Thanks to Cora's birthday, we have lots of new options to pick from.

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Boy + Bot - A fun little story about a boy finding a robot friend. 

The Book With No Pictures - My girls love to giggle at this book and it definitely lives up to the hype

Rosie Revere Engineer - A cute book about a young girl that wants to be an engineer and comes up with all kinds of inventions. I love having books that encourage girls to use their brain and follow their dreams. There is also a workbook that goes along with this that I've already added to our 'to buy' list. This author also has some other cute books like Ada Twist Scientist and Iggy Peck, Architect that I'm also adding to Cora's list. 

The Story of Ferdinand - Cora and I went on a date to see the movie this winter and now we're loving reading the book together. It's a classic, but somehow I've never read it until this month when it was gifted to Cora for her birthday.

Paddington - Another classic loved by both my girls.

Where's Waldo? The Wonder Book - Cora got this for her birthday and it has been a favorite the entire month. We all love to sit down and search for Waldo and the other characters. We make a little competition out of it and love to brag about who found the most on each page.

Sunny Day Point 'n' Match - I feel like I share this one every month, but it is seriously Ida's favorite!

Losing Teeth and Preschool Graduation

Last week was a big week for Cora. Cora had a loose tooth for weeks and kept saying she was going to pull it out of her mouth on stage at "gradulation". The day before her last day of school, she negotiated having me pull her tooth out if we could go out for treats. I agreed and we pulled her tooth out and went out for ice cream. She was so excited to tell everyone we crossed paths with that she lost her first tooth.

Cora had her last day of school and I was sad to say goodbye to the school she's been going to for the last 3 years. I'm not 100% sure that's where we'll send Ida (there are lots of schools closer to us and we have to figure out schedules), so I was extra sad to say goodbye. I don't think Cora really realizes she'll be starting a new school next year with all new friends, but she's excited to enjoy the pool and vacation this summer.

The school had a little graduation ceremony with a slideshow and singing. Ida was not happy in the audience and ran up and tackled Cora. I love these sweet sisters, but a bit embarrassing that she was such a wild baby that evening. They had cake and refreshments after and Cora loved running around with her friends at their last school event.

I took a couple pictures of Cora when we got home. I can't believe how fast she is growing and that she will already be in Kindergarten next year. It has been such an adventure mothering this sweet girly and I'm looking forward to what the years ahead have in store for her. 

Vegetable Garden: Getting Things Planted

We had a bit of a false start to our garden with the seeds we started indoors. When I got my wisdom teeth out, I must have forgotten to water them or something and almost everything died... It's all a learning experience and we enjoyed watching them grow. 

Around Easter, we started setting up the raised beds, lining them with cardboard, and then adding in some bags of dirt. I severely underestimated the amount of dirt that I would need and barely filled one bed halfway. We planted some of the beans outside, but that ended up being another fail due to the weather (womp, womp). Despite all the failures so far this season, we're still enjoying ourselves. The girls love watering our plants, digging in the dirt, and running around outside.

My dad gifted me a dirt delivery for Mother's day and it was the perfect gift. The girls loved it! They climbed all over the pile while I worked hard filling the beds. I'll use the remainder of the dirt to fill in some wonky spots in our yard and front garden.

Cora's school had a fundraiser with Benken, so I purchased a flat through them and picked up a bunch of vegetables. I picked some tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, sweet peppers, bell peppers, spaghetti squash, zucchini, and some watermelon. I'm loving how easy it is to start a garden from plants.

I didn't really plan the garden out much, but I'm giving each plant plenty of room and I'm hoping it just works out well. We started a couple seeds last week and planted them early this week. We still have a couple plants to put out here, but it's shaping up nicely so far this year.

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Walks With Ida : Our Backyard

I love our backyard in the evenings when the sun shines through the trees. We spent the late afternoon working in the garden and running around the yard. Ida is my nature baby and I've loved watching as she explored our little space. These pictures reminded me a little bit of a sunny walk with Cora when she was around 18 months old. I'm thinking about framing one of these pictures to go along with Cora's sunny walk we have hanging in our 'book nook' area upstairs.

Cora was with us, but doing her own thing running around with Clovey and picking flowers.

Life With Ida : 20 Months

Busy month with my Ida boo. We have had so many activities with Cora's birthday and Ida has been such a trooper. She's done her best trying to run around with the big kids and play with them when she can, but always checks in with her momma for cuddles.

Ida loves the warmer weather and she's constantly asking to go outside. We had a fun trip to the zoo and she had the best time. I can't wait to get her back for many trips to the zoo this summer. Most days she's up for a little walk down the street. Ida walks (more like runs) halfway then rides in the backpack on the way back.

Ida is learning more and more words. She is way more vocal now than she was a month ago. It seems like Ida whispers words and practices them until she is really confident and then says them loudly. I love the little words she chooses to whisper and how each time she speaks its a surprise.

I love her little giggles and scrunchy laugh face. She is so giggly... especially when she is doing something sneaky. When Cora isn't looking, Ida loves to play with her toys or sneak into her tent. She loves to be chased and is never stops giggling when it's chase time.

My camera roll is full of sleeping baby pics of my kids... There is nothing better than a sleeping baby! Ida is still co-sleeping, but I'm slowly working on trying to get her out of the my bed by her 2nd birthday. We're trying to decide what we want to do with their room. Bunk beds? queen bed? We will see, but for now, I love my sweet Ida cuddles.

Ida has been working on her craft skills a lot this month. She painted for the first time this month and loved it. Ida also loves to color. She joins in the coloring every chance she gets. She is still coloring on her hands and legs, but keeps it off the walls and table... so I'm not too upset about it.

Thanks to the warmer weather, we're enjoying lots of time outside. Ida loves to hang out on the porch and especially loves popsicles on the porch. Her sister loves to play with the neighbors, but Ida prefers to stay on our own porch or do her own thing.

I can't believe how fast she is growing, but I am loving it! I am so looking forward to this summer and all of the adventure that we have coming up.