You know you eat at Chick-fil-A too often when...

the employees greet your 4-year-old by name.

Booger and Piggies

When Joey was a toddler, she named her feet.  Yes, she named her feet.  They were affectionately called "Booger" and "Piggies."

She no longer refers to her feet by name, but it cracks me up to think about it.

Pictures of cute kids and some words

I used to be so anti-dressing-your-kids-exactly-the-same-for-pictures-or-whatever.  It's so much cuter to dress them in outfits that go together, but don't necessarily match.

But this is what I learned:  it's hard to coordinate complementary outfits for two (or more) children.  And I'm lucky if we can get out the door to get their photographs taken.  Fortunately our children they are the same gender, so Paul doesn't need to worry about me putting a boy in a dress.  After a true attempt to dress my girls not-matchy-matchy, I fell off the wagon. 

See Exhibit A:

And then I discovered that when both of the girls need clothes, it's a little easier to buy them each the same outfit.  If I like an outfit, why not like it twice? 

See Exhibit B:

Oops, I did this a while ago too.  See Exhibit C:

Poor Charlotte will be wearing the same outfit for years.

I have, indeed, fallen off the face of the earth

Sort of.  It's been months since I've blogged regularly, and I've hardly even been on Facebook.  What can I say?  Between working, chasing the kids around, and Fresh Beat reruns, it's hard to keep up with other stuff.  I'm going to make an effort to do a little better at keeping in touch.  I know you miss me.

Here's the obligatory cute kid photo:

And another:

And one more:

*All photos were stolen from Paul's facebook page.

For Joey's Mensa application:

I feel the need to share my daughter's genius.  Joey (3) found a gift under the Christmas tree that didn't have a tag, so she found a tag, wrote her name on it, and slapped it on the gift.  Pure genius.

Joey-isms

Joey is three years eight months old and growing up much too fast.

We had some rough times (terrible twos, terrible threes), but Joey has become such a sweet, considerate little girl.  Most of the time, anyway!  She adores Charlotte and takes pride in being a good big sister; she will stop what she's doing to give Charlotte some loving when she wants some attention.  Joey is learning how to write her name and she drew her first self portrait a few weeks ago.

Here are some tidbits about my favorite three-year-old:

Interests: 
princesses, Shrek

Favorite Game:
dress-up

Favorite Color:
green

Favorite Number:
three (because she's three)

Favorite hangouts: 
Chick-fil-A, Barnes & Noble

Favorite books: 
Pinkalicious; Disney princess stories

Most-watched movie: 
Tangled

What she wishes for on a star:
a Princess Tiana doll

Check out Joey-isms from a year ago. 

Happy Halloween Part Deux

Joey was a baby vampire, too!

I see London, I see France…

Yep, folks, we can all see Joey's underpants.

My little princess insists on wearing skirts every day. Mostly tutus, if we want to be specific. It doesn't bother me in the least. Skirts are easier than pants when it's time to use the potty. And she looks pretty darn cute in a tutu.

Today Joey's teacher mentioned that the boys were noticing her underpants and that it would be better to send her to school with shorts under her skirt. She doesn't really understand the concept of modesty yet, but I don't want for her to be teased. Searching online, I found modesty shorts called Monkeybar Buddies, but at $16 a pop, I quickly determined that I could do better.

I decided to make modesty shorts for Joey. Not from scratch, mind you. The plan was to purchase leggings and shorten them. I went to babyGap, which was offering an additional 25% off their sale items, plus another 10% for using a GapCard, and got four pairs of leggings for about $3.50 each. Next I went to Target and got two more pairs, also $3.50 each.

First, I washed and dried them to prevent additional shrinkage.

Next, I made the cuts. A rotary cutter and self-healing cutting mat would have come in very handy, but I just used good old-fashioned scissors. Well, maybe not good scissors, but scissors. I have a rotary cutter but not a self-healing cutting mat (hint, hint). I cut the length about two inches longer than I wanted them to allow for the hem.

I turned the pants inside-out and folded the raw edge over twice and ironed. This way I didn't need to pin. I don't pin. I'm lazy.

I stitched the hem with a plain old straight stitch, but kept the stitches somewhat loose. I worried that if the stitches were tight that they might pop. It all worked great for the first leg, but then I ran out of thread. So one leg has two different thread colors. At least it's on the inside.

The results? I think they look great, but I guess we'll see in the morning when Joey gets dressed. One down, five to go…

Charlotte's First Food

It's been a long time since I've blogged, but life gets in the way sometimes.  I started a new job, which I'm really enjoying, and Joey and Charlotte are at daycare full time.  Charlotte loves the nursery and while Joey is doing well at school, it's a bigger adjustment for her.

This evening I gave Charlotte her first taste of solid food.  Well, solid-ish.  She tried rice cereal but wasn't really thrilled with it.  For some reason only part of my video uploaded, but check it our for her reaction.

The video below is Joey's first experience with rice cereal.  She enjoyed it much more than her sister.

Bowling!

Last week I took Joey bowling for the first time.  AMF has a free kids summer bowling program, but "free" actually translated to about $20 for me to bowl, our shoe rentals, bumper lanes, and a bottle of water.  For an hour.

Joey rocks the bowling shoes

If it weren't for bumpers, Joey's score would have been Zero (and my score would have been much lower).

Joey's ball stopped in the middle of the lane several times

Joey and Mommy - tied

Taking a break

Joey enjoyed herself and I think this would be a great game to teach Joey how to take turns.  It doesn't hurt that the bowling alley is air-conditioned!

Josephine Losavio: Child Star

Several weeks ago we were asked to be in a commercial for the University of Alabama Alumni Association.  The theme was "Today and Always" and it was set to air at graduation, but due to recent events graduation has been postponed.

The commercial was filmed at a tailgate on the quad during A Day.  Even though she ate nearly a whole package of Chips Ahoy, Joey was on her best behavior and took direction extremely well.

A-day Rough from Gray Lloyd on Vimeo.

Joey is definitely the star!  Do you think she has a future as a child actor?

Look closely and you'll see Charlotte too!

Joey's New Room

About a year ago, I was inspired to build bunk beds for Joey.  Yes, build.  Like with wood and tools.  And my pregnant self was flying solo because my husband didn't quite share my vision.  It took several weeks but I managed to get all of the pieces cut, put together, and primed.  I assembled the bottom bunk in Joey's room and (oops!) they didn't quite fit.  Well, they fit, but since the room has two walls of windows, the only place that they "fit" was in front of a window, which just didn't look right.  Plus she would kick the blinds with her feet and I really didn't want them to fall on her.  So I didn't even bother to assemble the top bunk. 

Since I was pregnant with Charlotte at the time, this project went on the back burner.  But almost a year later, after several months of looking at Joey's incomplete bed and the pieces of the top bunk scattered throughout the house, I needed to check this project of my list.

I realized that Joey's bunk beds would fit better in our office/guest room, and when I suggested the idea to Paul he wasn't opposed to it.  Although the room is smaller, it has more wall space which was needed for the beds.  The room needed some work, though.  The walls needed to be painted (green, since it's Joey's favorite color), the ceiling needed to be scraped, sanded, and repainted, and all of the trim needed to be painted because it was a lovely shade of dinge.

We decided to tackle this project over Memorial Day weekend.

Our plans were to get started Friday night since Joey was sleeping at a friend's house.  We weren't fond of the popcorn-textured ceiling, so Paul's task was to scrape, sand, and paint it.  We cleared most of the furniture out of the room, but Paul wasn't feeling well thanks to something that he *ahem* consumed, so the ceiling didn't get done that night.

Paul was feeling better Saturday morning, so he got to work on the ceiling while Charlotte and I bought our paint.  Joey wanted her room to be green, her favorite color, so we wanted a green that flowed well with the rest of the house, was youthful, and not too bright.  We settled on Laura Ashley Apple 4 (available at Lowe's), but had it mixed in Glidden at The Home Depot to save some money.  Saturday was spent working on the ceiling, painting the walls, and painting the trim.  That seriously took all day.  Things take twice as long when you have children to tend to!

Disassembling the desk

Charlotte and Macy checking out the action

After scraping and sanding the ceiling

Fresh paint

On Sunday, we painted more trim and Paul painted the ceiling.  We then set up her bunk beds in her new room.  That was fun.  Fortunately our neighbors had company and we were able to borrow some manpower to lift the top bunk into place.  It was heavy as all get out.

On Monday, while Paul was at the park with both girls, I painted the beds and moved the girls' dresser in.  When he returned we attached the beds, installed the rails on the top bunk, and moved the mattresses in.  I've realized that making the bed on the top bunk is really a chore, so if you have some tips please share!

Voila!  Joey's beds:  a year in the making! 

There is still work to be done.  In Joey's old room, she didn't have a place for books, besides the messy pile next to her bed (her books are kept with the grown-up books in the living room).  I saw a blog post about using Ikea spice racks as book holders and thought that they would be great in Joey's new room.  Paul happened to be in Atlanta for business a few weeks ago and actually offered to go to Ikea to purchase some of these spice racks.  We'll be mounting them on the wall soon.

We'll need to hang Joey's responsibility chart and the clock that she wanted for her birthday, and Picasso line drawings from her old room.

Right now Charlotte's crib is still in Joey's old room, our new office/play room/guest room.  But cribs are temporary, and when she's big enough to sleep in a big girl bed she can have the top bunk.  Kidding.

All of the work that we've put into Joey's new room has been totally worth it.  She is thrilled with her new space.

Jack and Jill

Today is Nursery Rhyme Day at Joey's school.  She decided that she wanted to be Jill of "Jack and Jill."  Soooo....I whipped up a white pillowcase dress, braided her hair, found a pail for her to carry, and tied a "bandage" around her head.  I took a little artistic license with the bandage because the nursery rhyme doesn't indicate that Jill was in any way harmed, but she did tumble down the hill.

Here is a video of Joey reciting "Jack and Jill."

Joey Recites The Pledge

The Pledge from Paul Losavio on Vimeo.

Tiny Dancer

This girl loves to dance!

Thanks for the lip gloss, Hayley

Josephine Losavio: Clown?

Tomorrow is Circus Day at Joey's school.  All of the kids will be dressing up like clowns or circus animals.  Although clowns creep me out, I figured a clown costume would be easier to DIY than an animal costume.

I picked up some supplies at Hobby Lobby:  a green t-shirt (because green is Joey's fave), pom poms, felt, and a sheet of green foam. 

I began by making a ruffled collar from the felt.  I cut the sheets lengthwise and stitched three of the pieces together, creating a long strip.

I stitched some elastic to one end of the felt, then for the length of the felt, I stitched around the elastic using a zigzag stitch.  That's a fancy trick I picked up from sewing class.

To finish the collar, I stitched the ends together.  I just hope that it doesn't choke Joey.

Next I got to work on Joey's hat.  I decided to use the foam to make a cone-shaped hat with pom poms.  I cut the foam into a round-ish triangle (sorry -- that's mommy brain for you) and then attached the edges with hot glue.  I glued a large pom pom to the top of the hat and small ones around the bottom.

I  hot glued some large pom poms to the front of the t-shirt and Voila!  A clown costume!

April

Our little family has had an incredibly busy month.  We have had lots to do nearly every weekend, and in his spare time, Paul has been prepping our house for painting.  April has brought heavy rains and tornadoes to our area, but we survived unscathed.  The May flowers should be spectacular.

Joey's Responsibilities

For Easter, Joey received the Melissa & Doug Magnetic Responsibility Chart from the Easter Bunny.  I absolutely adore Melissa & Doug.  Their company manufactures high quality and durable educational toys among other things, and their prices are reasonable.  Although battery-operated toys can be entertaining and educational, we're old-school.  We prefer toys that allow the kids to use their imaginations and have amassed quite a collection of Melissa & Doug.  Joey especially loves their Slice and Bake Cookie Set and Deluxe Easel.  I have been eying the Magnetic Responsibility Chart for years and I am thrilled that the Easter Bunny decided to bring it to Joey.

The responsibility chart has age-appropriate responsibilities for children of various ages, complete with pictures.  The responsibilities vary from personal hygiene to actual chores, so I feel like we'll be able to use this chart for many years.  The chart includes reward magnets (we call them stickers) that Joey can put on her chart when she completes a task.  Right now we're not offering any incentive for completing the responsibilities (the "sticker" is reward enough), but Joey would be thrilled with a visit to the Chikin Park or baking cookies at home.  In the future we can base Joey's allowance on the tasks she completes. 

Yesterday morning, Joey and I sat down and chose her responsibilities.  She chose:  say please and thank you, take a bath, get dressed, brush teeth, put toys away, get ready for bed, and show respect.  For Joey, showing respect means listening and not hitting.  I would have liked for her to choose "no whining," but I think that it"s important for her to "own" her responsibilities.  Yesterday she completed six of her seven -- unfortunately she was not a good listener and couldn't get a "sticker" for showing respect.

Notice how all of her "stickers" are green?  It is her favorite color.  The picture below is the bottom half of the chart with the rest of the responsibilities shown. 

The chart includes two blank dry-erase responsibility magnets to write your own.  Some of Joey's future responsibilities will probably be:  LISTEN!, do not hit, let your sister sleep, and eat your vegetables!

Busted

One of the most terrifying experiences as a parent must be when your child gets injured.

As Joey was getting into bed tonight, she hit her head on her headboard and busted her face open next to her right eye.  From the other room I heard her screaming, then Paul ran out of the room carrying her, both of them covered in blood.  There was SO much blood.  It was in her hair, on her arms, and had soaked her jammies.  I could even smell it.  I cannot even describe how terrifying the situation was.

We got the bleeding under control and assessed the gash.  We weren't sure if Joey's injury warranted a visit to the ER, so we sent the picture to one of my girlfriend who works in the emergency department at the hospital that is just a few minutes from our house.

She said that since the bleeding had stopped, it should be fine, but she offered to take a look at it.  Joey and I hopped in the car and headed to the ER, just for some peace of mind.  The gash is indeed fine and doesn't require stitches or even glue.  I'm a little concerned about scarring, but scars add character, right?