Missing Daddy

Gene and I have agreed to a custody schedule.  I will have primary physical custody of the girls.  Every other week, Gene will have the girls Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.  On the opposite weeks, Gene will have the girls on Wednesday and Thursday nights.  Mena told me she wanted a picture of Daddy and all I could find of the three of them was a picture taken when Maggie was born.  I asked Gene to send me a current picture of the three of them and this is what he sent me.  I've printed it in a 5x7 to hang in the girls' bedroom.

Dress up at Daddy's

 

 

Gene sent me these pictures of Mena at his house and I knew I had to put them on the blog!  She is so cute!

Circus!

 

 

 

 

Mena got to go to her first Circus on March 17th.  She picked out a star light up wand.  It actually lights up with lots of different colors but in all the pictures it looks white.  In the third picture, Mena is doing the chicken dance.  The look on Mena's face in the last picture is what she looked like for most of the show.  She was very facinated with watching everything that was happening.  Mena chose cotton candy for her snack and then after eating a few bites decided that she didn't like it.  I ate the whole bag myself over 2 days.  Maggie got some time alone with Daddy while Mena and I went to the circus.

Kylinn's Birthday

 

 

Kylinn and Mena were so excited to play together at Kylinn's birthday party.  It had been quite awhile since they'd seen each other and they had a blast!  Mena had to take off her pretty skirt when she had a potty accident.  Luckily the extra pants in the truck went with the shirt she had on!  We'll be getting together again next month for more fun.

Picnic

The girls love eating supper outside so when the weather is nice we take our food outside by the tot lot and eat on the patio.  This is a picture of the first time we ate outside.  We sent an e-mail to Grandma that night asking her to find the red blanket in Mommy's camping stuff.  (All the stuff I don't use on a daily basis I sent to my parents house to store until I can afford a storage closet or garage at my apartment.)  We now have the red blanket so we don't have to eat directly on the cement or grass.  Maggie's too small to eat at the picnic table behind her.

Missing Mommy

Mena was missing Mommy when she was at daycare and when she was at Daddy's house.  One of the things I've done with children in my classrooms over the years was to have the parents bring me a picture of their family so the children could see it during the day.  I had Heather (our daycare provider) take a picture of the three of us one night when I picked the girls up.  Mena now carries a 4x6 of this in her backpack so she can always see me.  Gene and I have also made sure that the girls get to talk to the other parent each night before they go to bed so they are continuing relationships with both parents.

Park Across the Street

 

 

We have a city park right across the street from us.  After supper, I put the girls in the double stroller and walked to the park.  Mena wanted to walk but the street is 5 lanes wide where we cross so I told her to be safe she needed to be in the stroller.  It's a fun park and we've been back a couple of times.  We'll be going more now that the weather is getting warmer!

Kitchen/Living Room Area

 

 

I couldn't fit my table into the apartment so Gene kept it and I bought bar stools so we could eat at the counter.  It's nice to be able to work in the kitchen while the girls are eating.  I can chat with them and get stuff done.  The bottom pictures show the girls on the living room floor playing a color matching game.  We have plenty of room to play in the apartment.

Cousins

 

 

February 25th, we got together to celebrate birthdays with my family.  It was supposed to have been at my house, but we moved it to Peggy's since the girls and I are no longer living in the house.  The girls had fun playing with their cousins.  Left to Right:  Jake, Tyler, Maggie, Peyton, and Mena.

New Backyard

 

 

 

 

Gene has decided he wants a divorce so the girls and I moved into an apartment.  I lived in this complex when I was in college so I knew it would be a good place for us to live.  Here the girls are playing in the tot lot in between the buildings.  They love their new backyard.

Ash Wednesday

 

I took the girls to church on Ash Wednesday.  Maggie stayed in the nursery and Mena went to the service with me.  Mena enjoyed the music and walked with me to each of the stations.  I received the ashes on my forehead but Mena backed away when the pastor reached to put some on her forehead.  She was very interested in the station where I wrote on a piece of paper and then the paper dissolved in the water.  I skipped the candle station and then Mena said she wanted to go the "egg" table.  We went to the table with the rocks.  I didn't hear what we were supposed to do at this station since Mena had been talking to me, but we picked out a rock and I wrote "Jesus" on it.  The other people had left their rocks on the table but Mena insisted on taking her "egg" with her.  She has it in her bedroom now.

After the service was over and we'd gotten Maggie, then Mena said she wanted some ashes on her forehead.  I took her back by the offices where I'd seen our pastor carry the dish of ashes.  As we got to the door our friend Jamie who works at the church came out.  Jamie got the ashes and knelt down to put some on Mena.  Mena backed away again so Jamie invited Mena to put some ashes from the dish onto the back of Jamie's hand.  Mena did that and then let Jamie put some on her forehead.  Mena was so proud to do what she saw the rest of us doing.

When we got home Mena was excited to look in the mirror at herself.  She was holding her bangs back so we could see her ashes.

Cherub Choir February 19, 2012

 

 

Mena's Cherub Choir sang in church on February 19th.  During the 9 am service, Mena stood nicely and looked all over the church.  At the 10:30 service, Mena sang and did some actions!!  We were so proud of her!  She has a lot of fun in this choir.

Puck

 

Puck, like all guinea pigs, goes potty wherever he is at.  I always hold him on a towel on my lap.  Mena went to the kitchen, got a washrag, and declared, "I hold Puck now."

Maggie's Pony Tail and 15 Months Old

Maggie's hair is now long enough that it is starting to get into her eyes.  I can pull the top up into a ponytail that curls all cute on top of her head!  Here she had climbed onto the step stool in the master bathroom like she's seen Mena do each morning.

Maggie has 2 new teeth.  Her left lower molar was visible on February 6th and her left upper molar was visible on February 29th.  She's also gained the new skill of climbing onto the couch.  On February 26th, I turned around and there she was up on the couch and no one was around her.  She grinned at me so proud!

On February 24th, Maggie had her 15 month check up.  She was 32 inches tall (90%), 25 pounds 6 ounces (90-95%), and her head was 18 inches (98%).  She's continuing to be our little giant :)  She's as healthy as can be with no concerns!