My activity placemats

Here's one of my many designs. They are double sided mats — the front is personalized with your choice of design and the kid's name and the other side is an age appropriate activity mat.

March in Review

March was a month of "Just Do It!" And I did. I decided to get my act together and start making something of my freelance graphic design business, gelDesign. It's moving slowly but at least it's in motion. I created a Facebook page for my designs and currently have 276 fans! More than I thought I'd ever have, but still hoping for more.

Then at the end of the month I decided I needed to do more ... so I now have some of my items for sale on Etsy.com. You can check out my shop at www.geldesign.etsy.com I'm really trying to push my activity placemats for kids — they're fun and educational — and they keep the kids busy while you're trying to get dinner ready! I'll post some photos soon.

Here's a photo review of our March....

Amelia + Oliver painted pictures for Granny's birthday. I couldn't get a photo of Ollie painting bc the second that I let go of his arms his hands went right to his mouth — and they were covered! Needless to say, both kids got a bath immediately following.

Oliver learned how to climb up the stairs...and now it's his favorite pastime.
The gates are UP!

The boys.


Granny and I took Oliver to swing at the "little park" just down the street from us.
He LOVES it...can ya tell!?

Our attempt at a St. Patrick's Day family photo. Not so good.

Our first really nice day in Columbus — we spent it at Goodale Park. We had a picnic, played on the equipment, took a walk to feed the ducks, got some ice cream and then headed home for a late afternoon nap. It was a great day!

And then the weather got cold again. He sometimes refuses to nap at school so on the way home he just zonks out!

February In Review

I can't believe it's been so long since I've been on here. It's actually been like 2.5 months! February was fun. Cold, but fun. Amelia was able to enjoy lots of time in the snow and on her sled. Oliver wasn't so sure about the snow and hated having to be bundled up everyday to go to school. Hates were his mortal enemy. I managed to snap a few cute pics throughout the month....

One of his first art projects at school. He'd rather eat the brush than paint with it.

Ollie and his girlfriend, Sophia. They're 6 days apart in age.

Valentines Day dance at school. Oliver looks more like a farmer than anything else.



A trip to Cincinnati ... I took Ian and AG sledding in Dacia's neighbor's yard — great hill...but if you're off just a little you either slide into the house, the patio furniture or fall off a 4 foot ledge. Kinda scary! But thankfully no one got hurt.


Chupie time! (Not sure how it's spelled but that's what my Buni called it)
The kids love taking a bath together.

A little insight about Amelia

3 years old
33 lbs
38" tall

LIKES:

• Curious George — she watches him on PBS all the time and even has Curious George pajamas.
• Trying new foods (sometimes). When trying something new she takes a "no thank you" bite.
• To play dress-up...sometimes a doctor or nurse, a firewoman, or Fancy Nancy
• Doing art projects — drawing or painting, cutting out shapes, gluing things together
• To boss her brother around.
• Movies — especially those that you think would be above her intelligence level (they're not). Her new favorite is Coraline ... and Up ... and musicals (The Wizard of Oz and The Sound of Music)
• Cooking in her kitchen ... and in the real kitchen — she loves to be our little helper.
  

DISLIKES:

• Bathtime — even though it used to be her favorite. It probably still would be if she only had to play in the water and didn't have to have her hair washed.
• Having her hair dried.
• Being rushed through breakfast (she sometimes eats painfully slow on weekday mornings)
• Fast-paced movies (ex. Bolt)
• Cucumbers and tomatoes

Aunt Tami

It was a tough morning waking up today. I crawled in bed with Amelia and she laid there with me for a little while. Then she suddenly sat up, jumped out of bed and said...

"I smell Aunt Tami."
Mom: "Huh?"
Amelia: "I SMELL Aunt Tami."
Mom: "What do you mean you smell her?"
Amelia: "I smell her."
Mom: "What does she smell like?"
Amelia: "Chicken. I'm going downstairs and see her now."

Aunt Tami wasn't even at our house!!! She had been gone for days by now. I have NO idea what was going through her head...or her nose.

Amelia-isms

Amelia: (drawing with crayons) "Mom, I drew the church man."

Mom: "Do you remember what the church man is called?"

Amelia: "Yeah, a Romanian."

Guess who's crawling

Oliver's been trying for over a month to crawl and just couldn't seem to get the hang of it. He's been scooting and he's perfected the art of the super-reach but now he's officially on the move! This past Sunday he just got on all fours and started moving. The look on his face was priceless when he realized what he had just done! I have to get a video of him crawling because it's so mechanical — he looks like a wind-up toy!

Visitors, updates and firsts....

It's like he knew right where to place his little hand!

Look at those teeth.

My little bear — thank you Nasa and Nasu for the bear towel.

Amelia's first time sledding. Tyler and I took the kids to Schiller Park in German Village. The inner-tube sled is awesome — and super fast!! Oliver and I even took a couple turns sledding!

Now he's a puppy dog.

This past weekend we took Amelia bowling for the first time. She was really excited at first but lost interest by the 6th frame. She really did try to throw the ball but it just proved to be too hard. She was a great cheerleader though!

Bedtime stories.
I usually do Oliver's nighttime stuff and Tyler does AG's. I've really missed reading her books and doing prayers with her — she and daddy have their routine down though...it's really sweet and great bonding time for them.

Aunt Tami came down for a Pottery Barn shopping spree and spent the night. The next day she watched Oliver most of the day for me while I worked from home.

Ajay was in town too but she stayed with some friends at OSU. Ajay will be spending the next 4 months studying abroad in Budapest. We'll miss you!

Time for a toothbrush

I don't remember when I started brushing Amelia's teeth but I know it wasn't at 8 months old. Oliver now has 6 teeth — 4 on top and 2 on the bottom. He's done surprisingly well with not biting me while nursing — thankfully, or I'd have to quit! I started brushing his teeth the other day and he loves it! He actually gets upset when you're done brushing.