March-ing on...

Well, a few things to remember about March, since it is swiftly coming to a close (where did it go again?!). And we've had a LOT of exciting things happening with our little "G's"!

Avery is WALKING!! Yep, right at the end of February, she was up and at 'em and hasn't looked back since! Oh my goodness, how I love those early wobbly weeks of walking. They look soooo funny and one tiny bump into anything sends them right back down to their bums! It is my favorite thing! She has gotten REALLY good over this past month and is cruising around everywhere like a champ now! Such a big girl! To be really honest, I love when walking finally happens. I could totally do without the crawling and skip right to walking if it were up to me! Makes for a lot less holes in the knees of pants, right?!

Oh, and did I mention how silly and totally cute and funny this little girl is?! Her personality is developing and showing more and more the older she gets and she is just ADORABLE!!

Taylor is potty-training! Or dare I say she is potty TRAINED!! Hallelujah! That's all I have to say. Is it bad that I have actually prayed for help with potty training?! I was dreading it so much because it was so hard with Kaiya and I felt like I just finished with her and was NOT ready to tackle it again. And really, who actually enjoys this phase of parenting, let's be honest! So, I put it off and put it off until I could stand the double diaper duties no longer! So, we sort-of whimsically started her a few days ago, mostly just letting her experiment, but with no serious intention of actually sticking with it! I know, I'm really good and committed, right?! But I am REJOICING to be able to say that it has been the most unbelievably easy thing to do with Taylor! She has turned out (so far, fingers crossed) to be one of those kids that I had heard moms talk about, but swore they were lying about, who would say, "oh they were potty trained after a day." I never believed it. It was a myth! But I am so happy to say that I have one of those mythical kids who was pretty much potty trained after two days! I'm just thrilled to death! I guess my prayers were answered, hehe! No, but seriously, Tay has done incredible. She is already to the point of telling us when she has to go. She has only had a couple of accidents, mostly while we were out somewhere and we didn't get her there in time. She even has gone in and sat down and gone pee by herself without telling us or needing us. Last night was her second night of potty training and she woke up this morning completely dry. So, hopefully nights will be easy too. We haven't had to use timers or really do too much of anything. She has just figured it out so easily and we are so proud of her! Even in the bath a couple of nights ago, she stood up and told me she had to pee instead of just peeing in the tub, which seems like a hard thing to recognize when you're in water already. I can say that it is turning out to be a great experience so far this time around and there has been no stress at all! She is still going on her little training toilet at home. But thankfully she is not really bothered at all about going on the BIG toilets when we are out somewhere (Kaiya FREAKED about having to sit on the big toilets and it made it very difficult to ever leave the house while she was learning!). I know there's a chance that she could relapse and these past 3 days will be false hope. But I honestly think she's pretty much got it and because she's so laid back, it's just not that big of a deal to her! In fact, that's the other funny part. She is not motivated by treats or toys or anything else. She hasn't needed any of the bribes as incentive like Kaiya did. We keep telling her she gets to pick something out at the store for doing so well and she is not really even interested! So, here's to all the money we are going to save on diapers, all the time we are going to save on changing diapers, and the JOY of having only ONE child in diapers! YAY, YAY, YAY! Great job, Taylor! You're a pro potty trainer and we are so happy and proud of you! And I'm really thankful for big sister Kaiya, who has been such a cheerleader for her little sis! She will go in and sit with her and she cheers every time Taylor goes! She is such a sweetie and so encouraging! So, cross your fingers for us that it just keeps going well and that this will be a super easy experience for us! I hope so!

Kaiya is all registered for kindergarten -- heart attack! I am proud as punch of my little growing up girl! I can't hardly stand how bittersweet it is to think of her actually going to kindergarten in a few months! More on that in a later post -- she certainly deserves a whole post on such an exciting event!

St. Patty's Day -- we mildly celebrated. Nothing too exciting! But everyone did put on some green and we did talk a lot about leprechaun's! Kaiya was sort of obsessed with the little green men for a few days! We had green eggs and green pancakes for breakfast, along with our new family obsession, GREEN SMOOTHIES! Seriously, we LOVE these around here! We have them every single morning, without fail. The kids love them, as do Chris and I, and they are so stinking healthy! We're talking a couple hundred calories for a HUGE serving and all totally packed with nothing but fruits and veggies! (I'll put some of my tips and favorite flavors at the end of the post for those of you who have never tried these gems!)

We also enjoyed a fun little package from Grandma and Grandpa Grover, that the kids just loved! (They always send the cutest things for all the holidays!)

The kids bedtime. This is sometimes frustrating. But most of the time soooo funny! They have some pretty funny antics for bedtime and usually stay up way too late! But it's cute! From coming out of their room, dressed up in things that they have found in their drawers (dress up clothes, Avery's hats that are not even close to fitting, boots, etc.) to how they get to their beds in the first place (Chris does a very good choo-choo train!). They are just so funny, it's hard to get too mad! Oh, and Strawberry Shortcake's fro is courtesy not of one of us girls here, but of Chris! Yep, he sat and fro'd out her hair while watching t.v. one night and she looked awesome. Kaiya was a little frightened of her at first, but then loved it and took her right to bed!

Lots of play time in the unusually warm weather! Soooo divine, all this sunshine! Kaiya loves to practice her catching and hitting and is getting so good!

Taylor has given driving a whirl and, though she would much rather be chauffeured around by Kaiya, she's pretty good with the Jeep herself! Scooters, bikes, and especially throwing the ball to Chase! Lots of fun stuff to do outside and it gets us out of hibernation!!

Play time for the two younger sisters while Kaiya is at preschool! They have a good time together, these two! Taylor is so patient and inclusive with Avery, even though Avery can't do too much interacting just yet! They are buds and it's fun to watch!

So, it's been a busy and exciting month for these little girls, and of course, for us too! I don't even remember March coming, but apparently it is almost time for it to go already!

**Here are some tips about the DELISH green smoothies we have been having in abundance (literally every single day) at our house!

My two favorite greens for the smoothies are kale and spinach. Spinach has less texture once blended than does kale, but both have very mild, undetectable flavors. So, if you don't mind the texture, they are equally great for the smoothies.

Put tons and tons of greens in. Don't be afraid of packing it in! Because of the lack of strong flavor, you can really fill up your blender and pack as much of the nutrients in as you can. I always put at least 2-3 cups in, mostly as much as I can fit! And don't be afraid of the color -- it's a GREEN smoothie, people! Or be surprised at how it comes out either, hehe! Did I really just say that?!

Use any combo of fruits you like and have available. There is no rhyme or reason for me when it comes to the fruits. I use every combo I have in my fridge and what is in season. I almost always use oranges and bananas because I like the flavor combo. And then from there, it's whatever! Grapes, strawberries, apples, peaches, pears, nectarines, kiwi is really yummy, mango.

Instead of adding any sugar, because why would you want to mess up a good thing, use honey or agave. Especially if using more mild fruit flavors like pear or apple. Totally sweetens it up as much as you want. And it's a healthy sweetener! Yum!

I also really like using low fat vanilla yogurt sometimes. I'll just buy a 4-pack and put in one container per smoothie. It adds really nice flavor and texture.

So, the recipe is simply lots and lots of greens, lots of fruit (we're talking fill up your blender), a little honey if you need it, optional vanilla yogurt, a cup of water or milk (I use water and it's just fine) and then add ice until you get the consistency you like. And voila! I make a huge blender full every day because Chris and I both drink large cups full and the kids drink their own smaller amounts. If you're just making it for you, half a blender would be plenty. This has been the BEST breakfast for me! I usually drink it at about 10:00 and take my time, usually takes me awhile to sip on my cup, and then it really actually fills me for lunch too. I mean, I still eat a little something for lunch, but these are so filling and satisfying for me, that I almost don't even need lunch. Nice, huh?! Anyway, give it a try if you haven't -- they are soooo wonderful and healthy! Yay for green smoothies!!