And we're back......

I've been REALLY busy, but I won't bore you with the details. Let's just jump right into the cute kid stories! Here are a few of the cute little stories Flora and Scout have created lately:

BOWS
Flora was looking at all her little hair bows and she divided them up by color. I thought she was just playing with them, but when she was done she pointed at the pile of red and blue bows and said "Scout" and pointed to the pile of pink, purple, and yellow bows and said "Flora."

SCOOT OVER, SCOUT!
Since Scout has been sick, he's back to sleeping in our room in his co-sleeper. Flora loves this because she can crawl onto our bed in peek over Scout's bed to watch him sleep.....or watch him wake up if she has anything to say about it. Yesterday, I was trying to finish up a paper on the computer while Scout slept in his bed. I heard Flora crawling on the bed, but decided to let her wake him up so he would go to bed on time. A few moments later, I heard Scout start crying and Flora saying "Night night! Night night!" I turned around to see that Flora had decided to crawl into bed with Scout. He wasn't too happy about it.


JESUS OR.....?
I was talking to Flora about Jesus today and was a little bit confused over her reaction. She seemed really excited and started saying a bunch of things. I was glad she was excited about Jesus, but something didn't seem right. After a few more minutes of trying to understand each other, I realized that she thought I was talking about Gigi!

JUST LIKE MOMMY
Flora and I were getting ready for her bath. I was checking the water temperature and getting the bubbles ready and not paying a whole lot of attention to what she was doing. I eventually turned around to see my 1 year-old daughter vigorously shaving her legs with my razor!!! EEEK!! Luckily, she had it turned around the wrong way, so she didn't get any cuts on her legs. She sure did look proud of herself though!!

NAKED BABIES!!!!
Naked babies really are the best thing ever!! Haha!! Well, tonight Scout and Flora took their first bath together. Thinking ahead to wedding slide shows and high school boyfriends and girlfriends, I took lots of pictures. They're so cute though! How could they ever be embarrassed of this?

Like a good sister, Flora even washed Scout's hair for him.

They both thought it was the coolest thing to have a sibling in the tub! We are definitely going to do this more often.

So, there you go. An update of silly stories to last until next week.....because I doubt I will be blogging any this week either. July will be better. My class will be over and I should be home most of the month with nothing to do but blog about my adorable children. :o)

Flora Burps

Flora: *burp*

Mommy: "What was that!!??"

Flora: (pointing to her oblivious little brother) "Scout!"

Green Beans

Scout eats baby food from a jar now, and Miss Flora thinks it is her inherent right as the big sister to get bites of all of his food. She really likes it. I think she would eat a whole jar if I gave one to her.

Today we all ate green beans. I only ate one teeny-tiny bite to see what they tasted like. Blech, I do not like pureed green beans in a jar. I was hoping to keep Flora from wanting so many bites (and hogging the spoon) so I gave her the lid of the baby food jar to lick.


She liked that a lot and kept asking me to put more in the lid for her. Well, why not? It kept us all entertained, but Flora ended up just as messy as Scout when it was all over. I guess I should have put a bib on her too.


Yesterday, I was not feeling so benevolent and I refused to give Flora any of Scout's food. I should have known that she would just find another way to get the baby food. Instead of eating from the spoon (or the lid), she would lick the extra food off Scout's face after each bite! I know that's kinda gross, but it was really amusing me---and Scout thought it was the best thing EVER to have so much attention from his sister!!

Guys and Dolls

Scout plays with dolls.
That's right.
Scout + Dolls = BFF

With a big sister around the house, it was only a matter of time before he discovered the joys of chewing on a doll's foot. So, what's the big deal? I'm not dressing him in pink or encouraging him to watch princess movies. I just give him a doll occasionally when he's on the floor with nothing to do.

Today, Chris came home to find his son waving a pink doll in the air. He very calmly, but decisively, took care of the situation.

"No," said Chris, "my son does NOT play with dolls." He put the doll back in the toy box and found a toy hammer for Scout to bang repeatedly on the ground.

Because THAT's what men do......

Zestfully......OWWWWW

Today's lesson: Zest is NOT a tear-free soap.

Flora and I were taking a shower this evening and I was letting her play with the Zest. She was rubbing it all over her feet and having a grand ol' time.......but then she rubbed her eyes. YIKES!! Both eyes!! That was about the time I realized that maybe playing with Zest was not a good idea. Oops.

I held my breath and waited, hoping that soap in the eyes wouldn't sting too badly, but after a few looooooong seconds passed the scream started. It started as a whine and, with hands flapping and feet stomping, gradually escalated to a full-blown screech. I picked her up and tried to wash all the soap off her hands and face, but when you are a 1 year-old the natural thing to do when your eyes sting is to rub them with your hands. So.....more ouch, more screech, more Mommy apologizing.

Flora held a grudge for a while after her shower, but Daddy eventually saved the day by kissing both eyes. Luckily, soap in the eyes is a temporary condition that is easily treated with kisses, cookies, cuddles, and some Baby Einstein puppets.

Kids and Guns

Disclaimer: I'm NOT a big fan of guns and I don't usually let my kids play with guns..... Ah, now I have your attention!!

This weekend we had a huge yard sale to get rid of the mountains of unnecessary stuff that had accumulated in closets, corners, cupboards, crevices, and chests. (I also found stuff in places that begin with letters other than the letter "c", but once I started with "closets" and "corners," I just couldn't stop. Sorry.) As usual, my weeks of hard work and tough decisions were met with Chris' cries of
"We can't sell this!"
"We should really keep this for _____."
"I've been looking for this!"
"I might use this someday!"
"I bought you those!"
I'm not sure which one he used to defend his decision to pull the toy guns out of a 25 cent box, but I'm sure I just rolled my eyes and said, "Whatever, Honey."

So, that is all the background information you need in order to understand why my 6 month-old and 1 year-old were playing with toy guns in our garage on a hot Saturday afternoon.
Do we need the guns? No.
Did I put the guns in the garage sale? Yes.
Did Chris pull them out of the sale for us to keep? Yes.
Did I put them BACK in the sale after he went inside? Hmmmm.....probably.

But back to the kids with the guns......

I absolutely cannot watch violent movies or tv, so Flora and Scout do not really know what guns are or what to do with them. It was interesting to watch them play with the guns. Scout somehow knew just what to do with it. He held it the right way and even had a finger on the trigger part of the time. I know he didn't actually KNOW what he was doing, but it was still amusing to watch him hold the gun.




For some reason, Flora assumed the gun's purpose had something to do with her hair. She put it in her hair and acted like she was brushing it or curling it or.....something. Maybe a gun DOES slightly resemble a curling iron..... or maybe when you are a very girly 1 year-old EVERYTHING has to do with your hair......


Then she decided that she should curl Daddy's hair.........YIKES!

This is NOT a photo opportunity that comes along everyday, believe me!

One good thing about letting your kids play with guns......we didn't have any problems with theft at our garage sale!!!

Q & A with Flora

Q: If you are bored and you realize that your little brother is sleeping in the other room, what do you do?
A: You quietly walk into his room, sneak up to the side of his crib, and yell, "Scout!"

Q: If your brother is playing with something that you want to play with, what do you do?
A: You tell him "No no" and yank the toy out of his hands.

Q: If you know how to say the words "up" for up and "app" for apple and then someone teaches you that it is supposed to be "appLE," what do you do?
A: You start saying apple......and upple.

Q: If your little brother is on the floor and you have a nice shiny bouncy-ball in your hands, what do you do?
A: You bounce the ball off his head repeatedly while he smiles adoringly at you.

Q: If you are playing outside in the yard on a lovely day and have to entertain yourself, what do you do?
A: You pick dandelions and bring them to your little brother.

Q: If you want to play in your Mommy's room and she tells you it's time to eat instead, what do you do?
A: You arch your back, throw yourself on the floor, and give your most pitiful sounding cry.

Q: If your Mommy accidentally leaves the stair gate open and goes to the bedroom to put laundry away, what do you do?
A: You quickly scoot downstairs, go into the garage, and strap yourself into your stroller. It's time for a walk!

Q: If your brother wakes up from his nap and starts crying in his crib, what do you do?
A: You yell "Scout" when you hear him, run back to his bedroom, fling open the door, and offer comfort by petting his head through the crib rails.

The Borkert Report

****BREAKING NEWS*****
Scout Emerson Borkert spent most of the night in his crib last night. This is his first time sleeping ANYWHERE besides his little co-sleeper attached to our bed. He woke up around 3am to eat....we're hoping these nighttime feedings will gradually subside now that he is eating some solid food during the day. Hoping, wishing, dreaming, praying.....doubting.

Flora Nell Borkert did NOT wake up during the 6 o'clock hour this morning!! Her window is now covered to keep some of the sunlight out and she slept until 8:45am!!!!!! We are excited and for the first time in a while, well rested! :o) It's going to be a good day!!

IN OTHER NEWS:
A lovely day, the car to ourselves, and no agenda......what will the kiddos and I do today???? Here are a few options:
1. Go to the library (this isn't really optional since I have books that were due weeks ago)
2. Go to Target to browse around the store. This NEVER gets old!
3. Go to Zona Rosa with the double stroller and....stroll. We've never done that---it might be fun.
4. Go to a park. Might be difficult by myself unless we can time it when Scout is sleeping.
5. Stay.

Also, our dog Toby has gone completely bonkers. There is something that lives under our back deck (a rabbit, we think) and it drives Toby CRAZY! He spends all his outside time with his nose pushed to the deck, trying to stand so still but shaking from excitement. He does not respond to his name or to food. It's psycho, but it happens every Spring. He'll get over it.

Adventures in Napping

Flora has recently moved from the crib to her Big Girl Bed. Nighttime is never a problem. She stays in her bed and goes right to sleep. Naptime, however, is always interesting. She never cries or whines, but she doesn't go right to sleep either. A typical naptime routine goes something like this:

12:47pm -- Put Flora into bed for her nap.
12:48pm -- Quietly walk out of the room and leave the door cracked open a little bit.
12:52pm -- Hear the door SLAM shut.
12:53--1:32pm -- Listen to Flora talking and playing in her room. Attempts to re-open the door are futile as it will immediately be slammed shut again.
1:33pm -- Notice that there are no more noises coming out of Flora's room.
1:34 pm -- Crack open the door to see where Flora has fallen asleep.
1:35 pm -- Quietly move Flora from her current location into her Big Girl Bed.
1:36 pm -- Assess the damage/mess Flora made while playing herself to sleep.
3:49 pm -- Hear the rattle of a doorknob signaling that Flora is awake and ready to come OUT.

Naptime in Big Girl Bed, Day 1

Notice the disaster-area that was previously a very clean room and the little lump in a pink shirt on the rocking chair.

Naptime in Big Girl Bed, Day 2
Forget the bed. She is settling down in the chair.

Where she eventually crashed.


Naptime in Big Girl Bed, Day 3
Asleep behind the door, but not before emptying out most of her dresser drawers. It took some maneuvering to get in there without waking her up or pinching her toes!!

Naptime in Big Girl Bed, Day 4
I'm calling this a success!!!

6:30....no, thank you!!

I am not a fan of mornings. Well, that's not true. I am a fan of the kind of morning that begins after 8am. Flora woke up at 6:45 yesterday and 6:30 today.....ugh. Yesterday I tried to put her back to sleep in her own bed and did not succeed, so today I brought her into our bed. It was also time for Scout to eat, so......four Borkerts in the bed!! It was kinda fun.

Flora never did go to sleep, but for a few blissful moments she lay still and quiet, staring at Scout while he stared and cooed back at her. If I hadn't been so sleepy I would have tried to get the camera. I was very sleepy though.

Scout is getting very good with his hands. He has made Flora cry a couple of times when he gets a grip on her hair and won't let go. It's really cute how he reaches for her anytime she walks by him. I think she is starting to see him as a person now instead of just Mommy's baby.

So.....early morning blogging......I don't think I'll remember writing any of this. I guess I'll nap with Scout during Flora's naptime again today like I did yesterday. Naptime is usually productive time for me......but not when I get up at 6:30.

And, yes, I know that 6:30 is NOT early for some people. Just imagine your normal wake-up time pushed back a couple of hours with no warning. It's not nice.