Sunny But Still Cold!

Yesterday after work, Erika and I met up with Michelle and Belle. We met at the Old Navy outlet and then made our way to a few other stores there. Michelle and I find such enjoyment picking clothing out for our girls! No doubt in my mind that we were both meant to have daughters! Anyway, I actually held back from getting much summer clothing because I am unsure how big Erika will actually be. I did get a few little things but the best purchase of all was in Gymboree...my FAVORITE store...I mean Erika's favorite store! See the green dress in the picture above? Weill it is really a size 5 shirt for an older girl like a five year old. But Michelle had pointed out what a cute dress it would make...and it does. You know how much use I could get out of this shirt? And to top it off, it was on clearance. I wish I took more pictures of Erika standing up to actually see the dress (shirt) but I didn't. No need to worry though, she will have it for years to come!

Let's see, some things that Erika is doing right now - singing almost all of the bible songs from my mother when we ride in the car, singing most of the alphabet, eating like crazy, running from Mommy to Daddy and back again taking turns giving us hugs, smothering poor Bob (the cat), loving her Little People, saying "I don't like it" when she dislikes a food, "No that one" when you give her the wrong item, "Ummm" when you give her a choice between two things and being such a GOOD GIRL!
Today after Erika's afternoon nap, Peter and I took her to a park that someone at work recommended to me. It was really nice. It is newly created and in a nice area. Of course today being Saturday and everyone having spring fever, it was pretty crowded. That didn't seem to bother Erika because she loves just watching other children. It was tough for Peter and I to get in and around with her because we didn't want to intrude on the other children. We had to have been there about an hour and a half. We did get Erika to go down the slide once by herself and twice with each of us. She was less than thrilled to go down by herself though!
Mommy and Erika going down the slide...that slide went fast!

We met a few other toddlers while we were there - all a few months older than Erika. But the funny part is that Erika looks like the older one. This one little girl was two months older than Erika and and Erika looked like a GIANT next to her. Not just her height but her weight too. Oh my goodness! The same thing happens all the time. She is just a really big girl!After some time at the park we went back to the car for some snacks and juice. Then we were doing some driving around and actually found two more really nice looking parks, so we will check those out another day. Maybe even tomorrow.
The weekends are such a special treat because we get to spend the entire day with Erika. Sometimes it is almost sad because we see things that she does that we didn't even know she could do. But the only way to survive economically is to have two incomes so I have to make the best of it. Besides Erika is so beyond happy with Brook and Fran that I wouldn't want to take that away from her.

We decided to be unhealthy tonight and treated ourselves to Chinese food. Erika eats the LoMein noodles with me and she really loves fortune cookies so we actually asked for a few extra tonight. It was a nice treat. After dinner Erika and I went for a walk outside but Oh My Goodness was it chilly. So that walk only lasted about 10 minutes. While we were out walking, one of our neighbors invited us to a birthday party next week for his daughter who will be two. Guess who is going to be there? ELMO! Erika is going to love that. And I am excited because i think it is our first birthday invitation other than Belle.

Erika looking up at the trees during our very chilly walk!