Evidence that I'm not always a lame mom

I've been trying to take Naomi out of the house more often to do some fun things... I have been needing to make up for the fact that I've been a pretty terrible mother lately. And by "lately", I mean pretty much since I got pregnant with Aleta. I was just always so sick and tired, and then I had Aleta and I was just plain tired, so I have been a total slacker mom. I'm still doing a pretty bad job, but I am trying... that's the important thing, right?

One of our favorite things to do together is go to the Lend & Learn library. That place is awesome! It's open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, & Thursdays during the school year from 10 to 1. Basically there are 4 rooms full of toys that you can come and play with. The main area, kind of in the middle, has puppets and puzzles and blocks and cars and other things, along with a table to color or do art projects or eat snacks on. Then there's what I call the reading room with books and magazines and baby toys and comfy places to sit. There's a room with make-believe play stuff, like play food and dishes, a kid table, a play kitchen, a children's couch, a mailbox, a play store, baby dolls and accessories, and lots of dress-up clothes. Finally, there's Naomi's favorite room which has a couple slides, ride-on toys, little basketball hoops and balls, and some other toys. They also have a room full of toys that you can check out and keep at home for a month to play with. And the best part is that it's all completely FREE! Yeah... we love it.

Coloring at the Lend & Learn

Perfect-sized couch!

Naomi looks so big to me in this picture.

We have also gone to the mall a few times to run around and use up some of Naomi's energy (she seems to have an endless supply these days). On one of our outings back in April, I took Naomi to get sandals for the spring/summer. We tried on & bought some sandals at Sears and then wandered around the mall for a little while. As we walked past all of the coin-operated rides, Naomi ran right over to play on them. I found a few quarters in my bag, so I figured I'd be a cool mom and let her ride one! Naomi, who had been smiling and laughing and happily playing in the ride, totally freaked out when it turned on and started moving. It was pretty funny... but I was also quite annoyed that I wasted a dollar! At least I have learned my lesson... Naomi has more fun playing on the rides when they aren't on. And that makes it free, so really, I can't complain!

hehe... Her facial expression here makes me laugh.  She was having fun, I swear!

We've also been trying to get out to the park more often to enjoy the nice weather.  One of our favorite parks is Cosmo park, which is HUGE!  I only take Naomi to that park either when Aleta is at home with Jacob, or when Jacob is able to come with us, because it's way too hard to follow Naomi around if I also have Aleta in the stroller.  There are too many different levels, and I can't bring Aleta everywhere and make sure Naomi is being safe if I have both girls with me.

Cute/creepy? smile to show she's having fun!

This girl loves the slide!

Static!