Oh, that's just the sound of both of our boys trying to sound out tons of words in one of their picture word books tonight. Yeah, that's all...
I'm flying high! It's just a step, one of many more to come, but it is a huge step! And the fact that they were both into it, almost equally, floors me! It's becoming quite clear that these two learn pretty differently, and it's freaking me out. So to make a leap like this at the same time calms me down a lot.
That's all...
Monday, April 26, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Today our boys were...
Cracking all of us up with general silliness and repetition of: "I'm making a joke!" *insane giggling* "I'm making a joke!"
Sharing incredibly intelligent conversation and comments.
Dishing out wonderfully sweet dialog, including randomly complimenting each member of the family in some fantastic way at least once, and encouraging each other. That's something that both makes me proud and melt from the cuteness of: my boys love to tell each other how great they are doing at something. If one cute little boy is coloring, building something with legos, or pedaling his bike, he has a cute little boy cheerleader at his side to keep him going strong.
Being much more attentive and obedient most of the day. I guess I should take into consideration the fact that they did take a nap today and then spent a couple hours in someone else's care at church, hehe. That might have made the day seem a little easier. But really, they were very good today.
Begging me to do school and squealing with joy when it was time. And then squealing again when we talked about how we get to do it again tomorrow. I am loving this eagerness!
Joyfully playing with their baby sister and giving her the best afternoon. The look on her face when they are purposely spending time with her is priceless. She looks like she feels like their equal.
Being friendly and so silly at church, greeting everyone we walked by and cracking up their teachers.
Making bonds with friends. They have always been pretty independent kids in group settings, like at church. I think it's partly because they know they always have each other at home and stuff, so they felt no pressure to connect with other kids when they were there. Also because they were just quiet little men. But now they are starting to blossom and show an interest in their friends' whereabouts and personalities. Tonight they shared with me which kids they played with, what they said, when they didn't share, and who else played with whom. It's so exciting and scary at the same time. I know some of these kids' abilities to be hurtful at times, and I just wish I could be a kangaroo momma forever and protect them from every single hurt!
Admiring the adorableness of some younger siblings of their friends. I can tell they genuinely see the beauty in a smaller kid attempting to communicate and be sweet to them and I love it!
Growing in leaps and bounds. This was one of those days when I totally get how almost every parent thinks their preschooler is a genius because of the intense leaps they make in intelligence. I have long noticed patterns in their learning curves. They seem to hit a plateau of sorts, when they are processing and playing. These last weeks or months. Then they suddenly rock my world, busting out with crazy insights and maturity. Parenting is one of God's most amazingly wonderful plans, and I am so incredibly thankful that I get to be in on it!
Sharing incredibly intelligent conversation and comments.
Dishing out wonderfully sweet dialog, including randomly complimenting each member of the family in some fantastic way at least once, and encouraging each other. That's something that both makes me proud and melt from the cuteness of: my boys love to tell each other how great they are doing at something. If one cute little boy is coloring, building something with legos, or pedaling his bike, he has a cute little boy cheerleader at his side to keep him going strong.
Being much more attentive and obedient most of the day. I guess I should take into consideration the fact that they did take a nap today and then spent a couple hours in someone else's care at church, hehe. That might have made the day seem a little easier. But really, they were very good today.
Begging me to do school and squealing with joy when it was time. And then squealing again when we talked about how we get to do it again tomorrow. I am loving this eagerness!
Joyfully playing with their baby sister and giving her the best afternoon. The look on her face when they are purposely spending time with her is priceless. She looks like she feels like their equal.
Being friendly and so silly at church, greeting everyone we walked by and cracking up their teachers.
Making bonds with friends. They have always been pretty independent kids in group settings, like at church. I think it's partly because they know they always have each other at home and stuff, so they felt no pressure to connect with other kids when they were there. Also because they were just quiet little men. But now they are starting to blossom and show an interest in their friends' whereabouts and personalities. Tonight they shared with me which kids they played with, what they said, when they didn't share, and who else played with whom. It's so exciting and scary at the same time. I know some of these kids' abilities to be hurtful at times, and I just wish I could be a kangaroo momma forever and protect them from every single hurt!
Admiring the adorableness of some younger siblings of their friends. I can tell they genuinely see the beauty in a smaller kid attempting to communicate and be sweet to them and I love it!
Growing in leaps and bounds. This was one of those days when I totally get how almost every parent thinks their preschooler is a genius because of the intense leaps they make in intelligence. I have long noticed patterns in their learning curves. They seem to hit a plateau of sorts, when they are processing and playing. These last weeks or months. Then they suddenly rock my world, busting out with crazy insights and maturity. Parenting is one of God's most amazingly wonderful plans, and I am so incredibly thankful that I get to be in on it!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Today
...we went on a fairly successful Walmart run (meaning we only got in the way of 4 or 5 other customers with our random running in circles up every aisle).
...we stopped by the library for a quick stop and some Thomas the Tank Engine books. Frankly, I am so sick of them and hate the way they read. But the boys keep checking out the same derned ones. One of them is basically the Thomas Bible, at a whopping 508 pages.
...we got some more parts of our fun handwriting stuff in the mail - the wooden lines and curves we'll use to play games and make letters with.
...we "dressed up". She requested each of these accessories - bib included - be added to her outfit as we played together this afternoon.
...we unwrapped our beautiful tulips from their protective plastic and enjoyed their beauteous beauty. And thought about what a wonderful man we have in our family.
...we enjoyed our snack and some productive playtime on the patio, out in the gorgeous spring air.
...we marveled at the wildlife on our patio. This butterfly has been flailing around back there for something like a week. He's very interesting, with a big fluffy white body and crazy yellow antennae. (I've now researched, and it's a Luna Moth. This is the one in the Lunesta commercials.) I thought it was nearly dead the first time we saw it on the ground, twitching. Then I saw it flopping around a couple days later. And now it's found its way up the wall, where it's barely twitching when blown upon. And the frog didn't look like he was feeling too good either.
...we fended off a fever in an already demanding little girl. It started last night at 101 and hovered under 100 throughout today. Thank God for acetaminophen. And spell check.
...we dissected a Honeybaked Ham and a rotisserie chicken to freeze most of them. I got some good deals on them, but being a "single mom" with picky kids means I have to save most of it for later.
...we watched tv and ate popcorn after dinner. We've avoided tv use for several days now, and Thursdays tend to be the hardest for me as far as loneliness and lack of energy to entertain them. So we vegged tonight.
...was a pretty decent day!
...we stopped by the library for a quick stop and some Thomas the Tank Engine books. Frankly, I am so sick of them and hate the way they read. But the boys keep checking out the same derned ones. One of them is basically the Thomas Bible, at a whopping 508 pages.
...we got some more parts of our fun handwriting stuff in the mail - the wooden lines and curves we'll use to play games and make letters with.
...we "dressed up". She requested each of these accessories - bib included - be added to her outfit as we played together this afternoon.
...we unwrapped our beautiful tulips from their protective plastic and enjoyed their beauteous beauty. And thought about what a wonderful man we have in our family.
...we enjoyed our snack and some productive playtime on the patio, out in the gorgeous spring air.
...we marveled at the wildlife on our patio. This butterfly has been flailing around back there for something like a week. He's very interesting, with a big fluffy white body and crazy yellow antennae. (I've now researched, and it's a Luna Moth. This is the one in the Lunesta commercials.) I thought it was nearly dead the first time we saw it on the ground, twitching. Then I saw it flopping around a couple days later. And now it's found its way up the wall, where it's barely twitching when blown upon. And the frog didn't look like he was feeling too good either.
...we fended off a fever in an already demanding little girl. It started last night at 101 and hovered under 100 throughout today. Thank God for acetaminophen. And spell check.
...we dissected a Honeybaked Ham and a rotisserie chicken to freeze most of them. I got some good deals on them, but being a "single mom" with picky kids means I have to save most of it for later.
...we watched tv and ate popcorn after dinner. We've avoided tv use for several days now, and Thursdays tend to be the hardest for me as far as loneliness and lack of energy to entertain them. So we vegged tonight.
...was a pretty decent day!
Friday, April 9, 2010
It's Here!!!!!
We received our Sonlight Curriculum box this morning! We were all so ecstatic when the FedEx man rang our doorbell and we dragged the box into the living room and opened it up and caressed all the new books!
The boys didn't know anything was coming. They aren't that surprised anymore when we get a package - it seems I've been ordering something online every week lately - but when they could tell I was extra excited about this one, they were bouncing all over the place and squealing to have it open. Basically mimicking me, heh.
I spent a lot of the rest of the day feasting on the instructor's guides and setting up my binder. (Today was the day the kids stayed at Grammy's.)
I ordered the preschool 4/5 curriculum, which has read-alouds that cover language arts, history, science, and social studies, at least as much as a preschool curriculum can. It also comes with some workbooks that show their strengths and weaknesses in perception and stuff - very fun looking.
I also ordered a pre-kindergarten level handwriting readiness program that is so much fun: Handwriting Without Tears. They do handwriting up through elementary school, but I just got the preschool stuff. It uses all their senses to help them absorb the fundamentals of writing in general and capital letters. There are hands-on wooden curves and lines that we build fun stuff with, and then start building letters with. There is a song CD with all kinds of fun stuff on it, like left-right, letters start at the top, and so on. There is a mini chalk slate that you do a Wet-Dry-Try practice on to start drawing the letters.
I also ordered the language arts program for kindergarten. This is supposed to be ordered with their little kindergarten reader books that the kids start to read on their own as soon as they learn just a few letters. But those had bad reviews, so elsewhere I ordered the Bob Books
that do the same thing (those arrived today too!). But the language arts stuff is what I'll use to teach them the letters and their sounds, and all kinds of other fun stuff about words and how we use them.
that do the same thing (those arrived today too!). But the language arts stuff is what I'll use to teach them the letters and their sounds, and all kinds of other fun stuff about words and how we use them.I know it might seem crazy that I am already thinking of starting them on that stuff - I thought so too until just recently. But these boys have been showing some mad readiness to start dabbling with reading the last few weeks! I can't answer enough questions about "What is that word, Mommy?" as they read through their books on their own. They "read" the words with their fingers, left-to-right, all the time now, and are memorizing and emoting through their favorite books like crazy. When we discuss what we'll do tomorrow or later in the day, there is always a request to read together, without exception.
I waffle because I see these opinions all the time, that preschoolers shouldn't be bothered with learning to read, even if they are capable, because they should only be playing and enjoying their youth. But my boys love this! I can't keep it from them, or not at least try it out.
So I figure we'll test the waters. If playing with the real thing doesn't work out, I'll put it aside and try it again in a few months.
Anyway, I could not be more excited about this curriculum and the months ahead. I have some plans for things I want to do with them for the next few weeks, and we are planning a vacation when Brandon returns home. So I think we'll get started on this in May sometime. Woohoo!!!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Knick Knack!
We are listening to a fun cd right now and I wanted to hurry up and share/document it. It's the accompaniment cd to a book from the library, called Knick Knack Paddy Whack.
It is an alternate version to the classic song that introduces the kids to instruments and what they sound like. And it's very cute and fun and sounds pretty.
The three kids were all gathered around or on me as we flipped the pages and listened to the song over and over again. I love to watch them all boogy to fun music. They enjoyed hearing each new instrument between verses, and watching the cute dog do different things on each page.
They are still sitting around me on the floor reading other books and listening to the instrumental tracks on the cd keep playing. Might have to order this one to keep.
It is an alternate version to the classic song that introduces the kids to instruments and what they sound like. And it's very cute and fun and sounds pretty.
The three kids were all gathered around or on me as we flipped the pages and listened to the song over and over again. I love to watch them all boogy to fun music. They enjoyed hearing each new instrument between verses, and watching the cute dog do different things on each page.
They are still sitting around me on the floor reading other books and listening to the instrumental tracks on the cd keep playing. Might have to order this one to keep.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Stinky Alligator
The boys and I started a new game a couple days ago when they were stalling for bedtime and I had a rare bout of evening patience and played along. We take turns calling each other something stinky. They crack up after each one, sometimes genuinely and sometimes with this painfully forced cackle.
Some excerpts from tonight's ride home from dinner...
"You are a stinky... SNAKE!"
"You are a stinky... DOOR!"
Some excerpts from tonight's ride home from dinner...
"You are a stinky... SNAKE!"
"You are a stinky... DOOR!"
"You are a stinky... SIGN!"
"You are a stinky... CAR!"
"You are a stinky... GATE!"
"You are a stinky... LEAF!"
When we'd pass a gas station: "You are a stinky... GAS! HAHAHAHAHA!"
Then things got a little risqué: "You are a stinky... BUTT!"
"You are a stinky... BUTT TRAIN!" (Heh?)
"You are a stinky... BUTT BUTT BUTT!"
"That's enough with the butts, we don't say butts."
And finally: "You are a stinky... LOTS OF THINGS! HAHAHAHA!"
Spring!
Spring is definitely upon us, and it's been a wonderful couple of weeks lately, spent with windows open and pollen flying.
So we spent a few days learning a little about spring around here. For all the days, there was a "word of the day" that we learned, illustrated, and copied with magnet letters.
On the first day we discussed spring in general, read some springy books...
Word Bird's Spring Words
Arranged some beautiful flowers I picked up at Publix...
Made some pretend bouquets...
And took a spring walk, during which we sang about the signs of spring and searched for them. It was warm, the birds were singing, green leaves are on all the plants, and we collected many flowers.
On the second day we discussed seeds and how they grow into plants. We set up carrot and bean sprout experiments (nothing yet), planted some apple seeds we had saved from an apple earlier (not holding out much hope for those), planted some herbs from a Christmas-gifted kit from my mom...
Played with beans, peas, fake leaves and flowers, and "rain clouds" in a sensory bowl setup...
Did a flower petal counting game/craft project I made up, and had an educational popcorn snack that night. They thought it was so cool to learn about the corn seeds exploding into our snack.
On the third day we learned about rain. We read some books about rain...
Word Bird's Rainy-Day Dance
Did a little experiment with a sponge "cloud" making rain, made cloud pictures, and jumped in chalk rain puddles on the patio.
Finally, we were supposed to discuss wind. But we got a little lax and only read the books, which are very cute.
So we spent a few days learning a little about spring around here. For all the days, there was a "word of the day" that we learned, illustrated, and copied with magnet letters.
On the first day we discussed spring in general, read some springy books...
Word Bird's Spring Words
 |
| The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree (one of our favorites) |
Arranged some beautiful flowers I picked up at Publix...
Made some pretend bouquets...
And took a spring walk, during which we sang about the signs of spring and searched for them. It was warm, the birds were singing, green leaves are on all the plants, and we collected many flowers.
On the second day we discussed seeds and how they grow into plants. We set up carrot and bean sprout experiments (nothing yet), planted some apple seeds we had saved from an apple earlier (not holding out much hope for those), planted some herbs from a Christmas-gifted kit from my mom...
These have actually started sprouting - well, the basil and thyme have...
Played with beans, peas, fake leaves and flowers, and "rain clouds" in a sensory bowl setup...
Did a flower petal counting game/craft project I made up, and had an educational popcorn snack that night. They thought it was so cool to learn about the corn seeds exploding into our snack.
On the third day we learned about rain. We read some books about rain...
Word Bird's Rainy-Day Dance
 |
| I Love the Rain |
Did a little experiment with a sponge "cloud" making rain, made cloud pictures, and jumped in chalk rain puddles on the patio.
Finally, we were supposed to discuss wind. But we got a little lax and only read the books, which are very cute.
 |
| The Wind Blew |
Monday, March 15, 2010
Look what came in the mail today!
Nana sent a surprise follow-up to Anna's quilt! It's a very adorable little pillow, and Anna really seems to love it. Thank you again, Nana!!
Why does her head look so huge?
Maybe because I put her in a dress two sizes too small because I'm not ready to let it go...
I also recently finally ordered these cool thingamajigs to hang our plate collection with. The shockingly blunt yellow walls in the kitchen are begging for some balance. Excited about these!
RAW(e) Distraction
I've been wanting to join in the RAW(e) photo challenge fun on Sami's blog for a couple weeks, but never got around to working on it in time.
This week, the theme is distraction. Since when I read the theme I was up waaaaay too late for my own good and the good of my kids and my devotion time, with the desk covered in most of my selfish distractions, it was the perfect time! I couldn't wait all day today until the post was up to link to.
My distractions are many, but the main ones are the computer, planning the kids' homeschool (way overplanning, they are in preschool, for pete's sake!) because it's so fun, and crafting. I let these things override far too much of my time that should be devoted to time with God, or providing more attention and structure for the boys.
This week, the theme is distraction. Since when I read the theme I was up waaaaay too late for my own good and the good of my kids and my devotion time, with the desk covered in most of my selfish distractions, it was the perfect time! I couldn't wait all day today until the post was up to link to.
My distractions are many, but the main ones are the computer, planning the kids' homeschool (way overplanning, they are in preschool, for pete's sake!) because it's so fun, and crafting. I let these things override far too much of my time that should be devoted to time with God, or providing more attention and structure for the boys.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Anna's Special Quilt
My sister and I both have special quilts made by our Great-Nana B. Mine is been partially demolished by the family cat, but is still something special to me.
The boys each have their own that my Nana made them a couple years ago. They are very sweet - covered with embroidered and colored images of sweet little boys and girls. I think there's a name for what type they are, but I'm drawing a blank. And they are tucked away in bed with the boys for the night, so I'll have to post a picture later. The center block on each has a really pretty stitched monogram.
The boys haven't been using them for more than a year, because I just wasn't ready for them to wrestle with them like they did with the rest of their bedding. But we busted them out in the last few months, and the boys love them a lot. They are their top blankets every night.
Well, Anna received hers in the mail this week. I love it! It's sweet shades of purple, with lots of adorable Precious Moments images nicely painted on. I let her check it out when the package arrived, hoping I'd get a great pose of her on it. Pshh! That girl doesn't stop for a second, unless it's in my lap. So this is the best I was able to get. She really does seem to like it a lot, and it's laying on the spare bed in her room. I can't wait for her to cherish it as her pretty keepsake from her Great-Nana!
Thank you Nana! We love you and are so thankful for your craftiness and love!
The boys each have their own that my Nana made them a couple years ago. They are very sweet - covered with embroidered and colored images of sweet little boys and girls. I think there's a name for what type they are, but I'm drawing a blank. And they are tucked away in bed with the boys for the night, so I'll have to post a picture later. The center block on each has a really pretty stitched monogram.
The boys haven't been using them for more than a year, because I just wasn't ready for them to wrestle with them like they did with the rest of their bedding. But we busted them out in the last few months, and the boys love them a lot. They are their top blankets every night.
Well, Anna received hers in the mail this week. I love it! It's sweet shades of purple, with lots of adorable Precious Moments images nicely painted on. I let her check it out when the package arrived, hoping I'd get a great pose of her on it. Pshh! That girl doesn't stop for a second, unless it's in my lap. So this is the best I was able to get. She really does seem to like it a lot, and it's laying on the spare bed in her room. I can't wait for her to cherish it as her pretty keepsake from her Great-Nana!
Thank you Nana! We love you and are so thankful for your craftiness and love!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
God Bless You
Baby Bear has been paying attention these last 4 weeks of illness in this house. She recently picked up fake coughing. She enjoys it, but doesn't seem to do it for the thrill. It seems like she thinks it's the thing to do in this family.
Tonight she started fake sneezing. It cracked me up. We were out at IHOP for dinner, and one of the boys did a double sneeze. She just sat there and kept eating while doing several stinking adorable "choo"'s. Again, she didn't look like she was doing it as a hilarious show, just trying something out. The boys and I were so amused.
Just another note to ourselves. :)
Tonight she started fake sneezing. It cracked me up. We were out at IHOP for dinner, and one of the boys did a double sneeze. She just sat there and kept eating while doing several stinking adorable "choo"'s. Again, she didn't look like she was doing it as a hilarious show, just trying something out. The boys and I were so amused.
Just another note to ourselves. :)
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Old men are the cutest
So two weeks ago was Brandon's big 3-0! We had several mini-celebrations over a week and a half, and I think it added up to a fun birthday for him. Of course, I took too long to document it, so I've forgotten a lot of the details... Honey, feel free to fill in the gaps in the comments.
There was a small celebration at our house, involving a teeny-tiny ice cream cake and two necktie-shaped bookmarks, coated with many layers of colored pencil and marker illustrations and gobs of stickers.
I'm pretty sure one night we had dinner out somewhere and called it his birthday dinner. (We ate out about a hundred times the last few weeks, so it's all a blur.) And he got himself his gift for me one night when we were out with the kids. At least I picked it out. Wait. At least I decided which thing he'd recently told me he wanted I'd get for him.
Most exciting of all, we went to the Monster Jam with the boys and Dawn and Matt. It was "for the boys", but I distinctly remember being told it could count as his birthday present last month when I was being convinced to splurge on the tickets. It was really great fun, and I think we all discovered a new passion. Unfortunately, we didn't prepare the boys well enough for the very cold evening, so there was plenty of guilt involved. I took over 600 pictures, so I'll have to set up an entire post devoted to that outing.
Say what?!?!
We ate out with my family another night. It was funny because the staff had to sing happy birthday to at least 8 tables while we were there. Apparently once it happens a couple times people start getting silly and claiming birthdays left and right. Ours was real, yay! (Dimly lit, so I have no good pictures, boo.)
Finally (I think), we had dinner at his family's house. I kinda ruined it by being really sick and droopy, but the food was good, and I'm told the cake was yummy. The boys "helped" daddy blow out his trick candles. There was an entire layer of boy-spit covering the whole thing by the time the last candle gave up. It was hilarious.
I am so proud of the man that my man is becoming. So manly. :) For a few minutes, this celebration sent me into another tailspin of panic about being 30 myself. It wasn't as real when I was still married to a 20-something-year-old stud. Thanks for being my stud, you sweet geezer.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Big Day!
The boys have been progressively getting more independent in dressing themselves. And today was the big day! They managed to completely get whole outfits on all by themselves! This is just a note to ourselves to remember this day. For the longest time we have let every milestone go unmarked, so I wanted to hop on and make this one official.
Woohoo!
Woohoo!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Growth
I've been posting a lot just about Baby Bear. I am working on some posts dedicated to my crazy sweet prince boys too.
Baby Bear's 12-month well visit at the doctor didn't go as planned. Since she still had a runny nose and isn't sleeping well because of a cold this week, they had to check her ears to make sure they weren't infected. If they are, she can't have her immunizations as scheduled. Um, she didn't have her immunizations. She has horrible ear infections that even grossed out the doctor. So she's on an antibiotic, with two more appointments scheduled. I feel so horrible for her! Except for not sleeping well, she hasn't shown signs of suffering in that way. All our kids have been that way, sneakily hiding the disgustingness festering in their ears.
She is also still a little-bit. She is 29 1/8 inches long (52nd percentile) and weighs 17 lbs 6 oz (10th percentile). That's actually up from <10% last time, so they were pleased. And since she had a nice little pot belly showing, they think she'll be just fine. Especially now that she'll be taking whole milk.
I've been weaning her fairly quickly for the last two weeks. She only nurses first thing in the morning, which will end after tomorrow. Brandon and I are hoping to go away for two days tomorrow night, so she'll be on her own from here on out. I'm pretty sad about it, but have no doubts that it's time. I'm just a mess picturing that last time tomorrow, and when she's done she's done. Sigh.
Still no signs of walking. She does now take some steps when you hold her hands out and walk behind her, so she's figuring out that she's capable of that movement. Until now, it's been funny watching her practically ignore her legs like they were dead weight. She also just recently started crawling "normally", and is doing a little less of her famous army crawl.
Here's our weather panda that we started using this week. First thing in the morning, we open the front door and check the weather. Then we head to our calendar and update it, followed by dressing our weather panda. It's good fun. Not a lot of variety in his wardrobe lately - it's just been cold and sunny for the most part - but fun, just the same.
Baby Bear's 12-month well visit at the doctor didn't go as planned. Since she still had a runny nose and isn't sleeping well because of a cold this week, they had to check her ears to make sure they weren't infected. If they are, she can't have her immunizations as scheduled. Um, she didn't have her immunizations. She has horrible ear infections that even grossed out the doctor. So she's on an antibiotic, with two more appointments scheduled. I feel so horrible for her! Except for not sleeping well, she hasn't shown signs of suffering in that way. All our kids have been that way, sneakily hiding the disgustingness festering in their ears.
She is also still a little-bit. She is 29 1/8 inches long (52nd percentile) and weighs 17 lbs 6 oz (10th percentile). That's actually up from <10% last time, so they were pleased. And since she had a nice little pot belly showing, they think she'll be just fine. Especially now that she'll be taking whole milk.
I've been weaning her fairly quickly for the last two weeks. She only nurses first thing in the morning, which will end after tomorrow. Brandon and I are hoping to go away for two days tomorrow night, so she'll be on her own from here on out. I'm pretty sad about it, but have no doubts that it's time. I'm just a mess picturing that last time tomorrow, and when she's done she's done. Sigh.
Still no signs of walking. She does now take some steps when you hold her hands out and walk behind her, so she's figuring out that she's capable of that movement. Until now, it's been funny watching her practically ignore her legs like they were dead weight. She also just recently started crawling "normally", and is doing a little less of her famous army crawl.
Here's our weather panda that we started using this week. First thing in the morning, we open the front door and check the weather. Then we head to our calendar and update it, followed by dressing our weather panda. It's good fun. Not a lot of variety in his wardrobe lately - it's just been cold and sunny for the most part - but fun, just the same.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Sweetest Birthday
Today is the day our little princess angel baby doll girlie girl turned one whole year old. It has been a difficult, limit-testing, cuddly, pink year. We are so thankful for our sweet girl and our two awesome little boys.
We had the most fun at her Valentine's Day birthday party. It was one of my favoritest-est parties ever. All the kids had a blast and played so well together (yeah, all 8 kids under 8), the food was dee-lish (we managed to make this Pioneer Woman basic drip beef recipe, and it was amazing), and we got to enjoy most of our favorite people (yeah, all 14 adults, not including us). Baby Bear had a great time - once she got used to all the craziness - and got some awesome toys and adorable outfits.
God is way too good to us, and we are humbled by the bountiful blessings He doesn't stop pouring out on us at all times. We love all you peeps we are blessed to know and be known by.
Aunt Brianna did an awesome job as photographer for most of the event. Thank you! It was very difficult to narrow down all the photos to post here, but I've pulled it off. You're welcome. :)
The bottle... yeah, we weaned her just shy of her birthday. I just love it when she'll hold her bottle for me. It's the cutest thing ever, especially to me since her brothers never once held their bottles. Never!
We had the most fun at her Valentine's Day birthday party. It was one of my favoritest-est parties ever. All the kids had a blast and played so well together (yeah, all 8 kids under 8), the food was dee-lish (we managed to make this Pioneer Woman basic drip beef recipe, and it was amazing), and we got to enjoy most of our favorite people (yeah, all 14 adults, not including us). Baby Bear had a great time - once she got used to all the craziness - and got some awesome toys and adorable outfits.
God is way too good to us, and we are humbled by the bountiful blessings He doesn't stop pouring out on us at all times. We love all you peeps we are blessed to know and be known by.
Aunt Brianna did an awesome job as photographer for most of the event. Thank you! It was very difficult to narrow down all the photos to post here, but I've pulled it off. You're welcome. :)
Decorations - The boys helped me make this garland, and I love it so much that I am considering leaving it up all year.
After we ate lots of yummy food, it was time to open presents! The boys helped with a lot of them.
Hugging her new cuddly unicorn that cousin Laura Anne picked out just for her.
You know she knows which camera is mommy's!
The best party entertainment ever (for kids and adults alike!). They went to town with all the wrapping and tissue paper - for over half an hour, I'd say. It was so awesome.
Adorable birthday girl having a blast.
The bottle... yeah, we weaned her just shy of her birthday. I just love it when she'll hold her bottle for me. It's the cutest thing ever, especially to me since her brothers never once held their bottles. Never!
The boogers... yeah, we couldn't keep up with them as fast as the pictures were snapping.
And then it was cake time! She didn't take to it right away, but slowly worked her way through quite a bit of icing.
Popo helped us assemble her cool new toys while she napped. When she woke up, she was pleasantly surprised. She loves all her new things and is having tons of fun figuring them out.
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