Look How I've Grown!

Here are some recent pics of Kate. I can't believe she's 9 months!!

Snow!

It was so exciting to wake up to snow on Sunday morning. Lynley could not wait to put her boots on and run out and play in it. Kate was not too sure about being out in the cold so we stayed out long enough to get some pictures and then she had had enough. This was actually our 2nd weekend to wake up to snow. JOsh and I went to Blackberry Farm the weekend before and woke up Sunday to several inches of snow. It was beautiful and we were not expecting it. This weekend was fun but I'm ready for warm, beach weather!

Party Time

Last week we celebrated Lynley and her friend Avery's 4th birthday at Build-a-Bear. It's definitly a challenge trying to figure out where to have a birthday party in the dead of winter but the kids had a great time. They let all the children pick out a bear and then they take them through the whole process of naming the bear, putting a heart inside it, stuffing it and bathing and blowing it's fur dry. Then they all picked out a shirt to put on their bear. After making their bears we all went down to Chick-fil-a in the food court for lunch. I think they had the most fun running through the mall! It was such a cute party for that age. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for something fun to do. The best part is that the parents do nothing! The store takes care of everything and keeps the children entertained. I still can't believe Lynley is 4. Now, all I hear is "Mommy, I can do it by myself because I'm 4 now". This is obviously a very big deal. I think they've all been talking about who's still 3 and who's already turned 4 at school. Hear are some pics of the fun time.

Sorry...

I know it has been forever since I updated this blog but it has been a crazy two months! Since Thanksgiving my head has been spinning and I have not sat down. Between Thanksgiving programs, Christmas shopping, teacher gifts, class parties, Holiday Parties, baking goodies to have on hand for those who bake goodies for us, and going out of town I have been too tired at night to even turn the computer on. I am writing this from the beach where I can finally relax and think through all the fun things that have happened over the last two months. Here at the beach we are celebrating Lynley's 4th birthday today! And Kate turned 7 months yesterday. It's hard to believe I both of those numbers. It seems like just yesterday I was in the hospital having Kate. And I can't believe I'm old enough to have a 4-year-old!!

Kate has changed so much in the last few months. She started sitting up a few days before 6 months (I know I'm in trouble again!) and she's finally chunked up a little. She is such a pleasant baby and will sit for an hour on a quilt and just play by herself. I often forget she's there. On Christmas Eve, she sat and played with red tissue paper for at leat 45 minutes. She was much more enthralled with that than the toys. She's very verbal and to Josh's pleasure her favorite word to babble is "dada".

Lynley fully enjoyed the holiday season this year and seemed to really understand it. She would come home from school and tell me all about Joseph and Mary and baby Jesus and how Christmas is celebrating Jesus' birthday. She also thoroughly enjoyed going to the mall and sitting on Santa's lap. We did it once to get her picture taken and then 2 more times just so she could tell him what she wanted. However, the day after Christmas she asked Josh if Santa was real or pretend (her words exactly). Josh said "what do you think?" She looked at me with a doubtful look, shook her head and said "I think he's pretend" We didn't say anything and she dropped it. Santa may not last long at our house! She never ceases to amaze me with the things she comes up with. On the way to the mall one day (one of the many days it rained and we had to get out of the house) she said "Mommy, I want to eat at the food court again". I told her ok and she says "Again, what does again mean?" I answer with "it means to do something over, or a 2nd time, again. She says, "I didn't ask what redundant meant, I asked what again meant". I have no idea where she got that word because I don't think I've ever used that word around her! She cracks me up all the time.

Now we're at the beach having a relaxing family vacation and it is wonderful down here. Pretty warm and very sunny. I've posted pictures from the last few months, including Lynley's thanksgiving program, Christmas, etc. Enjoy, and I'll try to be better in the future.

Happy Fall

This is pretty good!!

We had our first full week of rice cereal and Kate seemed to really like it. I find this unusual because it sure does not smell good and I don't think I've ever hear any mom say their child loved rice cereal. She smiles the whole time I'm feeding it to her. If there was one word to describe this child it would be EASY! I'm in no saying that having two children is easy because it's not. Especially not between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. But as far as eating, sleeping and just hanging out, she is pleasant and laid back. She's probably saving it all up for the toddler years. That seems to be what Lynley did. She is definitley a pleasure to be around every day. I look forward every day to looking over into her crib in the morning and seeing that big smile.

A Day at the Farm

Today Lynley's class, along with all the other 3-year classes, took a field trip to Old Baker Farm where they had all kinds of farm animals, a pumpkin patch and a hayride. They were able to see and pet (yuck!!) all kinds of animals- donkeys, pigs, baby ducks and horses. The highlight of the trip was probably the hayride out to the pumpkin patch. All the children were able to pick out a pumpkin and bring it home. My least favorite part of the trip- probably when all the children, including mine, were touching all the animals and then preceded to put their hands in their mouths before the moms could get over to them with hand sanitizer! Oh well, I guess we'll survive. Lynley thought the white rabbits looked just like Mr. Rabbit!