We're Back!

I know I haven't blogged in a very long time. But we are still here and here's what we've been up to:

Wedding

Beach

Playing Inside

First day of School (Kate - Kindergarten, Claire - K4)

Playing Outside

Growing Teeth

Someone stealing my camera

Playing on the computer

First day of Ballet

Heavy Lifting

Ok. Guess that's enough for now! I'll be back soon!

More pics from Lauren

Here are more pictures from our time with Lauren. Check her out here:

http://freshgracephotography.blogspot.com/

Snow

Kate was excited because, "THESE ARE GROWN UP SNOWFLAKES, NOT BABY ONES"!!!!

Girls always like to pose for pictures, boys do not. Here is the proof:

This is Kate with her 3 snowmen. They all have pine cones for noses and sticks for eyes. At this point, I REALLY need Rick to come home. He's the "snow parent." I'd rather be inside making hot chocolate.

Then Boo and Papaw came to the rescue with the nice sled:

Then the snow parent came home and built the BIGGEST snowman I've ever seen. This guy was over 6 feet tall. He was more of the Abominable type than the Frosty type. Did you notice that I said was? Mere moments after this picture was taken, the snowman met his demise and crashed to the ground. Oh well, at least I got proof.

This is going to be tricky....

Claire, like every 3 year old, love to cut paper. Give the girl scissors, a glue stick and construction paper and she's good for about 30 -45 minutes.

After she was finished with her "work" yesterday, she said, "Mommy, will you help me throw away my trash...but leave my work...don't throw that away." In the picture below you'll see the "work" and "trash" mixed together. Hmmm....

Baby Girl and Baby Boy

2 Year Old Homeschooling

As we look to teach our 3 year old to count to 20, she continually skips the number 13. I'm pretty sure she is not superstitious, but I still cannot determine if she is simply joking with us.

An interesting conversation was had at our house this evening related to counting, and I wanted to share it with all of you.


Peggy (the mom): Kate, when Claire is 3 how old will you be

Kate (3 yrs old): Um, 4!

Peggy: That's right! Ok, when she is 17, how old will you be?

Kate: (puzzled) Um?

Peggy: What comes after 17?

Kate: (Strange look but no words)

Peggy: 15, 16, 17....

Kate: 15!

Peggy: No. 15, 16, 17

Kate: 18!

Peggy: That's Right! Good job.

Rick (the dad): (not willing to let a good teaching moment pass) Kate, when Claire is 18, how old will you be?

Kate: (Another puzzled look)

Peggy: Remember, 13, 14, 15...

Kate: (Interrupting) 13!

Peggy: No. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18...

Claire (2 yr old): (whispering..) 19.

Peggy: HA! That's Right Claire!


While talking about writing this blog post, the following conversation continued....

Rick: Didn't you count 13, 14, 15...

Peggy: I think I started at 15

Rick: Maybe you started at 13 the 2nd time...13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19..

Claire: (a little bolder this time) 20.


So, apparently, homeschooling younger children isn't so difficult! It seems Claire will be the math wiz in our family!

Claire is 2!

Claire turned 2 on 4-19! If this picture doesn't say 2-year-old...I don't know what does!

Parenting Tip #432 - #435

#432 - It's not a good idea to leave a 3 year old and a 23 month old alone with play-doh

#433 - Play-doh turns to a gooey substance that is hard to remove from breakfast tables when mixed with water

#434 - Taking a bath by yourself is overrated when you have a mess to clean up afterwards

#435 - Remember to have batteries for your camera at all times

Other Easter Pics

Family Portrait

Boo with the girls

Rick w/Henry

Papaw with KCH

Trying to get everyone to look at the camera

Oh well!

Sisters

Claire and Kate

Sarah, Emma, Peggy

Bathtime Buddies

I like things that simplify life....thus...Henry joins the gang in the tub!

KCH's first bath together...Everyone had a grand time!

Nice and clean

Leaving the House

Since I just posted about going to the grocery store for the first time, I thought I'd let you know what's involved with getting 3 children out the door.



Kate
Supervise teeth brushing
Make sure she goes to the bathroom
Pick out clothes
Supervise getting dressed
Help tie shoes
Fix hair
Put on coat

Claire
Brush her teeth
Put on clean diaper
Pick out clothes
Dress her
Put on shoes and socks (normally this is done 2x before we leave because she always takes them off)
Fix hair
Make sure I have another diaper with me...just in case
Put on coat
Make sure we have "botbee" (her blanket)


Henry
Change diaper
Pick out clothes
Get him dressed
Nurse
Strap in car seat carrier
Put blanket over him
Make sure I have diapers/bottle if we are going to be out awhile


Walk all 3 to the car...
Buckle Henry's seat in
Buckle Kate in
Buckle Claire in
Climb to the front on the van
Sit in my seat
Buckle myself in

Turn on the car

Sit and rest (I actually do this)

Now, this may seem like a lot but it normally only takes about 2 hours :)

YUMMY!

My dear friend Jessica brought us some chili that we ate for dinner last night. While we all loved it, Claire especially did. After a few minutes of eating, I heard, "MORE, MORE" from Claire who was pointing at her bowl. So I filled her bowl back up and placed it in front of her and she said, "YUMMY, YUMMY!" It was hilarious...she proceeded to eat that bowl as well and again asked for more. At that point, I had to cut her off. The picture above shows how much she loved it. Don't be fooled by the chili all over her face...she did eat it all and none was left but at one point the spoon wasn't fast enough for her so she started using her hands to grab the chili and eat it...then it just got all over her face.

So thanks again Jess...especially from Claire!

Claire enjoying her new coat

Claire - 20 months

My dear Claire,

You are now 20 months old! You are such a joy to your family. I can't believe you will be 2 in just 4 months...the time has gone by so quickly. I chose this picture to save with your letter this month because every picture we have of you recently looks just like this. I think it's such a funny smile and wanted you to see it.

You have now been a big sister for 2 weeks. You are so sweet to Henry and love to hold him and cover him up (although you always cover up his head)! I have to watch you though because you'll ask to hold him and will hold him for about 2 minutes and then as soon as you are finished, you just push him off your lap. There's no warning...just a push. But you sure love him and kiss and hug him all the time. He's blessed to have such sweet sisters.

You are talking a lot now. It's fun because you and Kate have conversations all the time. You still call her "T". You can say Kate but prefer T so we'll see how long that will stick. If you both wake up at the same time in the morning, you and T will talk for a little while and then as soon as Kate leaves the room, you start screaming "NO T, NO T" because you don't want her to leave the room without you (you're still in a crib so you can't leave by yourself.) It's sweet.

Your favorite songs right now are "Jesus love me", "The B-I-B-L-E", and "Go tell it on the mountain" and you know all the motions we made up for that song.

You can feed yourself now which is a big help to me!! You love to run around and spin around in circles until you get dizzy...that's pretty funny to watch. You LOVE baby dolls and are attached to your doll "Mary" and to your blanket. We never leave you anywhere without your blanket!

I love you my baby and can't believe how big you are getting! You are a blessing to me.

Love always,

Mommy

Like Mother, Like Daughter

I have a strange habit of eating crackers with ice cream. I'll dip the crackers in the ice cream and then eat them. This is not a pregnancy thing...just something I like to do.
We were at Jason's Deli the other day for lunch and after eating, I went and got the girls some ice cream. Well, wouldn't you know it, little Claire picked up the closest cracker, dipped it in her ice cream and then ate it. Other strange things she dips are goldfish in cupcake icing and cheese quesadilla in pudding. I love that girl!

Claire - 16 months old

Claire - 15 months old - 7-19-07

Claire,

You are now over 15 months old and you are the cutest sweetest baby girl I know! Over the past month, you have begun to interact playfully with us in a way drastically different from the previous months, and it has been a great joy to me. You have an awesome smile and every time I see it I cannot help but smile back and think how beautiful you are.

I am amazed at how well you understand what we say. If we give a command, you follow it no matter how difficult to understand the command may have been. We’ve had people tell us that they are amazed at how much you understand. I cannot wait for the day you will begin having conversations with us because I can tell a lot of thinking is going on inside right now.

When I look at you, I see myself. Your dark hair and everything else about you, reminds me of what I think I would’ve been like at your age. It’s really funny to watch you play with Kate, especially when you take something of hers and run off. It has been a great pleasure to have two baby girls in the family.

We found out recently that our new baby will be your brother, and as excited as we are to have a son coming into the family, I would never ask God to have done anything different than what he has already done in giving us children. You (along with Kate) have been a joy more than I can explain. To watch you grow, transform, and learn is a special treat that parents receive, and I look forward to the coming years. I continually ask God to strengthen you physically and spiritually specifically asking Him to not only bring you into the kingdom, but to also make you a servant above all others. My hope is that God will be gracious unto you in such a way that you surpass the faith of both your mother and I.

I love you and am praying for you. May the Lord be with you!

Claire-10 months old-02-19-07

Dear Claire,

You are 10 months old now. This has been a big month for you! You spent your first night away from us this month while your father and I went on an anniversary trip. You stayed with Boo and Papaw for 7 days! I actually was thinking you wouldn’t remember me but you did and I was so happy to see you! I missed you very much while we were away but we had a great time with each other and I am thankful we were able to take the trip. I think every time I want you to do something, I’m going to send you over to Boo’s house! I was still giving you 5 bottles when I left (I know…way too many) and now you are down to 2!! Also, I’d be trying to teach you to drink out of a cup with no success and now you drink out of a cup perfectly!! I am so proud of you.
You still sleep from 7-7 and take 2 naps. You don’t eat any baby food any more and you are such a great eater! You love everything!! You have 4 teeth!
You and Kate are playing together some which is cute. You’ll both just start laughing sometimes when you are playing which is fun. You are becoming more independent but still like to be near me. You can wave, clap and blow kisses. You are walking along furniture but aren’t ready to venture out by yourself yet. You can say UH-OH! And love to drop things and say it. You can say “dada” and just started saying “mama” this week. You’ll only say mama though when you are crying and grabbing my legs trying to get me to pick you up but that’s OK because I love to hear it! You say also say “bye bye” and “hi” when prompted.
You can say “BURRRR” and I know you know what that means because you only say it when it’s cold outside or when I’m changing your diaper! It’s pretty cute.

I love you my baby,
Mommy