Snow

We finally got some snow a week ago. The girls got all excited to play in it. After layering on clothes for a half hour, we were ready. Emma loved to run around eating the snow and trying to sit in it. Not good since she doesn't have snow pants! Liv and Claire had fun making a snow man and naming her "Delilah".

Emmas Blanky

 

 Emma has a blanky. It is cream colored with giraffes on it. It is very soft and cuddly. I have been wrapping her in it since she was a newborn. My friend Rocio gave it to Emma as a baby gift. Emma has grown an attachment to it, and will not go to sleep with out it. The other 2 girls had binkys. Emma never did the binky thing, so now she is a blanky girl! It is nice to know she has something that is comforting to her when I can't be there. Hopefully she doesn't need to take it to college with her though.. ! She only sleeps with it. I do not allow it to go every where with her. The only time it has left the crib is when I let  her take it with her when she had to be babysat a few times.

Chocolate cake

If there is one thing in this house we do not lack in... it is sweets. I am always making or baking something. Probably once a week. Brett would say more often, but really, it's not. Today it was a chocolate cake. I would normally save making a cake for a birthday or holiday, but my cravings got the best of me. This one is chocolate cake soaked in raspberry sauce. Hopefully it tastes good! I still haven't tried it. Claire loves helping me with every step. Emma just LOVES being the clean up crew. She loves licking  down spatulas and beaters. This makes her so smiley and happy ;)In fact as soon as she sees I am done beating, she comes running over begging for a beater to lick.

Talker

Emma is quite the talker at 15 months! She has been talking since around 12 months. Oddly enough- we think her first word was "apple". She says "aah-boo". Her other favorite words are: Mama, Dada, Olivia (Ah-ya-ya), and banana. She has also picked up on some signing words too. She just picked it up so easily! It is so crazy how different children are with their development. Some just do it, and other it takes so much work and patience!

Decking the Halls

 

Emma's latest "say cheese" grin

 The Christmas things are up! It still doesn't feel right to me though. The weather has been rather warm, and we have only had one small snow storm. We had hardly any snow last year too. We could be in a big drout if we don't get lots of snow this year! We want a white Christmas! Although- I don't want to have to shovel it... ;)
Back to the decorations- we have been decorating the past few days! The girls love it!They jumped up and down shouting "Christmas! Christmas!" Okay- yes, I did it too ;) When we put the tree up Brett insisted on Christmas music, a lit fire, and hot cocoa. I said no to the fire though because it is gas, and it gives me a headache! It is really too bad, because it is so fun to have a fire. Some day, maybe we will have a wood burning one. Although- I would probably oppose to that too- since I don't want the house smelling like smoke, and eventually giving me a headache. haha. Wow- I am a party pooper. 

Tap!

Claire started tap dance class! She is so excited and has so much pizazz when she dances! So much energy and funny faces! She is a great dancer, and very entertaining to watch. She has got the moves, and I'm sure some day could do very well as a jazz dancer!

1st day of Ballet

Olivia started ballet class. She loves it! She has been so excited to start classes for like 3 years now! Her first real class I was watching her not expecting much. She has some real talent! She points her toes and stands up straight, and looks like a real ballerina! She is a natural. I see a lot of potential in this dancer!

Halloween 2012

 Meow! Claire the cat

 Olivia the "Princess Pirate"

 And Emma the cutest elephant you ever did see!

All the candy from Halloween night!

school pic 2012

My blog stinks

How is it that others have the same thing going on in their lives, and their blog is awesome, and mine, well, it's a work in progress. I wish I had the creativity to present things more interesting! Liv has been losing her teeth- well, I would have posted a blog with some boring pictures of a girl with missing teeth. While over HERE her daughter has the same thing going on- yet- it is totally awesome and fun to read and look at. Sigh... I think I need to just copy and paste ;)

Organized

Little Miss Claire intrigues me. Ever since she was about 18 months she has been putting things in order and organizing her toys. They always have an order. Sometimes it is biggest to smallest, sometimes they are grouped according to species, and sometimes sorted by color. I wonder what this says about her. Is she mathematically inclined? Will she have OCD? Or maybe she just likes things in order and in its place like her mom ;) All these pictures were taken the same day. If Claire has played with it- you can bet they are left "just so" and she will be mad if you move them!
When I was taking pictures of the animals on the stairs- Claire was watching, so I said: "Say Cheese!"
Claire gets a funny look and says "Mom, they don't talk!"

"I don't love kisses!"

Claire has a thing about kisses. One day about a year ago she decided she didn't love kisses, and now we are not allowed to kiss her! She still gives us kisses though, because we DO love kisses! I hate not kissing her.. but I can't go against her wishes! She has even gotten to the point where now she is saying "I don't love BIG hugs, only little hugs." Darn girl, I need to love you!!

Sisters

Claire and Liv back to back. They are so cute together. They love to play together and giggle with each other. They are always playing school. Olivia is teacher and Claire her student. Claire has actually learned quite a bit from her "sissy". The funny thing is though- when Claire tries to write her name it always looks like an "O" an "L" and some other letters. She is always just copying Liv's name ;) It is cute. Claire would love to be just like her big sis.

Walking

Em is my latest walker so far. She is 13 months and still not really a "walker". She took her first steps about a month ago. She can walk for 5-6 steps before she falls, but she mostly crawls. In the last few days she has been trying to walk instead of crawl as her primary way of getting around. Go Emma! She looks kind of bow-legged when she walks! Its so cute and funny!

Head Bands

So after 3 bald girls you think I would be a head band specialist. Well, I am not, and I still have yet to master the cute bows/flowers. The BIGGEST problem is that we have an elastic that fits, but a few months later they no longer fit! It is sooo frustrating! We have tried the nylon, regular elastic, specialty elastic, and bra extender things so I can adjust it. None of the above worked well. Well, I have FINALLY found something great! I found THIS elastic on Etsy, and it is simply amazing. It comes in lots of colors, and it is SO stretchy! So perfect! I am excited to make a lot of headbands that she won't outgrow too soon!! And a bonus- it is so stretchy and doesn't hurt her head, she even leaves them on sometimes! SCORE!

'D' is for Dinosaurs

Today was the first time pre school was at our house! It went quite well, and to my surprise we didn't have ENOUGH time to do everything in the 2 hours. We sang songs, ate snacks, played a dino tracks game, and made a dinosaur with green paper and clothespin spikes on his back. They are a wonderful group of children that are all pretty well behaved, mellow, and obedient! I love this group of kids! Not to mention they are all SO stinking cute! Looks like it will be a good year!

Emma turns 1!

 The girls wrapped up old toys for Emmas birthday! Em didn't mind one bit, she LOVED her 'new' pink monkey!

 She did get one new toy- a hopping bunny. Every time she saw it at the store she would laugh and hug it. So, she got it! She loves her bunny!

 Since Emma LOVES ice cream, I thought I would make her an icecream cake for her birthday. Not the best idea! Trying to dive into a frozen cake... not so easy!!

On her Birthday we decided to take her to the Zoo since she really loves animals. It turned out to be a great trip! We ate at a buffet called Chuck-a-rama for dinner. It was surprisingly VERY good that night! The quality of food was not expected! Anyway- it was a fun day for all!

Here are her 1 year stats:

Height:28.75" (33%)

Weight:19 lbs. (43%)

Head: 17.5 (36%)

Olivia turns 6!

 We had a Wizard of Oz themed party! We had flying monkeys...

 "munchkin munchies"

 decorated "good witch" hats

 ate "over the rainbow cupcakes"

 and ofcourse the whole crew was there!

 we even had a yellow brick road

sweet Claire

Miss Claire. She is my sweet one. She is doing so well right now. She saw this picture and said "This is Cwawe!" She is still having a lot of trouble with her articulation with words, but that doesn't stop her from talking ALL the time. She loves to help me and her "sissys" all the time. She doesn't hesitate to do anything when I ask her. Pretty obedient at this stage! She has mostly mastered the toilet, but she keeps regressing randomly for weeks at a time. She is back on a good streak for now though! She has started preschool with friends- we are just doing it at different houses, so I will teach every 6 weeks. Yay for a no-cost preschool! It costs a fortune to send them to a real one!! Claire is favoring her Dad right now, and likes to tell me "NO KISSES MOM!" She will give me hugs though! She is just so sweet, and her smiles and little dances just melt my heart!

Date Night

 The little boy chasing Claire is Jake. They have formed a new friendship, and its pretty cute! He told his family a few weeks back that he was in love with Claire ;) I wouldn't mind one bit if they got married! His mom is one of my favorite people!

We have been doing a weekly date night with some of our neighbors/friends. We trade babysitting between 4 families- 1 family watches the kids while the other 3 parents go on a date. It has worked out pretty well. It is nice to have a weekly date with Brett- I don't see him often, so time with him is cherished! We generally have around 10-15 kids to watch during date night. It can be rough sometimes, but usually it is worth it ;)