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 ;)

First Day of School

 Claire started Pre-school this year! She went in with no fear and is So excited!

Olivia started 1st grade! All day school! She says is is long and a little boring, but she is off to a great start! No tears this year!

A Splash!

Emma Kate 9 month stats

Yes, Emma is now 11 months, but I never posted her last stats! oops!

Weight: 17 lbs (34%)

Height:27'' (23%)

Head: 17'' (48%)

She is now crawling, and getting really excited to walk- she has taken a few steps and was so excited! She is a momma lover, and still breastfeeds probably too much (like 6 times a day). She is a good sleeper for the most part. She likes to eat, and does pretty well with most solids.

Emma and the deer

 Emma admiring the deer

 Emma grazing on clovers with the deer

The deer over at Walowa were quite domesticated. Emma LOVED the deer, In fact, over this trip we learned that Emma really loves animals. She would kick and squeal and reach for any animals in sight. So different from the other 2 girls! We called the deer her "other family" because they really seemed to like each other! At one point 3 deer came up to Em and I and got waaay too close. I kept backing up and they kept trying to get closer to Emma. They were only inches away. I shooed them away, but it was a little scary. I don't think they meant harm, but who knows!
Later one of the male deer was getting a little crazy. He was bucking and kicking the other deer around. So, we decided to leave the are and go back to our yurt. The deer started to follow us. We walked a little faster. The next thing we knew the deer was running at us while bucking its head around wildly. He had big baby fuzzy antlers- so it was totally scary! He was headed straight for Claire. Brett picked up Claire just in time as he stuck out his foot to kick the deer. Luckily the deer stopped in its tracks and we didn't need to kick it. We ran inside and then watched the mad deer go buck and kick the other female deers around. We don't know why he was so upset, but he was out to beat someone or something up! Glad we were okay!

Trip to the top

While in Walowa we took a tram ride up the mountain. It was REALLY pricey,(about $70) but it was vacation... So we did it! We met up with my half sister, Dawn, and her children. We did a small hike, but the highlight was feeding the chipmunks. The kids loved feeding them. They would eat right out of your hands! There were so many I almost stepped on a few. The views were awesome! Oregon is beautiful!

Trip to Oregon

 We made our way to Oregon for a week. The time spent in Oregon was fabulous, but the drive there was less then desirable. We had new binders full or art supplies, new stickers, new coloring books, etc. We also had about 9 new movies to watch. Along with snacks and treats. Emma even had her own bag full of toys and snacks just for her. We were prepared. None the less there was lots and lots of crying. At the very end on our way home every one had lost it. It was 11pm and we were all so tired and crabby. Even Brett was losing it. I was threatening curse words. It was not pretty. But we made it! I'm sure we would do it again, the time spent away from the mundane was soo nice. I loved not thinking about what to cook for lunch or dinner. It was pure bliss to not think about it! Plus the girls were entertained almost all the time and they were never asking me to go or do anything! It was a much needed vacation!
Our itenaerary was this:
To Eugene: 14 hours
From Eugene to Walowa: 9 hours
From Walowa to Highland: 12 hours

Lets be honest

We were so excited for summer. Made a 'Summer bucket list' and everything.
We have been busy crossing things off our list.
 Picking strawberries from the yard and making a strawberry pie, trying out snow cones sold from the side of the road, going to the splash pad, swimming, etc.

Slowly I have found myself going CRAZY though. It feels as if I am yelling and trying to calm myself more then I am enjoying myself.

3 children, all home, all day, all 3 want attention and they fight for it! I miss Olivia in school. I miss a schedule. Emma is getting too big. I miss my newborn baby.And, you have probably missed my blog ;) It is suffering from this madness!

I can't complain too much though. The girls really are good girls. They are sweet and cooperative. It's just been hard adjusting to 3 in the summer.