Orange Ear Muffs

Olivia received some orange ear muffs for Christmas from one of her friends. When I saw them I was a little shocked at the furriness, the color, and the over-all wow factor. Olivia of course loved them. She has worn them faithfully every day this winter. She is so cute, I almost like the funny little things now. And plus- she is easy to spot in a crowd of children! Can't complain about that! Spring is here, the warmer weather is coming and I think I will keep my eyes out for some new ear muffs for next year.. ;)

Sisterly Love

These two are always picking on each other. One minute they love the attention, the next it is just too much and there is crying. Claire over loves Emma with her hugs and kisses, and just constant touching, while Emma likes to pull Claires hair, poke at her eyes, and pat Claire on the back. I don't think Emma is malicious, it is just her age and she doesn't know it hurts! They drive each other crazy, but they love each other and love to play together so much too.

#4

Baby #4 is due August 25. We are so excited! Of course Brett is hoping for a boy, but sure it is a girl. I do not mind either way. Another August baby. All I can think is "poor Claire, all alone in December.. right next to Christmas!" And then I feel a little bad that we will have 3 birthdays all right next to each other in August. Apparently no one will have their own special time in this house ;)

2 month catch up

 Emma was attacked with stickers by her sisters. She didn't seem to notice or care

 some time in December we made gingerbread cookies. It was very time consuming... and messy! It was fun though. 

 the girls on Christmas Eve in their new jammies

 Liv on Christmas day

  

 Claires' birthday! She was sick on her birthday and the day her party was scheduled, so we moved it to a week later. She had a Minnie Mouse themed party. She invited every friend her age and had a good old time.

 the girls tracing window stickers.

 we finally got a new table and some bunk beds for the girls! Now we can actually have guests over... or even fit our own family at our table! Yay! Now that Emma is at the table.. we had to get something to fit us all. Table for 4 was just too small!

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!