Imogene's Antlers

Idgie got this book for her very first Christmas.  It's a great little story about a little girl name Imogene who wakes up one morning, with antlers on her  head. Obviously hilarity ensues!  Idgie has really started to enjoy the story lately since it is her name and loves to hear it and talk about it.  I couldn't resist snapping this picture the other night.  Look!  It's Imogene's Antlers!

Rating:  Deer Feed?

9 Months

Lincoln is 9 month old!
I swear he says mom and dad - the sounds anyway - there are even times when I'm pretty sure  there is the correct meaning attached to them.
He can also wave hi and bye.
He is crawling with ease now and can cruise along furniture.  He will definitely be walking by his first birthday!

We also started him on soldis two weeks ago.  I was hoping he would skip the puress and go straight to table food just like Idgie did, but so far he is quite content with his mushy stuff.  Bummer.

For all the ladies out there - here are his current stats:

Weight - 15lbs 14oz (<3%)
Height - 27 1/4 inches (15%)
Head - 18inches  (60%)

He is very much like Emmaline was at this age (only bigger!) - the head to weight ratio is quite off.  It's amazing he can sit up being that top heavy!

Rating:  Peas and Carrots

Most Improved

Last Thursday we were invited to an awards assembly.  Emmaline received an award for "Most Improved" in her class for the Second Quarter.  I'm not sure what that means exactly - but  we're proud of her anyway!

Emmaline also has had the "Reading Bug" finally click in her.  I've been waiting and waiting for this to happen.  She discovered the other night that she can read a Magic Treehouse book all by herself, "In my head!"  She actually got home from school and begged to go up to her room and lay on her bed and read her book.  Um - Okay!!!  And then last night AJ found her fast asleep in her bed, laying on her open book with her lamp still on.    I can't even tell you how excited I am for this world to open up to her!  She is going to love it!

Rating:  5 Lollipops

Dreams

Liliana has such a vivid imagination and a fantastic sense of humor.  She definitely is understanding how to make a joke or the timing of doing something funny.  Her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds, althought she still has pronounciation troubles.   

Last night she came into our room crying, saying she had a bad dream.  When asked what it was about, she said that it was about popcorn, and there was "popcorn everywhere!"  I wish I could see that dream!

Then in the morning, she told us she had another dream - a good one this time. It was about a castle, a princess, an evil frog, and all of our family and a bunch of stuffed animals in a pool.

Happy Birthday Liliana! (and Happy 10 years to us!)

AJ and I started out the day of our 10 year anniversary by rolling out of bed at 6:30am in order to get ready for the day, breakfast made, and Emmaline off to school.  Happy Anniversary to us!  Luckily we already celebrated by ordering dinner in on Saturday night.

As I was making breakfast, Liliana burst into the kitchen and exclaimed, "I know what day it is!  It's my BIRTHDAY!"  We managed to get in gift opening before Emmaline had to head off to school.  It was still dark outside as we were doing that.  Liliana received an art kit (thank goodness she made that New Year's Resolution!), a huge Tinkerbell coloring and sticker book, a big cardboard playhouse that she can color and decorate herself, a bouncy ball (the kind you sit on and bounce around), Hi-Ho Cherry-O, and  Play-doh kit.

That's right - all her gifts are wrapped in Christmas paper.  But that's okay, because we do that for everyone - even if they are born in the middle of summer.

Lil played away the morning with her new stuff.  The cardboard house was definitely fun.  She colored on it, and she also drew pictures and glued to it.

AJ had the day off, so later in the afternoon, he took her to run some errands (a special treat to be the only kid going!) and then took her out for ice cream.  She has never been in an ice cream parlor before and AJ reported that she was very excited and even remembered to spontaneously tell him thank you for bringing her!

For dinner - she requested spaghetti, and a glass of milk, and for her cake she wanted it to be "Strawberry Shortcake".  She didn't mean the actual kind of Strawberry Shortcake - but rather she wanted it to look like the character of Strawberry Shortcake.  My skills are limited in that area, but I did manage to make her a cake shaped like a strawberry!  She even blew out her candles in one blow.

At the end of the day, after all the kids were in bed, AJ and I laid down on our bed, and were discussing the day, and suddenly woke up about half an hour later - and realized we had both fallen asleep - and it was only 7:30pm.  I guess that is what being married 10 years is really like!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful girl Lil-Pie!

Rating:  1 Birthday Cake

Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam

Today was Liliana's first day of Sunbeams.  In our church, once you turn three, then the following January, you move up from the Nursery and start going to Primary.  The name of the 3-year-old class is Sunbeams.  Liliana is in a weird spot because her birthday is in January.  So while she turned three LAST January, she had to wait until the this January to enter Sunbeams.  The funny part of course is that she turns four tomorrow.  It is actually a real blessing with where her birthday is.  She really benefited from having that extra year in the nursery.  I watched her and the other 3-year-olds today and she was light years ahead of them in her ability to sit still and participate and focus.  The kids in her class are anywhere from 4-11 months younger than her and it is amazing the difference even a few months can make in behavior.  If her birthday was even 4 days earlier (thus falling in December) she would have entered Sunbeams last year.  I can't even imagine how hard of a time she would have had!
Today she went and sat with her class, excited and thrilled to be there!  She was so good the whole time - I would love to see that behavior at home!!!

Rating:  4 Lollipops

New Years

It finally snowed here so the kids were anxious to head out to play.  We were very disappointed to discover that everyone had outgrown their snowgear so we had to piece together different things to get it all on them!  Luckily snowpants are somewhat adjustable!  The girls wanted to make a snowman but the snow wasn't quite wet enough.  Lincoln stayed inside and enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Lincoln - in Halloween pj's for New Years

Idgie

Liliana

Emmaline

That evening, we decided to go on a family camping trip.  This of course involved air mattresses and pretend tents that we set up in the family room.  We watch How to Train Your Dragon, played Pretty Pretty Princess, and ate snacks and English Muffin pizzas.   Then it was finally bed time - a few hours before midnight!  Lincoln was lucky enough to still get the luxury of his crib, but the rest of us roughed it!

This morning we ate breakfast and talked about the New Year and our resolutions.  Here is what everyone had to say:

Lincoln - He told us he wants to try out solids and learn to walk this year!
Idgie - She said, "Santa!"  Which I'm pretty sure translates to: "I plan to be a super good girl this year so Santa will come again next Christmas."
Lil - She said, "I want to color a LOT!"  Which translates to, "I am going to practice becoming a better artist this year."
Emmaline - She said she wanted to learn more about swimming this year.
AJ and Bethany -  We resolve to survive another year!  But mostly our only big plan for the year is to do something fun for our anniversary.

Happy New Year everyone!

Rating:  6 Candy Canes