Still Can't Believe it....

We were at the park again yesterday - January 30th and the kids and I are heading to the park in Fall coats, no hats, no gloves, no boats.  I just can't believe it - but I am LOVING it!!

We went with the cousins again and had so much fun!

The girls always have fun swinging together.

Little Miss Content enjoyed her ride in the stroller.

After our time at the park, we always go for a nice long walk. 

These two cousins sure love one another.

Avocado

Little Content is LOVING eating solid foods. 

She recently has started eating avocado and is enjoying it quite a bit.

She has the rosey red winter cheeks and the green avocado on her lips.

The other day she was sitting on the table playing her toy in front of Big Brother.  I served him spaghetti and she quickly threw her toy town and reached towards his food.  It gave him quite a laugh as he said "mom, she wants to eat my food." 

I can do it all by myself

I love Little Miss' enthusiasm to do everything and I do mean everything, "all by herself."  Here are just a few things that she has conquered on her.  Keep in mind, that on a normal day, if I help her with any these, she will get back down and start all over again, because she wants to do it "all by herself."

Put her coat away

  I had told her that Big Brother could help her do this, but no "I do it all by myself mom" and she found a way. She moves her shoe tote down, climbs up, hangs her coat up and replaces her shoe tote.

Walk down the stairs

  Now this is no huge accomplishment for a 2 1/2 year old, I know.  But she enjoys her freedom and being able to go down the stairs without my hand.

Go to the potty

  For some time now she has been able to go to the potty all by herself.  This has been helpful with nursing baby and not wanting to stop in the middle.  She takes her pants down, climbs up on the potty, and then wipes - "all by herself." We still can't wash our hands alone- but that is solely because she can't reach the sink (thankfully she hasn't found a way to climb up there yet).

(These pictures are just Little Miss acting, hence why her pants are on)

Getting into her highchair

  Again, this might not be a huge accomplishment for a 2 1/2 year old, but we have the higher table and chairs.  Once again, if we even touch her on the way up, she will get back down and start all over again. 

Say Cheese

Little Miss and Little Content were "helping" mommy wash dishes the other evening after supper.  Little Content found her way up to Little Miss' special spot...Little Miss was more than pleased to share this spot with her sister.

This picture might not seem like a big deal to most people, but this picture is priceless to mom.  Why?  Because right before the picture was taken, I (mom) said to Little Miss "smile and say cheese" and she did.  I (mom) about wanted to cry.  This is the first time Little Miss has looked into the camera with a true smile and said cheese.  She was so excited and happy to be sitting next to her sister that she adores, that the smile just came out.  For the past 2 1/2 years I have been battling Little Miss to smile in pictures and look at the camera.  I am sure my battle is not over, but for this one moment and this one picture, Little Miss made her mom's day.

Friends

We had friends over this past Sunday evening for dinner.  Once again, the children had a blast spending time together. 

The sweet girls sat next to one another on the sofa as they watched a video together.  Actually, I think one of them might be singing a long in this picture.

And the boys....we are not sure what they are doing in the picture below.  Us girls were upstairs having conversation and watching the video as seen above, and the next thing we know in come these two little men "roaring" at us...so I of course had to get a picture.

The daddy's were downstairs with these boys, but we are guessing these two little guys snuck away to show off their manliness to their mom's and sister's. 

Imagination

I love those special moments when Little Man and Little Miss play together so contently and joyfully.  This happened the other morning while I was nursing baby.  I heard them playing and when I finally went to investigate here is the scene I came upon.

They had decided to move most everything from Little Miss' room into brother's room.  They told me they were missionaries who were going to tell people about Jesus.  They were staying at hotel in Montana. 

Little Miss was so excited about all her belongings being in brother's room.; she quickly asked me if we could move her bed in there too.

Grandpa and the Apple Peeler

We are so blessed to have grandparents in our children's lives who love them so much.  Every Thursday night this Grandpa makes a trip to our home to spend some time with the children before he goes to Bible study with daddy. The kids know to expect Grandpa now, so if he doesn't make it on a Thursday, Little Man and Little Miss are quick to ask me "where's grandpa?  Is he coming over?"

Grandpa introduced our children to this new apple peeler and the kids LOVE it!  Little Man loves being able to peel the apples on his own and of course, the apples taste better when they are in "snakes" as Grandpa calls them.

BIG SMILE

Little Man says to me this morning, "mom look at my big smile."

Saturday Morning Chores

Our children are so ambitious to want to help us out with cleaning around the house.  I know this is normal when children are young, and I know it is important to encourage it and to be so thankful when they do help.  It might take a little longer and it might not get done perfectly, but I want to heed the advice I have heard from so many mom's "Let them help now while they want to and it is fun to them...this will help to instill good habits for when they are older." 

Crazy Hair

When Little Miss wakes up, she has quite the crazy hair.

Boys Boys Boys

Little Man is blessed to have a cousin his age and a good friend who live so close by.   These three boys have so much fun together.  The other night it was wrestling.

It Snowed

Winter may be coming - it has been delayed this year, but I shouldn't be shocked that we got some snow.  It is January.  The children were SO excited to wake up to snow the other morning - they of course wanted to go right outside and play in it.  We didn't make it out (too cold and windy for mom), but daddy made it out to snow blow our driveway.  When I came back from waking our Littlest up, here were Little Man and Little Miss watching their daddy.

Little Miss Content - 6 Months Old

Our Littlest is now 6 months old. 

We may have to change her name from Little Miss Content, to Little Miss Wants More Attention.  She is still a very happy baby - but she is not as happy to just sit.  She wants someone talking with her and if not, will "speak" to us.  She still is very easy to make happy, still loves cuddling with her mommy at nap time and smiles a lot. 

She has discovered her hands and feet - so she loves to sit and watch her little hands move or try to chew on her feet when we change her diaper.

She LOVES her big brother and will sit and talk with him whenever he will give him attention.  He loves her too - quite a bit.

And of course she is still GREATLY loved by her little sister!  So loved!

She has started eating some table food and SHE LOVES IT!!  She actually gets quite upset when we are done feeding her or if the rest of us are eating and she is not.  So far she has tried applesauce, banana and some rice cereal.

Family Fun Night

A few weeks ago we had a Family Fun Night in which mom set up several games (kind of like a mini carnival) for the kids and parents to participate in.  The games were:

1) Clothes Pin Drop (see how many clothes pins you can drop from you chin into a jar)

2) Guessing Game (guess how many beads were in a jar)

3) Bozo Game (for those who watched the Bozo Show growing up - just toss a ball into a five buckets)

4) Shooting Game (using a Nerf gun, see how many spice containers you can shoot down)

5) Bean Bag Toss

The Shooting Contest:

The Bean Bag Toss:

The Bozo Game:

More Dress Up

Big Brother and Little Miss LOVE to dress up, as you have seen before on our blog.  Here is more pictures of the fun they have:

Trip Up North

The kids and I just returned home from a five day trip with Aunt Fell and her two kids to visit our mom and then head to the cities.  The kids had so much playing in the play area and gym at the hotel and then going to the Mall to ride on several rides.

I love this picture below - Grammie and her crazy five.  I think it shows all five of their personalities:

From Left to Right:

Little Miss Content - Happily observing what Big Sister is telling her

Little Miss - Can't take her eyes or attention off little sister if she is any where around

Little Man - LOVES to make any type of funny face right now in hopes to get any one to laugh

Cousin One - Sitting like a nice little gentleman cuddled into his Grammie

Cousin Two - Singing away - after spending five days with her, I got to hear many of her songs!

The MALL:

The boys had a blast riding on these cars together...the ride would go slow in the middle then fling you around the corners...every time the boys went around they would scream together.  It was hilarious.  (Aunt Fell has a video on her phone of them, if you'd wish to watch - very funny).

These boys had SO much fun together this weekend.  Whether we were at Grammie's house, the Mall, or the hotel - they played together so well!!!  It is so much fun watching them mature together and see how much fun they have.

Little Miss also enjoyed going on several rides with her Grammie.  One of which was the rollercoaster:

THE GYM at the hotel:

THE PLAY AREA:

 I love this picture of Little Miss and Grammie - the slide must of have been really fun!

Little Miss

Little Miss has been making me smile even more than normal today.  One of the first things we do in the mornings after breakfast is our mornings chores.  I love Little Miss' ambition to get things done and to help out.  This morning I asked her to go collect the laundry from her brother's room and when I turned around this is what I saw:

Little Miss Content was happy to help out too - by sitting next to us in the laundry room while we worked.

As our day continued, lunch soon approached and Little Miss had me smiling again.  She must be going through a growth spurt, because she has been eating double helpings of most every meal lately.  So, as she was on her second plate of Spaghetti for lunch, I turn around and see this:

She couldn't get the food in fast enough - she even asked me for plate number three, but we decided to move onto applesauce.  And yes, the purple on her forehead is from yet another fall - this time she thought she could stand on top of a ball at the YMCA.  She quickly found out she could not and landed right on her head.  She is fine and is actually quite happy that she now has "purple" on her head.

One Tough Little Girl

Little Miss Content has proven herself to be quite a tough little girl.  From having a rattle thrown into her face, having her eyes and nose poked at constantly and a full body hug probably once an hour to this morning in the bath tub having a full glass of water dumped onto her face before mom could stop it - Little Miss Content is yet to shed a tear.  She just shakes it off and moves on.  Who is the culprit?  Her big sister.  It has been asked if it is out of jealousy - but honestly, I do not believe it is.  It purely out of love (or curiosity when the poking starts), but not jealously.  Little Miss LOVES her little sister more than I could have even imagined possible.  We are still just working on teaching her how to be gentle.

No tears with any of the above, but if daddy sneezes, the tears start rolling down her face and the cry just about breaks your heart.  She may be tough, but she is also quite sensitive to loud noises!

Christmas Photo

Thought I'd share a photo of the foursome from Christmas morning.  Look at those blue eyes...

Special Spot for Little Miss

When I need to get some dishes done, I have found a perfect spot for Little Miss.  This protects our Littlest for a few moments and keeps Little Miss happily next to her mommy.