Love and Rockets

I decided to make Emily a special lunch today. I forgot to take a picture of hers but I did the same thing for Bailey, so I do have a shot of what it looked like. My idea was to make a sandwich that said, "I love you," so I cut out the letter I, a heart, and the letter U from two slices of bread. Then I made those into mini peanut butter and honey sandwiches. I was careful to pack them in the right order so she'd have a yummy note when she got to lunch today. Well, when she got home, I said, "Hey, Emmy, did you have a special lunch today?"

"I sure did!"

"What was it?"

"It was a heart and two rockets!" LOL :)

Here they are:

Liam brushes his teeth

Liam is definitely in the "imitation" phase--he does everything he sees one of us do. His latest achievement is brushing his own teeth, complete with a very emphatic spit at the end. Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/jqxoG0ZgovU

Dusting

Bailey said she wanted to help me clean today. So I told her I was going to start dusting once I’d finished cleaning her bathroom. She ran off into the playroom and was busy cooking something in her kitchen, so I kind of forgot that I said that. Well, about fifteen minutes later I go in there to check on her and everything, and I mean EVERYTHING—the kitchen, the table, the puzzles, the shelves, everything—is COVERED in baby powder! So I’m like, “Bailey!! What are you DOING?” And she goes, “I am dusting!” Sheesh!! What a disaster that was! I can only be glad that it was just a travel sized bottle of powder and not a big one, or I would have been in serious trouble!

Mommy's Helpers

This morning, Bailey and Liam were excited to help me do the laundry.  I was excited about that, too!
http://youtu.be/KJ5soX4LvpA

Aren't they the cutest helpers ever??

A Trip to Sea World!

Sea World has a great deal right now for parents of preschoolers: a preschool pass that gets kids 5 and under in for free! We decided to get tickets since they also have their pay for a day, play all year promotion going on as well. I thought it would be a fun thing to do with the kids. We had a great time seeing the animals and riding the rides--they have an extensive kiddie ride area now as well as a huge net climb! It was a fun day!

Liam is one!

Well I can hardly believe that my baby boy is one!  We had a super fun party here at the house. We rented a bounce house, which was really fun for all of us. Liam got some cute presents, including a race track from Mommy and Daddy that he just LOVED:

http://youtu.be/TloyLpI6i9c

He also loved his egg-free, dairy-free cake! (I tried it, too, and it was good--a little denser than regular cake but still yummy.)

Thanks to everyone who celebrated with us and to family from afar who sent gifts!

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year.  Santa was very good to us, as always.  He brought the girls a princess castle!  Liam got a slide (sports-themed, of course), Bailey got a Dora dollhouse, and Emily got a telescope, which we have all enjoyed using. We saw Jupiter and four of its moons one night! Of course there were many other presents as well, and we enjoyed seeing our family on Christmas eve and on Christmas day, too!

My favorite part of the day was when Emily woke up on Christmas morning (at 6:45, LOL).  She RAN across the house and checked out the tree.  I heard a gasp and then she said, "BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!!" and ran to wake up her sister. Just hearing that joyful shout made my day. :)

Coconuts

Sometimes I forget that my children are Florida natives. It makes me laugh when Emily asks for a jacket because it's seventy degrees outside. Or when she declared the pool "frozen" because the water was 72 degrees (she wanted to swim last week when it got up to 88 outside but after putting her toes in the pool, she quickly changed her mind!). But the best example of their "Florida-ness" happened this week.

Liam is very interested in the Christmas tree, as I imagine most babies and small children are. Well, he loves to toddle over there, grab two (plastic) ornaments, and run off with them, gleefully banging them together. Yesterday, Bailey saw him grab the ornaments and she yelled, "MOM! Liam's taking the coconuts!"

Me, totally baffled: "What coconuts?"

Bailey: "The coconuts from the Christmas tree!"

And THAT is how you know your kid is a Florida native. :)

A Visit with Santa

Last night we took the kids to the mall to have dinner (which was a fundraiser for Emmy's school) and to visit Santa. I wasn't sure how it would go, but I had high hopes that everyone would do well. Emily and Bailey were very excited to see Santa, and they both asked him to bring them something. Liam wasn't too sure, but when I put him on Santa's lap, he seemed okay, so I walked over to where the photographer was standing. Well, when he saw me walk away, he got VERY upset! It was pitiful!! But I actually like the "crying" picture because it is a memory of how he acted when he saw Santa for the first time. We also got a cute shot of just the girls, too.

Liam is walking!

And here he is!

Emily is SIX!!

It's hard for us to believe that our little girl is SIX YEARS OLD!  Emily came running out of her room at 6:45 this morning.  She knew there were a couple gifts waiting for her. :)  Mommy and Daddy sang "Happy Birthday" and then Emily opened a couple presents.

One was from Aunt Joann and Uncle Dave.  It had two princess nightgowns inside.  She loves them--she has worn one every night since getting them.  As soon as one comes out of the wash, she wears it again.

Then Mommy, Daddy, Bailey, and Liam gave her a ballet book and puzzle, which goes with her party theme, and a solitare game called Clever Castle.

Emily was also super excited about school.  We made chocolate cupcakes to bring to her class today, and Mommy got to eat lunch with Emily at school!  Her teacher gave her a special ribbon to wear, too. 

We went to Chili's for dinner and Emily got a yummy dessert--AND they sang to her!  It was a great day.

"Mommy, I Know You're So Old..."

I was enjoying a snuggle on the couch with Emily yesterday when she looks at me and says, "Mommy, I know you're so old, but why are you so little?"  Thanks, kid.

Family Pictures

Last weekend we had our family pictures done at Gemini Springs. It was a lovely day and I am really pleased with some of the shots!  Here are my favorites:

Earth

I took Emily and Bailey out to look at the moon tonight; it was a spectacular harvest moon and was absolutely beautiful.  Also, visible next to the moon was Jupiter (although I didn't know this at the time--we had to go in and look up what planet was currenlty visible from our location).  Anyway, I said, "Hey, guys, see that super bright star next to the moon?  Well, that's not a star; it's a planet!" 

Emily replied, "Is it Earth?" 

Me, trying hard not to laugh: "No, sweetie, we're ON Earth.  I don't know which planet it is--we'll have to go look that up." LOL :)

Kiran

On Wednesday mornings I drive Emily to school because I volunteer for her teacher.  This week, when we were walking into the building, a car pulled up alongside and the driver asked me where the drop off was.  The little boy inside was yelling, "Emily! That's Emily! She's my BEST FRIEND!"  Emily turns to me and says, "Mommy, that's Kiran.  He's in my class.  I love him. I'm going to marry him."

Kindergarten has been QUITE the experience so far!!

Happy Halloween

We had a fun Halloween this year.  The kids were all adorable in their costumes: Emily as Ariel, Bailey as Aurora, and Liam as a dinosaur.  Will was a pumpkin and Jennifer was Dorothy.  We went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood with our friends the Kuhns.  The girls had a blast!

Bailey's leg is still in a cast so we towed her around in the wagon and then carried her up to each house.  That was quite a lot of work so we only went around one block. :)

Liam was thrilled when I gave him his own pumpkin to hold.  We didn't let him trick-or-treat; between the fact that he's 10 months old AND that he has a list of food allergies a mile long, it just didn't seem prudent.  But, there was one house that was prepared for little ones, and they gave him a tiny pouch of animal crackers (which were actually safe for him to eat!).  Well, he was delighted!  He kept looking in his pumpkin, taking them out, and putting them back in.  It was adorable!

Emily had a blast spending some time with her sibings and her friends. It was a lot of fun to watch her!  She has really become SUCH a big girl!



Bailey's Broken Leg!

On Thursday, Bailey took a small spill off her bike.  She was trying to execute a too-tight turn, and the bike (which has training wheels) tipped over onto her.  She was screaming but I thought that she was just being dramatic.  She said she wanted ice, which I gave her, but I couldn't see any injuries--no swelling, not even a scratch!  So I guessed she was just over tired and super sensitive.  That is, until I tried to stand her up and she just collapsed.  It was off to the after-hours pediatrician (thank God for those!!) to get some x-rays.  They diagnosed a "toddler's fracture" and put a splint on her until we could see the pediatric orthopedist the next day.  She was NOT happy about this.  She screamed and screamed.  The worst part of all was getting the ace bandage that was wrapped around the splint taped up.

On Friday we went to see the orthopedist and two doctors saw Bailey.  They decided she'd need to wear a cast for three weeks.  Bailey was absolutely hysterical over this news.  She screamed and cried and fought the poor orderly charged with applying the cast.  I had to sit on the table with her on my lap.  The man was so nice to Bailey and he said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry; will you forgive me?"  Well, Bailey screamed, "NEVER!  I'LL NEVER, NEVER FORGIVE YOU! EVER!"   It was totally ridiculous and I was laughing--and luckily, so was the orderly.  He said, "What if I give you a sticker?" Bailey: "NO!"  "How about two stickers?"  "NO!" "Three stickers?  I have Dora, Scooby Doo..." Bailey started getting interested at this point.  When we left, she had eight stickers (LOL) and  a lovely purple cast.

Here she is at Grayson's birthday party the next day.  Thank goodness we only have three weeks until it comes off!!

What's Your Number?

Here is a cute conversation I had with Bailey today:

Mommy: "Did you have fun playing with Derrick today?"

Bailey: "Yes, but where was his big friend?"

M: "His big friend?  You mean Xander?"

B: "Oh, yes, Xander."

M: "Xander is at school.  He goes to school like Emily."

B: "Because they're both big?"

M: "Yes."

B: "Well I don't go to school because I am three.  What's YOUR number?  Do you have a number?"

M: "I'm thirty-three."

B: "FORTY-THREE?"

M: "No, thirty-three."

B: "Thirty-three?  Wow, that's a lot."

M: "Thanks."

B: "You welcome." :)

Punkin' Patch

Today we took the kids to the "punkin' patch" to choose some pumpkins to decorate.  We had a nice time strolling through the pumpkins and choosing one for each child.  Here are some shots from our trip!

This is Uh-dic-uh-lus!

Bailey's language is growing by leaps and bounds lately, and it's so funny to hear some really BIG words coming from such a little girl!  Last week I took Emily to the doctor for her flu shot.  We had an appointment but it was at the end of the day and we waited quite a while before our name was called.  After 15 minutes of waiting, Bailey asked the receptionist if it was our turn yet.  She said, "No, not yet."  Then, a few minutes later, one of the doctors who knows us came out to say hi to Emily and ask her about school. Bailey said, "Is it our turn yet?"  The doctor replied, "Not yet.  Soon, though!"  And Bailey goes, "This is uh-dic-uh-lus!"  I laughed SO hard!!  Then Bailey said, "That's not punny!" :)

That same day, I was in line at the Disney store and Bailey was playing with the queueing line, which of course says "Disney Store" all over it. She says, "Look, Mommy!" and then burst into song, "DISNEY JUNIOR, where the magic begins!"  LOL!! About 5 other moms in line and around the store burst out laughing with me.  How I love having a little girl who keeps me laughing!!