Saturday, January 22, 2011

Women of Grace

In the fall, I joined a prayer group at our church for young women. I take the kids, but a few of my cousins offer to baby-sit all the kids during the meetings at the church which makes the prayer group much easier. The group is made up with young mothers with small children so it is nice to be able to pray and relate with women at a similar stage in life. This past week, Jack told me he took a few pictures on the camera (I keep a small camera in my diaper bag). I forgot about it until I downloaded pictures tonight and saw the few pictures. It made me smile to see them and I think it is fun to see what the kids are up to during my prayer group :)


Andrea and Anna
Anna in someone's boots. I like that Kate is sitting on Jack in the background.


Kate and Maria (and Elizabeth)






Cecilia and Jack

There are toys in this room, just not in the pictures. The girls do a great job keeping up with all the babies and children for us--thanks girls!

Friday, January 21, 2011

Brushing Teeth--All Thrity of Them

The girls LOVE to have their teeth brushed and to brush them themselves. They understand me when I tell them it is time to brush their teeth and will point to their toothbrushes. Elizabeth still has the most teeth--12, Anna is close behind with 11 and Kate has 7.

17 Months!

At 17 months, the girls are moving and getting into everything! It seems their latest milestone of walking is making things more challenging. I thought because they crawled, walking wouldn't change things too much, but I think I might be rethinking that one. They really like to explore the territory "outside" their gate and they are quite quick once that gate it open!


Anna is the fastest. She walks quickly, not quite a run, but getting closer. She is babbling so much! She still only says one word, 'ut oh', but she is constantly chit-chatting and pointing to objects. She loves to crawl into any one's lap, especially Granddad. She will cry when Granddad walks by the room and doesn't stop by to see her and also when Granddad gets up and leaves the room to warm up his coffee. She loves books, dolls, animals and babies. She will point to her belly by lifting up her shirt and will also lift up my shirt to see my belly button. She points to her head, nose, eyes and ears. She is still the biggest of the three, has the most hair (dark) and blue-green eyes.
Kate likes the zebra riding toy. She climbs up on this all the time and moves to the music. She is still too small to touch the ground, but that doesn't stop her. She loves to pick up and 'throw' balls, then she chases them. She loves dolls, puzzles and books. She constantly is dancing to music and seeking out the toys that play music. She recently learned how to take off her diaper which made for an interesting night a few days ago that ended with poop, carpet scrubbing and a second bath for her and her sister. She has recently began to babble quite a bit and she says, 'ut oh'. With her babbling, she makes no sense, but she is telling her sisters something important. She points to her nose, mouth, belly, feet, and head. She has very little hair (dark) and dark eyes.
Elizabeth likes to do whatever her sisters and brother are doing. She is a people-pleaser. She is constantly bringing her sisters their milk cups that they didn't finish. She also likes to hand me teeny-tiny pieces of dirt, fuzz, paper, etc. on the ground (at least she is not eating them). She, like her sisters, says 'ut oh' and babbles a lot. She will point to her head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, teeth, feet and belly. She loves dolls, music, blocks and cups. She likes to keep things in order. She will bring me anything I ask her and has recently pointed to her diaper when it is wet and will point to the dry diapers. She has blond hair and very blue eyes.
None of the girls like to be changed and will roll away with great strength during diaper changes. They love shoes and boots and will bring them to me to put on. They like their milk cups and seem to know which color is theirs (Kate=pink; Anna=purple; Elizabeth=green). They love to eat and will mostly eat everything I give them. They recently had chocolate cake for the first time and they were loving it :)
Jack has recently started to play with the girls and they will follow him around and listen to him. He can entertain them for a while if he wants to.
The latest 'game' for the girls. Jack will move a strategically placed box (that blocks corners like this above) and the girls like to get into tiny corners like this one...they also like to get behind the door between it and the TV chest.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

First Basket-ball Game

Jack started his first basket-ball league today. This class was for kids aged four to six. Jack was the shortest kid in the class and probably the youngest since he just turned four. The kids did about 30 minutes of skills and then scrimmaged another team for about 20 minutes. Jack did okay during the skills, but didn't quite understand the game when they scrimmaged. He mostly played around with his wrist band they gave him. The band was given to him so he would know which kid on the opposite team he was supposed to guard. At the end of the third quarter, one of the coaches showed Jack how to shoot underhand. John is the assistant coach for Jack's team, the Raptors. For his first game, he had quite a turn-out of supporters! The girls, Grandmom and Granddad, Mimi, Papa, Aunt Mary and myself!


The Raptors wore purple shirts
Jack has the black pants on. Here they are doing jumping jacks


Not too bad of a shot!

The cheerleaders

Thursday, January 13, 2011

New Cousin Alexa!

We took a trip up north to visit our newest niece/cousin. Since we make quite a mess these days, we only stayed one night and drove back the next day. It was perfect timing because today was also my mom's birthday so we got to see her today as well. Alexa is only a week and a half old and she is perfect. Jack was excited to see Alexa and keep asking me if she would still be "tiny". But once we got there, he was so excited to see his older cousins, he didn't pay much attention to her. Finally before bed, he asked to hold Alexa. Anna really liked the baby. She was very interested which surprised me because I always think she is the most independent one compared to her sisters. She doesn't interact as much with Kate and Elizabeth and as much as Granddad holds her, we joke she wishes she is the only child :) Kate and Elizabeth pretty much ignored Alexa, except to touch her face (particularly her eyes). Alexa is so tiny, the girls look so grown up next to her!


Anna looking at Alexa (she was also keeping close watch on Granddad)
The girls were into everything!
Jack's huge smile holding Alexa
Julie and Alexa





Elizabeth acting famous




Kate reaching for her face


These girls will have fun together :)

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Phoebe's Baptism

Today John and I attended our Goddaughter's baptism. Jack was a bit under the weather, so he stayed back and he was slightly disappointed that he missed out on the party. The girls attended, and thanks to their Aunt Susie and her girls, they were well taken care of during the ceremony.

Phoebe Rose


 Aunt Susie and Elizabeth


 Phoebe
 Anna is my animal lover...just like her Aunt Cindy