Gratitude

My Thanksgiving post, a little late:

Grateful for many things this holiday season...
1. My husband, who loves me so much (despite all of the reasons he should not  :) )  and my two big girls who show their love to me unabashedly. 

2. A beautiful baby girl- I know it sounds like a cheesy exaggeration, but this is the truth...just looking at her fills me with so much joy and hope that it overrides my sadness.
3.  My health, our free country, and the comfortable lifestyle we live
4.  And the most exciting thing to be thankful for...(drum roll, please)... my parents and sister (plus family) are moving to NC next year!!!  We can't wait!!!

 

Tooth Fairy

The tooth fairy made her first visit to our house this month...

 

 Can you tell C was excited?

funny book

9/1/12- SJ wanted to be like C and speak some Spanish.  She says, "This is how you say SJ in Spanish...cinco y seis." 

10/24/12- We were outside playing and C asked me if I had the baby thermometor so I could hear if S was crying (it took me a minute to realize she meant baby monitor).

10/24/12- I think SJ has been playing with the boys at school.  She makes things into weapons and after aiming them at us says, "You have a bweeding boo-boo!  Here's a band-aid"  Also, today she said, "C is the mad guy"  I think she meant bad guy.

10/30- The girls love the "Fresh Beat Band" from Nick Jr.  The theme song has a part where the beat-boxer says "It -goes a- little- something- like- this."  SJ sings it like this "Hip-po-pot-a-mus!"  At another part, the lyrics are something about a special day.  SJ sings "special today" in a voice that makes her sound like a street hawker with a foreign accent.  It makes me smile every time.

11/10- In the bathroom at Greg's office (a not-kid-friendly space with very high ceilings and therefore lots of sound amplification), SJ says, "Mom, girls sit down to go potty, right?"  She repeated this a few times before I reluctantly answered her from the next stall, "yes, that's right."  SJ... and boys stand up to go potty, right, Mom?"   "Right, sweetie... let's finish up and get out of here." 

 

Fun Run

C and SJ have been begging to run in a race "like Daddy."  Here are photos from their first ever race.

 

Soooo excited!!!

 

 

 

At the starting line (Silvie and I cheered them on).

 

 

 

Watching them come in on the home stretch brought a little tear to my eye.  Are they cute or what?!?

 

 

They both did great and ran the whole way ("one WHOLE mile" they'll tell you).  When I asked C what her favorite part was, I was sure she'd say it was the snacks afterwards, or the bracelet she got for finishing, or the race T-shirt, but nope.  She simply said, "the running."  :)

 

 

P.S.  Clara got 2 stitches.  Here she is showing off her bandaid.  No accidents, just a suspicious mole that needed to be removed.  She was very brave during the procedure and can't wait to get the stitches out so she can go swimming, again.

Halloween fun

Look Ma

No Training Wheels!!!  Go-C-Go!

 

 

 

Plus, celebrating 11 years... a nice dinner date with no kids!

Do I Look Tired?

 

Because I am.  At least, I was on this Friday night trip to the Pumpkin Patch.  With 3 little ones, the days and weeks are flying by and I am exhausted by the end.  But I wouldn't trade it for anything.  Being tired never felt so good. 

 

 

other happenings

C and SJ are taking ballet from Ms. Shelley.  Ms. Shelley says Clara is doing really well... who knew that two ungraceful parents could make a child with some talent for dance!?!  

Here is SJ all dressed for her first class.

She likes to practice at home.  "Point-fwex (flex)-point-fwex"

my kitchen helpers

Congrats to Greg on finishing a marathon... 26.2 miles on trails.  It was a crazy day and we were so sorry that we missed his finish, but are proud of him.  Here are the girls giving him a good luck kiss before the race.

 and cheering him on at mile 9

 

Topsail Island 9/12

Our annual (sometimes biannual) trip to Topsail Island

 

 This time with baby S along

 My parents joined us

 

 

We had hoped Greg's would be able to, as well, but it didn't work out.

We were lucky to have some friends...

 and beloved family fill up the extra room

 we had a wonderful, relaxing vacation and made lots of memories

almost 6 week old sweetness

Photos by the lovely and talented Toni Walker.  When baby S grows up I will tell her that Ms. Toni saved her from the 3rd child no- baby- picture syndrome.  Photos taken 9/4/12

 

C and SJ have made up their own nickname for Baby S.  They call her "Silv."  It sounded strange, at first, but now we think it is pretty sweet.

 

When SJ hears her cry, she comes running... "Don't worry, baby, I'll save you."

Her favorite song to sing to her is "Old MacDonald."

 Often out of nowhere she says to me "Mom!  Silv is bery calm, today!"

 I overheard C trying to comfort her, one time.  "Don't worry, baby, God will bless you." - funny and cute
Baby S's first real smile was for C... S loves the girls, and they love to make her coo and smile.

 

She is as sweet as can be and we love having her in our family.

Silvie's blessing day

catching up... I'm more than a few weeks behind on blogging.  Here are photos from baby S's blessing day, September 9th 2012.

Starting Kindergarten- Spanish style

Big changes around here... our baby girl started school.

 

 

I took her on a special shopping trip to pick out an outfit for the first day of school.  It was hilarious.  She was very particular about what  she wanted... a light blue dress, with flowers, and pockets, she said.  We went to probably 8 stores looking for this, but couldn't find it.  We finally found a store with lots of dresses with pockets, and she tried on probably 15-20 dresses, but wasn't satisfied with any of them.  I started asking what is was she didn't like, so that I could help find what she would like, so she came up with a new excuse for each dress.  "Too short, too long, too ruffley, too fat, the flowers are upside down, and my favorite, "too crunchy" (I think she meant stiff).  We finally went back to the first store and settled on this cute number.  not light blue, no flowers, but it does have the all-important pockets for her collections.

check out this excited smile!

 

This teacher has gotten GREAT reviews from lots of former students... we are so happy Clara got in her class!

She is enrolled in a Spanish Immersion program, and it is all Spanish- all the time, right from the beginning.  I think she is a little overwhelmed with the long days and the new language.  It broke my heart a little bit when she came home on Tuesday a little weepy, saying "Kindergarten is boring, because I don't understand anything they are saying.  Everyone is speaking Spanish and I don't speak Spanish so I don't know what anyone is saying and so its really boring" (I think her word for frusterating). 

She was a good sport, though, throughout the first week.  She is excited about being able to learn Spanish and is willing to keep working at it!  We are proud of her for persevering.