Mr. Milo Turns 2!

We spent the afternoon celebrating Milo's second birthday.  The girls had a grand time running, jumping, climbing, singing, dancing, cake eating, and parading around Gymboree.    Happy Birthday, Milo!

The party was perfect for Maddie with her boundless energy.  The songs and games were right up her alley.  She actually told me she wants to be a Gymboree teacher when she grows up, and she was quite bummed to discover she is too old to have her next party there.  Unfortunately, Gymboree's parties are for five and under.   :(

Here is Sophie before she took a tumble that will take us to the mall tomorrow to fix up her glasses.  She's not as independent as Madeline, and likes to keep her eye on my whereabouts.  While at the party, I momentary held one year old Jonas, much to Sophie's dislike.  She said, "Don't hold that baby.  Hold this baby (pointing to herself).  I'm your baby."  It's funny, I have one kid that clings to me, and one that runs from me.  :)

Big Girls!

My girls are getting big.  Too big.  I have no more "babies."  Maddie will be officially five and a half on Monday.  This week, she celebrated her 100th day of school, and now boasts that in 80 more days, she'll be in first grade.  First grade!  Sigh.  Finding bugs is still one of her past times, and below, she's letting her roly-polies play in her dollhouse.

We packed up Sophie's highchair this week, too.  The only baby item we have now, besides diapers and pacifiers, is her crib.  Hopefully, we'll be in a bigger house sometime in the next six months, and we'll move her into a big girl bed then.  

Valentine's Day at the Zoo

Friday the 13th, My Lucky Day

I took Friday off from work and loved being able to take my girls to school in the morning. They both took Valentines for their classmates and were so adorable.

Friday the thirteenth was also a lucky day because look who came to see us!!!!  It's Aunt Jessie, Uncle Adam, and EMMET!

Winter Weather

I didn't pay attention to the groundhog's prediction last week, but it sure feels like winter around here.  We went to the park this morning despite the wind, rain, and cold, and I thought the clouds and my girls were quite pretty.

As Promised

Just a couple of pictures from the last few weeks to keep my promise:

Summer in the winter time:

Early morning story time with Daddy:

Sophie at school:

The day we lost in the play-offs

Slackin'

I know, I know, I have been a total slacker-blogger lately. Sorry! Things have just been hum-drum around here without much newsworthy stuff going on. Maddie and I are putting more time into some extra homework since so many of her papers have been coming home with lots of red marks. This goes against my early childhood background, but since she's disappointed with red marks, we'll continue to work on spelling (spelling!) at home. Sophie loves preschool. She loves singing her songs and doing crafts. I love not dropping anyone off in the morning anymore. Since Kent takes both girls to school, I have a more leisurely, if that's possible, morning with them. Not so much rush-rush in the morning anymore. Nice. I apologize for yet another blog post sans pictures, but I wanted to let everyone know I'm still here. I will post some pictures this week. Promise. Until then, happy Super Bowl Sunday everyone.

One Week Back

Well, I have been back to work for the last five days after having been off for three lovely weeks. Our week was busy and hectic at times as we readjusted to our schedules. Sophie started preschool three full days this week, naps included. She has done crazy well adjusting. She's napping on a cot and drinking out of a cup, sans lid. The first two days I picked her up, her first request was for a beverage. One day she said, "I need juice," and on Wednesday, she greeted me with, "I want milk." But today, she seemed well hydrated. Not a bad transition from a sippy cup. Also on the Sophie topic, several people have mentioned that "she must be tall" or "she's so much taller" lately. So last night, I decided to measure her. And, low and behold, that kid has grown two inches in three months! Her height has jumped from the 80th percentile to the 95th. She's catching up with her big sister!

Madeline is happy to be back at school where she is entertained for hours on end. Although, we did have a little mishap today. She and Sophie mixed up their lunch boxes, which Maddie and Daddy thought was funny, that was until lunch time. That's when Madeline figured out that her lunch box didn't have a lunch at all. It only contained Sophie's snack, a banana, something Maddie doesn't even like. (I wonder what Sophie thought of a sandwich and chips for her morning snack?) Anyway the poor kid was so hungry she greeted me in tears when I picked her up from school. Luckily, I left work an hour early today to read to her in the school library and was able to pick her up at three o'clock instead of four. We squeezed in a McDonald's run before picking up Sophie, so all was well with the world again.

Happy long weekend, everyone!

Guess Who's Going to Preschool?

Guess who's going to preschool? Sophie! The preschool called Wednesday, and we enrolled her three days a week. She was offered a spot last October when she turned two, but I declined because I didn't think she was quite ready. But, three months later, I think the time has come. She knows the place well since she accompanied me to pick up Maddie many times over the last couple of years. She will still go to Betty's on Tuesdays and Thursdays where she is really happy and comfortable. Perhaps if preschool goes well, we'll switch her to full time. We'll see. She was very excited when we got to school today, but when it came time to say good-bye, she said, "Don't weave me. I wonna come wif you."

Christmas # 3 in NoVa

Last week, we flew east to spend some time with our families in Northern Virginia and Maryland. Our first stop was Northern Virginia where we celebrated the New Year and Christmas # 3 (Christmas #1 was with family in Washington, Christmas #2 was at our home in L.A.) with Kent's side of the family. We hadn't been back east in over a year and were so happy to see everyone.  Above, Sophie got a doll with glasses, and below Maddie and Kyla got matching alarm clocks with Ipod docks. I, for one, am so looking forward to setting and using Maddie's alarm clock for school days, one less chore for me!

We were also able to meet cousin Ian for the first time.  He is 7 months old and has an infectious smile!

Christmas #4 and Snow!

Our Christmas #4 was spent with Grandma Connie, Uncle Josh, and cousin Dagney.  We loved spending time with them in Maryland. The girls loaded up on dress-up shoes, arts and crafts, and Tonka cars for our car ramp.  Sophie learned to climb out of the Pack-and-play, and Maddie stayed up until midnight most days.

As an added bonus, it snowed!  There were only flurries, but Maddie was super excited and insisted on trying to eat them! 

On the other hand, Sophie was unimpressed with the cold weather and snow.  She preferred a warm blanket and the comfort of the indoors.

Wild and Crazy Cousins

Aunt Jen and I tried desperately to take a picture of the four girl cousins on Kent's side of the family, but it was basically impossible.  They are movers and shakers, to say the least.  The picture above was the best shot:  Madeline age 5, Kyla age 3, Sophie age 2, and Eddy age 1.

Going Home!

On our return flight to L.A., the kids were excellent, except that Sophie, also known as "Ms. Poops-a-lot," required three diaper changes and one pants change between her naps.  Luckily, the kids were exhausted and slept most of the five hour flight home.