Top 10 (or 11) of 2009

As I am writing this it is almost 11 PM, and I am thinking we might actually make it to the New Year! For those that have young kids, you know what an accomplishment that is---especially because the kids don't care how late you are up. They are at your bed, screaming your name at 7 AM.

I thought it would be fun to do a top 10 of 2009 (if I can think of 10 things, that is):

1. The birth of our son, Matthew Jason, on June 22nd.

2. Ella and Laney starting a new preschool and loving it!

3. Ella getting to ride a big school bus on the way to speech. She mastered her "k" and "g" sounds.

4. Many celebrations (bbqs, birthdays, just because) with fantastic friends that we are blessed to have.

5. A great year with our small group from church by studying Hosea and reading the book "Outflow."

6. Ella learned to pump her legs when swinging on a swing set (this is HUGE!).

7. We went on family vacations to the Great Wolf Lodge and to Tennessee.

8. Laney graduated from physical therapy and is now above the curve for gross motor skills (as ironic as that is).

9. Matthew cooing, laughing, sitting, rolling, army crawling (but apparently not mastering the sleeping through the night thing...grrrrr).

10. Laney was potty trained!!!!! She also started counting to 20 (to 10 in spanish) and learning her numbers.

11. Ella got her tonsils out and Jason helped ensure our family stayed a "party of 5."

Fun things for 2010:

--NO babies for us :)
--Our 10 year anniversary
--Trips to Michigan, Florida, Vegas, Great Wolf Lodge, and hopefully an anniversary trip
--Ella starting kindergarten
--Ella turning 5, Laney turning 4 and Matthew turning 1

We wish everybody a wonderful and healthy 2010.

Christmas #2 and #3

Christmas #2 and #3 were with Jason's side of the family.
We first went to his parent's house to exchange gifts
and then to his aunt's and uncle's to see his extended family.

Bettye did the cutest thing for the kids.
Each kid had pieces of paper in a bowl labeled 1-24.
They would pick a number and go to that date to find their gift.
Nana was very smart and got each of the girls the
identical gifts so there was no fighting.
The girls loved this!

Then there were stockings.

To prove Matthew was here



Kids often ask for the world for Christmas but Ella
really wanted a water bottle with her name on it.
Nana Dean and Pappy Stan delivered and she just loves it!
Once again, Laney got one (no fighting..are you sensing a trend?).



Laney's favorite gift from Nana and Pappy was definitely
the purse. In fact she has slept with this purse every night since getting it.

Great Grandma Lillie and Matthew.
I love the way he is looking up at her.

Somebody looks like they have been caught in the act!



Any family gathering where a picture like this can be taken
is a gathering I want to be a part of!



The newest member of our family: Landon Lee



There is a story behind the green colored muffin.
About 10 years ago during Thanksgiving, Jason looked at the roll he was eating and noticed it had mold on it. The rolls were not old but were moldy, for some odd reason. For the past 10 years we have joked about this moldy roll and how funny it was. This Christmas, Jason's cousins used food coloring to dye the muffin green. It will always be a funny memory for us. Knowing this story kind of explains Jason's weirdness, kind of, right?

If you are keeping track, our next Christmas celebration will be at my Grandma's and then to my parents. It was quite a day!

Christmas Morning

We started our family's Christmas by opening presents at our house. The girls slept until 7:15 AM which shocked us yet was a welcome surprise given their excitement the night before.

Classic Ella smile!
She has been asking for ear muffs for two years
(since we lost her last ones at church)
and Santa finally remembered to put them in her stocking!



Laney with the blanket I made her

Once we finished opening our presents,
we were off to Jason's parents house to start Christmas #2 of 5!

Santa we are ready

The cookies are out....



We are in our new Christmas pajamas.......





Our letters are written to Santa...



We placed the reindeer food (or reindog food, as Laney says)
in the yard





We also put out carrots to entice the reindogs to our house...



We can't wait until Christmas!
We promise we have been nice and not naughty!
I guess we will see tomorrow morning ;)

6 month pic

Matthew likes to roll over in both directions, sits up for ~30 seconds before folding over like a taco, he laughs the cutest little laugh and he is getting up on all 4s. He moves one leg and one arm before falling on his face. He even grunts when he can't get forward movement--all boy! I just love this stage of discovery. Once the Christmas decorations are put away and our house can breathe again, we will be putting up the jumperoo.

Matthew has now discovered toys :)

A video for Laney's 3rd birthday!

*hint: If you have a slower connection you might find it helpful to play a few seconds of the video, pause it, then let the red bar load all the way before restarting the video so it won't buffer every few seconds during the video.*

Laney, you are such a fun kid to raise. You came into this world very quickly and haven't slowed down since. An easy baby from the beginning, you were always smiling and just loved to be loved. This past year you have shown me what being a spirited kid is all about. One moment you will run, hug and jump and then the next minute you are telling me "no", crossing your arms and just giving me the look. Regardless of your mood, I love being your mama. I love how much you have learned this past year (your numbers, many letters, songs, riding a bike, jumping, kicking, climbing, all the good things 2 year olds do) and I can't wait to see what you bring to us this coming year.

You like:

--your pink blanket
--cell phones
--imitating your sister
--playing mommy/baby with Ella
--"making" us meals in your kitchen
--hopping and running (walking is overrated, right?)
--singing
--writing your version of your name
--coloring
--your friends (you talk about your friends from school often)

You don't like:

--loud things (like Matthew crying)
--being told to do anything...but if you are asked you will usually comply
--when Ella takes anything of yours'

--when Daddy is gone (you still remain Daddy's little girl)

A few pics from her birthday:

Laney and her fallen birthday cake.
Jason worked so hard on making Laney the perfect cake and yes,
it looked perfect the night before the party.
We woke up the next morning and found the cupcake
had fallen over but what was so cute is that when Laney
woke up and Jason asked,
"do you want to see your cake?"
Laney looked at it and said "I love it."
Such sweetness!

Thanks for sharing in our party fun!

We love you, Laney!

Angels (albeit crying angels) we have heard on high

On Friday Jason and I went to Laney's preschool to celebrate her birthday with her friends. I brought in cupcakes and a snowflake craft for all the kids to do. After her party, it was time for her Christmas pageant performance. It was the same one Ella did on Sunday but unfortunately Ella's class was replaced with another class as the bunnies. But Laney's class shuffled in at the end to do an amazing (HA!) performance.



Laney doing her craft with her friends.

Cupcakes..enough said!

Enjoying the show in his sling.

Here is Laney's class waiting to get on stage.
The boy in Ms. Kelley's arms started the crying fest and before they got on stage, there were 4 crying kids. This kind of stuff is always funny when it's not your kid crying :)
Laney just soaked it all in but as Miss Kelley said, at least there wasn't stage diving this time. On Thursday a kid jumped off the stage in the middle of the song.
Oh my these teachers aren't paid enough!

Laney was standing in the back but as kids kept getting off stage, she got a better spot.



This is a video for the grandparents so sorry it is so long. Laney shines at the 2 minute mark, once she decides to move to the front of the row. This is one of those videos where it's like, why isn't MY kid front and center? She is the cutest, right?

Our beautiful angel

Singing her heart out



I was so proud of Laney.
She stood there the whole time and followed the teacher.
If only she would listen to me like she
listens to Miss Kelley and Miss Lisa.



Laney with Miss Lisa

Always a daddy's girl



A plate Laney helped decorate



Back by popular demand, Ella singing Jingle Bells
but this time the 2009 version.



Laney's hand print ornament

Although the girls' teachers will probably never see this, I want them to know they have done an amazing job! The girls love going to school and I just love hearing about all the religious activities they are doing. The teachers are so incredibly caring to all the children and you can just tell they LOVE to be there! Thank you to Miss Kelley, Miss Lisa, Miss Linda and Miss PJ for ALL you do!

Matthew's 6 month appt/Laney's 3 year appt

This morning we all went to see the doctor for Matthew's 6 month appointment, Laney's 3 year appointment and some dry skin on Ella's hands. Thank goodness Jason came with me as we were there 1 1/2 hours!

Matthew: He is 15# 13 oz. Ugg. I was really hoping that he would be like 17# but I knew that he was smaller than some of the other babies we hang out with. He is the 20th percentile for his weight and 80th percentile for his height. He hates puree foods but "might" take oatmeal every now and then. He continues to gag on peaches, squash and potatoes. The doc said to keep trying slowly but that some babies never really take them well until 9 months or even a year. Matthew's pink eye is gone but still has an ear infection. So he remains on antibiotics for that. Matthew is now sitting up about 10-15 seconds on his own and rolls both directions. According to the doc going both directions is ahead of the chart but could also be causing him to burn more calories and not gain as much. Matthew is also getting up on all 4s and trying to crawl. We discussed supplementing with formula as formula has more calories than breastmilk (didn't know that although I did notice it was thicker) but we decided that I will keep feeding him breastmilk and continue trying solids. Jason and I are going to give him one bottle of formula at night and see if that helps. My girls were big babies so I was a little uneasy about him being 20th percentile. He still sounds congested so maybe that has something to do with him not taking solids as well. The doctor did bring out Laney's baby chart to show me that she had a big drop at 12 months in her weight and then the next visit was back up so I should not worry. But as a mom, we worry right?

Laney: She is 33# (60th percentile) and 80th percentile for height. After talking with her, the doctor said he is very impressed with her verbal skills, overall knowledge of shapes/colors and how advantaced she is in her motor skills. I had some inkling that she was advanced in her motor skills as she was riding her bike and trike during Ella's birthday in April (Laney was 2 years, 4 more) and he said trike riding is a goal for 3 years of age. Kinda makes me laugh since Laney was our late walker (16 months...she was SO big I thought she would never be able to move those huge thighs) and she was in physical therapy for about 6 months or so. Now look at her! Continues to have a slight heart murmur but of no concern.

Although we try not to compare our kids it's tough not to. Sure Matthew is much smaller than the girls (3 # less at this stage than Laney was) but he rolls both ways, sits up and is on all 4s before they girls did. Regardless of these things, they are all perfect and growing big and strong.

Ella's Christmas Program

Sunday was Ella's program at preschool and it was soooo incredibly cute (spoken like a true mother). Each class had a special part and Ella's class was the bunnies. I was so enamored by her performance (ok, laughing so hard at all the different kids) that I don't remember the full story line but it had to with finding the perfect Christmas tree, a manger with baby Jesus and some bunnies/doves/stars. It involved each class singing their own song and then a few group songs at the end. My mom and dad were here this weekend and got to enjoy Ella's first real performance (hand motions, loud singing and all) and allowed us to have a full date night at my work Christmas party (thanks Mom and Dad!!).

Check out the variety of hand motions going on in this picture.

The boy behind Ella was cracking us up.

Obviously our favorite picture.
Although the quality isn't the best, you can
tell how Ella was really getting into it.

Taking a bow

No video turned out to do a mishap by the user
(aka me.....grrr.......don't get me started)
but if I had one, it would be here :)
Laney's teacher was actually there
and got it on tape so hopefully
I will have one to post someday.

I was telling my friend, Kristy, a few weeks ago that Ella has no interest in staying in the lines when it comes to coloring (where as Kristy's daughter, Reese, is soooo good at crafts. Sure she is a year older than Ella but I have been impressed with how good Reese is at the details). I have always called Ella my abstract artist although recently she has become quite good at coloring. When she came home with the above drawing from preschool, Jason and I almost didn't believe it was her's until we turned it over and saw her name (that she had written) on the back. It is amazing how just a few weeks can make such a difference in their fine motor skills :)