School Girl

Today marks a big milestone for us.

It is Sophia's first day of school.

HER FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL.

I cannot believe how fast she has grown and reached this point.

We have made the decision to homeschool, and her first day went very well. She couldn't get enough. After two hours, and five subjects, I told her school was done for the day, and she stuck out her lip and moaned, "Noooo! I want to do more school."

A good start, I believe.

Alphabet!



Learning about the World



Diligent and focused

Monkey Butt



Ever since Brody solved the mystery of crawling a few days ago, all I see is his rear end. I missed his sweet face smiling at me all day...



Problem solved.



Lil Dude

There is a special place in Mama's heart for this little man...

Bottomless

Brody flipped a switch last week. He transformed from my content, smiley, always-happy angel of a boy into crying, screaming, agitated ogre of a child. At first, I chalked it up to gas. When it had been four days, however, my thoughts went to teething. Finally, my slow mom-brain caught up with the fact that Brody is a BOY, and has a MONSTEROUS appetite.

Jared kept asking, "Could he be hungry?" And I kept confidently telling him "NO! There's no way he is hungry. I just fed him."

Apparently I was wrong. He is hungry. Always. If you see us at church, he is hungry. If we are at the store, he is hungry. If we're sitting on the couch, he is hungry. If it is 2:00am, he is hungry. If he just finished eating, he is hungry. He is ALWAYS hungry. So, despite my emotional un-readiness, out came the cereal. Here's how it went...

Hey Mom, look what I can do!

Mop Top

Brody's first haircut at 3 months-- now that's Jared's son.

Before:

After:

I'm Smitten

Growing Up

I know I have not blogged in FOREVER! I didn't expect to be this busy all the time. Having three little lives to care for now has definitely kept me running! In my "spare" time when I usually would have blogged, now I need to take care of basics for myself that usually get neglected all day-- like eating, sleeping or showering.


I think it is high time for an update on the kids, and how much they have grown up! Starting with the oldest...

Sophia

• Sophia has turned into a kid. She is inquisitive and talks non-stop. She repeats herself until I need to flee the room to keep my head from exploding.


• She L.O.V.E.S. swimming. She asks every single day if she can "swim in the ocean?" (ocean= any body of water no matter how big or small). The weather has not cooperated much, but on Monday I promised her she could swim. So we filled the pool with warm water. As soon as she got in, the the sky got dark and the wind picked up and blew so hard it knocked her playhouse to pieces!! She was NOT too happy with me when I dragged her inside :(


• Every day, several times a day, she strips off all her clothes and re-dresses herself in dress-up clothes. She is such a girly-girl, and loves anything that is "pretty." She has a bin full of princess dresses, and ballerina costumes that I can rarely get her to take off.

• She is almost fully potty-trained now! She still has accidents sometimes, and still wears a diaper at night, but has been waking up dry pretty frequently now!

• She is such a socialite! Every time we go to the park, she finds a friend (usually a girl around age 5-6!) She always wants to talk with any other kid in sight and will follow them around until they can't ignore her anymore.

Jazlyn

• Jazlyn is talking more and more, and can put into words basic desires, emotions and thoughts. She is not speaking in sentences yet, however.
  
• She is such a sweetheart. She is so loving and giving to her siblings. If Sophia asks her for something (i.e. a toy), Jazlyn almost always willingly gives it. She will also give random kisses to her baby Brody, and squeals whenever she sees him!

• Curious George is her boyfriend. She has a Curious George doll (lovingly named Monkeeeeeey) that she drags with her everywhere. She sleeps with it every night. Her favorite show is Curious George. And now... she actually talks like George. I'm not kidding. When she answers yes, she says "Uh huh" the exact same way George does in the shows. Sounds so much like him that one day, I couldn't tell if I had just heard Jazi talking, or if it was George on the TV.

• Jazlyn loves playing with Sophia. They play dress up together, chase each other, tickle each other and have bath time together. I love hearing them make each other laugh :)

• Other than playing with Sophia, Jazlyn is more of a loner. She doesn't need to make any friends at the park. She enjoys quietly entertaining herself and can get cranky if someone invades her space.

Brody

• Brody has been such a joy. He sleeps well at night, usually in 4 hr chunks, which means I only have to get up once during the night!
• He nurses like a champ, and my milk supply has been more than abundant. My freezer is FULL of frozen milk, which is the polar opposite of the past two times! Praise God!
• He is such a cuddler. He love love loves to be held and cuddled. And he wont calm down and fall asleep at night until I sing to him. How sweet (for now at least).
  

Princess Report

One day I walked into the girls' bedroom to find Sophia sitting on her changing table. I have no clue how she got up there, and hasn't since. She just smiled sweetly at me and said "Hi Mama!"

Sophie is SUCH a good Mommy. She takes care of her baby all day long, holding her, feeding her bottles, and laying her down for naps.

...Oh, and dancing with her!

Whenever I bring the camera out, Jaz runs over to me and gets her face as close to the camera as possible saying "Cheeeeeeeeese." After being blinded by the flash a few times she learned to close her eyes.

Sophie and her BFF Shirley Jean sharing a snack.

"Big girl" Sophie taking "baby" Easton down the slide!

This is what Jazlyn looks like after most meals. Her hair must be healthy with how many "natural" treatments she applies to it.
Sportin the 'tu

This is a scene that repeats itself every single day...

We dance until we're very, very dizzy

Napping with her baby


Sophia has been a CHAMP with potty training. She almost has it down completely- just working on #2 at this point, she's an old pro at #1 and rarely has any accidents! She is so proud to wear her big girl "unnies" everyday and uses her potty whenever she needs to without any prompting from Momm and Daddy.

Big Girl Bed

Today marks a big milestone for our precious firstborn. We set up her toddler bed. It may not seem like a big milestone to anyone but us, but it is a sign of her maturing and growing. It was with bittersweet excitement that I arranged the room to accommodate her new sleeping quarters. Her excitement when I was finished was a great reward. Sophia and Jazlyn spent much of the afternoon climbing on and off the new bed. Sophia told us tonight at bedtime, giddy with excitement, "Wanna sleep in new bed!!!" (It was the first time that I recall her being eager to go to bed!) So Jared and I tucked her in. Not ten seconds after we closed the door, it creaked open and out she came. We explained that she had to stay put, tucked her in again, and then waited for another appearance. But it never came-- yet another sign of her maturity. Our big girl is sleeping sweetly in her big girl bed as I type.

Ready for three

Testing out the new bed together

Babes in Bangs

I gave both of the girls their first "haircut" yesterday (just bangs)! They looked so cute I had to share-- and I couldn't just pick one photo, so bear with me :)

Jazlyn Update

This post is more for me than anyone else, so that I can remember when the kids reached their milestones.

Jazlyn is 10 1/2 months now. She has been making so much progress!

-She currently has 2 teeth, with a third considering joining the party
-She finally has just enough hair to pull into two little piggies (which look much more like bug antennae than pig tails!)
-She is getting really good on her feet and mastering the art of balance. She can stand on her own for about 5 solid seconds before loosing her balance. She walks very well when lightly holding on to a finger. Walking is not far off!
-Her main source of nourishment is whatever we are having for dinner! She still has b.milk 3-4 times a day before naps and bedtime. She has not switched to cow's milk yet.
-She is very vocal, and boy can she screeeeam when she wants something! It's a blood-curdling, ear-piercing scream, folks.
-She does NOT like anyone to wipe her face, or touch her nose. Just. Don't. Do. It.
-She lets me kiss her cheeks as much as I want :)
-She loves following her big sister around. She loves when Sophia plays peek-a-boo with her.
-She is just a little peanut. Very petite.
-She smiles easily and often. She loves being tickled.
-She is only snugly when she is tired.
-She LOVES attention.
-She always wants to be where the action is.
-She goes to sleep without a struggle.

She is a good kid. I like her. A lot.

There She Goes!

Surprise Mom!

Apparently Jazi can hold her own bottle...

Words

Sophia is making leaps and bounds in the smart department this week. She has started saying real words! She can repeat easy words. She watches our lips and listens to the word a couple times, then she gives it a try. The best part is how big her smile is after she says a new word. She is almost as proud of herself, as we are of her!

Some of her growing vocabulary...

-Mama

-Dada

-Papa

-Nay Nay (Uncle Nathan)

-Dosh (Uncle Josh)

-Sitty (Kitty)

-Dollie

-Meow

-Yeah

Thanks SJ!