A Family Outing

 Last Saturday, we decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather, and go on a zoo adventure. We had such a fun day...smiles all around!

Lia wants to go on the carousel, Take 1:

 Hi Panda...aren't you cute? Let me give you a kiss...

 Wait a minute, did I say I wanted to ride? Hmmm... I change my mind (enter Dr. Jeckyl)

 I really said I wanted to watch panda from here! (Phew! Mr. Hide returns... ;)

 Lia really liked the petting farm. Below here, she asked if she could wake up this sleeping goat. I told her yes, thinking she'd just go pet it, but no, in typical Lia fashion, she yelled at it to wake up! HA!

 No, it's not just Kimodo Dragon aura putting everyone into a mood...we were already! (No, I was here first!) Check out those faces! :)

 My beautiful babies...

 What a view for a snack break! (The African plains!)

 MMMMMMmmmmmmmmm.....

 Yes, this is Lia snuggling her cotton candy. :)

Latest Moments

Yes, I know, it's been a while. It seems as Aurie gets bigger, I have less time for extra projects. (Bill wonders why....after all, I punched out that other blog and all that sewing right after she was born, right?.....agh!) Anyhow, it really is constant. Sneaking over to the computer is difficult. That said though, the girls and I have enjoyed the beautiful January weather here, and have kept life interesting with outings and activities. Above, is a morning at our favorite, the museum. Below, Ellie attends another hockey game with daddy (and Uncle Jeff and Anevay!) and were even caught on TV! (This picture is taken of the TV.)  At the bottom, we're out in the front yard, watching' the girls ride bikes and scooters on the sidewalk, which they love. Aurie loves watching them zoom around. (I love watching her, in her darling hat!) Last, the one of them in the tree is outside the library after a storytime, which we've been going to lately. The girls are just eating up the collection of books we get every week. It's kind of fun that they have movies too, and we've sampled some Disney favorites, without having to buy them.

The girls are getting so big. We're (Ok, it's me) wistfully getting ready for Kindergarten with Ellie. Kindergarten! She'll start in August, and we think we found a half day one for her. An old colleague of mine is the principal, which made it nice. We met the teacher and saw the classroom, all of which were wonderful, I only wish the state and district weren't so data/testing/results driven. OK, I know it's the teacher talking here, but I wanted a different experience for Kindergarten for her. Maybe something else will come up in the meantime. We'll see. Her funnies lately have been in playing with Lia, running off to their room to their pretend kitchen, and telling Lia, "You be the baker and I'll be the lady." (Lady? What lady? The one who just looks pretty? :)" And then, at a friend's house for a football game (kind of a football party, I told her), at the end of the evening, while in the bathroom before heading out, Ellie blurts out, "So, are we going to have cake?" "Then this wasn't really a party!" That's my girl! :) Too funny!

A good friend had it right- Lia has us in stitches...a lot. We adore listening to her explain her thoughts, or share connections or stories. There's a lot of 'member that mom stories lately. (We rehash things that have happened, or we saw, for days :) The other day, when we planned to meet up with a friend at the park near the doctor's after Aurie's well visit, we said we'd go on a picnic (I knew they'd be starving by then!) Well, Lia, in the car, checks to be sure I have my "pic.nic. basket"- just like that, with the pause between syllables. Darned cute. And, darned cute that she equates our going on a picnic with needing to have a basket. And, asking if we're going to the "liBEARy"...I know, many kids say it, but of course, it's extra cute when yours does. I also forgot to mention that she learned to twirl spaghetti on a fork on New Year's Eve. That was fun. Lastly, she's just recently drawn a recognizable figure..her first. It's below. Made me smile. Thankfully, her orneriness is calming. Not sure if it's as she approaches three, or our parenting has paid off ;) Either way, she comes through when you need her to.

And then my sweetness, Aurie. Though she's been a trial for the last two months at night, she melts me completely...every look, every smile, every time I snuggle her, gobble her cheeks, nuzzle her tummy to make her giggle, or gently rock her back to sleep. She's sitting up on her own with support, loves to suck down baby food, especially bananas, and still absolutely adores her sisters. She's getting quite adept at handling toys, loves to chew on them, and play with tags on anything. She notices bright emblems on shirts (loves the Steelers' logo!) and likes being outside.The video at the bottom makes us laugh still...don't get too excited- no action....just Aurie having fallen asleep while munching her fruit. The video makes it much funnier than the picture. Though I don't know that I'm ready to run after her, I can't wait to see the look on the girls' faces when she starts to crawl around!

Days away from 6 (oops!) months old!

 My Lia....fresh from a nap, big eyes, and creamy skin...

 (excitedly telling about the hummingbird she saw out back...)

Our Darlin'

Just some little giggles from everyone's darling baby girl. The other day, when unbuckling Lia from her carseat,  she looked over at a sleeping Aurie and told me, "Mommy, I like that part.". It was so sweet, and I knew what she meant, though she didn't say it outright. Well, yesterday, she was just as cute, telling me (in the car again, after Aurie konked out)... "Mommy, I like Aurie. She's my buddy." To which I returned something along the lines that I liked her too, and how nice. Then she says... "I like her lips."....Awwww.... too sweet. Those sweet baby lips, when opened a bit in sleep, truly are undeniably precious.

My China Doll...and My Big Girl!

What sweetness... I know you will agree :) I had to catch these sweet cheeks in a picture. Auntie Ler, this hat is as adorable now as it was when Ellie wore it. (Especially cute when wearing the matching sweater!) I'm so glad we have chilly enough weather to wear them! :) The pattern this week has been for the girls to wake up from their naps, while Aurie stays sleeping, so we've gone out to the front to ride bikes and scooters, then Aurie wakes up, and I bundle her up to watch all the action (which she loves!). She has this wide-eyed look at first (having just woken up) that's just so cute. Things have changed around here in the past couple of months with Aurie's preference for her sisters. Now, they both make her smile, for sure, and it's just so sweet to see her even try to seek out their gaze if she's near. It used to be Lia who was her extra special buddy (with extra special squeezes! ;) but lately, it's Ellie who makes a point of trying to get Aurie to smile, or laugh, and is pretty pleased when she's able to. All I have to do is wear Aurie outwards on her harness and as long as Ellie's skipping beside us, she's laughing and happy as pie.

Here she is...our big girl who went to her first pre-school class today. We decided to try a local community's offering for an hour long pre-school class twice a week, just to have some variety in Ellie's experiences, and she did great! The teacher was impressed that Ellie could write her name (yay!), and Ellie popped right over eagerly when we got there to join in. I knew she'd like the singing and actions- she mimicked right along like she'd always been there. Here she is showing off some things she did today.

Merry Christmas II

 What a wonderfully lazy week, checking out all of our new toys, and having fun on outings with daddy while he's on vacation. Our Christmas day was a lot of fun, and some more pictures of our evening with our friends will follow, but these couple were from the morning. The girls' "big" gifts were these- Jesse and Wheezy from Toy Story. They were the ones that had been asked for, and Santa had been told about. Opening any and all presents, however, seemed to be all we were interested in, and truthfully, they had to be reigned in to even check out what was under that packaging. Boy we worked on that! They did, in the end, have many treasured goodies, and through the week, I caught them trying them out.  It was funny- the ones I thought would be big deal presents, turned out to really not be interesting at all (matching princess dresses and baby dolls), and one daddy almost threw out (or donated) since it had been in our closet so long, ended up being the biggest hit! (The bumblebee) The girls really had fun opening packages from family and friends throughout the weeks before and after- it's going to be a while before a trip to the mailbox isn't big excitement :) They had even had a mini Christmas with Grandma and Grandpap beforehand, which sort of revved them up! And then, to end the morning, we skyped with Nana and Uncle Ryan to have them follow the girls up to Aurie's room, via the laptop, and watch the girls open Nana's present- taller than they are! :)

 Thank you Auntie Jen! We love our dumptrucks- they're great for putting lots of "stuff" into! (Our favorite thing to do !

 Nana, this dollhouse is so great! (We even need a step to reach the baby's room on the top floor!)

 Indoor hopscotch... lots of fun :)

 Hmmm....Trouble pieces- played with daddy, but much more fun to put on our fingers :)

 The Bumblebee... spins around and you jump over it.... Ellie's played so much, and gets so tired. she lays down on the floor right there :) 

 A rootin', tootin' cowgirl...

 Aurie, konked out while eating her rice cereal :)

Everybody loves the dollhouse :)

Aurie loves mommy's "teething bling" from Nana!

Some Christmas lovin'...