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| She's got some spunk |
Blogging obviously has not been a priority for me...and it's probably not going to become one. Sorry! But I do hope to use this blog to remember things, so I need to at least update it occasionally. Most of our days are busy busy now. Emma is in preschool two days week, Lucy is doing her second semester of musikgarten, and I go to church usually twice a week for aerobics. I'm still running 3-4 days a week (hoping to do a 10k this year and maybe a half marathon in 2014), and Emma is going to start the new children's choir at church this week. We've signed her up for spring soccer, which starts in March, and hope to also do swim lessons again this spring, and possibly try tumbling this summer. We still try to make it to the library once a week for baby and preschool storytime as well. So we are, as I said, staying busy.
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| Love her loving her bible! |
Nick and I have really been focusing on being healthier in 2013. Call it a new year's resolution I suppose. We haven't had a soft drink since December 31st, and though I still crave them occasionally, it hasn't been as hard as I thought. I am drinking a ton of water. Our church started a 60 day healthy living initiative. They're offering extra classes and challenging us to exercise ar our connection center at least 3 times a week. So, along with that, Nick and I are attempting no ice cream or french fries for 60 days. On the night before we started, I ate a hot fudge brownie sundae and fries from Steak 'n Shake. I do love me some ice cream. However, I think our consumption (mostly mine) of sugar was getting out of control. So I'm trying to really limit our intake of sweets. I've found several websites that suggest using honey and maple syrup to sweeten things instead of white or brown sugar, so I'm going to try some substitutions when baking also. I'm not much of a from scratch baker, but after seeing all the junk that's in the prepackaged processed sweets, I'm going to try to stay away from them. Actually becoming more aware of what is in the food I buy has made me not want to eat anything. Seriously, this will give you cancer...that will cause diabetes...organic is more expensive and who knows if it's better...natural foods cost a ton and still often contain junk. Unfortunately, I have a family who is quite picky and hard to shop for, while staying healthy and within a reasonable budget. Makes me want to go to McDonald's!
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Ty the elf's last night
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The girls are crazy and wild and busy! Lucy has started walking several steps at a time, but she will rarely do it. She is the most stubborn child I know, and I thought that about her sister too. But she is more so. She stands there, looks at me with a devilish grin, and then plops down and crawls to whatever it is she wants. But the joke's on her, because as much as I want her to walk, I mostly don't. I'd prefer she stay a baby forever, because she might be my last. At least for a while. Or she might not be, I have no idea...but just in case, I want to keep her small for now. She is very similar to Emma...they look alike, are both stubborn as I mentioned, and are super poor eaters. Emma started her picky eating phase close to 18 months, while Lucy's began much earlier than that. Mealtimes at our house are our least favorite time...Nick and I often haggle over who has to, er, gets to, feed Lucy. I have finally transitioned her over to a straw cup, and she ate some spaghetti last night and today! Emma has never eaten spaghetti and refuses to touch it. Or pizza...or any normal kid friendly food besides chicken nuggets. She's even tired of pb&j. Basically they eat the same 8-10 foods every day. But I guess I usually do too, so it's probably all my fault. It's always the mother's fault.
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| Letter O week |
Lucy can sign many things (more, eat, sleep, thank you, dada, mama, bird, book, milk, cracker, and many more), but she has begun speaking actual words and not signing quite as much. She signs and says "eat" after I get her up every morning, asking if it's time for breakfast yet. If she sees a box of crackers across the room, or hears the word, she will sign cracker and not be satisfied until she has one. She's learning her animals, and knows what a horse, cat, dog, pig, monkey, bird, duck and her favorite, a lion, says. Goodnight Gorilla is currently her favorite book (Emma loved it too), and she loves roaring when she sees the lion. She is super attached to her stuffed piglet, and asks for it on the changing table. That has allowed us to wean her off the pacifier. She's had it twice in the last 2 weeks, and only then because she was sick. I'm a sucker for sick kids (but only mine). I'm so relieved to have gotten rid of that paci. I saw a boy who was at least 4 walking around the library a few weeks ago with a pink pacifier in his mouth. I said no more. Pretty sure I had nightmares about Lucy going off to college with a stuffed pig and a pacifier. We took it away from Emma at 4 months, so 15 months was too long for me.
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Letter P week
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| Princess Party! |
Time for an Emma update...she will be 4 in 3 1/2 months. What?!! This year I will have a 4 and a 2 year old. In my mind, I'm still a 22 year old, so it's bizarre. But I love Emma's age. She is so stinking smart and funny...and introverted in public. We are working hard on using our nice manners in public, which is hard for her. She talks constantly at home. Constantly. As in ALL.THE.TIME. I hate when people using caps and put periods in between words. But seriously, we have the chattiest girls and the loudest house. I love it. So we're focusing on making eye contact and saying hi, bye, please and thank you to people we meet in public. She's coming along. She can also be moody. Such a girl:-) One week her Sunday School teachers tell us she's talkative and smiley, and the next she just wants to be by herself and keep quiet. Sorry Emma, you are your mother's child. She loves Sunday School and her Sunday evening church activity, and often asks about and talks about her teachers at church. She also seems to enjoy preschool. However, she's picking up some undesirable words and attitudes from school. Because of a snow day and a sick week, it's been almost two weeks since she's been to school. And she has been a different child...my sweet and loving Emma. I almost dread sending her back. But it's inevitable.
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| Oh my goodness, could they get any cuter? |
What a long, pointless and boring post. Sorry if you've read this far. I will enjoy reading this in 30 years. When my kids are gone and I cry myself to sleep every night. Ha. Here are some cute pics of my adorably cute kids. Hope you enjoy.
