Christmas

We had a wonderful couple days of Christmas celebrations this year!  Our two ladies were almost totally recovered from illness, which was a blessing.  Audrey was so excited for all parts Christmas and probably opened more than fifty presents, as she was more than willing to help open up anyone else's presents, too!  Luckily, Kate didn't mind this year to have the additional help.

Besides being with family, my favorite part of the Christmas season is attending Christmas Eve mass in Elkader.  Seeing both girls dressed in their beautiful Christmas dresses and listening to the gorgeous music really made our Christmas perfect!  We were so grateful to have good weather and clear roads for traveling to all the family celebrations.

Santa arrived Christmas morning, which was exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time.  Even though Audrey knew she really wanted Santa to deliver presents, she was unsure at the thought of Santa entering the house while she slept.  It was cute to see how hesitant Audrey was to look around the house for presents!  Santa did a perfect job of picking out presents for the girls, though.  Audrey was given a new bike, and Kate was given a water table for playing outside.  With both girls' birthdays occurring in the late fall, Santa knew that outdoor toys aren't always received as gifts!  How smart he is. :)

Thank you to everyone for a wonderful holiday season and your generosity to the girls!  They are so lucky to have such love in their lives.

Merry Christmas!

The new bike!  Besides safety reasons, Audrey may need a helmet just to keep her hair out of her face!

Kate says, "I don't really understand all this Santa business, but I'm going to smile like I do!"

Our Tree

After three years of an artificial tree, we were back in business with a real one this year!  We had to cram it into the Acadia, but luckily neither girl swallowed any needles,  Audrey had fun helping to decorate and even reminisced about all the different ornaments, like I was doing.  We enjoyed having the tree on each night in December and are hoping to have one "sweepover" on the floor before it comes down.  An added bonus was that Mila and Belle had a never-ending water source throughout the month!

Stressful

To say the last few weeks have been challenging would be an understatement!  Our little family has dealt with a lice infestation in curly hair from daycare, two little sweet peas with stomach bugs, nearly a hundred loads of laundry, a black eye from hitting a chair, and stressful days at work.  We are more than ready for a holiday week of cuddles, family time, and health.  Here are a couple of fun pictures of our beautiful girls!

This is how Audrey wrote her name with tub crayons this week.  Not too bad!

Here's Audrey's black eye as it was fading away.

Kate switched to using a toothbrush at night instead of just wiping her teeth with a wash cloth.  She apparently was NOT in the mood to brush this night, or maybe she knew she was going to throw up at daycare the next day.

Happy First Birthday, Kate!

Our little sweet pea doesn't seem quite as little after today!  Kate turned one year old today and had a fun day with her friends at daycare.  She took cinnamon roll cookies to celebrate, and it seems like each of her eight teeth is a sweet tooth!

It's hard to believe a year has passed, and yet, it seems as if Kate has always been a part of our family.  She continues to be such a smiley, happy girl, especially when she is well-rested and full.  Besides "Dada", we've heard her say "doggie", "Mama", and "nana" (banana).  She is in the habit of pointing at objects and babbling, so we know she is ready to be able to express herself with words!

She is definitely getting around more on two feet than crawling.  She stumbles here and there but is becoming more confident daily.  We have to keep a close eye on her because those two feet often lead her to trouble.  She loves to sit and "color" at Audrey's art table, but that can quickly change to standing on the chair!

Kate loves to read!  She now carries books to us and situates herself on our lap.  Sometimes we only are able to read a page or two before she switches to a new book, but it seems as if her love for reading is developing at the same pace as her sister's.

The other thing Kate continues to love is food.  She'll eat anything and everything and definitely out-eats Audrey.  Sometimes I think she can out-eat an adult!  I love having her as a critic for my cooking!

It's been fun to watch Kate's attention span with toys grow.  She seems to be able to occupy herself a little longer now.  Tonight she was giggling as she threw one of Audrey's dollhouse children out the windows of the dollhouse over and over.  What a goof!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATE!  We love you.

After a hard day at daycare, Kate really loves to relax in her comfortable chair!

Birthday Party

Thank you to all our guests for making the birthday party such a wonderful experience for our girls last weekend!  It was very evident that Audrey understood the concept of opening presents much more than last year.  As soon as one was opened, she was ready to quickly move onto the next.  We'll just keep working on the "thank yous" after each gift!

Kate, on the other hand, was content with the first gift that was opened for her, and she wouldn't have needed another one!  She also enjoyed her first bite of sweet cake very much, as her little Kate smile popped out quickly.

Both girls took naps that were over two hours long after guests left, as all that fun wiped them out!  We have been having fun since then exploring the toys and reading the books.  Thank you again for all who came to celebrate with our girls!

Belle had fun trying out the new dollhouse, too.

Bob and Bill

On Saturday, Audrey was able to go on her first horse-drawn carriage ride.  She was so excited to tell me how Bob and Bill (the horses) had given her a ride.  It was an event in Elkader to celebrate the holidays and promote small town shopping.  What a neat experience for Audrey!  She was also able to sit on Santa's lap and meet an elf!  She told Santa all she wanted for Christmas was a candy cane, which was perfect because she could see he was holding a candy cane in his hand! :)

Manicure

In honor of Audrey's third birthday, she was given an appointment for a manicure by Grandma Lisa.  She was so excited and knew right away that she wanted pink nails!  It was a very serious experience, though, as she intently watched every move by the manicurist.  After all was done, though, Audrey was super excited to show off her sparkly nails.  Who knows?  She may be a fan of those pedicures like her mom throughout the summer!

Birthday party pictures will be coming soon.  Thank you to all for a wonderful party!

Audrey Ann is THREE!!!

Yesterday Audrey celebrated her third birthday!  It was a quiet, but fun day for Audrey.  For breakfast she enjoyed chocolate milk and chocolate chip pancakes, which was a very special treat!  For lunch, she had requested chips and salsa, so we went out for Mexican food.  As usual, she gorged herself on the chips and salsa and didn't have as much room for her actual food.  It happens to the best of us!  Audrey didn't open any gifts, as we are waiting for her birthday party on Sunday.  She did get to assist in the kitchen to make a birthday cake for her daycare friends.  It was a rainbow cake, so we had fun using food coloring to make different colors of batter.  She also loved being in charge of those sprinkles. :)

Our Audrey is a bright, energetic, creative, and loving little girl.  She daily brings us laughter and joy, and we love watching the world through her eyes.  At times throughout the past year we have seen typical toddler tantrums and meltdowns, but within minutes, we also see a sweet, tenderhearted amazing little girl.  She has grown so much in her knowledge and seems to soak up each experience with excitement.  In honor of Audrey's third birthday, she participated in an interview.  I will let her explain all about Audrey at 3 years old.

WE LOVE YOU, AUDREY!!

Favorite Food: Chips and salsa
Foods I Don’t Like: Chicken
Favorite Thing to Learn: Doing turkeys at Dana’s
Favorite Color: Pink and blue
Best Friend: Kayla
Favorite Game to Play: UNO and Old Maid
Favorite Books to Read: Clifford books
Favorite TV Show: Daniel Tiger
Favorite Holiday: Snow Day
Things I Do Well: Cooking
Favorite Place to Go: To Wal-Mart and Fareway—Fareway has the little carts
Favorite Thing to Do With Family:  Play hide and seek
Favorite Thing about House:  Playing cards
Favorite Thing to do Outside: Play in snow
Favorite Chore: Cook
Least Favorite Chore:  Washing my hair
Favorite Song:  All About That Bass AND Peanut Butter Jelly Time
When I Grow Up I Want to Be a: Bear
Place I Want to Visit:  My daycare
Favorite Part of Each Day:  Going to Dana’s
Favorite Drink:  Lemonade
Favorite Sport or Activity to Play:  Old Maid
Something New I Want to Learn How to Do:  Play Baseball
Best Part of Your Family:  Audrey and Kate….Mom and Dad…I love you, Mom and Dad

Happy 11 Months, Kate!

Our sweet girl is almost one!   Kate is becoming more like a toddler and less a baby each day.  Her biggest accomplishment this month was making it the entire month without an ear infection.  Go, Kate!  She has had a runny nose almost the entire month, but so far, it has stayed out of her ears.   The runny nose coincided with three more teeth arriving--one up top and two down below.

Kate is a happy, loud, busy, loving little girl.  She continues to love food and demands her food loudly at mealtimes.  She sometimes gets so excited that she puts too much in her mouth at one time!  She does great with cups for drinking, so some bottles have been packed away.

For awhile this month, she was giving awesome hugs.  She'd wrap her arms around your shoulders and either pat or hold tightly.  She even leans in now to give kisses, so she is turning into one affectionate lady.

We've seen much more interest in play this month.  She holds phones up to her ear to "talk", stacks toys, and loves looking at books.  She and Audrey continue to want the exact toys at the same time, so we can see what is in store for us for many years to come!

Kate, we love you!  Only a couple more weeks, and you'll get your first taste of cake!  We're sure you'll like sweets as much as that older sister of yours.

Here's Audrey!

First Snow

Audrey was very excited to see that this first snow covered the whole ground!  When we got home this afternoon from a weekend away, she was immediately ready to run outside.  When I peeked out at her later, I noticed she wasn't playing alone in the snow.  This is what I saw:

What a goof!

Cold Weather

The abrupt switch to cold weather this week has made us all feel like this...

However, there is something absolutely adorable about seeing little girls wearing their winter hats.

Pumpkin Carving

Our Halloween season would not have been complete without a pumpkin carving experience with Dad!  Luckily, Jeremy did not make either girl wear a garbage sack, which made the experience more fun.  After carving a pumpkin earlier in the week at daycare, both girls were already professionals.  Kate especially loved the feeling of the gooey insides on her fingers, and Audrey enjoyed showing  Kate how to scoop with a spoon.  In the end, we ended up with a beautifully carved pumpkin with Daniel Tiger on the outside and two girls who had a blast with their dad.

With her two front teeth, Kate looks like a bunny in this picture! 

Everyone is listening to Kate's really good idea how to carve this pumpkin!

Here's the finished product!