Two Months

We've hit the two month mark already (last week). I took Piper to the doctor for her check-up, and she weighed right at 12 lbs.

Baby shoes are so cute. Piper won't be wearing these much longer - her feet are as long as the shoe, but skinny!

Here she is, all 23 inches of her.

Doing some tummy time.

Here's a picture for you to compare her at 2 months to Lila and Wyatt. 

To be fair, her hair color is *slightly* lighter after a bath :) but still pretty dark.

This is Lila at 2 months. Her hair is definitely lighter! Lila weighed right at 12 lbs then also.

This is Wyatt at 2 months. His hair was a little darker than Lila's was, but still lighter than Piper's. He weighed around 14 lbs. Both Lila and Wyatt were 24.5 inches though. It will be fun to see and compare them all as Piper grows! 

(And can I just say, wow, what a difference my camera has made!!)

Quick update: Wyatt no longer says "mancakes" for pancakes. He does, however, say "jamamas" for pajamas! 

Valentine Party

Wyatt, Piper and I went to Lila's preschool for her class Valentine party. (Piper was very obliging and slept the whole time.) When we got there, the class was just coming in from recess, so here they are all lined up to wash their hands. The lady in red is the assistant teacher, Mrs. "B".

"Raise your hand if you want sprinkles on your cookie."

This was one bulletin board in the room. I asked Lila which penguin was hers, and she said the one that's flying (the one right above the big penguin).

I made some heart-shaped Jello jigglers for a class treat. I was determined to find something that was gluten-free since there is one little girl in the class who can't have gluten. Success! Here Lila is smiling at Wyatt, who was standing next to me, while she's eating her jello.

There were enough jigglers for siblings to have some too. This was a big deal for Wyatt because he's never been able (or wanted to) bite jigglers. He always asks us to cut them into small pieces. But I couldn't cut them this time, so he figured out how to eat them. It went something like this: lick it, try and bite it using his lips, then take a bite with his teeth, followed immediately by a "this is cold!" face. Repeat.

I love that at this age if I say "can you give each other a hug?"... they actually do it.

After his jello snack, he was asking for water, so Mrs. B gave him a little cup. He was so proud sitting at the table and drinking from a cup like the big kids!

After decorating and eating their cookie and enjoying a jello jiggler, the kids moved to the carpet for a game - "Who has the Valentine Heart?" Here Brantley is asking Lila if she has it.

Everyone got a turn, even Lila.

Wyatt watched from a nearby chair.

After the game, Mrs. Hedges read a valentine story.

There were still a few minutes left before the end of the day, so the kids played Musical Chairs. This little boy is Nicholas, Lila's best friend at school or as she calls him, "the one that I love."

The fact that Wyatt is in focus here wasn't intentional but kind of funny. I asked him if he wanted to play and he said no. 

But he had a lot of fun watching everything.

What Is It About Elmo?

La, la, la-la. La, la, la-la. Elmo's World! 

(admit it, you recognize the tune)

Sesame Street has the market on two and a half year olds. At least they do in our house. Particularly Elmo. In fact, if I sing the "la la" part, Wyatt will get a big grin and finish with "Elmo's World!" Remember Wyatt's buddy, George? Well, he's got some new friends to sleep with at night: Elmo, Cookie Monster and Ernie.

This doesn't really surprise me as another little 2 year old loved her Sesame Street friends. I suspect in two years I'll have a picture of Piper with these three.

We must have ALL THREE at bedtime, along with George and a water cup. It's getting a little crowded in there, I think.

But Elmo is his favorite. When he picks out a diaper, it has to be the one with Elmo on the front! Piper's diaper has to have Elmo too.

Just one more phase he's entered. I'm wondering if he'll be as into Care Bears in a couple years as Lila is now :)

We have an Elmo Search-n-Find book that the kids enjoy. The other day Lila got out the book and started asking Wyatt to find the different items.

So sweet!

Moments like these make my day.

A Dimple!

This year I had plans to work with the kids (Lila) to make some handmade Valentines to send to family, but somehow I thought I had more time than I did, I guess. The day arrived and we hadn't made any. So instead, I sent out this digital Valentine.

I tried to catch Piper smiling, but I wasn't fast enough to get her full smile. This was just a half smile. Then later that day when she smiled at me, I noticed something I hadn't seen before: a dimple!! (I think I hadn't seen it before because she likes to give sideways smiles.)

So the next day I tried to get a picture of her dimple. But after spending five minutes trying to get her to smile with no success, this was the best picture I could get of the dimple. It is a bit more pronounced when she smiles. Now, I always thought dimples were genetic, but I can't think of a single person in either of our families who has dimples. Maybe after her chubby cheeks go away, she will no longer have a dimple, I don't know. But it is fun!

Checking out a new toy... she wasn't so excited about it just yet.

Funny pic :)

This is probably the best picture I've gotten yet of the color of her eyes right now.

Yep, That's Texas

Living in Texas, it's not too hard to believe that we would have a day in January where we could go outside without wearing a coat. And what a nice day it was! Lila asked if we could get out the bubbles. I blew some bubbles for them to pop, but pretty soon she was asking to blow them herself.

I had to admit, I was a little surprised when she could actually do it. Just one more way my little girl is getting bigger!

She was having a fun time!

I love the little "O" face she makes when she blows.

Looks like a summer fun kind of activity, doesn't it?

So is it possible we can we get THIS one week later? It is if you live in Texas! (Notice the little girl in the window.)

Here's the view of our street. We got a pretty good coverage of ice on Monday night which stuck around due to freezing temps... then Thursday night we got about 6 inches of snow on top of that! It cancelled school for FOUR DAYS, a record down here! But with snow, that meant we could finally go outside and play!

As we were getting all bundled up, Lila found this little winter hat in the closet and thought Piper should wear it. Don't worry, she snoozed quite peacefully inside the warm house while we played outside. Our outdoor adventures didn't last too long because the snow was too powdery (no snow man) and it was COLD out there!

But snow on ice makes for good sledding. We didn't want to go anywhere to find a hill (too cold), so Ben just pulled Lila around the yard.

Wyatt looks happy here, but about five minutes before this picture was taken, he was crying in the garage and ready to quit. He'd gotten snow in his mittens. That's why he's sporting the pink mittens... new and dry (who cares if they're pink?) = willing to play some more!

Anyone want to play?!

Remember my snow-loving dog? Well, she still loves the snow.

Not only would she try to catch the snowballs (which didn't want to stick together too well), but then she would search around on the ground, trying to find where it landed.

Maggie didn't seem like she was having as much fun. She just didn't have the same exuberance as Kelsey.

Wyatt's main focus was brushing all the snow off the glider.

"Are you having fun, Lila?"

"Yeah."

"Daddy, can you hold me me?"

No, I didn't make a mistake - that's exactly how he says it. He was ready to go in. I think it took us just as long to get bundled up as it did to actually play outside!

Of course, when we came inside we had to have some hot cocoa! They both wanted to use a straw (which is great because it means less mess). I cut a straw in half to make a shorter straw for each of them since the mugs were little. 

The next day it got above freezing. After being cooped up inside for a week, I think everyone went somewhere that day! I was glad to see the sun again and get back into the 50s. All of our snow has melted with just a little bit of ice left on our back patio. But just in case we start missing it... the forecast for tomorrow is snow again! 

Yep, that's Texas.

Sweet Moments

Life with three kids right now makes me feel like a juggler... just when I get one child's needs met, here comes another. I haven't even tried to get the housecleaning ball in the air yet. Some days it can be very frustrating (like yesterday). I confess I am not the happiest person by dinner time on those days! (Dinner time seems to be the meltdown point for all of us... we're tired, we're hungry, etc.) Anyway, in those moments I don't run for my camera. I don't think "yes, my child is screaming, the house is a mess and I haven't showered... I must get a picture of this!" I recently read a post on someone else's blog about how she uses her camera to focus on what she wants to see (not the mess happening behind her subject). Well, when I write this blog, it is an outlet for me to remind myself of how good I have it. A chance to focus on the sweet moments and wonderful children the Lord has given us. And yes, a little glimpse into our lives right now. I don't want to look back thirty years from now and be reminded of my grungy, bad attitude days. I hope my kids don't remember them either! :) So here is a sampling of some of the sweet moments we've had in the past month.

I had my camera out to take a picture of Piper's hand with our wedding rings. It doesn't take long before I have two little helpers when I'm trying to take a picture. By this time, Piper was starting to get tired of laying on the floor. So here we have Wyatt giving Piper a "kiss" (he presents his cheek to be kissed) and Lila taking their picture on her camera.

One day I found Lila and Wyatt reading a Sesame Street book with Elmo and Cookie Monster. It was the cutest thing, especially since Lila was "reading" to Wyatt and they were snuggled together on the couch. I tried to sneak up on them and take their picture.

But of course, once Lila saw my camera she had other ideas.

Wyatt, not to be outdone, said he could do that too!

This picture still amazes me. I have seen my niece and nephew fall asleep while eating... but our children have NEVER come anywhere close to doing something like that. So you can imagine my total surprise when I looked over at Wyatt one night at dinner to find him completely asleep. Seriously, one minute he was taking a bite and the next, passed out! And still holding his spoon! We let him sleep there while we finished dinner, then put him to bed early :)

Every afternoon we have 'room time' -- where they have to play in their room for a couple of hours and not come out. Sometimes they start out in their own rooms, but they usually end up in one room together. What they play is often directed by Lila. Can you guess what she decided they were going to play here?

Yes, that's right. Time to dress up! Wyatt was dressed as a bunny ballerina who likes to cook (apparently).

Lila went the standard princess route with dress, boa, gloves and fairy wings!

During room time, I try to get something done that is hard to do with little people - cleaning, a project or updating the ole blog. That is of course, if I'm not needed by Miss Piper. One day this week I was trying to get a post up before she woke up from her nap ready to eat. I wasn't fast enough... so Mr. Owl gave me a few more minutes to finish!

Then suddenly, this little happy girl appeared! (It was a rare day - Wyatt was actually taking a nap.) Room time was over; my time was up!

With the cold weather we've been having, Piper hasn't been getting a bath very regularly (unless it's prompted by a blowout... you know, the kind where you take them straight to the tub.) So when she does get a bath, I get my camera!

5 weeks old.

Sound asleep... now that's a sweet moment!