Eight is Great!

We started M's birthday off with a half-sleepover on the Friday before her birthday. She had 8 friends come to celebrate! We had several craft projects for the girls' dolls. For decorations, I made a few things, but we used M's doll stuff mostly.
Then we had pizza and playtime and dancing.
Instead of a big cake, I bought icing and sprinkles and let the girls each decorate a mini cake. So fun and so easy. One of the girls at the party had a birthday on the 11th, so we all sang happy birthday to both girls!


The next day, we woke up early and opened gifts.
Then got ready to go the Dallas!
Once there, we went shopping and had a wonderful birthday lunch!

VIP

M received the V.I.P. (Very Important Panther) award for second grade. We are so proud of her!

HAPPY GIRL

Yes, we still give her a bottle - what can I say, it makes her SOOO Happy!

Since the last post about F - she has gotten 6 new teeth and given the family the stomach bug again. She is as busy as ever, but still not saying much that we can understand. I know it will come in time. She now says "sissy" for M , "here", and "this".
She is such a character - F has seen G and M run in their rooms and shut the door so she can't get in...well now she does this. Sometimes we here her squealing and running down the hallway to her room and then slamming her door shut - to keep us OUT! When we open it she tries to hide. F also loves carrying around M's lunch kit as pictured below.

Sometimes she gets into her brother's room and goes straight to the hot wheels. She empties them out of the basket and then puts them back in.

The other day I put her in another hand me down of M's and really wanted a cute picture. So I sat her down and told her to stay put - this is what she did:
yes F it is the end of the world. As you can see moments later she is fine.



This is the "hmmm...what can I get into now" look -"Okay I know what to do" and F is off and running.

"ahhh, I can pull the petals off the rose bush."
F went to her well check and got more shots 2 weeks ago. She is in the 95th percentile in height and weight, this surprises me because she seems so small to us.

Heart Day Scavenger Hunt

After work on Valentine's Day, we had the annual scavenger hunt for goodies using riddles for household places.

Since F can't eat the candy - a book was just perfect!

The final riddle - I am only one word, but have the most letters. (the mailbox - filled with small mailboxes for G and M with movie gift cards and a phone for F ).

My sweeties!

Fun with Little Sister

As I have said repeatedly, F keeps us busy. Just to give a few examples, I have included a few pics from the week. The other night as we were getting dinner ready, I noticed I didn't have someone underfoot pushing me. G was in the family room and M was at the counter - but F was nowhere to be found...that is until we spotter her under the dining room chairs.

And then I remembered that G and M use to play and hide under these same chairs. Of course they weren't one year old when they were doing it - more like 3 & 5. They would carry stuffed animal, blankets and pillows and play under the table and chair for hours. And then one day they stopped - and sadly, I don't even remember when they got too big to hide under the chairs - it just occurred to me when I saw F that those two have moved past that stage. But now we have this little one to play and hide again - ahhh the memories. I wonder when she will begin dragging her prized possessions under the chairs...
F 's favorite game is to be pulled around in the laundry basket. We can thank this game on M . Now everytime the door to the laundry room opens, F runs and pulls out the baskets and screams until someone puts her in it and takes her around the house. Today was G 's lucky day!
And as exhausting as it can be, I have to remember that one day very soon she will be too big to fit in this laundry basket, so until then - we push.

Pictures

Today was picture day at the kid's school. M decided she wanted to wear her straight hair curly. Therefore, we had to put in over 30 sponge rollers last night before bed.
This morning she was SOO excited to see her curly, bouncy hair. And isn't he the most handsome 10 year old?!



And this afternoon while M was playing with a friend, F got M 's American Girl doll and was giving her water. She is turning into a little mommy just like her big sister.

This and that

Well - its been a month since my last post. There really hasn't been much going on here other than sick husband (2 kidney stone surgeries and 1 sick baby - double ear infection). I've also had some work related stuff that has kept me busy but that is another story. This past month has been tough, so I guess I will just do a bulleted update:

1. G has started up spring soccer. We were suppose to have a local tournament this weekend, but it got rained out.
2. Speaking of the rain - Friday night we were under a tornando warning - It was about 7 o'clock - which is Faith's bath time. We were all in the bathroom and F kept going to the bathtub and pointing. I think she was wondering how come we were all in the bathroom and she wasn't able to get in the bathtub. Anyway, I would hold F in my lap and she was so sweet - she would get up and go put her head on G 's shoulder, and then go and try to talk to M and pat her (M was crying b/c she was afraid) and then she would come and sit back in my lap. F repeated this same routine 3 or 4 times. B was in the living room listening for updates. Anyway, the tornado was headed straight to our neighborhood but lifted just before it was to pass through. We did not have any damage, although several of our friends lost trees, fencing and stuff. We received 4 inches of rain in about 2 hours, so there was a lot of street flooding and high water rescues in local parking lots. Interestingly - 4 inches was the total amount of rainfall for the entire 2011 year.
3. We have new neighbors (again) and they have girls - M is thrilled!!
4. Faith still has 6 teeth - I think she is getting more because of the drool. She wants so badly to be a big kid and do what G and M do. She stands and the back door and screams babbling at them when they are playing outside. She also loves her baby and will hold it and rock back and forth.
5. F still isn't really talking in words that we can understand. She talks/babbles alot but still "daddy" and "this" are really the only words we truly understand. She has started what looks like biting her fingernails - although she doesn't actually bite them - kinda strange. We've also been working on trying to teach her body parts since I know that is coming up at the well check. However to date she won't sit still/pay attention so we can reinforce it. However, she does other things that the other two never thought about doing... she is VERY sneaky and can get into anything. She also is very perceptive- she seems to have an uncanny sense of knowing when opportunities to get into things arise at the house (think open back door or open door to M 's room).
   
6. We are gettting ready for M 's birthday - this year she wants a half -sleepover. The theme will be American Girl. I think I will take her to the American Girl store in Dallas for her birthday (she is wanting the doll of the year - McKenna).
   

Here F is watching her siblings play

Lots of drool on this sweet face

F mimics her sister alot - this picture is one example. M puts this headband on during bath to keep her hair out of her face. Well, F was SOOO PROUD - she found it on the side of the tub and put it on herself. She WOULD NOT let us take it off.

Two Girls - One Outfit

The day after Christmas 3 months before M was born, I purchased this outfit. I love it now as much as I did then and its been 8 years...
Here are pictures of my two girls in the outfit. M was 9 months old when she wore it and F is 13 months old. Both girls are sitting in the rocking chair Gandad made for me. Faith is so much smaller than Meghan was - she is our petite little bundle of energy! When I compare the two - the only similiarity I see are their cute little button noses :)

M

F