Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Rocking Around the Christmas Tree

On Christmas Day afternoon we spent time at my aunt's house and we were exposed to Rock Band for the first time.  The girls had so much fun pretending they knew the words to Beatles songs.  And we all had fun watching them.   The grown-ups were pretty entertaining as well, albeit a little better at actually, you know, playing the game. 

As a side note:  Charlotte will likely kill me one day for posting these pictures of her looking rather androgynous (read: like a little boy from the 70's) as a two year old for all of the internets to see.  











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Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Hey Good Lookin'

We had a great Christmas! Sorry for the late post, but I just put the pictures from the past week onto the computer.

Caroline woke up bright and early on Christmas morning and came to Camille's room where I was feeding her to let me know in a whisper-y scream that SANTA CAME AND BROUGHT ME A KITCHEN! We let Charlotte sleep a little longer and woke her up around 6:15 so that Caroline wouldn't have to be tortured anymore by ALL OF THE WAITING.

And Caroline was right, Santa did bring the girls a kitchen, pots and pans, and all kinds of food. Santa definitely went out on a limb getting the girls a joint gift, but it is already proven to be something they will each play with separately and even together with minimal fighting.

They each also got some individual gifts as well, so when the kitchen provides a little too much togetherness, each girl has something of her own to play with. Charlotte's big gift was a tricycle, which she looks adorable on, but I'm sad to report that I haven't taken a picture of her on it yet. Caroline's comparable gift was a baby seat for the back of her bike, so she can take her baby dolls out on bike rides. Again, no picture of that just yet either.  And you'll all be happy to know that the immediate hit of all of the gifts were the $5 zhu zhu pets Santa found at the last minute at CVS.  Those robot hamsters (are they hamsters?) provided some serious entertainment at about 6:45AM on Saturday! 

On to the gift I did manage to take pictures of!

Exhibit A:  Minimal fighting ensues



Chef Charlotte working the wooden knife



Chef Caroline in action

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My Mom, According to Caroline

I promise to get to a Christmas post as quickly as I can, but I got this little question and answer activity via email last week and I finally got a chance to ask Caroline to tell me all about *me*.  So, what follows is a little interview that I gave Caroline this morning.  Enjoy!


1. What is something mom always says to you?
I love you!  

2. What makes mom happy?
When I love you.

3. What makes mom sad?
When I use a whiny voice.  (Yes!)

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
When you joke me. 

5. What was your mom like as a child?
You liked Barbies

6. How old is your mom?
35.  (That would be Papa, but close enough.  I guess.)

7. How tall is your mom?
85

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Playing.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Does stuff all by herself.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Being a movie star. 

11. What is your mom really good at?
Typing.  (Um . . . Thanks?)

12. What is your mom not very good at?
You are good at everything!

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Work (Yes indeed!)

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Soup.

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
When I do proud things for you. 

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Dora.  

17. What do you and your mom do together?
We play together. 

18, How are you and your mom the same?
We have the same lips. 

19. How are you and your mom different?
Our hair is different. 

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Because you always love me. 

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Wal-mart.  (Not even close).  

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Smile!



This little girl has such a sweet disposition! She is starting to coo quite a bit and laugh a little as she is approaching the four month mark. Her sleeping patterns are all over the place, but honestly with the way she looks at me with those big eyes and snuggles her head close to my neck, I really can't get too bent out of shape about it. I don't have any updates on her stats because we haven't been back to see the pediatrician and I don't own a scale, but she seems to be growing both in length and weight. Her chubby cheeks are deceiving, though, her body is just as long and lean as it was the day she was born.

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Sunday, December 12, 2010

Christmas show

Here's the video of Caroline singing with her class. She's in the middle row, third from the right. I know it's a little dark, but this is the best I could do with video setting on my old point and shoot. I need to send Santa a letter to see if he'll bring me a flip camera this year.

Friday, December 10, 2010

A little respect

Now that Camille is a little over three months old, I figured it was way past time for the blog to recognize that our family is one with "three sisters' and not just two. So, I finally had Danielle make the formal change of our blog header to give her a little respect.

In other news, Jeff and I joined Caroline at school for lunch yesterday. Her class did a little mini-performance of a couple of Christmas songs before we ate, and it was absolutely precious. They did a great job and we both really enjoyed staying for lunch getting to spend time in her world at school and talking to some of her friends. I've got some pictorial and video evidence of the event that I'll do my best to get uploaded at some point later today.

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

A different view



I pulled out the exersaucer today for Camille and apparently, she loved it! She was well cushioned by a couple of blankets wrapped around her skinny little body, but I think it must have been a nice change of pace for her. She tends to do a lot of laying on her back or laying on my shoulder, so the whole "sitting upright" position was a new world.

And importantly, I was able to get a few shots of her little smile. Where she is actually in the picture this time. Thanks for your patience.





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Monday, December 06, 2010

Three years, part 2



And three years ago today, I delivered a baby boy who wouldn't ever open his eyes to this world. So many thoughts and feelings, but so few words do them justice.

These pictures of a beautiful relief sculpture that my mom gave me say more than my fumbling mind can produce.










Grace and peace.
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Friday, December 03, 2010

Three years, part 1

On this day three years ago Jeff and I walked in to my doctor's office a 20 week ultrasound, hoping to see some images of our growing baby and maybe even find out whether we were having a boy or girl. All of the hope and anticipation that we walked in with were crushed in that dark room when the ultrasound tech laid her hand gently on my arm and looked at me with pain in her eyes. "I'm sorry, I can't find a heartbeat." Though the rest of the conversation is a blur today, I recall vividly walking back into the waiting room of the office, with tear-filled eyes and thinking for the first of many times, "how can all of these women sit out here looking at magazines as if life is normal?" That thought was the beginning an indescribable alteration in me. As I wrote about then, my life, beliefs, and faith were put out on the lawn and I was in the midst of a slow and tedious process of deciding what to take back inside. Even still, I find myself using that day as a point of reference when I hear others' pain. And joy.

I can't imagine what life would be like had December 3, 2007 gone differently. In ways good and bad, that day changed me and our family to the core. As Rachel said so beautifully yesterday, "grief has you carving out paths you never would have taken otherwise." This loss has brought me more compassion, a hope for the future, a true realization of how little control I have, a faith I feel like I truly own, and a profound appreciation for life, particularly my own children. And though I wouldn't have had the foresight to choose the paths I've been on, I am thankful for them.

Thursday, December 02, 2010

Getting in the Spirit

I love Christmas music and we've been listening to it at our house and in my car since Thanksgiving Day. I got an email yesterday with a link to this compilation of some classic Christmas Carols by Indelible Grace. You can buy the digital version and download it right away, or you can order the CD. There are some really beautiful versions of some of my favorite carols.

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

A Birthday Breakfast

On Monday, we began Charlotte's birthday celebration by waking her up to the birthday song. Not the best sound at 6:50AM. Or to be totally frank, the time of day doesn't matter when it comes to me and singing. It's never nice.

After we pulled the groggy birthday girl out of bed, she opened her cards and a present and then we serenaded her again in her high chair with a blueberry muffin. It was a good way to start a joyful day.


 
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