Massive Catch-Up Post #1

We've been doing pre-school super informally eith our wonderful and amazing neighbors, the Sorensens. We've had a blast learning about our bodies, families, neighborhood, gratitude, foods and more!

 

 

Halloween was super fun. Henry's costume started the whole thing. He's Kanga and Little Roo. So, I bought Lily was Pooh Bear costume on KSL and made myself an Eeyore headband and tail out of felt and James was Christopher Robin. Lily discovered candy and has never gone back. Bummer.

Henry continues to grow and eats very well. He's really big for his age. He's a much better eater and sleeper than Lily and I'm so glad.

Lily continues to grow up and speaks much more.She is getting more independent and actually plays a lot more by herself. Her imagination is great. It seems like every time I come in on her playing, one of the dolls or stuffed animals is falling off of something (the couch, the printer) and the other one is saving them. It's hilarious.

This is the first snow. Lily really wanted to go out and I had Henry and it was cold so she went out on her own. She just wandered around and enjoyed it.

 

 For Thanksgiving, we went to Oklahoma to visit Joe and Marcia family. It was awesome. I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted, but here are a few of the girls wearing each other's clothes.

Happy 31st Birthday, James! Tucanos with the other Schmitts. Good times.

I took these pics cause cousin Kye has pictures in this outfit and they are both adorable in it.

Lily is very crafty. She loves glue, construction paper and anything that she can tape, cut or stick together. I didn't have anything for her to glue to this paper so I gave her almonds and sprinkles. She ate the sprinkles and all the almonds fell off. Fail.

 

This is an example of her cutting skills. I gave her a piece of wrapping paper.

 

So, we decided this year not to spend money on a Christmas tree. I googled how to make a homemade tree and saw some cute ones that were made out of an upside down tomato cage. We made it for FHE and this is how it turned out. I thought it was so ugly and crazy.

But when we turned the lights off and lighted the tree, Lily's awe and joy was tangible.

She literally couldn't stop looking at it. She made the experience so happy and I had an epiphany of  why parents work so hard on Christmas for their kids. I wanted to see that amazement on her face an much as possible.

 

Henry also liked the joys of Christmas.

 

This is Lily's first Santa encounter. She tried really hard to be nice and like it, but she was super uncomfortable and didn't get it. It probably doesn't help that I'm semi against the whole Santa thing.

More on Christmas to come!

Grrrr....

Blogger told me I hit my picture limit on my blog and I'd have to pay to continue to post. I've been thinking about what to do for several months and still haven't decided. Sorry to my 18 followers. :)

I'd happily accept any suggestions on how to stay motivated to keep updates on my kids and life in some format or another...paper crafting is not an option.

I will keep you posted, or not, as it were.

Self-Sufficient

Apparently, she doesn't even need me anymore except to turn on the stove. She came running in with the sauce pan and said "cheese" to me. This scene is what I found. You must realize these things are not easy to retrieve...

Washing Dishes

The Great Grandparents Meet Henry

Hair Cut!

I was getting tired of the scraggly never-been-cut hair that Lily sported daily, so we decided to take the plunge. I wanted to get it done professionally the first time since I felt like there's not really a previous haircut to pattern after. We went to Cookie Cutters in Lehi, a salon just for kids. Lily picked a pink sports car to sit in. She watched a show about cats, and the gal got going.

 

Before:

 

This is the during picture...

 

And the after pictures! She moved a little when the bangs were getting cut so they are a little short, but I think they are cute. (PS She really wanted to wear her "Big Sister" pin today, so that's what that is.

"Smile Lily!"

This is what she did after I said, "That wasn't a real smile. Look excited!"

She got a Dum Dum and a balloon and, with the coupon, I felt it was a great experience. She's adorable!

Big Girl Bed

Henry was busting out of this bassinet and we finally found a great deal on a bunk bed so we took the plunge and Lily is in a big girl bed. We skipped the toddler bed phase and I'm honestly quite pleased that we did.

 

We put together only half of the bunk bed and we'll add the other half as needed. :)

 

Lily has always been a poor night sleeper so we were a bit concerned. To our great surprise, she has never slept better! Yes, she has a little bit of trouble staying in bed at bedtime, but she seems to have a much better night sleep. We put a bed rail on and she's only fallen off once and it was not a traumatic event. Phew!

 

Her room is so fun for her now and she's recently discovered how fun it is to hide in her own little nook under her bed. Ah, to be a little girl again.