Sunday, September 27, 2009

Weekend Update

Yesterday morning found us heading to the soccer field early for our first games of the season...or ever, I suppose! AG's team's shirts had not come in due to some mix-up, so they wore some extras that the Y had on hand which were, not surprisingly considering where we live, purple. By next week they should have the lime green shirts appropriate for "Aliens" to wear. AG is not the most aggressive player on the field, but she ran up and down with the group and played goalie a little bit, and at the end of the game her team had scored 2 goals, which was enough to win.

Here she is kicking it off to start play...


and in the middle of the action! We are so happy for her keeping a good attitude and showing some "hustle" during her first game.


Last night, we all watched T's and my wedding video. The girls were fascinated and asked lots of questions about the ceremony and who was there (including where THEY were that day!). How fun to share such sweet memories with these little ones we could only have imagined then! Afterwards, LL ran up to me and said, "You did GREAT in your wedding! I say you get a high 5!" (Maybe she picked that up at the game that morning?)

And to finish off our weekend report, here are the girls after church this morning:

Friday, September 25, 2009

"Baby Butter" Update

Today T went with me to my appointment (35 weeks!) because, at my last appointment, my doctor had decided to have an ultrasound done "to see how big this baby is." I didn't ask what he was thinking because he didn't seem alarmed; I was just kind of surprised to get another chance to see the baby at this point. I didn't have an ultrasound this late with any of the girls, so it was pretty amazing to see just how much baby is in there...alot more than at the 20 week mark, for sure! I was so glad to have T there (we left the girls at home with a sweet friend) and we got some great views of our baby boy's face. The sonographer's measurements led to an estimation that he currently weighs about 6 pounds, 2 ounces, which is right at the 51st percentile. This reassured Dr. K that he is plenty big and left me wondering if we are going to have our first 8 pounder! We shall see!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Tickled

The girls are all at such fun and cute stages (so I suppose that's just proof that all young kids are cute!)and do things all the time that make us laugh. I usually can't or don't record these things in any way, but somehow I ended up with a few photos of things that made me laugh out loud just yesterday.

SJ joins right in the her big sisters during playtime now, and most of the time this works out just fine. I hadn't seen her or LL for a while yesterday morning, and when I went to check on them this is what I found in the corner of SJ's room. They love to get behind the rocker with lots of stuff and LL had snuggled SJ into the corner under blankets and given her a lovie, and SJ was just as content as could be to be LL's "baby". It amazes me how she'll just go along with this or lie down on the couch and let them put a blanket over her to play "sick"...at that age there is no way AG or LL would have been so agreeable to such things! I suppose the thumb probably has something to do with it...she was actually saying "Cheese" around it when I took this.


They have an assortment of old but unused Valentine cards that get shuffled around and used for random purposes. Last night I found this one after they went to bed...

Monday, September 21, 2009

Big Fish in a Little Pond

A few days ago the girls were playing in the backyard while I was on the phone. As all you parents know, they learn early that this is a great time to get into things! They had some water in a few bowls, making "soup" with whatever they could find, and the next thing I knew they were all gathered around the bowl dipping and splashing as much as they could with such a little bit of water. I kept refilling the bowl and they went from dipping to dumping and all ended up soaked from head to toe!





Last night we were having a little family singing time and I realized all the girls were lined up on the couch next to me, each with a baby in her lap. I just need a few weeks to catch up!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

New Beginnings

Last week LL and AG both started some fun new fall activities. On Tuesday, LL had her first real day of dance class! She has looked forward to this for a long time, but as we've seen with her a few times before, sometimes she is a little unsure (and emotional) about new situations (particularly those that make her feel like she is being watched by a group!). So right after I took this photo and started to leave the room, the tears started flowing. Thankfully after I reassured her and made my exit, she calmed down and according to the teacher, ended up doing great! Afterwards she told me she had a good time and asked when she could go back.


Thursday afternoon, we all headed out to the soccer field at the Y for AG's first practice. T has looked forward to the girls trying out soccer for a while, and although "baby butter" will make his arrival right in the middle of the season, we decided to go ahead and sign both AG and LL up for teams this year. Nana and Grandpa gave the girls a soccer ball while we were there a few weeks ago, and they have had a great time kicking it around since them. Then T took them both to get shoes and gear last weekend; LL put on the shin guards and cleats and ran around saying "This is awesome!" Clearly we are expanding our horizons beyond glass slippers! I have to admit I was pretty excited once we got to practice, too!

Here are a few shots of AG's first practice. So proud of how she jumped right in!





AG's team voted to wear lime green shirts and be the "Aliens", one of several suggestions of the mom organizing and helping coach the team. Go Aliens!
LL will have her first practice this week and then both girls will have games next Saturday! (So you can count on more sports reports in coming weeks..:)

Monday, September 14, 2009

Game Day

We were all excited to get to go to MSU's first game of the season while we were "home" over Labor Day weekend. We went up early with Gran and PopPop and met Aunt Cherri and Uncle Mike (PopPop's brother) for lunch at the Union building, which has been totally remodeled since our last visit. (I guess it shouldn't be surprising that alot has changed on campus since I graduated more than 10 years ago!) I took a good many photos, and some of these uploaded in a weird order (which really probably wouldn't even be noticeable to anyone but me :)but I'll save some time and leave them as is.

Aunt Cherri, LL, AG and Gran making their way to the stadium area


Party of 5 (or 5.5!) with a giant cowbell
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Hanging out inside and watching the scene on the field while waiting for game time


The girls got as "up close and personal" with Bully as they wanted to!


Gran had brought along everything needed to have a little princess birthday celebration for SJ before the game!


LL and SJ wanted to pet Bully, and this is one of the things SJ has talked about since then. ("Pet Booly!")


We went into the stadium with dark clouds gathering above us and just before the game was supposed to start the rain started and we all got soaked! The game was delayed for 30 minutes and then we sat in a little drizzle the whole first half so we could be outside to see the bands at halftime. The girls did great through it all!
SJ and PopPop in the stadium


Near the end of the game we got a short visit in with one of my college roommates who was in town for the game. The girls were excited to see "Aunt Claire" although we didn't have nearly enough time to catch up!


SJ and T just after we got into the stadium...she was ready for some football! (Or the "foot game" as she called it)


Our little cheering section...wet but happy!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

"Final Five" Road Trip

Last weekend we went on what was likely our last trip as a family of five. Just over two years ago, I posted about our "final four" trip...kind of crazy that we are now almost at the point of adding another carseat to the van! We left Thursday morning and went to stay with T's parents for the weekend. Here are a few photos of some of the things we did.

The girls enjoyed what as probably their last swim of the summer! SJ collected toys in the pool...


AG practiced floating.


LL and T sharing a laugh


A little post-swim sweetness...


SJ sharing her snuggles with Nana, too!


We celebrated SJ's birthday with Nana and Grandpa with a yummy cake Nana made. SJ was happy to blow out two candles and even happier to dig in!


The girls all love our new kitty cat, Rosette!


They all picked tomatoes with Grandpa one day. The perfect size for little fingers!



We had a great time. Thanks to Nana and Grandpa for letting us help you break in your new kitchen! :)

More from the Labor Day weekend to come soon...

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Our Twinkly Little Star

Yesterday we went to the pediatrician for SJ's two-year well-check (with a bonus of flu shots for all three girls, but let's not talk about that trauma...). Would you believe I forgot to ask them to write down her stats? Actually, I haven't been great about keeping up with this for any of the girls very consistently, but at least if I get that little note it is documented somewhere I can get to it if I ever do record it in something official here at home. So this is what I remember: she weighed in at just a few ounces shy of 30 pounds (75th percentile, was at the 50th percentile on height, and maxed out with her head circumference in the 90th percentile. All of this just confirmed our certainty that she continues to be a bigger little girl than her sisters were at the same ages. Which is most notable to me, really, because it totally justifies my exhaustion with lifting her and carrying her for even a few minutes these days!

She is so fun and funny, and makes us laugh alot with her cute (albeit intense) facial expressions and ways of saying things (which involves a lot of repetition for emphasis, I'm sure!). She loves to vocalize, often singing, squealing, and chanting names and words rhythmically. These are some of her most frequent requests now:
"Look, Mommy!!!"
"Dress up!"
"Jump me, Daddy!" (she loves for T to pick her up high)
"See Swimmy, Mommy!"
and "Baby butter...see...kiss!" which of course means she wants to kiss her baby brother!

She's doing pretty well with the halfhearted potty training we are doing, and has started affirming her successes by saying, "Gate job!" She still is a great night sleeper, though her naps in the last week or so have been a little unpredictable. It seems she always wakes up happy and sometimes requests to stay in her bed when I go to get her, and AG and LL are only too happy to jump in for some cozy playtime. The following video was taken on one of those recent mornings, when LL had joined her in the crib. SJ is singing her version of her favorites songs.

Proud of our Pianist

Yesterday AG had her final music lesson from her second book, and each time they finish a book, the students get to choose a song to play solo for the class and guests. This time they were directed to choose a song played with hands together AND left-hand chord changes. She chose one she's only been playing for a few weeks, but she practiced alot and did great! Here's AG with "Clap Your Hands":