Everyday January

Eleanor tried lots of new foods in January! Green beans are not her favorite, but everything else she gobbles up. I’ve been experimenting making baby food in the Instant Pot… she still prefers store-bought pouches because she can feed herself.

GIVE ME THE SPOON.

 

 

January alternated between lovely, sunny days and freezing, rainy ones.

We attempted to teach Meredith the concept behind leapfrog.

She decided riding on her sisters was more fun.

Eleanor giggles at her sisters’ antics.

Every night before bed, Meredith asks to give Eleanor a little hug. She’s been begging to let Eleanor sleep in her room too, but that won’t happen for a while.

Rest stop on a hike.

Perfecting magnatile towers.

On one rainy Saturday, Jake took the girls to do crafts at Home Depot. They were proud of their Valentine’s box creations.

Eleanor continued to crawl backwards and even learned to spin around, but still didn’t quite get how to crawl forwards.

The girls created a car for themselves out of a huge box and styrofoam.

Meredith loves to fill the basket in her bike with random toys to bring to the park.

Samantha and Amelia went to Harper’s birthday party at Zoomars and spent almost the entire time feeding and petting every single guinea pig.

We had one week that was straight up torrential downpours every day. After school one day, I announced we were having a read-a-thon. I had to explain what that was a million times, but the girls eventually went along with it. We pulled out all of our bins of books and binge-read picture books all afternoon.

Eleanor’s favorite toys.

Playdate with Maple and Gavin inside on a rainy day!

Wearing one of Maple’s old size 2T sleepers!

We got to meet Amy’s new baby– sweet Carter!

Meredith’s playgroup for 2016 babies. Many of the moms also have 2018 babies like Eleanor, so both toddler and babies have some friends!

Art and projects from school this month:

At teacher conference, Samantha and Amelia’s teachers showed me the little word books they’ve done recently and said how impressed they were by the drawings! I’d say those are pretty detailed for a five-year-old!

 

We practiced catch and batting to get ready for the upcoming softball season. Hit a home run, Amelia!

 

Lots of love,

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Random August

Ah, the lazy dog days of August! After nap time (or lately, we have a “quiet time” if the girls don’t nap that day, which happens every few days or so), we like to scooter up to the park just up the hill.

Meredith was a little bit wary of the strange bees holding her.

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Sometimes, we even stay for a picnic.

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My friend, Phi, took me on a fun trip to the Asian market where we browsed all the interesting foods, like Costco-sized jars of kimchi. The prices on produce were inanely good and I picked up a whole box of fresh coconut, which the girls enjoyed drinking.

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Samantha and Amelia have their own front packs which they use to carry around their dolls or stuffed animals, just like I do with Meredith in the Ergo. Their favorite playtimes include pretending like they are mommies taking care of their babies, complete with cooking, bedtime stories, and songs. It’s adorable! As are bedtime snuggles with our real baby!

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We all love eating barbecue at Auntie Lynn and Uncle Steve’s, and Meredith especially loves it when we go to Great Grandpa’s pool.

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Our cousins in LA are moving to the East coast, so we took a day trip up there to see them off and play at their favorite park. The girls were excited to help them get rid of lots of their toys and books by agreeing to take them home.

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Playdates with Grace inevitably end with all three rolling down the hill and complaining of scratches and itching.

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Samantha and Amelia teaching Meredith all about how to work one of their old toys:

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The happy eater!

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Samantha never tires of sitting in boxes.

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Allie was one strong girl to pull these two in their wagon on a park playdate with her and Maliyah.

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We’ve been working on helping the girls ride their Striders lately. Samantha tends to fall down and grumble more, while Amelia goes sailing past her.

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Because climbing up a searing hot slide is more fun than going down.

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Meredith’s favorite pastime:

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Hugs for their guardian, Bandit.

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Meredith revels in the spotlight as the star of the neighborhood. It isn’t hard to see why everyone flocks to her– whether on a walk outside, or dropping her sisters off at preschool, Meredith smiles at everyone she sees!  Chelsea and London are always so gentle and kind with her.

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Now that school is back in session, the pool is empty most evenings, so we’ve been doing barbecue and swim nights several times a week. It’s so efficient when the dinner mess stays at the pool, we shower off the girls in the pool showers, dress them in their pajamas there and head back home to go to bed!

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Hold me, I’m cold!

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Samantha the goggle girl.

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Thrill seeker!

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Whoa, that was a little too high, sis!

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Hands down, the girls’ favorite game at the moment is hide and seek. Never mind that they only have about three designated hiding places and their giggles usually give them away. Meredith laughs at them and is always quite entertained by the spectacle.

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Our introspective Amelia. I’m never quite sure what’s going in that head of hers!

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Lots of love,

 

 

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Double Header Birthday Parties

Mention the word, “party,” and Samantha and Amelia will instantly do just about anything I ask them (except get their shoes on as we are about to head out the door… world champion dawdlers, these ones).

Last weekend, we had a birthday party double header, which meant lots of cupcakes for the girls and many opportunities to bribe them into finishing their chores before Christmas for me.

First up for the day was Parker’s much-anticipated bug-themed 5th birthday party. The girls opted to carry in the gift together since they couldn’t decide who would do the honors. 29044605711_3fb2e71e9b_k

Meredith lamented the fact that she hasn’t graduated past eating pureed fruit and veggies yet and thus, could not participate in munching on the delicious breakfast burritos, quesadillas, breakfast tacos, chips and salsa, muffins and fruit. The rest of us were stuffed and loved the fun menu.

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All the babies in da house say yeah!

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Splash pad time. All the kids received butterfly nets and other bug catching gear, so I didn’t see Samantha and Amelia the entire party, they were so busy running around.

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Parker always has the most inventive cakes at his parties. He and his dad created this rice krispie cake and made the mold for the five shape themselves. Impressive angular cutting and enough cake to last until Parker turns six!

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We can’t believe this little boy is five already.

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Where’s my buddy, Maple? I need some girl chat!

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In the afternoon, we got our party faces on once again for Camdyn’s 4th birthday party at the pool, and saw many of our friends from earlier that morning. Pizza + watermelon + pool = instant party. It made me wish the girls had birthdays during the summer so that we could just go to the pool every year. PicMonkey Collage2

Beach baby loungers.

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Meredith gobbled up her carrot and sweet potato dinner poolside.

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Cuddling up after a long day of partying. Being three is tough!

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Lots of love,

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Quote of the Day

Samantha and Amelia spout out so many journal-worthy quotes every day, that I wish I could keep a recorder on all day and have someone sift through it for gems. Today’s was from Samantha.

Samantha while cuddling Meredith: “I wish we had two sisters.”

Me: “You do have two sisters– Amelia and Meredith.”

Samantha: “No, I want two babies. Why can’t we have two babies?”

Me: “Um…. that’s just the way it worked out. Maybe next time, if there is a next time. But don’t hold your breath.”

Samantha: “When we have another baby, I want to name it ‘Sam’ just like me, Sammy!”

Me: “Won’t that be confusing to have two Sams?”

Samantha: “No, because there will be a little Sammy and a big Sammy.”

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Can’t argue with that logic. Apparently, in Sammy’s ideal world, all of her sisters would be mini-hers!

Lots of love,

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