Getting a tree

After our Breakfast with Santa we went to get a tree and since it was very cold out and Stephanie doesn't like the snow it was a quick find and and quick trip out of the car. It was worth it for the cute pictures though. Our tree looks nice but we weren't happy with it. It never had that tree smell to it. So again, we won't be going back there next year either. The kids loved ahving it though. I think they will be sad when it comes down this week.

Santa

A few weeks ago we took the kids to see Santa. They were all excited until it got to the point of actually going near him. They were very happy just to be seeing him from afar and they saw no reason to go next to him. I was able at least to stand with him and have the kids with me but there was no sitting on his lap. Both girls were not interested. This was at our High Schools Breakfast with Santa that was very lame and we won't be going back next year. They love seeing Santa everywhere but they just don't need him to be real and come close. This was still the case when Santa came on Christmas Eve. The kids were petrified of Santa, but that's another story. Hopefully I'll get to that one soon.

Cute, fun towels

The kids have out grown the baby hooded towels a long time ago and have just been using regular bath towels. That was fine but these were on a very good sale the day after Thanksgiving (online of course) so I picked 2 up. As soon as they arrived the kids had lots of fun wearing them around the house. I think they had more fun then than they do now after a bath but they were able to see how cute they looked in the mirror. Very, very cute.

Cupcakes for school

A couple weeks ago Stephanie had her Christmas party at school and we made mini cupcakes to take to school. Stephanie had never had cupcakes before but I figured having them mini it would be easier for her and for everyone in the class to eat. I had her try some at home before we took them to school and without a doubt, she loved them. She took a bite at the first one she had but then she put the next one whole into her mouth. So we took them to school and all the kids loved them. They were a big hit at home and at school so we'll have to make them again soon. If I wasn't making Christmas cookies right after the cupcakes I would have made more cupcakes. Now I probably make some for Valentine's Day. That won't help the New Years diet.

Sick girls

Both Stephanie and Emily have been sick all week. Stephanie started to get sick last week and missed one day of school. She just had a little cold but then the cold got worse and she also got a low grade fever. After the weekend she bounced back but just had a runny nose which led to a very red nose by Monday. My first thought is of course our Christmas pictures set up for Friday. By Monday night Emily has gotten the cold and she had a fever right away. She still has the fever with the cold and is just not herself. She has no sense of balance and tries to move around and falls down or will slightly bump something and it will knock her over. She also wants to be held all the time. That is not like her but it has gotten her to say "mama" a lot more. That's all she needs to say and she gets picked right up. No wonder my back is hurting so bad this week. Since we are set to get around a foot of snow tonight and tomorrow I cancelled the picture appointment and it is set up for the Saturday after Christmas. Hopefully they don't get their dresses to dirty. Even if they do my mom will get them looking brand new for the picture. I am just hoping they can both be in this one and they are all better by then.

Advent Calendar

I tried explaining the advent calendar but I couldn't so I thought a picture would be better. I had the same thing when I was growing up and my mom made one for me when I moved away. One the top is suppose to be a Santa but he's had better days. The kids get one Hershey kiss every day in December until Christmas. My girls are a little behind but they are new to it still. One chocolate a day is enough for them. Plus they still have their St. Nick candy also.

Stephanie's great progress

In the last 6 weeks or so Stephanie has been making some progress. It all started when she said "trick or treat" at Halloween. Since then she has been saying; "Christmas tree", "Santa", "go", "snow", "cookie", teacher", "teeth", "chip", and "all done". Not all of the words are coming out crystal clear but the fact that they are close and that she is trying is such great news. On Monday when I had all the kids (Jack and Mia also) in the car and I didn't want them to use the word chocolate. Because of the advent calendar, now my girls know what chocolate means, so we were saying "coco" instead. Right away Stephanie started saying "coco". I am so happy for her and the progress she is making. Since she has been learning the new words she isn't losing the old ones she had either. In a few weeks she's going to Children's Hospital for another speech evaluation and once we can start there I think she is really going to take off. Besides her speech coming along she has finally got her jumping down. She got a mini trampoline this summer for her birthday and she has been practicing. But she kind of jumps more like a hop or a gallop with one foot staying down and the other one jumping. But in the last 2 weeks she is really jumping with both feet off the ground. There is a big trampoline at the place we go for occupational and physical therapy and she loves going on it so I think that has helped a lot. She also had a great week at school last week but had one incident yesterday where she bit a kid but were are still working on that. I never thought in all the years I've worked with kids that I would be the parent of the kid who bites the other kids. You just never know. It's a long road but we are getting there at her own pace. Keep up the good work Stephanie. I am so proud of you!!

Stephanie and Emily's Christmas Dance

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Emily is a little stinker

I have been trying to get a good picture of the girls for a Christmas card but it wasn't working with them sitting together. So I tried getting separate ones of them. I finally got a good one of Stephanie, which isn't so hard since you can get her to smile pretty easily. Emily was the problem. She just would not cooperate. I tried 3 different outfits, many different places, but she has a mind of her own. I keep asking her to sit down and she'll tell me "no". Or she'll sit but only for a half a second and then get up. Or she will sit but will purposely not look at me. Then she get up, with a huge smile and run away. So after 50 or so pictures, many with her eyes closed or her moving around, you would think I had a decent picture but I don't think so. I need to order them soon so they aren't late. So when you finally get our Christmas card, if Emily doesn't look her best, now you know why. And I thought taking their pictures as babies was hard.

Snow

Last Monday we got our first snow of the season. It was only a couple inches but it was enough to through Stephanie for a loop. She was so excited to see it snow out of the window and kept looking and "oohing" while looking at the snow. That is where the fun ended. As soon as we left to go to school she cried on the walk to the car. She cried/whined in the car. She whined/cried on the walk from the car into school. Usually she is so excited and runs from the car into school but not that day. She was not enjoying the arrival of winter. I am not a winter person at all but I was trying my best to say how wonderful the snow is. She wasn't buying it. She ended up having a terrible day at school and they called me to pick her up early. She was just not happy and not her usual self. I tried bringing snow in the house to play with and she wanted nothing to do with it. I was so worried that we were going to be in for a very long winter. Since last week she keeps wanting to go outside but she doesn't like walking in the snow. She has gotten better but one thing I do notice is that when she gets to her car door to climb in her seat, she starts whining because she knows when she puts her boots down in the car she will get snow in the car and she hates that. She needed a napkin in the car today because she was trying to take her boots off and got snow on her hands. She has never been one that is to affected by changes or been weary of different textures but also doesn't search it out either. So last night we were suppose to be hit with a big winter storm but thankfully our area got only 3-4 inches where others got closer to 10. She did so much better today. She still won't touch it and doesn't like it in the car but will walk out to the car without crying or whining. She'll get there by the end of winter. Especially if we had a winter like last year. Oh my, I sure hope not!!

Feeding

Yesterday Stephanie had finished her lunch before Emily so when Emily was eating Stephanie decided to help her. For someone who has trouble feeding herself with a spoon she did quite well feeding Emily. Emily thought it was funny and I knew it wouldn't last before the spoon went her her eye but I let them continue until it seemed like Emily had enough. They both had fun with it. It is so nice when Stephanie is nice to her.

Thanksgiving

The girls had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. They loved seeing everyone at my Auntie Joyce's house and loved the attention from their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. They ate some of their dinner but were not big turkey fans. They both went crazy with their pies though. Jeff came home from hunting the day before since he had class that night. He stayed till after Thanksgiving dinner and then went back hunting. Too bad. That also meant I couldn't go shopping on black Friday. Not that big of a deal since most of my shopping is done but I like to shop and going the day after Thanksgiving is an experience. I did shop online on Thanksgiving and then at midnight on Friday. I took the girls out today for a little shopping and the stores were pretty dead. Hard to believe there was a mad rush yesterday and not many people today. It was nice for us though. Now it's time to get the house ready for Christmas.

Exercise

Two weeks ago I went to the gym to give that a try again. I was just hoping no one would get sick. I only took Emily since Stephanie was in school and I wasn't sure how she would do with me leaving. She was playing fine the first time I left but when I came back she looked at me and cried right away. She came right into my arms but would keep looking at me and start crying again. It took it that she was mad. She enjoyed being held and looking aver at the indoor pool. So then we couldn't go last week but we went back yesterday. This time I heard her crying right when I walked out of the room. I stood outside the door where she couldn't see me and someone picked her up and she was crying off and on. After I changed I went to check on her and they said she was playing nicely and wasn't crying anymore. So I went to work out and when I came back she was playing with the toys and heard my voice and came to me with a huge smile and a big hug. They said she was good and would just look for me when new kids came through the door or when they left. I was so proud of her. I thought as soon as she saw the place she would start screaming. She only got a little cold after the first time we went but I also had a cold then so it cold have been from me. I might try going back tomorrow. We'll see. Not sure if I want to push it though.

What am I going to do with her?

Emily and her shoes. She is driving me crazy. A month or 2 ago she learned to take her shoes and socks off which was a great skill for her to learn. Now she does it all day long and every time we are in the car. So I got new shoes for her, tie and real buckle shoes, which are not that easy to get these days. All the shoes have the look of a buckle but are really Velcro. That drives me crazy too! So, now Emily has learned to get her new buckle shoes off, her tie shoes ended up being too small, and all the hand me down shoes from Stephanie (that are so cute) come off in the car. We can't even make it to Stephanie's school in the morning (less than 2 miles away) without Emily taking her shoes off. I was about to tape them on her today. There is no way she is going to wear boots this winter then. I thought I could turn her seat around since she is still facing backwards, but she is safer that way until he gets bigger, but if I did she wouldn't be able to reach her shoes since the seat wouldn't be reclined anymore. If she is safer backwards though I need to come up with a better solution. She sure knows how to punch my buttons!! It's a good thing she is so darn adorable.

Goofy Emily

Emily has a new face going on all the time. She was sticking out her tongue all the time last month and now she sticks out her bottom teeth. It is the cutest thing except when you are trying to get a decent smile from her. Of course when you want a picture of it she says no and when she want a smile she puts those little teeth out. She is our little troublemaker.

Now she really looks like a big girl

I'd had enough of Stephanie eating her hair all the time so on Saturday I took her to get her haircut. I was more worried about it that she was. Of course I don't think she knew what we really meant when we said she was getting her haircut. It had been growing so long and she has only had one trim this past summer and her bangs cut. So this was a real haircut. She was so good and I was so proud of her. The place we went was so nice and had their own kind of distractions and ways of getting kids to look a certain way. She ended up getting about 4 inches cut off and I actually like it. She does look more grown up now. She doesn't look like my little baby. I am not sure if it will stop her from pulling her hair out from her head but now she can't reach it from the sides. It's been better so far but I don't know if it worked yet. Only time will tell.

Halloween

This year the kids a had a great time going trick or treating and being in their costumes. I think they liked the idea of dressing up and knew what they were. Stephanie was Little Bo Peep and Emily was a little sheep. The first few times that Emily had her costume on she hated it but now she has no problem with it. I did keep them out hanging up so we would talk about them and see them. They got lots of candy and have been able to enjoy some of it. Emily loves the chocolate and Stephanie loves the sweets. Emily ate Hershey's and Kit Kat's and Stephanie ate the sweet tarts and smarties. I think they would eat almost all of it but they don't get sweets very often. Plus Jeff had his birthday the day before Halloween so we also had a whole cake to eat. Time to start a little diet before Thanksgiving and Christmas comes. The holidays are trouble.

Maybe Stephanie is motivated by candy

So this weekend we went by my parents and the kids went trick or treating in the court Stephanie said "trick or treat" by the time we got to the third house. At first, we were just going to go to 3 houses since the weather wasn't the best but when she kept saying "trick or treating" to my mom and went to open the door we figured she wanted to go to more houses. She didn't say it at the houses to get the candy but she kept saying it all evening. She won't always say it when you ask her to but if she hears you say it while you talking to someone else then she'll say it. It comes out pretty clear but I know it may also be something she says now and loses in a month. The speech therapists have said that for it to be considered a word she needs to have it for 3 months. I sure hope it stays but I'm just saying I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't. Anyway, we are all so proud of her!!

New shoes

Both of the girls got new shoes today and we all couldn't be happier. Since Stephanie learned to put on and take off her shoes she does it all the time. Most of the time is isn't a problem but when she does it in the car and then throws her shoe at Emily, or when she is taking her shoes off at school when she is suppose to be playing at the playground, I have a problem with that. On top of that Emily has learned to take off her shoes also and then both of them take their socks off too. So all over the car are both pairs of shoes and socks. I also have Jack and Mia's clothes in my car sometimes because they change clothes for their sports after school and don't always pack up their clothes. It doesn't bother me that they are all over the car, it is more that I have to put them both back on them . Now with the weather getting colder I don't want both of them to have bare feet when I open the car door. I also don't want to be standing outside in the cold putting their shoes back on. So they both got tie shoes today and both of the kids kept their shoes on all afternoon in the car. Yay!!

Having fun in the leaves

The girls had fun outside a couple weekends ago playing in the leaves. Emily started to eat them though after awhile. We have so many trees and so many leaves that they can be picked up (or mowed) and then there are enough to rake up the next day. I am not much of a tree person for that very reason. I would rather have little cute trees that change a pretty color but don't have a lot of leaves but Jeff loves that we have so many except when there are leaves everywhere. The kids will play will them for a little bit but I think I had more fun throwing leaves on them.

Craving pumpkins

We actually did this last weekend and Stephanie helped out more than Emily. Emily started to but then she realized she would rather be napping. When I was drawing the face on Emily's pumpkin Stephanie decided to add to the drawing on her pumpkin. She drew all over one of the eyes so that is how it stayed. I only carved out the one eye and kept her drawn eye since that is what she wanted. Neither of them wanted to touch the gooey part of the pumpkin. Stephanie did help separate the seeds though. They love looking at their pumpkins outside every day.

Pumpkin Farm

Last Saturday Jeff and I took the kids to a pumpkin farm and though it wasn't as warm as the previous weekend (which was in the 70-80s) it was a nice day in the 60s. The kids had fun and got to pick the pumpkin they wanted. Stephanie had lots of fun going though the baby hay maze a million times. Emily had fallen asleep on the way there (just when you think she doesn't need that morning nap) so we had to wake her and she had fun looking around in the stroller. She wanted to play with the pumpkins when it was time to leave though. I really wanted to take them on a hay ride and purposely picked that pumpkin farm for that reason. Of course when we got there they said their rides don't start til noon. We weren't going to wait around and if it would've mentioned that on their websites or in the magazine I read about them in, I wouldn't have gone there. I will be sure to pick a different one next time. I might be taking the kids with my cousin (my cousin Brett's wife) and her little one to a pumpkin farm/petting zoo this weekend so maybe they will have hay rides too. I think it's more for me than for them but we all went on one last year and Stephanie liked it then so i think she'll really enjoy it this time.