Saturday Snow Fun

Today it snowed for about 5 hours, giving us around 8 inches of snow.  Ironically, when I was a kid in the South, that kind of snowfall would have sent everyone running to the grocery store to stock up for dear life and shut school down for a week (at least).  Here, it just a nice surprise to wake up to and means that we will be bundling up to play outside and then coming in for hot chocolate.

Now, over the past few months I've gotten really good at getting the kids dressed for the snow.  Let me tell you, it's not easy to get a 4 and 2 year old into a snow suit, socks, boots, gloves and a hat, especially when the hats and gloves are all downstairs, the boots are in two different places, and the snowsuits require the kids to sit and stand while getting them on.  But, we've got our rhythm down and we can do it much quicker now than we could at the beginning of this snow season.

It was great timing today because just as I got the kids in their snow suits, Bobby came home from his church event.  He didn't even come inside.  He just said, "Oh, are the kids going out to play in the snow?  I'll go play with them!"  Such an awesome Daddy!

I had to take some pictures of Joey as I was getting him ready to go outside.  How cute is that hat?  Thanks for letting us borrow it, Janna!

Bobby was burying Gia in the snow... she wasn't a hug fan.  She said it was too cold.

No animals were harmed in the making of these pictures. ;)

Some hang out time with Daddy while Big Brother and Big Sister drank hot cocoa.

Sunday Morning Home Church

Our family has been sick for 2 weeks, so this past week I kept the kids home on Sunday (since they couldn't go into Kid's Church).  I was supposed to teach for that week, so I had the lesson and game all planned out.  I decided that the kids and I would have Kid's Church at home and, despite Trey not feeling well, they had a lot of fun.  They danced around to a few songs, watched the video and played the balloon game.  Gia and I had a great biblical discussion about Jesus taking our sins (I used Pastor Jay's analogy that He took our spanking), and then they colored the coordinated coloring sheet while they listened to some children's Bible songs on youtube.  They had a lot of fun together, and I think it made Gia less sad about having to miss church.

Playing the balloon game:

Dancin':

Watching the video:

They love each other

Coloring

Coloring and listening to youtube videos

Joey - 4 Months

Oh my goodness, the sweetness in this boy!  He is just a constant reminder of the joy that the we should carry in our hearts all the time.  Even when he's tired or sick or hungry (to a point), he smiles at us.  He loves to be held, but is so happy to play with the toys that hang about him in his bouncy seat, swing or play mat.  




He has gotten a little spoiled and doesn't like to fall asleep on his own anymore... he prefers to be held and bounced to sleep.

This is my first baby who really loves to hear me sing.  I sing him, "This little light of mine" and "You are my sunshine," and he calms down within a few seconds.  Gia and Trey like to sing along with me when I sing to him.  

He is sleeping through the night most nights (about 9-10 hours) and takes either one long nap or a couple short naps in the day.  

He had his first sickness this month, and it was quite a cold.  He ran a fever, was stuffy, had a bad cough and sore throat.  But through it all, he still smiled.


He smiles at Gia and Trey a lot, and Gia can make him laugh, too.  They still adore him and get excited to see him in the mornings.  I seriously don't know how it happened, but they have no jealousy.  They just love him.




He's mostly in 9 month clothes (some 6 month) and size 2 diapers.

The sweetest thing he does lately is to hold my face while he nurses.  I love it :)

I've been a slacker on tummy time, and therefore we have some progress to make.  However, he can sit up a little bit on his own when positioned right, so I guess his tummy muscles are strong.

1/8/16 - We started using the bumbo.  Joey is a little wobbly, but smiles a lot and seems to like it.


1/9/16 - Joey laughed for the first time!  While he started a small laugh about 2 weeks ago, this night was the first time he really laughed a lot.  Gia and I were tickling him, and he was laughing.  I thought I got it on camera, but the dumb thing didn't record!  That's the second time my camera has messes up and caused me to miss my children's first laughs.

1/13/16 - Started loving his feet

1/19/16 - Discovered his hands

1/20/16 - Sat up for about 5 seconds on his own!

 Oh how I love those baby toes.  Bobby was saying how much he loves that they curl up.

Joey - 3 months

My Babies Are Growing Too Fast...

In about 4 days time, Trey crawled out of his crib and therefore got a big boy bed & went poo-poo on the potty twice, and Gia went from hating the idea of turning 5 because she had to go to school to being completely excited about starting kindergarten.

First big change:  I hear Trey talking in his crib in the morning about wanting to get out of bed.  About a minute later, I heard a door close, and, thinking it was Gia getting out of her room, I waited with my eyes closed until she came to get me.  But, to my surprise, I heard my two-year-old son's voice next to my ear saying, "I get up, Mama!"  I was so shocked, I woke Bobby up and started laughing.  Bobby had a similar reaction.  We looked at each other and Bobby said, "Well, I guess we need to get a big boy bed.  That's what we'll be doing today."  So, later that day, he changed Trey's crib into a toddler bed and my baby boy slept well in his new bed without walls.  Sigh.  I definitely cried.  

Second big change:  Two days later, Trey decided he wanted to go poo-poo on the potty.  And he did it!  Bobby tried to stay with him in the bathroom, but nothing happened.  So, he asked Trey if he wanted some privacy.  When Trey said yes, Bobby closed the door for a few minutes, and Trey did it!  He did the same thing the next day, although he doesn't go on the potty every time yet.  And then, on a funny note, we realized that we cannot close the door with him in there because the next day he proceeded to put an entire roll of toilet paper into the potty, and Nana and I had to fish it out!  Toddlers!





Third big change:  Gia has been anxious for a while about turing 5.  She tells us that she wants to be 4 forever and gets teary eyed if anyone mentions turning 5 or going to school.   On Wednesday we went to the school where we are applying her at, and she got to meet the office manager, principal, kindergarten teacher and a classroom full of the nicest kindergarteners I've ever met.  They other children were lovingly putting their hands on her back and guiding her around the classroom as they showed her their toys, drying artwork, and fish eggs that were growing in the classroom fish tank.  The school was small, quiet, and wonderful.  And the moment we walked out the door, Gia turned to me and said, "Mama.  I changed my mind."  I asked, "about what?"  She replied, "About going to school.  I thought I didn't want to go, but then I went in and the people were so nice!  I want to go to school now.  I didn't think it was going to be fun, but it was!"  Once again, I cried as I told her how wonderful that was and how excited I was that she wanted to go to school (while in my heart I was just wanting to grab her, homeschool her and never let her go).