holiday wreaths

It's that time of year again; I'm so excited! I love decorating for the holidays and I think the wreaths look fabulous against our new house color scheme.

 

reindeer run

We love participating in the Annual Reindeer Run along with the Linsenmeyer Family. Tyler met up with his best buddy Luca and Jenna sported some style! She wasn't so sure about Santa who popped in after the race, but she came around eventually.

 

 

 

birthday celebration with my love

 

girl loves her shoes

birthday celebration with my family

 

 

closet fun

We welcomed to our house the Redmons from Tennessee while they are in town for the holidays. Their children are close in age to ours. Indeed Audrey Kate is four months younger than Tyler and Ben is eight months older than Jenna. AKR and Tyler had a great time palling around together and eventually ended up in our entry way coat closet which is rather large. Tyler had a light-up toy and they thought hiding in there was hilarious.

The parents were already making comments about them being in the closet together when Tyler emerged and said, "I put it in her face and it tickled her!" Definitely the quote of the evening!

house updates

Some evidence of Uncle Hugh's visit: newly white garage doors, red front door, black shutters, new privet tree and bushes, holly bushes and blue bell rhododendrons. I love driving up each evening to a freshly enhanced home, albeit hard to see without much light after work!

 

 

 

birthday celebration with my friends, cheers!

I was joined by some good friends to celebrate my birthday! And then treated to front row seats to see Garry's band, Still Counting. Good times!

 

well, hello there!

fork lift

Guess who wanted to feed herself pancakes this morning? You would have thought Jenna had been doing it for years. She's a pro already and even seems to be ambidextrous so far.

4-year checkup

Tyler had his annual checkup with the doctor. No surprise, he's tall for his age. His stats are:

Weight: 44.5 pounds (95-97th percentile)
Height: 43.25 inches (90-95th percentile)
Blood Pressure: 96/52

At his appointment he peed in a cup for the first time and got five shots. He didn't balk at the first two shots, but 3, 4 and 5 were over the top. Poor guy was limping from the soreness.

18-month checkup

Baby girl Campbell shined at her checkup appointment. The doctor said she was very advanced for her age based on her vocabulary and her type of play (driving cars, making dolls dance and hug). Her stats are:

Weight: 25 pounds, 8 ounces (50-75 percentile)
Height: 33 inches (75-90 percentile)
Head circumference: 19 inches (90 percentile)

national zoo trip

Uncle Hugh came to town to help us with some house projects. But it wasn't all work; we took advantage of the nice weather and headed to the National Zoo for a day of fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

new words

Jenna has said: please, thank you, cheese stick, bus, apple, binky, blanket, I want that, down, I want to walk, leash and stop that. She is also pointing to body parts: eyes, nose ears, etc. and making the corresponding sounds to animals shown.

holy gator, tyler is 4!

 

 

 

I am remembering the joyous birth of our son four years ago. HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TYLER!

When I mentioned that Uncle Hugh and Oma would be there for his birthday dinner and that he might have some gifts waiting for him after his birthday cake dessert, he said "oh mommy, thank you, thank you, thank you for my presents. I'm so excited!"

let's get the party started

Over a dozen hyper 4-year-old kids for a birthday party? It's time to take the party out of my house and head to Jump Zone! And what a fun time they had indeed. Running, sliding, jumping, hugging, running, climbing, running and sweating! We topped the party off with pizza, Cars cake and cupcakes and a futile effort to get a good group shot! (I love Luca's belly flashing and Jenna's pointing to his belly button.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

doll play

Jenna sure loves her dolls. She loves to hug them and cuddle them up to her face while saying, "Bay-beeeee!" To my amazement she took her favorite doll and held the baby's arms and then dangled the feet so they just skimmed the floor and then moved the baby ever so gently as to make the baby dance. Adorable!