Emily is 4 Years and 5 Months Old!

Emily is having such a wonderful spring- lots of birthday parties, playtime outside with friends, doing sidewalk chalk on the driveway, etc.  She is loving life, for sure! Here's what life is like for her right now:

- she got to play in the snow and actually went sledding for the first time ever.  We are so lucky to have neighbors who are from Alaska and have plenty of snow gear, because we sure didn't have any!  We played outside for so long this day and she had a great time.

- she recently discovered she likes rice (it's been a couple years since she tried it last!)

- she has such a good imagination and is always coming up with games and funny names and things for us to act out.

- she loves to have dance parties in the living room, but only if she's wearing jammies.  Quirky much? ;)

- we think she's probably going to grow up to be a televangelist. Seriously!  She sings K-Love type songs ALL the time and is very into Bible stories and talking about God, Jesus, Heaven, etc.  Probably stems from going to a church affiliated preschool and to church on Sunday, if I had to guess.  We don't think there's anything wrong with it, of course, but sometimes it is absolutely hilarious to hear some of the things she says!

- she wrote her first sentence this month:  "I Love Momy".  Melted my heart right into a puddle!

- she asks how to spell every word under the sun.

- she has really started thinking about the future and wants to talk about her babies, her husband, where she will live, etc.  Kinda crazy to think about all that!

- she is doing great in dance class and is very excited for the recital in 2 months!

- she is getting stronger and faster with all this time to play outside in good weather.  She's also not afraid of bugs as much as she was before.

- she enjoyed having me come to her school and dress up like the Cat in the Hat on Dr Seuss' birthday.

That's all for this month!  We've been super busy- looking forward to Easter with our families soon!

Audrey's 18month Checkup

Audrey had her 18m checkup yesterday and it went well!  Her stats were:

Height: 32inches (53rd%)

Weigth: 22lbs 13oz (56th%)

Head circ: 44cm (59th%)

Dr. P officially proclaimed her as "caught up" and she is no longer considered to be "premature" or lagging in meeting milestones.  However, since she is still aspirating thin liquids (she dumped a cup full of bath water into her mouth the night before and aspirated so Dr P got to hear her rattly chest, etc) we have been referred to an ENT for a workup.  Dr P said that Audrey will most likely have to have an endoscopy procedure done, which means she'll have to be sedated while they scope her and look for anything physiologically wrong with her.  I'm not thrilled. :( Our appointment with the ENT is in mid- April so at least we don't have to wait forever.  I hate the idea of her being sedated but on the other hand, I feel like enough is enough-- I don't mind thickening all her drinks but it does get tedious.  We have to ALWAYS have a cup with us, or have packets of the gel, so that we can get a drink on the go.  There is no swinging through a drive-through to get her a drink.  I hope that the scope doesn't reveal that she has something else wrong that needs to be fixed surgically, but we will see.  For now, we will continue to thicken and keep our fingers crossed for the ENT appointment. 

Audrey is 18 Months Old!

It's here!!! My very favorite age for babies has finally arrived!!  Audrey is 18 months old today and SUCH a delight.  Seriously, this baby is such a good girl and is widely loved by everyone.  Here's what life is like with her right now:

- She's talking like crazy! Now we have (new words in bold):
1. dada/daddy
2. dog (gog)
3. bye bye (die die)
4. play (pay)
5. mama
6. boat (this one is so adorable- every time a barge goes by she starts telling us!)
7. night night
8. all done
9. more
10. mommy
11. snack (sounds like duck)
12. baby
13. uh oh  (said as she drops something, on purpose...again!) 
14. go
15. cup
16. shoes
17. pretty (she says this whenever she gets her hands on a necklace and wants us to put it around her neck- so cute!)
18. ball
19. open (as in, open a present!)
20. poo poo
21. up
22. hot
23. cookie
24. cracker
25. car
26. apple
27. snack
28. help
29. eyes
30. outside
31. vitamin (nom nom is what she says)
32. spoon
33. eat
34. hat
35. dah-dah (grandaddy's name)
36. ganny (Granny)
37. please
38. bath
39. socks


- In addition to these new words, she understands SO MUCH of what we say.  She says thank you all the time when you give her something.  She will answer you "uh-huh" for yes or shake her head no when you ask if she wants something.   She knows so many things that I ask her and it's so much fun watching her learn new things every day.

- she loves getting to play with Emily.

- she got to ride in the Barbie Jeep for the first time and had so much fun. I know those girls are going to be up and down the street all summer long!

- she gets so excited when we drive by the entrance to my in-laws neighborhood that there are a lot of times we have to drop in to say "hi" or else her feelings get hurt and she cries.  She LOVES to go to their house and will squeal and clap her hands on the way up the hill.

- she dances on the hearth like Emily does.

- she adores prunes and cranberries and raisins.

- she has gotten 2 more teeth, bringing the total to 12.

- she likes to sit in her high chair and snack while I cook.

- she is still taking 1 or 2 naps per day, whatever our schedule allows.  Only getting 1 nap in a day is not a big deal anymore, she is pretty flexible about it now.

- she is enjoying the warm weather and getting to play outside.

Happy March, everybody!  Spring is coming soon and we are happy to be spending it with our sweet girls. :)

Emily is 4 Years and 4 Months Old!

Emily is growing bigger and brighter every day! She is having a great time at preschool with her friends and is learning all kinds of new things.  She also continues to take dance class on Monday nights and was very excited this month to receive her recital costume.  (She wasn't, however, very excited that I put said costume waaaaay up high in my closet for safekeeping, haha!)  Here's a glimpse at what life is like with her right now:

- she is FUNNY! She's really developing her sense of humor now and it's funny to watch her try to make us laugh.  Most of the time she's pretty successful!

- she loves "Healthy Popsicles"-- these Del Monte freezer pops. They ARE really healthy, but I'm pretty sure she'd eat a whole box every day...and I'm not sure that would be so healthy.


- she has been playing her guitar(s) a lot lately, and making up wild songs to sing while she does it.  So funny!

- she wants to help me cook every meal.

- she loves Cinnamon Toast Crunch. A lot.  We're talking, 2- bowls- in- a- morning loves it.

- she's loving this warmer weather and getting to play outside more. :)

- she is super helpful and wants to help bathe Audrey, do laundry, etc.  Mostly everything except picking up her own toys, haha!

 - she adores playing with Audrey and they are (finally!) getting to the point where I can leave them to play with each other for a little while. Emily is loving how Audrey wants to play with her and is always trying to teach her new things.  It's fun for all of us, really!

  Thanks for checking in! Be sure you view the albums to see all the photos from this month.  Have a good day! :)