Winter Wonderland

This past weekend we received about 6 inches of snow which is unheard of for where we live in VA. What a calming and relaxing weekend because much of the town shut down. Great excuse to stay in PJ's all day! Also, a great excuse to dabble in the new programs that we installed on our computer this month. We finally upgraded our old programs on our Mac to the new ilife 09. I am loving playing around with all of the fun programs.

We had a couple requests for snow pictures from the family. I hope this video works for everyone, I had fun playing with the video/picture program.

While playing around with the new program I thought of Brad's sister-in-law, Becca, who has her own business capturing those special moments/memories and putting them on DVD to enjoy for a lifetime. She does wonderful work and if any of you would like to use her services, please check out her website and the work she has done.

http://www.darlingmemoriesdvd.com/

What a great way to savor those memories of our children as we know how quickly they grow! She could help capture it in a virtual scrapbook for you......I am just saying!!

I love these kids

Some days might wear on me a little more than others, but really, with kids like these, how could I ever give up this job!?!

Miss A reading Mr. B Good Night Moon.

Enjoying a 45 degree sunny afternoon. (Snow in our forecast this weekend).

Enjoying some good old fashion floor time.

Who says you can not hire good help!

Ohh yeah, our other child, decided to break one of her toes while fracturing another, NO idea how that happened. (The cast lasted three days before she chewed it off!)

LOVE, LOVE this boy!

Our daily conversations....at least she knows what I am saying right?!? 'Ooops', her new favorite word, follows almost everything she does.

4 Months

Goodness Mr. B, I feel like I just got done writing about you at 3 months and now, here you are continuing to grow, 4 months and 4 days!

* You now know how to roll over like a champ- we are very proud of you because you are proud of yourself everytime you accomplish this task.

* You LOVE your exersaucer.

* You are still unsure about the bumbo. Your sister never used one and I have to say I let other people sway me to get one thinking it is the BEST thing EVER......we will see.....

* We started cereal with you last night and you gave us this funny look and let it all spill out of your mouth. I do hope this is not a sign of how the rest of your eating habits will be.

* We are tackling the night time routine with you. The past two nights I have been able to go without feeding you. I want to let you know that we DO love you and letting you 'cry out' your frustration truly is what will help you get the rest you so deserve. I know you did not think so tonight after crying for a looong time, but you finally fell asleep, so something worked,....right?!. Hopefully we can come to a quick understanding of this method so neither one of us has to do this again, OK?! Again, I DO love you very much!

* You love watching the world around you and smile every time your sister, Dad, or

myself catch your eye.

* You are going to be a talker like your sister and I love that.

* One of the MANY fun interactions between you and your sister we get to enjoy!

(Not sure if you can see because the video is fuzzy, but Miss A is holding the phone up to Mr. B's ear so he can talk to the 'person' on the other line- LOVE it)

18 Months and some change....

Dear Miss A~

You are an amazing little girl. You already know two languages, jibber jabber and english. You have mastered jibber jabber and I am very proud of you, but would you mind trying english a few times a day so I can begin to understand the stories you tell?!

You are very independent, just this morning you welled into tears because I was going to feed you your oatmeal (I made it a little runny = a mess), so I gave you your spoon and you proudly showed me how well you use your spoon, (even though the oatmeal kept sliding off of the spoon).

I question daily whether or not I should begin potty training you because you are a very 'regular' girl and for some reason anything that has to do with passing gas or bowel movements makes you giggle and smile.

Your mouth is full of teeth, I am not sure anymore could fit in there and I love it when I get to see them all when you smile. Thank you for letting me brush them and for brushing them yourself.

You still like to read and I love watching you explore your books.

You went from 75 to 30 percent in your weight from a year ago. I think it might have to do a little something with your moving, aka, running, none.....stop.......

We have managed to get away with only a couple colds, a couple fat lips, head bumps and one small spill down the stairs. We have been to the ER only once and that was for a local reaction to your shots. I do think we have been lucky in these departments.

You still eat almost everything but have figured out what you like best and prefer to eat that first, which usually leaves meat the last thing on your plate.

You are becoming a great big sister. You will talk to Mr. B, show him how to play with his toys, share your toys with him and laugh with him. You even went the extra mile this morning and wiped off his spit up (if only you were skilled enough to help change diapers).

You are going to be a challenging big sister. You already like to use Mr. B as a toy, hitting him on the head, legs, belly and laughing and running away while doing so. You like to talk to him like you are already bossing him around.

You love your Daddy VERY much.

You are not so sure about snow. It could have been related to the boots that were 3 sizes too big or that it was your lunch/nap time, either way, sorry to tell you, you will get to play in it again very soon.

You were a trooper in the car when we went home for the holidays. You set a great example to your younger brother and I thank you for that.

We love you Miss A and look forward to each new day with you! Happy 18 months!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

While I have most bags packed to load up in the car to leave tomorrow for IL and awaiting Brad to get back from a short trip to Atlanta (plane delays because of weather), I take a quick peak outside to see this!!! I LOVE snow, I do, I LOVE it. I have missed it dearly since we moved from Alaska so this was all I needed to make Christmas truly feel like it should. I thank you GOD for this small little blessing, I do appreciate it! It made me step back from my organizing, planning, and worry to just enjoy the peace and watch the snow fall (and share it with you), so again, I thank you!

Santa-not so much, Snowman-WOW

So our darling Ms. A has been a joy to watch this Holiday Season. With all of her excitement through her jabbering and expressions on her face, priceless! She helped decorate our house this year along with Nana who came to visit us for almost three weeks while Brad was over in the desert. She would get so excited when I would pull out anything with a snowman on it and even found a snowman pillow that she takes everywhere she goes in the house. She loves when the tree gets plugged in, and will say WOW and do a little dance each time. Our neighbors have a life size snowman in their yard and she goes to the window everyday to say hi.

Last weekend our squadron hosted the kids Christmas Party. Who else could provide the transportation to Santa other than a pilot! Too fun! It was a little chilly on the flight line to go outside to greet Santa, so all of the kids just stood anxious at the window watching. When it was time for Santa to hand out the gifts, Ms. A had a death grip on me and I knew I would be in for it if I sat her on his lap. We settled for a picture next to him. That night we got to pick up Brad from the airport so Ms. A's next favorite thing to the snowman is her Daddy, LOVE it!