My Babies at 15 Months

Hannah:

Kate:

Rachel Lee:

See any family resemblance? I sure do, only every. single, time. I look at them!

Reading

I love when Rachel Lee sits down with a book and just starts reading...

Morning Madness

I don't know if this is true for every family, but getting ready in the morning is full of madness. Getting everyone dressed, hair combed and styled, teeth brushed and some order to beds restored can be a little nutty, especially on school days when I have the additional factor of a time frame. On Thursday it was raining and we had no agenda for the day. So, my little monkeys were able to run wild and enjoy a crazy morning. It was a different type a madness, a happy madness :)

Caterpillar to Butterfly

For Hannah's birthday she received some money which she instantly said, "Now I can buy what I want at garage sales!" Yes, she is my daughter and she knows where we shop... But, after some talking she decided to buy some caterpillars and watch them grown into butterflies (she also wanted the ladybug garden and the ant farm but I had to limit her to one insect at a time). Well, the caterpillar arrived so we started our Butterfly Journal today. I have to say, I she picked a great present!

Here she is at her new desk!

Observing the caterpillars...

Measuring the caterpillars...

Taking notes on the caterpillars. And here are her conclusions:

Dolly Love

My Kate loves dolls. She take a doll with her everywhere, and although I don't let her take dolls into stores or the library, she will leave her doll buckled up in her seat with instructions to, "Sleep tight." Here she is, carry around her doll tucked into her shirt and doing "laundry" which means washing Doodle bear so she can color her again. This girl has so. much. love!

Three Peas in a Pod

My LIttle Pupil

She just seems so grown up writing thank you notes to her friends for all the nice presents that they gave her at her birthday party. She was so proud to write all by herself. Five years old. WOW!

Two Out of Three

Two of my three girls slept today, which gave me a little time with the one who did not sleep. Any guesses who that one is...RACHEL LEE!!

That's right...Kate slept, Hannah slept but Rachel Lee romped around in her crib like a caged animal. She laughed, she cried, she whined, she wailed until finally I deemed nap time a bust and rescued her. When I walked into her room to get her up, she instantly flopped down in her crib like she were sleeping the whole time...she knows what she should do, she just wasn't. But, we didn't let that stop us from having some good quality one on one time. We danced, we played, we built towers and knocked them down. Then she started kissing me with her awesome wet blow kisses and I decided to take a few pictures. Looking back it wasn't what I planned my afternoon to look like: dinner was not ready, laundry was not folded and the dishes are still in the sink. It was better than I had hoped for!

Cousins

Time with cousins is getting less and less as schedules get fuller and fuller. Tuesday Hannah has school, Wednesday is women's Bible study, Thursday Hannah has school, so that leaves Monday and Friday if, and this is the a big if, we stay healthy long enough! Seriously, what. a. year!  But, absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I know that I am fond of my nieces and my girls are fond of their cousins.

And for the record...who is taller, Rachel Lee or Natalie??

Twirls from my Girls

I am often asked if I am going to try to have a boy...I know, the boldness of some people, right? But in reality, I don't think I'm missing out on something because I have three girls. I love my family of girls. We sing together, we play together, we paint our nails together, we twirl together:







I love my girls! Thank you God for not just one, not just two, but THREE lovely little girls. What a delight they are!

Tired Girls

Fancy Nancy Oh La La Beauty Party

Hannah is five. Sometimes I wonder where the time has gone, how my little baby who would hardly eat has turned into this little girl who wants guacamole and pita chips as a snack, followed by an apple, cut up, and topped with some cucumbers. And this is her snack!! But, to be fair, she is constantly on the go. She is my 36 pound, 42 inch bundle of energy. Still on the smaller side for her age group, but what she lacks in size she makes up for is spunk.

She wanted a Fancy Nancy party, which turned out splendidly, which is fancy for wonderful. (Hope you all got the reference!) We invited both sets of grandparents and 5 years old girls to the party (Hailey, Dayla, Kaitlyn, Amy, Tabby, Madison and Mariah) and set up a tent in the backyard where we did hair, nails, and dressed up in fancy clothes. After about an hour of primping and playing we had parents and younger siblings join the party (Maia, Jaelyn, Sebastian, Elizabeth, Natalie, Charlotte, Henry, and Hudson) as well as some boys that are Hannah's friends (Josh, Duncan, Levi, Seth and Caleb) and we had pizza and parfaits, which is fancy for ice cream sundaes. We then had a treasure hunt (per Hannah's request) and opened presents. It was a lovely party and Hannah felt very special and celebrated.









On the day of her birthday we had yogurt with sprinkles for breakfast, went to the Birch Aquarium and then had lunch with Jeff at his work. Then after dinner and parfaits we headed to Chuck E Cheese to play some games and enjoy some rides. She said it was the best birthday ever, and said over and over how much she loved her new camera which she had been dreaming about.












On one hand I can hardly believe that she is five. How has it been five years already? How can she be growing and changing so quickly? And then on the other hand I clearly see that she is no longer a baby or a toddler but indeed a young girl. She expresses her emotions with words rather than tantrums or outbursts, she is able to solve problems, she has opinions and loves being involved in conversations. She helps rather than "helps" and I Jeff and I have found that even the way we teach and discipline her is shifting. I have loved each year and the new stages that we enter with Hannah, and I am looking forward to seeing how she grows and matures this year.

Pneumonia and Bronchitis

Rachel Lee has had a cold recently and seemed to have a lingering cough. It seemed like just a cough though until she developed a slight fever and seemed really, really tired. I thought she might have an ear infection so I took her to the doctor to get her checked out...ugh, another trip to Kaiser! I was describing her symptoms to the nurse, low fever (100.1) and tired. He looked at me like I was a crazy woman and said, anything else? A lingering cough, I added. Again, the look that said I was a crazy woman. He then wrapped the oxygen reading meter thing around her toe and tried to get an oxygen level which came out 83. He tried again and again, then he adjusted it, retook it and it went to 88, 87, 85, 88...he left the room and in came the doctor and then he started a breathing treatment. He explained that she had pneumonia and that the breathing treatment should help...I stayed calm the whole time thinking, we are getting a lot of attention quickly, should I be freaking out? After the treatment, X-rays, and another exam her oxygen levels were back at 95, which is normal (it's based on a scale of 100...95 to 100 being normal and anything below 90 being low). So now Rachel Lee is on antibiotics for 10 days for the pneumonia, she had an oral steroid for 5 days to open the airways, and an inhaler to use every 4-6 hours for 5 days and then as needed to keep her airways open. Sheesh...that's a lot! AND to make it worse, she hates the inhaler and runs away when she sees the chamber. I try to let her play with it a little to get her used to it, but she usually just throws it...my baby makes her opinions known! We're on day 7 now, so I'm hoping that the next few days are relatively normal and free from her inhaler. So is she!! Here is Hannah modeling how to breath in and out of a pretend chamber, then I let Rachel Lee hold the chamber, then when I attached the inhaler to the chamber she freaked out...just see for yourself...

Good bye Zoo and Hello Aquarium

I love the San Diego Zoo. It's been great going there and walking around, enjoying the animals, new exhibits, and seeing the baby Panda. But, after three years of zoo membership Jeff and I felt like we were ready for a change. We looked into Sea World passes and Legoland passes, but Sea World has a fee for parking, and Legoland has height requirements and a fee for parking, so we felt like the next best thing was the Aquarium. The added bonus is the the Aquarium is close to Jeff's work so we can also meet him for lunch after a morning at the Aquarium (that is if his work allows...). We went on Hannah's birthday and then again the next day for their Eggs-travagant where they displays a few sea animals with their eggs. It was fun, and I feel like although the Aquarium is small it is the perfect size for the girls to wander around and take in the sea life. Plus, it will be great to enjoy the AC with some warm San Diego days ahead of us!!