Merry Christmas! (The Week)

Merry Christmas All!  Anyone who knows us, knows that the Christmas celebration starts early in the month of December.  This year the girls were finished with school by mid-December so it gave us lots of time to do holiday activities.

I tried to load a few pics from each activity to a slideshow, so you'll have to be patient as it makes it way thru!   To view, click on the box and it will go to a playback mode.

Personalize a free digital slideshow

She's 18 months old--can you believe it?

I don't think I've slept in 18 months but it's been so worth it!  My sweet girl is such a treat!  Each day this cute, funny, smart little personality emerges a little more. 

Yesterday she said, "love you" in response to my saying, "I love you."  How stinkin' cute is that?  Her vocabulary continues to grow by leaps and bounds.  She recently added bobbli (for broccoli), Santa, hohoho, look (when we are driving around looking at xmas lights), and pretty (which most often sounds like betty).  She also doesn't fail to alert the nearest grown-up when there has been an injustice done to her--such as K snatching toys :-)  I see some possible WWF takedowns between the two of them in the future.

She has her 18 month check-up in a couple of weeks and so I'll update her height and weight then but she is still comfortably wearing 12-18 month clothing.  Most of the 18th month clothing fits in length but is still too big in her waist.

Her hair has gotten long enough to make two ponytails, as demonstrated by her big sis in the pic below though they do need a bit of "grooming" to alleviate the "horn appearance" :-)

It's in the mail....

The lists for Santa are in the mail.  I'd like to think that means that there won't be any additions to the lists, but really, who I am I fooling?????

Sesame Place--and we have pics!

So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this picture solution works for a while!  My very smart friend who lives in beautiful Puerto Rico emailed me as soon as she saw my last blog post regarding no more pics and sent a solution-THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

To be honest, I was ready to throw in the towel and start paying for space.  I've had this blog up and going since before we went to the RMI for Kailee's adoption and it has become a way for me to ease my "scrapbooking guilt"-LOL!  I couldn't bear the thought of starting over again  on some other platform.

Anyway, enjoy the pics from Sesame Place.  If you are ever in Langhorne, PA, it's a great place to take the kids.  We're already looking forward to going back in June.

Love this pic!  I like the way that G has her hand over Baby M's little head, cradling her protectively as only a big sis can do.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....

We took the girls to Sesame Place for "A Very Furry Christmas".  It wasn't something that we had actually planned to do but the Imagination Movers were there that weekend and K is absolutely crazy over them right now (and it didn't hurt that the concert tickets were only $10).

I had some really cute pics to load but just got the dreaded "you've used all your free space and now need to purchase additional space" note.  Several of my blogger friends have received this message and I actually wondered why I hadn't gotten it, since I've been posting to this blog since 2009.  HHHHMMMMMM--what to do, what to do? I'll have to do a little research on this so stay posted!

Third time's the charm

The little red coupe is making it's third and final rotation thru the Jones house. It's looking pretty good for a used vehicle!  Of course that is because it's never been driven outside! 

A little first time driver jitters as she opens the door and gets in.

Trusty "blank" at her side and she is ready to roll.

"Where are my keys?"

And she "starts" it up.  I absolutely love her expression in this pic.

Back home after a hard day shopping!

17 Months already?

Can you believe that 17 months have passed?  I know I have been here in the trenches for the whole time but I still sit in awe that 17 months have passed.  Sweet Baby M is quickly becoming a full-blown toddler!

In case I haven't said it before, she's AMAZING, just like her big sisters!  She is scary smart and demonstrates it daily with her vocabulary.  Her list of words keeps growing:  get down, up, night-night, water, snack, yellow, pink, blue, purple, green, animal names and sounds, Sesame Street character names, etc.

She is still on the petite side.  A size 12 month fits in weight but is too short and a size 18 month fits in length but is too big in weight.  She can wear a size 12-18 month just about perfectly depending on the brand.

She has 4 teeth on top and three on the bottom (still looking for that 4th tooth in the front) and I noticed last week that some of the upper back molars are coming in.  The first clue was the ezcema rash on her face and the change in her night-time sleep pattern :-(

No one has told her that she is only 17 months old!  She follows the big girls around like she is one of them--complete with climbing on the furniture and whatever else she can find to stand on.  She loves her big sis G and will run to her when I tell her "no".  G is her "little mama" and K is her playmate and cohort in family room destruction.  K is also the one that she shares true sibling rivalry with.  They will squabble over the most mundane things.

I'm excited to see her reaction to all things holiday as we go into the holiday season!

Love this girl's smile!

Baby M and her favorite "Mammy"

Falling into Fall......

It seems Fall is finally here.  The weather was so warm thru most of October that we didn't even need jackets on most days.  This morning when I went outside, it was 31 degrees and the grass and car were covered with frost--time to trade the jacket for a coat :-(

I'm happy to have the use of both hands back now!  I didn't realize how much appreciation I had for my left hand until it was bandaged and my thumb was immobile.  For YEARS, I had what looked like a varicose vein at the base of my left thumb.  It had slowly grown until it was noticeable and slightly painful when doing everyday tasks.  One of the concerns was that I had "nicked" it a couple of times and it was difficult to stop the bleeding.  R was worried that I was going to accidentally cut myself or that it would burst when I was home by myself with the girls and that it would quickly become an emergency situation.  I being the procrastinator,  put off his concerns (nagging :-) for as long as possible. It was a same day surgery procedure and with the exception of swelling, and the awful, immobile bandage, I'm glad that's it's done and gone.

K's preschool class took a field trip to the pumpkin patch and here's my sweet girl hammin' it up for the camera.   The field trip was rained out on it's scheduled day and so Grammy and Aunt M volunteered to go on the make-up day since R and I had long-awaited dentist appointments scheduled.  Believe me when I say I wish I could have gone to the pumpkin patch instead----two crowns in my treatment plan later :-( 

Lots of pictures from October, so bear with me as I try to catch-up.

The field trip was rained out on it's scheduled day and so Mimi and Grammy got to enjoy the pumpkins and the festivities!

G getting her "official" induction into American Heritage Girls.

Pics from the State Fair.  Guess who had a great time?

And guess who was just kicked back?

She's only laughing this hard because she is "bumping" Grammy all over the place!

K and her friend at one of the last games the girl's cheered at.  Cute!

How did she get this grown-up?

"HEEELLLLLLOOOO!! Anybody in there?"

"Okay, you caught me!"

The girls with their Cheerleading awards.

Who said you can't have fun in a bucket?

G's class also took a trip to the pumpkin patch.  I will forever remember this trip as the day I broke a tooth and added a third crown to my treatment plan :-(

I just loved this shot because of the natural lighting on my two beauties!

A little early trick-or-treating because we were afraid that Hurricane Sandy was going to derail Halloween plans this year.

Snow White, a Zebra, and Stacy London as a cat.

"Thank you for this booty day."

"Thank you for this booty day....and for you, and you, and you, and you!"  If you were here at our dinner table, that's what you would hear.  That's the sound of my sweet K saying the blessing before dinner. 

The tradition started with G being the one that said, "Amen" at the close of the blessing.  As she got older and was able to add her own thoughts of what she was thankful for, then K became the one that would close with "Amen".  Well, now the time has come and my sweet K has started saying the blessing. I love this girl!

First day of 3 year-old preschool.

My girl and her favorite band-The Fresh Beat Band!

15 Month Stats

I took Baby M for her 15 month checkup and she is currently at 20 lbs 14 oz and 31" tall.  That's just about a pound more than at her 12 month checkup and still three pounds less than K was at the same age.

She is still a very picky eater and I'm finding myself becoming the short-order cook mother that I swore I would never be.  I'm constantly trying to mix in vegetables and fruits with the few things that she likes.  The pediatrician calls it "chaining" when you mix in a food with something that the child likes.  When we were kids, it was just called "sneaking" in the veggies. 

She has seven teeth (4 on top and 3 on the bottom) so I've been reluctant to give her a lot of meat, but just recently added chicken to her diet.  Currently, her favorites include:  macaroni and cheese, carrots, chicken, cheese, spaghetti,  ice cream, and milk.  The dairy products are high on her list, while the veggies and fruits continue to lag behind.

She is one smart cookie!  Her language skills are far beyond what G and K were doing at 15 months.  Of course in their defense, they didn't have two older siblings who were constantly talking to them :-) 

Baby M can say:  mama, dada, gay-cie, bobo, mimi, bad pop pop, momo (for Elmo), grover, tea, juice, no, stop, up, down, baby, bubble, sissy, mammy (for Grammy), night-night, nack (for snack), and the other day she put a hat on her head and said, "look, hat".  I expect that she'll be fully conversational by the time she turns two and when that happens, then there will be three of them that never stop talking :-)

And yes, I still carry her in our Baby Bjorn :-)  This was taken just last week when we made a trip to the State Fair.  Unfortunately, she didn't get to ride any of the amusement rides but she did get to ride around in her big, cushy stroller or either in the pack with me.  And of course, when she was with me, she got to sample all the fair foods! 

Cheekster or Kneester????

Okay, I've let myself slip a little and have gained a few pounds over the past year but I'm back on the wagon and making an honest effort to get back in shape.  Which brings me to the question-cheekster or kneester?

What are those you ask?  For anyone that doesn't want to talk about underwear, now is the time to close your browser :-)

As I was out for a brisk walk, I happened to take note that our local Victoria Secret store was giving away a free pair of cheeksters with the purchase of a bra.  This was of course advertised with a picture of a young, firm, no-cellulite backside, modeling a pair of said cheeksters. 

What happens to use oldsters?  what kind of underwear are we supposed to buy?  I for one am not a cheekster kind of girl (not sure that I ever was).  With middle-age and my professed lack of exercise, I'm more in line with a pair of kneesters--you know, when your cheeks have started to slide towards your knees--LOL!!  See, I told you to close your browser!

All joking aside, when was the last time you saw a pair of full-coverage underwear in a Victoria Secret ad?  I don't mean the "granny panties", just something that provides a bit more coverage on the backside.  When they start marketing underwear for real women, modeled by real women, maybe I'll start shopping there.

Best Vacation Ever

We'd been promising G that we would do a trip to the beach for the past two years and so this summer was our time.  In January I booked a beach house in the Outer Banks.  And I'm sure you're thinking, "why did you book so early?"  In my mind, the key to the perfect beach vacation was to find a house that was actually right on the beach--I didn't want to have to cross over the dunes to reach the water, nor did I want to lug three kids and all their beach stuff across the dunes to reach the water.  Hence the reason for booking so early :-)

Location, location, location--that was what it was all about and we found the perfect house.  I initially worried that maybe I had booked a house that was too large--4 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths--but by the time I invited favorite friends, favorite photographer, and favorite aunt, I need not have worried about that :-)

It was a great week!  The weather was perfect!  The house was great! and we made quite a few memories that we'll look back on favorably.  Enjoy the pics!

Free slideshow design customized with Smilebox

And I'm back up and running......at least for the moment

And the winner was.........a sinus infection.  It took about 5 days worth of antibiotics to start to feel "normal" again.   As always, when it starts out, I want to believe that it's just seasonal allergies and not the dreaded sinus infection but one would think after several years of this, that I would come to expect it in the fall and in the spring.  I would never let something like that go with my kids so I don't know why I do it to myself :-(

Anyway, trying to catch-up on my posts and so I have to regress to August when  G and her best friends had a day at the American Girl store.

We arrived at the store early in the morning and caught a bus to the American Museum of History where we got a private tour (before they opened to the public) and then back to the cafe for lunch and some shopping time.  G had been debating for well over a month on purchasing Julie's new car and in fact had made several lists of buying possibilities, but in the end she purchased the dining room table, some food, and the new Halloween outfit.  She would have been more than happy to expand her list had I been open to making some purchases, but we had agreed beforehand that this trip was all about her spending her own money.

Also in August, G started cheerleading.  She and her BFF M are on the Seahawks cheer squad.  The girls practice outside at a local school and so I have K and Baby M with me when we go.  I'm not sure what I expected but K has been pretty interested in hanging out with the big girls while they practice.  So much in fact that she has learned a few of the cheers.  She's not technically old enough to join the squad and so she wouldn't feel left out, I picked her up a cheer uniform supporting what I hope will be the girl's college of choice :-)

BFF's M and G

Cutest little VT cheerleader ever!

In this pic, the girls are making a big "S" with their poms to represent their squad name, "Seahawks".

Baby M struttin' her stuff on the ball field.