March Events

While March wasn't the most exciting month we've had, it was still filled with fun moments and sweet memories, as are all the days with little ones.

We spent some time around the house. These guys will always be best buddies!

Abigail decided that since she is 2 she should stand on the table and announce it to the world. "I two!" she says. She keeps me the busiest out of everyone, with her constant mischief.

We made some leprechaun crafts for St. Patrick's Day, at Leah's insistence that we make some sort of craft to celebrate every occasion. 

We baked some banana bread. Andrew, especially, loves to help me in the kitchen.

And we got outside some with a few days of nicer weather. Most of the month has still been really cold, although the snow seems to have finished it's course. We had maybe only one or two days that remotely resembled "spring." And Abigail was ecstatic to finally get outside on her swing. 

And we're finishing up our last few weeks of Classical Conversations. I, personally, will be glad when it's over so I can redeem my Thursdays and no longer spend an hour every week packing and unpacking lunch boxes and backpacks. However, the kids have loved making new friends and learning new things each week. Leah continues to thrive doing homeschool work and is honestly working on a 2nd grade level in many areas. Andrew is doing some basic reading and also growing so much. 

Growing by 2 Feet

And the news is out! Come September, our family will add a new little bundle of joy.

I don't have an official due date just yet-- my first doctor's appointment is Feb. 20th. But we are thinking around Sept. 20th or so. Even though it's the 4th time around, there are already noticeable differences. I noticed a little baby bump practically from the day I took the pregnancy test and already my pants are a little snug! I have felt what seems like much more sick this time-- all day long, but worse at night. Maybe it was this bad before, but I don't remember it. Many foods do not appeal to me, and yet if I don't eat constantly, I just feel nauseous. I don't really have cravings, but fruit is consistently good to me, and chocolate seems to make me feel better.

The kids are so excited and asking lots of questions. Leah, especially, understands the concept of "being pregnant" and is more excited than I am about telling everyone! We told the kids the Thursday before we had decided to announce it at church (at our annual business meeting-- not during a worship service!). We told them they had to keep it a secret until after the meeting. They did a great job, but I did find out later that Leah told a few people she "had a secret," but she couldn't tell them what it was. She really wants to be involved and loves rubbing my tummy. She's already picked out names she likes and asks about how the baby will be involved in certain areas of our life once he/she gets here. 

Abigail, of course, really doesn't have a clue, but still has an obsession with babies, so I think she'll just end up smothering the baby. Of course, she's been the baby for a long time and is still very much a momma's girl, so she may end up with a lot of jealousy. My hope is that she will be out of diapers and out of her crib by the time the baby comes-- a real big girl! She is showing definite interest in the potty, so that may be fairly easy.

They are all hoping for a boy-- mostly because Andrew wants someone to share a room with (and Leah probably doesn't want to share her room with someone else!). But of course, we'll just be happy with whatever God blesses us with.

Ice Skating

Tuesday Leah and Andrew got to go ice skating for the first time. I have been wanting to take them for awhile and finally had a friend from church tell me she was planning to take her kids, so I would have company and someone to help with Abigail while we were there. We went early in the morning, so even though it was an open skate time for the community, there were very few people there-- mostly younger kids who also didn't know how to skate well.

They were so excited to get to try it! Thankfully the rink offered milk crates for the kids to hold on to to give them a little help. They were definitely necessary!

While Abigail sat on the sidelines with our friend's little girl and her mother (I asked her if she wanted to wear skates and she wanted nothing to do with them!), I alternated between Leah and Andrew, holding their hand while they pushed along.

Neither of them whined or complained at all. Andrew did get a little tired and said he didn't really want to do it anymore, but he ended up coming back out again anyway. He had a hard time catching on to what he was supposed to do and really looked pretty clumsy. But he kept trying. He rarely fell. He never let go of that milk crate.

And Leah was so determined to figure it out that even if she fell, she got right back up and kept trying. I think she must have felt like an ice princess! By the end she really had the hang of it and was getting ahead of me.

I think everyone but Abigail had fun. She got pretty cold and didn't like that I couldn't hold her, even though I did push her around the ice on a milk crate once. Leah and Andrew are still talking about it.

Winter Fun in Vermont

We've had a WHOLE LOT of snow this winter-- much more than we're used to, and, according to native Vermonters, a whole lot more than even Vermont is used to! While it's been a lot of snow, it's been the kind that doesn't really shut anything down, so we're still for the most part able to get out and drive on the roads and even go outside and enjoy it some. There have been very few days when the snow kept us in, although there have been quite a few where the below zero temperatures made it really hard to want to go anywhere!

The kids are still really enjoying the snow and ask to go outside all the time. Unfortunately it hasn't been good for snowmen, and our sledding hill hasn't even really been the best, either. But they find things to do. Like climb on the hill made by the plow in the driveway. Or follow rabbit tracks through the field. Or dig in what used to be the sandbox.

Big Time Sledding

This past weekend we had a chance to go to a local golf course and do some "real" sledding. The kids have only experienced sledding on our small hill in our backyard, so this was "big time." We had to walk a LONG way to get to the "best" hill (according to Dan, who had been there before and took us this time). And I had to carry Abigail most of the way, although Dan did help by pulling us a little way on the sled. We started out on this smaller hill, then kept going to the bigger one.

See how tall it is? I really didn't want to attempt to make it to the top, especially while carrying Abigail, and knowing that she does NOT like sledding (she cried when I went down the smaller hill with her). So I waited for them at the bottom. Andrew and Leah went back and forth from being scared to saying it was fun and then saying it was scary again. Today they still say it was too scary and they didn't really like it. They didn't mind the smaller of the hills, though.

Here is a video to give you an idea of just how far down this hill goes! Dan is the one that fell off at the top. The kids were fine, they just didn't know how to stop!

I did get to go down the big one, but I went on the tube and hit a giant rock on the way down, ripping a huge tear into the tube and stopping cold not even all the way at the bottom of the hill. It was pretty fun and also a rush, but it was a bummer I didn't get to go the whole way, and our big tube was no good anymore.

She did warm up to the snow a little bit and started walking around some toward the end, but mostly she wanted to be carried.

They were much happier going down with Daddy on the smaller of the hills. That was a pretty long day and lots of fun but also very tiring!

January Lately

January in Vermont so far has been downright cold, snowy, and sometimes just plain freezing. But we are managing to find fun things to fill the time and even starting to enjoy the winter weather. Here's a few things we've done so far:


Many Saturdays we take a trip to nearby Rutland to go to Walmart. Many times that means we get to eat out or have some other type of treat. This particular Saturday we enjoyed frozen yogurt at Yogurt City! (The girls chose some type of red cupcake flavored yogurt!)

We got out the balls from the ball pit Leah got on her 2nd birthday-- I don't think we've gotten them out since then! We filled up our kiddie pool for several days worth of fun in the ball pit!

Leah and Andrew are starting to really get interested in board games. We try to play when we can. They love Candy Land, Trouble, Uno, Sequence, and several others!

We went to a friend's Frozen-themed birthday party, where Andrew-- the only boy there-- won a game of musical chairs! They all got to wear Princess costumes.

Usually we go to the library once a week. We love that the kids don't have to be quiet! They have tons of ways for them to be creative. Leah and Andrew like putting on puppet shows, dressing up, coloring, and playing with the train set.

And this past Saturday, Abigail got her first real haircut. We didn't have a special place to take her, I just decided I was tired of not seeing her eyes so we took her to the local MasterCuts in the mall. Probably not the most memorable of places, but she did so great! She sat perfectly quiet and still the whole time, just watching the lady cut her hair. We didn't get much off, but got her bangs trimmed and a little off the back. She wouldn't look at me once it was all said and done so I didn't get a great "after" picture!

Abigail-isms (26 months)

 

I so love this toddler stage where they are constantly learning new words and how to put sentences together. They can say such funny things some times without even realizing it! I had to keep a little record of some of the funny things Abigail’s been saying lately (with some pictures thrown in for fun!).

1. She knows most animal sounds—a dog says “ruff ruff”, a kitty says “mow”, a “peep” (sheep) says “baa”. But a horse—a horse says “Yee haw!” If she sees a dog in a car (at the store or wherever), she says “out”—as if she thinks the dog wants to get out of the car (or she wants to pet it?).

 

2. She tends to leave off the initial sound of some words. For example, milk is “ka” and you will often find her pulling on the door of the refrigerator, demanding the “ka” come “OUT!” She also has an obsession with “pups” (cups) and digs them out of the cabinet for me to fill with “wawer” or “ka” constantly!

3. Anytime she sees something she wants to eat that she knows will be messy (typically ice cream or yogurt), she immediately asks for “bib”, even if I haven’t even told her she can actually have it!

 

4. Lately if I give her candy and then she comes back for more, I will tell her it’s all gone. She immediately says “E-ma?” which is her word for Grandma—I’m assuming she means Grandma should come and bring her some candy.

5. She has figured out that batteries are required to make many toys work and so often if something is broken (even if it’s not a battery-operated toy), she will ask me “ba-ries?”

6. She is still really into her baby dolls and when I ask her if she has a stinky diaper, she often says “baby,” as if it’s her doll that needs to be changed. Now lately, when she sees a picture of a baby in a book, she asks “mommy?” or “daddy?”, concerned that the baby might not actually have a mommy or a daddy. If a baby is crying when we’re out and about, she also says “mommy” because, of course, what else would a baby want if it was crying?

7. She must really love to go to the grocery store. Every time I mention we’re going, she asks “car cart?” (because typically she and Andrew sit in a shopping cart that is shaped like a race car). Immediately following is “et?” This is her word for “wet” because one time we got a car cart at the store and it was wet inside. This must have been memorable to her because now every time she assumes the car cart will be wet. Oh, and I recently discovered that any shopping cart is called a “car cart."

8. She is quick to take blame for things she sometimes hasn’t even done! Like if I say, “Ew, who is stinky?” She will quickly say “Abi!” even if it’s not her. On the other hand, she is also learning the art of tattle-tale-ing and many times if Andrew is doing something she knows he shouldn’t be doing, she will come and tell me “E-ew”, which is her word for Andrew (pronounced in 2 syllables).

9. She is very good at hiding and stays quiet in her hiding spot even if I call her name. Usually I will find her behind a door somewhere, covering her eyes (because if she can’t see me, obviously I can’t see her!), or behind a shower curtain.

10. She loves clothes and first thing in the morning before I get her out of her crib, she tries to convince me she is wet and I need to change her into another pair of pajamas. Usually she’s not wet. If she even sees me putting away clothes or getting more clothes out, it’s “Yay!” or “That!” and she immediately begins to pull her pants off. She also loves shoes and often puts Andrew’s on to walk around the house.

Abigail is by far the fiesty-ist 2-year-old I’ve had. She knows what she wants and is not afraid to tell you what that is! Her spunkiness has won over many of the people at church, who call it “character.” Gone is the shy, quiet little baby they all first met—now she’s more comfortable at church and everyone can see her true colors. She might still want me to hold her more often than not, or she might want to stick by my side around a lot of people, but it doesn’t take long for her to get warmed up. She no longer wants me to rock her or cuddle her at night-- “Bed!,” she says. She is still an amazing sleeper and takes 3 hour naps most days. But when she’s awake, she’s AWAKE and ready to play!