Waving, Crawling & Pulling Herself Up!

We've made some great strides this past month and feel like we've moved into a whole new stage with a little person that's able to magically disappear from one room to another.  Not only does she "take off" every now and then, but she chucks things, screams at the top of her lungs and cries when someone other than mom or dad picks her up.  Sounds lovely, doesn't it?

She definitely recognizes when no one is paying attention to her and is already following her big sister around. Thank goodness Mia is so sweet and will watch out for her baby sister. 

This is the happy "good to see you" wave

This is more like, "Don't come near me, stay away!" wave.  People think she's being really cute and is waving, the problem is, I don't think she is all the time.  :)

Swinging FROM the swing is NOT ALLOWED and therefore, we no longer have a swing.

For the love...

...Of the game, Zoe is making great strides!  She took two "steps" crawling tonight and it was whatever she could do to get to her castle game.  She loves the castle and it was a great motivator tonight.  *sigh*  Here we go...!

I had to throw in this picture Zoe being so sweet (above) and then the following photo (below) of Zoe screaming at the top of her lungs because I'm sure she didn't like her sister encroaching on her space.  See, Zoe has shown us a new side to babies.  She screams at the top of her lungs (sometimes for weeks at a time).  It could be a random scream, but most likely, it's in response to something she wants, doesn't get, or does NOT like.  Hmmm...we may have created a monster.  My favorite part was coming home from work and Travis telling me that he couldn't think straight anymore since Zoe chose to scream all day long.  [Love the side profile of the scream IN ACTION!]

Off to St. George again for golfing, SUN, friends, SUN and a chance to get some SUN.  ;)  Might I add, traveling with a boat load of kids (8 total) is a bit...should I say...overwhelming.  Let's just say mommy had her own meltdown in the middle of the trip, but we pulled it all together and ended up having a really fun time with our friends.

Our turtle friend at the bottom of our family shot was not too pleased.  Lo siento, Senor Tortuga!!

PS I have learned a small lesson on the purpose and excitement of a Leprechaun.  I was politely reminded about the sneaky Leprechauns who come to visit on St. Patrick's Day, how they make a mess and leave their "magic" and "tricks" at home and at school.  Good thing the Leprechaun visited Mia's school this year and reminded her parents of how much fun that can be.  Can't wait to see what that sneaky Leprechaun is up to next year!

Growing Up

Look at this girl!  Zoe is already close to 8 months old and is sitting up, grabbing everything in sight and rocking on all fours which means crawling is likely around the corner.  Over the past month, we've watched her start grabbing for food and putting it in her mouth (although she hasn't found a favorite jar of baby food yet).  Sweet potatoes and green beans make her gag.  Not like the rice cereal is any better, but at least she tries.  She loves taking tubbies with her sister who insists on washing each drop of water off her face with a wash cloth (See Exhibit A and Exhibit B below). 

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Zoe laughs and laughs when you pretend to eat her hands and toes and it's super cute to watch her grab for her bottle and hold it.  These are all signs of growing up, right?  I think we've moved on from the newborn stage (although technically I'm not sure what age is no longer a newborn).  Then again, I'm not too good with ages since I told Travis he was "middle-aged" the other day and that didn't go over very well!  Remember, I was in my mid 30's when I turned 31.  :)

My Little Cupid

I had to catch a snapshot of Mia signing her name on her first set of Valentine's for school.  It reminded me of the Valentine's boxes we used to make to collect our Valentine's, the times I went shopping with my mom to buy a box of Valentine's that I would attach candy to...so fun.  I was that mom this time and it was so fun!  We meandered down the aisle of Valentine's cards...there were stacks of cheap cardboard boxes containing packs of 20, 32, and 36 Valentine's in every flavor.  We had to go through each one, of course.  We finally landed on the box of Dora Valentine's with Skittles candy (good choice, girlfriend).  I love Valentine's, hopefully it's a good experience for my little Cupid.

Happy Face...Sad Face...Funny Face

Mia has no problem being in front of a camera.  As a matter of fact, she's pretty good at smiling most of the time, but has moments of creativity when she wants to express feelings in her photos. 

As a side note, I'm so grateful for digital cameras and Flash memory!  It seems like we pull out our camera every day and just snap away.  Hundreds upon hundreds of photos fill up several drives.  For fun, I've given my old Nikon camera to Mia to play with.  We opened up the back and I showed her how to load the film (yes, you know me, I still had some rolls of film)!  She thought it was great and loved hearing the film wind up and the flash charge up after each shot.  I am convinced that our children are missing out on some quality moments!  My girls will always know the importance of a handwritten thank you note (no matter how much texting and emailing they do)!

Holidays & Hoopla

I know!  It's been weeks upon weeks and NO BLOG POST!  That's what you get when you have a busy 3 year old and a baby.  :)  I have some fun updates before we get to the holiday bash...

Zoe is talking up a storm!  Ok, so it's only "Ga-Ga" and high pitched screams, but she's workin' it.  If I had to compare, I think Mia started a bit sooner because she was saying, "OOOOOOOOOOOOOh," by 4 months, but I think Zoe is picking up speed.  She's sitting up, even though she needs a hand when she starts to lean.  If you take something out of her hands and she's not ready to let it go, you will hear a mad, angry scream.  We've tested it, so we know she's not kidding.  She's upgraded her look by adding pink diamonds in her ears (just last weekend)!  We all went (except for Dad, he said he does "the shots" and can't handle anything else).  Thanks to Nikol & Amy, they were my support along with Mia.

Mia has been loving school (understatement).  Early in the month of January, we were hanging out and I decided to teach her something new called, "The Pledge of Allegiance."  Lo and behold, I started saying it and she FINISHED IT FOR ME!  Between that, some sign language and a little Spanish, school has been very good for Mia.  She's been welcomed into the world of birthday parties (seems like there's one every weekend) and Sunbeams at church.  She's already saying, "When I turn 4...."  Hmmm, does it really start that early?

So far, Travis and I are also off to a good start.  We went to a New Years Eve party where they had the Kinect game and after one night of "Just Dance", we were sold.  Bought one - needed it.  Travis said it was either that or a treadmill....what was he thinking!?!  I won't even go to the New Years Resolutions.  We all have them and most of the time, we all lose them.  Oh well, all I know is that I got a Kinect out of it!

We hope you had a wonderful holiday with your family and friends!  We were lucky to enjoy it with a visit from Grandma Nina, Uncle Scott, Grandma Cheryl, Uncle Norbert & Cousin Tania.  "Krinkle Boy" even came to our home for the first time (The Elf on the Shelf) and Santa was really good to both Mia and Zoe.  For us, the holidays were really fun this year...we were sad to see it go.

School Pictures

Age 3



Age 4

Wow!  Have the school photos changed or what?  I don't recall sitting on anything except for a box draped with a blanket.  I remember black plastic combs (that you didn't share for the same reasons why kids shouldn't share combs today) and I didn't have an elegant chair with a soft ivory background!!  All I know is I had a piece of spearmint gum in my mouth that was used to bribe me to take the picture.  :)  Mia, I love you!  You look beautiful and I can only hope that you love school as much as I did.  So far, so good since she loves participating and our first parent teacher conferences were fun.  Sounds like Mia's been a good addition to her Montessori program and she's made friends quickly.  Stay cool, stay in school!