State of the Family #31

I've got some work to do.  We leave for Colorado in 20 hours and I really want to get an SOF done before I leave. . . but I also haven't even begun to pack.  Well, if making a list of everything you need to pack qualifies as a process of packing I guess I have begun, just haven't gotten very far.

So, here is a quick run down of the last 2 weeks:

My other new favorite - my belly button

Leaps and bounds of growth for Miss Thumb Sucker in the language dept.  She has started saying shoes, socks, up, stuck, duck, quack and I am sure there are one or two more that I can't think of off the top of my head.  Her 1 year molars are finally starting to come in and she isn't having the most fun with them.  She has had a runny nose, drooling like crazy and some interesting diapers to say the least.  Thankfully, other than a few early mornings and middle of the night wake-ups she has dealt with all the above pretty well. Still up to her elbows in orneriness, she has added a few cute things to her repertoire.  Her new favorite thing to do is read books.  Before, she wouldn't really sit long enough to get through the first 3 pages, but now she is all about it.  Her favorite way to read is on your lap on the floor.  She makes it known that she wants you to sit down, then she gives you the book and backs in to plop down on your lap.  It is the most adorable thing, the way she takes a few steps away, turns around and then literally backs up to sit down.  She just reminded me of the other two words, hey and yea.  She says hey to get your attention and kind of screams yea when she is really excited about going somewhere or getting her milk. 

Valentine's Day was a thrill for Miss Firecracker.  Candy, candy everywhere and let me tell you, this little girl has a sweet tooth!  She was all about the pink and red and hearts and sweets all around.  She has also turned into quite the princess lately.  The only thing this girl ever wants to wear is a dress, and I don't really have that many dresses for her.  Well, not ones that I want her wearing on a 'play at home, run some errands' type of day.  Believe me, I will be fixing this issue for the spring and summer because the fits I get to see when I set out a pair of jeans for her to wear for that day are just getting to be too much.  So, this girls summer wardrobe will consist of comfy, cotton dresses she can play in 'til her heart's content! (Let me know if you see good sales on qualifying dresses! :)  Evidently, now that she is only about 3 weeks away from turning 3, she is too old for the 2 and 3 year old classroom of Moppets, she insisted this week that she go to the big kid class.  Since she has gone to this classroom with her brother before I was pretty sure she would do fine, even though he wasn't there this week.  She did.  My little girl is growing up way too fast.

A not-so-fun first for Noisy Man this week, an ear infection.  Yes, I did say this is his first which is pretty good for being 4 1/2.  He was up for 2 hours just crying in the middle of the night from ear pain. Mommy had to lay with him in bed.  Thankfully, we both eventually fell asleep.  Not-so-thankfully, mommy didn't wake up until 3 am to go back to my bed and had to deal with neck and shoulder pain the rest of the day.  Other than a persistent cough, pink eye and some really annoying sniffles, Noisy Man has been pretty good lately (now that I read that list maybe he hasn't been so good, but he has handled it all like a trooper).  I am totally thrilled that he will get to witness baptism at our church this weekend as one of his favorite cousins will be baptized (yeah cousin J!!).  This will be such a help in explaining to him how we believe baptism works and when you should be baptized as opposed to how he saw it with his baby Cousin R and the catholic church.  He has had so many questions.  He had a blast at his school Valentine's party and loved going through all the loot when he got home.  The pic is one of him with his box-o-goodies!

Mommy and Daddy haven't been up to too much so I'll combine ours this week.  We attended "The Art of Marriage" seminar put on by FamilyLife and hosted by our church the weekend before VDay.  It was an awesome experience and I totally recommend it.  It was a lot of great information in 6 action packed video sessions with 3 'projects' to do together.  The opportunity to sit and talk about the things that are just 'understood' in a marriage, but never really discussed were great and the chance to express some smaller needs that you might not just say to each other because they seem trivial or would feel like nagging were almost freeing.  Now, it is just a mad rush to try and get ready for our awesome vacation!  In honor of VDay and a marriage conference I took some pictures of our wedding pictures, so excuse the poor quality, I didnt' want to take the time to scan them since I am kind of rushing to get this done anyway.  Can you believe just 7 1/2 years ago was before the digital age?  Craziness!  Other than that I have been trying to keep up with my 1/2 marathon training - 7 miles last Sunday and daddy has been trying to kick a cold with a nasty cough before we leave, so keep him in your prayers.  Wow!  Am I ready for spring and health and great weather or what?!?!