In 2009, I'm thankful for.......

This beautiful baby girl.....

Who decided to follow in her sister and brothers footstep and visit Special Care, making Mommy cry....

Is now a happy, loud, thriving 10 month old who makes me laugh every.single.day....

I am also thankful for this little boy who challenges Mommy daily with his temper but is also sweeter than sweet!

He adores his big sister and is falling right into the roll of "annoying little brother" at time and has become quite the protector of his little sister....their bond is strong!

And then there's my first baby girl.....even though she HATES it when I call her my baby, she always will be.  I am thankful that she has grown so much in the last year.  She loves school and loves her friends.  She jumps into each day with 2 feet and gives it her all.

She loves her brother and sister and has definitely figured out the roll of big sister....bossiness and all! :-)

And I'm thankful for all her goofy grins!!

2010 HERE WE COME!!

Matching Sisters!

Ever since Kira found out that she was going to have a baby sister, all she's talked about is having matching outfits.  Since they are almost 6 years apart it's not always easy to find matching outfits so Kira was THRILLED when I found these outfits although a little put out that I hadn't gotten the same color pants!  Today is the 1st day that they have worn them at the same time and Kira insisted that I take pictures....although they aren't the best pictures! :-)

Ohmygosh MOMMY!

"When I'm 6 years old in not too many days, I will be a 1st grader!"  And let me tell you that there was NO convincing Miss Kira that that's not the way it works! I'm sure that she has this little idea planted in her head because she's in a K/1 class this year....I decided that I'll just let her teachers handle this one! ;-)

I know that Kira is really missing her friends and teachers...she tells me several times a day that she "just misses everyone so much!"  I'm glad that she loves school and has adjusted so well........that is a bigger relief to Mommy that I can even explain.  She did tell me today that even though she misses her friends, "it's sure nice to take a long nap everyday!"  Yep, school still wears her out.  Jason and I have talked about this a lot and wonder if the day will ever come when either she isn't so tired or she fights the fact that she is tired.  I know that kids with CFTD do struggle a lot with faitgue so I'm betting that it's not something that will go away.  For now, we'll just enjoy and respect the fact that she knows when she's tired and needs to sleep.

How is it possible that we will have a SIX YEAR OLD in just 15 days???

This 10 month old baby girl.......

Is about as sweet as they come and is getting so big!  It's hard to believe that in less than 8 weeks, she will be a year. (and have I mentioned that in a mere 16 days I will also have a SIX YEAR OLD!)  Up until the last couple of days, she has slept right next to Mommy in a bassinet and then a pack and play....her crib was the worst place in the world apparently.  But Mommy decided that it was time for Eva to find out that the crib is not a terrible place.

And while Eva may not be completely convinced yet....we're getting there!  She's napped there for a few days and last night we decided it was time to share a room with Sissy....Sissy wasn't 100% convinced either but Mommy and Daddy were.  We had a successful night!

And this morning after her nap, I even was greeted with a smile instead of screaming!  The crib is good!

See baby girl...Mommy knew what she was talking about...the crib is much better than the pack and play.  I'm sure you'll come visit from time to time but I know that you and Sissy will LOVE sharing a room ,right!?

NOW...let's hope that MOMMY sleeps better tonight instead of worrying all night long! :-)

And FINALLY it was time for presents!

Kira could hardly contain herself when she woke up on the 26th...she knew that her cousins were coming and it was "present day!"  I don't know how many times I heard her ask if they were almost here?  Are they in their car?  How much longer?  She was one excited girl and of course, when Dylan figured out that she was excited, that meant that he should be excited too!

Getting ready to open presents!

Kira and Eva got to open the 1st present.....so excited! Anna was ready to pass on some of her Xmas cooking goodies!  Xmas apron, whisk and spatula!  Kira has already used them!

Waiting his turn was NOT easy but what can you expect from a 3 yr old!  He was thrilled to get some Trio blocks which Mommy has already discovered hurt just as much as Matchbox cars when you step on them in the middle of the night! :-)  Daddy and Dylan have made many creations together already.

And what more could a 10 month old ask for...tissue paper and a box!  She's good to go!

Grandma and Grandpa VK

Dylan was couldn't wait to get Chuck out of the box and had loves clapping his hands to make Chuck follow him as he laughs running away!

My little bookworm got a Snuggie and more Judy Moody books...we're already almost done with one of them.  They are a little tricky for her but she loves the challenge and does NOT like help unless she asks for it!

Mommy is disappointed with herself that she didn't get a picture of all 3 kids together since they looked so cute in their coordinating outfits...I also didn't do a very good job of getting pictures since it was Eva's 1st Christmas. :-(  Oh well....I have some and that's a good thing.

We had a great weekend but it's always good to be home.  We've spent lots of time racing cars on a new Matchbox car track, building with Trio block, playing lots of new games that Kira received and reading books. Now Kira's already talking about her birthday.........

They ALL were on the nice list!

Kira and Dylan could hardly stand it on Christmas morning!!  They could not wait to see what Santa had brought them and waiting for all of us to be ready was torture!!!  It was so fun to see them so excited this year.  When we finished looking at their stockings Dylan said, "I want another stocking!"  He was determined that the fun was not over yet!

How much longer Mommy?? 

Digging in!

Hmmmmmm.....

Still diggin' in!

Eva decided that if everyone else was happy then she would be too...

Dylan was THRILLED with his Car Movie toothbrush...good job Santa! :-)

After all the excitement ended, Grandpa VK made pancakes and eggs fro breakfast and both kids proceeded to inhale more breakfast than I have seen them eat in a long time.  It was a quiet day since we weren't heading to Story City due to the weather....it didn't really feel like Christmas to any of us.  At bedtime, Kira asked me if it was Christmas and then told me that it sure didn't feel like it since she didn't get to open presents!  Luckily, she understood that presents would happen on Saturday but I do see how that was a little disappointing for her...darn weather!!!

LOVE this girl!!!

Be back soon with lots of Christmas fun!

Am I on the nice list???

Tonight as I was getting Kira ready for bed, she asked me if she was on the nice list or not! I had to laugh because if she had to ask, maybe she should be worried! I assured her that she was and that I was sure that Santa would be stopping by to fill her stocking!
Kira had a busy weekend last weekend....she had Xmas Program Practice at church, then a Holiday Party with Daddy at his martial arts studio, Sunday School on Sunday followed by her Christmas Program. She did so well. I was so proud to see her standing up in front of the church singing and even doing a little dancing! She has come so far!

These video clips are each about 30 seconds long....there's just something so stinkin' cute when kids are singing!!






Happy Holidays!

I'm making an early New Years Resolution....

I WILL blog in 2010! I WILL blog in 2010!

I really want to get better about blogging and keeping people up-to-date with what's going on in our lifes. It's gotten too hard for me to keep the kids websites updated......if I'm going to do it, I want to do it regularly not just once in awhile. I just realized that the last time I update Dylan's journal was in JANUARY! Oops! I think with a blog, I'll be able to do quick updates and post pictures and all the kids will be in one place....atleast that's the plan for now.
:-)

Since Kira has been out of school since the 18th, I needed to find a few things to do earlier this week. She was set on seeing Santa so off we went to the mall. She anxiously waited for him and went right up to him with the picture that she had drawn....when it was time for a picture her enthusiasum changed a bit but she did it. There was NO WAY she was going to go ANY closer but she did it. She was so proud of herself. As I expected, Dylan would have stayed all day....Eva wasn't so sure this time around and went from crying to smiling to crying to smiling several tiems. The outfit that Eva is wearing is what Kira wore for her 1st Xmas too....I love the hat that goes with it but Kira was going to have NOTHING to do with it! NOTHING at all! :-)



Wishing everyone a great holiday season!