Summer is here!

Thursday was the last day of school for Alena.  For her last day she styled her hair in a "tri pony." There were three pony tails coming out in different directions on her head.  She said it was very popular with the kids in her class.  We went to Dairy Queen after school and saw a bunch of her classmates there. Edith was in the Bjorn and was squealing with happiness.  One of Alena's classmates came up to me and asked if it was Darth Edie.  That is the nickname given to her in an ongoing bedtime story by Daddy.  She kept trying to grab my hot fudge sundae, and when we got home I saw she had a fudge stain on her back.  She was wearing her blue one piece.  When she is wearing that outfit we call her the little mechanic because it reminds us of coveralls.  Such a cute little mechanic!

Alena has a great year and enjoyed being in Mrs. Stolba's first grade class.  She is getting much better at reading and is working hard in all of the subjects.  On her report card her teachers commented that she always does her best and is a good role model.  She made more friends this year.  Some of her favorites are Madelyn, Harper Pease, and Nathan (everyone likes Nathan, she said!)  She enjoyed walking home with Harper Decker two days a week this spring.  Nora, Daddy and I all came to Field Day to celebrate the last week of school.  There was a dj spinning tunes.  When the song "Seven Years Old" came on, all of the kids went crazy.  I am going crazy listening to that song!  The girls are always playing it on the tablet.

Daddy also took the girls golfing for the first time last week at the Squaw Creek putting green and driving range.  Alena thought it was fun so he immediately went to Play It Again Sports and bought her a used set of golf clubs.  

Nora and Daddy finally glued this big pot back together.  It blew over in a big storm several months ago and the shards had been laying in the gravel ever since.  It was in a lot of peices; fortunately, Nora is the puzzle master.

Edith turns 6 months

Edith turned 6 months old this weekend.  For the past week she has really improved her attitude.  She is more content to play with toys for a few minutes by herself.  She is really getting good at sitting, and has now tried peaches, sweet potatoes, green beans, and mango (green beans were rejected.)  Edith loves standing in the grass and swinging in her baby swing.  She really likes to be outside and it usually helps her mood when she is getting cranky!  Edith still likes to nap in her car seat.  She likes to cover up with her rainbow blanket.  She sometimes chews on the blanket and sometimes sticks all of her fingers through it.

At her 6 month appointment she weighed in at 15 pounds, 1 oz, and she was 26 inches tall.  She got 3 shots and a clean bill of health.

We went to 3 graduation parties this weekend: Cousin Makayla, Cousin Emily, and Daddy's boss's son all invited us to celebrate.  Edith is partied out!  Whenever she got grumpy, whoever was holding her at the time would return her and say, "I think she is hungry."  No, not hungry, just particular! 

Family photos

Nora's preschool graduation

Nora had her last day of preschool on Tuesday.  Monday the kids sang the Tom Pease song "When I grow up" then they received a certificate and a frisbee from Mrs. Bates and Mrs. Eberle.  Mom, Dad, Grandpa Steve, and Edith came to the big event.  Nora is happy to be done with preschool and daycare.  She had more and more mornings where she did not want to go to daycare, but she always enjoyed herself while she was there.  She is doing a great job with her letters and numbers.  She is supposed to work more with playing with friends.  Her best friend from preschool was Bernadetta.  We went over to Bernadetta's house Friday for a playdate.  Once they got going they had a lot of fun together.  Too bad she lives so far away; it might be the last time the girls get together.  I am sure she will make some new friends once she gets to Kindergarten. 

A visit from Cousin Otto

Aunt Julianne visited with Otto and Alice.  The big kids had a great time playing with each other.  The babies also seemed to have fun.  Otto is so easy going compared to Edith.  I put them on the same blanket together and Edith really enjoyed herself.  She had more fun than I have ever seen her have when no adult was holding her.  Some of her cousin seems to have worn off on her!

Daddy and Nora try out the baby carrier.  Surprisingly, Edith did not care for this carrier.  She still like the Baby Bjorn at least.

Rice cereal

We decided it was time for Edith to try rice cereal.  After the rest of us ate supper, Daddy fed her 5 spoonfuls.  She did a great job of swallowing it and seemed pretty pleased with herself.  That evening she became very mellow and snuggled with me.  This was very abnormal for her as she is usually pretty fussy in the evening.  It was so sweet to cuddle with the little girl, and Daddy got a nice picture of me with all of my girls.  We have found that she likes sleeping with a blanket.  She likes to grab it and rub her face in it before falling asleep.

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day the big girls wanted to make me breakfast in bed.  Daddy suggested they just make breakfast for me to eat at the table because I don't like crumbs in my bed!  They helped make pancakes, eggs, bacon and fruit.  Then I was showered with gifts.  They both made me pretty drawings at school and bought me a new suitcase and lawn globes. 

We went to visit Grandma Dee after breakfast.  Aunt Kristina made brunch for us to enjoy and then the women took a walk at Marr Park.  Grandpa was finishing up planting beans and Daddy, Alena, and Nora rode in the tractor with him.  The girls managed to find Grandpa's candy stash.

Alena caught a toad by the pond and named it Squeaky.  Grandma Dee helped her write out a poem about Squeaky, then she released him, but not before he received quite a few kisses!  

Edith gave the gift of diaper failure.  She managed to poop and pee on the carpet through her diaper on Grandma's carpet two times in one hour.  Don't tell Grandpa!

Bever Park farm

For the first year, we are finally able to pet the animals at Bever Park.  The girls and I walked through the woods after school.  Alena loved being able to pet all of the animals.  She even managed to pet a chicken after quietly pursuing them for 10 minutes.  Two of Nora's preschool classmates were there.  Nora knows more people in this city than I do!  Nora thought the piglets were pretty fun.  They were less intimidating than the bigger animals. Edith rode in the Baby Bjorn and we didn't hear a peep out of her the whole time.  I guess she really liked the animals, too.  Daddy was on the ball and made sure the girls observed Star Wars: May the Fourth.

Five months

Edith is now 5 months.  Actually, I didn't get the pictures until a few days later.  I was waiting for her to be in a good mood.  But I decided to just capture her the way she is.  Edith is still pretty fussy in the evening and you never know how she will act at Connie's.  I think it is just because she loves her mommy so much.  As long as I am holding her she is pretty content.  When she is in a good mood she likes to look and me and make gurgling sounds and smile.  We think she just wants to be able to do what everyone else is doing and is frustrated by her baby body!  Her nickname is "Little Round Head."  Everyone who meets her is impressed by the perfect ball shape of her melon.

The little laugher

Edith saw the funniest thing in her life last week--the neighbor's dog Oscar barking.  We were sitting in the grass and Oscar wanted to see Edith because apparently he loves babies.  He licked her toes and barked.  She starting laughing a big belly laugh.  It was very cute!  Every time he barked she would laugh.  When he stopped barking she would stop laughing.  Oscar barked at her today but the joke was over and she wasn't amused.  You never know what is going to make this kid happy from day to day.  One thing that has been pretty consistent in pleasing her is watching the big girls jump on the trampoline.  She sits in her bouncer seat in the basement and squeals at the girls.  Ben and I even got to play a little ping pong while that was going on.  The other thing that usually works is if I am constantly holding her and looking at her.

Nora's big day

Nora was feeling sad because Alena and Daddy were spending the night at Camp Wapsi.  We decided to find some fun things to do with Edith, Nora, and me.  We went to the Eco Fest in NewBo and did a couple of crafts and listened to music.  Then we went to Washington High School and Playtime Poppy's "Harold and the Purple Crayon."  Edith slept through the beginning of the play but woke up halfway through it.  She was squealing with excitement.  There were a lot of special effects and Nora and I both agreed it was really good.  We then went to Dairy Queen and got ice cream.  One of her preschool friends was there and we went across the street with him to play at the playground after eating. Nora had Edith sit on her lap and they went down the slide together many times. After supper she went for a scooter ride and then we watched Full House before bed.  She said it was the most fun day ever.

Nora turns 5

Nora's birthday was on Wednesday.  She had the day off of preschool so she spent the day with me.  Aunt Kristina came over and helped her frost pink cupcakes to bring to preschool the next day.  We roasted hotdogs over the fire pit.  She ate 3 cupcakes before we realized it.  Nora celebrated her fifth birthday again on Saturday.  It was also Grandma Diane's birthday!  Nora had a butterfly funfetti cake and Grandma had a lemon meringue pie.  The weather has been so beautiful all month so the cousins all ate in the playhouse that we set up this week.  A couple of the big gifts were a scooter from Grandma and Grandpa Ossman, a stomp rocket from us, and a wubble from the Cahalans.

Edith is 4 months old

In honor of turning 4 months old, Edith slept for 7 hours straight!  I fear it might be a fluke, but it was the best night of sleep in my life.  She is continuing her nap strike at Connie's.  Hopefully she figures it out soon!  Her saving grace is that she is not stingy with a smile.  Everyone who sees her has to comment on how cute she is, and then of course she will smile at them to prove that it is true.  Other four month achievements: Edith loves chewing on hair and fabric.  When she has her blanket in her car seat she will pull it up and chew on it.  She loves pulling my hair and sticking it in her mouth as well. All of this chewing contributes to large amounts of drool at all times.  She is a great roller from front to back.  She hasn't yet rolled the other way, but it looks like she would be able to if she really wanted to.  Her balance is really good and she can sit well with support.  Edith loves standing over all else.  Sometimes when she is grumping if you pull her to standing she will smile.  Put her back down on the floor and she will get angry again.  She is a super pooper.  When she is getting her diaper changed, she will wait until the dirty one is off before pooping all over a changing pad, her outfit, your hand, or a clean diaper.  This is much more humorous when it doesn't happen at 3 am.  She just switched to wearing a size 2 diaper and 3-6 month clothes.  Edith checked out well at the doctor.  She is 24 1/4 inches (30%), 13 lbs (19%), and 42.3cm head (87%).

Alena was stalling going to bed.  Edith didn't mind because her big sister read books to her and played with her.  I didn't mind for the same reason!

                

Easter

We spent Saturday night at Grandma and Grandpa Ossman's house so the kids could have an Easter egg hunt with the Pennimans.  Sure enough, the Easter bunny found us in our new location and brought lots of candy!  The kids all got a new outfit and a toy as well.  They ate half of a bag of jelly beans for breakfast.  The theme of the weekend was eating.  Saturday we had a delicious meal of salmon, salad, and vegetables.  Kristina made hot crossed buns for brunch the next morning.

At 3pm we went to the Jensens'.  As soon as we walked in the door the Cahalan's were racing to get outside to hunt eggs.  Each one of the kids got a new Beanie Boo with crazy hair.  Edith loves her new Beanie.  I was upstairs with Nora last night and I heard screeching sounds.  Ben later told me it was Edith super excited by grabbing its hair and sticking it in her mouth.  She loves to stick hair in her mouth.  She always tries to get mine, and the other day she got a good handful of Nora's.  Nora was a pretty good sport about it despite the fact that Edith kept some of it!

Nora really does like Peeps!

First week of daycare

All of the girls started something new last week.  Alena is now walking home from school with her friend Harper two days a week.  It went well the first week--the girls did their homework, had a snack, and then went over to the neighbor's house to jump on the trampoline.

 Nora started wrap-around care at St. Matthews.  The first day was a little rough.  They have quiet time after lunch where the kids have to lay on their cots.  Nora hasn't taken a nap in over 2 years.  She said laying there made her miss mommy and daddy and water came out of her eyes (no, she insisted she wasn't crying.)  I felt so bad, but I reiterated with her teacher that she doesn't take naps and now she only has to lay down for 20 minutes.  Then she gets to read books or get up and play in another room.  One afternoon there were baby chicks to pet!  Nora's favorite part seems to be that she gets to eat lunch at school.  She tried baked beans and said they weren't too bad. She ate pineapple and carrot sticks.  She had the best meatballs ever on day and said she ate 6 of them!  This is pretty impressive for Nora.  Now she claims she likes daycare better than preschool.  As an update, the second week she fell asleep two days.  I couldn't believe it!

Edith started going to an in home daycare.  She is going two days a week to Connie's.  Connie watches two 2 year old kids so we hoped Edith would get plenty of attention and hopefully be exposed to less sickness.  The first day she refused to take the bottle at first.  Connie called Ben and he told her to heat the milk up extra warm.  After that there was no problem.  She loved watching the other kids and has been playing a little in an exersaucer.  She is also enjoying being held a lot.  Now she just has to master taking better naps!  When there is any excitement she doesn't like to miss out.