Snow Days

It seems as though STL has been covered in snow for the past 2 months...I mean no massive amounts of snow, but just enough to see all white when you go outside.  At first it was tons of fun for J and E.  Our first big snow of the year, we called across the street and Katie took J sledding since we couldn't take C out in the frigid temps.  The second big snow happened on the weekend (hallelujah) and Russ took the girls - and half the neighborhood - sledding all over.  

Our last big snow, we made snowmen in the kitchen.

 I guess you can say we are ready for Spring....bring it!!

A Quick Look at the Birthday

So this birthday 3 days after Christmas is not the best timing ever.  This year we decided to have a small family party with just a few family friends at the house.  Well, turns out the stomach flu was going around STL around Christmas so it really turned into a family party with the Remmings joining in on the fun.  She had a great time but I can tell she is ready for a birthday party with school friends next year.  She will be 5 so I think it will be a good year to have a fun birthday bash.

On her actual birthday, Russ took off work and Grandma came over to watch the Little's so we could take J to her first movie in the movie theater.  It was a great hit and she loved Princess and the Frog.  E - well, not so thrilled to be left behind.  After the movie, we came back home and got all the girls to go to Red Robin's for dinner.  This seems to be the place for birthdays (at least according to J).  She had a great time and got a special sundae and birthday song.  She loved having the attention while her mom still got splotchy at everyone staring :)

That kid has got some CRAZY hair!!!!!

Happy Birthday Big Girl

At the end of December, my big girl turned 4...I can hardly believe how time has flown.  Not only is she a whopping 4 years old, she has two little sisters.  I know we expect so much out of her as "the oldest" but I am so proud of her in so many ways.  She has welcomed each sister in this family with pure joy and excitement.  I am sure she does not ever remember life before E and soon will harly remember a time when it was just the four of us...J is such a sweet, bubbly little thing who, even though she would live in a world of pretend if possible, stops whatever she is doing to grab a pacifier for C or help E open a yogurt.  She is my helper 100 times a day and I hope she knows how very much I appreciate every act of kindness 

She has fallen in love with school and we can see that little mind of hers making all sorts of connections every minute of every day.  She loves doing "experiments" and measuring and writing and reading.  The Pretend area in school is a commercial bakery these days (had a field trip to the Schnucks bakery and all) and the other day when I picked her up she was covered in flour from head to toe.  They had been making wedding cakes and she had to make them super quick for all her customers.  She was so unsure at the beginning of the year and it just squeezed my heart a little to see her blossoming at school.

She had her 4 year old check up this week (yes, I am about 2 months behind on these things but it still got done) and she is a peanut at 33 lbs and 39 inches.  It seems so big and so small at the same time.  She has a ways to go before a booster seat can even be considered (something we are really interested in these days) but the good news is she put 4 lbs on this past year.  I told her I she won't have to go to kindergarten in a 5 point harness.  I figure that is good enough for now :)

J, E and I have had this recurring argument lately - seems we all want to marry daddy!  J has decided the following should occur:

Grandpa walks J down the aisle, she gets to marry Daddy
Daddy walks E down the aisle, she gets to marry Grandpa
Daddy walks me down the aisle, I get to marry Poppy

Let's see what she thinks in another 20 years :)

Merry Christmas!!

This was our second year in which we spent Christmas Eve with the Lowry's and Christmas Morning with the Cottle's.  And each year J has LOVED it, and E has been sick.  Last year with an ear infection which kept her up most the night and this year with the stomach flu that kept her pretty lethargic for most the holiday.  I am hoping and praying that everyone will be healthy for Christmas 2010, especially my little E who will be old enough to really, really love the holiday.  I am also hoping to wake up in our own beds next year...we'll see :)

This was our gingerbread house for the year - a total and complete disaster.  J still had a ton of fun decorating and tasting (okay more tasting than decorating but it was still fun :))

Christmas eve with Grandma, Grandpa and Great Grandpa.  For as girlie as J and E are, they have LOVED that train table!!

First thing in the morning - E was not ready to participate in a pic

J's handprint she made at school for mom and dad.  She was so excited  it was the first thing she wanted to do.  I admit it squeezed my heart a little to know she was more excited to give than to receive!!! (I was also really impressed that she was able to keep the secret for so long - it sat under the tree for over a week and she didn't tell a single person!)

This is how E spent most of the day...poor baby

Great Nana holding C...

November 2009 Randomness

There are two things I remember vividly about November: 1) a gorgeous weekend in which we loaded the girls and played outside for a couple of hours and 2) Thanksgiving.


Here is our day at the park. It really was one of those days that you just love being a mom and watching your girls have pure, simple FUN!!

We also had a really nice Thanksgiving. We spent most of the day with the Lowry side and then headed over to the Barrett's to say hi and have some pumpkin pie.  Grandma and Poppy were in DC so we gave them a quick call to say Happy Thanksgiving.  Not many pictures of the day, my hands always seem to be full these days.  Here are my two favorite:

Here are Grandma and J making the gravy...Grandma was very brave in letting our J give it a try.  She is our budding chef and thought it was so cool to get to add the flour and water.  Two minutes after this picture was taken she knocked the bowl over and they started all over...more fun for her!!!

Great Grandpa holding baby C....need I say more?

Playing a little catchup...

So with the arrival of our little C, I have completely ignored posting on the blog.  Determined to write down some memories before I completely forget them, here are the past couple of months in a nutshell!! 

First off - Russ and I took a quick trip to Chicago in September before C arrived. For me it was a relaxing getaway but for Russ, well, he had to run 13.1 miles :)  Here are some pics of the runners...I make a great cheerleader.  We are headed to Nashville in April for another half marathon.  I guess these little trips are our own little getaways (along with 10 other people we work with!)

And then October hit...while it was a crazy month, our girls had a great Halloween.  It was the first year that both girls really enjoyed the pumpkin patch, trick-or-treating, etc.

And yes, in case anyone is wondering - or has an incredible memory - these are the same costumes as last year.  J wanted to be a cat and E didn't really care so with a 2 week old I opened the storage bins in the basement and had costumes checked off the list :)  I'm guessing you'll see new costumes next year!!