We have a 4 year-old

Happy Birthday Chelsea Colleen. We had a fun day in constant ceebration. Chelsea got to open a present at breakfast then had to wait until 11 am for her birthday party where she greeted the guests asking, "Did you bring me a present?" we had to constantly tell her that present time came at the end and to try and enjoy the party. She made her pizza in 3 seconds and asked,"Do I get to open my presents now?" We moved the group to the great room for games and then she asked, "Are we opening presents now?" The guests didn't like the game and preferred to just go downstairs and play in the toy room. (we gave up after making them all come back upstairs to the party 4 times) Everyone just played and then we called them upstairs to eat, blow out the candles and yes, open presents. The party wrapped up around 1 and we spent the rest of the day letting CC play with her new toys. At one point during the day she said, "I didn't get that Emma doll I asked for." Luckily, we saved one present until bedtime. And what do you think it was, yup. The Emma doll.


This is our 4 year-old after a very fun day... sleeping with her Emma doll.

Here they are on Halloween. I think it's pretty obvious what they each are. I was happy to have a break from the princess theme this year. The traditional Halloween costume was a good break. We took them to under 20 houses and they were in bed by 8:30 pm. I'm sure this is the last year we'll be able to pull that one over on them. The treats they were most excited about - chips. Who knew.

Here's Cala. Our most serious Halloweener.

Our cool cat - CC. Who's been sick all week but pulled it together for the occasion.

And Connor. It was touch and go weather or not his costume would fit. The girls both wore this when they were babies. Keep in mind Cala was 9 months old - CC 1 year old. He's 5 months in a week. It was a size 18 months. Seriously - no candy for him.

Okay - the full body shot is more flattering.

Award winning pumpkin

Tonight Darren and the kids tackled the task of carving our pumpkin. I am impressed. Darren opted for a carving theme this year and free handed a cat. I knew something was up when they started asking for pipe cleaners. End result - pretty good. Major points for creativity and way to go Cala and CC for getting your hands right into it. They did a great job of cleaning out the pumpkin. The girls were very excited about pumpkin carving and harrassed me for days to do it. We made the misteak of doing it too early last year and it went rotten. Hopefully holding off a few days will work this year. Happy Halloween.

Cool CC

I'm pretty sure my almost 4 year-old is just too cool for me. I asked her what she wanted for her birthday today and when she didn't answer I asked again. She said, "Mom you have to be patient, I'm just thinking." Oh, sorry. She also spent the better part of the day wishing she was a baby because "Babies are important and they need lost of tension." (attention) Oh, sorry again. We also made a paper chain today to count down the 10 days until her birthday. If you look at the paper chain tonight, there's actually only 7 days until her birthday. We're working on that concept. And I'll continue to wait until she has thought of something I can give her for her birthday. It's okay, I'm patient.

CC is also quite the cool kid at school. Her teacher says she has lots of friends. I'm not surprised, we've had 9 year-olds give us their phone numbers so CC can play with them. Everytime we go to McDonals, we make a new friend. Anyway, we were walking to the car after school today and this little girl was following us - yelling something. Finally I clued in she was talking to us... er, I mean CC. She just wanted to say good-bye officially. Chelsea looked at her and said a very unemotional good-bye. Apparently, friends grow on trees for some of us.

Chart Topper

This is what a baby in the 98th percentile looks like in the buff. There are a couple of extra requirements that go along with a baby of this size. First, hygene. He needs a bath every day - but that bath must include a thorough cleaning in between all the rolls. There are a lot of them and you really have to scrub. Second, eating. He does not like to miss a meal, get a meal late, or get short changed a few ounces. Finally, clothing. Not only do clothes have to be in the 12 month size, they cannot be a slender cut... baggy cut works best - they slide up the thighs a bit easier. Socks cannot have an elastic top and shirts have to be cut wide in the arms - if they taper in, it will cut of circulation. Another item to note. I went to buy Connor a bumbo chair and he didn't fit in it. His legs were too fat and it was cutting off the circulation - he looked very uncomfortable. He's a good baby and a lot of fun! Fat and fun. He's 18 lbs and 27" long.

Back to the Blog

Okay... a little break never hurt anyone right. Here's a brief update of what I've been doing to keep me away from updating the blob. Laundry, dishes, more laundry, cleaning, driving to preschool, writing a chruch talk, putting on a baby shower, more laundry, cooking, and cleaning, volunteering at Cala's school, swimming lessons (not me but the kids) gymtastics, more laundry and cleaning. There, all caught up. I'll be posting on the kids as soon as they do something truly blog worthy.

Quebec Trip (Ka-beck not Qu-wa-bec.)

In Quebec City- a view from the wall - looking at the Chateau Frontonac












In the Quebec countryside - sooo beautiful.













I can't believe we did this... more or less - admit that we did this.. but we rode in a carriage through Old Montreal. Say cheese.










In Old Montreal - dating from 1600 - 1900