Grace AnneMarie - 12 Months

The baby is 1.  This week has been party central around here.  For Reformation Day, we celebrated with our new friends here in Alabama.  Just as a side note, I knew that God would be faithful in providing fellowship for us but I am continually amazed at Him and His provision of wonderful, likeminded people everywhere we go who sharpen and love us and our girls!  The next day was my birthday followed by Grace's the next day.  So, there is plenty of sugary desserts at our house :)  Here is Grace in her birthday dress....

Sleeping - Continues as before with no real changes.  2 naps a day and 12 hours at night, it is pretty hard to complain about that! 

Eating - Her appetite has diminished somewhat and she is becoming more picky about what she wants to eat (bread still being her favorite) but she knows that she has to eat what is on her tray before receiving more of anything else.  Her first taste of sugar was a great day for her when she enjoyed her carrot cake cupcake on her birthday yesterday.  She has been fully weaned to whole milk and is taking it just fine in a bottle.  Our next big task is to wean to a sippy cup. 

Skills - At the beginning of the month she was pulling herself up with the aid of a stationary object (or person) but towards the end she is standing up by herself.  She is really enjoying her walker toy and is cruising around the furniture.  Any day now she is just going to take off walking on her own.  She really likes crawling up the stairs at the playground and does really well with it.  She continues to wave at everyone (even the moon).  She has stopped crying when we drop her off at the nursery at church which is nice :)  She has learned to put things back in the box, bag, etc., so we are teaching her the clean-up song. 

Play - Grace still loves dolls, stuffed animals, and books.  She is the happiest baby; squeals with delight at random times.  Her solo play is going better also.  She usually cries for a minute or 2 at the beginning but then settles down to play for about 20 minutes and I could probably lengthen it at any time.   She really loves to empty the laundry basket and the ball pit in the back yard play set.  Between that and the toddler swing she is pretty happy outside!  Grace also loves the little play kitchen and although it is a little trying for the older girls sometimes, she enjoys doing whatever they are doing in the kitchen and craft area. 

I am not doing a year 34 update for myself but here is me in one of the 2 birthday dresses I made myself this year...

Faith August - 4.5 Years

4 1/2 years since my life was changed forever by the 7lb 11oz, 20 inch little girl.  She is now 43 inches tall and 42lbs!

 

Sleeping - Same as before.  Her rest time has is also doubling as her solo play time and that is going very well.  There are still days when she sleeps but not that often and she is always ready for her time by herself

Eating - No real changes with eating.  We are working harder on table manners, specifically chewing with your mouth closed and waiting to speak until her bite is finished.  Right now I have her raising her hand to let me know she has something she wants to say but is waiting until her mouth is empty. 

Skills - When we arrived in Alabama we met a nice family with a daughter 364 days younger than Faith.  This young girl can swim without a floaty!  Well, when Faith saw that she was determined to swim, or at least try to swim, without hers.  I was impressed by her desire.  The pool closed here on Labor Day weekend so there wasn't a lot of time to practice.  I plan on enrolling the older girls in swim lessons prior to our PCS and that should hopefully accomplish the swim without a floaty desire.

Faith has met her goal for the year of writing the alphabet.  She can write all the uppercase letters and is pretty excited about that. 

Her love of coloring continues and she is actually staying in the lines now and really enjoying it.  Now I've begun to talk to her about color choice and why the princesses look better if they don't have green skin and flaming red hair but hey, it is still up to her :)

I've enrolled her in a Pre-Ballet class which she just loves.  The calm, steady discipline of ballet is perfect for Faith and she is really enjoying it.  She and Rebekah's classes met at the same time of day  and it is pretty convenient.  Hopefully wherever we move next will have something equally perfect for our schedule.  Following Ballet classes on Monday nights we've been volunteering with Inner City Evangelism Bible studies.  Frank works with the adults and the girls and I are in the kids area teaching Bible stories.  I think the whole experience has been great for them (although Faith has picked up a bad word in the process from one of the other kids!) and it is showing them the love of Jesus in action.

Wednesday nights at church Faith is participating in Children's Choir and Girls in Action.  She had her first Children's Choir concert in September and was so cute up there.  She was a little behind on the hand movements but was trying with all her might.  Girls in Action is supposed to be for 1st-6th graders but the teachers wanted her in there anyway.  They have said nothing but good things about her participation!  She gets points for scripture memorization and has done really well with that; she has an impressive memory!

I made a Velcro picture grocery list for Faith so she has something to do in the commissary while her sisters are riding around in the cart.  There is a 3 seater cart at the Maxwell Commissary but it isn't always available and we bring her list every week because she loves using it.  She takes off the Velcro piece and puts it in her purse after we pick up an item.

Was a great helper during our move using her shopping cart to ferry stuff around the house

She loves Grace and loves being a second Mama to her.

Education - We've started using the Logic of English for our phonics lessons.  So far she is doing great.  I love LOE because it is teaching handwriting and phonics at the same time.  She's also started using Rosetta Stone Russian that Frank and I bought several years ago when we first started learning Russian.  In addition to her learning a great deal, I am remembering a bunch of stuff I've forgotten!
As part of my Homemaker Education, Faith has been helping me with Homemade Pasta Making,  Yogurt making, and figuring out what to do with the 30lbs of peaches we picked when we first came to Alabama!

Random - singing - at the top of her lungs her made up praise and worship songs!

Rebekah Joy - 36 Months

Wow!  I can't believe my little girl is 3!  Amazing how she has grown up so much and I haven't aged at all!  Ha!!

Sleeping - No changes here.  She is such an awesome napper (making up for the rough ones when she was younger).  No signs of dropping her nap and still sleeps all night, waking up around 7 each morning.

Eating - Still enjoys most every vegetable and fruit and of course bread.  She likes having smoothies for breakfast and doesn't like to eat the crusts of her sandwiches.  I suppose if it is between broccoli and bread crusts, broccoli is the better choice. 

Skills - One day she decided she could jump with both feet and that was pretty exciting!  Imitating her sister, Faith, Rebekah started pumping her legs on the swings.  Mama's tired arms are always excited to hear her say "I can get myself higher!"  She recognizes most letters of the alphabet.  A gives her some problems and she mixes up V and Y most times but other than that she know her uppercase letters.  What a smartie.  Previously, Rebekah had only been able to cut paper but this month she's improved and can cut small pieces of fabric as well. 

Play - She loves to color; it has become her standard activity during the sermon at church and she really has fun with it.  We visited the beach for the first time in her little life in Navarre, Florida with some friends this month.  Rebekah was happy as long as she was sitting in the sand and the waves were just getting her legs wet but more than that caused her some serious concern.  She still isn't too keen on getting dirty and I think she sand all over her was part of her issue with the beach.  She LOVES helping in the kitchen and I love having her assistance.  One day we made homemade cannelloni and she helped with the dough making, the filling, and the sauce.  I handed her the red pepper flakes for the sauce and told her to sprinkle some in.  A millisecond later I turned around and saw she'd taken the shaker cap off the bottle and dumped the entire jar of red pepper flakes in!  That sauce was tasty :)  I added a bunch of sugar to calm down the heat and we all had a good laugh.

Faith and Rebekah love playing Mama and Baby.  Usually Rebekah is the baby and she has a great time with it.  She holds her "mama's" hand and lets Faith pretend to feed her.  It is pretty cute.  I like it better than the infant game they played with each other when Grace was first born because that consisted of them imitating her cry and one infant crying in the house is enough! 

Rebekah started taking a Creative Movement class this month.  It is ballet for 2 1/2 & 3 year olds.  She wasn't very talkative about it at first but now I can tell she really enjoys it.  There is no viewing window for me to see what is going on in there so I have to take her word for it that she enjoys it.  She loves showing at home the cutie stuff she is learning to do. 

Education - Station time sorting, counting, pouring, matching, she is doing great with all of it.  I mentioned her uppercase recognition. 

Party - Rebekah asked for a Kanga party this year.  We invited 2 families who've been so gracious in inviting us into their circle of friends while are here for the next year.  There were 8 girls at this party and each one of them were so precious.  It really does make me wish we were staying here longer to develop deeper friendships with these families!  The girls made Kanga ears and pouches and then raced in some homemade burlap sacks!  It was great fun!

Grace AnneMarie - 11 Months

The last month of Grace as an infant is upon us!  Here is a summary of her 11th month of life :)

Sleeping - Sleep continues the same as before.  Still going to bed at 8pm and waking at 7:30 or 8 in the morning.  Her morning nap can be anywhere between 45 minutes to 2 hours and then her afternoon nap which begins at 2 and will usually last until 3:30 or 4.

Eating - Nursing continues as before with no issues.  She eats EVERYTHING but loves bread (who doesn't?) and we've had to start meal time training as far as she needs to eat what is put in front of her and not cry because she sees something else tastier on the table.  We don't have bread with every meal but when we do, I try to be fair and leave the bread off my plate until she is done with whatever she has to eat prior to getting that. 

Skills - One Monday afternoon about mid-month she waved at my friend while sitting at ballet class for her older sisters.  That night she waved at everyone at Tulane Garden's Inner City Evangelism (in which she participates by being strapped to my chest while I serve in the kids' room!).  It was such an awesome thing to watch her wave to total strangers and their hearts melt at the sight of it!  She has also started pulling up and is quite proud of herself for doing so!  Consistently signing "more" and "all done"!!

Play - Baby Dolls!  One day she saw one across the room and took off after it and it has been love ever since!  Her eyes just light up when she sees a doll or stuffed animal.  She hugs them, loves on them, talks to them... it so sweet.  I consider "doll" her first word which was also spoken this month.  Da is her favorite sound right now but she also tries to say something resembling "sisters" when she sees them.  She loves listening to music, both singing and playing, and claps every time she hears it.  She also likes messing around on pillows, similar to something I remember Rebekah doing at around this age, just rolling around on them and loving it!  Solo play had begun to improve until we went to Florida at the end of the month to visit the Hefners and then I stopped being consistent with it and the time degraded into solo scream time again.  However, I am hopeful that things will improve there.  She does seem to love her Mama Time!

Rebekah Joy - 35 Months

It is hard to believe that Rebekah is going to be 3 in just a few weeks! 

Sleep - No real changes here. 

Eating - Still a great eater.  Loving ice, even in her milk!  She has moved out of the highchair and into the bumbo seat at the table.  She is able to get in and out of it by herself, just not to push the chair in :)

Skills - Rebekah has started turning on and off the lights, with the aid of her step stool.  She has been climbing up the bunk bed ladder for a several months but now she is able to climb down on her own. 
This month she has become a self-dresser!  It is super exciting to watch her get dressed on her own.  She tends to put the socks on with the heel on the top of the foot and occasionally her panties are on backwards but she does her shirt and pants all by herself with very minimal issues.  Rebekah has also taught herself how to write the letter R.  One day she called me over to the craft table saying "Mama, look at my R" and I was taken aback at how awesome it was!  It looks great and she learned to do it all on her own. 

Play - Rebekah and her sister have been playing "baptizer" for a few weeks now following several baptisms at the churches we were visiting when we first arrived in Alabama.  She has always loved to read and be read to but she has really taken up with telling stories from a book based on the pictures.  It is really sweet to listen to her telling these stories to her "kids" (AKA stuffed animals).  It is still really really hot here in Alabama.  The pool was closed on Labor Day and unfortunately Fall did not arrive the next day.  Prior to the pool closing, we went everyday.  There is a splash pad next to the pool and Rebekah was never a big fan until one day I brought a couple of plastic cups .  Those gave her a new found love for having water spraying around!  We did some sock puppet snakes for our S week and Rebekah just LOVED it.  She continued to play snakes for weeks after that, just about every time she put a sock on, it ended up on her hands and she was chomping someone!

Education - I am starting to do more independent work with both girls during school.  I've been trying to work with Rebekah on her counting and letter recognition using some Montessori activities I've found on line and she is doing well with it. 

 

 

Pasta Making

The next installment of my Continuing Homemaker Education is pasta making!  My parents got me this awesome pasta maker for my birthday last year which was the day before we had our 3rd child so needless to say, it didn't see daylight for a while.  Following our long vacation and the move to Alabama I decided it was finally time to break it out and attempt some homemade pasta.  Faith helped me with the whole process and we had a great time together.  I don't know how I would have done this with only my two hands!

We had fettuccini alfredo with chicken and broccoli.  I made my own alfredo sauce (which I had to learn to make after my second worst cooking disaster ever (the first being eggplant parmesan)) so this was about as homemade as I can get right now, until I have my own chicken ranch and garden!

Grace AnneMarie - 10 Months

The day Grace turned 9 months she started crawling and got her first tooth.  I had already written her update for that month so they didn't get included.  She currently has 2 teeth on the bottom and the cutest little grin.  Her smile is pure joy when she claps her hands at my singing or Frank's playing the guitar.  I just love it.  She is completely enamored with her sisters (who wouldn't be!) and finds a great deal of fascination in the dog as well. 

Sleeping - Her nighttime sleep is great and she usually wakes up around 7:30/7:45.  We ended naps in the car seat, which was painful for about 2 days and now she is fine in her bed.  They do seem to be sporadic as to whether they last longer than 45 minutes or not but that was happening in the car seat as well during the last month.  If she were my first child I would probably devote an entire spreadsheet to tracking her naps but for now, she is happy even if she wakes up early and that is enough for me!  Toward the end of the month, Grace developed a fever of over 102 and reaching 103.5 for several days.  Thankfully it was not an ear infection and after I finally got the right dosage of medication for her and administered it, the fever broke; however, she developed a rash all over her body and the symptoms show it as roseola.  The rash doesn't seem to bother her but her nighttime sleep has been affected for a few days. 

 

Eating - Wow!  Grace loves to eat.  She loves to feed herself, anything. I have yet to put anything in front of her that she didn't just go crazy over.  She loves meat, beets, veggies, fruit, cheese, everything she can feed herself.  She is not too big a fan of yogurt right now (reminiscent of Rebekah) but she does give the same horrible reaction when presented with some yogurt, she simply takes a few bites and is done.  Nursing is going well.  During my period this month my milk supply dropped and has never fully recovered, I'll probably start supplementing with formula this week. 

Skills - Crawling, everywhere.  She is a mobile baby now and loving it.  She comes pretty consistently when I call to her and responds after only a few corrections to all the "No's" that have suddenly entered her world.  Thankfully for me (but not for her) I have 2 additional helpers to alert her to all the 'No' items in our house.  She is working on pulling herself up on the coffee table.  Grace does enjoy crawling over obstacles to get to the places she wants.  I don't know if this is a skill or just a game she likes to play but if I bring my head close into hers she will bring hers in the rest of the way to head butt me and then she just laughs like its going out of style.  Grace has also discovered books!  If there is one on the floor she wants it (not during solo play though, she is content to just scream then no matter how many books are available).  She enjoys being read to and looking at books on her own.