Addison whining: "I want a train."
Jackson: "If you stop whining, I'll share one with you."
It's great when your kids start "training" each other!
Q
So, I decided that I will do a year-in-review series of posts ... mostly to help myself remember some of my favorite moments of 2009. So here goes ... January 2009.
One of the best things about the start of my day is that almost every day starts with one or two or three kids "helping" me get ready in the mornings. Of course by "help" I really mean just play with all of my stuff. I probably have the most well-versed toddlers when it comes to understanding make-up ... what's that Mommy? mascara, eye-shadow, blush, lip stick, etc. They know it all. Of course, their favorite items (other than lip stuff--chapstick) are mousse and hair clips. Not a day goes by that I don't share my mousse with someone! Oh, and they love to build towers out of my rollers!
Most days, this is a great way to start my day and I thoroughly enjoy this precious time with my kids. Being a working Mom, I feel like I miss so much and this time each day helps to make up for it. Of course, that is most days! Some days, I am running late, the kids are whining, and I have to help two kids go to the potty. But it is just all part of the package! I wouldn't trade that time for anything.
Back when they still slept in their toddler beds, William went thru a stage where he had a tremendous number of stuffed animals that he wanted to sleep with each night. So many animals in fact that there was barely room for him! William has never really taken to a lovey ... he has a lamb that he really loves and his Aubie, but it is not like Jackson with his glowy!
Their toddler beds lasted all of about 3 months. After that, they decided they all wanted to sleep in a pile on their floor. It started off just Jackson and he would sleep in the floor in their bathroom. Soon William joined him ... since William always does what Jackson does! Within a few months, Addison had joined them. Mimi and Granddaddy got them some great sleeping bags from Land's End ... and Addison's didn't come in when the boys did. So we went a little retro and Addison used Mommy's old Holly Hobby sleeping bag for the first few weeks of her floor sleeping time.
Somewhere around October, the kids suddenly decided that the floor was not very comfortable and that Mommy and Daddy's bed was. Kids started showing up in the middle of the night. Sleeping with one three year old in a king-sized bed is really no big deal ... sleeping between two of them? Not really comfortable. They are like little heaters and will sweat you out of a bed!
So, for Christmas, we got them big girl/boy beds. Addison's bed is a family piece. Her Grandma Jack remembers sleeping in that bed on the sleeping porch at the beach when she was a little girl. The boys got a new queen-sized bed that is really comfortable. Has it kept them from coming downstairs in the night? Nope! But that's OK ... I love to snuggle with my kids!
Just a cute picture of Addison! Her little personality has blossomed this year and I love having a daughter. Addison has always been a Mommy's girl ... and now she is old enough to do things with me. I so enjoy spending one-on-one time with her. This past Wednesday night, she told me that she wanted to go to class with me ... she said "I'm a girl Mommy." I guess that does qualify her to attend the ladies Esther class with me! Of course, at one point Beth Moore asked the women to raise their hand if they were sitting beside a mean girl ... Addison raised her hand! The other women in the class got a kick out of that!
We tend to generate a lot of static in this family. This picture was too cute not to include ... especially with Al's back-ground of getting shocked all the time!
For Christmas 2008, G-Daddy got the kiddos a Learning Tower. This has been a huge hit around here and I highly recommend it. It allows the kids to be counter level to help with cooking dinner, etc. And help they did. One of their favorite things to do is to help Daddy cook breakfast or dinner. Daddy makes a wonderful homemade pizza ... here they are making the dough and the pizzas.
We worked on our utensil skills this year. Now they are great ... they were still a little messy in January! Currently we are working on big boy/girl cups. The kids are starting to prefer a normal cup to their sippy cups. For several weeks now, they get big girl/boy cups at meal-times. They are doing great and we haven't had any major spills ... yet!
And we can't forget Rosie! The kids received a Thomas starter set from Mimi and Granddaddy for Christmas 2008. We headed out with our gift cards and purchased a couple more trains and some more track in January. Addison picked out a pink train ... of course! Rosie. Unfortunately, Rosie doesn't always watch what she is doing. If you look closely, you can see the chunk of hair that Rosie pulled out of Addison. Rosie ended up getting William a few months later! We still love our trains and play with them almost daily.
Well, this started out as a January update ... but I really covered a lot of ground here! But, the pictures are all from January 2009.
More to come!
Quenta
Oh, and these last two pictures are of the kids at the McWane Science Center. We spent a lot of time there in 2009 ... or I should say that Al and the kids spent a lot of time there!
