Hot Mess

If I had grabbed my camera 10 seconds earlier this would have been a cute picture. Addie and Charlotte were pushing Emmy around in the Bumbo and they were all having a wonderful time. Emmy was giggling and the two older girls thought it was the greatest thing ever that they could show her all of their toys. The SECOND that I touched the camera, Emmy was done with the tour and started crying. I'm not sure what Addie was doing. Charlotte still seems to be having a good time, though!

Emerson at almost 4 months:

• Prefers to be on her tummy so that she can watch the action.
• Is pretty good at rolling from her back to her tummy. But it still requires a lot of effort and she gets mad when she accidentally rolls onto her back after working so hard.
• Is starting to giggle.
• Tries to grab your food if she's sitting on your lap at dinner.
• Loves to nap in her swing. She especially likes the blanket that our friend Arwen made for her. When you put it on her in the swing, she snuggles into it and falls promptly to sleep.
• Loves her sisters! She would much rather be entertained by her sisters than held by mom or dad.

Adeline:

• Is reading like a champ! At school they have a coconut tree and each student has a coconut with their name on it. As you increase your reading level, your coconut moves higher up the tree. There is one student who is at level 10. Addie and one other girl are one level 6. Everyone else in the class is on 4 or lower.
• Can now ride a two-wheeled bike without training wheels! This is all she wants to do when she gets home from school.
• Is such a great big sister and example - both to Emerson and Charlotte. She is always willing to help out when we ask.

Charlotte:

• Is also doing amazingly well at school. Her teacher wants to test her reading at the end of the school year (they usually don't test them in pre-K3) and thinks that she will be reading at a level 3 or 4.
• We're not sure where this came from, but she is the popular kid in class. She certainly didn't get this from mom or dad. And it is even more surprising because she used to be so shy. Everybody in her class will look at her and wait for her opinion on something before voicing their own.

Emerson - 3 months old

Emmy is such a fun addition to our family! She is such a sweet and easy going baby. Addie and Charlotte love her to bits and are constantly asking to hold her or help change her diaper (although these "helpful" diaper changes take about 5 times as long as if I do it). Emerson loves her sisters as well. There is nothing that she likes better than to lay and watch her sisters play.

She recently learned how to roll over. It is funny because I don't remember the other two actually trying to roll over. I remember that they did it on accident many times before they actually figured out how to do it themselves. Emmy is a bit different. She has been accidentally rolling over from her tummy to her back for a little over a month now, but she prefers to be on her tummy (so she can better see what is going on). About a week ago she started doing a mini sit-up and would roll to her side. You could tell that she was trying so hard to roll. Then Sunday night she managed to roll most of the way but just couldn't get her arm out of the way. Monday morning (April 2nd), as I was changing her diaper, she rolled completely over and she's been doing it every day since!

Addie's Blog

We gave Adeline a camera for her 6th birthday and she has been having so much fun taking pictures. Yesterday we started her very own blog where she can post her favorite pictures. She comes up with the captions for each of the pictures and has even been typing some of the captions herself. Head on over and check it out for yourself!

Addie's Blog

Family Pictures

Charlotte's 4 year old interview... late...

So, Charlotee, have you learned anything in the last year that you’d like to share with people?
Ummm, what did you say mom again?

Have you learned anything in the last year that you want to share with people?

Oh, like, writing better.

What will be the best thing about being 4?
Umm, playing with my sisters.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
What did you say again, mom?

What do you want to be when you grow up?

*** Sean puts Emerson on a pillow ***

Hey! That's my pillow!!

Charlotte, what do you want to be when you grow up?

Well, what can I be?

You can be anything you want.

A doctor.

Who is your best friend?
Adele.

What is your favorite toy?
Ummm, puzzles and barbies.

What is your favorite thing to do?
Play with my sister.

What is your favorite thing to eat?
Pizza and macaroni & cheese.

What makes you happy?
Ummm, giving mom and dad hugs when I don't feel better.

What's your favorite show?
Ummm, uh, Ariel.

What is something that you're really good at?
Hopping on one foot.

What do you think is the most important thing you’ve learned in life so far?
Not hitting.

What’s your favorite thing about yourself?
Ummmm, looking at my baby sister.

That's your favorite thing about yourself?

Yep.

Not your smile? Not that you are really nice?

Looking at my baby sister.

Okay.

What is your favorite color?

Ummm, red and purple and green and pink.

You want to say anything else?
No thank you.

Can you think of any questions I should have asked but didn’t?
Ummm, petting my dog.

Is that a question?

.....

Can you turn it into a question?

....

Like, "what do you like to do with your dog?"

Play with my dog.

Adeline's 6 year old interview

So, Adeline, have you learned anything in the last year that you’d like to share with people?
No.

You haven't learned anything?

I learned how to read.

What will be the best thing about being 6?
Umm, that I get to go to first grade and that I get to be 6 when I go to first grade.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Ummm, a teacher.

Who is your best friend?
Rebecca.

What is your favorite toy?
Ummm, ummm, barbies. My barbies, and my drawing board, and my camera.

What is your favorite thing to do?
Play with my whole family. And I like to play games with my sister.

What kind of games do you like to play?

I like to play Hi-ho-cherry-o.

What is your favorite thing to eat?
Ummmm, uh, cake and macaroni & cheese.

What makes you happy?
When I play with my sister.

What's your favorite show?
Martha Speaks and Curious George.

What is something that you're really good at?
Running and math and reading.

What do you think is the most important thing you’ve learned in life so far?
That I shouldn't be bad and I shouldn't steal. Because Cameron already stealed some stuff. He stole some money and some crayons.

What’s your favorite thing about yourself?
That I can play with my sister.

What is your favorite color?

Purple and pink and blue and green... and red.

You want to say anything else?
No.

Can you think of any questions I should have asked but didn’t?
Ummm, what is your favorite game to play?

So, what is your favorite game to play?

It is teacher and honey.

And the little one said "roll over"

Emerson is 2 months old today. Yesterday she rolled over for the third time in her life (the other two times were a couple weeks ago). I'm not sure when it actually counts as rolling over, though. All 3 times have been on accident - she was lying on her stomach and lifting her head up. Sometimes when she lifts up her head it starts wobbling back and forth and occasionally the momentum as built up so much that it tips her over onto her back.

Need to post more...

I have been scrapbooking quite a bit recently and have been going back through old posts to find stories to go along with the pictures. It was a lot of fun to read through what was going on in our lives back then and the funny things that the girls did.

Then I got to 2011. What a sad year. Only one post. So I'm making a goal to do better this year.

Here's a super quick update:

- We've expanded our crew. We now have another daughter and a dog.

- I graduated from dental hygiene school.

- Adeline started kindergarten.

- Charlotte started preschool.

- Emerson (our newest addition) is 2 months old and recently started smiling and cooing.

Now for the best part of blog posts... here are some pictures:

Adeline's 5 year interview

So, Adeline, have you learned anything in the last year that you’d like to share with people?
Well I've learned about hibernating, and I can't remember the rest.

What will be the best thing about being 5?
I don't know.

You can't think of anything?
Well, my class will sing "Happy Birthday" to me. And they will put a candle on my cake, but just one "5 year old" candle on my cake. That is the best thing about Super Friday.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
I don't know yet.

Who is your best friend?
Emily.

What is your favorite toy?
Mmmmmm, ponies.

What is your favorite thing to do?
Play hide and seek.

What is your favorite thing to eat?
Ummmm, peanut butter burritos.

What makes you happy?
I don't know, I still have to think!

Okay, I'll come back to that question. What's your favorite show?
Martha Speaks.

What is something that you're really good at?
Ummmmm.... ummmmm.... finding Charlotte in Hide & Seek.

What do you think is the most important thing you’ve learned in life so far?


What’s your favorite thing about yourself?
That I can see.

You want to say anything else?
I don't think so.

Can you think of any questions I should have asked but didn’t?
Um, nope.

No because you can’t think of anything, or no because you don’t want to answer any more questions?
Cause I can't think of anything, mom.

Oh yeah, the question we skipped... What makes you happy?
I haven't thought yet, even!

Charlotte's 3 year old birthday interview, a tad late...

How old are you today?
Free

What will be the best thing about being 3?
I don't know.

What was the most important thing you learned when you were two?
Giraffe.

Who is your best friend?
Ummmm, Addie.

What is your favorite toy?
Ummm, the baby.

What is your favorite thing to do?
Play.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
A crown. (I think this means she wants to be a princess?)

What is your favorite thing to eat?
Carrots.

What makes you happy?
Carrots.

What's your favorite show?
Curious George.

What is something that you're really good at?
Uhhh, toys.

What toys are you good at?

Babies.

Is there anything else you want to tell me?

No, I don't want to tell you any more questions.

juguuhuyuhyitiutiiu <------ Charlotte wanted to type some also

Renaissance Wedding

A couple weeks ago some of our friends got married at the Renaissance Festival. We had lots of fun dressing up in costumes.

One of Addie and Charlotte's favorite parts was running up and down the big hill.
And we got to ride on an elephant! I knew they were big, but they seem much more so when you are sitting on top of them! You can't really see Char in these pictures - I promise she is up there, though. They usually put the smallest person in front and the biggest in back because it makes for better pictures, but she wouldn't even consider climbing on unless she was snuggling on my lap.