These Days

Claire got some "new" boots that she was/is very excited about.  When she first tried them on she just kept stomping around the house saying "boots, boots."  Little cutie. 

Hannah's first dentist appointment back in the spring was less than great.  If you had been a fly on the wall you would have thought they were trying to pull her teeth out instead of count and clean them.  SO, a few weeks before her next appointment (which was mid-Nov) I started talking to her about it and trying to get her excited about going.  It never failed that every single time I brought up going to see Dr. Mary or getting her teeth cleaned she immediately started crying. I kept trying though, thinking that the more we talked about it the more prepared she would be.  Well the day before her appointment I decided to try bribing.  She is a big fan of ice cream, so I told her after her appointment we would get some.  

When the dental hygienist first saw her she asked if she was okay. I couldn't see her face at the time, but it must have been green or contorted or something.  The hygienist showed her all the tools, gave her a sticker, and sunglasses to wear.  She was so patient with my girl.  Hannah whimpered through most of it, had tears pooled in her eyes, and held on to my hand with a death grip, but all in all I counted it a BIG success.  She was brave even though she was still nervous. I was proud of my girl and afterwards we both got the much deserved ice cream.

Emily is loving making books these days.  The top book in the picture below says "How to Grow a Chree." (That is, a "Tree"). The second book says "How to Love your Chree."  The second is about picking out a Christmas tree, set it up, etc.  Both are about 10 pages with words on each page and an illustration to go with it.  Bert and I love seeing her latest books!

Claire likes to call me "mom", even though when I talk to her I'll say "mommy loves you" or "Mama said come here."  She says mom with most everything she says to me. "Be right back, mom", "Okay, mom", "No, mom", "Help me up, mom", "What's dat, mom?" I actually didn't realize how much she said mom until my mom pointed it out one day.  Ha!

Mimi came over for the weekend while Bert was at a conference in Kentucky.  We had lots of fun and I got some projects done around the house which was exciting.  Hannah had been asking to get her fingers and toes painted for a little while so Mimi made sure to make that happen.  I got this cute picture of Claire inspecting Mimi's work.  She definitely approved and was proud to be just like her big sisters. 

Hannah likes to be called "Tarzan." When we tell her Tarzan is a boy she says "well, I'm a girl Tarzan."  

This was Hannah's school picture from 3K and I thought it was adorable.  I love her!

Emily said "that is uncompossible!!!" when she found out one of her sisters had accidentally broken her necklace.  If you can't think of a good word to use, just make up one.:)  

I took this picture after we had driven back home the day before Bert's birthday.  We had been at my parents' house to celebrate Thanksgiving (Thurs) and Bert's birthday (Fri) and we didn't get home that night until about 10pm.  Emily and Hannah slept in the car for most of the trip (Claire slept about half of it) and then Bert carried them in and laid them on the couch while we got everything unloaded and set up (monitors, sound machines, etc.).  Our babies are sweet (mostly) during the day time but they are especially sweet while they sleep.  It melts my heart.  

Our evening routine after dinner about every other night is Bert gives the kids a bath while I clean up the kitchen from dinner, then I dry their hair while he brushes teeth, then he lays them down while I finish cleaning the kitchen or folding clothes or getting the kids' stuff ready for for the next day.  It's gotten more difficult for my pregnant self to bend over and bathe the kids, so this works out well for me during this season of being large with child.  When Abby arrives our well oiled machine of a routine will be thrown for a loop and we'll just be in survival mode for those first several weeks, but no matter what the season I'm thankful to have a husband that helps me even after he's had a long day at work.  

Claire calls Emily "Em", Hannah is still "Ahh", Abigail is "A-gail" and she calls herself "KK."

One day a few years ago all I had left of the loaf of bread were the two end pieces.  I wanted to fix Emily a sandwich for lunch that day so in a very excited voice I told her the end pieces were "special bread."  She's been very excited about getting "special bread" that day and every day she gets it since then.  Hannah has also decided she loves "special bread" so we have to take turns now with who gets the special bread sandwich when we get to the end of the loaf.  

Emily drew this picture for me during rest time a couple months ago.  She loves to draw and color when her sisters are napping.  

Hannah brought this to me the other day and very seriously told me that this was her Christmas list.  

Claire is going through a special phase of coloring things other than paper.  We've found her "art work"  on walls, the table, the floor, her shirt, etc.  

We bought this Fisher Price nativity set last year after Christmas and I have been excited about the kids being able to play with it this year.  So far Emily has been the most interested in it and has told us the Christmas story several times. 

Claire's favorite place to hang out these days is her sisters' room.  When she disappears its the first place I look and 80% of the time she is on one of their beds with the covers pulled up pretending to be asleep.  When I walk in the room she'll say "I go night night." She thinks it is so fun to get to "sleep" on the big bed.  Bert said the other day that she's about ready for a big girl bed.  Ha!  I'm sure she is but I am definitely not ready for her to be in one.  There is something glorious about putting her in the crib for nap time/bed time  and her not being able to get out. I'll hang on to that for awhile longer.  

Emily was supposed to dress up in a wacky Christmas outfit last Wednesday.  I didn't remember until 5 minutes before she was supposed to walk out the door and Hannah was still asleep in their room, so this was about as wacky as we could get.  She was VERY excited about it though! Her favorite part was wearing two different shoes.  

Hannah loves to dress up as a ballerina and does so most every day.  She is impressively good at putting on tights.  In the picture below please notice her red shoes.  These shoes have been her favorite for a long time now.  They are sparkly and red and I really can't blame her.  The only problem is that they don't fit her anymore.  They are a size 7 and she now wears a 9, but she still squeezes her foot in there often and doesn't complain about her toes being scrunched.  They really are precious shoes and it is precious how happy they make her.  The moral to this story is that I've got to find my baby some sparkly, red, size 9 shoes.  

 

Emily loves to give hugs.  A couple of days ago when I picked Emily up from school I watched her give 3 of her friends hugs before she ran to hop in the car.  

Hannah likes to give driving tips from the back seat.  Several weeks ago I was driving her to an appointment and it was just the two of us in the van.  The light was red as we were approaching it and I was slowing down to stop, but just before we got to it it turned green, so I sped back up and kept going.  Hannah couldn't see (from where she was sitting in back of the van) that the light had turned green and started saying in a panicked voice...."MOM, you're supposed to stop when the light is red!  It was a red light!"  I explained to her that it had turned green and to simmer down.:)  I'm not sure if she ever believed me, but it gave me a good chuckle.  It's funny how young kids are when they decide that their parents have no idea what they are doing or talking about.:)  

Claire can reach door knobs.  She's started pulling doors shut by holding the knob, but she hasn't quite figured out how to turn the knob to open the door.  It will just be a short matter of time though before that happens.  I will enjoy the last few hours, days or weeks of being able to simply close a door and know that Claire can't get in there.:) 

We're thankful for our 5, 3 and 1 year old.  This parenting thing keeps us busy.  "Constant" would be another way to describe my days, and I wouldn't change one second of it.