New Kicks

A couple of days before Valentines the girls got a special treat...new shoes, Sperry's to be exact. They LOVE shoes. I know for some kids new shoes aren't that exciting but for my girls, new shoes is about as exciting as winning the lottery. I think the only thing that tops new shoes is a new dress. So it was fun to see their reactions. Kiersten has the funniest facial expressions and I am always trying to capture them. She helped Hattie open her shoes first. And it was priceless to see the look on her face...so you can imagine the expressions when she opened her own. And the fact that they had sparkles...well that just made them even better. The next morning at preschool they couldn't wait to show Mrs. Stanzione and Mandi (Logan's mom) "Look at my new shoes" and "My shoes are sprinkly", what fun. And pretty stylish too!

Valentine Love

My girls were super excited when our doorbell rang on Valentines Day with packages for them! My parents, Gigi and Papa had stuffed animals and heart shaped boxes of chocolates delivered to the girls. They thought they were pretty special...and felt very loved. Kiersten got a pink bear, Hattie got a brown bear and Leah got a shaggy dog. They love them and now an extra animal is tucked in bed with them every night. Thanks, Gigi and Papa...Happy Valentine's Day.

Growing Up So Fast

I think I blinked and Miss Leah is a person! Not my baby, not a toddler a little lady in more ways than one. She is so sweet and caring and sensitive. She wants to do the right thing and tries so hard to have good manners. She is also a little mommy. She likes to tell her little sisters when they are doing something wrong and then she likes to be sure that I know about it. But really, she has sucha good heart. These days she is all about being Mommy's helper. She loves to help feed baby Hattie. The other day we were getting ready to head out in the morning and I said "I need to get coats on." Since she already had hers on, and I was busy helping Bug she took it upon herself to put Hattie's coat on for me. The other day we ran through Dairy Queen drive thru for sandwiches on our way home. Leah got a burger and Bug got a hot dog. Kiersten was sad that she didn't have any pickles so Leah shared hers. Such a sweet girl.

She is also so eager to learn. On Sunday after church she took it upon herself to sit down with her magna doodle and write sentences. She makes my heart swell with pride.

No Snow

I don't know what's going on, but this winter has been oddly NOT WHITE! And it's ruining the girls winter fun. They have snow suits and every time they see a snowflake fall from the sky they get all excited to make snow angels and snowmen, but alas. All we ever get is a dusting. Hardly enough to  put on the snow suits but we do anyway, because that's part of the fun. The first week of February we got a little over an inch. So they suited up. They spent about 30 minutes outside, and then they were done. Just long enough to make snow angels on the deck...and Kiersten ate plenty of snow. I keep trying to convince her that's not a good idea...that girl has a mind of her own. 

 

Hattie's 6 Month Pictures

Back in January I took Hattie to Bloomigton for the day, to capture some images of my six month old girl. And I couldn't be happier with how they turned out. Major props to Laura Kruger photography...she was excpetional to work with. So patient and relaxed with my crazy...got to crawl everywhere baby. Every single image she has taken captures the real Hattie, her smiles, her mischevious grin, her excitement at seeing and feeling out new things. I will definitely be returning to her in the near future. I just love her work, and I hope you do too!

ZONA!

Back in June or July, I was shopping for baby clothes online at Old Navy...and I came across an Arizona Wildcats shirt. Well, for obvious reasons those are hard to come by in Central Illinois. And it was in the clearance "section".  SO I had to have it, right?!?! The smallest size it came in was 6 but I figured Leah would grow into it and she did. I took it out of the closet for her to wear with her jeggings today and she looked super cute. I put a red bow in her hair and my girl was set. We talked about how it says Arizona, and how that's where Aunt Laura and Uncle Jeff live. I told her about how Aunt Laura went to school there and is a coach there now. She was very interested. Then I told her the Wildcats name was Wilbur, she thought that was pretty funny. But she was super excited to learn that Wilbur has a girlfriend Wildcat names Wilma. She asked me if Wilma wears a red bow in her hair. I told her no, but that Wilma wears a blue and red cheerleaders uniform. She was sold, she loved it. Wilma is her new favorite I think. Maybe someday I will have an Arizona Wildcat...but more likely my girls will be little Fighting Illini!

Bug does not have an Arizona shirt...so this is the face I got when I wanted them to do thumbs up so I could send a picture to Aunt Laura. Funny! Gigi thought the picture was too cute, and said she will have to go shopping for some more Wildcat gear before they make the trip home at the end of the month. I think Bug will be a VERY happy little girl!

Go Lions!

So a few times in the last couple of weeks I have been taking the big girls to LSA for some basketball games. Leah will be starting Kindergarten there in a few months so I figured she would enjoy getting accquainted with the school. Well enjoy was an understatement. She and Bug absolutely loved going to see the basketball games. The first game we went to was a girls game and they were eager to cheer on our babysitters, Baylee and Taryn. Leah proclaimed that she was "not going to cheer for that blue team when they make a basket." and she didn't. She was sad when we lost by one point. But I assured her we would probably win the next one. The other games that we went to were boys games and that meant that Baylee was in the stands with us to keep the girls entertained. They still liked watching the basketball, but boy did they LOVE watching the cheerleaders. Our babysitter Morgan is a senior and a cheerleader and so Bug loved learning how to do the Lion Rumble. She was going it for days. Everyone got a kick out of seeing her rumble...it was pretty cute. Even Hattie came to one game with us. You can tell in the picture that she got so excited that she wore herself out, LOL! I think the best part for Leah was seeing her friend Camryn and her teacher Mrs. Stanzione at the games. She thought that was pretty special and she is looking forward to being with Camryn at LSA next year. I think next year we will be going to even more games...GO LIONS!

Big Sister, Bug!

Kiersten has taken the role of big sister, and ran with it. She simply adores Hattie and it makes me so incredibly happy to see them bond. Kiersten has to be the first one in Hattie's room in the morning to say "Good Morning, Hattie Cakes" and then she has me bring Hattie back to my bed so she can snuggle and play with her a bit before we get full swing into our morning routine. She loves to sit on the floor and play with her, although lately she isn't wanting to share her toys...of course she expects Hattie to share hers, Sigh!

She is becoming such an independent and smart little person. She knows almost all her letters and numbers and is working on writing her names. It's a work in progress. She makes me smile, but she is also exasperating. When things don't go her way, she stomps her feet, crosses her arms and says "That's not fair, Mommy!" She says this a lot. But in no time, she is asking for me to rock her and snuggle in the chair...I happily oblige. She is mysnuggle, bug after all. "My girls are the greatest blessing to both Mitch and I. Every good and perfect gift is from above." ~James 1:17