Tis Past the Season

Analise was a donkey in the program
She makes a cute little lamb!
Wow...I knew it had been awhile since I had blogged, but goodness...only once in December! I've been wanting to update for ages, so here it comes in days and stages. As you can tell from the pictures, Analise was in her preschool Christmas program. I have a thing for kid's programs anyway, so when my own daughter was in it, I just loved it! All the kids did great, and I love that they are learning songs and stories about Jesus. Can't get better than that! She sang every song, knew all the motions and loved waving to Brandon in the back with the video camera. My favorite was when all the kids sang and boogied to "The 10 Commandment Boogie." The song is by Go Fish; if you haven't heard it, check it out. It's great!

So Much to say, So little time

Analise loves to dress up!
Maisie put on Mrs. Potato Head glasses
An attempt to get all three looking at the camera
There are a lot of things I should be doing in this hour of no girls. However, I've had posts running through my mind for days.
We are doing well. Sadie had check ups this week, and she is doing awesome! We saw her lung doctor, and he is going to have us try and wean some of the meds. She weighed 14-2 and is 26 inches long. That means she's almost a foot longer then when she was born! Crazy to think about. We also had a developmental check, and they were very pleased with how she is doing. She is rolling over, grabbing things - even things as small as a raisin! I didn't know she could do that. She is pulling herself to the sitting position and using her arms to stable herself. She isn't quite sitting up on her own because she likes to arch her back. We learned that is typical of preemies. We walked away from the check up just in awe of God again. While we were in the city, Brandon and I were able to get some Christmas shopping accomplished. It was rushed, but we enjoyed the time regardless.
Maisie is still silly, busy and she is using more sign to communicate what she wants. It's fun to see her use it. I think she has one more molar to come through, and we will all celebrate the day. Most days she is pretty happy go lucky, but yesterday she was a challenge.
Analise is still talking a mile a minute. She's had a couple of funnies lately. The other night at supper I told Brandon that I'd had talked to someone and they told me their husband got a deer. Analise asked in surprise, "God is a deer?" When listening to my Ipod a song came on and she said, "Michael!" I told her it was Lincoln Brewster. She said, "Chicken Rooster?" And then the other night at bedtime I read her the story of the three wise men. A while later I heard her crying in her bedroom. I walked in, and she was sitting up. I asked her what was wrong, and she announced, "I don't want to have a baby!" It was hard to comfort her and not laugh at the same time.
Analise sang with the preschoolers last week for the Christmas program at church. She did a nice job and seemed to enjoy it. At the end she used the mic and said, "I love you Jesus!"
I had the honor to speak this last Thursday at the MOPS group at our church. I shared the journey of Sadie's pregnancy, delivery and recovery. It was a joy for me to share about God's faithfulness and His going before us. There were about 50 moms there. Also joining me were my sister in law and one of my dear nurses came from Lincoln. It meant a lot to me having them both there.
I better get moving. I think my peace and quiet are ending sooner than I would like.

Nnovember News

Whew! It's been awhile since I've updated. Where should I begin? We had a fun visitor last weekend...my sister came out! I hadn't seen her in over a year - crazy! We had fun playing with the girls, shopping, putting up the Christmas tree, and we celebrated her birthday. Analise wanted to make her a turkey cake, so we did. We look forward to seeing her again next month.
At pre-school, Analise had a Thanksgiving feast that she enjoyed. She came out of class looking like an Indian. I wonder what she ate...
Last week I took the girls to a park nearby for some fresh air. There was another young mom (see how I still include myself as a young mom? :)) there with her daughters. We began visiting and realized we had some common friends. I introduced my girls, and then a little later, I could see her processing everything about what she knew. She then said, "I prayed for you!" She had prayed for me and Sadie while we were in the hospital! Isn't God so cool to still be revealing people, people I didn't even know, who were praying for us?
We had a good Thanksgiving weekend. We have MUCH to be thankful for this year! I summed it up at the dinner table by telling everyone I was thankful to be a family of five.
I even went shopping with the ladies on Black Friday; however, we didn't get up super early. We were out by 7:30. It was lots of fun, and I got some things. I do know already that some will have to be taken back.
While my sister was here, she helped me buy an Ipod. Yeah! I am learning about it and enjoying music from it. Analise has been interested in it, too.
This week I got Sadie up from her nap and discovered a really mattery eye. So, Grandma was to the rescue so I could rush Sadie to the doctor. Not only did she have pink eye but also an ear infection. I have no idea where she could get this when she is with me all the time. I don't ever leave her in the nursery at church.
Since Sadie had pink eye, I had told Analise not to get too close to Sadie. After dinner that night, Maisie was going over to Sadie, and Analise announced, "Maisie, don't get too close to Sadie, she has pink eye-pod." And with that, I end this wildly random post!

Oops!

Sorry for the misquotes under the pictures...they weren't posted like I downloaded them!

Daddy's Girls

My Dad Can Fix Anything

I'm A Daddy's Girl

Daddy Loves Me

All three girls love their daddy, and I love it when they wear shirts announcing how special their daddy is. Today I had all three girls in their shirts, so I had to take pictures!

So, what's been going on around here? Really it's been a lot of "normal" life. Analise has started a little Park and Rec class called "Tootsie Rollers." It is a beginners class that involves movement, tumbling and some dance. I like these little classes because I think it's a good way to find out what she enjoys and what she is good at. I want my kids to try different activities but also not feel like we have to be involved with everything that is offered. Sometimes kids just need to be kids. She has enjoyed the first couple of classes.
Analise had a big day this past week, and she rose to the challenge. She not only got her flu shot, but she got all her Kdg. shots as well...and she didn't shed a tear! This is from the same girls who was crying last year before they even touched her with a needle! After the shots, she got a special lunch with her dad.

Maisie is beginning to say a couple of more words. She now calls me mommy/mama whenever she seems me, and even calls her daddy "dada." We now hear baby, puppy, and she even tries to say butterfly. Maisie actually qualified for speech services, so we have begun that. She mainly qualified because there is such a big gap between her comprehension and expressive skills. As we work on new words, we are trying some signing as well.
Maisie is still my Boz lover, or as I refer to is as, a Boz addict. She loves her Boz! Maisie is getting a little more independent, which sometimes leads to even more frustration. She continues to be the life of the party.

Sadie is officially 8 months old and this week she weighed 13-13.(With clothes on.) She is laughing more and I am finding she wants to be entertained more. She is eating and sleeping well, and we continue to experiment with a variety of foods. Some days she swallows well and other days not so well. She is still as sweet as always!

This past weekend we took a little drive to see Brandon's grandparents. We enjoyed the day with all of them, and the girls did a nice job of not breaking anything while we were there. :)
On a more sad not, my grandmother is not doing well. I praise God she is such a strong believer, but I now get concerned each time the phone rings. This is my grandmother whom we named after for Sadie's middle name.
Last night Brandon had an early work Christmas party. It was a nice meal and then some karaoke. Brandon and I did a beautiful rendition of Jingle Bells. (HAH!) If nothing else, it was a nice night without the trio. :)

That's about it from here...until next time...

Thirty one - not that fun

So I am another year older. And honestly, it's not off to a great start. I kind of celebrated my birthday on two days since it's hard to party with trick or treating. Friday afternoon we all went to Applebee's for lunch. The girls did a great job, so it was still relaxing for me and Brandon.
The following evening was the family party. My mother in law and sister in law put together a great spread of some of my favorite foods. It was great! I opened gifts and got some fun things. Thanks, everyone!

However, a short time later I wasn't feeling too fell. It was downhill from there. I quickly blew out my candles and promptly came down with the stomach flu. NO FUN! I still haven't had any of the cake I made.
Brandon came down with it a few hours after me. Praise God for the blessing of family in town to watch the girls because we were in no shape to take care of them. Last night I finally felt normal and human again.

Hopefully 31 gets better then what it started like!

Two bees and not a bee

Halloween has come and gone already. Here are my lovely ladies all ready for the candy occasion! Sadie didn't seem to mind her costume, Maisie slowly got in the spirit, and Analise loved looking silly.
Thankfully it was a beautiful evening. It as warm enough we didn't need jackets! Analise loved going house to house with her cousins, and eventually Maisie joined in on the fun. Her 9 year old cousin was an awesome help with Maisie. Now we have way too much candy. I want to go through it and put some in the freezer and pull some out to put with our Operation Christmas Child boxes.
Hope your trick-or-treating was as fun as ours!