the overflow

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

20 Months

Maggie is now 20 months old! At her last checkup, she weighed 22.9 pounds and was 32 1/4 inches tall... not so skinny anymore! She knows a bajillion words, can tell you where all her body parts are, as well as what all the main animals say. We're working on her ABCs, numbers, shapes, and colors. She has quite a feisty little personality and will kick and scream with the best of 'em. She's becoming better with strangers and/or other caregivers; we rarely have a problem with dropping her off in her room at church, or MOPS, or wherever. The very first time she stayed with our regular babysitter, Marrah, she ran right into Marrah's arms like they were old friends! She can be a little moody, and her moods change so quickly. She climbs up and down the stairs pretty well, and has even climbed up the ladder to the top of Jack's bunk bed a couple times. Once, I caught her lying on his top bunk, relaxing with a book! What a stinker.

Monday, February 18, 2013

A Swimmingly Perfect V-Day

We'd been meaning to take the kids to the Aquatic Center for awhile now, and finally had time... on the most romantic of days, Valentine's Day! Maggie was a little freaked out by all the water features, slides, and noises, but she and I spent most of our time cuddling in the "warm" pool, so it was all good. Jack, once again, made it all the way to the top of the stairs to go down the big slide, but then chickened out at the last minute. Kate, once again, went down with no hesitation!

Storytime (With Goggles)

The other day, Grandma Pat stopped by for a few minutes right before we went on a special outing to the Aquatic Center. Of course, the kids wanted her to read a few books to them. Jack already had his swimming goggles on, and was extra cute scrunching up his face as she read...

Kate at Three-and-a-Half

So, I usually take portraits of my kids on their birthdays, or right around that time, but 2012 was my year of failure in that department. I didn't take birthday portraits of any of them! Time to play catch up. Kate is now three-and-a-half. She's my helper around the house, always taking the initiative to tend to Maggie, work in the kitchen, or put things away (when I ask her to do something, her answer is almost always a perky "sure!"). She runs at 100% all the time, whether she's being sweet or sassy. We just pulled her from preschool for this semester... mostly to save money, but also because she had several bouts of crying there. When I asked her why she'd been crying, she told me that she missed me. Awwww. Kate pretty much refuses to wear anything but dresses these days, or let me put her scruffy hair into any kind of hairstyle. She's still growing out her bangs from her Thanksgiving haircutting fiasco. Her loves? Princesses, pink, and sparkles. She's still in her twice-monthly dance class, and although she won't show me the "monkey dance" she's learning there, she'll still do an arabesque around the house once in awhile. She loooooooves hearing a good book, or will sit and look at her huge princess books for hours.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

100th Day of School

Last week, Jack and his class celebrated the 100th day of school. They each brought a paper bag filled with 100 items of their choice (Jack, of course, brought LEGOs!). And they dressed up as a 100-year-old person for a parade around the school hallways. We picked up some suspenders and used my eyeliner to create a few wrinkles on his face. I told him to hunch over a bit while he walked. Here is our result:

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

The Many Faces of Maggie

Attitude much?

Interested

More interested

Cranky

Entertained

"No!"

Giggly

Lovely

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Costumes and a Christmas Program

Just another generic post with recent cute kid pictures!

Maggie and Kate thoroughly enjoy their trunk full o' princess costumes. Mix & match time!

Some Halloween costumes, some princess costumes... cuteness abounds.

My beautiful middle girl after singing her little heart out at Bright Beginnings' Christmas program.

Sisters

Last Game

Jack's last soccer game of the season was on his birthday. He wasn't feeling 100% that day, and rather than force him to play (kicking and screaming, I'm sure), we had him suit up and sit out in order to save energy for his party. We at least got some cute pictures of the girls that day.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Sweet Sixteen

Maggie is 16 months now. (I meant to write this post weeks ago, when she actually "turned" sixteen months, but life gets in the way!) She is still THE sweetest, most adorable, lovely, friendly baby girl. She's obsessed with her "lovey," and it keeps her occupied after she wakes up in the morning or from a nap. When I go in to get her, she usually has it hanging from her mouth by a corner, and then she'll hold onto the side of the crib and bounce enthusiastically. She also has a stack of books easily reachable from her crib, and she's taken to pulling them into bed for an after-nap read as well. (Jack used to do the same thing at this age.) She says "hi" to every stranger she sees while we're out and about, and half the time they say "hi" back. If they don't respond, she'll repeat herself several times, louder and more insistently. She loves imitating her dog, or other dogs, saying "fff fff fff fff" while bobbing her head. She's super affectionate, often coming up and leaning her head on my back while I'm sitting on the floor to give me a quick hug (that is the BEST). And she's become a little helper like her big sister: if there is anything spilled on the kitchen floor, Maggie hustles to the basket where I keep the washcloths, pulls one out, and goes to wipe up the spill. We're still nursing, but only twice a day, and she's slowly losing interest. Boo hoo. I've been nursing babes and/or pregnant constantly for almost seven years now, so it'll feel weird to be out of that era. I had Brian take this picture of me nursing Maggie the other day to commemorate what I figure will soon be ending in our household.