Merry Christmas

Our annual tradition of staying in on Christmas Eve, wearing pajamas, and opening just one present was a success!  Sylvia loves her new purple boots.

 While Violet opened her first of many presents on her first Christmas.  This one was a wooden toy which appears to be a whale helicopter.

And nothing says Christmas like "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer"

Merry Christmas everyone!

Holiday Party

Sylvia was having a holiday party with all of her friends

and the Christmas elf Violet was one of the many presents under the tree!

Wishing you all some holiday cheer!!!

Pancakes, Pie and Pictures

Auntie Missy came over for a night of fun with the girls.  Between dinner, dessert and bath time they kept her pretty busy. We had breakfast for dinner and Missy wouldn't take the pie home so I got stuck eating it :)

sprinkling on the yummy topping

kissing little sister

Lucky for us Sylvia doesn't mind sharing her bath time with Violet. At some point sharing with little sister won't be fun anymore, but for now we will enjoy all the sister love.

Thanks for all the great pictures Auntie!

Violet 6 month

Last Saturday was Violet's 6 month birthday.  She continue to grow and gets stronger every day!  She loves to smile, jump in her Johnnie Jump-up, and sometimes we even get a giggle!

The stats:

Length - 24 3/4"
Weight - 12# 7oz
Head - 16 1/2"

After next week's official weigh-in at the doctor, we will publish the official growth chart.

Turkey Day

We had lots of fun during Thanksgiving, but were only able to capture a couple of the moments...

Sylvia was showing her cousins that she is pretty tough for her size.

I think she pinned Blake in this one.  Jared was the referee in the match.

Later in the long Thanksgiving weekend, we headed out to the lake for some relaxation and some more food.  The typical crew was out there, but I think Auntie Liz and Kevin wanted to have some fun with Violet.  

"Moose"

Violet modeling her new hand-knit sweater

Not sure what is going on here... 

Happy Birthday Grandma

Just a quick note of birthday wishes to Grandma from Sylvia and the Chickens!

Sylvia is singing “Happy Birthday”

Giving thanks

This is the time of year when everybody gets mushy and lets everyone know what they are thankful for. This blog doesn't get mushy to often, but this was a year of many thanks and so much to be grateful for.

We were about 10 months behind on getting our photos developed so when I was sorting through the stacks and they were in this order it was a bit shocking to me.

One day we are taking belling picks and then bam everything changes. I know this picture of her is hard to look at with all the equipment and her little breach legs, but it is a reminder of how lucky we are that she is  strong and healthy.

Fast forward 5 1/2 months and we have two healthy girls that love each other like only sisters can.

We wish you all a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend.

brrrrrrrr

With the snow fall last weekend, turkey day tomorrow, and lights going up around town, it would appear that Christmas is almost here.  

Like any 3 year old, we need a letter to Santa.  Last Friday, Liz and Kevin were nice enough to help Sylvia out with her note to Santa.  I am thinking maybe Jamie influenced one of these items - I will let you guess which one.  Personally, I am not sure what she means about "a little sister"...  I mean you just got one!

The back of the letter with cut outs from the Toys R Us circular.  To be honest, I think these are here 5th-9th picks, as we cut her top 4 out earlier in the week and they were in my car during this crafting session.

We also had time to watch one of my favorite holiday movies -Elf.  Yes, it may be a "dumb" movie, but I like the message...

The first snow of the year.  After the shoveling was done, several sled rides were given, a snow fort was built, and Sylvia still wasn't ready to come inside.  Next step - roll around in the culdesac for a while!  I think this will be a good winter.

And finally, nothing says winter time like some Easy Bake Oven.  Sylvia has become quite the helper in the kitchen, and she was able to enjoy her "cake" for a treat on Sunday night.  Notice she is all decked out in her Vikings cooking apron (Thanks Auntie Jane).

Testing the done-ness with a toothpick - great form Sylvia!

What's in store for this long weekend?  Maybe we will get a tree!

Shaylan and Blake

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!!!!!!

Sending big hugs and smoooooochies to you!

Swiper

Depending on the day, Sylvia can be a pleasure to do 'arts and crafts' with, or it can be a short-lived messy experience.   This was a case were it was a pleasure!  

Her coloring has been getting much better when it comes to staying within the lines.  

The "Rainbow Sniper" is off to catch some of Dora's treats... 

and to top things off, Sylvia says:

"Mom when this is done it is going to be beautiful!"

Yeah, She's Advanced...

Since she wanted to come into the world early, she may as well start reading early has well.

My Little Animal Book is a recent favorite.

Other favorites include "Go Dog Go", "Children's Nursery Rhymes" and Jamie's personal favorite "The Difference Between Boy's and Girl's" straight from the 'totally improper collection' that we have been building for years!

Can't wait to see what we will be reading next week!

Halloween

Since Halloween fell on a Monday night, Dad was busy curling with the boys and the girls were in charge of trick our treating.  It would appear the Ms. Piggy filled in just fine for Daddy.

Violet in her Halloween Onsie

and then in full costume!

Princess Sylvia also had to pose with the pig..

Don't forget about Auntie!  (Thanks Liz for helping)

From what it sounds, the girls all had fun.  That could've done a little better on the candy collection, but I guess we really don't NEED anymore that what we already had!

Happy 5 Months

Violet is 5 months old today!  She had a nurse visit to catch up on some shots, so the updated weight is:

11# 7.5oz!!!

It is either the good stock or the good food, but this kid is growing fast.  Everyday she shows more and more of a personality.

This past weekend we headed out to the lake for a family reunion / surprise birthday party.  Both girls did quite well considering seeing some people for the first time.  

Uncle Jacob getting close and personal with Violet

One of the few times Jamie was holding Violet... must of been snack time!

Look at those giggles!

Some other pictures from the party...

We will catch up with Halloween pics soon.... Thanks for the pics Missy!

Autumn Celbration

It is that time of the year again... Late October means the leaves are changing colors, the temps are dropping, Jamie is one year older, and it is Celbration Time!  (For those reading this that are not familiar with the history, about 5 years ago I made t-shirts for our group of friends and misspelled celebration and since then, it has stuck)

This year the weather was perfect once again.  We had a pretty good sized group and as a host it seemed like it was pure chaos, but the guests seemed to be enjoying themselves.

While the younger ones were playing outside, the grandparents were passing around Violet - which was a huge relief, so thank you all for that!

The day after the party was filled with clean, washing dishes, cleaning, washing more dishes, and then washing a few more dishes.  Of course the little one are not quite to the age of cleaning, so instead Sylvia wanted to try on her costumes from prior years.

Monkey from 2 years ago (12-18m)

Peapod from her 1st Halloween (3m)

Seriously, what is with that smile???