50 degrees

Even though it was a gorgeous day...53 degrees outside...the girls decided they needed to get dressed like this to go outside to play.

Look how adorable my girls are:

Lilly in the pull up

Last night when I checked on Lilly before I went to bed, I noticed that she had put a pull up on over her pj's. Books, colored pencils, a comb, 2 baby dolls, a stuffed elephant, and a pair of shoes were all under the covers with her.

Lilly's art work

This is what Lilly brought home from school today. This is the first piece of "art" that she's come home with in 2 months and if you ask me it's pretty pathetic. It was completely crumpled up in her backpack too!

Every two years

It seems like every two years my computer dies. Right now Will has my computer in several pieces. We ordered a new hard drive, but that may not be the problem. It might be the circuit board or chip -- or whatever it's called. Regardless, I can't use my computer and I feel completely lost. I'm lucky to have a smartphone so I can check my email, but it's painful for me to reply since I still type on the keyboard with a single finger.

Growing up so fast

This girl is growing up so fast. She now has a chore chart on the frig and so far she's received check marks in each column every day this week. Her chores are:

• Clean room after nap time


• Help set the table


• Clear the dinner dishes


• Clean up toys before getting more out

Will is going to give her a dollar a chore EACH week. She's a very lucky girl if you ask me.


Those chores are very easy for her!Lilly also wanted a chart on the frig so her chores are:

• Play


• Look cute

Lilly tells me all the time...MOMMY, I LOVE YOU TOO MUCH!

Last night I slept in her room until she fell asleep. Well, I should say I slept in there until Will came and woke me up at 3AM. There's something about watching a sleeping child....

Socks and shoes

It only took a week for Lilly to stop crying every time we put her down for a nap or bedtime when she transferred to the big bed. It was trial and error that first week because we didn't know what she liked yet. I've since found out what it takes to get her to sleep:

• There can be no music playing.


• The light must be left on (even though she has two nightlights that are also on).


• There must be a book next to her.


• Of course, she must have Lamby.


• You can be sure she'll get out of bed, go into her sock drawer, find a pair of socks, put them on and then put on a pair of shoes, climb back into bed, get back under the covers and proceed to fall asleep!

Beach Manor rules the schools!

It's no secret that I have a love affair with Sophia's schooland I'm not very humble about it. In my opinion, Sophia simply goes to the best preschool!

She gets a lot of exposure: computers/games, physical fitness, singing, one-on-one academic instruction, arts & crafts, Spanish, a themed lesson intensive each month (this month is The Circus), not to mention socialization skills....wait a minute, we really don't want to mention the socialization skills.

Next year is going to be a fantastic year. I say this because both of the girls' Beach Manor enrollment checks were cashed this week. That can only mean that they both made it into the programs we wanted.

I can proudly say that Lilly will be attending Beach Manor in Mrs. Harden's 3-yr old AM classroom. I made a special request to have Mrs. Harden as Lilly's teacher. They graciously accommodated our request. I want Lilly to go in the morning 3 days a week (M-W-F) and Mrs. Harden only teaches 5-day (M-F) students in the AM. She does teach a M-W-F program, but only in the afternoon.

Beach Manor only offers 1 K class and Sophia's and because she has 2 guardian angels, she's in it! Woo Hoo!!! (I wish you could see the jig that I'm doing as I write this!) She'll be attending Beach Manor for private, all-day kindergarten. Well, actually, she'll be in a regular K class in the AM and then go into a program called Extended Day where they have a completely different curriculum. It's like attending a second, different K class each day.

I'm so happy!

Dance class

Last week the girls had dance class together and I was able to take a few pictures on my phone. I got a lot more "good" ones of Lilly than I did Sophia. Most of hers were blurry, but we all know she's constantly on the move so it's no surprise.

The Children's Museum

Here'a a cute picture of Lilly playing in the Water Room at The Pittsburgh Children's Museum during our Christmas holiday.

Welcome

Sophia read her very first word this morning...all on her own. We have a Welcome sign near the front door (a great present from Grancy a few Christmas's ago). Sophia was outside waiting for me/Lilly to leave for school. I was running around like a crazy woman inside gathering back packs, my purse, the keys, my coffee and Lilly (because I carry her everywhere and I don't mind doing it. She's my little baby.)

Anyway, when I opened the door Sophia immediately asked me WHAT DOES THIS SAY? Lately, she asks me what every word is. Before I could tell her she sounded out WEL COME at the exact same time that I said welcome. She had actually sounded it out and read her first word. I just simply went crazy! Welcome seems like it would be a hard word to me. I'm not sure, but wow! She read the word welcome all on her own! I'm so proud of my 4 1/2 year old.

When I was dropping her off at school we saw another Welcome sign and I asked her what it said. Without hesitating she told me: WELCOME.

By the way, she did her own makeup in this picture. And she also did her nails.

Here are a few videos of Lilly at a Christmas Eve party thrown by our neighbors. It was such a fun night. Lilly was pure entertainment.

Addie's birthday party

All of Sophia's friends are turning 5. Cameron's birthday was in November. Addie turned 5 last week and the girls went to her birthday party on Saturday. They both had a really good time. The theme was Barbie tea party. The girls were asked to wear their Sunday best. They got dressed up in purple feather boas and pink tiaras, bracelets and rings. Sophia really got into it, except after about 5 minutes she wouldn't wear the boa any longer because it was itching her neck. She did keep her crown on until we got home. Lilly refused to wear any part of the costume and wanted me to hold her for 30 minutes after we first arrived. Toward the end of the party she got clingy again and refused to be a part of the group picture, but I think it was from pure party exhaustion.

I didn't have any room on my regular camera so I took some pictures using our handheld video camera. They didn't come out very clear, but I have to admit it's a fast camera. This one of Sophia and Addie is really cute. See the rest of the pictures.

She's a big girl now

Lilly has officially transformed into a "big girl". She's sleeping in her full size bed now and on her very first night in it we took away her paci. Yay! We're done with the pacifiers.

Lilly has only taken 1 nap in the last 6 days though. She used to take a good 2 hour nap every day when she was in her crib, but now that she can get out of bed, she comes trotting out every now and then to show me that she's still awake. Sophia never got out of her bed, but for the most part she's a rule follower.

Lilly also attempts to pull this "I'm still awake" game at night too, but I think she gives up because she's simply exhausted. We need to get a nightlight for her room because the past 2 nights she's asked to go to sleep with the light on. I think it allows her to play too, but at least she isn't crying. That's always a nice relief.

We're back and we missed 14.5 inches of snow!

After a great week away from home, we certainly are glad to be back in Virginia Beach. It was so great to see our families and friends. We really did have a wonderful time.

Neighbors told us that we missed 14.5 inches of snow while we were gone. That's just fine by me. We saw our fair share in Pennsylvania.

In Pennsylvania:

• Speaking of snow
The girls took advantage of the snow and went sled-riding a few different times. Sophia and Nana went out on their own one day while I was trying to encourage Lilly to actually sleep in the toddler bed and not climb in and out of it for her entire hour of nap time. Will tried "snowboarding" down the hill on the sled (not shown here).

I don't think it snowed while we were there more than an inch, but freezing rain was falling when we left on Thursday.


• Family Photo
Since our family is as complete as it's going to be for a while we thought we would take a family photo. Meg completes the puzzle and rounds us out to 8 people and 2 dogs. Daniel is holding his dog, Piper, and Sadie didn't feel like posing. The dog sitting on the couch with Sophia is her Christmas present from Santa. She just knew he was going to bring her the "Fur Real Friends Doggie that has a purple and pink collar and a leash and it is white and you can take it for a walk". She was thrilled when she opened it up on Christmas morning. It was amazing to watch her face light up.


• Annual Cousin Photo
Here's a picture of Sophia and her oldest second cousin, Cole. He'll be 7 at the end of January. He was taller than Sophia in August when we visited, but now she's taller than he is. I knew she had a growth spurt!

Every year we get together with my cousins and their kids and we take a photo of all the kids. This year we really had to boogie through it because the kids were getting pretty antsy. One would be smiling and ready to go and the others would be off in la la land.

Here's the best one that I got. Cole is 2 weeks away from being 7. Sophia is 4 and 1/2, Rylee is 4 (turns 5 in September), Morgan is 3 and 1/2, Lilly is 2 and 1/2, and Kale is 1.


Notice that Lilly and Kale are holding hands. That was completely unplanned.

I predict we'll be adding to this picture soon. (Could be my cousin or even my brother).


• Other Fun Things
My Aunt Carole and I took the girls to the Pittsburgh Children's Museum one afternoon. We all had a great time. Sophia carefully inspected every last inch of the place. Lilly mostly asked to be held, but did warm up and by the time we got to the Water Room she was as comfortable as could be. Both of the girls quickly put on the provided rain jackets. We skipped the free Crocs sandals because the girls had their boots on and I honestly didn't think their feet would get wet. I was wrong. They got wet in spite of the rain jackets. I mean really wet: pant legs, socks, and sleeves.

We didn't have a camera with us the entire day, but I managed to get a few gritty ones with my phone.

Overall we got some cute photos.

We got to Grancy and Big Daddy's house on Thursday afternoon. It was their 39th anniversary and they decided to postpone celebrating to spend the evening with all of us. All of us included: Rob & Christina, Claire, Craig & Jonas, Will, me, Sophia & Lilly. Not included: Mike, Misty, Terra, Madeline & Jack. A great big family indeed!

It was Will's first time meeting "baby Jonas". That's what the girls call him. We all think he's an adorably handsome little guy. He's got a very laid back personality and it seems like he's happy all the time. Lucky parents!

Sophia was kind of obsessed with baby Jonas. At first she wanted to comfort him when he cried and by the end of our stay she was ready to hold him..and she did.

Grancy, Christina and I took the girls to see Tangled. It was a really cute Disney movie and I could literally hear Sophia's heart fall with disappointment when Rapunzel lost her long hair. Lilly stayed awake and quietly watched the whole movie. They ate popcorn and drank fruit punch. What else could they possibly have asked for?

A little quiet time, I guess.

After the movie we were supposed to drop Lilly off back at home with Will and then go to the nail salon for manicures and pedicures. Sophia decided that she didn't want to go so she also stayed home with Will, but she played quietly by herself the entire time, I think.

On New Year's Eve we went over to Rob and Christina's townhouse to celebrate the new year with some of their friends. Will and I had a blast even though we were the "old couple". At some point in life I guess we all experience it. We were fitting right in so our experience will be a pleasant one to remember. We played Taboo. It was a riot and a lot of fun. Then the guys played Rock Bank for a while and then the ball dropped! We were out that night until 3:30am. For a couple of old-timers...I guess that's not too bad.

Here are some of my favorite shots from time spent in Northern VA. Here are the rest of the pictures.

Happy New Year!