Seeing Is Believing

Yes this is my I hate bows, ponytails, do not even brush my hair daughter. And she asked for them - okay I might have bribed her a little. She is currently obsessed with hair products (and make up and nail polish and shoes and the color pink), and I told her she could use whatever products she wanted, but we had to do her hair first. It didn't last all day, but it make it through a trip to the mall and most of the afternoon. We are on day three now and she has agreed to doing her hair every day.

All Checks

Brandt got his report card for the 2nd nine weeks and once again got all checks! Checks are the very best you can get in Kindergarten, so he did great. We are very proud of how well he has done this year. He is reading so well, counting by fives and tens, learning to add, spelling all of his colors and so many other things.
Yes, this is a major reason we chose to move the Frisco - the schools and teachers are fantastic!

All Many Pretties

Campbell finds many ways to busy herself during the day. Yesterday while I sorted through yet another bin of baby stuff, she was playing upstairs. It was quiet for a bit too long and when I asked what she was doing, her reply was "Getting all many pretties." This could mean lots of things, like playing with make up, so I asked her to come downstairs. This is what I was greeted with...


She noticed I was trying not to laugh and said "Everyone need jewelries and I have all many pretties. Let's go to Wal-Mart." (Pronounced Wol Mote)
All many is her definition of more than one. Perhaps I need to work on a lesson in moderation?

The Lessons We Teach

As parents we have the responsibility of teaching our children many lessons in life. I find that I spend the most time on the most basic ones - treat others kindly, share, don't lie, don't steal, don't hit (we work on that a lot).
Yesterday I realized I might not be setting the best example for don't cheat.

Brandt got a new DS game and there was a screen to input codes, which would unlock something. Nothing in the game or the instructions told me where to get these codes or what they were going to unlock, so I went to the Internet. Sure enough, there was a whole page of "cheat codes" I could I type in for his new game. I tried a couple and they unlocked new costumes and toys for his pets. He was thrilled and his very tired mom was saved from having to play the game and try to figure out how to win the codes herself - everyone wins, right?
The only problem, first thing this morning he wanted me to get back on the computer and get more codes. Now how do I explain that I was cheating on the computer? Believe me, no one wants to actually play Catz and get the codes themselves! Just listening to him play the game is enough to make me want to put Tabitha outside. Is it really cheating to save my sanity and not take care of a digital cat?

Maybe for now I will just focus on not hitting and sharing (we have plenty of room for improvement there!)

Campbell Turns 3 X Three

Our little princess turned 3 on Monday (and Sunday and Friday). When you have family more than one city, you get to have all many birthdays and she loved every one of them!

Somewhere along the way she decided that the cake and presents were worth turning three for and conceded to giving up being two and the binkies that went with it. She is now proud to be three and is telling anyone who will listen. We are down to binkies only for sleeping, although she begs for them when she is tired, mad or gets hurt , we are having pretty good days. If I remind her they are only for night, she tells me "that is not good idea!" when she really wants one. It is a little harder since she knows exactly which cabinet they are in and also knows where to look for long lost and forgotten ones. We have had a couple of meltdowns with her in front of the kitchen cabinet yelling binkie and jumping up and down - truly a video moment!

She had her three year check up on Tuesday and has grown 3 inches since last year! She is 70th percentile for both height and weight and on track for everything else. Her leg has healed fine, I had to remind the doctor which one was broken because she has already regained almost all of the lost muscle. Her limp has completely corrected itself and Dr. Diaz was thrilled, since it has only been two weeks since we took her boot off. Overall a great checkup!
As promised, here are a few pictures...

Our Sweet Samantha

With a heavy heart I have to tell you all that Samantha passed away on Saturday. For those of you who know them as the fat kitty and the little kitty, Samantha was the little one. She was a part of our family for as long as we have been a family, as I had her for 12 years. The kids are handling it pretty well and understanding as best they can. We will definitely miss her, but we loved the time we had her here and all the good memories we have of her.
The kids are already asking when we can get a new kitty, so Tabitha won't be lonely.

I promise birthday pictures tomorrow. Campbell is still celebrating!

Happy New Year!

At the urging of several friends, I've decided to join the technology age and start our family blog. I won't promise to update it everyday, but I will try to post periodically and include plenty of pics of the kids.


Christmas is over and as usual, Ho Ho was very good to our children - including make and polish (make up and nail polish), as requested by Campbell. They were overwhelmed and now Mommy has the job of finding homes for all the new toys. Somewhere along the way Daddy is begging for a purge of the old, so we will see if we can manage to sneak out a few old things!



Unbelievably, Campbell turns 3 in four days and the countdown is on. She is all about the party and the presents, although she insists she is going to remain 2 forever. Should I be concerned that she is already starting to lie about her age?



Lastly, the baby update. The kids have lovingly nicknamed him Cuckoo and the name seems to have stuck. I am sure that he will love it in a few years! I saw the doctor on Monday (December 29) and all was well. His heartbeat was 156 and he measured one week ahead - 26 weeks. He is super active - especially at night! We are looking forward to our next ultrasound on January 29th.



Here are a few pictures from Christmas...

Happy New Year and Best Wishes for a Wonderful 2009!

-Michele