It has been almost 3 full days of snow falling. We finally got everyone dressed to do some real playing. There wasn’t a lot on the ground and it was too dry to actually pack, but still fun.
Still snowing
1
Author Archives: Julie
First snow
There was a 3″ prediction for this morning so school was canceled last night. When we woke this morning to see nothing, we were a little bummed. Shortly after breakfast it started falling and we had a good snow for most of the day.
I finally let them out in it and they had a good 20 minutes of fun. Alyssa insisted that she didn’t need a hat or even socks, but Mommy turned out to be right in the end. They came in, bundled up and had some hot chocolate to warm up. Ethan came home early to make sure he didn’t get stuck in the next freeze coming and of course had to take care of his birds. They are definitely the best fed birds in town. Lucky for us, school is closed tomorrow too, so more of this family togetherness!
Document. Enjoy.
I enjoy taking pictures. I enjoy scrapbooking. I enjoy the hours that I can spend at a desk hand cutting and assembling my girls’ life onto pages. The problem really is that I do not feel I have the time for that. My last full page in an album is Megan’s 1st birthday. And only because I skipped from month 4 to one year. Audrey has hundreds of photos organized in iPhoto, but not a single print has been made. (Okay, maybe 2 for frames) I feel behind. I feel guilty. I feel full of intentions but left with nothing to show at the end of another year.
After browsing a bit, I found Project Life. I am excited about this. My husband rolled his eyes wondering why I can spend $39 whenever I want, but he has to ask permission to go to lunch. But deep down, he wants our lives documented. I know he does. The basic idea is to capture a photo a day and journal about it. The designs are done for you and you can add as little or as much to it. I want to capture those everyday things. That messy room after Megan has been quiet for 1 whole hour. That smile that is missing a few teeth. And that face covered in Oma’s famous spaghetti sauce. I don’t want to just frame those photos that capture the cuteness of my child on a certain day, but I want to frame all the moments that make up that child.
Since the kit is on back order right now, I am keeping the photo and journals on my computer. (I will probably do it that way anyway.) When I get a few weeks done, I will post some photos for you. But for now, here is my examples for day 1 and day 2 of January.
* Alyssa is so much like her Daddy sometimes. She created these letters by herself, and of course spelled something sweet. Thank goodness I have an empty spot on the mantle for her to showcase her work. *
* I found this pattern online and I was excited to see it in the mail. I absolutely love this dress and can’t wait to get started on one for Megan and a version of it for Audrey and maybe even Alyssa. Now for fabric.*
Merry Christmas
This year’s Christmas story was read by Papa and we tried to act it out with our little people. Each year we think of a better way to do it (like last year I glued all the garb on each person) and next year we need a board. Alyssa and Megan took their turn retelling the story and it makes my heart feel good to hear them tell what they know to be truth.
Christmas morning we did stockings and gifts, a big breakfast, Christmas lunch and all rested with the Polar Express. It has been a great Christmas and we were all sad to see Nana and Papa leave today. More Pics
Christmas Activities
My parents came up to spend Christmas with us this year. It has been fun doing a lot of the holiday activities together. Today we cut out the cookies that we have made all my life and tomorrow we will decorate them.The girls enjoyed helping Nana this year, and I enjoyed not having to do it all myself (or at all really).
We also bundled up and visited Opryland Hotel. We walked through all the decorations, begged for a boat ride and/or a carriage ride, enjoyed a close-up view of the fountain show and ended the late evening with ice cream. The fun just never ends.
Audrey Action
Two new videos of Audrey Lynn. This was her first take at her cake on her actual birthday. She did about the same for her party, but this is the unedited experience of watching her devour the cake.
Then the progression of learning to walk. This starts when she was about 11 months old and she is still falling down at 13 months old. But she has her own new pair of shoes and usually tries to walk when she wants to go somewhere.
Thanksgiving
We celebrated our Thanksgiving this year with the Whaley side in Austin, TX. It should have been an easy trip. Fly out Wed and fly home Sat, allowing for most of the weekend to recoup and get ready for school again. However, since Alyssa had the flu the week of and Megan awoke with an ear infection the night before the 8am flight, we had to change plans. After a little disappointment, we decided to just cancel the flight and spend the holiday at home. But with all the family getting together, we didn’t want to miss it. So we packed up the car for the 14 hour trip. I feel like we are pros at this by now, so it wasn’t too bad.
We enjoyed a few days with Ethan’s family and his grandpa, aunt, uncle and cousins. It was definitely worth it. The best part was putting the kids in bed and playing games with the family. If we weren’t playing, we were at least all sitting together playing on iPhones.
Only a few from the family missing.
Grandpa’s 80th and Audrey’s 1st.
All the Whaley cousins
Birthday Girl
We are one week into this one year old thing. Audrey has successfully moved to whole milk, but we are working on the cup vs. the bottle. Amazing how with that first child, I was so focused about getting her where she needed to be at the right time. This time the bottle is so easy, so why sit there with her forcing the cup? She has always been a good sleeper and continues to do about 11-12 hours at night and still takes 2 naps a day. She loves to eat. I can spend 5 minutes cutting up green beans, chicken, and some fruit and put it on her plate thinking – “ok, that will last for a bit, I will get my lunch now. ” Nope. This girl can scarf it down. She is in the 25% weight, which I will totally take, and she is off the chart in height. She is over 2 inches taller than Alyssa or Megan at one year. She can stand on her own from the floor and takes a few steps, but prefers to crawl still. Again… first kid I would have cared. And I had to stretch the truth when they asked me if she can say two words. Come on, two words… surely she can say two words… Dada and… Does va-va count? She is a joy. She is happy. She is funny. She copies my laugh, she roars like a tiger. She gives open-mouthed kisses, and loves LOVES her stuffed bunny. I think this is the high life. These next months are my favorite and I hope I can truly enjoy them for what they are.
We had a little party for Audrey last week and here are some pics from the occasion. Like I said, she likes to eat!
So Much
From I Love You So…
…I love you as BRILLANT
as each sparkling star,
and as WAY OUT as space,
I love you THAT far.
I love you as GIGANTIC
as a great lion’s roar,
and as DEEP as the ocean,
I love you MUCH more…
You’re my SWEETIE, my dear,
my SMILE and laughter.
You’re my PLAYMATE for always,
and my JOY ever after.
Happy Birthday to my littlest girl.
More awesome pics by Amanda Mankin.
Whaleys to the Rescue
That’s right. We are all superheros. I had planned out a great idea for costumes. The two little ones were going to be home-made hand-me-down costumes that I was very proud of. So I just had to think of something for Alyssa. Well, as it turns out, she can think on her own now. Dang! And she picked Super Girl. Well, then of course, Megan doesn’t want to be a puppy, she wants a superhero too. Then Bat Girl is born. Now there can’t be any fun unless Audrey too is one and Dad comes up with The Flash. Then he stops by Hobby Lobby on the way to work one day (how cute is that) and we all now are superheros. It was a lot of fun putting them together. All pics
Here are some others of my almost ONE year old.
And since I am a words of affirmation type person, here is my Halloween dessert. After the photo, Ethan decided the pumpkin patch needed a gum drop fence. I love him like that.
