Abby Turns 1!

Well, Abby has turned the big 1! I can't believe that little girl is 1 already. Time flys to fast. Her 1 year stats were the smallest of all 3 kids by far. She is definitely tiny. Her weight is 18 lbs. Her height is 28 in. She was around the 10 percentile in height, but 25 percentile in weight. Hopefully that doesn't mean we have a chucky monkey!

We celebrated her birthday a few weeks ago, and had such a good time with family. All the kiddos cousins are getting so big that it's fun to watch them all together.

Swim Lessons and Cards

This past weekend Greg wanted to work on his winter fishing skills (and I hate to be cold), and I stayed in Fulton. We had a nice visit with the family. Luke had fun playing the matching game with the cards. Abby and Laura ate up as much Grammy time as possible. This left me with some quiet time.

After the weekend rush, we came home to our very first day of swimming lessons. I signed Luke up at the Y. He has a kid named Jack in his class, and Miss Mandy is his instructor. This lady is way to nice which almost made me feel sorry for her after dealing with me. Almost!  The lesson started off with me in the water with Luke for like 5 minutes when Miss Mandy said I could leave because Luke was comfortable and didn't need me (wrong choice of words to use). So me (in the nicest tone I could muster up) replied I'll let Luke be in the determining factor if I need to leave. So I got out of the pool, and of course my little buddy jumped out with me. I told him that I wasn't leaving and was sitting on the wall by the pool. He was OK with that and went back to the lesson. Then the other Y lady said for me to just wait until Luke was distracted and leave to the upstairs windows. My nice tone was no longer there for some reason, and I informed the manager of the pool that I would never disappear on my son, and scare him like that. And if she really wanted me to leave I would be taking my son with me. She said to stay, and then with only 5 minutes left of his hour long lesson, I get paged to the daycare (which I think was planned). I told Luke I to watch for me because I would be up in the windows waving at him. So I think I broke an Olympic record sprinting up the stairs from the pool, and then I saw Luke patiently waiting for me. When he saw me, he jumped up and down waving. I of course waved back, and then he continued on with his lesson. Looking up at me everytime he did something. I began to laugh and cry at the same time because it sunk into my thick skull that he didn't need me right beside him. Conveniently the day care is located right by the windows to the pool. Since the door was open I asked them (from my perch on the window) what was wrong. She said that Laura wouldn't put her shoes on. I laughed and asked if that was really the issue here. She said it was no big deal as long as I didn't care. I quickly told her I didn't care if she wore shoes, and they were lucky she didn't take her socks off too. But we all survived Day 1, watch out Day 2!

New Years Fun

 This year Greg and I actually went out for New Years. We had a lot of fun, but during the day the kiddos and myself got to have some fun in the snow. Laura was convinced it was "white rain". They had so much fun, and then we came in for hot chocolate with marshmellows. Yum.

Abby couldn't make the New Year

Abby trying to get out while we played in the snow.

Christmas time

 

Christmas this year was a bit more exciting than last year. The kiddos are starting to really understand the concept. They really got into Santa this year (which was fun for Greg and I). We also got to spend some great time with family and friends. Sometimes I wish we had Christmas more than once a year, and then I remember how much work goes into it and I say once a year is enough!

Santa's Letters Came Today!

Sitting on Santa's lap was only fun for Laura (who recited her ENTIRE list to him)

Kiddos after reading thier letters

 

I know Luke's expression does not show his excitement, but it was there before I turned on the camera. The kids wrote letters to Santa for the first time this year, and we have been checking the mail everyday waiting on his response. Well, today was the day! The kids grabbed their letters and ran back into the house. Then we opened our letters to find that both kiddos made the good list (they got a sticker saying they made it). They also recieved a Santa dollar (which made Luke's day). Then we read their letters while looking at their autographed picture of old Santa himself. They couldn't believe how much Santa knew about them. Luke wanted to know how he knew about Otis. I had to sit and laugh at their curiosity. We even looked at the envelope it came in which was postmarked from the North Pole.

Laura's letter from Santa

Luke's letter from Santa

Fun Days

Abby grilling us some dinner

Abby waiting on her snack

Laura and Abby playing animals together

 

These days don't feel like the normal December days. The kids are spending a little bit of time outside each day, and ALOT of play time inside.

Laura playing with her Little People

Laura with her new favorite snack (pickles)

Luke smiling for the camera

Luke watching his cartoon

It's Zoo Time!

 

Today was a post call day for Greg, so he asked the kids if they wanted to go to the zoo. They started running around screaming so we had no choice but to go to the zoo. The weather was beautiful and the zoo was empty (a great combo). Luke and Laura ran around all day looking at animals and imitating their sounds. It was so fun to watch. They are growing up to fast. Abby went along for the ride with no complaints. Then to top it all off, they got McDonalds for lunch and a little play time at Gmas.

Today was a post call day for