3 ... 2 ... 1 ... Happy Birthday, Matthew!

Matthew is ONE today. Happy Birthday, Matthew! I can't believe he is one already. I know that a year ago today I woke up and wonder how much longer I could stand being pregnant. Matthew decided there was no more growing room and was born about 4pm weighing 8 lbs 10 ounces. He is still a big boy. He is now wearing 24 months clothes even though he is only a year old.

As of today we have
a 3 year old ...
a 2 year old ... and
a 1 year old ... until Aug 24 when Grace turns 4!
Let the comments begin because I know they will be coming!

Grace in her love for independent playing asked yesterday go play on the playground. Sophie was taking one of her rare naps so Grace was out there alone. Brian kept checking on her and she had fun out there by herself ... well until she got stuck because the play house door wouldn't open and she refused to go down the hot slide (smart girl!) or the rock wall board. She is lucky Brian saw her and rescued his Princess!

Sophie still loves to sing. If Grace and Matthew fall asleep in the van and Sophie is still awake, she will sit back there singing songs to herself. It is so cute to hear Old McDonald, You are my sunshine, or Itsy Bitsy Spider as you are driving along. We must not forget these songs ... they are certainly better than ones we will be hearing from the back of the van ten years from now!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Grace has started to understand Christmas. When we told her it was Jesus' birthday, that was enough to make it "click" for her. Brian even made baby Jesus a "happy cake" (a.k.a a birthday cake) that we shared with my family on Christmas day.

I had a hard choice right before Christmas but decided to go ahead and have my gallbladder taken out on December 23rd. I had already missed all of the Christmas cookies and goodies and only had a taste of Sophie's birthday cake. When I was presented with the chance to have the surgery then and enjoy Christmas dinner, I felt I had to take that chance. I am soooo glad I did. I have been feeling MUCH better. It was hard to be sore around Christmas but the kids really helped in that area!


Christmas with little kids is like a tornado. They don't understand yet that presents are for different people and wanted to open them all. After watching the girls RIP open their presents, we let them open ours too because it was pure joy to watch them have at it! Grace still discards clothes when she finds them in boxes. There was an exception this year and that is her "Princess" coat that my mom got her. Sophie wants everything open all of the way. She unwrapped bars of soap in one of my gifts before I noticed what she had. oops! Matthew was just happy to be held so long. He is such a cuddle bug right now.

Sophie didn't catch that Christmas was over and kept asking for the "Santa Claus" song at bedtime. Brian gave in for an extra week or so before he started pushing for another song. The girls thought the Christmas clearance shopping at Walmart was the best thing, well until they realized they didn't keep out what they picked out. Hopefully they will still like those decorations next year!

After this Christmas, I am almost ready for next Christmas. Almost. I can't wait to see how excited they are next year. I can tell you right now that I do plan on enjoying Christmas cookies next year and will probably be a baking machine to make up for my lack of baking this year. So watch out!;)

And most importantly ... Happy Birthday, Jesus!