Hello 2010!

I made it a year! I admit my last several posts of 2009 are still in the draft mode but I will finish them here soon. It is great to look back over my posts from last year and see how the kids have grown.

This year will be exciting, well that is what I keep telling myself. For the first time, Brian won't be staying at home with the kids full time. He will doing his student teaching semester that he put off doing a year ago due our finances. Thankfully, my mom will be watching the kids during this short time frame since it would near impossible to find a day care to only take them for that time or someone to watch them during that time. We are so thankful for her doing this already and it hasn't even started yet.

Grace is still loving school. She was really excited school started back up this week. Brian has started to work on some crafts with her (a snake and a mask) and she loves them. She does get very upset if Sophie "breaks" her crafts though!

Sophie is flirting with wanting to potty train but isn't committed to the cause yet. She is a full blown two year old with the attitude and tantrums to go with it. Some days we want to send her back and get our 1 year old back. Sophie loves Matthew and is a really good big sister to him when she shoves his pacifier back into his mouth!=P

Matthew is a growing boy. He is 5 and half months and is fitting in his 12 month clothes perfectly. I have learned that when this happens he has a few more weeks left in them. It is a good thing I have a stash of 18 month clothes already. He is doing good with his eating oatmeal. That is he is doing good if Brian feeds him. He still won't eat much of it for me which is expected. Brian told me the other day that Matthew will eat us out of house and home if he keeps up his levels of eating.

A family moment: The girls, Brian, and I had a game time for the first time the other day. We played Hi Ho! Cherry-o. Sophie didn't fully get it but enjoyed it. Grace will run around asking to play the "cherry game". We are looking for to more family game nights as they get older!

ABCs ... oatmeal ... and a teacher all swirled together!

Sophie's New Thing: Sophie has started to say the ABCs. Well she only gets to D so it is "ABCD" ... "ABCD" ... "ABCD". It is very cute but after about the twentieth ABCD, you wonder when she will get a few more letters in the alphabet!

Matthew's New Thing: Matthew got his first taste of Oatmeal on Thanksgiving day. My mom got the privilege of being the first one to feed him a solid. He didn't eat much because it is hard to figure out the swallowing thing for all babies but he did get some of it down. At this point, it is just practice eating off a spoon and practice swallowing something besides milk. He will get it. The way he eyes our food, I know he will catch on fast!

Grace's New Thing: Grace has become a teacher to Sophie and Matthew. She has started sharing some of her "lessons" that she learns at school with Sophie and Matthew. My favorite is the "good morning song". I don't know the song and only hear the parts she sings. They must hold hands when they sing this at school because she makes a point to hold Sophie and Matthew's hands and starts singing "good morning to you, good morning to you" ... "good morning to you, good morning to you". Maybe one day we will get hear the full song but for now, I enjoy the part she is teaching Sophie and Matthew while she holds their hands.