My two babies

Grant update: Little Man now weighs 16 whopping pounds. He's 3 months old now, and he's made it successfully through his colicky stage. Thank goodness! He has really been a much happier baby the last couple of weeks. Grant is cooing alot, and he smiles at everyone. He is a happy, content baby as long as his tummy is full. He's beginning to actually enjoy his tummy time, and he intently studies his toys now. He loves his big swing that Geez bought, and he watches the birds fly overhead with great enthusiasm. He's been sleeping through the night for about three weeks now which is LOVELY. Matt and I sleep much more now than we have in several months. We only get up to check Abby, and I'm so glad. Grant does arise earlier than anyone in the house...even before me I'm ashamed to say. I used to be so good at getting up early, but I've just been so tired for several months now. Pregnancy and then actually caring for four kids has finally caught up with me!



Ali Kate Update:
For all of her efforts to be like her big sisters, Ali Kate decided there's one part of big girl life that she doesn't like: having her toe nails painted. This morning we all had manicures and pedicures (well, the girls that is), and of course Al wanted hers done too. Well, as soon as her nail polish had dried, she started complaining, "No like it. No like it." I got a baby wipe and "wiped" it off, but she's smarter than that. She continued to sit down and put her toes in the air toward my face so that I would see that there was still polish on them. She hated it! Of course, Abby and Isabella loved theirs. I was genuinely surprised that Ali Kate didn't like this. I have done her pedicure once before, and she loved it. Secretly, I'm glad that she wants to still be a baby in some ways because she's grown up way too fast having two big sisters to emulate all the time. She'd rather play Strawberry Cupcake (her word for Strawberry Shortcake) or Barbie than building blocks or wooden puzzles. She's traded in shape sorters for My Little Pony. But she's still Mama's little baby girl. Even though she's not little by any means, Miss 2T!

ABC Days

So we've been working on doing some homeschool type activities more frequently with Abby. We decided for a host of reasons not to put her in preschool this year, and I feel good about that (most of the time). I have small twinges of regret here and there, but deep down I believe we're doing the best thing for her. Anyway, our goal is to really learn about homeschool during this year while being intentional about teaching her kindergarten level things this year. We're of course working on perfecting our writing skills. To involve Isabella, we're doing a letter of the week. We do a craft, word searches, writing practice, and artwork involving the letter. Yesterday we painted cows for C week. That was fun.

Abby worked today on printing the number 4. It's a little challenging for her. She can use more practice for sure. She has discovered pencils with erasers and is delighted by erasers. Isn't that cute? That warms my schoolteacher heart. I showed her about a month ago how to use an eraser, and she loved it. I mean, loved it. So today I found her mistakenly writing fours so that she could erase and fix them. Talk about a big nerd! Just like her mom. She loves learning, and she loves school supplies too.

We've been working on early reading skills. We did -at words last week. We haven't done any this week....we've been busy with life! Hopefully we'll slow down soon....although I think it'll be more like in 20 years before I slow down.

Anyway, need to sleep....

Fancy Nancy Mania

The Fancy Nancy mania continues in the Stine household, and the fever is spreading! Ali Kate is going around putting on Isabella's shoes and chanting, "Nancy Nancy." That's her version of Fancy Nancy. Isabella, of course, still insists on being called Fancy Nancy all the time. Tonight she wore a new princess nightgown, and she lit up with delight as she put on some dress-up shoes that "matched perfectly" as she so declared. She has dedicated the top drawer of her nightstand to her dress-up shoes. We're also halfway to earning her second pair of Fancy Nancy shoes. Can you guess which book she'll be getting for Christmas?

Abby can't stand this new obsession. She chants Isabella Grace on car rides while Isabella argues that her name is indeed Fancy Nancy. It makes for VERY long car rides! Very long! They argue back and forth about it. I think Abby is a little jealous since Fancy Nancy was originally her special book.

Al

Isn't she too cute? Always grinning for the camera...she's just such a delight! I love little Al.

My big girls

Just a fun glimpse of my cuties! They are growing up way too fast!

Nursery update

Last weekend Matt painted Grant's nursery this sweet blue color, technically called Atmospheric. These photos were taken right after the paint job...we've added some wall accessories since then. I still have some canvases to paint...one day soon! Matt did an awesome job.

Fancy Nancy

Well, Isabella is no longer Isabella. As of about a week ago, she insists that she is not Isabella and that we are to call her Fancy Nancy at all times. It's cute, but we aren't perfect...so we do forget and accidentally call her Isabella from time to time. Of course, we get corrected very promptly. Isabella has been struggling majorly for several weeks with the transistions in her life. New baby brother, new house, new room, new big girl bed. Instead of making gradual transitions, we had to go through them all at once. That's just how the cookie crumbled this time. Of course all parenting books say not to do this to your child. Isabella, I hope we haven' t ruined you for life! (I think you'll be just fine, kiddo.) Anyway, she's had a hard time with the big girl bed....climbing out to get books, toys, shoes, etc. So we made an incentive chart, and she gets one sticker for each nap or bedtime that she successfully lays there quietly and goes to sleep. She started out not getting stickers often....but then she got the hang of it. Ten stickers meant she could buy a pair of Fancy Nancy shoes at Target. (I wanted her to have them anyway, but I thought that this incentive would be a great way to help her with her problem and to help her appreciate a gift since they are usually just given everything.) Well, she got her 10 stickers...and would you believe that Target was sold out of Fancy Nancy shoes? So we had to buy the dress instead ($25 rather than the $10 for the shoes!). That's a nice reward for sleeping well 10 times if you ask me. I'll gladly go to sleep quietly 10 times for $25.

Now that she has the dress, she is Fancy Nancy. She has practically lived in that dress. It's so sweet. And guess what we're doing now? Ten more stickers....another Target run....and this time I pray they'll have the shoes. Otherwise, we're calling all the local stores to find a pair. This kid deserves them! I never knew that a book she loved would evolve into this major obsession! I love this age....isn't 3 awesome?

Seatbelt Allergies

Abby has been cracking us up lately saying some of the craziest things. The other day we were playing dollhouse, and she was letting the Grandma drive the car while sitting on top of it. I asked Abby is she was going to put the Grandma in the car to drive, and Abby told me that she couldn't. When I inquired a little more, I learned that the Grandma has "seatbelt allergies." Well, that explains it all. I think that's what I had as a kid because I never wore my seatbelt until I got my own driver's license. From that day on, I've gotten over my allergies.

Last week for some reason I decided that my very-gross-and-underloved minivan needed some TLC. So I told the girls that we were going to the carwash. Bad move. They both freaked out and explained how scared they were of car washes. Abby went on and on about it. Finally she said, "The carwash is like a pile of hurageous (humongous and outrageous mixed into one word) ghosts." I have no idea where my otherwise bright child got this expression, but she continued to say it over and over. So needless to say, my Sienna is sitting in the drive right now just as dirty as can be.

It was cute tonight in the car when Abby decided to be an empathetic big sister to Isabella. We're sitting at a light, and I hear Isabella say, "Abby, sometimes when I cut out pictures for my paper, I forget to glue them on." (Now let me preface this by saying that they had not been talking about gluing, pictures, or anything even remotely related at all. This was just what was on Isabella's mind at the moment.) So, Abby looks at her so seriously and says, "That's okay, Isabella. I understand. It'll be alright." Apparently it can be very devastating if you forget to glue. How cute!

Cutie Pie

Thank you, Grant, for posing for Mommy's impromptu photo shoot the other day. Grant is almost 3 months old in this picture. Isn't my little man adorable?