My Big Girl Megan

Megan does not take pacifiers and is not much of a swaddler (or is it me who's not much of a swaddler?), but the girls wrapped her up and gave her the binky and I thought it was cute...so I took a picture.

Before I took this picture, Nate was on the phone and Megan was looking up at him holding his tie. Nate spends a lot of time on the phone, especially right when he gets home from work. But he's always good to hold Megan while he's doing it so I can finish getting dinner on the table.

In the last few weeks Megan has started sitting up on her own (without the Bumbo) and has started clapping. I don't have pictures of either one yet, but they both are really cute! A whole new world has opened up to her now that she's sitting up. I just can't get enough of her! Hopefully she'll stay in the sitting and not moving stage for a little while.

Sleepovers and a trip to the zoo

Lia, Laura and Josh LOVE getting their sleeping bags out and setting them up in the family room. Sometimes they stay for the night, other times just until the popcorn in gone and the movie is over. It reminds me of a similar picture I have with my brother and sisters when we were little. The kids also love going to the zoo. We went a few weeks ago and I've decided the best time to go is in the winter--if it's not freezing. The train wasn't running, which Josh was disappointed by, but it wasn't crowded and it wasn't hot. Josh's favorite animals are the monkeys and the elephants. I'm pretty certain Josh has an imaginary friend who's a monkey and who likes to ride in Lia's seat in the van. I hope it is an imaginary friend. Lia had three imaginary friends at this age--Heber, Haber and Hiber. We were all kind of sad when they went away. I'm glad to see my kids are more creative than I was at their age. I like the zoo and all, but short of going out to dinner, one of my favorite things to do is stay home and watch a movie with the kids in their sleeping bags.

Lia's 7th Birthday

Lia wasn't feeling very good in this picture, if you can't tell. But she was a good sport for the picture.
The one thing Lia asked for for her birthday when I asked her a month ago was overalls. I had to search high and low but I finally found some. And I have to say she looks cute in them. (She also ended up asking for roller blades which she loves and is quite good at.)

Josh after enjoying his cake. He was pretending to be cookie monster while he was eating.




Lia had an interesting birthday this year. She got sick the night before and we had to change our plans. Needless to say she was really disappointed. But, it ended up being a fun day anyway. I got to spend the whole day with her without having to worry about being anywhere or getting anything done and she got to celebrate for three days instead of one. We had the family party the next night and her party with her friends the day after that. Lia is such a good girl and we are so grateful to have her. It sounds so trite but it really does seem like yesterday that we were celebrating her first birthday, right after we moved into this house. Being the first, Lia has had to learn and grow with us. I hope she'll forgive us for that. She is incredibly forgiving and understanding and always tries to make us feel good. We love you, Lia. Thanks for being you.