Norah turns 3!

This past Sunday, the 28th, was Norah's birthday. She's now 3 years old! I can't believe it. We had a family dinner with my parents, then cake and presents afterwards.

Some Norah highlights:
- she loves dinosaurs and animals
- her favorite phrases are "WHAT??" and "Oh my gosh!"
- she loves to be tickled
- her favorite movies are "Bolt" and "The Land Before Time"
- at night she MUST have her flannel heart blanket to go to sleep
- she loves Nursery - every Sunday, halfway through Sacrament Meeting, she always asks "Is it time for Nursery?"
- her favorite things to eat at dinner are stroganoff and mashed potatoes (not necessarily together)
- she prefers bananas over strawberries

The Cake



The Presents


Opening the Presents


Peeking through the Presents

T is for...

Last week in Ava's preschool, it was "T" week. They learned about all sorts of things that began with the letter "T." They also made various projects revolving around "T." One such project was making the letter "T" out of Tootsie rolls. When the teacher presented them at the door to take home, I had a very different thought of what it looked like:









Yes, I thought "T" is for turd!!!

Keira - 9 months

At her 9-month appointment, Keira weighed in at 14 lbs, 4 oz, and measured at 26 inches long. She's a petite baby, but she's growing! And she's proportionate. All around she's just a cute little bundle of baby joy!

She can crawl fast enough to keep up with her older sisters, and she's now pulling herself up to stand. Keira hasn't quite figured out how to cruise yet - but all in due time.

I also noticed that she has not one, not two, but THREE more teeth coming in! That now brings the total to seven. She is a picky eater, so it's been slow to introduce new foods. But in true baby style, she does like to nom on Cheerios.

And to top it all off, she's just as happy as can be! It doesn't take much to get her to smile, giggle, and squeal. Our favorite thing to do is give her raspberries on her tummy. She will then just burst out in fits of laughter. So cute!

Already??

Yesterday I registered Ava for kindergarten. KINDERGARTEN!! I still can't believe that she's nearly 5 years old. And that I have two other girls. Where has the time gone?

Anyway, while registering you'd think it was the Spanish Inquisition. In order to prove residency, I had to have:


1) A copy of our rental agreement
2) A current PG&E bill
3) My driver's license


And if that weren't enough, additional things I needed were:


4) Ava's birth certificate
5) Ava's immunization records



Once I was at the school, I had a small folder of paperwork to fill out. Which reminds me, I still need to get back over there to give them a self-addressed stamped envelope so they can mail out the acceptance letter in April.

Good thing we live across the street! One of the many reasons why I love our new place.

Bedtime Delay Tactics

Normally Ava and Norah go down for bed without a hitch these days. However, lately Norah has developed a new delay tactic. It's hard to resist, for she's very cute. She will now get out of bed, come to us and say "Hug and kiss!" When we go to give her a hug and kiss, she will run down the hall and say, "NOOOO!! Hug and kiss in bed!!!!!"



My, how they get so sly, LOL!

Los Angeles

About a week and a half ago we took a family vacation down to Los Angeles. We met up with two of Mason's sisters. While we were there, we went to Disneyland, had a tea party at American girl, saw "The Princess and the Frog," and had an early Christmas at C.C.'s place. All in all it was a fun trip, and we were glad to catch up with family.



Waiting for the train as Disneyland


Head of Main Street. This was my first time seeing Disneyland decorated for Christmas.


Haunted Mansion



New Orleans Square

Cinderella's Castle



Norah and me

Ava - this summed up the first few hours at Disneyland (we didn't have very happy campers)

C.C. and Sage


Nancy, Sienna, and Kai

Mason and I taking a silly picture while waiting for Space Mountain


All the cousins (except Norah) posing with Minnie


The castle at night - so pretty!



Main Street at night


Our tea party at the American Girl store. We had drinks and finger-sized food.



The cousins' early Christmas at Aunt C.C.'s. Ava and Norah loved their dinosaur.

Keira - 7 month update

Today Keira went to the doctor for a weight check. Apparently she's taken after Ava with having a month of losing weight, and being overall a skinny baby. Her doctor wasn't too concerned after seeing the trend with Ava, but he wanted to be on the safe side all the same.

Keira weighed in at 12 lbs, 9 oz - about a pound heavier! While it's not a huge gain, at least she's trending up. She's just an active baby - crawling around and exploring, and also Ava and Norah love playing with her. She even has three teeth now!

But we've started to supplement with formula, so that's helping a bit. We just love our tiny babies!