Corinne is Three!

We're still digging out from under way too many presents...three days of them, to be exact, since Corinne's birthday is the day after Christmas. We had a princess themed party, I guess you could say. Princess table cloth, napkins, plates, balloon, and the grand finale was the cake with all six Disney princesses...which she only knows about through books. Corinne hasn't seen any of the movies and has no idea who Jasmine is, except that her name is Jasmine. Kind of funny. But she loved every minute of the cake and decorations and decided to "set the table" before everyone arrived. As for gifts, all along she has been telling us that for her birthday she wanted a Dora doll (again, C has never seen the show!), a blue car (of the matchbox car variety) and a princess cake. "That's all I need for my birthday" she told us. Well, she got that and a whole lot more, but we are thankful that she is so easy to please. And in fact, I think by her birthday she was rather tired of opening presents and wasn't into the attention that came with opening them. But all of her favorite people were in attendance (minus one...Aunt Laura couldn't be here) and we had a great celebration! She certainly is growing up. Corinne is such a gift and we couldn't be more proud of her.

Christmas

On Christmas Eve we spent time with Aunt Marcey and my dad (pop pop). Again, Corinne helped everyone open their presents and kept announcing that "I will wait until it's my turn" each time there was a present for someone else...though she was definitely eager to find one for herself! And since she can read her own name on the gift tags under the tree, she already knew which present she wanted to open next. One of Corinne's gifts was a Dr. Seuss/Cat in the Hat game called "I Can Do That!" which we all had a ball playing. It involves the yellow "trick-a-ma-stick" pictured in the photo above. We highly recommend it for kids her age! Simple fun.

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve out at Brett's parents' house and then came home to be with mom, Bill, and Marcey. It made for a busy day but we had a wonderful time! Corinne loved opening gifts for Ellen and Sophie, as well as herself (of course). Ellen and Sophie were happy with the bows from the packages...never mind the presents. After the kids went to bed we played a few games of Liar's Dice...our new family favorite.

Christmas Treats

Corinne, Aunt Marcey and I made some chocolate dipped pretzels for a little Christmas treat. It was so easy, kid friendly, and fun! (Just dip pretzel rods in melted chocolate then roll in sprinkles, candies, or whatever you choose!) Corinne's favorite part was licking the spatula at the end. Of course.

Downtown Sights

Sadly there just isn't that much to see downtown anymore at the holidays. I have fond memories of going downtown every year at Christmas with my family to walk through the numerous department stores, banks and hotels that offered things to do and see at the holidays. I remember little villages that were set up with moving people inside, the elves at Shilito's, getting a candy cane at several of our stops, and just generally making a whole day of it because there were so many kid friendly and interactive displays. Not so anymore. And it's such a bummer! But nonetheless, Corinne doesn't know any different. So we still made a (short) morning of it downtown with her recently. We met Brett at his office, went over to the Duke Energy Center train display (quite impressive!) and then had lunch at our favorite little dive in the Carew Tower after stopping to look at a few somewhat lame displays along the way. But it was still a fun morning out together!

Comparison

Sitting behind Sophie (L) and Ellen (R) the other day I found myself studying them. I can immediately see many differences and wouldn't confuse them--even without seeing their sweet faces. But I thought it would be a fun way to let others see them, too. Unfortunately, it's not a straight on shot as I had hoped. And Sophie kept turning to see what I was up to. But I love when they play together! The latest is that they both wave to say hello to me...mostly when I'm giving them their bottles. But also while we're at the dinner table. It's very cute!

Growing Up

Corinne's latest game of pretending includes playing "School". She wears her backpack, gets her school books together (my address book and planner), and puts on her fancy shoes (uh, they're mine, actually). I am usually the teacher and when she arrives at school she sits on a carefully placed pillow on the floor which is her desk. Then she asks, "What are we going to learn today?" -- every teacher's dream! I find this new game funny and sweet and clever for Corinne to have come up with these things. However, I think I'm running out of material to cover at "school"!Corinne has also become extremely interested in using scissors lately...I have no idea where that came from. She taught herself how to use our big ones (I got some child proof scissors for her stocking) and loves to just sit and cut away. The other new thing lately is writing letters...to Santa (in which she tells him she is a good girl and she loves him) and to various other people. Finally she has begun to take even a tiny interest in paper & pencil! For the longest time she would have nothing to do with them, and she's still not interested in crayons. But, alas, our girl is growing up. And along the school lines it will be a while before she ever makes it there. I think I've decided to keep her at home for next year. It is going to be such a fun year for her with her sisters and I cannot wait to get out with all three of them next fall. My hope is that it will be a great year for the three of them to develop their relationships with one another, and that is partly my motive behind keeping Corinne at home. In the meantime, we'll just play school together at home :) Afterall, I did teach fourth grade for a while...perhaps I'll just skip to that curriculum.

Long Week

It's been a long week for us! Not complaining though, our floor is part way in. We still can't

do too much in the kitchen as the stove and fridge are a bit displaced....and we have to hop around what's already in place on the floor. But to amend my last post: Ellen and Soph both took 2 hour morning naps the other day at my mom's and Corinne even took a nap on my mom's big bed. So I guess if they are tired enough they will sleep. Here is Corinne sacked out as I'm backing into the garage upon returning home (taken on my phone, hence the funny size)

Demolition Week

Goodbye ugly, dark, terracotta kitchen floor. I will be so glad when you are all gone!! You never look clean no matter how much I scrub you. You are an ugly orange color and I have never been fond of you...ever. Because you are so difficult to tear up (by hand, with a sledge hammer, no kidding!) I have to pack up 3 small children every morning (who sometimes don't take naps so well in new places--ugh!) and then I come home to a dusty, dirty house. BUT, I think it will be worth it in the end. So long.

7+ Months

(Sophie-L & Ellen-R)

(Ellen-L & Sophie-R)

Ellen likes to bounce up and down when she's sitting with us at the table and eating her food. Maybe because she's the one that loves the jumperoo so much, and wishes she was there all the time? She is also more sensitive to strangers out of the two girls. She does a funny thing where she puts her arms behind her head, leans back, and then stares up at the mysterious face watching her. She has gotten better about the stranger anxiety thing, but still has it to a greater degree than Soph. Both girls drool a ton due to their age, with no teeth to boast of, but Ellen drools WAY more than Soph. And Ellen is still bigger by about 2 lbs but doesn't "talk" or babble as much as Sophie. Ellers continues to roll all over the place all the time. Sophie...she seems to be more mellow lately (this used to be reversed in the two girls) and is still content to lay on her back and suck on her two fingers. She's not as strong (or big!) as Ellen but still sits up pretty well. Sophie seems to be stuck on the letter "b" and babbles it all day long. She is also my early bird in the morning, usually the first one to wake up. Both girls eat really well--way better with the baby food than Corinne ever was. But in other ways it seems like Ellen and Sophie are reaching milestones a little later than C did. This may be because they are twins, but I find it interesting nonetheless. Ellen and Sophie are sweet babies and they bring all of us a lot of joy as we learn new things everyday about raising twins.

Sisters Weekend

Sun. Sand. Relaxing!

Having Fun

Just hanging out in Ellen and Sophie's room the other day while Brett lowered the crib mattresses and Aunt Marce took the picture. We had a great time playing around. (That's Soph on the left and Ellen on the right)

Dedicated

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, celebrating with family and counting our many blessings. It was a great few days from start to finish! We ate more than we needed to, played games, and just enjoyed a more relaxed pace of life. With Brett being home from work half the week, plus the weekend, it felt like a vacation in some ways. Plus as an added bonus we had Aunt Marcey staying with us...always a treat for all of us. But the highlight of the holiday week/weekend was the blessing of dedicating Ellen & Sophie to the Lord at church on Sunday. Our kids are too precious not to commit their lives to someone greater, more loving, gracious and merciful than Brett and I. We were honored to have our church family surround Ellen and Sophie, as well as Brett and I, in prayer as we publicly dedicated them to the Lord. And I hope you get a kick out Corinne's facial expressions in one of the pictures. She was pretty well behaved on stage, though she and her buddy Adam played a little game of copy cat while their siblings were dedicated. Adam and Corinne share the same birthday, too, so perhaps they have a special connection that way!

Playtime

(Sophie on left, Ellen on right)
The girls are sitting up now, though they still topple over. But it's a whole new perspective. And with this comes more playtime with one another!

Three's a Crowd

I'm beginning to see glimpses of what may be in our future...and I love it! As Ellen and Sophie have begun to smile, laugh and show excitement at anything and everything Corinne does (not kidding!) Corinne has also shown a steady increase in her affection and love for them. It's great to witness and it makes us smile every time. The twins are captivated by her and they light up when she interacts with them. Little C has taken to talking to them as if she's having a conversation with them. ("Do you see the monkey, Soph? Oh! You do. Okay! Yeah, that's funny, isn't it, Sophie?") She is also singing to them lately and explaining things to them. She calls Ellen "Miss Ellen" pretty frequently, too. (Not sure why) So today Corinne and I were upstairs playing when we heard Sophie and Ellen wake up from their naps. I brought the girls into C's room and we played with them in there. Corinne told them all about the things in her room and gave each of them one of her baby dolls. Then she asked me to put them in her bed, so I did. And she loved it! Next she decided to read them one of her Library books. It was the first time that I have felt a surge of true confidence and inner excitement that our girls might be good friends some day. Nothing is for sure, obviously. And who knows what the next few years hold. Corinne still has her fair share of "moments" when she wants our attention... or wishes her sisters weren't crying... or wants the toy that they have. But at least I'm seeing some shades of what could be. I'm thankful that she sees me with my sisters and knows how much the three of us love being together. I hope they will one day find the same friendship that we have.

Mall Walking

You might see this and be impressed that we are starting our Christmas shopping early this year. But don't be. That was not the point of this trip to the mall, in fact we didn't even look for or buy a single thing. (okay, we did buy a snack but that doesn't count) This trip to the mall was a let's-get-out-of-the-house-before-we-go-crazy kind of trip! It had been a long weekend and all of us felt under the weather for part or all of it. We actually had a really fun time! Maybe next time we'll actually do some shopping!?

Sunday Afternoons

Have I mentioned that Brett and Corinne always have fun together, no matter what they're doing?!? Sunday afternoons we tend to have the Bengals game on in the background while the kids take naps and Corinne always catches it about half way through when she wakes up. She stays interested for a little while, asking where Carson Palmer is, and asking, "What happened?" when we get exasperated at the same old Bengals. But I captured a few sweet moments of fun while Brett and C watched the game (kind of) last Sunday. They created a fun little lift for C. All while she's wearing her princess shoes, of course.