Dec. '11

We put up our Christmas tree and Christmas decorations the Sunday night after Thanksgiving break, after the girls were in bed. The next morning wen Alice got up she went around the house saying 'Oh! Mommy!' or 'Oooooh!' and pointing to each decoration as she noticed them. When Jameson turned the tree on she was quite pleased and then ran to get dolly and sat her in her lap, showing her the tree. This got us all excited for the Christmas season!!!

Alice and I made a countdown to Christmas. Her glue stick skills improved immensely and by the end she was doing a great job! The star read "Each night after prayers are said, take off one ring and jump in bed. When only the star is left to shine, then you'll know it's Christmas time!"

The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony sponsors 'Lollipop concerts' geared for young children to teach concert etiquette and about select instruments. We went to our first Lollipop concert Dec. 3 and the UNI flute studio perform.

Anna started baby food just after Thanksgiving. After rice cereal, she got introduced to a new vegetable every 3-4 days: peas, squash (which she didn't like the first time around but has since decided is ok), green beans, sweet potatoes, and carrots. After vegetable, she got oatmeal, prunes, pears, and peaches.

As a Christmas present for my parents, I had a photo shoot with the girls. Here are the winners.

 Here is a fun one from the day. . . Alice hard at work.

Alice love playing Peek-A-Boo with Anna at the table. It is SO cute!!!

I came up with several Christmas treats that Alice could help me make... Rice Crispie treat ornaments and Pretzel M&M's wreaths. She was a good helper and we had fun.

Several ladies from our church host a Christmas party every year, We eat finger foods, sing Christmas songs, and hear talents from whoever wants to share. This year Beth, who hosts the party at her house, and I played a piano duet. It was fun to perform with someone after not playing in any ensemble since college.

Anna rolled from her back to her tummy for the first time Dec. 13 for Jameson and Alice. I was out Christmas shopping. She continued practicing her new skill several times each day following and by Saturday she rolled over when she woke up half way through her nap. After crying for awhile she fell back to sleep on her tummy. She hasn't rolled over again to sleep since, so I guess she decided she prefers sleeping on her back. y. 

Anna is quite the cutie these days! She is so much fun to play with and make smile and laugh!

 First bath together in the tub. This required daddy's help, since Anna can't sit up reliably on her own yet.

 Alice and Anna watching the snow (the only light dusting that we've got in Dec.)

I made snowman ornaments for our family out of can lids, felt, and ribbon. 

Alice's helped paint the can lids white. :)

 Alice excited to open presents at our home family Christmas.

 Anna tasting her first present.

 Dolly got a present too... a new dress!

We went to my parents for an extended Christmas weekend (Friday late morning through Monday night). As always, it went fast but was a lot of fun!

Alice helping grandma decorate Christmas cookies.

 We opened presents at my parents on Saturday (the day before Christmas). My mom made matching aprons for me and my girls. She will have one too but it's not finished yet.

 My brother got Jameson a new grill grate from Amazon... yes it came in this box!

 Dolly got a soccer uniform from grandma. Alice laughed like crazy while daddy made dolly play soccer.

 Alice and dolly got matching pajamas!

 As usual, time at my parents included multiple rounds of cards (up and down the river) during naptime and after the girls went to sleep for the night. My brother also taught my dad and I a new game, Settlers of Catan, while I really enjoyed.

 Alice and her dollies on Christmas morning. We opened stocking soon after.

I was sick, very sick, Christmas Day so that's where the pictures end. The girls and I spent the afternoon/evening at my parents while Jameson, my parents, and brother went to my Grandma's. Thankfully it was just a 24 hr bug. We spent Monday at my parents and then came home and spent the rest of the week at home as a family. We worked on projects and Alice gave up her pacifier. She was only used to having it when she went to sleep (nap and bedtime) but had been waking up during the night and crying until she got it back. I was not willing to keep waking up in the night for her, so we decided it was time to go. It was week long project as each nap and bedtime was a little more difficult, but she 'learned' she's not a baby anymore so she doesn't 'need' it anymore. 

 Jameson made this mirror for above our sofa table. I consider it a 5 year anniversary present and it's something I'll treasure for years. (The table was a wedding present from my Uncle Paul). He worked on it at my Uncle Paul's while we were at my parents for Christmas and then stained and finished it during his week off from work.

During Jameson's week off he also added to more lights in the garage to make it much brighter AND redid our half bath. This included paint, new lights, sink, mirror, and shelves. I made a new valance. 

BEFORE (What the bathroom looked like when we bought the house 3 years ago. We had taken down the curtains but that's about it until now.) 

AFTER

Jameson's family came up here New Years weekend to celebrate Christmas and Anniversaries.
Anniversary supper... Our 5th, Mom and Dad's 35th, and Jordan and Joys 9th. We had two kinds of lasagna and salad.

As something special we took the kids to the Inflatable Park. The LOVED it!

'Christmas night' supper... pizza and punch. The men were commenting on their plaid shirts :)

Family Photos 

It was fun to watch Alice and Lydia have fun together!

All in all it was a great Christmas, although I am looking forward to getting back to our regular schedule.

Alice & Anna 5 month comparison:

Alice at 5 months

Anna at 5 months

Nov. '11

Alice loves sorting things by colors... from plates, cups, and utensils....

to her pegboard.

 

I've started having 'craft time' with Alice once in awhile. Here she is 

working on her first painting project... a Thanksgiving countdown.

 Here is the finished project. She used a glue stick for the first time to put glue on the feathers. Each morning (that I remembered) we wrote something on the feather that she was thankful for. I'm not sure she ever figured out what 'thankful for' meant, but since most of the words she knows are people, toys, or food, it worked ok.

Alice LOVES her dollies! She enjoys carrying them around, 

carefully setting them on chairs, and caring for them. 

 When I lay Anna on the floor, Alice likes to do whatever Anna is doing. 

 Anna loves her baths these days!

We spent one Saturday morning racking all our leaves. Alice supervised our raking from the yard and then from the top of the pick-up cap while we loaded them. I was very proud of her for hanging out with us the whole time!

 Daddy did most of the loading and I did most of the 'stomping'. 

Anna is 4 months! She is growing great and such a sweetie. One of my best friends from collage just had a baby and takes pictures each month of her son next to a stuffed animal to show growth. I liked that idea so I plan to start doing that now with this dolly for Anna. 

Jameson smoked a turkey for the Roose Thanksgiving supper. Here is the before....

... and the after. 

 Cousins playing together over Thanksgiving break at Jordan and Joys. 

Ver Meer Thanksgiving. The four older kids sat down in these chairs on their own, all we had to do was place Anna and Peter in arms and take the picture!

While visiting my parents over Thanksgiving we went to the John Deere Pavilion downtown Moline and saw a combine made out of cans and bags of beans.

Alice enjoyed climbing in all the tractors and machinery they had on display!

 Jameson enjoyed driving the excavator simulator. 

 Alice and I at my parents for Thanksgiving. I don't have a lot 

of pictures with my girls so I really like this one. 

Other noteworthy memories:

Alice...

Milk- One day she went to refrigerator, got her milk cup and the gallon of milk, and brought them into the living room to daddy and asked for 'mi'. Jameson then went to return the gallon of milk since she could barely carry it and the refrigerator door was wide open. This happened several times following that. 

'Ba'... Alice holds up her first finger and gives a certain look which means 'Be right back'. This is said when she's going to her bedroom to get a toy, to Anna's room to get her a toy, etc. One time she said it at church, after fellowship meal, when she was pushing the 'shopping cart' out of the fellowship hall. When I asked her where she was going she said 'Hobby Lobby'. This seems to be her favorite store, though maybe only because it's the only one she can say.

Anna ...

Anna LOVES to be held and wants to be where the action is! She likes bouncing, not rocking, and doesn't like to be left alone in a room. During cranky evening times she insists on facing out while you stand up and bounce her.

Anna LOVES to be warm, cuddled, and to have something over her face when she sleeps. It took me almost four months to figure this out and to finally get her to sleep decent in her bed. Since the day we brought her home from the hospital she's preferred sleeping in her car seat over her crib. We battled it for the first few nights at home, which were seemingly sleepless nights for me (Jameson sleeps very soundly) and then decided to let her sleep in her car seat for several weeks so that I could get some sleep in order to have energy to take care of her and Alice all day. Since then it's continued to be a battle to get her to sleep in her bed- both during naps if I want her to sleep more than 45 minutes and at night. I had thought that she liked her car seat better because she wanted to be upright. I finally decided to let her have a tiny blanket (tiny so she can't suffocate since she likes it over her face) and this helped. Then I realized maybe she didn't like laying in the middle of her open bed. So I started sticking her head in the corner with her bumper touching her head and so that her hands hit the bumper when she sticks them out or puts them over her head. Now she sleeps much better... AMAZING!

I think part of the reason it's taken me so long to 'figure Anna out' is because she is so different from Alice. Alice loved to lay flat on the floor while playing. I could leave the room to get laundry, run outside and get the mail, etc and come back and she'd still be happy. Anna gets sad and starts fussy/crying if I leave her sight for more than a minute. Alice laid right in the middle of her crib and now sleeps in her bed without any sheets over her. Anna likes to be cuddly and warm. I'm amazed at how different the girls are already.

Well, that's it for this month!