Sierra Firsts

Look who figured out how to climb into the kitchen chairs.  She was so proud of herself!  Too bad she doesn't know how to get down without doing herself bodily harm.

And here's her first cute little pony tail!

Sweet Jordanna

Wearing a pillowcase dress made by Grammy and holding her favorite (at the time) doll.  She will pick a baby doll and latch onto it and carry it around for 2-3 days before she moves on to a new one.  She spends a lot of time playing with her babies while Caleb and Alexa work on school.

Teaching Time

We had a good second week of school, and our year is off to a good start!  Here are a few things we did this week.

Tasted sour, sweet, bitter, and salty liquids in science

Alexa's first day at Veritas (Caleb and I went, too.)

I went to check on Caleb, and here's how I found him doing his work.  Crazy kid!

Coloring pictures of conquistadors while I read history to them (from the Kindle because Caleb left the history book at school)

Alexa practing her spelling words on the white board

Twenty Months

 

 My sweet Sierra Grace is 20 months old now!  Here's what she's up to at 20 months.

-Is about 32.5 inches long and weighs around 23 lbs.
-Had an echo-cardiogram and a renal ultrasound this month, and both came back normal!

-Some of her favorite foods are bagels with cream cheese, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, pasta with red sauce, mac and cheese, and hot dogs.

-Drinks juice in the the morning mixed with 1/2-1 tsp of Miralax.  We started out giving her 2 tsp, so this is a huge improvement.  Also drinks water and fruity soy milk.  I still can't get her to drink cow's milk.

 -I cleaned out the 12-18 month clothes, so she just has a mix of 18-24 month clothes.

-Wears a size 4 diaper.

-Naps once a day around 1:00.  Goes to bed at 8 and sleeps until about 9.
-Still prefers to walk with someone holding both of her hands but can walk if you hold just one.  Has also taken 3-4 steps on her own here and there!!
-Loves her daddy!
-Still receiving physical therapy at home once a week.
 -Stays with us for the first 5-15 minutes of church then behaves herself nicely in the nursery.  She also was very good while I was gone for my first day of work this week.
-Still loves Elmo!
-Still has no frequently used, recognizable words.although she does occasionally say sounds that almost seem to count as words.  She makes her wishes known, though!  If I ask her to say, "Mama," she violently shakes her head, "No."
-Keeps us busy, but we can't imagine life without our sweet Sierra!

First Day of School 2013-2014

We started our school year this Tuesday.  We're taking a week to ease into it before Caleb, Alexa and I start taking/teaching classes next Tuesday.  So far, so good.

Caleb - 3rd grade

Alexa - 1st grade

Jordanna - K3

Working hard

Sierra playing hard.  I made up buckets of toys labeled for each day that only come out during school time. So far, this seems to be working well, and she has played happily at least for a little while each day.

Proof that we did something

Sierra teaching school

Cleaning and Regorganizing

I feel like I spent half my summer cleaning and reorganizing our house before school started back.  The last room to conquer was Caleb's, which we worked on one night last week.  The types of toys he now has were just not working with his current toy bin. 

Before -

After - We got this nine cube organizer that has deep baskets for his building toys.  I know he'll outgrow the monkeys eventually, but we can always just get different baskets.

Desks cleared off for school

Lego now stored in the closet

And the aftermath in our room from working in his

Happy Birthday, Audrey!

Audrey turned two last week, and we got to celebrate with her on her birthday.  I made cupcakes with very berry frosting.

Hmm, that looks yummy.

Maybe I'll sniff it.  I think Mommy should put a bib on me.

There, that's better.

I'd post pictures of Audrey opening her presents, but she just shook her head and said no, no when we tried to give them to her.  She has this being two business down pat.

So instead, here are pictures of two of my lovely ladies.

Happy Birthday, Audrey!  Aunt Emily loves you!