Crawling and Clapping!

So much is happening with our sweet baby. She started clapping 2 weeks ago (9 and a half months). She loves to clap often and especially enjoys clapping when she can join in with others who are cheering.

She also Crawled! I haven's seen it completely, but everyone else in the family has and I trust I will see this soon. She also is trying to pull herself up from the seated position. She is very strong. She gets herself into the seated position from lying flat on her back all the time.

She is exceptionally beautiful. Her beauty seems to grow with each passing day. Still no teeth, but her hair is thickening and her eyes twinkle. She really is the perfect baby.

Somerset has been very good and very difficult. She has pretty extreme mood shifts and can be completely unreasonable. Meal time is atrocious most nights. She refuses to eat almost everything and runs to her room in crying fits during many dinners.

However, she can be extremely cute and fun. She loves one on one time with us. She did lots of gardening with daddy this weekend and got dressed into her "scrubby-dubbies," a term she invented.

She loves Mommy's I-Pad more than anything, so I schedule many play dates to keep her active and creative.

Leo is in baseball again and his team is the As. He has improved dramatically. He always hits the coach pitched balls and he is way less intense about what is happening. It has been an amazing season so far!

Leo still loves geography, Mike Thaler's Black Lagoon series (he visited the school) and Star Wars Lego Dictionaries.

Leo Turns 7!

Our first born had a fun time bowling with 4 friends: Lucas, Sean, Ace and Forest. Somerset was in on the action too and was as cute as can be. The boys had a glorious time and were a it rambunctious, but I suppose that is what happens when you get 5 boys together.

On his actual birthday. Joe took the day off from work and we went for donuts in the morning. Leo and I went to Brick and Mini-igs (a Lego shop) and then we went to the mall to buy baseball gear, followed by Costco to pick up his gigantic chocolate basketball cake. Dinner was spent at KFC, followed by cake and gifts. Leo had a wonderful 7th birthday.

Rosalie fell off of Somerset's bed for the first time this morning. The kids all cried and were so worried about her, as was I. She was fine, but what a scare. We all love her so much! She is also nearly crawling and she now eats small finger foods. She still has an amazing appetite. She has started making Muppet like noises and is affectionately called "Rolls-Silly).

Somerset is now in Choir at St. Matt's and tap dance class. She loves both and has such a good time with Maya and Ellie. Keeping her busy, is such a huge challenge. She really loves watching shows on the I Pad in her room. I try to prevent this by providing her with lots of play dates. She also loves to sing in an operatic voice which drives Joe CRAZY!

Life is crazy with the kids, but we are managing to keep it together....barely. :-)

9 Months! 4 and a half! Almost 7!

Well, it continues to happen: Rosalie is getting even cuter! 9 months old and her hair is thicker and longer, her eyes remain blue and her disposition improves. Our big girl still doesn't crawl, but he is close. She also moved into big sisters room and they have bunked together for 2 nights now!

I have been agonizing over Leo's education. He is so far ahead in math (512 x 6 in his head as an example). I wish he could be in a special school! I wish we could afford the best schools out there, but we can't. In the meantime, he is not being challenged much, but he LOVES school, so that is the good news.

Leo is obsessed with countries, especially the Scandinavian ones. He has a friend named Lucas in school whose Mom is fro Denmark and he wants to learn all about Denmark. He is also interested in Sweden and Switzerland. 

Somerset loves playing Mommy. She has a baby named Rosa Belle. Her babies sleep a lot....as in all day long, and every once in a while, a new baby pops out of her stomach. She currently has a baby doll, a hedgehog and a pony as children. She mostly fixes their hair and then tucks them in bed.

I wish I ould seal this moment in time. I know I will look back and long for these days, but in the midst of it, they are exhausting. I do love being a mom and feel so clessed to have these 3 amazing children. 

Birthday Fun!

I don't enjoy getting older, but I sure enjoy overnight trips to the beach. Joe surprised me with a night away to our favorite place, Pacific City. We love the Inn at Cape Kiwanda and getting away with Rosalie for the night was just what I needed. The big kids were super happy to have the day/night with Grandma.

Rosalie loved being the only child, and was quite the popular baby, making friends everywhere she went. To top the fun, it was the best weather! We have had an unseasonably warm winter and it was a good 60 plus degrees. I was in Heaven and so were Joe and Rosalie.

Our baby had her first big cold, as did Somerset. she was a grumpy baby, but she got better in tie for our trip and I never got sick...yeah!

We call our baby Rollsalie, because she rolls and pivots to get around....so cute.

Leo is obsessed with Sports and still loves geography. Joe emails him every morning fro work with a new state. Leo loves knowledge. Tonight at dinner, he asked if JFK had been with a women beside Jackie. Yikes! He's been reading his book about U.S. Presidents.

Somerset is so sweet to Rosalie. She likes to read her stories and make her laugh. She is also hilarious, smart and spunky. She has been drumming on everything. I have signed her up for tap dancing with her 2 bffs, Ellie and Maya.

We are busy. busy, busy!!! Life is good.

She says Mama!

Right as she turned 8 months, she figured out how to say "mama," Sweet girl! Loving hearing her say this, even if she is usually trying to get me to pick her up.

She also continually waves at people, a skill she is trying to master.

Love her!!!

8 Months Old Today!

The 2 Elsas! Besties!

The Valentine's Gift

Rosalie is 8 months old! How can this be? She is so sweet and fun and is the best addition to our family ever. She doesn't crawl yet, but she rolls all over, pivots around on her stomach, launches herself from her bumbo seat into the crawl position, and runs circles around her activity gym. She is definitely a girl on the move.

She now waves (sometimes) and is attempting to say Mama, but still not legit. She  seems to like people. She will smile coyly and then bury her head into mom/dad's shoulder. She is very charming and beautiful!

She perks up when she hears the theme song to Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. She also loves nothing more than when Daddy comes home from work. She lights up!

She is also an eating monster. she eats massive amounts of food, and often. She is still a petite little thing, but has formed the most adorable booty.

Somerset is already breaking hearts. She came home with a sizable valentines' gift and card from a boy named Kian from her preschool class. It is a pink unicorn and he hand selected it for her....job well done. Even though she loves her unicorn, she has explained that she will not marry Kian.

Somerset remains very creative, loving her newest messy craft, kinetic sand. She draws amazingly well and is so smart,creative and funny!

Leo had a great review during our conference with his teacher. She had nothing but amazing things to say bout Leo and his progress. He is well above his peers in math and reading, but he also seems to grasp bigger concepts than other kids. She is quite impressed with our little boy, as are we.

Leo's current obsessions are the world atlas and football.

Adadada! (First Word)

So many fun things are happening in our family. The baby is changing right before our eyes. She is still very much our baby, but she is very interactive. She even said her first word, "Dada", which sounds like"adadada." At first, I thought it was a fluke, but she would only say it when Joe held her or when she was trying to get his attention. Super cute. She also seems to understand a lot of words like milk, eat, Rosalie. She can sit by herself for extended periods of time, but she usually will fall over eventually.

Somerset is sweet as sugar right now. She seems to be over that temporary naughty stage she as going through after the baby was born. Se is a great big sister too and makes the baby laugh more than anyone else. She is quite the artist and amazes me with her art, which improves everyday. She whines a lot, as I think most girls her age do and she doesn't like to help clean, but other than that, she is a joy. 

She does the cutest thing when I say goodnight to her. She get under all the blankets and says. "Open it up...turn it around," It is her. I love it every single time.

I had my first teacher conference and Somerset received rave reviews from her teacher Miss Toni, who said she is a model student.

Leo is currently obsessed with his Atlas. He knows all the state capitals and is trying to learn all he can about countries. He continues to amaze me with his intellect and confidence. As always, he has a mischievous side and tries to get away with what he can, but he has a heart of gold!