We had an outrageous electric bill last month, and ever since then Aaron has been keeping wood stocked for us to use for building fires (we have two fireplaces in the house). He recently bought this maul, so he's been getting good workouts in chopping wood. Last Saturday morning he and V spent a lot of time outside together. He taught her how to put sticks of wood on the fire.

Little helper. Of course he watched her every time she went near the fire, and it was obvious that she had an understanding of it being "hot". In fact, every time she walked away from it she looked at him and said, "hot".

I love this picture! She's looking at Aaron for approval on her choice of stick. You can see behind her the pile that Aaron made for her to choose from.

This is our outdoor space that we are planning to enjoy this spring and summer!

Last night Nathan, Erin, and Julia braved the winter weather and came over for dinner. It was awesome for us to have company because we've been inside for the last two days! V really liked playing with Julia but we are still working on the concept of sharing :) We finally caught up with our friends (it had been a while since we had hung out with them). They are expecting a new baby in June!

If you look closely, you can see the goose egg on her forehead. She's learning to walk and while she was here fell into one of our tables. This means that if you have a toddler and come over to visit, expect some kind of trauma at our house (remember this from a few weeks ago?)

I've started to participate in the choir at church again. I am very excited about getting back into it...I haven't been since Vivian was probably 2 or 3 months old. Choir practice is on Wed. nights and doesn't end until 9:30 or so, and bedtime was too crucial (if you know me well, you know how important my kids' sleep is to me, maybe even to a fault sometimes?). But now Pam Cannon (a family friend and member of our congregation) and my mom have offered to alternate in coming to sit at the house while I go with Aaron! What a service to me! Aaron is happy, too...it's something fun we can do together during the week.

We ordered the Your Baby Can Read DVD set when V was about 8 months old. I did it with her for a few months and then quit because of the new baby and the move. We recently started again and she remembers all of the words she had learned! She can read about 20-30 words. I know it sounds cheesy but she loves the DVDs and it only takes 20 minutes of our day (and we're at home all day anyway...why not learn cool things?!).
When I say "read" I don't mean that she is sounding out words with phonics. I think she has memorized what the words looks like. I'm not really sure how it works, but I just know that it does!
We are praying that these early stages of reading random words will one day result in her knowing God through His Word.

Lots of exciting things happening around here! We've hit some milestones this last week with the girls. Kate got her first tooth (yikes...a little too early for my taste, but what can you do?). And she started rolling over from her back to her tummy! As soon as I took her arm out of the swaddle, which I blogged about last week, she started rolling over at night (I can see her on the video monitor). She definitely prefers to sleep on her tummy, but she is rolling all over the crib now. And then this past weekend I saw her do it while she was playing on the floor.
Vivian has just started to be able to tell me when she is messing up her diaper. And last night she told Gramme before she actually did it. Maybe it's time to get the potty out that Uncle Larry and Aunt Stella gave us so long ago!

Aaron has been out of town this week and he took the computer with him, which is why I haven't been able to post anything (I'm borrowing Mom's computer tonight because I couldn't wait any longer :)). I'll try to post more tomorrow!

On Monday I watched Kevin and Erin's baby Hayden and we had a lot of fun having a little boy in the house! Hayden was born in September and Erin is working a few days a week as a physical therapist. Her mom and mother-in-law can keep him most of the time, but there are a few days each month that she needed someone, so I told her that I could do it. He is so easy! You'd think that with three babies (two of them very small), it would be a crazy day, but it was very laid back. At one point when they had all been napping for 2 hours at the same time and all my housekeeping had been done for the day, I was able to sit down and read a couple chapters of a book!

watch out Hayden, she's got her eyes on you!

I haven't posted much lately because honestly, there isn't a lot happening around here! Kate is growing fast and her big news for the week is moving into a sleep sack at night (instead of one arm in a swaddle). Now she is all over the crib and I have learned that she likes to sleep on her side. Seeing her move around so much on the video monitor makes me feel bad for keeping her in the swaddle for so long! Vivian is as much of a doll as ever and her news for the week is that she was able to run and play outside for two days since we've had a nice break from frigid temps. She also had a fun time playing with friends at preschool yesterday. The only news from me and Aaron is that we skipped choir on Wed. night to go out on a mini-date that we very much needed with each other.
I will try to take lots of pictures this weekend because we'll be having lots of fun with Dad at home!
We are praising God for healing all of our bodies! All of us are healthy and well at the same time. It's a nice break from snotty noses :)

Today our neighbors came over to play with Vivian! Greg and Tammy live a few houses down from us and we're just getting to know them. They are really fun people! They have 5 kids...the oldest is 21 and the youngest is 3. Hannah on the left is 7, and Emma with the DIY bangs haircut is 3 (she recently got her hands on some scissors :)). V loved watching them play and trying to keep up with them. They have a lot of energy! I enjoyed getting to know Tammy better, too. We had a pizza lunch and V was really late for a nap because she was having too much fun!

This is how much Kate hates the idea of solid foods: (the angle is not great, but hopefully you can see that she's bending so far backwards to avoid the spoon that she is almost coming out of the Bumbo seat)

The story is this: For the last month and a half, Kate has had to deal with me forcing things in her face because of an ongoing snotty nose and other issues. I'm talking about Little Noses saline spray up her nose, the aspirator up her nose, the reflux medicine, 10 days worth of antibiotic for fluid in the ears, etc. So now anytime I go near her face with something in my hand, she literally bends over backwards to get away from it (sometimes even if it's a pacifier!). I don't blame her.

On Tuesday night we had some dear friends over for dinner. We had an awesome dinner and great conversation and then... disaster strikes...Ansley locked herself in our guest bathroom! She is 2.5 and very smart (smart enough to know how to slide the lock above the doorknob, and also very smart to be potty trained already), but poor girl couldn't get herself out! There were many hardships for her...1. the bathroom light was not on, so she couldn't see anything. It was pitch-black in there 2. there is no heat in that bathroom. It was freezing in there! You could hear her teeth chattering. 3. She was crying so hard that she couldn't hear Brett and everyone else giving her instructions on what to do.
She was in there for at least 30 minutes. Crystal and I were getting ready to call Jeff (a firefighter at our church). It was a stressful situation to say the least. Aaron tried everything before finally knocking the door down with a very forceful kick. I was even scared for Ansley...can't imagine what she must have been feeling!
All this to say: we would love to have you over to our new house, but beware of the bathroom lock!
And after all that, here she is fully recovered and playing like there's no tomorrow. She acted like nothing tragic had even happened. I thought she would be scarred for life and never want to come back to our house to play with V. But I was wrong! The only thing she was upset about, it seemed, was that during all the drama she never got to the potty and wet her pants! We love Ansley. Here she is at about 8 months old when Vivian was born. We pray that they will grow up to be very close friends, mutually encouraging each other in the faith.

Last Friday morning Aaron left with 4 other men from our church to drive to Orlando for the marathon. Here are some pictures he took from the weekend (they are out of order, sorry): They all finished and got their medals! Congratulations, guys! From left to right: Toph, Dennis, Aaron, Bill, and Pat

Aaron is dressed for the race. It was a record low temperature in Orlando that morning- they started out at around 28 degrees.

Not sure where they are in this picture, but it's another picture of the whole group.On Friday night they stayed at Pat's sister's house in Jacksonville. The guys snooped around the house and found her teenage daughter's room with the leopard print bed, and of course had to make a photoshoot out of it. Crazy. There is a more interesting photo of Dennis than this, and I know many of you have already seen it, but I thought I'd post the less embarrassing one on the Internet to spare him.

Wow. Nice, Aaron.
Dennis and Toph

So glad they had a good time! But I definitely missed Aaron and was glad when he got home Monday afternoon.

Aaron took my camera to Orlando so I haven't been able to capture any of our fun moments this weekend. He is running the Disney World Marathon this morning. I've already gotten some text messages about his progress...he's keeping a steady pace and has passed the half-way point. We are excited for him! But nervous, too...it's a record low temperature in Florida today.
He left on Friday with Bill, Dennis, Toph, and Pat. I'm sure they've had a fun trip but we miss him!
We have hung out at Papa and Gramme's house for help with the girls and for company. Vivian and Kate have both been sick, and we're not over it yet- Kate woke up with a cough this morning :( It's been a challenging week with lots of coughing, stuffy noses, and tears! But the Lord is gracious and we have some antibiotics to help. We are anticipating a full recovery for all of us this week!
They both have enjoyed different toys here, and Papa took Vivian out to breakfast yesterday.
Pictures of the marathon weekend coming soon!

A lot of people as me how it goes at our house with two small babies. Last night is a good illustration for those of you who have time to read all of this story:
(warning: kind of gross)
Vivian had a rough dinner because she wasn't feeling well, so she didn't finish until it was already bathtime. They both needed to get a bath. Usually when I start this process Aaron is home so it's not a problem, but last night he was late and I made the mistake of putting them in the tub at the same time. After playing for a while (Vivian is so sweet with Kate), I got Kate out first and dried her off and diapered her and got her pjs on. Her bottle was ready and the humidifier was filled. I stuck my hands in the tub to get Vivian out, and realized too late that she had had a BM in the tub. You might wonder...wow she does that a lot! But I promise this is only the 3rd time it's happened ever. Anyway I didn't have time to get all the toys out, clorox the tub and wash her all over again because Kate wanted to eat and go to bed right at that second if you know what I mean. So I got V out, dried her off quickly, and told her to come play in Kate's room while I fed her. While I was trying to get the snot out of Kate's nose (which she hates so she was screaming), V finished her BM on Kate's playmat that I had just washed that morning because Kate had thrown up her Prevacid all over it. Wow. I just let it go for a few minutes and I fed Kate and put her down. V and I went to the bathroom to clean the tub and hop in the shower together so I could rewash her. I didn't realize that she still had you-know-what on her bottom, so as I looked down from wetting my hair I realized that it was running all across my feet to the drain. GROSS.

During times like these I find myself repeating "In service to Christ" over and over again :)
Kids are crazy. But I love them.

Kate is 5 months old today. Praise the Lord for His steadfast faithfulness in helping us raise this baby. She is definitely a challenge! But her smiles and laughter make up for it :)
We are still having a hard time with the eating but it is getting better. I can't tell if the prescription for acid reflux is helping or not...I have such a hard time getting it in her.
Poor kid has had a runny nose for the entire 4th month of her life.
She has no schedule, which drives me crazy because it's against my entire personality (!!) but the Lord has humbled me in that regard. The only consistent thing that she does as far as the clock goes is go to bed around 7 pm. She wakes up around 7 am, but the night wakings are always different.
She naps decently (1.5-2 hours at a time), in fact better than Vivian did at this age. She can get to sleep well on her own and the only routine we have is to sing the Doxology before I put her in the crib.
Other things I love:
-She has found her feet and loves to play with them, especially when she eats.
-She can sit by herself for a few seconds before falling over. Vivian thinks it is hilarious when she falls over. She can sit for an extended time on our laps.
-She is getting better at keeping a pacifier.
-Her hair is getting longer in the back, but she still has the bald spot so it looks pretty funny back there. In some of these pictures it looks a little red!

18 months: The age at which your baby is finally developing abilities that a chimp never will.
(Saw this in Parenting Magazine and thought it was interesting! Difficult to believe, though...) This morning we went for Vivian's 18 month well-check with Dr. B. Aaron went with me and I am so thankful because she got 4 shots and had to have blood drawn from a vein in her arm. He said I wouldn't have been strong enough to hold her down!
We had lots of questions and I was happy with all of the answers:
-She doesn't drink milk and that's no problem.
-The difference in the size of her pupils is not the result of an injury (she had a couple of bad falls back in the summer) but it is a condition called Anisocoria that is more than likely no big deal. We might have to go to an opthamologist later on but probably not.
-We expressed concern about her language development but he asked us several questions and based on our answers, he says there is nothing to worry about. She will start progressing really fast and have no lasting delay.
-There is nothing we can do about her holding her breath when she cries. It is not damaging to her...just scary for us! It's been getting worse lately it seems...she doesn't breathe for a long time and her face and lips turn blue and she acts like she's going to pass out. He said even if she does pass out it is no problem...lots of kids do it and God will not let her die because of this :)

I didn't write down her stats but I remember she weighed a little more than 23 pounds and had gained an inch or two in length and a half an inch on her head circumference.
Healthy kid! And so fun these days!

On Friday, New Years Day, Mike, Peggy, and Brooke drove up from NC to visit! We didn't get to see them for Christmas since we got snowed in the week before, so they were gracious to make the trip to see us. It was a very relaxing two days! On Friday after a huge turkey lunch we sat around the fire in the living room all day! They were able to spend lots of time with the babies.This picture is out of order, but it shows that on Saturday we went to the movies. It was so nice of Peggy to stay with the babies so I could go.Someone just woke up!When Vivian woke up from her nap on Friday, we opened presents.Thank you for my new toys!Kate hung out by the fire. She loves staring at it.Aaron showed off the chain saw he got for Christmas. He and Mike even went outside to cut some firewood for us.Ben sent a new coat for Aaron. He came to NC for Christmas but had to go back to Colorado so he couldn't come with them.That night after ordering pizza, we made s'mores! It was Mike's first time ever making and eating them.