Wordless Wednesday

Special Visit and Bike Fun

Josh and Ashley came to visit again. I'm beginning to think all of their non-holiday visits are centered around sporting events. But, that's alright, we'll take them anytime we can get them.

Especially since I haven't been able to do my share of the visiting to their home.

Of course Mom took more pictures than I did. Her 2 hands are able to grab a camera, while mine are somehow preoccupied with 2 non-stopped running, talking toddlers.

The few pictures I managed to take were of our bike ride. In an effort to become more fit, Marty and I recently purchased a new bike for me (he had one already) and a bike trailer for the kids to ride along. On Saturday afternoon, we had a family bike ride. Not just the four of us. Dad, Mom, Josh, and Ashley were able to salvage the 15 year old bikes that they purchased when we moved to Florida.

See Mom and Dad? Sometimes hoarding everything in your garage really does payoff.

Aquadoodle

I put this toy away at Christmas because they received so many gifts it was overwhelming. I figured if I saved a few and brought them out at random times throughout the year, they would feel like they have something new to play with.

I love her face as she is trying to show off her artistic ability.

Too cute not to share

Bernie - 16 months old

The rumors are finally coming true! This month we have proven that Bernie weighs more than his older sister. B=27lbs A=24lbs

Marty took Bernie to his 15 month well check-up (we're only a month behind). Bernie is completely on target in every area!

We were slightly concerned that Bernie might not be where he needs to be verbally. However, our pediatrician confirmed that even though he doesn't say words in their entirety, his grunts or sounds that he is trying to make can be considered "words". And thankfully this past month, we've all noticed that Bernie's verbal skills have increased.

Bernie has still been waking up in the middle of the night to feed. Our Dr. let us know that he's not hungry, but we all wake up throughout the night and have to find a way to get back to sleep. Getting up and having milk is what has been getting him to go back to sleep. However, he's got to learn to fall back asleep on his own. As a result, we've had to resort to the "cry it out" method the past 4 nights. He's finally down to less than 10 minutes of crying before he falls asleep again. Let's hope this keeps up!

This boy is a climber. He trys to get on anything and has no regrets as he falls and bumps his head a gazillion times.

Aaaaaaand, last but not least, the past month has brought a new change to Bernie.

"Bubby, we are so blessed to be your parents. Thanks for bringing many smiles a day to our faces. We can't wait to see how much you will learn in the next few years."

Love, Mommy and Daddy.

Arianna - 29 months old

I haven't done any month-by-month updates on the kids in a while, so I thought it would be a good time.

My beautiful little girl is almost 2 1/2 years old!!!! It is flying by!

Currently, we are trying very hard to get her potty trained. She tells us when she has to urinate about 50% of the time and probably 75% for bowel movements. Can't wait until she's out of diapers (nighttime training will be later).

Arianna learns so much and I often wonder how she picks up on certain things. For example, one Sunday morning after church we were at home and she says "Hi, my name is Arianna, can I play with you?" They must have been teaching this to her class in preschool during church service as we had never heard her say this before. Now, everytime we go somewhere, when new people are around, I try to get her to say this to be social and friendly.

Arianna might bust out"Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" anytime of day. And she can sing it all the way through.

Her favorite activities (besides saying "I have to potty" every 10 minutes) is to color, play outside, and read books. She loves to play with finger puppets and play-doh but we limit those actvities because they take lots of adult supervision! Sorry baby girl!

And let's not forget that time-outs are still a very big part of our day. This is merited for any of the following activities (but not limited to): telling mommy to go to timeout, sitting on Bubby, not sharing, talking back, and temper tantrums (usually she's not getting her way).

Well, now that you know all about this little pumpkin, I'll move to pumpkin #2.

Valentine's Day Fun

Alexa and Arianna enjoying the V-Day Ice Cream Party.



This big boy loves to eat his ice cream all by himself.



Arianna sat at the table at least 20 minutes to make sure she ate
the entire cupcake and bowl of ice cream. Finally, I convinced her
that it was time to go outside and forget about the treats.


All the kids loving on their Grammie this Valentine's Day.

If you would like to see more of us being us, go to

http://picasaweb.google.com/spilk10/Feb09# for more pictures.