Funny, Funny Abby Kate

Hello all!! This post is starring Abby Kate, and only Abby Kate. The middle child is due for a post all her own, I think, and she's earned it with some funny things that have come out of her mouth recently! I'm pretty sure she is actively trying to "make jokes" every now and then. Cline is taking full credit for passing those genes onto her :) Here are a few things that have cracked us up lately.

1. Abby Kate is really into Dora the Explorer these days. She occasionally likes to assign characters to each member of the family, particularly Dora, Diego, Swiper, and Boots. We don't really do anything when we are "in character." We are just called that for a little while, and we'll say, "Swiper, no swiping" occasionally. (That's a frequent line from the show for those of you who watch something other than Nick Jr. and Disney :). At any rate, Christa and Abby Kate were walking down the stairs a few weeks ago, and Christa happened to be carrying a pair of my boots. Abby Kate, in typical Abby Kate fashion, said something along the lines of, "I not Abby Kate; I Dora." Then she looked at Christa, pointed, and said, "You boots! Ha ha ha" (since Christa was carrying the boots). Cline was the one with them at the time, and he felt pretty certain that the play on words was completely intentional.

2. Last week I was giving the girls a bath. Right before I got them out of the tub, Abby Kate had her washcloth laying over her head, being very silly. Out of the blue, in a very funny tone of voice, she said, "This washcloth is very good," emphasizing the "very good." You might have had to be there, but the way she said it was so random and animated that it was hilarious. Christa and I busted into laughter, and a game of, "this (fill in the blank) is very good," ensued. The girls took turns declaring things very good, and Christa decided to change it up a little and state that some things "were very not good." It was a fun evening, and we eventually made it to bed. The next day, I was trying to tell Cline about it. I told him that Abby Kate had said the funniest thing in the bathtub. (He had been at work). As I was trying to recall exactly how she worded it, Abby Kate piped in, "This washcloth is very good." I was impressed that she knew what I was talking about and remembered it immediately. We laughed again, and then didn't mention it as we got ready to celebrate Thanksgiving. Last night, the girls were playing with an old pirate chest that I had gotten at a garage sale as a teenager. Out of the blue, Abby Kate looked at me, smiled, and said, "This pirate chest is very good." Once again, it was hilarious!

3. I posted this story on Facebook, but I had to embellish a little to get the point across in as few words as possible. I'll tell the story as I wrote it there, and then tell you what she actually said. Abby Kate has recently wanted to be a "Pirate Princess" at all times. This basically means she puts on a silvery, shimmery party dress that I got for Christa to wear to a Father/Daughter dance last year. I don't know what it is about this dress, but both girls love to wear it around the house. If I could go and buy 5 more just like it, I would, so that I could wash it without the drama! At any rate, I needed to wash the dress, so I, being the meanest mommy ever, told Abby Kate that she could not be a Pirate Princess. She decided to be Cinderella instead, and Christa decided she would dress up too and be Ariel. All was going well for about 3 minutes until Abby Kate decided that she wanted the Ariel dress. As I was loading the dishwasher, I heard this conversation:

Abby Kate: Christa, do you want to be Cinderella? (Implying that if Christa chose to be Cinderella, she would have to give up the Ariel dress).
Christa: No.
Abby Kate: Do you want to be Snow White?
Christa: No.
Abby Kate: Do you want to be Sleeping Beauty?
Christa: No.
Abby Kate: (thinking outside the box) Do you want to be Naked?

It took me a minute to process what she'd said, and then I asked Christa, "Did she just ask you if you wanted to be naked?" Christa smiled and said, "yes," and we all cracked up!
(Abby Kate actually asked Christa if she wanted to be Cinderella, then skipped straight to the "Naked." Abby Kate was clearly offering "Naked" as an acceptable alternative to Ariel after the "Cinderella" suggestion was turned down. It was hysterical!)

Here is Abby Kate with "Mr. Snowman." She found him in the basement while she was watching Daddy work out earlier today. She loves, "Mr. Snowman," and will not be convinced that his name is actually Santa. She specifically requested that Mr. Snowman sit by her while she ate her cheerios with milk. Such a funny girl!

While I'm bragging on Abby Kate, I have to mention how polite she is! I love having more than one child, because it really reassures me as a mom that some things are just going to come more naturally to some children than others. We do encourage our children to say "please," "thank you," "yes ma'am," and "no ma'am." Abby Kate consistently says "please" and "thank you" completely on her own, without being reminded most of the time. I still have to remind Christa, so I am not taking the credit for this. It amazes me, though! For example, she comes up to me and says, "I stinky again, can you please change my diaper?" In my opinion, if she can articulate her need for a diaper change that well, she should be able to use the potty, but that's another story for another day :) This polite nature does make it very difficult to tell her, "no." She will often ask for candy, or to "be a Pirate Princess" again. After I tell her, "no," she looks at me with the sweetest face and says, "peeeeeeeaaassseee." My heart melts, but I try to stick to my guns. Who am I kidding? She's adorable, and I give in about half the time :)

Have a great night!

Elizabeth is Sitting Up!!

Alright, this one deserves it's own post, because images of pediatric therapy were starting to run through my head. My somewhat lazy laid back 3rd child has finally decided to work those abdominal muscles and support her upper body in a sitting position, unassisted. This will now allow us to utilize high chairs at restaurants and bath seats in the big tub! It was getting kind of difficult to continue to bathe her in the infant tub on the bathroom counter because she could kick and splash water everywhere! As of the 27th, she is officially sitting on her own, for a few minutes at a time. Of course, I can't just walk away and leave her to play just yet. (Although Daddy did try that, not thinking, and it didn't end too well).

My happy girl! She must have "grown up" recently, because we've gotten a lot of comments about how much older she looks!


Have a great day!

Thanksgiving Day

Hello all! Elizabeth's first Thanksgiving was a hit! We had two feasts - one at lunch over at my parents and another at our house with Cline's family. Both were fun! I took a risk this year and attempted to cook part of the meal. I attempted a very simple dressing recipe. It was great! I will definitely use it again in the future. I had a back-up pan of a local restaurant's stuffing just in case, but that one hardly got touched. Cline only likes his grandmother's dressing; it's very dry and can be cut up and served like cornbread. I prefer the mushier kind that you scoop onto a plate, which is the kind I made. Maybe my kids will learn to like it as the years go by :) Anyway, here are some pictures from our day. Sadly, I do not have any from my mom's house - I forgot our camera.

Having a blessing before the meal. Maggie Beth (Cline's twin brother's oldest daughter) has just announced that, "Mommy has a baby in her tummy!" We are so excited to meet their 4th little one in April/early May!! This will make the 7th grandchild on Cline's side of the family.

I really like this arrangement - I provide the location, and everyone else brings all of the food! I have no problem straightening the toys and throwing a few table cloths on some tables, but I have no confidence when it comes to cooking a Thanksgiving feast for everyone. I'm sure I'll tackle it down the road, but for now, everyone likes what they like, and I'm not about to try and change things up.

A feeble attempt at a good family picture.

Happy First Thanksgiving, Elizabeth Claire!

Thanksgiving Program 2011

Hello all!! The girls had their annual Thanksgiving Program at school last Thursday. I LOVE our preschool! They put on the best performances, and they know how to include the parents. After the performance, we stayed for a delicious Thanksgiving feast with other parents, students, and teachers. Here are the pictures:

Elizabeth proudly watched her big sisters on stage.

Christa was a pilgrim. Some other kids in her class were Indians and there was a turkey in the middle. The song went back and forth between the pilgrims and Indians, and it was really cute.

I can not remember what song Abby Kate's class performed to, but they were all Indians. Abby Kate "played" her recorder and marched in circles the whole song. She was the only one doing that, so I'm not sure if she was doing it the way they were taught or if she just really got into the performance, but she did great!

So proud of my girl for doing so well for her first time on stage!

My little pilgrim and my little Indian. Abby Kate has insisted on being a "Pirate Princess" lately, which mean wearing a silvery, shimmery dress of Christa's. She got very aggravated when I called her an Indian on this particular day, quickly letting me know that she was not an Indian, but in fact, a Pirate Princess.

Elizabeth is 8 Months

Hello all!! Elizabeth turned 8 months old on the 17th. She continues to be the easiest and most laid-back baby ever! She loves to be wherever she is - playing in her car seat, having tummy time on the floor, relaxing in her swing, or bouncing in her jumper. She is content 99% of the time, and the 1% she isn't content is because I took advantage of her good nature and waited just a tad bit too long to feed her, put her down for a nap, etc. She is not sitting up on her own yet, but we are working on that. I've been trying to put her in restaurant high chairs, her bath seat, etc. even though she slips down and has to be supported in an effort to give her little muscles some practice at supporting her upper body. It's not really working so far, but yesterday she got up on her hands and knees all by herself. I'm wondering if she'll skip the whole sitting up thing and go straight to crawling! At any rate, I am still not worried. She is the third child, and a very laid back one at that. She spends a lot of time in her car seat or bouncer and just doesn't have as many opportunities to practice these milestones. Here she is enjoying her jumper on her official 8 month birthday:

She loves this toy and can support her upper body quite well in it.

A picture with big sisters - dressed up for Thanksgiving on their last day of school before Thanksgiving break! Every one of these outfits is a hand-me-down from a different person. I love our sweet friends who have shared their adorable outfits with us :)

Elizabeth has recently discovered her toes, and loves to hold them and chew on them. We have mastered the art of eating baby food, but I have to carry our Bumbo seat to restaurants, because she just can't sit up in the restaurant high chairs yet. She seems to like all baby food so far and will eat like a champ when she's in the mood. When she's not in the mood, she'll simply keep her mouth closed and stare very seriously at me as I attempt to make her smile and open her mouth. She coos and babbles, saying "da-da-da-da" and "ya-ya-ya-ya." She loves her big sisters and is very friendly when strangers come up to her and smile. She is barely starting to "reach" for me when I'm around and shows just the slightest bit of hesitation when I drop her off at the church nurseries. She still goes to the childcare workers very easily, but I wonder if she's starting to be aware of the times I leave her.

Her hair is getting lighter. It's still very brown, but it's no longer the black that it started off as, and it has some blond streaks in it. Her eyes are still blue, but both Abby Kate and Christa kept their blue eyes until sometime after their 1st birthdays, and now they both have brown eyes.

Have a good night!

Happy Halloween 2011

Hello all! We had a fantastic Halloween this year! Christa really "got" the whole Trick-or-Treating concept, and Abby Kate followed suit with her usual enthusiasm. The girls looked adorable in their Wizard of Oz-themed Halloween costumes! Enjoy the pictures from our busy and fun day!

The girls are ready for the costume parade at their school!

The little Scarecrow and I have our front row seats for the parade! Ready to take pictures and video.

This was Abby Kate's first costume parade. She seemed to enjoy it!

Christa had fun showing off her costume, too!

Christa's class had a little party after the parade, so Daddy and I hung around for that. Elizabeth and Abby Kate got to sit in on story time.

Ready for Trick-or-Treating! We went to our across-the-street neighbor's houses, then drove to Mimi and Pa's house. The kids scored some yummy treats! Then we went down to the cul-de-sac for a pizza block party. I took Elizabeth home to hand out candy while Cline took the girls to a few more houses in the neighborhood. After they got home, Christa helped me hand out candy, and she was just as excited about that as she was about getting candy.

Trick-or-Treating at Mimi and Pa's house.

It was a great day!! The kids were so cute, and I think it will be even more fun next year as the kids continue to get another year older. Christa still talks about how we went Trick-or-Treating at the beach last year. (We were at the GA/FL game on Halloween last year).

Hope you all had a great day!

Pumpkin Patch Fun

Hello all!! Christa's class took a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch last week. They were supposed to go the week we were in Miami, so I thought we would have to miss out, but the weather up here was too cold, so they had to reschedule. It worked out perfectly for us, because we got to participate!! I decided to leave Elizabeth at home with a babysitter so that I could have more fun with Christa. I thought Abby Kate would enjoy it, so we brought her along. It was a very fun day with perfect, Fall weather!

Christa and Abby Kate with Christa's good friend, Taylor. They have been in class together for two years, and Taylor's mom is Abby Kate's teacher this year. Abby Kate, in typical Abby-Kate-fashion, ran right along with the big kids the whole day!

They had a petting zoo and a fun hayride. After the hayride, the kids got to swing on this "horse" swing.

They also had a racetrack where the kids could "ride" stick horses. Christa decided she didn't want to do this part, but Abby Kate loved it!

The Lively Lion class!

After we finished our activities, the kids got to pick out a little pumpkin to take home.



Me and my girls!

Last Friday, I took the kids to a Halloween party. Christa wanted to be Dorothy this year, so I made the executive decision that Abby Kate would be the Cowardly Lion and Elizabeth would be the Scarecrow. I'm getting my themes in before the little people can speak their opinions too loudly :)

The lighting at the party was terrible, but I had to include this picture of Abby Kate doing the "cookie walk." (It's similar to a "cake walk"). She loved it, and did it over and over again right along with the big kids. I couldn't talk Christa into participating in this activity, but she enjoyed the coloring sheets and bean bag toss.

Miss Elizabeth wearing an adorable hand-me-down! She is still so laid back and is content to lay in place on her tummy wherever I put her. What a great 3rd child she is!

She can sort of sit up. She leans forward a lot, and falls over on her side after a few seconds, but we're getting there :)

Christa loves holding her baby sister!