Whew!

Birthdays, kids getting cold after cold after cold, growing active kids, etc, etc, has kept me from blogging!

I recently took Elsie and Noah to doctor check-ups and both are fine. We switched doctors to one that is much closer to us and I really like him. Elsie stood like a big girl on the scale to get weighed and measured. It was cute but I didn't have my camera. :(

I am going by memory here so these might not be right but I think Noah was 27 inches long and weighed in at 17.8 pounds. Elsie was 33 inches tall (I think) and was 27 pounds.

My family was all here to celebrate Elsie's birthday. It was so much fun to have them! We just wish that they were able to stay longer and lived closer. We spent a lot of time talking about future visits and trying to figure out the best way to see each other. It's tricky to try to figure out how to travel 850 miles with three kids. I'm tempted to try flying but I just can't picture how to get three kids, two car seats (Noah would be on my lap) and all our gear through the airport, on a plane, off a plane, on a plane, off a plane, etc. There are very few direct flights between the needed airports. Boo!

Noah is growing and changing so much. He is able to sit up with a little help. He still gets up one to three times per night but can sleep through the night. I gave him a little taste of bananas when my family was here but we are not in a big rush to try solid foods yet. He still naps three times a day. Sometimes they last 2 hours and sometimes they last 10 minutes.

Elsie is turning into a little girl in front of our eyes. I love this stage of learning and exploration but it is also challenging. She has quite a few words but hasn't added any new ones for a while so communication is still a challenge. She loves to imitate her big sister (especially doing ballet dancing) and loves to play with her new dollhouse, baby dolls, and loves to read books.

Abigail is really into dancing right now. She loves to imitate Angelina Ballerina (a PBS kids show) and looks quite like a graceful ballerina most of the time. I just have to constantly remind her not to whack her sister in the face as she spins or step on her brother - if he's hanging out on the floor. She is also learning lots of responsibility with her younger siblings around. Just this morning I set up a sticker chart for her to earn more privileges (TV and computer time, mainly) and she got so excited about it! I love having a little helper around!

Andrew is also doing well (Ha! I don't write much about him anymore - poor guy)! I can brag that he recently received a promotion at work. They seem to be pretty pleased with him and I'm not really surprised. I'm always impressed by his work ethic, his superior brain (LOL) and his easy going nature. I'm sure that makes him fun to work with.

That's all for now. My darling 3 year old has been patiently waiting to play PBS kids on my computer here so I'll go for now. Hopefully I can update more often but I can't make any promises!