3 little ducks

Snack time!

Paige and Jacob

 

I guess Paige has decided to keep Jacob - she is all about him now!  She brings him toys ALL the time, in any setting.  It's so sweet - she's not doing it for my attention, she just does it to take care of him!

Charlotte writing

Charlotte has become quite the little reader and writer.  I think she'll be one of those lucky kids to whom language and letters come naturally.  She's always popping up with something new written, or reading a book that shocks even me.

Even her drawing skills have developed so much in the past year.  Not even a year ago, these were the best people she had ever drawn.  Now she will come down from her room with these funny little detailed drawings, usually accompanied by a story to tell. (My favorite is the blue mustachioed figure.) She draws pictures of her friends and writes their names, she writes thank you notes, she even makes me birthday pictures.  It's amazing and fun.  Of course, I can't keep all the things she writes, so pictures are a great way to remember.

 

It's hard to see, but on the red sheet is one of the first sentences she wrote, with TONS of phonemic support from me.  It says, "cat at a flwr", A(the) cat ate a flower.

 

This is Charlotte, Paige, Parks and Cana.  She wrote Parks' name above hers (Porcs) and Cana's above his (Canu)

 

 

The three on top are cheetahs or dragons, I can't remember which.  But I do know they were all girls, that's why they have eyelashes.

So this one has a ton of writing. There's baby, dad, baby, little girl in the thin black pen, Charlotte, Paige, Jacob in the pink, and baby kids, goblins, and dragon (gagin) in pink. (Notice the blue wings on the brown figures.  Dragons!) This was all done while I wasn't even in the room. Love it!

Charlotte's outfits

Now that Charlotte is 4, she has been turned over full responsibility for getting herself dressed.  And boy, does she ever!  She has come up with some doozies!  She is a huge fan of a skirt with pretty much anything.  Her very first outfit, which I unfortunately did not take a picture of, was a coral dress with ruffles down the front (which she put on backwards), a skirt (which was completely hidden by the dress), and red jeans. It was awesome, and she loved it!  Since then, I've been snapping pictures whenever I remember. She obviously has favorites....

 

Carter comes to town

The whole West gang made their way to Houston in January to get ready for Ryan and Pam's wedding.  The girls thought it was so cool to have Carter come to their house!

Since we had all 5 grandkids in a good mood, we decided to risk it and try to take a picture.  While I was fixing Charlotte's hair, Paige grabbed a second chair and got it as close to her sister as she could, then sat with the biggest grin on her face.  That's what love looks like!

 

 

 

Jacob- 4 months

 

 

Ok, so I'm only reasonably sure that these are Jacob's 4 month pictures.  They might be his 3 month pictures....  I know I took both, but with the laptop fiasco, I waited sooo long before ordering them that I can't quite keep it straight. 

 

I do know this though, that Jacob is one great baby.  He is such a happy boy!  And he's so nice and chunky.  I should take a picture of the rolls he has on his thighs....

 

The girls just love him and practically smother him, and he loves them right back.  He's not doing just a whole lot at this stage, mostly just hanging out on his play mat or bouncy chair, but he watches them closely whenever they are in sight.

 

He also is obsessed with his hands now that he has enough control to get them to his mouth.  He's got two little teeth making their way through on his bottom jaw, so he's always gnawing on a thumb or finger.  His cheeks and fingers sport continual red spots from all the drool and wetness. I'll be glad once those suckers make their way out!

 

A new year!

Hooray, 2015 is here!  Wonder what will happen this year? 

The girls are getting just SO big.  They are becoming friends right in front of my eyes.  Every day, there is some new little thing they do together.  I am glad to be able to say that they enjoy each other - I hope it continues!

So often I walk in on them doing something so cute!  When my hands are empty, I grab the camera.  Sometimes I don't catch the moment.  Sometimes I do:

"Elsa" and "Anna" dancing and singing at the top of their lungs around the Hungry Hungry Hippos game (not sure what it was supposed to be, but they had it on top of a pile of rags, so I'm sure it was something Frozen related...)

A lesson on how to put on headbands:

This one made me laugh out loud.  Paige cannot be comfortable in her "baby bed":

Giving their princesses a bath together, then setting a picnic up for them:

A naked picnic, because why not?

Reading Frozen together

My cheetahs on the prowl.  Look at Paige watching Charlotte, then copying the growl!

Christmas in Midland

What could be better than waking up while it's still dark and sitting in front of a beautiful Christmas tree, with piles of presents at its base? Getting a good picture of your kids doing it, that's what.

 

Christmas in Midland, always loud and wonderful and full of family.  Just one more reason to love having a big family!  Mimi and Papa came over and we made a grown-ups-only circle to open presents while the kids napped.

After that, we spent a ton of time trying to get a good picture of all 5 grandkids, with no luck.  The hold-out?  A VERY upset Charlotte.

We gave up on them and headed to the kitchen to eat, and see the boys model matching t-shirts. "Domingo Beisbol Academy." It's some inside joke, if you're curious you'll have to talk to them because I don't find it that funny.  But they sure do!

It was all too much for my sweet boy.  Look at that awesome chin roll!

After filling their bellies with lots of carbs, the kids ran off some steam outside. Food and fresh air turned Charlotte into a whole new child, and we took about 50 million pictures of the three oldest.  They were all in quite the silly mood!

Aunt Bonnie paid out the bribe after the shoot.  Then the kids got down to business and had a serious play session.  Charlotte and Carter were cheetahs.  Then Paige was amazed at Carter's break-dancing dump truck and wanted everyone to come see.  This is pretty much how they spent the rest of the visit - playing, eating, napping, and opening gobs of gifts.