Baby in the House...

I'm going to be watching this cute baby for the next two months until school is out. She comes on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. The girls LOVE her! They fight over who gets to feed her and hold her. When we were getting ready for the baby to go home yesterday, Sage was really sad. "Why does she have to leave?"

As soon as she was gone, she said, "I miss the baby."

During the day yesterday, baby Catherine was lying on a blanket. The girls were playing around her calling her "Queen Catherine". I think they like having a baby around!

Flip or Fort...

The girls have been asking to build a fort for a couple of days. For our part-family FHE tonight I asked Allie and Caden to help the girls build a fort (I was cleaning the kitchen, Parker was playing basketball outside and Bob was working late.) The big kids were acting like HGTV stars in the process. "Do you want high ceilings or more space?" "That's a load bearing wall. If we rip that down, the whole thing will fall down and we won't have any profit on this house." "Girls, we're going to give you an open-concept kitchen."

Allie told Sage that the addition they were working on was going to be expensive. With a worried look Sage asked, "How much? Am I going to have to pay for it?" 

"Yes. It's going to be 50 dollars," responded Allie. 

Sage ran upstairs and returned with a stack of fake money to pay for her new house. 

Allie lead them through a reveal when they were done.

They had a great time together and built an impressive fort. My heart was happy seeing them play and be creative together. Those big kids of mine had some pretty clever comments and tie-ins with all the HGTV shows we watch!

Park Lovers...

These two don't feel like their day is complete unless it includes a trip to the park. Luckily we've had a beautiful mild winter so we get to go a lot.

At dinner Sage likes to do Rose, Bud and Thorn. If we aren't able to go to the park, either Sydney or Sage will exclaim that their thorn for the day was not going to the park. The parks are pretty empty when the temps are in the 40s or 50s but sometimes you'll find us there anyway.

It is 48 degrees, sunny and a bit windy today...

They love the parks!

Footie Pajamas...

The girls had a little money they got from grandparents for Christmas. We strongly encouraged them to buy new bike helmets with their Target gift cards which they did (Frozen helmet for Sage and a unicorn helmet for Sydney).

Sage was adamant that she buy footie pajamas with the rest of her money. We found a cute pair at OshKosh online and ordered them. She couldn't wait for them to come in the mail. When they finally arrive, she put them on immediately! She was so happy and excited and soft!

Sydney had some money leftover from buying her helmet and a pair of slippers (her favorite presents along with her new bike). When she saw Sage's footies, she decided she wanted some too. She ended up talking me into taking her to Carter's to look for some that night. We found the last cute pair of size 5s and happily took them home.

Both girls have been in their new pajamas as much as possible since they got them. They will put clothes on to go to the store and then come home and put on their pjs. They love them! 

One day Sage was being Sage and got a wild idea to draw on her sleeve with a marker. I had her take her footies off immediately so I could put stain remover on them. It took a day or two for them to get washed and it was agony for her (hopefully she learned her lesson about drawing on her new clothes!) The favored pjs I made for Christmas are chop suey, now that they have their footies!

Merry Christmas!

The girls picked out festive outfits for their preschool Christmas program last week. We found most of these treasures in Allie's hand-me-downs. They both looked so pretty after having a bath and letting me braid and straighten their hair.

Both girls were cute on stage. You could tell Sage knew the words to the songs and was singing along but with no hand motions. Sydney sang and did the motions for her songs. She was shy at first when she saw us in the audience but then she warmed up and performed with her class.

I thought Sydney looked so grown up in these pictures. They were the first I have noticed of her losing her baby face and really looking older.

Sweet sisters and good friends!

Meeting Santa...

The orthodontists here threw a Christmas party for all of their patients and friends last week. It was held at a trampoline park in town and I decided to take the kids. Caden and Allie had appointments and homework so Parker, Sydney, Sage and I went. Even though it was very crowded the kids had a lot of fun (Caden even got to join us at the end). Parker hung out in the dodgeball area most of the time - stands in line, plays dodgeball, gets back in line, etc. Sydney ran around happily alone jumping and playing. Sage got minorly hurt early and then wanted to hang out with me. We had a lot of fun jumping and playing together.

The highlight for her was meeting and talking to Santa. The first time we saw him, she sat on his lap, let us take some pictures but wouldn't talk to him at all.

Then we jumped for awhile together. She thought it was awesome to hold hands with me and jump at the same time. Her giggles are the BEST! She was jumping alone and with Sydney and I was sitting at some tables. I see her coming up to me pulling Mrs. Claus by the hand. Mrs. Claus who is hard of hearing couldn't figure out what Sage's name was. We talked for a little while and then Mrs. Claus went back to Santa.

Shortly after that Sage told me she was going to see Santa again. I thought she would watch him from a distance but when I went to check on her this is what I found.

She had both arms around Santa and was fully engaged in a conversation with him. It was really cute! Santa commented to me that she had fallen in love with Santa. I think he was right!

When it was time to leave, I suggested that we thank the orthodontists for a great party. Sage was only interested in saying goodbye to Santa!

Family Update...

I was going to do an entire family update in one post but I think I better break it up. I'll write about each of us and post it as I finish it - youngest to oldest.

Sage - age 3 1/2 - She's a mess. Her favorite things to do right now are ride her trike down the sidewalk and color pictures. She is getting good at coloring in the lines and choosing different colors for different things. She is very independent and fearless. She is known to walk out the front door without anyone knowing and ride her trike down the sidewalk. She is also known for climbing into the fridge to get her own yogurt. She likes to ask you to get her more things to eat when she hasn't finished the first or second things you have gotten her. She is trying more foods and loves ketchup. She loves books. Every night we read to her and then she looks at books until she falls asleep. She always falls asleep with a book in her hands or on her face. She goes to preschool Mondays and Wednesday from 9-2 and is starting to write some letters. She doesn't like having her hair brushed and picks out her own clothes to wear. She is always excited if I find or buy her something new - she is not picky about what she wears. She almost always puts her shoes on the wrong feet unless you correct her. She still wears a pull-up at night and will pee in it in the morning if we don't take her to the bathroom quick enough. During the day she sometimes waits too long and pees on the carpet or floor (ugh!). She loves to go to the park and swing. She likes me to push her as high as I can. She is fairly athletic and tries "dangerous" things at the parks. So far she hasn't gotten hurt doing any of that but she falls almost daily running around. She usually has at least one scratched up knee. She is fiercely cute and definitely the baby. We love her!

When left to her own devices...

I went outside for 2 minutes to pay the worker who fixed our mortar cracks. I come back in to find this:

Drinking orange juice like a kitty! #shecantreachtherealcups

Workers...

As part of our foundation repair, there have been workers digging holes under our house for the past two days. The girls have been watching them some. Today Sage said,
"I'm going to marry that guy that's working.....I hope he doesn't get in love."

Big girl...

Sage is always talking about how she wants to "ride the horse-y up the mountain" when she gets to be a big girl!

Right now...

We are moved in. We can find most of the things we need. I am loving the change so far. So many beautiful trees, walking trails and we are so close to everything we do/need.

My kids are giving me fits. Sage's favorite thing to say right is "You are stupid, (name of person she is mad at)!" She says it over and over again and hurts all of our feelings. Not sure how to deal with this/stop it. She poops in the potty by herself which is good except for when she gets off without wiping or puts her poo in the sink. Yesterday she went in her diaper at the pool - that's always fun!

Sydney is having clothing issues. She would be happiest to run around nude. Her panties bother her because they move so she'd rather go without them. She doesn't want to wear shorts, sometimes doesn't want shirts. She is making me crazy. I really don't care what she wears as long as she is covered!

The boys are picking on each other and their sisters. They aren't being very obedient when asked to do things. They enjoy dropping things off the staircase on top of people's heads. They are happy when active so we have been running or biking most mornings.

Allie is probably the easiest though she keeps butting in with snide comments when I am working with the boys. 

I really want to enjoy the summer with them but sometimes it is really hard to do.

Sage at Age 2...

She loves to wear fancy dresses. She calls them ballerina dresses.

She is starting to using the potty. Mostly for "peeps" but also occasionally for "poops".

She loves to snuggle on the shoulder of those she loves.

She gives kisses (sometimes with a turned head). She also likes to put her hands on both sides of your face when she kisses you.

She LOVES her binky and has it during the day more than she should.

She likes to play on the iphone. Lately she always wants to play the "ballerina game" on it. We know that means she wants to watch the cartoon Sofia the First. One episode stays on our free app for two weeks and she will happily watch that episode over and over.

She also likes to watch "Dora and Boots" and the Bubble Guppies.

She can say just about anything she wants now.

She likes to practice saying the sounds of letters just like Sydney.

She LOVES to draw. She has colored on almost every surface in our house. We are trying to teach her only to draw on paper. Allie will say to her, "We only draw on..." and Sage will respond, "Paper." She has done better the past week so hopefully she is actually learning.

She sleeps in a twin bed and has for a couple of months.

She shares a room with Sydney. Sometimes they keep each other up playing until late in the night. Most of the time they fall asleep when they are supposed to.

She is picky about what she will eat. She likes berries, rarely finishes a whole cheesestick, and likes to feed herself yogurt. She rarely tries the main course at dinner. Oatmeal, pancakes and PBJ sandwiches are her friends.

She loves strawberry milk. At night she almost always asks for it when we put her to bed. We acknowledge that she wants it, leave, and never return.

She loves to play with baby dolls. She holds them and sings "Rock-a-bye Baby" to them. When a baby doll is not present she will turn any toy into her "baby". Cars, stuffed animals, etc.

She is very opinionated about what she does and doesn't want.

She loves her preschool teachers and runs to give them a hug when I drop her off.

She takes a long nap every day. Sometimes for 3 hours.

She wakes up very early - usually between 5:30 and 6:15. We are trying to teach her to stay in bed until her alarm light turns green at 6:15.

She loves to read books and is moving into longer books - we don't have to read only board books anymore and she and Sydney enjoy reading the same books!

Princess Ballerina...

Yesterday Sage started out the day by finding a black Sharpie marker and coloring on a pad of paper, our wood floors, her pajamas, feet, toes and hands.

Late in the morning Allie put this old dance dress on her and told her she was a ballerina princess. For the rest of the day (and night) she would not take off the dress. In the cutest way she ran around saying "wallerina" all day. She was so excited and her new word was adorable. For FHE she and Sydney stood on the coffee table singing songs and showing us their moves.

Sage at Church...

Today she:

Ripped out a page from the hymnal 

Colored all over the fabric pew with an orange crayon

Called a nice 40 year old lady behind us "Gramma" over and over

Bit a little girl in nursery when she wouldn't give her a toy

Refused to wear tights and shoes and walked around the cold church barefoot all day

Ripped toys out of the hands of other nursery children

Sleeping...

Sage has been wanting to nap in the bed lately. I let her try it a couple of times and she did great. I love how she fell asleep half way through looking at her book. Bob falls asleep like this a lot too. Sometime his Nook hits him in the face!

Sage Draws...

This little girl loves to draw. Here she is drawing on paper but she has a reputation for drawing on undesirable surfaces too - wood tops in newly finished mudroom for example!

This week she drew on our shower with mascara!

Sage's new dress!

We opened a package from Grandma and Grandpa Smith his morning. Sage immediately wanted to put her new dress on. She twirled around it in and insisted that she also wear her new tennis shoes! So cute!

Shower in the fridge...

We bought our fridge many years ago partly for the water feature that is inside the fridge instead of on the outside. We thought it would keep the kids from playing in the water and for the most part it has. 

On Thursday I wanted to finish folding some laundry. We got out a bin of board books and started setting them up in the living room on the couch as a library. The girls started looking through the books and u went to the laundry room and started folding. I heard giggles from the living room and it sounded like they were playing nicely. I didn't check on them because sometimes if I show up in the room, they stop playing and start following me around. I didn't hear anything unusual and so I kept folding.

Then I heard some clanking and I ran in to the kitchen. What I found shocked me!  The clanking was from the condiments in the refridgetrator door. The door was open and there was water from our water spout everywhere. Both girls were drenched from head to toe! I put Sydney in time out in the corner and started cleaning things up. It took me awhile before I could laugh at what just happened. There was water in the drawers in the fridge. There was water in front of the fridge and to the side of the fridge. And the girls were dripping. 

After I got most of the mess cleaned up, I started talking to Sydney about what happened. "We were stinky and we wanted to wash the stink off!" They had used the water spout as a shower and had a blast doing so.

When I calmed down, I laughed pretty hard about the whole thing. But then a few hours later the wood floor started warping in front of the fridge. There was still water in the pads that our fridge stands on and the wood must have soaked up some of that moisture. I'm totally bummed that our beautiful floor is damaged. What do you do...

Baby Girl...

She needed to rest. Put down the blanket by herself. She loves those shoes! She sleeps in them regularly.

More Sage...

I was telling the kids some of the things Sage did today and I thought it would be fun to record them here as well. She really is SO sweet and cute and funny right now, but she keeps us on our toes as well. Her personality is really coming out and it's fun!

I was getting my make-up and hair fixed this morning. Sydney and Sage were playing in the living room and then came into my bedroom. I was really close to being done so I let them play in the bedroom while I finished up. Sage left my bathroom with a large bottle of liquid ibuprofen which I thought she was sage with. Obviously she was not. A minute later Syd comes running in, "Sage spilled the medicine." Sure enough half of the bottle was spilled onto Sage and the rocking chair she was sitting on. She was busy pushing her fingers through what was on the chair. A bath & tardiness followed. Luckily I don't think she drank much if any.

We were in Wal-Mart today buying some groceries and things for the boys' birthday parties. We were at a new Wal-Mart that we had not been to before (close to a Dr. appt. that I took a friend to). It was arranged differently and so it took a little more effort to find the things we needed. We also only had a normal size cart so Sage was in the front and Syd in the back. I gave Sage my iPhone about half way through because she was starting to scream very loudly. I have a hard time concentrating on what I need to do with so much noise so the phone kept her occupied for a little while. A few minutes and aisles later Sage reached into the back of the cart for a Roma tomato. Before I even knew what happened, she had bitten a huge bite out of the top of it and spat it on the floor. (Tomatoes look better than they taste to the girls in this family.) Then I stopped and opened up the graham crackers so she could snack on those. It was about this time that I realized my phone was no where to be found. Not in her hands. Not with Sydney. Not in my pocket. Not anywhere in the cart that I could see. We were done finding the things we needed so we back-tracked for a minute or two and then headed to check-out to see if it was buried in the groceries somewhere. It was not. Luckily a nice older man had discovered it and turned it into customer service. I was so relieved to find it.