Juliet reads.

I took this video of Juliet yesterday before bed. She was being so cute and "reading" her little book to herself, but of course she refused to cooperate when I busted out the camera. If you hang in there through the video, she eventually does it, but it's close to the end.

Oh, and that squealing you hear in the background is Scott goofing off with Travis in the living room.



Juliet's pajamas are very festive, no? I came *thisclose* to putting her in those when she had her picture made with Santa, but figured, while hilarious, it might be kind of weird.

Happy birthday, Scott!

Where did 3 years go? I blinked, and they were gone. My tiny, little baby with the double chins and roly-poly legs is now a tall, gangly, little boy. I wish I could slow it all down.

We had a pirate-themed birthday party for Scott today, and he seemed to have a good time. Don't you think? Here he is with his pirate friends Andrew and Brinley. Andrew wasn't so into wearing the pirate hat.


Actually, Scott wasn't all that into wearing the hat, either. Oh, well.


The birthday boy is serenaded by his guests.


With Luke and Brinley.


Luke, Brinley and Scott.


Tank and Luke wreak havoc upon the playroom. Tank was the only kid who was interested in wearing the pirate hat for any period of time.


Juliet and my dad.


This one was not taken at the party, but whatever, it's cute. Juliet was mesmerized by her reflection in the window after her bath tonight. She kept pointing to it and saying, "bee-bee" (baby).

Scott's class Christmas party

Scott had his Christmas party at school this past Thursday. He sang songs, iced a cookie and had a great time. Or something like that. Actually, he watched while his teachers sang songs and I iced a cookie. And when I said he had a great time, what I meant was he didn't crack a smile the entire time. Poor kid - he was on Day 3 of a Serious Nap Strike, and he was BEAT.



My little reindeer.


He was so tired.


Juliet was very serious about the party.

More on Breakfast with Santa

So our MOMS Club hosted Breakfast with Santa last weekend. The kids enjoyed running around in their pajamas, and they seemed to have a good time. They weren't too interested in Santa, but they didn't hate him, either. So that was good.

Scott and Travis crafting at Breakfast with Santa. Travis colored a lovely picture of a Christmas tree. Scott scribbled all over the table.




Scott listening intently to Mrs. Claus telling a Christmas story. We held Breakfast with Santa at the local Lutheran church.


Monkey baby in monkey jammies


She makes this face a lot.


Looking relatively pleasant with Santa -


And then, not so much.


Later that evening, we took the kids down the street to the lakefront for the tree lighting. It was coooold!




Terribly blurry shot of me with the kids, but this is about as good as it gets these days.


Scott's birthday is tomorrow, so we have a lot to do to get ready for it. I can't believe he's going to be 3! This week was his last with Early Steps, and saying goodbye to all of his therapists was more emotional than I had anticipated. They've been part of our lives for so long, it's hard to let them go. Scott will be receiving all of his therapies through the public school system after his third birthday, and it feels like a big transition for us. He'll start in the preschool early intervention classroom on Jan. 5. He has to wear a uniform annd everything! Such a big boy.

Breakfast with Santa silliness

We took the kids to the MOMS Club's Breakfast with Santa last weekend. The kids wore their pajamas, and they had a great time. I'm about to run out the door to Scott's Christmas party at school, but I wanted to quickly drop off this video of him being silly.



He's walking really well, isn't he? We're so proud of him.

SNOW!!!!!

I know I am woefully behind on updating our blog, but I have to drop off this picture because there is, like, a BLIZZARD outside our house RIGHT THIS MINUTE.

LOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I'm getting the kids bundled up right now, and I'll be sure to snap some pictures of them in it. Wheeee!!!!

One year - one month late

This post is late by a month and some change, but whatever, I'm a slacker. Faithful readers of this blog (all two of you) should know this by now.

So Juliet turned a year old October 31. We had a little family get-together birthday thing for her Nov. 1 out at Fairview State Park near our house. Travis's parents drove their RV over there, so they hosted our little shindig. The kids had a good time, and everyone paid proper homage to the birthday girl.

Juliet arrived in her birthday tutu and custom-designed, handmade birthday hat and wand, but was quickly stripped of her finery after attempting to wreck it all.

See? She is not happy about wearing that hat. Her Nana did her darnedest to keep it on her for the picture, though:


Tell me that tutu is not the cutest thing ever. Seriously. Is it cute, or is it CUTE?




My man Scott had an accident and fell down while at the park all day. It was pretty rough on his little face. My dad had him up on his shoulders to distract Scott from his war wounds - it seemed to work okay:


We put Juliet's booster seat on the floor of the RV and let her have at her cupcake. She wasn't sure what to do with it at first:


I see this little mischevious look a lot around my house:


Mmmmmm....sprinkles!


Scott joins in on the action:




So now my little girl is 13 months old. At 13 months old, Juliet is walking all over the place. She still loves the kitties, and torturing Tad Smith is a favorite past time (she especially enjoys yanking on his tail). She loves being outside and is absolutely fearless - she'll happily barrel down the slide by herself if I don't pay close attention while at the park with her. And she's a little monkey at home, too - she loves climbing up on top of the leather ottoman in the living room and bouncing up and down. Falling off onto the floor only serves to make her giggle. Juliet is forever removing her shoes and socks - especially when in her carseat. She is always barefoot whenever we arrive at any destination. She has a funny, little sense of humor and loves clowning around and making silly faces. It's funny, because she is a very serious baby when in public or around strange groups of people. Juliet loves putting hats on her head and hanging necklaces (or electrical wires) around her neck - a habit that makes her mama very nervous. She loves getting into the freezer and the kitchen cabinets, and she is very curious about everything.

She's turning out to be pretty verbal, and she's always picking up on new signs, too. Right now she will say kitty, drink, cracker, diaper, Scott, dog, shoe, bubble, baby, light, bye, milk and ball. Most all of her words sound like "dees" or some version of "bah" or "bay," but we know what she's trying to say. Bubble, ball and bye are all pretty clear, and kitty sounds like "tee." As far as signing goes, she knows the signs for kitty, cracker, dog, ball, more, shoe, sock, bath, diaper, bye, milk and drink.

She's a funny, little kid. I'm glad she's ours.



ARGH - I don't know why the pictures posted the way they did, all huge and cutting Scott off on the side. I'll have to come back and fix them later.