Letters to Santa

We will be getting to our new house a couple days before Christmas so the girls wanted to make sure that Santa knew where to find us. 

 Brady's read" "Dear Santa, My new address is ....... Maria is our elf. I have been a good girl this year. I want bunk beds for dolls, Olivia legos set, book of Santa, Carolina doll. Love, Brady"

Reese's has some of the same sentences, but she is asking for princess playdoh and caroline doll.

I hope Santa gets these letters so he can track us down. 

Peek-a-boo

This is no longer a toothless grin.

November 28 Elli's first tooth popped out. Within ten minutes of my discovering it, she bit me three times while nursing. OUCH!!! I have to break that habit fast!

Speaking of peek-a-boo... This is Reese on her best behavior at a fancy restaurant. And yes, I choose to take her picture instead of correcting the behavior.

Owl Blanket Project: Six Months

Well, I am a few days late posting this, but my baby girl is six months old! Look at how she has grown...I had a hard time snapping this picture this month because she was rolling all over the place.

-Her biggest strides came this month in hand control. She know reaches straight out for the object she wants to touch. Her favorite thing to grab, hair! Brady and Reese have been at the receiving end quite a bit. I love it though because when I hold her facing me she grabs with both hands and it is just like a little hug from her, I look forward to my hugs after her naps.
-We had a interesting month in the breastfeeding department. Her weight gain had slowed down last month so I spent some time with a lactation consultant to get everything back on track. In the previous month she only gained 2 ounces, but after the consultant got everything fixed Elli gained 10 ounces in one week!
-Since I didn't have as much milk, Elli has stopped sleeping through the night. She still sleeps on average 6-8 hours, but definitely not through the night, but it is okay because she needs to calories.
-A day before she turned six months, she got to try solid food. She did the best out of the three girls. I believe this is due to the fact that she takes medicine nightly so she is used to different taste. She has tried sweet potatoes, avocado and bananas. I think bananas are her favorite.

My two favorite things about this video: one, she uses her thumb to suck the food down, Brady did the same thing and I think it is so clever and two, how she would be eager for the next bite.

Our Baby Business Woman

Our family had a yard sale this past weekend. I had been preparing for it for a while so the girls we very aware of what was going on and how it all worked. I decided to let them get involved. Karl and I use credit for everything these days and they need to learn what money is and where it comes from.

The day or two before the yard sale we baked cookies (from scratch  and made lemonade (from crystal light powder). They were very eager to have their first lemonade stand.

I told Karl we would start setting up at 6am so that we would be ready at 7am. I my alram was set for 6am, I woke up threw on a jacket and headed out. Karl had already set up half the stuff and the girls were both awake, ready to sale lemonade. It was like it was Christmas morning for them and they couldn't sleep in anticipation. Brady and Reese got their stand all set up and sat in their chairs in the dark waiting for a 'bite'.

Apparently 'early birds' don't get the worm (or cookies and lemonade). Even though we had a steady flow of costumers in the first hour, none of them showed any interest in the girls whatsoever. I had to be their first costumer. This bored Reese and she went inside for the rest of the morning. Brady, however, was determined. Patience paid off.

 After all was said and done Brady sold about $20 of cookies and lemonade by noon. She was very proud of herself, and often bragged about her success to people stopping by to check out the yard sale. Occasionally I would hear "I have LOTS of money" being sung to visiting costumers. We had a little mini lesson about bragging.

Brady came in with her cash and Reese immediately went after the money assuming she got half of it. Insert another teachable moment...you have to work for your money. Reese was quite upset that she didn't get to have money even though she didn't work for it.

We brought Brady out to use her money for whatever she would like. She choose Doc McStuffins play set and Lego Friends doll.

Brady we are so proud of you for working hard for your money!