Fancy Lucy

Lucy got the book "Fancy Nancy" for Christmas and we are really having fun with it. The little girl in it likes to use words like "stupendous, which is a fancy way to say great". Or "chauffeur, which a fancy way to say driver".


Well, lately Camille has really gotten sensitive about being referred to as a baby or anything babyish. Lucy called her a "toddler" today, causing Camille to pout and say "I'm not a tobbeler!"


Lucy handled it with such grace. She just reassured Camille that "toddler is just a fancy way of saying big girl." Camille was satisfied with that explanation - probably due to the book.

Safety First

The Profile

Here is baby #4 belly at 24 weeks. I wanted to make sure I have at least one these pictures for this baby book.

I think the kids will hope for more babies in the future, after #4 makes his/her debut. Sure, they love babies and this is all very exciting, but also because last Friday night my pregnant mind decided that we would just have warm brownies and cold milk for dinner. And we did.

Of course I did honor all requests for healthier sides...there were requests for oatmeal, a PBJ sandwich, and bananas.

I also wanted to follow up on our Flipper watching family night. It was a hit, although Camille fell asleep before we started the first episode. Kilian and Lucy both wore their swimsuits and lots of popcorn was consumed.

Lucy to Kilian after Flipper saves the day: See, this is why I want a pet dolphin!

Friday night plans

My kind of night.

4 of my favorite people.

Popcorn.

P.J.'s

Blankets and pillows.

and about 2 hours worth of Flipper episodes, courtesy of Brad's parents.

He got the box set of the first season for Christmas and it has become quite a hit around here.

Mountain Time

We made a quick trip to Ruidoso, NM after school was out and before Christmas. Our kids had not ever seen mountains before, which seems wrong when we only live about 4 hours away from some!

It didn't snow while we were there, but we did get to see some when we went up to the Ski Apache slopes for the "Parade of Torches" one night. Here is some video of the skiers coming down the mountain holding torches while real Mescalero Apaches play the drums in the background. It was really neat. (and COLD).

brrrr.







Who knew there were polar bears in southern New Mexico??

We decorated our first ever gingerbread house.

Finished product.

Brad made sure no early bowl games slipped by without at least some score updates.

Nothing like hot tubbing in the mountain air!


Kilian was pretty obsessed with keeping the fire going. He did a great job of collecting pine needles for it.

Lucy models some winter accessories at the cabin.

Sometimes my plans backfire

Last spring I bought Lucy some rather inexpensive knit skirts with the shorts built in. At about $4 each, I went ahead and got about 4 colors in size 4T. She wore them everyday after school, then all summer, then on warmer days in the fall. I finally decided to put them away just before Christmas because 1.) it's too cold and 2.) they are too short on her now.

So what happens yesterday as a cold front blows in? She twirls into my room asking how she looks. She is wearing a summer shirt and one of Camille's size 18 month skirts. She is 5. She looks ridiculous, but explained that it was her only choice because her skirts were gone. Never mind the jeans, pants, or longer skirts she has.

Ultrasound day.......it's a......

Surprise.

We don't want to find out this time, either. "We" have agreed to not find out every time, except I had a weak moment at this point with Camille. Brad was late for the appointment and I decided to ask the ultrasound tech to quickly and unofficially take a peak. So, I knew Camille was a girl and kept it a secret from just about everyone - including Brad. He should have figured it out because I didn't have much input on our boy name ideas, but was much more concerned about girl names. I regretted doing that and absolutely didn't do the same this time.

Actually, Kilian went with me today. He enjoyed seeing the new baby on t.v. and had tons of good questions about how the sonogram works. When they were trying to get a good picture of the baby's face with the new 3D/4D technology, the baby kept putting his/her hands in front of his/her face. No matter what they tried, the baby wouldn't let us get a good look at the face, so I said, "looks like we have a stubborn baby!".

Kilian said, "when you say stubborn, it makes me think it's a girl".

WHAT??? Who is teaching him things like that?? I reassured him that he can be stubborn, too. So it doesn't mean anything.

Less puppy, more baby

"Grammy", Brad's mom, sewed some miniature burp clothes for the girls to use with their baby dolls. Lucy knew exactly what to do - since we had spent some time with her new cousin, Avery.

I wanted to quiz Camille, so I put one over my shoulder while holding a doll. I told her that "I needed to hold her baby up to my shoulder and pat her back so she would......"

and without hesitating, Camille answered, "bark".

5 Candles

5 things about Lucy:

1. She now lets me french braid her hair, but after a long day in west Texas wind, it doesn't always stay (see above).

2. She absolutely has a sweet tooth. She plans what her "1 sweet treat per day" will be about 5 days in advance. Which is often 1 item from her Halloween bag. We'll probably throw the rest out when we get Valentines candy???

3.When she's good, she's EXTREMELY good, when she's very tired or hungry - watch out, world!!

4. She has a wonderful singing voice - and always surprises us with how well she remembers lyrics.

5. She started ballet and tap in November and LOVES it.

Happy 5th birthday to our sweet ballerina!!

7 Candles

(I'm copying this idea from my friend Melissa, well, I'm not copying the things I like about Kilian, but copying the listing of the same number of things about the birthday kiddo as their new age...whatever...here it goes.)

7 things about Kilian:

1. He loves bugs & wants to be an entomologist

2. He doesn't like melted cheese - except on some pizza.

3. He says he would like to be the only boy and have all sisters (including this new baby #4) "so he can be the leader".

4. He is extremely ticklish like Brad, I'm not.

5. He jumps out of bed, gets dressed very quickly, and comes in for breakfast with a happy attitude every school morning..."ready to get a head start".

6. He has made the little compartment in the back of our minivan his "treasure chest". For at least 2 years now, he has collected "rare" things he finds in parking lots, on sidewalks, etc. He is happy to invite friends to come in the car and see it, and when we have a visiting passenger, he passes items around the car and tells all about them.

7. He kinda looks like a jack-o-lantern right now

Happy 7th Birthday to our big little scientist!!