March

This month started off with Papa Jay and Grandma Kelley's visit and celebrating Haleigh's 5th birthday. The time since then has flown by and it's hard to believe that we are in the first week of April. Once again I find myself looking back at the pictures I've taken to remember what we've been up to!

With all the snow that we received this winter, we were able to make 2 more trips to the snow. One weekend, Kyle and the girls headed up with some friends from church for a day of sledding. It was my weekend to work so I couldn't join them, but that didn't stop Kyle from packing lunches and having a fun day!

The next weekend, we invited some friends to go snow-shoeing with us. The weather was gorgeous and it was a great last trip to the snow for the season! We don't see the Anderson's very often, so it was fun to be able to spend some time with them. It's also incredible how much more fun the girls have when they have friends along! They were laughing almost the entire time.

Corbin, Jen, McKinley and Cole

A little sledding down the snowpile

Lydia didn't love it

Haleigh and McKinley

Here are a few pictures of the rest of our month:

Annaliese reading in chapel

Annaliese's class led chapel based on the Armor of God from Ephesians.

Free ice cream from Dairy Queen for the first day of Spring

Elias and Annaliese working on their stepping stone for
Grandpa and Grandma's birthday present

Kyle took the girls on a walk at Hovander Park

It's been so fun to be able to get out and do more activities this winter! Kyle made it up to snow for skiing, sledding, or snow-shoeing 5 out of 6 weekends in a row! The girls seem to like the snow more and more each year and although we've packed away the ski gear, we are already talking about how fun it will be next year.  

Lydia is 2 1/2!

Lydia is 2 1/2 years old already! She is almost always happy, gives amazing hugs, has the best laugh ever and is fully embracing life. She may have been a bit late to walk and talk, but she doesn't stop doing either now! This little lady is always on the move and isn't about to get left behind by her sisters! 

Here's a glimpse at what Lydia is up to: 

Sleeping: Lydia is a great sleeper! She goes to bed around 7:00-7:30pm (just like her sisters) and sleeps all night, until around 7:00 am. She sleeps with her 'boppy' (blankie,) her bunny, and the sound machine on. She likes her blinds closed and the curtains pulled shut, the door mostly closed and the night light on. She takes an afternoon nap almost every day and sleeps for 1 1/2-2 hrs. Lydia is still in her crib and hasn't made any attempts to climb out of it, so we haven't even discussed transitioning her to the toddler bed yet! 

Eating: Lydia loves to snack but is rather particular about what she eats at mealtime. Lately, she will eat a bowl of cereal for a snack, but won't touch it at breakfast! She's not into eggs, but likes the sausage. She will lick the peanut butter and jelly off a sandwich but won't eat the bread. And she can easily sit at the dinner table and not eat a bite of food! However, she will help herself to the snack cabinet and can often be found eating a handful of nuts, raisins, crackers, or chips! 

Clothing: Most of the clothes Lydia is wearing are 2T; some of the stretchy pants are getting a little bit small but most 3T pants are way too long. Shirts are either 2T or 3T depending on the brand and how old they are! Shoes are mostly size 5, but we aren't far from moving on to size 6. Lydia is wearing size 5 diapers and we haven't made any progress on potty training at this point. 

Activities: Lydia loves coloring, playing babies, being outside and basically doing anything that everyone else is doing! She likes to help me clean, snuggle with Shelby and go running with me. Most of the time, she does a pretty good job playing with her sisters, but she will also ruin their artwork, tear pages out of books, and knock over buildings/towers just because she can! Unfortunately, she also likes the reaction she gets when she bites and pinches...so she spends a fair amount of time in time out for that.

A few other notable facts:

• Lydia still faces backward in her car seat
• She's is very particular about what clothes/shoes/pajamas she will wear
• She went to the dentist for the first time and was very excited about going, and very politely declined to let them clean her teeth. 
• She doesn't like to use the potty but will say "Mom, change my diaper" after going to the bathroom.

Haleigh is 5!

It's hard to believe that Haleigh is 5 already! On the one hand when I think back to when I was pregnant with her and we were living in the barn in California, it seems like forever ago! But at the same time, it’s gone by so quickly! She is growing into her own little person and it is fun to see her mind start processing things differently. She is usually full of smiles and quick to give a hug or snuggle. She likes to play with Annaliese and is a great big sister to Lydia.

Dad brought flowers to school for her birthday!

She doesn’t like to be the center of attention, and for her birthday, she wanted to have dinner with both her grandpas and grandmas instead of having a big party. She’s been looking forward to turning 5 for several months and had a few very specific requests...cheese pizza and chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and a red smiley face! We had Uncle Thane, Auntie Kim, Elias and Malachi join us as well for a little birthday party. (Uncle Ben and Auntie Kelsey were out of town so they couldn't make it.)

Auntie Kim helping to get her new doll dressed.

Trying out the new balance beam.

Here's a little summary of life with Haleigh:
Sleeping: Haleigh goes to bed between 7:30-8:00pm and sleeps until between 6:30-7:00am. She still sucks her thumb at night despite our efforts to help her quit! Shelby frequently sleeps on Haleigh's bed as well. She has a quiet time every afternoon for about an hour; most of the time she plays with the magnets, her dolls, or reads books but every once in a while she will curl up under the blanket and sleep. 

Clothing: Most of her stuff is 5T now. It's hard to say what size shoe-she has some size 9 shoes that fit and some size 10 ones that are too small! 

Favorite Activities and other fun facts:

• Building with magnets is still a favorite activity
• Haleigh loves going to school and will throw out Spanish words every now and then.
• One on one time is super important! When Annaliese is around, she is such a follower; but Haleigh is super creative and has great ideas when it's up to her. 
• She wears a dress almost every day.
• She started doing gymnastics and loves it!
• She's our sensitive child...almost every time we watch a family movie, Haleigh cries during it.

Favorite Food: Chicken, Green Beans, and Black Beans

Favorite Color: Purple

Favorite Activity: Playing Magnets

Favorite Animal: "Baby pandas because they are cute." 

Papa Jay and Grandma come to visit

Last weekend, Papa Jay and Grandma came for a long weekend visit. Unfortunately, the girls still had school on Friday and Monday, but we were still able to fit in cross country skiing, a birthday party for Haleigh and a brisk walk around Tennant Lake. And there was lots of time spent at home, drawing pictures, building towers, and playing games.

We went skiing at the Sno-Park where we usually go and it was a beautiful day! Haleigh and Annaliese both seemed to have improved since we were there last week! We skied farther than we've ever gone before and I'm pretty sure Haleigh was moving faster!

Our walk around Tennant Lake was cold, but it was good to get outside and get a little exercise!

And here's a few pictures from our time hanging out at home!

On the last night, we went out for dinner at Northwater Restaurant; the girls love going to 'a restaurant store' and were super excited to go with Grandma and Papa Jay.