Lydia...3 1/2 years old!

Lydia is 3 1/2 today; she seems more and more like a little girl and less and less like a baby. She has a strong, bubbly personality, loves to smile, gives great hugs and can brighten up anyone's day in an instant. On the flip side, if she's not happy, she can be kinda mean. Like pulling hair, pinching, and scratching. She loves to talk, is super excited about starting school, helps me with all my chores, and is finally starting to figure out how to play by herself! 

Sleeping: Lydia sleeps on the bottom bunk in a room with Haleigh. She still sucks on her two fingers and needs her blankie to go to sleep, but once she's asleep, she sleeps all night, usually from about 7:45pm-6:30am-ish. She naps at the babysitters house but when she's home with me she rarely sleeps anymore. Even just having a quiet time is a struggle! 

Activities: Lydia loves doing anything that her sisters are doing. She loves going to the park, coloring, helping me clean, playing Candy Land, and snuggling with Shelby. Sometimes she will sit and do puzzles, read books or play legos but usually someone else has to be doing it too! We started a preschool gymnastics class this past week and she loves it! 

Clothing: Lydia is wearing 3T clothes, but she will also occasionally pick something out of her sisters' closet and decide to wear that for the day. She picks out her own clothes every day and is able to get herself dressed, although she usually puts things on backwards. She has a few favorite outfits, like her flower pants, tank tops, and any sort of dance outfit. Lydia has been fully potty-trained for several months now and loves picking out what panties she is going to wear. 

Favorite Color: (long pause) bblllluuuuueeeeee...and purple. and yellow. andredandblack.
Favorite Food: peanut butter and honey
Favorite Song: Kings and Queens by Audio Adrenaline
Favorite Toy: Legos

Day Dates are the Best!

My sisters and I have talked about taking each other's kids so that we can go out on a date without having to pay for a babysitter; the last time we were all together, we actually decided to make it happen! I have always liked the concept, but I never want to pick my kids up late from someone's house and then have to come home after a date and put tired kids to bed late. So we decided to do a day date and go up to the mountains for some cross country skiing! We dropped the girls off at Kelsey's house around 8:30 and headed up to Mt. Baker. (They spent the day playing legos, coloring, and taking a walk to the library.)

Yesterday was pretty cloudy and rainy at our house so we weren't quite sure what the conditions would be like in the mountains, but it worked out quite well! The sun tried to come out and then it started to snow; about 30 minutes before we were finished, it turned into a really wet snow and we were really wet by the time we made it back to the car. 

We went to the same place that we normally go to, Salmon Ridge Sno-Park, but this time we were able to make it significantly farther than we've gone before. It was so pretty! We took Shelby with us and she loved it...and pretty much hasn't moved today! 

Lunchtime along the Nooksack River

The Rest of January

January has been a pretty dreary month with a lot of rain and snow so we haven't been able to spend too much time outside. That means that there has been lots of time inside for art projects, dancing, reading books, and playing legos. 

Kyle took Annaliese to the Y to play racquetball. She loved it!

Coloring by lantern...the power went out one afternoon.

Thane made these shelves for me for Christmas...I love how it turned out!!

Lydia, Annaliese, Nora, and Haleigh...Kyle went on a hike with the girls and his friend Justin while I was hoping sleeping. 

Homemade playdough creations

Malachi and Lydia playing in the puddles at Hovander.

Lots of water across the trail!

January went by really fast; now we're already a week into February. I would say 2020 has been off to a good start. We starting using a new book called 1-2-3 Magic to get the girls to be better listeners and it has made a huge difference at home. They are so much more fun to be around! It's good to be back into the rhythm of school; we have a fun small group that meets every Monday night; church is starting a new kid's ministry that sounds super exciting; we know what the plan will be for school for next year; Kyle has been super busy with his business and is seeing an increasing number of clients. We're a month into the new year...it's exciting to see how the rest of it will unfold!

Winter Break...Number 2

After Christmas break, we had a week of school before we got hit with an arctic freeze that brought snow, ice, freezing cold temperatures and an entire week of snow days! Unfortunately, I had to work most of the time, but the girls still managed to have fun. Sarah, our babysitter, is amazing and took all 3 girls (instead of just Lydia) on Monday. On Tuesday, I was home but it was too cold and windy to go play outside, so we hung out inside and then watched tv all afternoon so I could take a nap before I ventured back to work Tuesday night. Wednesday, Grandpa and Grandma came and picked them up and they spent the day at their house. They ate donuts and made bird-feeders for the birds! Plus, Grandpa and Grandma just bought a new truck so they thought it was pretty cool to get to ride in it! 

By Thursday afternoon, I was done sleeping/working for the week and the sun was finally coming out, which meant we were finally able to get outside and play in the snow! 

We had several house projects planned for the weekend, with the biggest project being to paint the office. It was an ugly yellow with red, fake wood blinds. We painted it the same beige color as the rest of the house and put up new white blinds. It is amazing how much bigger and brighter the room looks. And thanks to Mom and Dad who came over and helped paint! And thanks to the Magic School Bus for keeping the girls entertained!!

We rounded out our week off by heading up to Canada for some 5-pin bowling on Sunday afternoon. Kyle stayed home and put the office back together while I took the girls to Alder Alley for some bowling with Kim, Thane, Elias, Malachi, and Grandpa and Grandma. We had a lot of fun; the bowling alley was really dark with weird lighting so the pictures are pretty terrible. We had the kids on one lane with the bumpers up and the adults on the second lane...with no bumpers. And a trip to Canada isn't complete with donuts and coffee from Tim Horton's so we stopped there on our way back. 

Haleigh

Annaliese

Lydia

Cheering on Lydia!

Discussing donut options...it was a big decision!