Annaliese is 9!

 Nine...how in the world is she nine years old already? I still very clearly remember heading home from the hospital with her, thinking that it was a bit crazy that they thought we knew enough to take care of such a tiny human! And now here we are, and she is such an incredible girl! 

She loves going to school, reading, and playing games. She is thoughtful and smart. As she has grown, she has become more reflective and less talkative. She will spend hours sitting in a chair with a good book and is constantly singing to herself. Annaliese likes to play soccer and basketball and loves a good park date with her friends! 

Annaliese has a few good girlfriends at school and she had eagerly planned her birthday party, including both indoor and outdoor options, but I with the increasing number of Covid cases and a request from school to me mindful of how our actions affect the community at large, we decided it was best not to have a party this year. Annaliese very graciously accepted this and we did a small party at home, just with Grandpa and Grandma (since we live with them!) 

We made a gluten free-dairy free cake this year so Dad could enjoy it too! 

Favorite dinner: Pizza or Rosemary Apple Pork Chops

Favorite color: Turquoise

Favorite activity: Soccer

Favorite book series: Boxcar Children and Magic Treehouse

Favorite subject in school: Math

October

 I feel like it's the same story, different month. Our weekdays are filled with school (yay!!) and our weekends are busy working on our house.

School has been going fantastic! The girls love it and it is so neat to hear them talk about everything they are learning. Haleigh's favorite subject is math and we are working on her reading as well. Annaliese loves science and has been busy learning all about our solar system. Lydia is busy learning all about colors and recently showed me that she can write her name. We carpool with Mallory and Owen and I love listening to their conversations on our drives!

The house is coming along nicely! Thanks to Thane and his brother-in-law Jeff, all the trim that can go up is up and we are almost done painting the rooms that will be carpeted.  We had some trees trimmed last week, a new slider door goes in this week and hopefully, we will start laying the floor this week as well!! It's exciting to see it starting to come together!!

Just starting to paint Annaliese's room...she picked turquoise!

We've got our work cut out for us...load one of flooring.

And of course there are always a few random pictures that I find as I'm looking through my photos!

Malachi and Haleigh by the Nooksack River

Malachi really wanted a picture that showed off his two missing teeth!

Auntie Kim picking a few blackberries.

Making homemade pasta

Kelsey took Owen and Lydia out to Birch Bay to visit with Grandpa and Grandma (They're camping out there for a few nights.)

September

 Here we are, almost at the end of the month. It's hard to believe how quickly September has gone, and thankfully, we were able to settle into a bit of a routine. 

The girls are in their fifth week of school, which has been such a blessing. They have quickly adjusted to the routine of daily screenings, temperature checks, and wearing masks and those things just aren't a big deal to them.  It's so fun to hear them talk about new friends, bringing home books from the library, and recite their memory verses. Even Lydia came home telling me all about how she learned about Adam and Eve! They are little sponges and were so desperately in need of the structure and social interaction that school brings! We constantly talk about how grateful we are for all the work that the teachers and staff are doing to make sure that they get to stay in school. 

When we aren't in school, we are busy working on the new house. Back in August, we bought a new house in Lynden and the initial plan was to rip out the old carpet and take down the ugly wallpaper and put in new floors and paint. That led to new countertops, new trim, a few new appliances, and basically redoing the master bathroom. We've pulled down a lot of wallpaper, pulled out flooring and are now just starting to be able to put things back together! I'll put together a whole post on the house soon!

Checking out different flooring options...

The updated master bathroom

Lots of trim to paint!

In between work and the back and forth to Lynden, I finally started running again and have been able to enjoy running around Lake Padden or at Berthusen Park.  

Haleigh lost her first tooth!

4 Years Old!!

 Lydia had her golden birthday this year and turned 4 on September 4. She requested shoes and clothes for her birthday and she was thrilled with all her new clothes! Thank you!

Showing off her new bike helmet!

We also had a small birthday party with family. She was excited to spend the afternoon playing with cousins and opening a few more presents! 

Reading books with Auntie Kim

Playing with new legos.

Lydia in a nutshell: she is happy and enthusiastic and full of energy. She knows what she wants, never stops talking and gives amazing hugs. But she can throw a fit and will scream and scratch and pinch when she doesn't get what she wants! She started preschool this year and absolutely loves it! 

All three girls share a room right now so everyone goes to bed about 7:30 and gets up between 6:30-7am. She sleeps with her blanket and still sucks on her two fingers. Now that school has started, she is pretty sleepy and will nap with me in the afternoon. I love it! She is a good snuggler😀

Lydia is very particular about her clothing; she picks out her own outfits every day! 4T clothes fit her, but she can often be found wearing something of Haleigh's, despite the fact that it is too big! Shoes are between sizes 8 and 9, depending on the shoe. 

Favorite activities: this is a hard one. She likes playing with Haleigh and they can frequently be found playing with stuffies, playing groceries, or talking on pretend phones. She likes to color, ride her scoot bike, and help Grandpa with whatever he is doing. She does not like to be told what to do!

Telling Grandpa all about her first day of school.

Favorite food: this changes by the day! She lives for dessert...Friday,  Saturday, and Sunday are dessert days and she keeps track of what day it is for that purpose!!

Lydia is full of joy and is a bundle of energy and is such a fantastic little girl. I love watching her learn, watch her mind process things, and see her become her own person.