Merry Christmas!

We had a very nice Christmas. Last weekend we celebrated with Eric's family, which was great! This weekend we spent Xmas eve and christmas at my parents. It was fun at both events to reconnect and catch up with extended family first and foremost. Secon the food was excellent! And third, the kids of course got quite a few new fun toys. Levi's got a new basketball hoop from us he's crazy about, spending hours dunking his little soccer ball in. He enjoys most if you play with him, and enjoys passing the ball. He also got a little leap frog phone and iPad toy that he loves from my parents, and I've been really pleased by the leap frog educational side to it. It's our first time with that type of toy. Kaylee has been having a great time with her rapunzel tower and princesses playing pretend scenarios with them in there. She also really loves her first Barbie rapunzel from us.

My dad came today and put the new gate and rail extensions on the bunk bed. The safety of their new bed has gone up a ton all the sudden. Thanks dad!

I (and I hope Eric) are on vacation for the next two weeks. I hope to do a lot of fun things with the kids. I'll update on what those things are! Also, we plan on continuing our work on the basement, having all the new stuff I already gave a whole carload ready to donate. I've been teaching kaylee about donation, and she helped figure out what of hers she would donate to little kids that don't have----... Also we're going to clean up the laundry room, the storage and the guest bedroom downstairs...all rooms still feeling the crunch from the construction. Hopefully well finish in time for the smith visit next week, which we are looking forward to! Merry Christmas to you all... Stay safe too!

Levi 15 mo update

Levi had his 15 month dr appt. He was healthy and was 24 lb 6 oz (47.74%), 32.75"h(90.9%) and 51.5 cm head circumference (99.93%). They did a survey to see how he was doing developmentally and he is doing great testing at a 18 month old capability. The only thing I answered no to was can he get off his own shirt or pants. Eric joked that he can't get the shirt off himself because of his big head. The doctor said that this is more of an item accomplished by a child nearing 2 years old anyway.

Don't forget to view new post below either...done just today! cheers.

"K-A-Y-L-E-

Kaylee is getting to be such a big girl! From behind me on the way to work listening to the radio station with Christmas music, she is singing along in tune knowing all the words to the songs. Also she has come home from Preschool each day for a like a month tracing her name, the other day she came home and the name was not traced but done completely by herself! I was so proud, it was a big moment for sure! I can’t explain the pride I felt for my big girl growing up. Her name was so cute. The ‘Y’ looked like an ‘X’ and then second ‘e’ was under the first ‘e’. I cut it out and after we have it on the refrigerator for a while, I will put in her baby book!

This morning the kids were playing so cute. Levi was jumping on top of Kaylee on the bed. They were wrestling. He would stand up and then pounce on her over and over. It was all good-natured and both loved it!

This weekend Eric decorated the trees in our front yard with lights. When we took them to look, Levi was talking very loudly, excitedly making exclamations in his baby babble. We couldn’t understand a word, but we knew he liked it and was excited! He was almost excited as well playing the our second cousin’s battery-operated train set this weekend. There were a lot of words, loud that no one understood. But everybody knew he was having a great time. On the talking front, he added a new word – “Chocolate.” He’s his mama’s boy! 

Eric and I are trying to clean up the basement, dealing with the domino effect of the construction. We had a set-back with our doors not accepting a second-coat of polyurethane. Not sure what the issue is but Eric had to sand them down and will start over, or we will have to repurchase slightly more expensive (better quality) doors in the spring. We emptied out our storage under the stairs and tossed, donated and sorted through all of it. Thanks to the neighbors for watching the kids for us!

My Dad came by with the rail extensions for the bunk bed and they are looking great. We are very excited for the bunk beds to be a bit safer for our kids (and still look great). Thanks Dad!

We moved the kids toys into the room after they went to
bed last night. They were so excited this morning. They were ripping around in
there having a great time. It was hard to get them to get ready for daycare. I
had to bring them their clothes, boots and coats downstairs so that they would
get ready. The upstairs looks bigger without all those toys around. We have
more to sift through and decide what we want to keep of what's the basement.
It's looking like we are going to at least sell 1 coffee table. We are looking
forward to getting our Christmas tree tonight and setting it up down
there!
Wednesday of next week the contractor will be finishing
the door trim at the base, the trim around the opening at the stair and bring
over the door to the storage area under the stair and put it up. Eric's having trouble with one light, and
wants to discuss it with him. Other than that we will be done! Being able to
now use the space is such a huge step.

(Pre) School Photo

We woke up in the wee hours on the day of picture day, and went to the only place open, Walmart. We got this cute new outfit for picture day and the photo turned out great. I wonder though, why do they chop kids bangs so totally horizontal and not slightly round them down at the sides???

She smiled pretty though! Kaylee you look great, my sweet!

Family room almost ready!

Exciting things are happening with our basement! We are almost there with our new family room! It is painted, the trim is in, the trim is on the canned lights and Eric put 95% of the floor in yesterday. Today the wood is getting puttied, the floor's being finished and the base shoe will (most likely?) go on. We are waiting for the door to the storage area to be completed by a millwork shop. We will put pictures on when it's done. As soon as we can, we are going to get a Christmas tree and put it up in there. Kaylee is so so excited for that!!! Kaylee helped us paint the basement. Really just the lower part of one wall. It was amazing how much she liked being treated like a big girl. She was practically a different kid! She was so polite! “Mom can you please help me refill my paint brush and I will try not to drip on the carpet. If I drip, I will tell your right away so you can help me clean it up!” Wow. I think we’ll have to find more chores to help encourage this big girl attitude in her! Maybe she needs to feel more a part of things, productively. She loved being a part of her playroom construction!

I asked Kaylee what does she want for Christmas and her response was, "A Pink Star." Who knows what that means? Oh well! It seems to me that her favorite 'toy' is her brother. She loves playing with him, tucking him in with blankets on the floor, playing forts with him, chasing him, harassing him...(hey she's not perfect!). Levi however really loves his toys. He spends long periods of time quiet, focused on his toys. He has a good attention span and is really interested in how things work. He turned over his train with all these buttons for animal sounds and instead, examines the wheels looking for how they work and what they do exactly. He loves to be chased too, and beams at you when you say "I'm going to get you!" Eric told me that Levi loves to come up to him with a little stuffed animal and say to him, "Rahr!" He doesn't do this with me, so I find that very interesting. When Levi smiles, he looks a lot like his cousin, F. The two have bright faces that glow when they smile.

Levi already has some dance moves. He has added two new moves lately to his repetoire. It's the rolling of the hands and the hand/arm up right/left alternating. He also loves to clap and then clap/slap his belly too.

I tried to take Kaylee sledding yesterday but she was having none of that. She was scared. I better take her with the neighbor girls so they can show her what it's all about. This weekend I took the kids to the city on the commuter rail line. Kaylee and Levi loved it. Rant alert! I was shocked that people would let me with a baby and a preschooler stand instead of offering their seats. There were some very able-bodied looking folks around. I appreciate anyone who helps us out. Whenever you see a mom with kids, please help them out! Open doors...if a kids having a fit, I appreciate instead of staring or looking annoyed, people who distract Kaylee or try to talk to her calmly instead. She doesn't have many public fits anymore, but something got me going....sorry! Also I had trouble with the number of buildings inaccessible to us, with no accessible entry for our stroller when I was waiting for Eric to come pick us up, I had to walk four blocks to find and open entry we could get inside and keep warm! But we did have a good time, kaylee loved the train and the muppet movie! They both needed an intermission though and we left in the middle and the ran around outside the theater for a bit. Kaylee loved Mary and miss piggie, but was very confused when gonzo blew up his building. Understandably! They both enjoyed the songs and wanted to dance.