A boy in a cape

There is just something about a boy in a cape. :)

Backyard fun

Daddy found this little playhouse and bench yesterday in someone's trash pile. The children were so excited, especially Anastasia since the little playhouse is the perfect size for her. Thanks to some unseasonably warm weather, they spent half the day out there playing!

Sailor girls

All ready for mass...hard to get a photo though. The little one was very wiggly today. She must have been really tired because she actually fell asleep on Daddy's shoulder in mass this morning. So sweet!

Cuteness

I brought out some of the 12-18 month clothes event though she still fits fine in a lot of her 9-12's. I just love this outfit. It seems like I just barely put it away (partly because Gloria is so small I probably did just put it away)!

Can you find it?

Stephen's sippy cup, that is. He is the craziest when it comes to stashing his cup in obscure places. Sometimes it takes weeks for us to find them! (hint: it is a "girl" cup leftover from Gloria since he lost all but one of his "boy" cups). And yes, our coat/craft closet could use a reorg. ;)

Experimentation

Th children earned a special treat, and of all the choices Austin gave them, they picked to play with dry ice! So we had a science day!

They put coins on it to hear the noise they make when frozen instantly

Then they put chunks in different temperatures of water to see the difference in the speed of sublimation (you can't call it "melting" since it goes from solid to gas instead of liquid)

They watched it blow a giant bubble in a bowl

And the all time favorite, stirring the smoky brew!

We also made sparkling apple juice and powerade which we enjoyed with dinner. :)

Ketchup baby

She likes it!

Walking practice

We finally got her on video. She is taking up to 8 steps now. :)

Baby steps

I have been trying to catch a video of Anastasia taking steps. She has been taking anywhere from 2 to 6 steps on her own and frequently lets go to balance for a bit while cruising. However, so far my video attempts have failed. I will keep trying though! :)

Christmas finale

One of the many things I love about being Catholic is the celebration of major feasts as an Octave and Season not just one day. How can you possibly contemplate and celebrate God made man or the Resurrection of Christ in just one day?! I spent many a day after Christmas being depressed that it was over until I discovered this! Anyway, this last weekend of the Christmas Season, we broke out our gingerbread houses and had a great time decorating them. (Austin found them after Christmas Day for $1 each I might add!).

The group project

Allia really wanted to decorate her own this year.

Birthday party

We had Gloria's birthday party this morning and were so blessed that none of our friends were sick so everyone was able to come! (lots of germs going around right now!) The birthday girl had a great time with all of her sweet little friends, and Daddy and Mommy enjoyed visiting with ours! She wanted a panda bear cake and craft, so here it is...

Working diligently on the craft

Blow out those candles!

More bikes

We finally gave in a braved the icky weather, although it took me all week to get the photos up! Here are some more bikers (minus Mariana who was sick).

Bike rotation

Allia received a big bike for Christmas, so we are moving everyone up to the next bike and fixing them up a little.

Allia waited until Epiphany to open her big gift!

 Daddy with his helpers putting together Allia's bike

 
Making the little bike gender neutral :) (Stephen has his bigger bike, but he is a little uncomfortable on it and has been asking to ride the little one.)

 She likes it!

Once the weather gets a little better I will try to get some photos of the others on their "new" bikes!

Birthday fun

We had a great day with our birthday girl. She opened gifts after breakfast...

 Then the girls went to RE. Mariana made this crown for Epiphany and decided to let Gloria wear it for her birthday.

We had a surprise visit from Uncle Matt and Tia Nana after dinner, just in time for cake and candles!

It is exhausting being the birthday girl!

Happy 5th Birthday, Gloria!

and happy Epiphany! Five years ago, the 6th fell on a Sunday, but we missed Epiphany mass because our little Gloria decided to arrive and give us extra reason for celebration!

Then

Now

She opened her gift from Pawpaw and Manah last night because we don't play video games on Sunday. She got her own Wii Remote! She was so excited and had lots of fun playing without risk of being left out. :)

Happy Birthday Anastasia!

We had a wonderful day with our birthday girl despite some of us being a little under the weather. We went to the store and picked out a birthday balloon and big girl toothbrush for her. I just love getting a balloon for my one year olds. It is so sweet to see the innocent awe they have for something so simple. I was reminded that this actually can last many more years as the other children clamored for turns to hold it! :)

She received the royal treatment from her siblings...they were all so sweet playing with her in her room, riding her around the house, etc. We made a banana cake and cupcakes. After Daddy came home for dinner, we sang and let her dig in.

Then she opened her little gift...a bath boat since she loves playing in the bath. She had lots of fun opening it, and I think she must finally be working on another tooth because she kept stopping to bite it all through the process!

 For the record, Stephen did most of the playing with the bath toy, but at least she finally got to play with the bath toys she received for Christmas that he had claimed!

1 Year Old!

We can hardly believe our Anastasia is one already! What a girl. She is cruising all over the place and still scooting in between getting into anything and everything. In fact, one day she snuck into the fridge as I was pulling things out for dinner and pulled out a bottle of marinade which she promptly broke, flooding the floor. No sooner had a cleaned that up and turned my back on her, then she got into the cabinet under the sink, open and dumped out a whole bottle of pine sol. The house smelled clean for weeks! I have a request in with my handyman for a few child locks for the cabinets. ;)

Anyway, she has not much interest in walking at the moment, but I think that will come pretty soon. I am really not in a hurry and neither is she, I think. ;) Anastasia is very verbal. Here is her list of words at the moment:

Dah-Deh (Thank you - always in a very sweet sing-songy voice with hand extended)
Uh-oh
Mah (Mama)
Allia (with the "L" sound actually in it...impressive, and I think she is using to refer to any/all of her sisters)
Muuuh (more/I am hungry)
Ah or Ah Duh (all done)
Dih - Duh (Ginger the cat)
Dih- duh/suh (said in a whisper is Jesus...she points to the crucifix)
Dada/Daddy
Dih (drink)
Bah - Bah/Baaah (Bye bye), sometimes with wave
Buh (ball)

She has lots of other squeals, screeches and grunts of course, and a great big open mouth smile that makes all of us smile with her. :)

Her daily shedule for now is:
Up around 6:15am, nurse
Breakfast 7:30am
Nurse, Nap 9:30-10:30
Lunch around noon
Nurse, Nap 1:45-3pm
Small snack
Dinner 6pm
Bedtime 7:30/8pm
This is by no means exact since she is my toughest sleeper and most unpredictable baby!

We sure are thankful for this sweet girl and hope to enjoy another year watching her grow.