Poor Ally

Her life will be documented in 4 month increments! This is pitiful. But, although I've thought of just quitting all together, I'm not. So, at least something will be documented. We had an awesome time celebrating the holidays with family & friends. We hosted a trunk for New Baltimore's Trunk or Treat with our church. For late October, the weather was perfect. 40s & clear. Evie was Jo Jo & Sean was a doggie bag. We went to Uncle Mike's & Aunt Nicole's on Halloween. It was cold & rainy, but that didn't stop us (mostly Sean) from trick or treating. Ally & Evie were lady bugs & Sean was a doggy bag again. I guess the costume doesn't matter as much if you're a boy & you're older. :) Daddy started having back problems on 11/02 and after almost 2 weeks of ER, urgent care, & hospital visits he had surgery on 11/15. The hardest part of all of it was the time before the surgery. We are SO thankful for our parents. Each & every one of them. Without their help, I'm not sure what I would've done for those 2 weeks. Knowing the kids could be with them enabled me to be with Jason & we are so thankful for that! We loved having him home with us for 7 weeks, especially over Christmas & New Years. We celebrated Thanksgiving at Grandma & Puppa's & thanks to Aunt Mary's galbladder surgery, they were able to join us. Nolan & Ally got to enjoy some Thanksgiving side dish favorites for the first time. Broccoli bake, stuffing, sweet potatoes...mmmmm. Forget the turkey! We got to have 2 pizza parties with santa this year. One on 11/24 with Grandma & all of the cousins on mommy's side and one on 11/30 with Connor & Ella. Evie worried us, because at the VERY beginning, she wanted me to hold her & didn't want much to do with santa. But, that changed quick. She kept calling him "Christmas" and saying "Christmas says ho ho ho!". It's like they were old buddies. Ally wasn't having it at all. We had to trick her by getting pictures of the kids with santa behind them. We had Christmas parties with Aunt Pam & her family, Aunt Sally & her family and then we spent Christmas Eve with at Grandma & Puppa's where we got to see lots of family. Christmas day was the usual routine (well, not for Ally...it was her first!). We left cookies & carrots for Santa and his reindeer, along with a note. When we woke up, the kids were excited to see the empty plate & a reply from santa. Sean & Evie got bunk beds this year from us & Sean was promised special presents if he slept in his own bed, in his room for the week leading up to Christmas. He did, so he got his own tv & a light saber room light. That boy has an awesome set up!! Grandma & Puppa came over to see the kids open presents. We followed that with breakfast at Grandpa Larry's & Grandma Sue's with them, Grandpa Jim & Uncle Scott. We went home, took naps & finished the day with presents with Grandpa Jim & dinner at Big Jack's BBQ. :) Christmas wasn't over yet. We celebrated after Christmas with Aunt Susie & her family & then on New Year's eve with mommy's family because Aunt Mary, Uncle Scott & Nolan were able to be here then. Without a doubt, our family is loved, cared for & blessed! Sean... Sean is doing great in school. I love his teacher, because I know she cares about him & she communicates with me. Sean still loves making his friends laugh, but he mangages to stay on "ready to learn" each day. The other day he was on "excellent effort", which he was VERY proud of. :) His teacher told me she can trust Sean in all different situations & she wishes she had 10 more Seans in her class. :) He's gotten a little sassy, snappy & attitudinal, which I never thought my sweet little boy would get. We're working on that and as long as that side shows with us & not other adults, I guess we can deal with it. If I hear of him snapping at or getting an attitude with his teacher or another adult, I may have to beat him. ;) I am so proud of Sean for how well he's doing with sleeping all night in his bed, well, some nights. I wasn't sure how the transition would go, but he's done so well. We leave a night light on & soft music playing. As always, Sean likes to stay busy all the time. Naps are not an option, down time of any kind is not an option, etc. He got to go to his first Monster Truck Jam on 01/12/13 with Daddy, Grandpa Jim & Connor. He loved it. He likes to stay busy! He lost his first tooth on 12/15/12 & it was LONG overdue. The tooth fairy did not disappoint either. She left him $3 that night & he was super excited. He has another loose tooth that should fall out any time now. We know he's about to lose a tooth, because the adult tooth gets impatient & starts coming in behind the baby one. :) He's doing really well in karate. We've seen a real improvement in his coordination & running. His gym teacher had him demonstrate how to do push-ups & told the rest of the class to watch. He was so proud! He scored at the National Physical Award level which means that he performed above the 50th percentile on all 5 activities tested. We recently had to gather some pictures for a time line project at school. I loved looking at little baby Seany pictures, because he's growing up so fast. Evie... This little girl keeps us laughing all the time. She's so smart & so funny & so stinkin' cute. She often makes you feel good when you give her something or do something for her because she'll say, "Thank you, this is the best ____ EVER!!!". I love listening to her pray. For awhile, her prayer was about loading the van after a Christmas party & would go something like, "Dear God, thank you for everything we packed in the van and everything we put in the van so it not be stinky. Amen!". :) Recently, after a trip to Kroger with Daddy, it became a list of things they bought at the "supermarket". You just never know what's going to come out of her mouth next. Yesterday she told me that her life was making her angry. She's always called me "mumma" or "mommy" but lately, it's been "momma" with almost a southern twang. Who knows... If Evie likes what I've made to eat, she'll say, "This is a great Christmas dinner." She finds ways to atagonize her brother. I wish he could just turn it off, but no, they usually end up bickering. The other day I heard Evie scream from the back seat. I asked what was wrong & she said, "Sean was looking at me". To which he replied, "Well, you looked at me first!". Really? Already?!?! Of course her spunk & stubborness has it's downfalls, but I'm hoping we can nurture & direct these qualities in her because they have great potential!! Speaking of stubborn, we've been working on potty training since just after Christmas. Some rewards or incentives worked briefly, but usually by mid-day, she was over it and would start going in her diaper/pull-up the rest of the day. For example, we made a sticker chart & she LOVED getting stickers for going on the potty, for a few hours. After that, she'd say, "That's ok, I don't need anymore stickers." But, over the last 2 weeks, something clicked & she's doing great. We average one accident a day. She's doing great! Evie got to go to Elmo Live with me, Aunt Annette & Ella on 02/01. She loved the idea of it. We had lots of fun getting ready for it and spending all the money her grandparents sent her with. But, after the first half of the show, she was done. Maybe we'll try a matinee some time. She also got to go to the Princess Ball on 02/16. After a rocky start - waking up from a really short nap in the car, walking in a blizzard & standing in line for an hour - we had a blast. She loved the show & meeting the princesses. Definitely worth it! Looking forward to going next year. Ally... 4 months is way too long to go with out an update when you're only 10 months old! In November, at 6 months, she had her first tooth on the bottom & a 2nd popped up right next to it almost immediately. No more teeth yet, but I really love that "rugrat" smile she has with just the two teeth. She started with saying "mumma" and "dadda" around 6 months and now, she tries to say everything. We joke that she says dadda when she's happy & mumma when she's mad. She says "grandpa", "puppa", "spongebob", "puppy", "bubba", "baby". They sound very similar, but she'll see spongebob on tv, point to it & say, "spongebob". She'll see grandpa or puppa walking up to the house and she'll point out the window & say "grandpa" or "puppa". She waves to herself (or Nolan) and says "hi beh-beh". Last night while doing face time with grandma, she tried to say "grandma". We say, where's Elmo? She looks for the Elmo balloon Evie got & tries to say "Elmo". She does more & thank you in sign language. Her "more" is the cutest thing ever. She takes her little index finger & points to the inside of her other hand. Amazing. She's been crawling since the fall, our youngest crawler. Her crawl is almost a cross between Sean & Evie's. She crawls with her butt in the air, using her hands & feet. She has great balance & can stand without using something to pull herself up. She usually goes to a stand from her signature "sumo" squat. She's taken a step here & there, but no walking yet. She loves to eat, mostly big kid food. No more of that baby stuff. Although a nice warm bubba seems to take all her cares away. She's very stubborn & does what she has to do to get her way. I seem to bring out the whine in her more than anybody. She loves Sean & Evie, but Seany makes her SO happy. Evie & her bicker & usually seem to want the same things. It's only the beginning... We have so much to look forward to in the next 2 months. We're going to see Veggie Tales Live on 03/23. Easter is 03/31. Ally & Nolan's 1st Birthday party is 04/13 and we're going to Disney World on 04/20!!! We are so blessed as a family. So thankful for everything & each other. :)