Think I might be catching up

Well as it always goes just when you think you are catching up something breaks down that puts you back behind. Today Liesl and I did some cleaning in the house and got both the girls rooms back up to snuff. Daddy had fun playing with the girls in Liesl's room while I got a load of diapers on the line and a load of dishes in the washer. I tried something that I have been meaning to try. I converted bar soap to liquid soap. I managed to make about 3 gallons out of 3 bars. I really didnt mean to make that much....it just happened. I think we should be good for a long while. I might even put some kind of oils in it like maybe lavender from the garden. Ohhhh i cant wait to garden. What crazy weather we have been having. Yesterday Liesl was making "snow gargoyles" on the front lawn, today we have "Lake Michigan" in our driveway. It was nice to have mom and dad back after a long weekend of them working on the cottage. Mom says this is close to finished for now and looking forward to having some fun up there. We had a nice dinner from Vince and Joe's and played some fun games. Liesl has a new game we have named "Ladybug Picnic". It's great for the kids because there is no winner. You all are on the same team but it is still fun. Jeannie has been trying all kinds of new foods. She is really into strawawberries and when I want her to sit quietly she is content going to town on them. She really likes spaghetti too and does really well with the noodles. She really liked having free range of her and Liesl's rooms today after they were all clean I let her crawl down the hall and be a "free range chicken" as Jim puts it.

Great photo shoot for the cousins

Saturday the girls and I kidnapped Melisa and Robbie for a photo shoot. I hadn't gotten Liesl's pictures done since she was 2 and a half and Jeannie's since she was born. I felt it was about time to get them done. I am so glad we did. The Oma's are super excited to get hold of the pictures of the grand kids. Although the photo shoot was like herding cats. As soon as the kids hit the floor there was arms and legs and fingers everywhere. There were some great moments captured and some hilarious moments captured looking at the rest of the discards. I am excited to get these on the walls and shared out. Last night we went to the fire and ice festival in Rochester last minute and hooked up with our friends Jason and Tina and their 3 girls. Liesl was so excited to be meeting up with her "girlfriends". All the girls except Jeannie got their faces painted and they all came back for princess movies,popcorn and hot cocoa. We have 5 girls between the 2 families with all of them super close in age. It was a blast watching the older 3 play dress up and the younger 2 in the baby play area together. Can't wait to go skating at their house soon. We also met up at Sandi's this week when Dee came in town with Grady. It was nice to watch the kids play with their new tea set. Thank you Sandi for everything. The kids had a great time and it was great visiting. January has been filled with fun times including the Great Wolf Lodge. Had so much fun there splashing around. The water slides were amazing, kiddie hot tubs, lazy river, splash zone, character visits, magic quest was super fun allowing Liesl to interact with the hotel and make things talk and respond to her. Can't wait to go again. It is our new fun spot. Jeannie is all over the place. She has been climbing like crazy and loves climbing the stairs at Oma's. She still hasn't gotten even close to getting any teeth in. I am thinking she is going to be walking before that even happens. She still doesn't have much of a vocabulary, it is all momma, momma. We missed her 9 month appointment . I really need to reschedule this week before she is already 0 months. Bad momma! Liesl has been really getting into audio books and her Nabi. She does a lot of reading on there and listening to books. Today she read squirrel road on a road sign. Good job girl. She asked us why we were taking the secret squirrel way.

Happy birthday Mom!

It was a fantastic birthday in Frankenmuth for mom. Filled with grandchildren and her favorite, games with family and friends until the wee hours. Jim and I got up there mid afternoon with Jeannie. Liesl went up early with Oma Ronnie after an overnight. The party was in full swing when we got there with a whole block of adjoining rooms. Jeannie spent some time with Oma while Jim and I got to spend a relaxing lunch together in "Oma's". We had been looking forward to the new water slides in the Bavarian Inn and the slides were awesome but Liesl is an inch and half too short unfortunately and they took out her favorite part of the pools to make it. She did have a good time swimming regardless and so did Jeannie. Scott and Melisa and Robbie showed up in time for dinner and we all went for chicken dinner together. Thanks again dad! It was fantastic. Liesl had been coming down with something and it really started to hit her hard. By the time we were going to take a walk to see the lights she was done for and Jeannie had passed out so we waited to play games with the Omas. What fun we had playing ticket to ride and dice to the wee hours. When Jim and i got to bed we had so much fun listening to liesl talking in her sleep. She was dreaming of giant chocolate milkshakes. She couldnt get out of bed in the morning but desperately wanted pancakes which she slept through in my lap until her medicine kicked in. Thankfully she felt a little better and was able to enjoy the rides downstairs in the fun center with grandad and uncle Scott especially riding the motorcycle game.

Jeannie was especially happy to get home tonight and get her pooping done. I didnt ever think it would happen after the mountain of food she devoured at Oma's birthday celebration. She loved the squash and noodles. She was also very happy to have some freedom to roam the house. Babies and hotel rooms dont mix. We enjoyed a relaxing fire at home for new years with a short visit from Oma and grandad on the way to thier party for a toast and some cocoa. Daddy did a phenomenal job with dinner and the fire. We were hoping to listen to an audiobook with Liesl in front of the fire but Jeannie wasnt cooperating and we ended up watching the polar express until midnight. I missed out on breakfast at tiffanys :( will have to try that again. More fires to come hopefully.

Seems like Jeannie will be walking soon here. She is so fast with the crawling and cruising. She loves to wave at everyone. She definatly is working on vocabulary. Knows momma and dadda. Loves dolls! She goes crazy when a doll is put in front of her and gets into hysterical laughter until she can have it. She does excellent sleeping in her own bed every night. Sometimes i wish i could snuggle her but the other one has regressed and crawls into bed with me every.night.

Wonderful Christmas-time

Christmas was very laid back. Christmas eve we last minute met up with mom and dad, Melisa and Scott and Shannon and Mike. Liesl was an angel in church. She was cuddly and quiet without squirminess. She was thinking about Ota that day a lot and very thoughtful. Both the girls were dressed so cute in their christmas dresses. It was a wonderful and fun service, we were so happy for Melisa and Shannon to invite us. The band on stage was super fun to sing christmas carols with and there was the song lyrics on several screens in front. The kids also got a story too which Liesl was  a little afraid to participate in. That's ok, she could hear and see everything fom where she was. That night I went on a baking spree making everyone their favorite cookies. Glad they are no longer in my house. Liesl watched a lot of the holiday classics like Rudolph and Frosty. I managed to get too many of those songs in my head.... uuuugh. As I wrapped gifts that night Liesl kept trying to sneak in and see them, slowing me down. When it was finally time for bed Santa came and Liesl almost caught him! Little Cindy Lou that she is coming out for a cup of cold water. We laid out the cookies and milk for Santa and then the lettuce and carrot for the reindeer and finally she fell asleep.

Christmas day we slept in, opened presents and had a little family time in front of the tree. The kids were not overwhelmed with gifts which was good and they got exactly what they wanted and or picked out as was Jeannie's case. She did all the last minute shopping with mom and I. After lunch we headed to Oma's house to hang out with the rest of the family. Mom made an outstanding dinner of roast and all the traditional sides. My scratch pumpkin pie was a hit. Glad I put all the time into it. Thank you everyone for spoiling our kids. Liesl had an awesome time running around with Rich and Ev's kids especially Helena. Liesl had a good time spending the night at Oma's and we met up later for lunch at mom's of leftovers.

Jim,Jer and Mike really got into a game called Ticket to Ride on Christmas day and we continued game night into the day after Christmas at Shannon's. Fun times. Thanks Shan!

Thank you Sandi for hosting the girls and kids for our pre christmas celebration. The kids were so well behaved and had so much fun together. Good thing Liesl likes trains. I would like some of the pictures you took! We need to plan more Colton and Grady time for Liesl. What a great day.

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Jeannie's new milestone

Jeannie was caught on the baby monitor standing in her crib in the morning and has been doing it ever since. She can get up and down all on her own now and walks all along the furniture. She is doing a lot better with more solid foods and chunky foods. I dont have to worry so much about choking. We visited Santa with Baby Robbie, Melisa and Oma Ronnie and Opa and got some amazing pictures. Liesl told Santa she wanted a dolly of course. All 3 kids did amazing and had a great time during and then after picking out thier presents with the coins they got. SO GLAD MOM IS BACK. I needed a break!

Long day

Today mom and I drove the kids down to Children's Hospital for Liesl's eye appt. Her prescription went up a half step again! She did very well and the pediatric eye dr said that she had an even presription so no need for the patch. That's good. She wouldn't do it anyways. She did very well this time. Its a wonder what going to a specialist for kids can do. She did pick out some new glasses there but our insurance wouldnt let us get glasses there so we had to go back to Henry Ford Optimeyes. That's ok. I like them there and needed to get my glasses fixed. Too bad no Disney Princess glasses. We did ok with picking out a new pair though. We now have a geal and brown pair of Guess glasses with jewels on the side.

We have beeb working on Mom's tree this evening and have gotten up the tree and lights so far. Taking a break before putting on the ornaments.

Swimming and gymnastics

Liesl has really gotten into a routine with the classes. She really enjoys both of them and is following instructions very well. She does very well on all the tumbling and the handstand muscles, the balancing and the back flip but needs some work on the heehaws as they call them and the mailbox straddles. We will see how she progresses. I will definitely be signing her up for next session. Swim classes are going very well. It is kind of a step back because I got her pretty far in the summer and she is wearing a pfd tis session. However she is a lot faster and is very good with her skills. I was happy to see Skyler and another of Skyler's friends in her class. It is just the three girls too. She is really enjoying being in a class setting so I think this will do the trick with getting her ready for school next fall. Jeannie has been walking whole holding her toys a little. More sidestepping than anything. Getting further along with the crawling and she knows to say Mamma when she wants me or something. The name Elmo might come soon and she says Hi and waves too. Been getting a little snagged with the baby food because she gets constipated so have been taking it super slow. She does very well with eating it though and likes to feed herself. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope it is a good one.