Princess Envy

Today I showed Mia and Laney a picture of Kate Middleton and explained that she was going to marry a REAL prince and become a REAL princess.

Laney was big eyed at the prospect of a REAL princess in REAL LIFE.

And Mia? Well, she threw herself on the couch and moaned "No...I was going to marry him!!"

Happy Halloween 2010!!

What a fun Halloween weekend we had! Friday after school we made cupcakes, Saturday we got up early and Mia made us pumpkin pancakes, then headed to Cox Farms for outdoor fall fun, and got back just in time to see the local Takoma Park Halloween Parade. After that, we decorated our jack-o-lanterns and phew! off to bed. Sunday we went to church, then spent the day decorating and getting ready for trick or treating, which we again enjoyed with the company of our neighbors and friends Audrey and Daphne. This year, Patrick was Dr. P Love, I was a witch, Mia was Pinkie Pie the My Little Pony, Laney was Barbie, and Carina was a squirrel. Oh, and Audrey was WordGirl, and Daphne was Barbie, too! Happy Halloween!

Trip to Raleigh

Last weekend we spent a quick few days in Raleigh to see Amanda, Travis, Gabriel, Marme and GDaddy, and Donovan. Carina and Gabriel had a quick birthday party and the two cousins were baptised at our parents church. It was a fun time for everyone.
And alas, we didn't get a picture of all the cousins together. But here are some of the weekend anyway.

Fun Pictures

She's One!

This week our baby girl turned one, and wow has the time flown by. Everyone always tells you that you should try to enjoy your time with your baby, as it goes so fast, but Carina's first year literally FLEW.

She's adorable - happy even when she's hurting or sick, a little spunky and sassy, concerned when someone's not happy, she's curious, ADORES her big sisters, doesn't like to be left out, makes funny faces and noises to make you smile, and is working on talking. She says Daddy, Mama, Duck, Doggy, Kitty, she barks, and hoots like an owl or monkey (we're not sure which), and when Mia's around, she loves to blow raspberries.
She's happy to walk holding your fingers, but doesn't have the balance down yet to do it on her own. I think it's coming soon, though. Oh, and she sings. We don't know the song, but it's cute nonetheless.

Happy Birthday, Patootie! We love you!

First Days

One Month

Two Months

Three Months

Four Months

Five Months

Six Months

Seven Months

Eight Months

Nine Months

Ten Months

Eleven Months

Mia's New Smile

Now that Mia is in first grade, it seems her smile changes frequently. What with teeth falling out here and there, it pretty much HAS to.

Here's Mia 4 days ago...



And Here's Mia today...



Who knew such a little tooth would leave such a big space? I guess grown-up teeth are bigger than they seem to be in a small child's mouth.

Slacking in the Blog Department

It's been a very long time since I've written anything worth writing about. All summer really. And now here we are, with the first official day of autumn looming and I have literally thousands of pictures that I have not shared.

First of all, Mia and Laney are back in school; Mia is in first grade, taking only English this year, and Laney in the 4s/5s at SSNS. Carina is 11 months and is getting to be SO BIG (as she demonstrates often -> see photo album).

Mia will be taking karate classes this fall and is still one of the tallest girls in her class. She attended Pony Pals camp this summer, and asks every week or so if she can have a horse, so I'm trying to show her things she can do to one day own a horse of her own. Right now I am working on encouraging her to look into becoming an Equine Veterinarian - she can work with horses all day and hopefully make enough money to own one, too!

Laney is queen of the world right now. She LOVES school, is working on making her me-doll right now with princess fabric, she knows about half of the alphabet, and still loves dolls and princesses more than just about anything else. She takes after her Mommy in that her favorite food is cheese, and she ADORES being a big sister.

Carina is really coming into her own. She's still allergic to milk, but is tolerating Nutramigen formula with just a constant stuffy nose. I don't know where we go from here, maybe soy milk or almond milk at her birthday, but we'll see. She's crawling and pulling up, but still no walking. I'm not in a hurry for that to happen anyway. Like her sisters, Carina loves loves loves to swing. She also loves animals (except horses, she's afraid of them). And, she absolutely hates to be left out and doesn't like to sleep if her sisters are awake.



We've decided to not list our house until the early spring to keep the girls in the same school all year, and we're still looking at neighborhoods all over the DC area. Patrick is finishing up little things that we notice need fixing as well as keeping the landscaping up to par, and I've been busy making sure the new members of Laney's preschool are submitting their paperwork correctly and on time.

We took a mini-cation to Hershey, PA a few weekends ago once we decided our house wasn't going to be listed this summer, and had a great time! It was perfect for small kids and big kids, too! Mia and Laney loved the rollercoaster! That's great news because I love them too and can ride right along with them. Woo-hoo!