So much to be Grateful for

We had a terrific time visiting my family over in Spokane for the Thanksgiving holiday. There was a lot of snow to enjoy, including sub zero temps at night and single digit highs. Other highlights included shopping with my Mom and sisters, the ever popular Jump and Bounce for the kids, the delicious Thanksgiving feast followed by the traditional trip to see a movie, and last but not least black friday shopping!

I must admit that I am now having family withdrawls. It was pretty much a party everyday up at my parents house. All of us siblings were able to be together for the holiday. Leah got to meet her Great Grandparents for the first time and the rest of her aunts. Leah is now Miss Smiley Pants, she had the biggest smiles for her Grandpa M. And on the day before we headed home, Jenna said, "I am going to be really sad to leave" She had a lot of fun with all her cousins and her uncle Connor. We also brought our dog, Emily, along and she was in dog heaven. She has never seen so much freedom or snow! I'm sure she is a little depressed coming back to our small yard and misses all of the attention.

Thanks so much Mom and Dad for letting us stay for so long and for putting up with Emily!! We love you guys :)

3 Months!

Leah is 3 months old!

Likes--her beauty sleep. She is sleeping 7-8 hrs through the night (I am so grateful!)

--Playing under her toy bar. She's got quite the swing and even better kick.

--Rolling side to side. She's hasn't rolled over yet, but it doesn't look too far away.

--To be where the party is. Which is wherever Jenna's playing.

--Snuggle time! I'm hanging onto this for as long as I can :)

Dislikes--The Bumbo. Go figure after searching Craigslist for a killer deal. She'll sit for less than a minute and then try to arch out. She'd rather lay and play on the floor.

--Getting dressed. This takes just a few minutes, but for those minutes she lets me know how unhappy she is and then when its finished is as happy as can be!!

One other thing I wanted note. Lately she is not liking her paci and moving to her....thumb!!! Well right now its more her fist. She gets her thumb and a few fingers in at the same time and gags. Then she'll try both thumbs and gag so then resorts to sucking the side of her fist. I haven't given up on the paci just yet, but Chad's rooting for the thumb. We'll see who, I mean what wins out :)

Bonus sister pic.

(this was on the first take!!)

G & G Jergensen gave the girls matching pj's during their last visit. I normally have of a rule of no Christmas until after Thanksgiving. But I couldn't resist posting this pic. of the girls!!

I could squeeze and kiss those two all day long :)

Calling all girls

Another genius idea from my favorite craft site!

No more searching trying to find where your daughter has left her hair flowers or bows.

And you can customize it to match your bathroom decor. I had a lot of fun with the girls Jungle theme.

I made mine a little diff. than the tutorial. I spray painted some old frames and covered the inside mat with fabric. Then added the rows of ribbon for the clips to attach to.

Once these are both full of clips the fabric most likely won't even show! We have A LOT of flowers/bows and I keep making and buying more :)

But I am so excited to have them all in one place, and displayed in such a cute way!

Always listening

Recently it seems that nothing gets past Jenna. She catches everything we say, good and bad.

Here is part of the conversation she had with my Mom today. We had just finished dinner:

Jenna-"Grandma, we are eating dirt and worms! My mom can send an email with the directions to you. It is on our best bites!...Can you let us go so we can finish eating?"

(Jenna may have said things a little differently, but I got the main points)

I was laughing so hard at her recommendation of the site Ourbestbites, I have been just a little obsessed with it lately. Especially for fun Halloween food ideas! It must have rubbed off :)

While I'm on the topic of Jenna here are a few other moments I want to remember--

*A couple weeks ago, she came home from school with a project that she had made. Right when she walked in the door, she grabbed the camera and began taking pictures of her project. Then told me, "Mom, I'm taking pictures for you to put on the blog!" Chad got a good laugh at this one. I guess I spend too much time on the computer.

*We all know Jenna loves to dance. I decided we would take a break from her ballet class this Fall. With Jenna starting Kg and having a new addition to our family, I felt it might be too much. So I have told her that she can start up again after Christmas. Out of the blue the other day, she came up to me and said, "What do I have to do to dance on a stage again Mom? I really want to get back on that stage....Oh thats right I have to go to ballet class. After Christmas right?!"

*I really need to start keeping a Jenna journal, or just a journal in general. Jenna is growing up so fast, and is asserting her independence quite often. Again this has been good and bad. Like when she helps herself to the Gogurts in the fridge. Normally she will ask first, but the other day she took one bite of lunch and said that she was full. This isn't too unusual of her, but I had a feeling something was up. I asked her how many Gogurts she had eaten. Imagine my surprise when she started counting out on both hands!! Silly girl said she ate 8 (I could only find 6 wrappers)! So now I know what she does when I'm upstairs getting ready.

*Her mischievous side has really come out more since Leah was born. But on the other hand she continues to be a big help. Leah just loves being by Jenna and will just watch her with a big smile on her face. Just today, I can't remember why but I told Jenna that she was not in charge. She responded, "Yes I am, I'm in charge of Leah!" That should be fun to watch when Leah gets older.

Ok, I think that is all that I have been trying to remember and not forget. Which, even though our sweet Leah is pretty much sleeping through the night, my brain is still a bit off.

I sure do love Jenna and her moments. And am so grateful that she is my daughter :)