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| Reed was very proud of his snowflake and excited that it has blue glitter on it! |
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| This fish is hanging on his wall! He loves his Rainbow Fish and constantly tells me how much he loves it! |
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Preschool Favorites
I have not been the best at reporting on Reed's preschool stuff, but I have some pictures of some of the favorites that I don't think I have written about yet. Reed loves all the fun things he does at preschool. He is always talking about his friends and the new letters, numbers, shapes, and topics he is learning about each week! He is such a sponge for information right now - it's simply amazing!
Best Friends
Reed and Eve are just two little peas in a pod. They are playing together and creating fun new games daily. I love watching them interact with each other. They are either best friends, playing together effortlessly, or upset at each other because one wants to do something and the other one doesn't. It's a love/hate relationship for sure. But thankfully, the parts where they are mad at each other don't last too long. They really are best friends.
They love hanging out on our little porch. They laugh, yell, squirt water, and even play games which I don't really know the rules to since they make up the games. Bathtime is fun as well - giggling, being silly, and possibly splashing water outside the bath (which is not allowed, but apparently so much fun). They also love falling onto the couch or hiding behind the couch pillows. Their games are almost endless!
Here's a cute story: On Christmas Day we went to see the National Christmas tree (I will post more about that later). We saw everything and headed back to the car to go home. Eve was refusing to get in the car. We asked her is she wanted to stay by herself and she said, "Yes." But, Reed desperately said, "No, we can't leave Eve. She's my best friend! She's my best friend! Don't leave her!!" It was just so cute how worried Reed was.
Sometimes when we drop Reed off for preschool Eve will say, "No leave Reed. He my best friend!" So, yes, they are each other's best friend! Just love those little kiddos :)
They love hanging out on our little porch. They laugh, yell, squirt water, and even play games which I don't really know the rules to since they make up the games. Bathtime is fun as well - giggling, being silly, and possibly splashing water outside the bath (which is not allowed, but apparently so much fun). They also love falling onto the couch or hiding behind the couch pillows. Their games are almost endless!
Here's a cute story: On Christmas Day we went to see the National Christmas tree (I will post more about that later). We saw everything and headed back to the car to go home. Eve was refusing to get in the car. We asked her is she wanted to stay by herself and she said, "Yes." But, Reed desperately said, "No, we can't leave Eve. She's my best friend! She's my best friend! Don't leave her!!" It was just so cute how worried Reed was.
Sometimes when we drop Reed off for preschool Eve will say, "No leave Reed. He my best friend!" So, yes, they are each other's best friend! Just love those little kiddos :)
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| Stickers on the pants is always a fun game! |
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| Reed instructing Eve on what game they were going to play next. |
It's beginning to look a lot like.....
December went by so fast - it seemed to be flying! I don't know how each day went by so fast, but it just did. Here is just some of what we did at the beginning of December.
Aria is beginning to look a lot like her other siblings. I always thought she looked like Reed, but as I was looking back at pictures of Eve, she looks like her as well. Apparently our children are bound to look alike! If you have a great mold, don't change a thing, right? :) Here she is on December 4, 2011.
Reed is beginning to look a lot like Superman! He wears his Superman/Batman (reversible) cape almost everyday and everywhere! Ninety-nine percent of the time he wears it on the Superman side. He just loves flying everywhere and being a strong boy!
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! The kids really loved helping us put up all the decorations this year - especially the ornaments (frequently called instruments for some reason) on the tree. It was a little bit later than last year, but we got everything up. (We were a bit sick and tired when we got back from Thanksgiving) Here is what we were up to on December 9, 2011.
What Aria was doing while we were setting everything up! I think her eyes look especially amazing in this picture.
December 12, 2011 was a picture day! Aria was being cute and photographic on the floor. Then, Reed took some photos. :) Enjoy!
Reed's photos!
Aria is beginning to look a lot like her other siblings. I always thought she looked like Reed, but as I was looking back at pictures of Eve, she looks like her as well. Apparently our children are bound to look alike! If you have a great mold, don't change a thing, right? :) Here she is on December 4, 2011.
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| A little surprised |
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| Staring at her fingers |
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| Distracted by Reed and Eve |
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| December 7, 2011 |
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| Reed had to find spots for everything. |
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| Eve kept putting ornaments on the same branch. |
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| Daddy was good at putting stuff up high. |
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| Eve loved putting our "Little People" nativity in its spot. It was played with multiple times each day! |
What Aria was doing while we were setting everything up! I think her eyes look especially amazing in this picture.
December 12, 2011 was a picture day! Aria was being cute and photographic on the floor. Then, Reed took some photos. :) Enjoy!
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| She's getting bigger! |
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| Love Reed's smile! No matter what I do, his face is never clean! Ah well. |
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| Eve loves to not smile when I want her to. She definitely has opinions! |
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| Reed and Eve love this movie! |
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| He did a great job getting Eve to smile! |
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| Just a snap shot of life from Reed's point-of-view. |
Monday, January 16, 2012
Preschool Week 2
The Wednesday after Thanksgiving (November 30th) I taught preschool again. We go in 2-week cycles this year. Anyways, our topic was on sharing and service! It was a great time! Here is what the kids did as they were waiting for everyone to show up:
I love how they all loved looking at books! It was cute to hear them "read" the story. Their minds are so creative! We also did some work sheets on our number of the week (6) and shape of the week (diamond).
Our letter of the week was L/l. We took sticks and glued them on a paper to make the letters. Some of the kids were concerned that the paper was too small for 2 popsicle sticks, but we worked it out. The did a fantastic job making the letters!
We read some books and talked a lot about sharing. I had each of the kids bring a toy from home that they would not mind sharing. We played a game where the kids sat in a circle and shared their toys. They passed the toy to the person next to them and that person got to play with it for a minute. Each child had a toy every time the toys were passed, it was just not their own toy. I think this made the sharing a little bit easier. We also established that rule that if you didn't want to play with a specific toy when it was your turn, you didn't have to. However, you were not allowed to kick it or whine that you didn't want it. You just placed the toy on the floor until your turn with that toy was over. It was a pretty fun game!
We also talked about ways we could be nice to our moms and our families. The kids came up with some really great ideas:
"I can pick up my toys."
"I can eat my dinner."
"I can be nice to my brother."
"I can share my toys."
"I can give her hugs and kisses."
"I can help her cook."
and some other great ideas! We talked about how you can serve and share with your hands and then made special flowers out of our hands! It was great fun!
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| Books are always a hit! |
Our letter of the week was L/l. We took sticks and glued them on a paper to make the letters. Some of the kids were concerned that the paper was too small for 2 popsicle sticks, but we worked it out. The did a fantastic job making the letters!
We read some books and talked a lot about sharing. I had each of the kids bring a toy from home that they would not mind sharing. We played a game where the kids sat in a circle and shared their toys. They passed the toy to the person next to them and that person got to play with it for a minute. Each child had a toy every time the toys were passed, it was just not their own toy. I think this made the sharing a little bit easier. We also established that rule that if you didn't want to play with a specific toy when it was your turn, you didn't have to. However, you were not allowed to kick it or whine that you didn't want it. You just placed the toy on the floor until your turn with that toy was over. It was a pretty fun game!
We also talked about ways we could be nice to our moms and our families. The kids came up with some really great ideas:
"I can pick up my toys."
"I can eat my dinner."
"I can be nice to my brother."
"I can share my toys."
"I can give her hugs and kisses."
"I can help her cook."
and some other great ideas! We talked about how you can serve and share with your hands and then made special flowers out of our hands! It was great fun!
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| One side says serve |
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| The other side says share |
Thanksgiving in CT
We spent Thanksgiving in Connecticut with my brother, Justin, and his family. Of course, I forgot to take a picture of the meal, but it was delicious! We went up by train Thanksgiving morning (so much better than driving in East Coast crazy traffic) and got there around 1 p.m. Thanks to our home teacher, we were able to get to the train station (we were going to take the metro, but it didn't open until 7 and our train departed at 7:30).
Reed was so excited to see Uncle Justin! He just loves his Uncle Justin and was so excited to have lots of cousins to play with - especially Michelle. Eve was just excited to be going on a train ride. Aria didn't really know what was going on, but she traveled pretty well.
Thanksgiving was pretty nice and calm. It was our family and Justin's family and that was it. We had a good time hanging out with the kids, napping, watching football, eating way too much food, playing games, and being together! A big thanks goes out to Megan, my sister-in-law, who did all the preparing and found meals that I could eat (no dairy, no soy) that tasted good to everyone! She is awesome!
The weather ended up being beautiful almost the whole time! Friday we went on a little hike - paved the whole way which made it easy to take the stroller! It wasn't too long and just pretty. I don't remember the name of it, but it was pretty close to their house. At the top there were some pretty look out spots and a cool memorial to the Civil War - particularly the battle of Gettysburg. The trees were mostly bare (due to the season), but I can only imagine how pretty the look outs would be in the spring! The kids also found the coolet climbing tree I have seen in a long time! Too bad my camera ran out of battery before I could get some pictures! Maybe I can get some of Megan's! We also went to "The Muppets" and Reed pretty much sat through the whole thing. Eve got a little antsy, but not too bad!
The bad thing that happened when we arrived was that Kate (their youngest) started coughing and had a fever! Yuck! The kids all came home a little sick - which is never any fun. I also got a little sick just from being tired - too much late night chatting and game playing!
Saturday we went to the Natural History Museum at Yale. The kids really loved it! I would have loved it, but Aria was screaming for a while because she was hungry, but wouldn't eat. Once she calmed down, ate, and burped, things went well and it was a good time! We played more games and had a good time! Saturday night my parents arrived almost directly from Turkey (the country). They had flown into D.C. and left on a train not very long after to come to CT. Joseph, Justin and Megan's oldest, received the Aaronic Priesthood on Sunday.
So, we all had a great time playing together, but of course, came back really tired! My parents took the train back with us on Monday - which was great! Reed and Eve loved that Grandma and Grandpa Rowberry were coming with us! Somehow grandparents just make the train even better (If that's even possible! My kids love the train!). We got into town just fine, took the metro to stop close to our house, and then were picked up by our friend - thanks Katrina! All-in-all Thanksgiving was a success!
Reed was so excited to see Uncle Justin! He just loves his Uncle Justin and was so excited to have lots of cousins to play with - especially Michelle. Eve was just excited to be going on a train ride. Aria didn't really know what was going on, but she traveled pretty well.
Thanksgiving was pretty nice and calm. It was our family and Justin's family and that was it. We had a good time hanging out with the kids, napping, watching football, eating way too much food, playing games, and being together! A big thanks goes out to Megan, my sister-in-law, who did all the preparing and found meals that I could eat (no dairy, no soy) that tasted good to everyone! She is awesome!
The weather ended up being beautiful almost the whole time! Friday we went on a little hike - paved the whole way which made it easy to take the stroller! It wasn't too long and just pretty. I don't remember the name of it, but it was pretty close to their house. At the top there were some pretty look out spots and a cool memorial to the Civil War - particularly the battle of Gettysburg. The trees were mostly bare (due to the season), but I can only imagine how pretty the look outs would be in the spring! The kids also found the coolet climbing tree I have seen in a long time! Too bad my camera ran out of battery before I could get some pictures! Maybe I can get some of Megan's! We also went to "The Muppets" and Reed pretty much sat through the whole thing. Eve got a little antsy, but not too bad!
The bad thing that happened when we arrived was that Kate (their youngest) started coughing and had a fever! Yuck! The kids all came home a little sick - which is never any fun. I also got a little sick just from being tired - too much late night chatting and game playing!
Saturday we went to the Natural History Museum at Yale. The kids really loved it! I would have loved it, but Aria was screaming for a while because she was hungry, but wouldn't eat. Once she calmed down, ate, and burped, things went well and it was a good time! We played more games and had a good time! Saturday night my parents arrived almost directly from Turkey (the country). They had flown into D.C. and left on a train not very long after to come to CT. Joseph, Justin and Megan's oldest, received the Aaronic Priesthood on Sunday.
So, we all had a great time playing together, but of course, came back really tired! My parents took the train back with us on Monday - which was great! Reed and Eve loved that Grandma and Grandpa Rowberry were coming with us! Somehow grandparents just make the train even better (If that's even possible! My kids love the train!). We got into town just fine, took the metro to stop close to our house, and then were picked up by our friend - thanks Katrina! All-in-all Thanksgiving was a success!
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| Walking up the hill |
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| Not the tip top, but close |
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| A look out spot |
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| Look out spot at the top |
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| Memorial to Civil War |
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| Another look out spot |
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| The gang! Notice Reed sulking in the back - he didn't want to smile for the camera! |
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| Aria slept for most of the hike |
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Aria's Stats
Little Miss Aria is such a cutie! She has gotten over the crying tons. I had to eliminate dairy and soy from my diet again, but it is worth it just for her to be happy. She also does not really like chocolate or broccoli, and I am a little wary of peanuts so am avoiding those for the time being. She just has a sensitive stomach - kind of like her daddy. But, she is growing fine and things are looking up! Here are the stats from the various doctor's appointments we went to in October and November:
October 12 - Weight: 8 pounds, 6 oz. (5%); Height: 22 inches (30%), Head: 14 3/4 inches (25%)
October 19 - Weight: 9 pounds, 2 oz. (yes, she gained that much weight in just one week)
October 26 - Weight: 9 pounds, 7 oz.
November 14 - Weight: 10 pounds, 0 oz. (settling in around 10%)
Things were a bit crazy. I had eliminated dairy and she was already much less fussy than before the elimination. But, I kept seeing bright red blood in her stools. At first, I just thought it was an every once-in-a-while thing (which is not that abnormal, apparently). Poor Aria had a rectal exam at her appointment on October 26th, but nothing was found (they were thinking possibly a fissure or hemorrhoids) due to the blood. I decided to track how often it happened. Turns out she was having blood in her diapers 3 or 4 days a week (usually more than once in that day)! So, when I went in to 14th, I told the doctor that I was going off soy and he agreed with me. He also gave me a list of other things to eliminate if things didn't improve. Luckily, eliminating dairy and soy completely elminated the blood issues as well. The other foods I mentioned just give her gas, so I avoid them.
Anyways, things are calming down and Aria is now crying for normal things: boredom, poopy diapers, soaked diapers, or getting mauled by her brother and sister. It is such a different cry that is almost music to my ear because I know she is not in constant pain! Thank goodness :) Here she is on November 22, 2011!
October 12 - Weight: 8 pounds, 6 oz. (5%); Height: 22 inches (30%), Head: 14 3/4 inches (25%)
October 19 - Weight: 9 pounds, 2 oz. (yes, she gained that much weight in just one week)
October 26 - Weight: 9 pounds, 7 oz.
November 14 - Weight: 10 pounds, 0 oz. (settling in around 10%)
Things were a bit crazy. I had eliminated dairy and she was already much less fussy than before the elimination. But, I kept seeing bright red blood in her stools. At first, I just thought it was an every once-in-a-while thing (which is not that abnormal, apparently). Poor Aria had a rectal exam at her appointment on October 26th, but nothing was found (they were thinking possibly a fissure or hemorrhoids) due to the blood. I decided to track how often it happened. Turns out she was having blood in her diapers 3 or 4 days a week (usually more than once in that day)! So, when I went in to 14th, I told the doctor that I was going off soy and he agreed with me. He also gave me a list of other things to eliminate if things didn't improve. Luckily, eliminating dairy and soy completely elminated the blood issues as well. The other foods I mentioned just give her gas, so I avoid them.
Anyways, things are calming down and Aria is now crying for normal things: boredom, poopy diapers, soaked diapers, or getting mauled by her brother and sister. It is such a different cry that is almost music to my ear because I know she is not in constant pain! Thank goodness :) Here she is on November 22, 2011!
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| Look at me sitting up! |
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| Bathtime is always fun! |
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Preschool Time! Week 1
If I haven't said this already, our preschool group moved preschool up to two days a week this year. We also are holding it for 3 hours (this includes lunch). We also took bigger blocks - each teaching for 2 weeks (4 preschool times) at a time. The end of November rolled around and it was my turn to teach!
November 21st our topic was Thanksgiving! We did a lot of fun things: read some books about Thanksgiving, talked about why the pilgrims wanted to leave their homes, made thankful turkeys, and put on our big turkey things we were thankful for! The biggest hit was this youtube video I found called "Let's have a dinner....Thanksgiving!" It was awesome to see a bunch of 3- and 4-year-olds dancing around and singing along. They wanted to watch it again and again. It was so cute!
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| Playing on Reed's bed |
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| Thankful turkeys! |
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| Reed by the big thankful turkey! |
November 23rd we talked about the sky. This was an interesting one because there were so many things to talk about. We talked about the sky, clouds, birds, stars, rainbows, rain, wind, the sun, the moon, planes, and probably some other things that I have forgotten. We looked at a few books and played a fun game. For the game the kids had to hit one of the objects on the ceiling with a sock I had rolled up. On the back of the objects was a song, finger plays, a fun fact, or something to watch (ex. We were learning about the letter K, so we watched a clip on what the letter K says). It got to be a bit long because I had put a lot of things on the ceiling, but it was a pretty fun game. Sadly, the only pictures I took were before the kids were there.
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