late march

more little missy, a two-year-old little man and a gold medal recital:

pretty in pink

plumb tuckered out ;)

the automatic dryer in the girls changing room at gymnastics =p

five days after c, little dude had his big day:

do I look older this morning?

still have my trusty thumb and my dae daes

at two, s is a delightful little menace ;-)  he adores his sisters, big and little, and can often be found looking for 'co-ee' (which can refer to either of them) or occasionally 'ho-see' (which is usually L, but can sometimes be c).  'baby sem' has the privilege of being singular, and is the recipient of many many 'hisses', which range from a lick to a headbutt =p  he is crazy about cars (or 'hars') and 'tchucks' and 'tchains' and 'hactors' and 'mailmans', and can find one in any book, commercial or webpage.  'need hup! huzzle!' is frequently heard, as he works on his 9-piece, double-sided farm puzzle.  his favorite Suzuki pieces are twinkle theme and andantino, though he sings along to all of them ;-).

he also specializes in attempting to break his neck (e.g. climbing out of his crib, along the chest-high ledge across the room, behind the armoire and jumping/falling into the boxes below, all with one arm out of his shirt and soaking wet from overnight) - or have it broken by exasperated parents (e.g. getting into the game closet and dumping out four puzzles, chutes and ladders, the chicken game, a card game and dominoes) =p  he's our first kid to put Crayola's non-toxic claim to the test - I'm not talking crayons in the mouth, I'm talking chewed up and consumed. as if he didn't already eat everything in sight!  good thing he makes up for it all with his crooked grin, his spontaneous 'ank you, mommy', and his compassionate 's'okay co-ee'.  I carried him in asleep from the car this afternoon, and laid him down in his new toddler bed (more on that later), where he curled up with his favorite thumb and crinkled his closed eyes in satisfaction when I tucked a bear under his arm.

a day in the life

the homework path

scrunch!

we went to a pancake breakfast and easter egg hunt the morning of s' birthday

my first egg

activities in various classrooms - the empty tomb is in the background

'har hake!!'

from g&g

'fire chuck!'

happy birthday to our one and only little man! =D
 
the girls' gold medal recital took place in the assisi heights chapel - beautiful setting:

catching the runaway

putting baby's socks on

'baby sem face!'

the girls finally found the last Alabama quarter to complete great grandma's book!

seven

believe it or not, the original munchkin turned 7 (!) last month:

yes, all our Nicholson babies look alike ;-)

c has grown into a real schoolgirl - or maybe mommy's mental image has finally caught up =).  she's little (3% for height at her checkup), but she's solidly out of the 'T' clothes, as the girls call them (2T-5T) and into the girls' department.  she loves school, though she can be a bear to wake up (baby sister has become my secret weapon).  last year, she didn't seem to have any particular friendships, but now she has a definite best friend and a couple others as well.  she seems to have learned to hold her own in a certain amount of chaos, probably a good skill for us introverts =)

she is still a voracious reader, complaining the other day that there weren't enough real books around ('like this', holding up The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), that all those chapter books were 'too short' ;-)  she is also very motivated by rewards: offer a chart, medal or certificate and she's on it.  both the girls recently played in their violin teacher's gold medal recital for practicing every day for eight (!) weeks.  more on that later!  we have been working off and on through a bible study book called Just Mom and Me Having Tea, and a recent lesson had us list something for the other person to pray for us every day for a week.  she wrote 'that I would be teachable'.  I must have said a hundred times by now that she needs to work on being more teachable and accepting instruction instead of thinking she always knows best, so it's somewhat gratifying to know that she at least hears it!  for the record, I asked her to pray that I would always speak gently to the kids - she didn't argue with me ;-)

on to the party!  with her birthday so soon after the baby's due date, I didn't think it would be smart for me to plan much, so we decided that a party at Joann's Fabrics and Crafts was the way to go since it's one of her favorite places.  she got to meet with the party coordinator in advance to decide on a craft for the group, which was half the fun, and on the party day we just brought in cupcakes for decorating.   she invited nearly all school friends, which was a change from last year.

finding new ways to keep tabs on little man when I have the carseat

getting ready to paint

 

birthday girl's creation

the littlest Nicholson was there too!

buddy waiting anxiously for c to open the present she picked, a diary with a lock and key

 

it was a treat to have g & g stay through the weekend for the party!  here we are on Monday, the actual birthday, coming home from school:

she asked for and I quote, 'a pile of books' ;-)

buddy made her a whole assortment of cards

I got her a personalized pen and pencil set

modeling the hats they made from uncle p's origami book

happy birthday to our big girl!  someday soon, you'll be reading this for yourself, and when you do, I hope you hear how much we love you and how proud we are of the little lady you are becoming.