february 2009 & Valentine's Day

we celebrated my brother's birthday at their house.

here's my niece poppy, so cute!

audrey is wearing my fave outfit from when diedre was a baby.

diedre can really swing high these days

i took the kids to the beach one day to go for a walk

thankfully, i had mitts and hats in the van for my spur of the moment trip (it was after audrey's 4 month shots.)



Valentine's Party at Strong Start

we've been going to this free community program fairly regularly lately as it is a great opportunity for reading, songs, and gym time.

this was a gorgeous day, so the kids played at the school playground for a bit.

funny zeke's hair after a nap

Happy Valentine's Day!

audrey is still a total sweetie. she keeps a fairly regular napping/nighttime schedule. once in awhile she still feeds multiple times during the night, but i think thats related to teething.
at 4.5 months old she weighed 14lbs 13oz, nearly 1lb in one month! she measured 26 inches long, 2 inches of growth in a month!

we went out to visit my mom on Valentine's Day while derek worked.

we went to watch dump trucks dredging the fraser river.

zeke liked it

the kids in red

the trucks drove so fast

audrey enjoyed the fresh air

Valentine's Day with Daddy

we made cookies with grandma for daddy and pepere

we like to make valentines day special; derek buys for the girls, i buy for the guys.

diedre loves her monster balloon

the next morning before church, i suggested diedre write her name on the back of some valentines cards. ever since she came home from preschool last monday, she's been really interested in her name.

i wrote one example and off she went

she probably did 11 before she asked me to finish

then she wanted to do some for ezekiel

she wrote all 8 for him!

i'm so impressed!

then on wednesday, she said "mom, you wrote my letter wrong. you did it like this "i" and its supposed to be like this "I"." so i thought, okay, i guess she's ready to learn lowercase now. so i taught her the letters in her name. and then she asked me to teach her numbers 1 to 5. so exciting to have a little learner in the house!

tail-end of january 2009

these are just some super adorable pics of audrey.

balancing

she loves sitting up. i would never actually leave her alone sitting up yet, but she is definitely developing some of those skills--and all that without a Bumbo.

look at that!!

cute pic of diedre and daddy

she has discovered designing cards online. it was really fun for her but then i could not for the life of me find the same game again. how annoying!!! well, at least it makes it special, derek and i got the originals.

second half of january

first time in a baby swing at the park. the sun was shining but it certainly wasnt warm on the day we decided to walk to the park.

all three on the swings

we went out to visit my aunt & uncle in white rock and the kids had fun on these big hills behind their apartment.

audrey's first time sitting up with us at the table

she's getting in on the conversation

first time in a bouncy seat at my friend holly's house

my saturday morning date. isnt he cute? diedre was at ballet just down the street.

chillin' with the animals



we are all really enjoying baby Audrey. she is so pleasant, smiling, cuddly, and strong. she loves her brother and sister and is a very easy baby, she will go to almost anyone.

diedre is almost 4 and is so great at so many things. her ballet teacher was impressed that she followed directions so well and listened very good in class.

ezekiel and derek are going to a toddler gym/sports class and he is doing well there and learning some basic tumbling and sports.

some of us have been sick. last month ezekiel was diagnosed with asthma that comes on when he has a cold. thankfully we have puffers for him as he had a scary attack in the middle of the night and the puffers totally calmed him down.

i feel absolutely terrible at the moment and just want to sleeeeeep. since baby audrey is sick too, she nurses extra at night so i have a pretty disturbed nighttime sleep and naps are only occasional.

derek is not sick, and is working on the upstairs reno. always lots to do!

more january pictures here

diedre's first day of preschool

ready to go to school for the first time! we had an interview last week and they had room available on monday mornings only. one day a week is just fine by me!

derek took the morning off to bring her to and pick her up from preschool.

hanging her jacket on her hook

sitting on the story mat for "book looking" time.

i was really not sure about putting her in preschool, but decided that it would be good to give her some time for learning and for me to have a bit of time with ezekiel and audrey. audrey slept the whole time (2.5 hours) and ezekiel played by himself a bunch (which he doesnt usually do) and i managed to get the floor washed. it was a good first day all around.


and we went out for lunch to celebrate her first day

happy new year

diedre got into the ballet class at the dance academy! i was sooo excited and nervous for her...strange response, but it is what it is. here she is all ready to head to her first class.

sitting waiting for class to begin

running under the cloth. she wasnt supposed to run yet but her and the other girl were new and the teacher forgot to tell them they needed to be patted on the head to start their turn ha ha

audrey is such a cute bundle. she is so calm and content. i'm still figuring out her schedule but she is pretty obvious when she's tired although she takes longer in the evening to fall asleep and is fussier (and teething :( poor girl).

she can actually sit up pretty well on your lap or on the couch, but obviously cant be left alone or she'll topple.

some goofy faces

silly baby

this is at the fun n' run gym that is local and free in our town. diedre is so funny/motherly. the rules are that you are not allowed to run so she holds ezekiel down. i was shouting at her saying "you are allowed to stand up and walk around" so she finally let him.

he's really smiling now and having fun, but she's basically herding him around. sheesh.

and helping him keep his arms up under the parachute (another rule). at least she's good at following rules, and apparently enforcing them too!