09/26/2009 "PLHMVMJD" spells family

There was no update last weekend as promised because I ended up being a little sick. Lacie and Paul and I went on Saturday morning to get a flu shot. Saturday evening I did not feel well and thought I was just tired. Sunday I had a fever of 102 - odd though cause it really just slammed me - even Sunday morning I thought I was still just feeling tired. Monday morning - all was well - like I was never sick.

So, how do you spell family? Lacie spells family, "PLHMVMJD"

P = Paul
L = Lacie
H = Hannah (cat)
M = Misty (dog)
V = Vonda
M = mommy
J = John
D - daddy
After she sounded out the first letters and wrote them down, she said, "mommy, this spells family."

Lacie and Paul play real well together - most of the time. One of their favorite things to do is to play prince and princess. Lacie has some princess dresses but never chooses to put them on. This is her way of dressing up as a princess:


Paul will also wear a head band (his crown), rings and princess shoes. Here is an example:


They also carry around baby dolls and go from Paul's room to Lacie's - those are their homes and they are visiting each other. It really is cute.

Paul is starting to talk. Just three weeks ago we were excited over a two word phrase. A week or two before that we were excited over any word other than "No." We do continue signs, or at least we try.

Here is a little bit of how the explosion is taking shape:
Two weeks ago:
dee why = deep and wide

Last week:
A-ju = apple juice

Last Monday:
E-Taa = Euitag (yes - finally he is saying Euitaa (no "g.")

A few days ago - spontaneously - no prompting:
gee ju = thank you
And one night later it sounded like this:
T ju = thank you

And then - this week - my big surprise:
ree boo pee = read book please

Ahhh and he can count to 10 and it sounds sort of like this:
uh two ee uh fi uh uh uh niiii te
What an amazing boy!

tidbits about Lacie and Paul:
Paul has discovered puzzles and Lacie has rediscovered puzzles - they love them
They both love play dough
Lacie's favorite color: yellow or orange
Paul's favorite color : brown or blue
Lacie's favorite icecream: orange sherbet
Paul's favorite icecream: brown
Lacie's favorite food: Cheese burger
Paul's favorite food: most anything. He discovered dill pickles today.
Lacie's favorite show: Ni Hao Kailan
Paul's favorite show: Dor = Dora or Diego
Mommy's favorite show: Franklin
Paul's favorite song: ABCD song and itsy bitsy spider
Lacie's favorite song: what ever Paul likes at the moment. We both love to hear him sing.
Lacie's comfort item: blankie
Paul's comfort item: he sucks his fingers
Paul's new found love: Choo Choo's = Thomas the tank!

A few weeks ago a friend of mine had a yard sale. I got to have a sneak preview. This is one item we got from her - for free actually. The kids LOVE it.






More to come - speech therapy update and other fun things they say and do. I hope not to be gone so long again!

Blessings!

New update coming . . .

I must confess - and I am not proud . . .
I have discovered facebook. EEK. So, my updates are taking place there in little snippets instead of one full update here. Anyway, watch for an update this weekend! And if you are ever on facebook and you want to be my friend, come on over.

OK - two snippets I have shared on facebook:

About Lacie:
Lacie has been drinking orange juice lately and asked for apple juice tonight, "like back in the olden days, right mommy?" Yes she did - she said "olden days."

About Paul:
Paul has not learned the power of telling on someone else yet.
A few nights ago:
Me: Who chewed this Cootie tongue?
Paul: "Meeeeeee" as he pats himself on the chest.
Me: Who messed up Pauls room?
Paul: "Paul Paul" as he is patting himself on the chest again proudly
Me: who is stinky?
Paul: grinning, "Paul Paul"

Blessings and Good night!

09/07/2009 "roller coaster, beach or a pool"

All Summer long Lacie has asked for a "vacation." And once even asked, "mommy what is a vacation?" I guess wanting to make sure she really wanted a vacation. I am sure she began to ask about it because all summer one friend or more were going on "vacations." So, John and I decided that we could afford a few days somewhere, but where? So we talked and looked on line and the best we could offer my sweet daughter was only two of her three requests.

She got a roller coaster . . .


and pool vacation.



We went to Kings Island and stayed two nights at the hotel there and they also had a pool. Friends went with us and that made it even more enjoyable.




They all had a great time. I never dreamed that I would put my children behind the wheel of a sports car at such a young age.




I just hope that they do not think all future vehicles are "bump" cars. If so, we could all be in trouble.


But they did great and I think that I will be able to trust them when they get old enough to drive for real.

And I did not know that dogs could fly, but obviously my kids did. So glad they did not "scoodoo." I would have missed them.


One of Lacie's favorite things to do is swing. She did not even have to work to get this swing going.


This ride was a total hoot - both kids laughed so hard they almost could not catch their breath. I have it on video but thought I should not wait any longer to post an update about our vacation.



Thomas was also at Kings Island. Isn't this the most precious cargo?


Ok - the parents too.

Lacie's most favorite ride - the reason for this vacation:




At the end of the day, everyone had so much fun. Paul had so much fun he fell asleep.


And Lacie fell in love with Michael's daddy.


And to top off the mini vacation we took, we got to stopped in on family on the way home and had even more fun in their pool.



In this picture I was telling Lacie and cousin Ethan to smile:
See the sweet smile on Ethan and the forced smile on Lacie?

So I decided to use reverse psychology and instructed them to "Not smile." "you better not smile."
It worked for Lacie. And Ethan - well he took me seriously. Aren't kids just totally awesome? (with a few exceptions of course.)

So while our vacation was only two days long, we had a wonderful time being away. The kids had a great time having mommy and daddy alone in one hotel room with undivided attention. We will have awesome memories to last a long time. Thanks Pikes for going with us and enduring our whirlwind vacation. AND thanks family: Uncle Glen, Aunt Bonnie and Cousins Ruby and Christa for letting us visit, have lunch and share your pool as we totally enjoyed our visits!

Next year we hope to go to the beach.

09/05/2009 New update coming

I have not been updating as much lately and I apologize for those who keep up or who want to keep up. A new real update is coming very soon. I will give you a glimpse of what it is about . . .



I will say all is well. Kids are doing great.

Blessings!