Sunday Funnies

Evaline #1:

Evaline: Are we having a party?

Me: No.

Evaline: Who's coming over?

Me: Nobody.

Evaline: Hmph...then...why are you so busy cleaning everything?


Evaline #2:

Ian: Godammit!

Evaline: Daddy, you shouldn't say "Godammit"....when you are frustrated, just say "Awwww, pickles!"

Time Flies, sort of

Our little Willa isn't quite so little anymore.  Well, I guess it is all relative, because really, she's still pretty little.  But she's growing bigger (and growing up), and it's pretty fun to watch.  I've said it joking to a couple of friends lately...but... having only one baby is a piece of cake.  Well, its a piece of cake if that one baby is a Willa.  If that one baby had been an Evaline or even a Cora, it wouldn't be quite so easy.  But Willa...she's practically taking care of herself.  (Knock on wood...)

First let's take a look at how she's grown:

We had our four-month doctor appointment yesterday, and basically...she's perfect.  But I already knew that.  She weighs 14 lbs, 7 oz (55th percentile) and is 24 1/4 in. long (44th percentile).  She can do all of the things the doctor asked about: smiles, coos, high-pitched squeals, laughs, sucks on her fingers, and puts her hands together.  She's also rolled over a few times from her tummy to her back.  She's only done it a handful of times, and she's only done it in front of me...but I swear she really did it.  I think that some people (ahem, mom) are starting to doubt me on this.

We started sleep training with her this week.  She had been sleeping through the night pretty well, then she started waking up at night crying.  Our doctor says that that is the signal that she needs some sleep training: she's waking up in the night and getting kinda freaked out because she fell asleep in our arms and is now in her bed.  The same sensation as if I were to fall asleep in my bed and wake up in my car - that would freak anyone out, right?  So...she has to be set up to wake up in the same conditions where she went to sleep - meaning: falls asleep in her crib, no pacifier. The first night we did this, we put her down around 7:15, she cried for 15 minutes and then fell asleep, and woke up around 6 the next morning.  The second night, she didn't cry at all and woke up at 6.  The third night, again no crying, woke up at 6.  This is too good to be true, right?  Tonight she's gonna be screaming for three hours, right?  No baby really does this, do they? Cora and Evaline were fairly easy to sleep train, but it still took three or four nights of pretty hard crying (if I remember right, it was for a little over an hour the first night and then gradually downhill from there). But then, there are a lot of things that make Willa a very different baby.

• Willa is pretty content.  All the time.  She only cries if she's hungry or tired.  She can amuse herself for a LONG time, as long as she can see us.  If we are out of her line of sight for very long, she will give these semi-angry high-pitched yelps until we move back where she can see us.  Then she's happy again.  
• She takes pretty good naps.  Here this break our routine has been: up somewhere between 6-6:30, bottle at 7, nap from 8 - 9:45/10ish, bottle, nap around noon and up at 1:00ish, bottle, nap from about 2-3:30 or 4, bottle, bath at 6:30 then bottle then bed somewhere in the 7:15 range.  Ian and I have had several discussions about whether it is normal for a baby to sleep this much, if she might be sick, etc.  Cora and Evaline would hardly ever nap.

Luckily, we don't really have to do the sleep training stuff for the naps.  We can rock her to sleep and let her go down with a pacifier.  Night-time sleep, I guess, is a different kind of sleep - and the length of sleep expectation (10-11 hours rather than 1-2) is different as well.

Anyway...these last four months have been fun.  In some ways its a bit sad to be leaving the really baby stage behind (Ian, I'm sure, would disagree)...but I think that life is set up so that once one stage is over your really, mostly ready to move on.  I love the baby that Willa is becoming.  She's the sweetest thing in the whole world, she isn't stingy with her smiles, and she's smitten with her big sisters.  Who, in turn, are also smitten with her.  Particularly Cora, who is definitely her little guardian angel - always watching out for her and running to her with a pacifier, a blanket, a toy or just her own silly smiles any time Willa seems the least bit perturbed.  

Merry Christmas!!

'Tis the Season

What a busy month we have had!  I went back to work on November 12 and things have been a whirlwind ever since. Its been so hectic we decided to send out Happy New Year's cards instead of Christmas ones.  The week I went back was finals week (we're on a trimester system), then we had a week off for Thanksgiving, and then four weeks of school before Christmas Break.  Between the holidays and getting into the swing of things with work, I sometimes feel like I haven't sat down in a month!  This year (of all years, right?) I took on a bit more at work - I'm now teaching AP US History.  I'm loving it...but it is taking more work to put the course together and then grading on top of it.  Not complaining...just sayin'.

Here's a bit of what we've been up to on the home front:

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house again this year for both Ian's and my side of the family.  Fun as always...even if it is a tight fit in the dining room.

Are you on Pinterest?  Holy moly - the good ideas that are floating around cyberspace.  I'm a HUGE fan.  Here's some cornucopias I made from ice cream cones as table favors:

Speaking of Pinterest...I got a great idea off there for how to hang our stockings without buying five stocking hangers...using an old curtain rod and ribbon:

On Thanksgiving we were able to get some good pictures of the girls with some of the great-grands:

Like this one of Evaline with "Papa John" (my mom's dad)

Or this one with Willa and Grandma Ethel Mae (Ian's dad's mom)...oh and Aunt Katie's there, too

Grandma Ethel Mae again with all the girls

We put the tree up on December 1st - and it was about all the girls could do to wait that long.

Christmas cookies and hot chocolate!

The girls put on most of the ornaments this year...

And Willa hung out on the couch watching

There's an old historic mansion in town.  I was an intern there during the summer of 2003.  My parents both volunteer for various events and give house tours.  My mom used to work as part of the house staff, which means she supervised the house while tours were going on.  Anyway, in early December they had a big "Santa, Snacks and Stories" event and we took the girls.  Both my parents volunteered for this event; mom didn't make it any of the pictures, but see if you can spot my dad...

Waiting for Santa with lists in hand.

Meeting the "big guy"

The first snowfall this season.  Nothing stuck, but Cora and Evaline were super excited to go out running about in it.

The second snowfall...last Thursday.  Several inches of heavy, wet snow and blowing wind meant school was cancelled two days before break, and then a late arrival the next day.  (Not many kids were at school on Friday).

Shoveling the driveway is So. Much. Fun!

And hot cocoa is the perfect finish.  Evaline insisted that they drink hot cocoa from regular mugs...and that will be the last time that is allowed for quite awhile.  They drink milk out of non-sippy cups all the time...but this ended up all over their fronts.  Probably because it stains.

Christmas cookies and crafts!

Chocolate covered Ritz sandwiches

Santa star ornaments**

I took the girls' 'Thing One and Thing Two' shirts from Halloween, removed the white circles from the front and turned them into Christmas shirts...

We also started a couple of new Christmas traditions around the house this year:

Heart-Star joined the family for the month of December:

Then, on Friday night Ian got Cora and Evaline ready for bed as usual, but when they got into bed they found these tickets under their pillows.

We all piled into the car with hot-cocoa (again...but in sippies this time), Texas Trash (aka. Chex Mix for the non-Coopers), and Christmas music playing and drove around looking at Christmas lights.**

**Another idea I got from Pinterest

And that gets us pretty up-to-date.  We have my Wiley family Christmas this afternoon, then Ian's family tomorrow (Christmas Eve), and my family on Christmas day.  A busy, happy, start to the week!

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Happy 4th Birthday, Cora and Evaline!

It's hard to believe that these two little girls

are already four years old! Four years ago today I was lying in the hospital (I was in the hospital with pre-eclampsia for two weeks before they were born), then going into labor, then having the c-section, then having the two precious and tiny babies in my arms (Evaline was 4lbs, 4oz; Cora was 5lbs, 10 oz).  And now they are so grown up.  Time certainly flies.

This year we really made their birthdays into a celebration.  Friday was my last day of maternity leave - I'm back at work today :( - so Ian took the day off and we went down to Coralville Mall.  We had the girls ride the Carousel:

Then we went to the Build-a-Bear, and let them make their own new stuffed animals (McKella the Bear for Evaline, and Emily Petersen Penguin for Cora).

On Saturday was their birthday party:

We went with a "flower" theme this year:

Tissue paper flowers (thank you, Pinterest, for the tutorials):

We had a long guest-list with both of our families...so we planned for a lot of food... went WAAAYY overboard:

Then, just hanging out at the party - We got some great pictures, but didn't pics of everyone there.  If you were there (you know who you are) and got more pics - we'd love to have copies!

Here's Grandma Donna and Willa:

Aunt Katie and Evaline:

The kids, enjoying their dinner - pigs-in-a-blanket (as requested by C&E...random, I know), cheesy potatoes, fruit salads, and chips:

Dad and Willa (they were watching the Texas A&M game: Gig 'em, Aggies!!):

I made Evaline and Cora each a special giant cookie...Eva snuck away to eat hers

Time for the Birthday Song!

Both of the girls with (my) Grandpa John:

Laryngitis

Before I had kids I had never had laryngitis.  Not real laryngitis.  I think I may have lost my voice after an intense series of "Yell Like Hell" practices back in college...but not the kind you get from being sick.  Since having kids, however, I get it all. the. time.  I'm sure its just a coincidence - I can't think of any rational reason why being pregnant or having kids would cause me to get sick.  But still, in the four years since Cora and Evaline were born, I've had laryngitis five times.

Five times counting right now, that is.  I have a birthday party for the girls where we will be hosting around 25 family and close friends (we have a lot of family) this weekend.  I go back to work on Monday.  And I have laryngitis.  Again.

It started yesterday and has gotten progressively worse throughout the day, to the point where I have almost no voice left at all.  When this has happened before at work, they've gotten me a microphone and I've taught by using that sparingly and writing a lot on the board and using our SmartBoards (interactive projector things).  But that was when I knew the kids.  I was only around for one week before being gone for 11.  I have a doctors appointment tomorrow.  Here's hoping we can get this cleared up in the next couple of days...

A Room for Two...

When we moved in to our house about a year ago, I had plans for the girls room...and its taken me just over a year to get them done.  My original goal had been to get their room finished before I started on Willa's...but then Willa's due date kept creeping up on me, so I had to finish her room first.  A few weeks ago, the Cora and Evaline went back to preschool, giving me a little time to get this done.  With my mom's help, I was able to get their quilts finished...the last piece left to do.

When the girls were born, they were given some incredibly cute receiving blankets, a set of pink of brown flannel blankets in three different prints.  They were "Dwell Studio" brand from Target (something that, unfortunately doesn't exist anymore...they were the perfect size receiving blanket...and a size that is nowhere to be found.  Luckily, they were also given a set in a different pattern...so we still have some good ones for Willa.) .  Anyway, they were actually given three or four sets of these blankets...and I always loved these blankets - both the patterns and the functionality.  For sentimental reasons, I thought it would be a shame to let them go.  So, I decided to make them into bed quilts for the girls, and decorated their room in pink and brown to coordinate.  

Here's the final product:

        

Here's a better look at the beds:

And a close-up of the quilts - they aren't identical, but pretty close:

For artwork, we took some blank canvases from Michael's, and made some butterfly hand/foot print paintings.  Some turned out better than others.  For example, these looked waaaaaay better in my head before we made them.  My hand-prints make the top of the butterfly, and each of the girls handprint makes the bottom (one canvas for each girl):

I really like the way these turned out, though.  I found this idea on Pinterest.  The girls footprints make up these butterflies:

Evaline's

Cora's

And...I had a couple canvases left over, so I let them go to town and create their own art (Evaline's on the left, Cora's on the right):