Big News...

It's official. Contract is signed! We're moving to Saginaw, Michigan.

the last of the birthday photos

clean babies

Man alive, Elise is FIVE!

Our spunky first child has hit a major milestone... FIVE years old! FIVE! That's a whole hand of fingers when asked her age.

On her actual birthday (January 26th) we planned to have a family dinner followed by cake and presents. (A friend party took place last weekend, but the photos are on our other computer which is under repair. :( Hopefully I'll get to those soon.) For our family dinner, Elise got to plan the menu. Her choice? Hot dogs, cheetos and strawberries. Hot dogs are a huge treat around here, as are Cheetos. So, she was pretty much over the moon.

Oh, and please notice the outfit above. Our Elise Kathryn has become quite the fashionista. She proudly puts together all of her own outfits. This glittery girlie girl knows what she likes. And what she doesn't.

Another veggie or two had to appear on the plate, so we had Cheetos spiked cheesey mashed potatoes and cauliflower. She was a little annoyed with me, but at least I knew one other unprocessed food was entering her little body.

the youngest party-goers, sitting with their proud daddy

tummy time

oh, just a typical morning these days...

growing girls

The little ones are getting bigger! Claire is now 18 months old and Sylvie has passed the 3 month mark. Claire is still a peanut, weighing in at 19.4 lbs and still unable to face forward in the van, while Sylvie is chunking out all over the place. The rolls on her thighs are quite impressive, and her chin has certainly doubled. :) In fact, this week Sylvie moved to size 2 diapers (I'm doing disposables 50% of the time at this point), and Claire is still wearing size 3 with room to grow. They're even beginning to share clothes a little too... with onesies and shocks becoming somewhat interchangeable.

Claire loves Sylvie and it is very common for me to find Claire trying to climb into the bouncy seat with Sylvie to give her kisses.

Of course, the biggest sister is getting bigger too. It's hard to believe that her 5th birthday is exactly two weeks away. Oh, where has the time gone...

Thank God for little girls.

December introductions

We spent the week before Christmas week in Michigan. During our trip, some very special introductions took place.

One... we met our nephew, Channing Justin Sherlock (born Dec. 5th). Here he is all cute and cuddly with his proud Uncle Toby.

Two... Grandma Button (Elaine Sylvia) met her namesake, Sylvie Elaine. They had a special bond immediately. I'm sure Sylvie misses all the special attention she received from her great-grandma.

Three... we met Nana and Papa's new furry friend, Yammy. We knew Claire, our animal lover, would like Yammy.

And we were pleasantly surprised that Elise eventually warmed up as well!