Alphabet Matching

Riley, Josh, and I were hanging by ourselves this past weekend because daddy and Callie were in Michigan for a wedding. I put together a few alphabet activities for him to do. He really enjoyed both things, which was great because sometimes he gets bored with something I make for him.

The first activity I made for him involved me writing the alphabet on the white board and then he had to use magnetic letters to match them. This kept him busy for probably 15 or 20 minutes. I sat with him the whole time and we made a game of it.

The ABCs written on the white board.

Matching the letters

Contemplating what letter to put up next.

"Mom, take a picture of me laying here with these letters." Silly boy.

The last letter.

I extended this activity since he was really enjoying it. I wrote his name at the bottom and then I told him all the letters were hiding and he had to find the right ones to make his name. He had fun searching for them.

"Take a picture of me standing here." He was really into me taking pictures of him during this.

Hmm, where is that "H".

Oh there it is!

 The next day I wrote all the letters on a piece of paper and had him paint over the letters with a q-tip. He really liked this activity also.

Some playdough fun.

Making and ice cream sundae.

A sweet pic of my two cuties!

Alphabet Ice

Since having Riley (and honestly a few weeks before having her) I haven't really been doing a formal school time. I have just been plain tired! I am trying to get organized so that we can hopefully start again in February. I do try to come up with an occasional activity for the kids to do though. One night I froze some plastic alphabet letters in square ice cube trays. I pulled them out the next day and plopped them in a bin on our light panel. I provided some various kitchen utensils and some clear plastic egg cartons. It was fun to see their imaginations take off.

The alphabet ice in the bin.

Look how cool it looks with the light on!

"Look mommy, we're making alphabet cakes."

Great hand-eye coordination work.

A Few Christmas Pics

Here are just a few pics of the kiddos on Christmas morning. They got quite a few dress up things because they love to role play and use their imaginations.

Opening their stockings.

Good morning!

Loving the new pirate hat.

Our resident bat and bald eagle.

And a few pics of the kiddos because I just can't resist! (And for the benefit of all the aunts/uncles/grandparents/etc.)

This one just makes me laugh!

Our Newest Addition

We added a new member to our family right before Christmas. December 7 was the day little Riley decided to join our family. I had been scheduled to be induced because I was overdue and my fluids were getting low. I had never had to be induced before and I didn't want to be. I prayed and prayed that I would go into labor on my own. Dec. 7 came and no labor, so we made the early morning trek to the hospital for my schedule induction. Thankfully my parents had arrived the night before so they were able to stay with Callie and Josh. When we got to the hospital the nurse hooked me up to the monitors to start getting all my vitals. Low and behold, I started having contractions! The doc came up to see me and decided not to do anything and to see if I would just progress on my own. Jamey and I took many laps around the floor. We were in the company of a few other women who were also walking laps to progress their labor! It was pretty funny. We would all just smile at each other as we passed. Thankfully my contractions never got really strong until a little after one o'clock. My platelets were super low, so I wasn't going to be able to get an epidural. Shortly after 2, little Riley came into this world. After thinking we would never have another baby, it was such a joy to have a little one again. Be warned, there are a lot of pics in this post. What can I say, I'm a proud mom!

A few days before Riley was born.

Just hanging out.

As soon as she was born the nurse plopped her up on my chest. This is the first time that has happened instead of them just taking the baby to do whatever it is they do. She was so tiny, and so gray! She actually had the umbilical cord wrapped extremely tight around her neck. The doc had to do some quick work to cut it off before she was all the way out. It took her awhile to even get a finger under the cord to be able to cut it. And I swear it was 100 degrees in there! My awesome nurse kept a cool washcloth on my forehead to help cool me off.

Not very happy about things at this moment. She liked it better where she came from! She wasn't crying really loud, so they ended up having to take her to the NICU for a bit, but she started doing just fine as soon as they got there. They kept her to do all her vitals and her bath. Jamey was there taking pics the whole time.

Getting to hold her one more time before going to the NICU.

Such a tiny foot compared to daddy's finger.

Not at all happy about this whole situation. And why isn't anyone cleaning me up!

Breaking my heart.

Finally getting a bath.

All clean.

Warm and snug.

Happy to have my baby girl.

A proud grandma (and big sister and brother!). I'm so glad my parents were able to be there.

Grandpa getting his turn to hold her.

Our new family.

Getting dressed to go home. Callie thinks she now has a live baby doll to play with. She won't hardly leave Riley alone. She's such a little mom.

This just makes me laugh. She's so little!

Again she isn't happy with her situation!

Finally home and all snug in bed.