Gymnastics!

We have had so much fun this past month because.... Annabel's doing gymnastics! We have been going to the Y every Saturday morning for handstands, somersaults, balance beams, bars and spring boards! She is pretty much the youngest and least experienced in her class, but that's okay, right? You have to start somewhere! I try not to get discouraged when all the other kids are following directions and Annabel is sitting there staring off into space or picking her nose. (haha, j/k... kinda) She is very tempted by the spring board at all times and has a hard time being disciplined enough to not run to it every five minutes! We do a lot of hands-on parenting and redirecting at gymnastics, haha!

But it's fun, and I know she's getting something out of it when we come home and she asks me to help her practice a hand stand or a certain kick/spin thingy they learned that week. ♥ I really do love it- she is just so darn cute walking on the beam or hanging from the bar. *sigh....* Plus it's just fun to get out of the house and DO something, you know?

I wanted to post some pictures, but I just realized that I have only taken video, no pics! I'll try to get some in the following weeks to put on here. :) Asher likes going, too, he enjoys crawling on the mats! He is quite the little climber these days!

One day last week Annabel and I made brownies, yum! (don't judge my messy kitchen :) She had so much fun. Her favorite things to do in the kitchen are stir and add a pinch of salt.

One day, she decided she was a baby. So this is her, sitting in the high chair, eating bite size food and drinking milk out of a bottle.

When she found out that babies have to take TWO naps a day, she was cured ;)

The real baby of the house:

Those are bananas rolled in crushed cereal. He loves it ♥ Asher just started on real solid food a few weeks ago, but he's doing really well. He only has two bottom teeth and the very beginnings of a top one, but he can chew quite a bit with those! He likes puffs, crackers, bread, cheese, fruit, eggs, beans... I don't think he's tried anything yet that he doesn't like ;)

Some Much Promised Pictures!

These are kinda old, but this was taken the night we put up the Christmas tree:

And this was on Christmas morning... Annabel was so excited about her new "marble toy!"

This was right after that big snow at Christmas:

Later in January, we had Christmas in Iowa:

And the girls:

They're so cute!

Derek and I made it to a Colts' game in January!

One day recently we took the kids sledding out at camp- fun!

Fun in the bath:

Asher's eating "real" food! Annabel loves to "help," haha!

And here's my sweet girl, vegging out in front of the tv with a bowl of popcorn!

I especially love the way this picture highlights Annabel's self-inflicted haircut ;)

Well, I thought I'd tentatively jump back into blogging... I feel like I've lost my motivation for writing about the mundane, boring aspects of our life. At some point I'd really like to reformat my blog into a more "subject-oriented" one, instead of just random ramblings... though what subject to pick, I don't know. But for now... random ramblings it is ;)

The past few months have been good. I'm back at work 3 days a week, with Asher transitioning into daycare really well. He learned how to sleep in a crib, haha! Yes, it's true- I "spoil" my baby boy and let him nap whereever he falls asleep, be it my arms, in the back carrier, or in our bed. Eventually I move him to the crib to finish his nap, but he surely has no experience with putting himself to sleep. (And, no, I don't need advice, because I don't feel guilty about it! Our system works for us! :)

Asher is crawling for "real," now! He's just all over the place. His favorite place to be is the playroom... he just crawls from one thing to the next, checking everything out! He has his own little bin of toys and it's so cute to watch him pick stuff out of it.

Annabel is terrifically three an a half. *sigh* There are aspects that I LOVE about this age- truly. She is sooo independent and will play by herself for 30-45 minutes at a time. She will watch whole movies, and she definitely has her favorites (ahem, Dora). She is soooo into her baby doll, whose name is Baby Alex. Pretty much every day is Alex's birthday and we have to sing happy birthday to her. Most of the time she's turning 4 ;) She loves to take care of Alex, to feed and rock her, put her down for naps, change her diaper, buckle her into a carseat, stroller or high chair. She'll tell me, "can you hold Alex for a minute? I'm just going to go xyz." Or, "Please be more gentle with Alex, don't just throw her down." Sometimes Alex feels sick or doesn't want to go to church/daycare, and it's a good opportunity to talk about those things. Alex is a little more understanding than Annabel! ;)

We do deal a bit with whining and the meltdowns- oh, the meltdowns- but really, it's okay. I don't feel overwhelmed with it. I know it's normal and this, too shall pass.

As for me, I'm so excited to have "inherited" a spinning wheel from my grandma!

I guess you can just call me an old spinster! Spinning is something I've wanted to learn for quite a while, so I'm way excited for the opportunity. I have three bags of different kinds of wool coming in the mail this week, so stay tuned!

Anyway, I'll try to remember to post some pictures when I get home and have access to them! I know there have been some cute ones lately. I'll leave you with this adorable one of Asher, eating avocado in the living room:

(these should be clickable thumbnails)

A Break

I'm taking a break from blogging right now. Obviously. Check back in a month or two! :)