18 months!!!

Our little berry eating, sweet talking Molly turned 18 months old this December.  It is truly amazing to see how fast she is learning and to witness the evidence of her careful observations.  She now can name her body parts- eyes, ears, head, nose, mouth, and butt.  When she wants food she goes to her chair and says 'I hungwy'.  When she has messy pants she gets a diaper from her room and presents it to us saying 'I poop'.  While she is a very happy baby for the most part, she has picked up from her sisters the fine art of crying fits.  I think she is also learning that they don't get her very far.  Molly loves babies, yogurt, her pacifier, Rudy, coloring, and being with her big sisters!  She is shy of most people over 4 feet tall, but we're hoping this is a phase that passes quickly so everyone can get to know her as we have!  So amazing how much growth happens in just 18 short months!

A Masters degree! Finally!!!

It took 6 years but I managed to pull it off!  With the completion of a 97 page thesis comes a Master's Degree at last!  Many thanks are due to Dr. Lalita Subrahmanyan for her guidance and encouragement and to my family for their patience, support, and tolerance of a stressed out mommy! 

 This was my life when I started this degree, just Shawn and I- not even engaged at that point. When told on the first day of class that I had only 7 years to complete the degree, I scoffed. Who takes 7 years?!?!? After a wedding, micro preemie twins, the passing of my mother in law, and the birth of a third baby, on top of full-time employment, I'm pretty grateful for that generous time frame! I even did it with a year to spare! (How's that for an accomplished procrastinator???)

Snug as bugs in a rug...

If you give a kid a camera...

Lately I'm finding multiple surprise shots as I flip back through the images on our camera.  These girls are so tech savvy.  Despite limited reading ability they can navigate through out phones, find their favorite songs on an iPod, and take some interesting pictures!  

Our first major snowfall!

Disney on Ice!

For the second time we took in a Disney on Ice production!  Though I'll sheepishly admit that I liked the Princesses on Ice show a little more than this show that included Toy Story, Nemo, and some others that I wasn't familiar with, the show impressed us with the costumes and the level of skating.  Despite all of the show's tricks, Molly was pretty fidgetty.  I'd like to apologize again to the woman in front of us that got kicked in the back by our little squirmer on the off chance she sees this...

Nothing starts off the holiday season like...

 ...GINGERBREAD!  Mia chose to be pretty minimalistic with her decorations.  Alli started out small, but finished big!!!

 In fact, she exhausted our sprinkle supply!  A fancier gingerbread person there has never been!

A visit from Auntie Amy!

The Auntie Amy's Day of Fun started out at the Home Depot for a festive picture frame project and Santa sighting number 2.  (We'll spare you the picture of this encounter...)

Then we got our nails painted!

 The rest of the day involved lunch out and some shopping.  By the end of the day little Ming Ming was pooped!  She fell asleep on the couch and slept through dinner!  We'll have to get Auntie Amy to come more often!  M & A were talking about this visit for days!

Santa- Take 1

While shopping with Grandma, the girls spotted Santa!  Mom and I were convinced it was really just a pile of poinsettias but the girls insisted on getting a closer look.  Their Santa radar seems to be pretty good!

We decided not to subject Molly to Santa's lap yet.  Her social warm-up period for anyone over 4 feet tall seems to range anywhere from 2 hours to 2 days...

Exploring Lake Sherwood...

A belated Thanksgiving celebration with the Affeldt's allowed Molly some time to stretch her legs and enjoy the outdoors.  I dig her outfit and her confident exploration of the boardwalk!

Peru day at preschool!

 A goofy work schedule gave me the opportunity to visit the girls' preschool as their class was studying South America.  I rounded up some of the things I collected during a trip to Peru to share with the kiddos.  I have two little traditional costumes that have been hanging in my classroom for years.  I have always thought of dressing the girls up in them- though one is for a boy and one for a girl.  Unfortunately I waited too long, for they first argued over who got the skirt, and then when they tried them on they looked like crop tops. They did look pretty cute on some of their littler classmates!

 I always love watching the girls do 'their silence'!  It was a fun morning spent with my big girls!

Tree house!

 This was created on the campus of St John's University.  It made for a fun afternoon with the girls who moved so quickly through the house we struggled to even catch them in a picture!

Who needs bunk beds?

Mia and Allison seem to think the four feet that separates them when they are bunked is just too much.  They, along with a 60+lb Rudy, fill up the bottom bunk pretty well!

Violet! You're turning violet, Violet!

Ms. Molly has a taste for blueberries!  A typical serving size for this kiddo is a pint and a half!  We figure she part grizzly bear...

Turkey Trot!

Before feasting, we brought the family over to Whitney Park for a little exercise!  I attempted another 5k- still hoping to run a whole one at some point.  Mia, Alli, Molly (in her stroller) and I then did a 1k.  We may need to make this a Thanksgiving tradition!

Strolling...

 On the way home from the lake, we met up with dear friend Krissy and her family of three little girls.  This walk in the park was much needed after the long car trip.  And the company was unbeatable!!!

Road trip!

 Don't forget the cheese!  Over MEA (Yep, 2 months ago...) the girls and I headed to the lake for some quality time with Grandma and Grandpa.  We headed to the Children' Museum in Steven's Point where it was determined that Molly wants to be a grocery shopper when she grow up and Mia and Allison will forgo serious careers in journalism and instead become dentists!

 I can't help but snap photos every time the girls are snuggled up reading with my mom (Grandma). Seeing my children enjoy what I SO loved as a kid- reading with my mommy!

 At one point on the way home I peaked in the rear view to find all three of the girlies reading/looking at books.  Alli hammed it up for the photo!  It was a great trip and I am so proud of my girls for helping the trip to go so smoothly!