Halloween

This year, Bailey and Avery wanted to be a black cat and witch (again- they've done this combo before). Bailey was insistent on a green face, and although I was worried about it getting everywhere, it ended up working out well. We kept calling her Elphaba, which she didn't like. (: It made me want to see Wicked again.

Our little pumpkin only made it to a few houses until we were back at home passing out candy. I'm just glad it wasn't a wintery Halloween this year. We've been lucky the last few years!

First Cereal- Four Months

Elyse has had some digestive issues, and the doctor recommended we start giving her rice cereal twice a day to hopefully help things out. But, like Bailey and Avery before her, she was just not into it. This picture pretty much sums it up:

What are you giving me? Why?

I'd rather eat my hand!

I'm not going to swallow it!

After about a week of battling it out, we decided to wait another month or two and try again.

At four months:

• Elyse is very proficient at rolling- she started when she was two and half months old. She rolls all around the house, and often gets herself stuck under the futon. 
• We are finally getting more giggles out of her. After months of Bailey asking, "What does a baby laugh sound like?" she finally got her answer. And she agrees that it is one of the most wonderful sounds in the world.
• Elyse is starting to play with toys and puts everything she grabs straight into the mouth- even Avery's fingers.
• She is still a stinker about naps. Maybe someday she will nap longer than twenty minutes...

In other news, I finally got my haircut, and Bailey took this picture of me while I was giving Elyse her first cereal. It was long, long, long over due and I'm glad to have less hair for little baby hands to grab.

These Days

I was looking past at blog posts from a few year ago, and there was a lot more writing and fewer pictures. I guess as the years have passed I've been too busy to write much about what's going on...

These days, things have been a little crazy. I spend a lot of time driving kids to and from school, preschool, dance and swimming. I am also teaching piano again after taking the summer off to adjust to having a baby around. And, I've started school again!!

I was accepted to the Master's of Social Science program at Syracuse University. I'm really excited about it, and hoping that I can juggle a really full plate. I am hoping to someday get my PhD and teach at a University. But I have to get my first paper done first...

All and all, life is good right now. Mike and I were talking, and despite the bug problems we've had, the car problems, the fact that everything seems to be breaking, we are really happy right now.

Preschool

It was Avery's turn for a first day of school. This year she is attending an actual preschool three mornings a week from 9:15-11:45. We decided it was really important for our shy little girl to have an outside of our house and outside of people we know school experience before she heads off to all day kindergarten next year.

She was worried that I wouldn't have anything to do with her gone, and gave me permission to play with her toys while she was gone. What a sweetheart.

Elyse's Blessing Day

On Sunday, Mike blessed Elyse. It was a beautiful day, and we were so glad to have family in town to celebrate Elyse with us.

Here are my favorite pictures though. We really wanted to get a happy picture of our three girls, but that was not going to happen:

Despite the sad faces, I think these pictures are adorable! I think it makes Avery and Elyse look so alike with the same sad face on each of them. I guess they had had enough for one day.

Cousins

This weekend we had cousins in town. It was so exciting for Bailey and Avery that we hardly even saw them.

Aunt Val took some pictures of the fun things we did while they were here. We rented an eight person bike:

Watched Phineas and Ferb on a rainy day:

And basically just had a great time. 

Avery is FOUR!

Avery was lucky enough to have her cousins and her grandparents here just a few days before her birthday. We decided to celebrate it early so she should could party with her cousins.

When I asked her what kind of cake she wanted, she told me she wanted a rainbow cake like Bailey had, but with a princess on top. I told her she didn't have to have the same kind of cake, so then she couldn't decide between Blue's Clues and Backyardigans. I should have just made a rainbow cake- she ended up wanted a Backyardigans cake and I am not an artist. All in all, I think her Tasha cake turned out pretty cute.

As the procrastinator that I am, we didn't buy her gifts until the night before. She had asked for a piggy bank like Bailey's, but a chalkboard on she had seen at Target. Not really thinking it through, I set her gifts next to our bed, hidden behind Elyse's co-sleeper. However, sometime during the night, Avery came in to tell me she loved me and she saw the chalkboard piggy bank.

The next morning she went around telling everyone she had seen one of her presents- the piggy bank! Her Aunt Val told her it was actually a present for her birthday and Avery was not too happy about that. We decided we better not tease her about it. When it was finally time to open up her piggy she was in love:

Right now, Avery is:

• Very loyal. If she is at Wegmans with me, she asks for a sticker for Bailey too. She is always looking out for Bailey.
• A little comedian. She loves to make people laugh.
• A little dancer. She dances and sings all around the house.
• Learning how to play the piano and read.
• A great bog sister.