Holiday Card Tip

It's holiday card time! WOO! 

I thought I would post a helpful grammar tip 

for those of you sending out holiday cards! :)

When typing out your last names, 

let's all remember that there are no apostrophes in last names. ;) 

How to write your last name on a holiday card:

The Kleins

The Joneses

The Smiths

The Andersons

The Littles

The Linzes

NOT:

The Klein's

The Jones's

The Smith's

The Anderson's

The Little's

The Linz's

You simply add "es" or "s" to the end of your name. 

Simple as that. :) 

Why? 

Because your last name is plural (more than one of something/someone), 

not possessive (something belonging to something/someone).
Even if you were to write your last name as a possessive (the Kleins' cat), 

you would still add the "s" and *then* the apostrophe. :) 

If you don't like the "look" of it, you can simply say:

The Klein Family

The Jones Family

The Smith Family

The Anderson Family

The Little Family

The Linz Family

If you're not sure whether to add an "s" or an "es," 

you can Google it, 

or email/leave me a comment,

and I'd be happy to help! :)

Happy Holidays! :)

Asking Time to Slow Down.

I love the first day of school. Even now, when I'm not in school,
and my children are not old enough yet, I still love it. 

It's so neat to open up my Instagram and Facebook
and see my friends' kids going off to school. Makes me teary-eyed for them.

Not sure what it is with these photos lately (the past few weeks,

since everyone starts school at different times. LOL), but they make me cry.

I guess because I remember when my friends' "big" kids were babies.

And now they're big, and *I* have babies.

And soon my babies will be bigs and off to school. :(

I wasn't expecting to cry, while seeing all these.

Really, I wasn't. But then I see more photos and hear more stories,

and I lose it. *sigh*

Not sure if I'm crying because I feel them... their bigs (that used to be littles)

are all going off to school, or if I'm crying because that will be me soon...

seeing Hattie off to school and watching Meyer be sad

that his big sister is away from him all day. :(

Probably a mixture of both.

I just want to say, "Time!! Darn you! Slow down! PLEASE!
For the love of everything that is precious in my little world!
SLOW DOWN!" 

We went to a playdate today. My friend Angela and I had our daughters, 7 weeks apart (we met in birthing class) and our sons, 11 weeks apart. How cool is that?
This was the first time our sons "met," and as you can see,
they were both pretty stoked about it...

This was only seconds before Meyer accidentally clawed at Asher's head, 

and he proceeded to scream bloody murder. LOL.

And so, it begins. ;-)

The girls were too busy playing to have their picture taken.

Just another reminder that it goes SO fast. 

Soon, they will be in school, and I'll be a blubbering mess because,

"My babies are going off to school, and it goes so fast!"

*sniff* *sniff*

Growing up: Hattie at 18 Months

EIGHTEEN months old? A year and a HALF? 

Wow, they aren't kidding when they tell you it flies by.

(Okay, technically, she is 19.5 mos now. LOL. But I completely forgot to post this after typing it up!
GAH! I scheduled it, and it didn't post. :-/ )

So... a month and a half ago, at 18 mos...

Weight: 22 pounds, 8 ounces
Height: 33.25 inches
(I had to go out and buy her 2T pants!! Crazy!)

She is such a sweetie and wants to give hugs all day long.

Even to perfect strangers. LOL. :-)

Her vocabulary as of today (Feb 6th, 2013):

Mama

Dad/Dada/Daddy

Yia Yia (her honorary grandma who lives down the street)

CC (her Auntie Camille)

Hi

Bye

Bye, Guys!

Yes

No

Boo!

Uh-oh
Choo-Choo!

Whoops/Whoopsie

This

What's this?

Those

That

Who's that?

Out

Go

Baby

Dog

Kitty

Duck
Door
Hot

Doll

Eyes

See

Ball

Buzz (this may or may not be her favorite word... ;-) )

Sun (her other favorite word)
Moon

Stars

Orange (favorite food)

Bubbles
Pool

Bird

Tickle

Book

Rio (the movie)

Ice

Please

More

Done

Down

Potty
Poo-Poo

Nurse

Bite ("A bite?" when she wants a bite of something)

(In the last month and a half, I swear she's added at least 20 more words. LOL.
She's a talker. ;) )

Even though she talks a lot, she still signs a lot too, 

which is great for the words she can't say yet.

Wants to grab for the iPhone any time she can...

She still loves to read and play with dolls and balls. 

She also loves dress-up.
Her dollhouse and doll stroller (or shopping cart) are her favorite toys 

(along with her dolls, obviously).
She asks for her "Buzz" doll all day long.

(We also have a smaller Buzz action figure for the car. LOL.)

Loves to be outside. Exploring...


Or climbing fences (LOL!)

She LOVES looking at photos of her Dad. 

EVERY day, she asks to look at photos of him.

I finally pulled out a scrapbook the other day, and she LOVED it.

Dad on every page! LOL. She was in Daddy-Photo-Heaven. ;-)
Every page, she'd turn and yell, "Dad! Dad! Dad!"

They love to cuddle when he gets home from work.

SUCH an amazing eater.
(I take TONS of photos of her eating because I feel like she's eating most the time. LOL.)

Favorite food is definitely oranges, and even if we don't have them
in the house, she asks for them EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.
It's pretty much the first thing out of her mouth every morning...
"Hattie, what would you like for breakfast?"
"Orange! Orange! Orange!"

But her other faves are:

soy yogurt:

cereal:

grapes, raisins, peas, corn, pasta, rice, pancakes, hot dogs, and eggs.

Still, the ONLY thing she will not eat is potatoes (not counting French Fries. ;-) ).

I do keep trying. I kept trying with hamburgers, and she finally ate them! :-D

Can now drink from a cup without spilling! WOO!

(For the record, I usually still give her a cup with lid and straw. LOL.)

Still a great sleeper. :-)

She *has* had separation anxiety for the past few months. :-(
Hoping that passes soon.

Wow, I love this girl so much.
We are so blessed to have her.
Every single day, I can't get over how wonderful she is. :)

I'm so excited for her to be a big sister!
It doesn't hurt that she *LOVES* babies. ;-)