Lost in translation

One day I was teaching the kids who their brother and sister(s) were. Well at one point I got excited about someone's correct answer and said, "Yes, that's your sister Soph." Somewhere along the way, Sophie has picked up that her name is "Sister Soph." Just ask her. She'll tell ya. She's Sister Soph!!

Animal Sounds

This is like housekeeping. I'm trying to update my blog with all the different developmental advancements my kids have made. This will be the list of animal sounds they can do:

dog
cat
frog
duck
bird
pig
horse
sheep
cow
donkey
turkey
monkey
elephant
tiger
lion
snake
crocodile
shark (they do the du-dum music of Jaws!!!!)

Addendum per daddy: rabbit, mouse, bear, and rooster

As usual, I get stuck and can't remember any more ;-)

Hmm

Another cute conversation:

Mommy: What do you want for breakfast?
Sebastian: Hmm, how 'bout some amimals (animal crackers)?

When your kid's a genius

you just have to say it. I mean I know she's not a genius. But I was just so amazed at my Bella's ability to transfer knowledge. Here's the scenario:

Bella: Socks on
Mommy: Ok. (Mommy puts on socks.)
Bella: Shoes on, please.
Mommy: Ok, here you go. (Mommy puts on shoes.)
Bella: Socks hiding in shoes, Mommy. See. Socks hiding in shoes.

Don't you just want to eat her up. I mean, come on, "socks hiding in shoes??!!!" Isn't that the best???!!!!

I forgot one

This past weekend, Amber asked me what words I'll be sad to hear my kids start saying correctly. And I realized that I forgot one!! They all say Mickiss (a phonetic spelling) for Christmas!!! It's the cutest thing to hear them shout, "I see Mickiss lights!!!!" I think if they start saying it correctly, I'll have to correct them on the best way to say it ;-) Mickiss is coming!!!!!

happiest in a diaper

and nothing else!!

caught in the act...

of giving that "don't you dare take a picture" look!

of saying something!

of coughing

of concentrating with that little tongue out!

of saying do do do

of cheesing!

Happy First Thanksgiving! Repost!!

Thought you'd like to see where we were this time 2 years ago!!


Hello family and friends,

We hope and pray that you all have had a blessed Thanksgiving Day. This year, we found ourselves with even more to be thankful for than ever before! The Lord has been so gracious to us! Not only has He given us three beautiful children, but He's also granted good health and strength to us and them!

As we look forward to raising our children to serve Him, we are increasingly thankful for the extended family He has given our babies. They are truly blessed, indeed, to have so many devoted and loving grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins (and "practically-related" aunts and uncles)!!! Thank you all so much for caring for us and our little ones. We love and appreciate you more than we can express! (But this is a good day for trying!) :)

We greatly missed not seeing and spending time with you all this holiday, but be assured our thoughts were with you, and we look forward to future family get-togethers with our little ones in tow!

Here are some pictures of our first Thanksgiving as a new family of five. We had fun relaxing and eating and sleeping together! (Naps all around!) Enjoy the pictures.

("Baby's First Thanksgiving" bibs were courtesy of a set of those extended-family "aunts and uncles." Thanks, Matt and Amber!)
:)

(Tip: For fun Thanksgiving game, try taking self-family portrait with triplet bobble-head babies! Good times to be had by all!)

(above: Daddy and Sebastian)

(above: Mommy and Sophie)

(above: Daddy and Bella)

(above: Thanksgiving menu for three of the five of us! Thank you, Nana Sherf, for a yummy Thanksgiving Dinner that didn't have to come out of a bottle!) :)

Thankful for my 3 babies

monkey see; monkey do

My little 'tato head

He's not a very big guy.

He has a vast repetoire of faces.

He's constantly changing.

He has lots of crevices and nooks and crannies and loves to explore them all!

My little 'tato head was fearfully and wonderfully made. And he's cute as a button to boot. I wouldn't change him from his squinty little eyes to his snaggly little toenails!!

Every once in a while a great post comes along

This is one of those posts full of those faces you love doing the things that make us all smile!!

Getting ready to put her 2 pointers up to say "Cool!" We've shown them that it's the two thumbs, but they dance to the beat of their own drum!!

"Cool!"

With the word cool on her lips!

I love how Bella's silly pose often includes hunched shoulders!

What do you notice about her glasses?

"Cool"

Mommy can't see me!

Cute as can be!

What are those girls doing?

My guy

These shots are for grammy from her little bag lady

Modeling is in her future! ;-)

Dressing herself for snow

There's a lot going on in this pic. Bastian's duct tape, for instance, half-dressed kids, but the best part is the Sophie creation. She got her spidey snow boots on and her winter hat and was ready for a blizzard....perhaps a blizzard of sand on a warm beach given her lack of any other clothes.

Out of the mouths of babes....

My kids have been saying some of the cutest things lately. The word explosion kept me from documenting all the new words they were saying. They have all learned to be mimics and can say practically anything you ask of them!

Some of the most recent verbiage:
Bella: Show Bella. Show Bella ("Della") octopus ("opopus"). Please show Bella.
(Bella repeatedly asked of Sophie to see the octopus on her cup today at lunch.)
Bella: I saw lights.
(She said this while driving around our town which is starting to put up Christmas lights.)


Bastian: Mouth ("mouf") hurts.
(Sebastian is cutting his 2-year molars right now and knows better how to tell you what's bothering him than he has at other teething time.)

Sophie: Mommy doing? Daddy doing? Bella doing? Bastian doing ("doodin")?
(I can't remember if I mentioned this one before. When Sophie is supremely amused, she always asks this question with a laugh in her voice.)


There are so many more phrases and sentences and yet, now that I sit down to write them in the solitude, I can't remember more than this handful. I'll get more down later!

Some people want to see our kids; Some want to see our basement

Go figure! Here's the play room!!!!!!!!!

Daddy Training

Even Michael Jordan had to start somewhere

Not quality pictures

But definitely quality shots ;-)

My Little Urban Cowgirl

These boots were made for ... er ... climbin'!

Getting ready for the show!

Presenting our little cowgirl!

Thank you, thank you, my many adoring fans!

More Halloween Adventures

Having the time of their lives....

*we do know these people. this wasn't a random stranger
trying to give sophie a potato chip. Nevertheless, she was
NOT pleased!!

What we got before the battery died

What you really come here to see....

Great shots of these adorable faces!!!

Presenting....

Our 2 pretty princesses and one very dangerous dragon!! These pics were actually taken at the zoo's Halloween celebration a few days ago. It was GREAT to get both families together to go see all the pumpkins and Halloween decor at the zoo.

More cuteness