five favorites (12/02)

Happy December! Long time, no blog. Between traveling for Thanksgiving and then Michael being away on business, there just hasn’t been much free time. I’m glad to be writing again!

ONE. Michael had a week-long trip to Las Vegas for the Amazon Web Services re:Invent conference. He left town on Sunday morning, before the crack of dawn, and came home on Friday night, just in time to meet us all at the town Christmas parade! This was the first week that the girls and I have ever spent completely solo, and we actually did better than I expected. Kaya was a big helper, and we didn’t have any meltdowns or tantrums until the very end of the week. We are so happy to have Daddy home with us again. 
TWO. She did it! She did it! Kaya completed the entire Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons book! To say I’m proud seems like an understatement- it’s been absolutely amazing to see how far she’s come in the past 8 months or so. I had promised her that when the book was done, she could choose to get a surprise or go out for a treat. She picked a surprise, so I’ve had these Calico Critters koalas hiding in my closet for a while, just waiting.

This week, she knew she was so close to finishing that she wanted to double-up on lessons for a couple of days. I’m so impressed with her motivation. This puts her at a second-grade reading level, and I’m excited to watch her learn and discover so much more through books.Kaelyn was so excited for her sister, and she’s feeling more motivated to do her phonics lessons, too. For now, she looks just so adorable flipping through the pictures of one of her favorite books about penguins.THREE. In the summer, it takes forever to get everyone outside to play because you have to sunscreen every inch of exposed skin, but in the winter, it takes just as long because you have to bundle everyone up! I can’t resist these babies in cute winter hats, puffy coats, and fleece footie pajamas (for Nella)!There’s something so refreshing about going outside, even when it’s chilly. FOUR. This little lady has had it rough ever since we left on our trip for Thanksgiving. Being away from home completely threw off her routine, which was to be expected, but we’ve had a little bit of a hard time getting back on track. She wants to wake up multiple times each night to nurse… so we’re working on sleeping through the night again. Add in a new tooth, and well, she’s been a bit cranky.But who can resist a baby in fluffy pink bear jammies? I also love how much she adores her Beagle. He is her absolute favorite!FIVE. We have been taking our sweet time with getting all our Christmas decor up. We actually started two weeks ago, and just keep adding little things here and there. Nella was surprised to see these singing snowmen when we brought them out, and wanted to play with them ALL! My mom has bought us one of these from Hallmark nearly every year since we got married, so we now have quite a few. We also got some light-up animals that are really meant for the yard, but Kaya and Kaelyn are so in love with them that they may just end up staying inside. They can’t forget to “feed” their unicorn and husky puppy every morning!

Happy weekend!