Aleah 18 months

Aleah is at a very fun age.  I really love that she is starting to show so much personality, that she can understand what we are saying, that she can communicate with us to some extent, that she is becoming more independent, etc.  The challenging part of this age is sitting still when necessary for long periods of time (sitting in big church, riding on airplanes, going to restaurants, waiting at doctor's appointments, going to the movies, riding in the stroller/shopping cart for long periods... things like this can be exhausting for mama!). 

One way that Aleah is easier than my other two is that she will often fall asleep when she is tired, no matter where we are.  This is great!  I used to have to struggle to rock the others to sleep if we were out and they got tired and fussy.  Aleah just grabs her paci and blankie and puts herself to sleep.  This is AMAZING, especially since we are at a stage of life where we can't be so scheduled every day.  She has learned to roll with it.  She still takes about a 2 hour nap a day (but the time varies greatly based on our day), and she sleeps about 11-12 hours at night.  Again, her bedtime varies much more than the other two!  Also, like Jacob, teething has not been much of an issue for her, yay!

Aleah's first ponytail:

Aleah loves it when her daddy comes home from work.  She gets SO excited; it's adorable.  I love when my kids get to the age where they sometimes just want their daddy.  It's so cute!

Aleah got a pretty bad cold the week she turned 18 months, which is the first time I remember her being sick at all.  Funny, because I think that's how old Hannah was the first time she got sick!  Aleah had a fever and a cough and was just totally run down for a few days!

Don't you just love a baby in a hooded towel after a bath?  And they smell so good!

Aleah is saying all kinds of words these days.  It's hard to remember for sure, but I think she has more words than my other kids did at this age.  Maybe Hannah had as many, I'm not sure.  I would say Aleah says about 50 words: Mama, Dada, Cup, Peek-a-boo, Thank-you, Welcome (for "You're Welcome"), Cubbie/Cubca/Cub (for "Jacob"), Chip, Cracker, Cookie, Cake, Cheese, Waffle, Nana (Banana), No, Yeah, Bye-Bye, Mine, Done, Outside, Hot, Shoes, Stuck, Uh-uh, Eye, Teeth, Seat, Go, Stop, Baby, Jump, All Gone, Boom (when she falls down), Okay, Happy, Gum (meaning candy), Ball, Duck, Diaper, Poop, Yay, Sock, Bath, Good, Bow, Bite, Phone, etc.!

Aleah is cuddly, particular, determined, and adorably cute.  I love her to pieces!

My 33rd Birthday

I had a very nice birthday weekend.  First, I got to celebrate with my siblings and parents on Thursday night.  Mom made an Italian Cream Cake for me and Betsy-yum!

The next day on my birthday, Hannah had the day off of school, so we went to Monical's and then went and bought a bunch of apples to make homemade applesauce and apple pie!

That night, Josh took me on a very nice date to Champaign, and we had a great meal at Miga.

The next day, Josh's mom's family took us to Curtis Orchard and out to eat for some birthday fun!

Date Nights

Josh and I managed to have THREE dates in less than three weeks!  That's quite an accomplishment considering we've only been on one date (without any kids) in the last year and a half before that (I think).

Emily and I swapped babysitting so we could both have a date night with our husbands.  We went to Red Lobster for all you can eat shrimp and celebrated the end of my first trimester!  Woot woot!

Next, Paul and Alisa kept the kids so we could go up to Chicago for the day.  We saw a Cubs game (bobblehead day!) and then ate at a really fun little Thai place before heading back home.  

Emily and Keith also kept the kids the night of my birthday, and we went out to Miga in Champaign.  It was a very nice restaurant.  The food was AMAZING, and I'm pretty sure kids would not have been welcome; it was very dark and quiet.  I told Josh I could go there for every special occasion and that it was gift enough.  It was just SO GOOD!  He did also get me some Illini clothes and some of my favorite snacks though.  

I'm so glad we got the chance to get out a little by ourselves.  It is so nice to have time to talk uninterrupted while we're still awake.  I know we'll be starting this cycle of not getting out again in about 5 months!

Thursday School

This year for preschool, Jacob is doing Thursday school and preschool at home with mommy.  He did church preschool last year, and I was told by last year's teacher and this year's teacher that he was ready for Kindergarten and did not need another year of preschool.  He wasn't old enough for Kindergarten, so we're just doing our best to keep him ready for next year.  He is already reading quite well.  Academically, he's probably almost ready for 1st Grade, just based on where is compared to Hannah.  I think that is partially due to having a big sister and partially because he's just a smart kid.  I have been surprised at how he's picked things up on his own.  He still has plenty of social time between Sunday morning church, Wednesday Cross Training, and Thursday School.  He's excited for Kindergarten next year but also was excited to have one more year at home with mommy, and I'm not complaining about that!  It's weird to think of him being gone all day next year!

Girl Cousins!

I got all of the girl cousins matching outfits for Christmas and their birthdays last year, so we found a day to snap a few pictures.  It's still pretty difficult to accomplish at their current ages. 

(Hadley couldn't find her yellow outfit on the day of the pics!)

I just loved these swimsuits; we got lots of use out of them!

Hannah's 7th & Josh's 33rd Birthday

As usual, Hannah and Josh had quite an eventful birthday week!  Our family went to Monical's one night to give her our gifts.  She got her first "real" Bible and a few other things.  We also told her and Jacob that we were going to have another baby.  They were very happy!

We celebrated with Josh's dad's family at The Beef House, which was Hannah's request.  She said she likes expensive restaurants.  Crack me up... yes she does!

She got her Belle dress from Papa Steve:

I surprised Josh with a (used) riding lawn mower.
He's never had one before; I hope it saves him tons of time!

We celebrated Josh's b-day at his mom's house:

I made Hannah a Barbie cake for her party at my parents' house:

We also got Hannah lots of clothes:

She took treats to her Sunday School class and to her school class:

We also went to The Possum Trot with the Gurtlers for Hannah's b-day:

Hannah wanted Barbies for her birthday, and I think she ended up with a total of 5 Barbies, a Barbie bed, and a Barbie car!  She was a happy girl!

1st Grade!

Hannah started first grade this year at Salt Fork North Elementary, same building, new name/new school district!

Mrs. Price is her teacher; she loves her!

She was so glad Anna and Vivian were in her class again this year!

She seems to be enjoying first grade and the fact that they have "more work."  We have had minimal to no tears-hooray!