Olivia

Olivia's preschool had their Christmas program on Tuesday. It was nicely done and the kids cooperated well for a group of 3 year olds. I don't have many pictures because I was holding Alaina and Brian was taking video. I never figured out how to upload video, maybe something I can work on during the Christmas break. Olivia's role in the program was to bring the stockings and hang them on the fireplace. Then came the baby Jesus and everybody sang three songs. One of my favorite parts of preschool is how Olivia is always coming home singing new songs. The girl loves singing!

Olivia had her dance program the week before. They had older girls holding long pieces of fabric while the little ones danced around the room. It is so wonderful that they have them to help out with the class every week. She has really enjoyed preschool and dance class over these past months. It is neat to see the relationships she develops with other children. Everyday there is a new story and a new best friend. Ah, childhood=)

Alaina

Here are some updated pictures of Alaina. The first one is of her during our Christmas photo shoot. It is so hard to catch her smiling with the camera! The next one is of her sitting pretty good. She works on it alot and gets better everyday.

Olivia and Alaina playing in the tent together. You would never believe how much fun Olivia has playing with her.

Alaina in the bitty baby crib. Because it's so much better to have a real baby than a plastic one!

Alaina munching a carrot. She has been trying lots of different foods lately because I want her to work on her eating skills. She doesn't actually eat them, mostly just mouths it. So far she has tried carrots, pickles, pretzels, sour straws, tostitos, and toast and has enjoyed tasting all of them.

Stay tuned because I plan on putting up pictures of Olivia's preschool and dance class Christmas programs.

Wordless Wednesday - Simultaneous Naps

Thanksgiving

We all went to Maryland for Thanksgiving weekend at Aunt Margie and Uncle Nick's house. Brian's brother Kevin came up with his family as well. The food was amazing and it was so much fun to be together and catch up. Kevin and his family hadn't been yet so we all went into D.C. on the Metro. It was cold so Brian and I headed back with the girls after one museum, but it is always fun to see the sights at the capitol. It started raining as soon as we got out so I just got this one good pic on the Mall and then some pictures from the Metro. Happy Belated Thanksgiving everyone!

This is Olivia's cousin Hannah, they spent the whole weekend together having a blast.

Fall

Fall here in VA has been really beautiful, too bad it is almost over. Brian has just been letting the leaves accumulate in the yard and occasionally running them over with the mower. Now that almost all the leaves are off the trees he finally got down to the work of raking them. Olivia has fun helping with her own little rake and gloves just like Dad.

The best part of raking leaves!

Olivia likes to be very physical with Alaina, it is seriously hard trying to keep them separated. Let's just say I'm very thankful for preschool!

Happy Halloween!

New Photos!

We had pictures done today of the girls for Halloween. Unfortunately Olivia broke down after one picture so Alaina stepped up and did the remaining poses so we could meet the six pose minimum. Alaina was great and completed the photo shoot without a tear in sight. I'm going to hold back the Halloween picture until the day so their costumes can be a surprise!

Here is a picture of Alaina at 3 months. Can you believe how much she has grown in this short amount of time? She has put on a ton of weight and is much stronger following her heart repair. She has been doing so well that with agreement from all her doctors she had her g-tube removed today. Hooray Alaina! This is such a big step for my little girl and I'm so proud of how far she has come.

Olivia's birthday pictures from June. This little one is looking all grown up too!

Papa and Gigi Visit and Our 1st Buddy Walk

Papa and Gigi came to visit a couple weeks ago. It was so much fun seeing them again and getting a chance to catch up. We miss you guys already! If you look closely Alaina is blowing a raspberry in this picture, it is one of her favorite games to play with people.

We went to our 1st Buddy Walk in Raleigh this past weekend. The Buddy Walk is an event to help raise awareness of Down syndrome. There was tons of fun stuff for the kids to do, great food, and it was nice to meet other families who came out with their kids.

Alaina in her Buddy Walk t-shirt. The smallest size they had was 2t so just a bit too big, but she looks super cute in it!

6 Months

Well Alaina made it to 6 months and I can't believe how well she is doing. She is still eating great and has even started solid baby foods. Alaina also sat by herself for the first time today long enough for me to take a picture. =)

We all went to the County fair friday night and met up with Olivia's friend Alex and her parents. It was great with lots of rides for the little ones. Look at those smiles!

Dance Class Part 2

This is Olivia and her new friend Alex on their first day of dance class. It is a more relaxed dance class than the last one and I think Olivia enjoyed it. It helps to have a friend there =)

Our new car! We finally splurged on a minivan so there is more space for toting the kids around and going on family trips. It is a 2010 Honda Odyssey and so far I'm loving it!

First Day of School

Today was Olivia's first day of preschool. She will be attending a program three days a week at a local church. The parents stayed with the kids today so Olivia was ok with that. I don't know how it will be tomorrow when I'm supposed to leave her there, but I'm sure she will be fine.

This is a picture Olivia drew of Little Mermaid at preschool. Can you tell she looks sick? She woke up from her nap with a runny nose and a fever so there may not be a second day of school tomorrow.

Alaina and one of her sweet smiles.

Where Alaina sits while I try to write the blog. She won't stay in the swing unless she's already asleep or someone is giving her attention =)

Progress

Alaina has been doing so much better since surgery. This picture is of her mid-roll. She has started rolling over both ways and she is eating well. The physical therapist came to evaluate her yesterday and she said that so far Alaina is not delayed with her developmental milestones. So hooray for Alaina!

Here Olivia is being her usually happy self. She is well behaved during the day and will play by herself with her dolls and dress up when I'm busy with Alaina. She is also starting preschool next week and Olivia and I are both excited about that!

I'm taking online classes this semester so that will be my time to study. I considered not taking classes this semester with everything going on, but ended up doing it anyway. The time I spend on school work is therapeutic and gives me a chance to do something just for me. I'm hoping the semester goes well and that everything stays relatively calm around here.

I'm trying to coax a smile out of Alaina for the camera. This is the best I could get.