From A to Zig: January 2014

Monday, January 27, 2014

four.

Wow! FOUR. Four wonderful, amazing, beautiful, HARD years. Emily has brought us so much joy as parents, and has also taught us so much about life. She is a free spirit, with a stubborn personality. She knows what she wants and she will dig her heels in and die on that hill. I compromise a lot, much more than I should. My husband is amazing. He is strong and knows when to compromise and when to dig in his heels. (Emmy may or may not have gotten this from her daddy. :) )

Three was so hard. The hardest year yet. Terrible twos, that's laughable. Three is the real deal. Emily spent the year learning boundaries and testing them. There was lots of laughing, lots of tears, and lots of drama, but every single day was worth it. Because the bad days were far out weighed by all the good days. Emily is an AMAZING sister. She is patient and kind with Sophia. She talks to her and is always looking out for her. She shows her how to be a kid, sings with her, and teaches her so many words. If Sophia is awake and around, Emily is helping her learn new things every day. It is such a beautiful thing to watch. They have such an amazing bond.

Things she loves:

Dressing up like a Princess. Every day is Halloween. EVERY.SINGLE.DAY
Coloring and practicing her letters
Singing
Reading books
Anything Disney Princess
Little Einsteins, still. She also has really started liking Sofia the First. We stick to Disney.
Boots
Dresses. ONLY dresses. It's a battle in the morning if there are no clean dresses.
Cereal bars
Her trampoline. She loves to jump! Really wishing it was warm outside.
Her friends at school. She talks about them constantly.
Her daddy. This is her number one. She LOVES her daddy.

Starting last year, I started asked Emily a set of questions and documenting her answers. It's so much fun to see how her preferences change and watching her grow. Lots of her answers were the same, many were different. All words are hers. :)

1. What is your favorite color? Purple and Pink
2. What is your favorite toy? My Little Ponies and princess dresses
3. What is your favorite fruit? "Vegetables," Oh and strawberries and cherry pie
4. What is your favorite tv show? Little Einsteins
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Mac 'n Cheese!
6. What is your favorite outfit? Dresses
7. What is your favorite game? Hide n Seek
8. What is your favorite snack? Fruit snacks
9. What is your favorite animal? Kitties and dogs
10. What is your favorite song? "My ABCDs"
11. What is your favorite book? The Tickle Monster book
12. Who is your best friend? Madeline and Brayden Bundy
13. What is your favorite cereal? Fruit loops
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Run and climb in trees......
15. What is your favorite drink? Milk
16. What is your favorite holiday? My Birthday
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? All my buddies
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cereal bars
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Mac 'n Cheese!
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A Princess

Saturday, January 25, 2014

A little bit of catching up to do...

I realize I am months behind where I should be. This year flew by for us. I started a new job, which I love, the girls moved to a new school, Sophia had her first birthday, we moved houses, we traveled, Emmy turned four and the girls fell in love with Christmas! It was a pretty good year. I have no complaints. We stayed busy and lived life, which meant this blog was neglected a bit. I will do my best to catch you all up!

The biggest change we had this year is we said goodbye (kind of) to our first family house and hello to a new one. We kept our old one as a rental and that is working out really well so far. Our new house has a pool and is so close to our parents and in a neighborhood we love. The house is comfortable and works really well for our family. We couldn't be more excited! Plus, it was pretty well updated when we moved in, so we only have had a few small projects for now!

Goodbye Freedom Way!

We have been in the new house for about 6 months. I have yet to capture a photo of us out front. In due time people. But we have had some fun in the pool and loved entertaining in our new huge back yard!

This summer we rented a beach house in Panama City, FL with Grandma, Papa and the Kaases', which meant, Sophia had her first plane trip and both girls saw the ocean for the first time. We spent a lot of time on the beach. Our house had it's own private area and the sand was so soft. We spent hours each day collecting sea shells and making memories with cousins!

In September, I made my first work trip to San Francisco. Rough life. Here is the view from my office window! Now that is the kind of work travel I could get used to. San Francisco is really a beautiful city!

Next, as an early birthday present to Emily, we went to CA to visit Aunt Koley and Emily had her first trip to Disneyland. What a magical experience that was! We had an absolute blast!! That deserves it's own picture post, stay tuned!

In October, we took our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch with the Korpan's. This year, baby MacKenzie was with us! We always have a great time eating lots of food and picking the perfect pumpkin!

Flash back time! Here is Emmy in 2010, 2011, and 2012! Crazy how much she is changed!

Emmy 2010-11 months!

Emily 2011-2 years!

Emily 2012-3 years!

I tried to do the same with Sophia, but she wasn't having it this year...

Sophia 2013-20 months

Sophia 2012-8 months

Then came Halloween! We always have a great time carving pumpkins. It was super cold this year on Halloween so we took the girls to a few houses in the neighborhood and headed home to pass out our own candy, which I think Emmy liked more.

We celebrated Emily's 4th birthday this year and had an amazing Christmas, both of which I have already scheduled blogs about. We really had a great year! We are looking forward to what 2014 has to offer, but if it was just like 2013, we'd be just as happy! Here are a few other randoms!