The Meek Family Circus: January 2013

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Eva's First Hair Trim

It was only a few little wispy hairs so I can't call it a haircut, but Eva received her first hair trim on January 16, 2013 when she was 19 months old. Eva refuses to let me put her hair into a little piggytail anymore, and when I do succeed Eva manages to pull it out in 5 seconds flat. Those little wispys kept drifting into her eyes so after a little Snip Snip little Eva had bangs. Too cute.

Toothless LuLu

She's only 4 1/2 but Leah lost her first tooth on January 13, 2013. It was a wiggly bottom tooth with the permanent one coming in strong right behind it. That little tooth wiggled and wobbled and stuck out at crazy angles for several days until Leah worked up enough courage for Dad to pull it. But when she did, Boink, and it was out. "Soooo easy" she said. That night Leah stuck it under her pillow with a note for the Tooth Fairy who was kind enough to let Leah keep her tooth and received a whole dollar.

A Different Kind of Christmas

Our Christmas is usually a hustle and bustle of activity as we rush from house to house, multiple parties and activities. This year I made a conscious effort to slow down, and then I agreed to do the Mom and Me Bake Sale with our kids again. I made a new Advent calendar that invited us to read a scripture and look at a picture telling a story from the life of Christ each day. I think we all enjoyed that part. The bake sale was an overwhelming success and Mom wound up baking far more than she had planned, hoped or even feared. And then mom got sick. Really sick. I started with a little cough, and then a fever and on Dec 23rd was diagnosed with H1N1 flu. Consequently Dad got to take the kids to all of the parties while mom stayed home, coughing and hacking into her mask, burning a fever the whole time. Christmas morning I was able to rouse for presents and then went right back to bed. Each day I got worse so by Thursday I was back in to the doctor and diagnosed with bronchial pneumonia. After a few days of heavy antibiotic and breathing treatment by Saturday evening I was well enough to climb in the van and ride around to look at the Christmas lights with the family. Through it all, Kris was amazing. He cared for me, the kids, the house, and all of the holiday stuff. What a great guy. Our kids spent a lot of time playing with their new toys and probably watching TV but seem none the worse for our lazy Christmas.

Leah adores her new Princess Doll set and dressing them all up in gowns, crowns, and shoes. She also received the Brave movie, and art set and a back pack. Abi spoiled her with a My Little Pony set and house. Relatives also showered Leah with fun presents including a new outfit, her own Legos, and Squinkies.

Santa knew just what Abi wanted when her brought her new clothes from Aeropostale. She also loves her new soap making kit and will hopefully be churning out some delectable swirly soaps soon. Leah delighted Abi with funky leg warmers and earrings. Relatives also got her a styling hat, Kindle cover, geocaching kit, and perennial fave duct tape.

Eva loves the princess castle and princesses that are just her size. Leah also likes to help Eva play with her castle. She loves chasing the balls blown by her Elafun. Tal bought her a pile of new books that she loves to read at storytime. Family spoiled her with new babies which love to ride in her stroller and adorable outfits.

After Tal received his new iPod I wasn't sure that he would ever surface but he does pop out now and then to play with his Legos in his new organizer or with his pool table. He also loved his Hulk hands, Legos, geocaching set, magic set, and new hoodie from family.

My Monday, Mom was almost back to being human so we ventured out for a Hobbit adventure. We started out with the Hobbit breakfast at Denny's (lemon poppy seed French Toast, YUM!) Then Aunt Sarah watched the little girls while Mom, Dad, Abi, and Tal went to see the Hobbit movie. We all loved it and are looking forward to the sequel.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Making Mischief at 18 months

Eva turned 18 months in December. She is rapidly making the transformation from baby into little girl, and that little girl is full of mischief. Eva cannot pass up the opportunity for a good mess. This morning she emptied out a carton of raspberry jam. Yummy!!!

Eva has a fascination with shoes. She loves stealing everyone's shoes and clomping around the house in them. But I think Daddy's shoes are her favorites. Big sister Leah is her favorite pal and she loves trying on Leah's dress up clothes and necklaces with her as well.

Our Christmas tree was another source of great entertainment for Eva. I thought that I could put the little soft ornaments and bows down on the bottom branches and decorate the upper branches with more precious ornaments. That lasted about 1 day before Eva had removed all of the ornaments from the bottom branches. She also went after the lights and the bows on the presents but we just kept putting those back on.

This Christmas I did a lot of baking for the Mom and Me Bake Shop that the older kids and I run so our mixer was out of it's storage space a lot. Eva claimed it as her own little hiding spot. She would crawl into the cupboard, close the door, and just play in there. Sometimes she got a little upset when the mixer had to go back into "her spot." Eva flashes that cheesy grin and gets away with a lot.

If imitation is the greatest form of flattery, then Eva adores each member of our family. She copies our words and actions with her own little twist that makes it soooo funny. Both Kris and I like to read the newspaper in the morning at the breakfast table and Eva decided she wanted to know what was so interesting. Mom caught the flu over Christmas and had a terrible cough. One time after a coughing fit, Eva hunched over and let out her own string of "hack, hack, hacks." Eva follows the bigger kids around the house wanting to do whatever they are doing. She loves to dance in the kitchen during our Spotify party while we do dishes or grab anyone's phone and say "Hello, hello." She has the finger swipe down on both mom and dad's phone and is getting pretty hand with the stylus to dad's iPad as well. Being cooped up during the cold weather has been hard but Eva likes to keep active by playing balls or riding the stick horses downstairs, playing Ring Around the Rosies and Duck, Duck, Goose, reading stories with mom, and playing toys with the other kids. Eva's vocabulary is rapidly expanding and she says about 30 words. At her Dr's appt she was 34 in. and 25.6 lbs.

Catching Up on Halloween

As the holidays approached I just kept putting off updating my blog. And now with the snow piling up outside the window, the temperatures dipping below zero, and the kids all home from school today I really needed a few minutes in front of my happy light. What better way to spend that time than reminiscing about fun times in warmer climes. All of the kids had a great time picking out their outfits and preparing for Halloween. Abi was a Southern Belle though many people mistook her for Little Bo Beep, I think she could add a shepherd's crook and a stuffed lamb and repeat the costume next year. Tal repeated as Iron Man but we had to buy a bigger costume this year. This one had a special glow stick in the chest, Cool. Leah wanted to be Ariel the Little Mermaid. She didn't want a wig but was super excited to spray her hair this bright red color. Eva was a happy little Ladybug, but she didn't want to wear the hood. She found it fascinating that she would walk up to people at our Trunk or Treat and that they would give her candy. Awesome!!!

All of the kids really got into carving their pumpkins this year. Eva's was a teeny little pie pumpkin, just perfect for her to pull the guts out. Mom carved a fun little smiley face on it. Abi, Tal, and Leah each chose their own design. Dad helped Leah make her Little Mermaid but Tal and Abi each carved their own. Those pumpkin carving kits make it so much easier than the paring knives we used when I was a kid.