She's so little though. I don't know what her official weight is currently but I had her try on Eleanor's old swimsuit in preparation for Great Wolf Lodge and the 12-18 month size was way too big for our little sweetie. She sure looked cute in it though!
She's lucky she's cute because she is SO naughty. She's really into climbing. Oh joy.
Juliet isn't really interested in walking yet. Crawling works just fine for her purposes. This is the closest she's gotten, she's moderately interested in walking along behind her toy car unless she really wants to get to something in particular. She's a fast crawler, especially if she's trying to get to something naughty.
Eleanor lets her shriek into her microphone sometimes. Really don't know why Nathan and I thought it was a genius idea to get our already loud children something that allows them to be louder still.
Bradley has been a joy this year, ever since he discovered how much he loves to read. I really enjoy checking out new books for him when I go to baby storytimes at the library with Juliet so he has a constant influx of new and exciting books to read. This was on the way to the bus one morning. He just can't put a good book down.
Patrick art is fantastic. I've thoroughly enjoyed this year of him hanging out with me during the week and helping entertain the baby. I'm going to miss this guy when he starts kindergarten next year.
Especially since he still seems so little. On exciting days he often ends up taking a little cat nap in the afternoon. This was a pretty fantastic sleep position, even for Patrick.
Reading with Grandpa! We're so grateful for how much my folks have helped out with the kids in the evenings, it has really helped Nathan and I manage kid activities and even a few grown-up outings!
Speaking of which, my mom and I went to a fancy cooking class at Tastebuds Kitchen and learned how to make pizza together. It was a lot of fun although I went to Papa Murphy's two days later to pick up our regular weekly pizza dinner so perhaps I'll better be able to use what I learned from this class when I have a little more free time.
We've had a few nice snows this winter and the sledding hill is a very popular activity. It's been great that my dad has been able to come over to sled with the kids each time!
The sledding hill is extra exciting because the kids have to ditch out of their sleds before they reach the creek at the bottom.
Nathan got a bunch of cool sleds for the kids to use, they're so lucky to have a daddy who takes such good care of them.
Cute Eleanor.
And then it's back inside for baby time! Juliet isn't walking yet and really doesn't seem at all interested in the prospect.
Patrick is really into having cool hair these days and is so fortunate to have a big sister who is willing to make it fancy after a bath.
Juliet playing with Nathan's hat and watching football.
Climbing up on Patrick's leg in order to get up on the couch. Hence the naughty smile.
Being read to by Eleanor.
And sort of feeding Patrick. She would put food in her mouth and then pop it back out and shove it in Patrick's mouth and fortunately for all involved, this didn't seem to bother him at all.
Brown Bear is her new favorite book. I love how she bounces around whenever she hears a song.
They have so many cuddles together during the day. Patrick is sometimes annoyed to have to share her when the big kids get home from school.
I'm biased, but how cute are these kids? Patrick had a teddy bear picnic at preschool and chose to bring this fancy bear in.
And they're so creative. If I'm not going on a Patrick treasure hunt, I'm admiring Eleanor artwork or listening to a quite impressive poem Bradley made up about a ghost.
The poem. It's good!
Eleanor's spelling is progressing. She's often rather tired when she gets home from school and boisterous Patrick is a bit too much for her so she creates signs he can't read to tell him to stay out of her room. They aren't very effective, he busts right in and there is righteous anger that he can't even read her sign.
More Eleanor writing. Bradley wrote our weekly Bible verse and then Eleanor added in some drawings and the little bits of commentary "God is good" "God is great" and "We are sad God died." We talk a lot about how Jesus died on the cross for our sins, I guess it's good it's made an impression.
The floor was hot lava and Patrick had to find a way to get to the couch. Good thing he's resourceful.
Bradley is doing really well on his basketball team. He still bounces around in excitement a lot and we're working on him not having full conversations with whoever he's guarding on the opposing team but he loves to go to the practices and games.
Team picture! Way to go Bradley on grabbing the basketball and getting front and center for the photo. I trained you well.
And then we had a lovely time at a Mother Son outing at Main Event the next day. He's so cute, I loved playing laser tag with him and he was a good buddy for all the arcade games.
High ropes course! It didn't seem to phase him a bit.
What a cool kid!
Playing Space Invaders with his friend Noah.
And then back home and to reality, where your adorable baby sister steps all over your art project and then makes it her mission to steal all your crayons and markers.
Bradley is so nice and patient.
Juliet pesters everyone. Good thing her attention is usually most welcome.
Please note all the big kids playing adorably together and then moving on politely when destructo baby invited herself to the party.
Juliet in a laundry basket with her big brother, messing with Daddy while he watches football. An excellent afternoon.
It's funny to watch everyone fuss over her, the amount of attention she receives is a bit ridiculous.
It's a LOT of attention.
On a Scheel's outing with Grandma Kathy!
Big kids were watching a few shows and she screamed at me until she got to hold a remote control.
This is what a snow day looks like around here. A visit from Captain Underpants. Sigh.
And then over to the grandparents' house to play with some kinetic sand.
Juliet played Rambo with Eleanor's Lego creations.
This is just the beginning, Eleanor.
And hurray, a girl's favorite toy ever! A dishwasher! Poor Bradley has learned he needs to unload it as quickly as he can or he gets a lot of baby "help."
She's so naughty. And we love it.
There hasn't been a lot of baby skin this winter so we get really excited at opportunities to admire a little naked baby.
It's usually a lot more clothes. Cute kids on a train ride together.
So exciting to be together for a meal!
Bradley sometimes reads books out loud to his siblings and I don't think he knows how popular this could make him if he did it on a regular basis.
Juliet can't help herself if the big kids are doing something, she has to get in on it.
We had another little snow and Nathan had to go into work, so we did all our sledding in the backyard. A bonus of Juliet being such a tiny thing is that she still fits into a 9 month pink fluff outfit.
We call her the pink marshmallow when she wears it.
The kids were so excited to get to take turns sledding with her.
She loves slides and sled rides. We may have another adrenaline junkie on our hands.
Me with my baby! We're both pink!
Pink fluffy marshmallow.
She loved it when we put her on the swing with the big kids. Although this was when we discovered that her little outfit definitely wasn't meant for serious snow, it soaked through and she had a very wet bottom by the time I took her inside.
So fun!
Worth it.
The girls in matching dresses! Goodness they're so cute together.
Eleanor had a Daddy Daughter dance at her school and talked Grandma Kathy into making her a fancy fairy dress for the occasion. Nathan appreciated that she chose Iowa State colors.
Juliet wanted to go. Soon enough!
Fancy outfit on display.
Dinner at Panera before the dance.
Rosy cheeks after some very energetic dancing and laps around the gym with all her friends.
So twirly.
They had a blast at the dance together.
Nathan is responsible for most of our big fun in January. He also spent a ton of time working with Bradley on his Pinewood Derby car.
Bradley did a great deal of the work on his own, including painting. His Charizard car was super cool.
And it was fast! It got second place in a lot of the heats and did very well.
Video! I thought Bradley won this heat but apparently he got a close second.
His Charizard car won a medal for being the most popular car there. Bradley (and Patrick) were so proud.
How cute is this kid? He was excited to find out Nathan had an app on his phone that allows you to take pictures with Pokémon.
We took Juliet to the Museum of Prairiefire this past week. She's a busy baby.
So much joy.
Patrick loves showing her what she's supposed to do at all the different spots in the museum.
But honestly we probably could have just stayed home and played with the dishwasher and she would have had as much fun if not more.
Girls being naughty together. Eleanor loves assisting Juliet in her climbing.
Grabbing Patrick and forcibly hugging him on repeat. He was in heaven.
If only this baby got any attention.
Bouncing on Rody. So fun!
And in my favorite parenting event of the month, I allowed Patrick the honor of getting Juliet ready for bed one night. It took 16 minutes for him to take her clothes off and get on her new diaper and jammies and it was fantastic, from beginning to end. He was so patient and persistent and I can't believe the baby was such a good sport about being manhandled a bit in the tricky process of getting clothes on a squirmy baby.
Not to say she wasn't a little unsure about it from time to time.
She really liked the five minutes or so she was scooting around on the floor completely naked while Patrick chased her around with a diaper, she was less interested in the part where he was putting clothes back on her.
And then reading time/climbing across Eleanor's face in order to get closer to the book. This happens to Eleanor on a semi-regular basis.
The kids are eagerly anticipating Juliet's birthday celebrations this weekend. Patrick has been thinking a lot about it and this morning he informed me: "Juliet did NOT hatch in an egg. She hatched in you, Mommy!" I mean, I guess it's true ...
