'Tis The Season for Citrus

Clementine oranges have been a huge hit in our household this citrus season. So much so that I have enough material for a whole blog post dedicated to them. Really? A whole post just about oranges? Yes, it's true! Just keep reading. Here's what my children have been saying about Clementines this year...

Story #1
Isaac's two favorite things in the whole wide world are food and balls. The clementine gloriously unites two favorite things into one extremely favorite thing. He knows where I keep them on our countertop. Throughout the day, I find him pacing back in forth in front of that spot, pointing to them and saying, "Ball! Ball! Ball!..." He then occasionally rubs his hand against his chest, signing "please." This happens 8, 9, 10+ times a day.

Story #2
I've been working with Miranda on synonyms, so I frequently tell her, "Another word for Daddy is Father" or "another word for sofa is couch." You get the point. Yesterday, we were all eating clementines, and she confidently declared, "Mommy, another word for orange is lemon time." Apparently we've been having a lot of lemon time around here lately. Maybe next we should work on pronunciation.

Story #3
After handing Isaac his third (maybe fourth?) clementine at breakfast, I said, "I should tell Santa to fill your stocking with oranges." Miranda immediately got a panicked look in her eyes and a split-second later she yelled, "tell Santa I want chocolate!" It's true...as much as we like oranges, we still like chocolate better.

Catching Up...Isaac (part 2)

And here is what Isaac's been doing the past few months...

Isaac turned one in September! Everyday he is more and more a little boy and less and less a baby. Because of his allergies, instead of a birthday cake, he had a birthday balloon. He didn't know the difference and ran around with a death-grip on his balloon for weeks :)

This fair boy actually likes wearing sun glasses. He's so cool.

Isaac is a climber. It doesn't matter what - a bed, the jungle-gym, the sofa, chairs, whatever.

The beach might just be his favorite place on earth. It's dirty, there are birds, he can scream and shout. If only there wasn't water, it might just be perfect.

I just love this sweet, gummy grin. It is slowly being replaced by a sweet, toothy grin. In the past month, four teeth have come in. If you look close, you can see the beginnings of the two bottom teeth.

Isaac LOVES his daddy, so, so much! Every evening, as soon as Isaac hears Zane at the door, he screams "DADADADADA!" and runs to the door.

Last weekend, we went to a Christmas lights boat parade. Isaac sat, pointed and said "Santa Claus!" at every boat. (No kidding!) He is talking more and more every day. He can say Mama, Dada, book, truck, ball, and Santa Claus.

Isaac's role model is Miranda. Whatever she does, he wants to do. This is the table after Miranda had been making crafts all afternoon. As soon as she left the table, he hopped up and started imitating her.

One of my favorite things Isaac does is just lay down when he's tired. It doesn't matter where. If he's tired, he just stops and rests for a few minutes.

Catching Up...Miranda (Part 1)

Here's a peak at what Miranda's been doing the last few months...

Miranda took her first dance class this fall.

She LOVED it!!!!

Miranda's hair is finally long enough to French braid. She prefers pigtail braids. Actually, she prefers not to have her hair done at all. It's long and curly and beautiful!

Miranda also took swim lessons this fall. She does well in the water and is quickly becoming an independent swimmer!

Miranda is so active. We go to the park every day! She knows all the parks in Sarasota by name and definitely has strong opinions about which is her favorite.

And her favorite by far is the beach! Here she is climbing on the life guard's stand.

Although sometimes she has to improvise and make a park...at home...with her mattress.

When she's not running around outside, you can usually find her at the table making something. She cuts, colors, glues, paints and marks for hours.

Last weekend, we went to a Christmas boat parade. Each boat was decked with Christmas lights, and Miranda stood and clapped the whole parade. It was so cute. She talked about the boats for days after!

That's our silly girl!!!

New, New, New

Yep, it's been a long time since I've updated the blog. We have been just a little bit busy with some new things in our lives...like a new city. Zane has a new job. Isaac has a new skill...walking! (well, actually running) Miranda has a new school, and she loves it! With a new city, we have all been exposed to new germs and had to visit our new doctor's office 12 (yes, 12!) times in the two months since we moved. Overall, we love living in Florida but definitely miss St. Louis. A lot of things have changed, but Miranda and Isaac are still their sweet, fun, adorable selves. Here's a few recent videos. You can see how much they have grown in just a few weeks.

Isaac could climb like this ALL DAY!


Miranda is working on her dance moves.

Thinking About It

Isaac isn't walking yet, but you can see it in his eyes, that he is thinking long and hard about taking those first steps. He will even let go of whatever he is holding onto and stand on his own for a few seconds. My guess is that in about two weeks, I will have to strap on my running shoes (again!).

Sibling Resemblance

Zane took these pictures at lunch on Saturday, and later we realized how similar Miranda's and Isaac's expressions are. I wonder who they learned that look from.

Sooooo Not Ready For This...

That is, I am not ready for Isaac to walk. Isaac, on the other hand, is clearly ready.

Celebrating Three!

Yesterday was Miranda's third birthday. So, let me just get the cliches out now because they are all true...I can't believe it's already been three years! It's gone by so fast! She's getting so big! It seems like just yesterday that I was holding her in my arms for the first time! You blink and your babies are all grown up! Phew, okay, I feel better now.

We celebrated her actual birthday by going to the book store and spending some of her birthday money. But on Saturday, we partied! Ten of Miranda sweet little friends came to help us celebrate her. And when I say friends, I really mean it. Miranda truly enjoys playing with each one of the kids who came, and in her three-year-old way she truly is their friend. We are thankful for those relationships.

The Cake!

The Decorations!

Craft Time!

Eating the craft!

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Miranda, happy birthday to you!

The Snacks!

Miranda, we love you so much and are thankful for three wonderful, happy, healthy years! (and are looking forward to many, many more!)

Cruising

I tried really hard to brainwash Isaac into thinking that sitting still was cool. Everyone knows crawling and pulling up are overrated and not moving is super duper fun. Well, he didn't listen. He insists on growing and learning new things. Now I keep losing him. Seriously, I set him down in the living room and five minutes later, I can't find him! Also, I have to clean the whole house now. Bummer!

How did you learn how to crawl over those pillows?

Oh, this explains it. Miranda showed him...

Lady Bug Man

He's faster than a speeding sloth and strong as a baby moose. He rescues fuzz from sofa cushions, eats shoes for breakfast and thinks sleeping is for wimps. His older sister designs his costumes, and he's ok with that...is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It's Lady Bug Man.

Funny Streak

I don't want to overwhelm everyone with Miranda quotes, but she has just been on a funny streak lately. Last night, she told me, "I need to go to the store and get some sugar for my birthday!" She definitely keeps us rolling!

Ha-ha-larious

When Isaac started to play with Miranda's toy today, she ran up to him saying, "no, Isaac, no, that's for grown-ups."

Miranda has started regularly telling Zane, "don't be funny, Daddy, don't be funny."

This is a conversation we had yesterday: pointing to her forehead, she told me, "this is my forecheeks." Then, I pointed to her cheeks and told her "these are your cheeks." And then pointing to her forehead, "and this is your forehead." She touched her forehead again and said, "well, actually, this is my forecheeks."

A few weeks ago, she told me, "I am tired. I need to go jump on my bed."

Honesty

This morning, Miranda ran up to me yelling, "Mommy! Mommy! Hoooooold me!" Isaac has needed our attention a lot recently due to his allergy issues. Miranda has certainly noticed and understandably felt a little more clingy. So I took her in my arms, and when she calmed down, I asked if she would hold me. She told me, "Well, you are kind of heavy."

Tax Day

I hope this sweet face eases April 15th's pain a little :) Thanks to ZsaZsa for the onesie! It says "I'm deducktible."

Busy Busy Busy

The past two weeks have been super busy and super fun. Last week, my brother, sister-in-law and their five girls visited for the week. We had a great time!

This week, my best friends from college and seminary came to visit and meet Isaac. My mom also was able to come. I'm so thankful for these ladies!

Last but not least, we are still having difficulty with Isaac and his allergies. After several attempts at solid food that failed miserably (I will spare you the details), we returned to the allergist who recommended we feed him meat. This is what he thinks of chicken.

Happy Easter

We have had a wonderful day celebrating Jesus, his life and his resurrection. I think that Easter is ultimately a celebration of life, and we have so much life to celebrate! This morning, our pastor preached from John 20. It's one of my favorites, so I will share it with you, and of course, I will share our attempts at an Easter picture with Miranda and Isaac.

Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

(John 20:24-29 ESV)

Cuties

I've been busy spring cleaning this week, and Miranda and Isaac have been busy being awesome. Here's a little glimpse. First, Miranda singing Itsy Bitsy Spider (Or Litsy Bitsy Spider)


Second, Isaac playing with the curtain. Seriously, who needs toys?

ZsaZsa and Grandpa come to visit

Last week, we had a great time visiting with Zane's parents. Here's ZsaZsa and Isaac:

Miranda and Grandpa Joe playing...

They brought Miranda a ladybug raincoat, rain boots and umbrella. Isn't she cute!