Our Dream Come True

The past week has been really nice. And thankfully Steven should start day shift next week so this is our last week of nights :) We are really excited especially since weekends will be a full 3 days off instead of 2.5. And he'll be getting better sleep! Poor guy was really feeling the sleep changes. I am just grateful that he is such a great daddy/hubby for sacrificing his sleep schedule everyday so that we can spend time with him. I think the girls are super excited for him to be home at bedtime, he already promised more bedtime stories! Lately we have been getting the house exactly like we want it so we can truly enjoy it while we are here. The BX randomly had 2 recliners one day so we jumped and bought one. The only issue we have with it is the coffee table. Since the table is so big it is hard to maneuver around it to get to the couch or the play area. We are hoping to find a smaller one to replace it. Right now it gets moved all over the room. We had to buy that gripper fabric that is supposed to be used for kitchen cabinets and tool shelves so they don't fall out. We cut it in squares and put it under the legs of the couches and coffee table (and soon the recliner) because the girls can move the furniture around the room. We also bought a futon (in Texas Tech red and black) for the playroom. It will be good for Steven to sleep on if he has to work nights. We also bought so that we could watch movies together comfortably and not need baby monitors to watch Ruby. Whenever we get a table to replace the one downstairs the other will come upstairs. We have already spent a couple of nights watching movies together in there. We are all really enjoying it.

Ruby is now 7.5 months old. Still not very mobile because of the head she inherited from her father (Love ya Steven :P ). She is babbling away though. Her first word was "mumma" about a month ago. Then she said "papa" because we often call Steven "Papa Bear". Now she is saying "num nums" and "nigh night". She was also trying to say YiaYia. We have been saying all of out family's names to her so she can learn. Lilly likes to tell her about "all of her grandmas and grandpas". Ruby just adores the girls even when they through a fit. She has also gained a love for stuffed monkeys. She has two of her own and the girls will let her play with theirs. Yesterday she was chewing on a teether and then she picked up the monkey and tried to put it in the monkeys mouth to share. Then we told that was nice and to give him loves, so she gave him some kisses. She is getting so big and she is just happy and full of smiles all day.

Sadie is doing well. Her only issue is when she is tired. When she gets tired she is just SO grouchy. And she makes sure everyone else is miserable too. She just doesn't know how to calm down when she gets like that. She is so stubborn that she insists she is not tired and forces her self to stay awake. Other than that she says it is too hot and too sunny here. And she gets very mad when our mailbox is empty and there is no mail. She will look in all the other ones and try to open one that does. She has said that the post office here is "the worst ever" because we don't get mail enough. She is so silly. She is also super excited because she is going to start gymnastics soon. She also like to play the Disney Princess dolls and watch all the movies with them. She recently watched "Beauty and the Beast" and "Sleeping Beauty" and she is in love with the right now. It so cute, she even calls Aurora, "Paurora". She is doing that crazy thing that Lilly did, adding 'P' to her words. "Pmobies"(movies), "Pcited"(excited).

Lilly is Lilly, lol. She is one of a kind. She likes trying to stay up as long as she can so that she can have alone time with either me or both of us. She also has a good amount of patience dealing with Sadie. Sadie can really be mean and stubborn and not want even be around Lilly, but Lilly still tries to comfort her and calm her down. She is so excited about going back to school, but we haven't even heard from the school yet. Hopefully, fingers crossed, she has a spot in the class this fall. She is really big about reading books so we try to attend Story Time but sometimes we just go to the library and relax and read some of the books there. If she could she would bring them all home. Both she and Sadie will make up their own stories by looking at illustrations in the book. They are pretty creative. When she and Sadie play together they are really just playing side by side most of the time, but they sing songs together. It's pretty cute, especially when it's "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey! They have also coined they're favorite part of Sleeping Beauty. They will point to each other and say, "Make it pink!" and "Make it blue!".

They also LOVE going to the movie theater. Last weekend we went and saw Disney's Oceans. We made up 5 of the 6 people that actually came to watch the movie, ha! We seriously thought that we were the only people there until another lady showed up just after the movie started. Any who, the girls loved it. Lilly and Sadie repeated the names of the animals and quietly discussed the different creatures to each other. They were too funny sitting there with their snacks and big ole' Dr. Pepper that they requested. That made their daddy really proud. I think we may have some of the only preschoolers in the world that will sit, behave, and enjoy movie. Ruby on the other hand was pretty well behaved considering we weren't home and it was her bedtime. She played with straws, ate a bottle, and went back and forth between mumma and dada. She did get really excited when she saw some baby sea turtles. She squealed and waved at them. To some it all up, we all really enjoyed it. This weekend we are going to see Toy Story 3 and they cannot wait! Sadie keeps saying she is going to see "Slinky Dawwwwg!" And she says it that way every time.

We are all doing well and are just waiting for passports and residency permits to come back. We seriously cannot wait to go back home and visit. Steven and I keep talking about all the things that we want to do. Number 1 on our list though is for everyone to meet the girls in person. They tell us everyday that after Halloween they are going to visit all of their grandmas and grandpas. Lilly and Sadie can't wait to play with Uncle Shelby and cousin Sophia. We are so excited! Hopefully my passport comes in very soon and we can get it out for a new residency permit. Once it comes in it shouldn't be too long for the permit. I can't wait to live some place that doesn't require passports/residency permits/visas! Life would be so much easier, lol! We'll keep everyone posted :)

That's it for us right now. Hope you enjoy your Thursday :)
-K

While we were at the BX the other day, Steven and I were looking for small stickers for the girls' sticker charts. We didn't see any one small enough in the sticker section, so we went to the book section. Sometimes they will have sticker books there so we were hoping they'd have some. Unfortunately no stickers could be found, but we did find some Disney and American Girl magazines. They are pretty good so far. They have lots of craft ideas and in the Disney ones they even have learning activities and stories. In the Disney Princess magazine they had an idea for a necklace and it was pretty simple so I figured I would let the girls make one when Daddy was sleeping to distract them from trying to wake him up. All you have to do to make them is cut out two crown shapes out of construction paper or card stock. Then glue the two shapes together to make them thicker, punch out a whole for the string, and decorate. After the decorating is down, thread a piece of string or yarn through the whole, and voila! The girls had fun and I am thinking that I could get some scrapbook paper and embellishments for next time. Maybe even try different shapes. I am trying to find more craft ideas so that we can hang the girls artwork and crafts all over the living room. They are pretty creative and they love displaying their creations for everyone (especially Daddy) to see.
And Ruby just played happily on the floor :)