Ainsley Marin turned 1 yesterday! She's walking like crazy these days, still climbing up on everything, especially Daddy's ladders which are all through the house from the window projects.  We moved her to her own bedroom recently and the move was seamless for her--not so much for Mommy because she misses her terribly from not being in their room any more!  There's no more early morning peek-a-boo from across the bedroom :-(.  She still wakes up pleasantly in the morning and will play in her crib by herself listening to her ocean wonders aquarium until one of us goes in to get her.  Putting her down at naptime and nighttime is still a breeze as well.  Her language is starting to develop. Of course, DaDa is her favorite word...as it was with the other two daddy's girls that preceded her!  She points at things and says "dat" and "dis" and waves and says "baba" for bye!  She's starting to get pickier about her food and will immediately tell you so (by spitting it out or throwing it on the floor and saying "oh, oh!" if she doesn't like something.  We just put up our Christmas tree and of course, she loves picking the ornaments off. We've made sure to put the expensive ones way beyond her reach.  Ainsley was a little princess at her first birthday party, although she had a bit of the same cold she's been trying to fight off for two months.  She loves dancing and has a cute move of wiggling her butt, and swinging her arm (just one arm...).  Our little baby girl is growing up too fast.  It's been sad for us to start packing away (for the last time) infant toys and gear!
    Question of the Month--what's in her crib these days:  Her new baby doll (currently unnamed), her LeapFrog musical froggy, a set of play car keys, a couple of her favorite blankies, a small squishy elmo doll, a set of plastic play rings, a baby animal book, and usually a few pairs of odd socks, hair ties and barrettes that she's pulled off and stashed away somewhere between the toys and crib bumper!

Aidan Kane is 2 years and 6 months old.  The past couple of weeks have been a bit of a challenge with Aidan. He's exhibiting the first real signs of his terrible twos and we are hearing the phrase "I don't like that...." way too much!  He also refuses to take part in anything that isn't clearly "boy" stuff or blue--just this morning refusing to drink his milk because it came from a gallon of milk which just happened to have a pink cap on it!  And then refusing to blow his nose with a tissue that came from a purple tissue box.  Apparently, it was "girl milk" and "girl tissues".  Sometimes we just have to hold back our laughter to attempt to discipline.  It's bad enough we have to buy 6 gallons of milk a week and a variety of skim, full and 2%, but now we have to worry about the color of the jug!  Aidan has somehow been allowed to watch Star Wars (ah-hem...Daddy?) without Mommy's approval and is now is turning everything possibly imaginable into a lightsaber.  There's a continuous list of house projects Daddy is working on and Aidan is always right there working along side him with his own tools. 
    Question of the month--What do you take to bed with you:  My rocket torpedoes, my scuba man, my "stinky blankie", my dolphins, killer whale and sharks.

Kaelin Avery is 3 years and 8 months.  She has been talking non stop about getting an animal for Christmas....Santa might bring her a big spring horse which is the closest thing to a real one that we can get right now!  She loves playing with Legos every day and makes some nifty farms and castles - for her horses and princesses.  Since Mommy and Daddy's bedroom is now baby-free, we have more visits in the middle of the night now...by Kaelin.  She comes in with her favorite purple pillow, climbs up onto Mommy and Daddy's bed and says she's "scared" (who can resist snuggling with her after that!).  Keeley, who has never done that in all of her almost 5 years has caught on as she pulled the same story last night!
    Question of the month--What do you take to bed with you: My Darlene and Stella dolls, my unicorns and horseys, my monkey, my bugs, my cup of water.

Keeley Shea is 4 years and 11 months old. She's an expert snowflake maker these days.  Just give her a pile of paper and a pair of scissors and five minutes later, you have 10 beautiful snowflakes (and a whole lot of little tiny pieces of paper to clean up off the floor!).  She truly needs her own art room in the house.  She is constantly creating projects made from just about any material. Our struggle the past month has been to try to convince her to wear pants. She insists on wearing dresses and tights all the time, as soon as she wakes up in the morning, even on snowy days.
    Question of the month--What do you take to bed with you:  My Darlene and Stella dolls, my Goldie, my hairbrush, my Disney princess purse, two princess barbie dolls, my little doggy, bottles for my dolls, my cup of water.

Upcoming birthdays & events include:

• January 7th Keeley's 5th Birthday
• January 13th Uncle Sean's 38th Birthday
• February 4th Auntie Jenn's 32nd Birthday
• February 15th Cousin Conor's 11th Birthday