Breakfast with Santa and Christmas Concerts

I'm not even going to try to justify why I'm still at the first week of December..and we are into 2013.  I'm just going to catch up!  :)

The first weekend in December was Breakfast with Santa.  Since Libby was only a week old, we decided that I'd stay home with her (as much as I really, really, really wanted to go) and Rob would take the girls.  Rob has taken the girls to 2 out of the last 3 of these alone (I had the flu once)....


My 3 girls before the brunch. 


Breakfast with Luca!  These are the 3 amigos for sure!!!!


It came as no surprise to anyone that Caitlin wouldn't sit on Santa's lap.  This fear of Santa has even continued past Christmas...everytime she hears a noise when she's sleeping, she cries about Santa being outside.  I guess the thought of a 250 man being able to come into the house whenever he wants is a little scary!

The last 2 days of school were the girls Christmas Concerts at school.  It's always a highlight of the school year.  I love this school because they get to sing CHRISTmas songs, not holiday songs!  Their favorite was the song that goes "Ho, Ho, Ho Hosannah.  Ha, Ha, Ha-lelluia.  He, He, He, He saved Me.  I've got the joy of the Lord!"  So sweet!  I knew Caitlin would sing her heart up on stage..and she did!  At the end, they asked who's birthday we celebrate on Christmas, and my little pipsqueak (being the youngest in the concert) yelled "Baby Jesus" as loud as could be.  Her teacher was so proud!  :)


Caitlin front and center because they knew she'd sing!  I love this picture because the 4 kids above Caitlin are 4 of the kids in my classroom..it's really fun to see my peanut...and my peanuts!!!


Do you know how every kid has one teacher that they never will forget and will talk about for the rest of their lives?  Well, this is that teacher to my girls.  Mrs. K. is the teacher of all teachers..and I'm so lucky both my girls have had her!!!


Attempt at a group picture after Caitlin's concert. Oh yeah, I should also mention that I bought her a Christmas dress this year, and she only wanted to wear this one which Abigial wore 2 years ago.  So much for my theory that every kid should have a new dress on Christmas.  My new theory is every kid should have a Christmas dress they want to wear...one that makes them twirl non-stop and look at themselves in the mirror 100 times as proud as can be!

Leaving this concert was the bummer day for me....our car wouldn't start after the concert.  I finally got it started and drove it right to our mechanic.  It ended up being some EXPENSIVE coils that I don't even know what they do...and we spent from 11:00-2:30 at the mechanic.  Picture it:  2 girls in Christmas dresses crawling on the floor.  No lunch.  Unlimited access to water bottles...unlimited trips to the mechanic bathroom in these dresses.  No entertainment.  Baby who wants to eat...a lot...being fed in the mechanic's bathroom.  Baby has "explosion" and has to be stripped of clothes..and all I have is a boy's onsie (short sleeved)...which lead to many comments about my "son" and "Why is he dressed like this in the winter?" by the old ladies there.  Did I mention no lunch?  Mechanics opening their Christmas gifts to give my kids cookies cause they are starving!  It was quite an "adventure"...and I was forever grateful to finally be home with a car that works!

The following day was Abigail's concert...so once again we had to get all dressed up.  2 days in a row of baths, 3 girls dressed with hair done, Christmas gifts for teachers, and out of the house by 9:00.  I was tired!  :)


Apparently this is the only picture I took of her.  and you could NOT see her because she was behind the girl front and center with the blond hair and black dress on. She's actually in the very middle next to Luca...but you can't see her!


My 3 girls after the concert.  Caitlin Libby (poor Libby..she gets called Caitlin 100 times a day) stayed sleeping in her sling the entire concert (both concerts actually).


Abigail and Luca's 3rd and final Christmas concert together. 


Have I mentioned that the girls go to the most AMAZING sitter when I'm teaching?  We were so lucky to find her..and my girls LOVE LOVE LOVE her and miss her and can't wait to go back.  Izabella (sitter) gave Abigail her birthday gift...and singing Ariel barbie.  She pretty much died and gone to heaven with it...until Daddy put it in the bathtub.  If you were wondering...Barbies that sing can NOT be immerged in water.  She now sounds like a man coughing....but Abigial's holding out that her voice will come back!  :)

That was the craziness that lead into Abigail's birthday party (already posted) which lead right into Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!!!!!  Coming next....

Happy 5th Birthday, Abigail!

It's hard to believe, but our 1st "baby" turned 5 yesterday!!!  How fast these 5 years have gone by!!!

 

As always, Abigail's birthday falls right in the middle of the Christmas season.  We try our best to make it as special as we can for her!

 

Last Wednesday, Abigail celebrated her birthday at school.  She wanted to do it before she turned 5...not after she was already 5!  :)

 

Bringing her bday treat to school

Abigail filled out her birthday form by sounding out her words!  Her favorite food is chicken nuggets with ranch.  Her favorite colors are purple and pink.  Her favorite toy to play with is My Little Pony.  When she goes outside, she likes to play with her soccer ball.  Her favorite book is Madeline.  She is really good at tap dancing.

Celebrating at school

 

On Friday night, we had our annual Kiddie Festivus with our friends.  Auntie Nay Nay had a cake and present for her.

 

 

 

Saturday was her actual birthday.  We started the day off with birthday donuts.  She was very excited to celebrate her birthday with her family. 



A new "cool" Barbie that swims from Aunt Julie, Uncle Joe, and Lucy.

 

Abigail's cake she designed.

Sparkle boots!!!  She got tons of great gifts including lots of cute dresses, skirts, and leggings, clothes for her American girl, a new coat that matches her American Girl coat, new games including a Princess one that the girls love, and an MP3 player and docking station.  Oh, and a new guitar which was the big hit!

Happy Birthday to the big sister!!!!

 

Our 5 year old rockstar!!!!!

 

Happy 5th birthday, Abigail.  You are blossoming into a sweet, smart, caring, beautiful little girl.  You love books and have begun to read words and sound out your words when you write.  You love dancing and gymnastics, but are very excited to start soccer this spring.  You love to sing and dance.  Baby dolls and princesses are your 2 favorite things to play with.  Your favorite show right now is Good Luck, Charlie on the Disney Channel.  It's the first "not-cartoon" show you like to watch.  Caitlin is your "best friend"  You. guys love to play pretend where Caitlin is the brother and you are the baby sitter!  :)  You are an amazing big sister.  You are always giving Libby kisses and singing to her.  We love you so much!  You make us so proud to be your mom and dad!!!!!  Happy 5th Birthday, Babe!!!  Love, Mommy and Daddy

Making A List..and Checking It Twice

As a kid, you can not wait for Christmas to get here.  That is definitely the case in our house.  The girls have advent calendars, chain link countdowns, and as kids in 2012 would have, I PAD countdowns going!

 

However, as an adult, I wish the days would slow down. I absolutely love the magic of the Christmas season and wish we had more than 6 days left until we have to wait a whole 'nother year.

 

In the wake of the horrific ordeal at Sandy Hook last Friday, my Christmas priorities have quickly changed.  I had planned on Christmas shopping most of this weekend.  However, every time I was about to head out, one of the girls would ask me to watch a Christmas movie or do a Christmas activity with them...and that just seemed so much more important.  So we may have a few less gifts under the tree....but we have spent some great quality time together.  One night after dinner, Abigail asked if we could look at Christmas lights..so we all piled in the car and drove around the neighborhood looking at lights and singing Christmas songs in the car.  Another night we watched Christmas movies and ate popcorn. 

 

Sunday, we celebrated Christmas at the Glure Christmas party.  Fun was had by all...

 

Libby met Santa for the first time.  This picture melts my heart...and is being framed!

Abigail with Santa

Caitlin's reaction to Santa was mixed.  She was happy to "see" him...but the second he called her name to get her present, there was LOUD screaming.  She cuddled with Uncle B for a while and appreciated her present...but not Santa!

Patrick met Santa for the 1st time!!!!!

Every year, the number of kids gets bigger and bigger...3 "newbies" were added this year!!!  Libby is sleeping in Santa's arms!



And apparently a Christmas party wouldn't be complete without a little "Gangnam Style"...they said they were doing it for the kids, but I spy 5 adults...and 2 kids!  Abigail definitely got into it!!!!
 

 Thank you Glures for another GREAT Christmas party!!!!!!  We are very excited to celebrate Patrick and Libby's 1st Christmas together!

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On Friday, I had a Christmas luncheon at my work. Libby decided to come with..and looked as cute as every in her Christmas dress!

 

 

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The girls made Christmas cookies.  Caitlin used a whole thing of sprinkles on her first cookie...I apparently need to supervise a little better!  :)

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Making their gingerbread house.  They actually did a GREAT job...they did all the candy by themselves!  I love this picture!

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"not a creature was stirring...not even a mouse....."

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Last night, we decided to check out the living windows.  The Nutcracker was performed in the store windows in our local downtown area.  It was really cute..there were for girls dancing in the windows.  We decided to make it a girls' night...thank you Grandma and Nana for coming with us!  It was a fun night of dancing and hot chocolate...and I can't wait to go back next year!

 

Their "favorite" ballerina

Watching the magic of The Nutcracker

 

We are definitely in the Christmas spirit in our house.  In fact, Caitlin came downstairs this morning (with her reindeer from Build-A-Bear in her hand) and her first words out of her mouth, even before good morning, were "Do you know the Rudolph song?"  However, we are switching gears today because Abigail is celebrating her 5th birthday at school today.  Then tomorrow and Friday we are back to Christmas with both girl having a Christmas performance at school...and then Saturday back to birthday day with Abigail turning 5!!!!  We are definitely staying busy around here!

 

Birthday pictures to come!!!!

3 Year Old Updates

 

Well, I know Caitlin's been 3 for over a month...but she just had her 3 year appointment!

 

So here are some Caitlin Bug Updates:

 

*At 3, Miss Caitlin is a 26 lbs.  Even I was surprised...she doesn't seem so itty bitty, but she is!  :)  She's obviously not on the chart for weight!

 

*She's 3 feet, 1 inch tall...she's at the 45%.

 

*She LOVES preschool.  She is in love with her teachers, Mrs K. and Mrs. Kurtz.  She knows her colors and shapes.  She LOVES to write and color.  She's only in the 2 year old class, so she has 2 more years at her preschool (which makes me so happy because I get 2 more years to teach with her in the classroom next to me) but her teacher lets her do a lot of the older kid stuff.  She is writing her name as well as cute people (the proof is on her white dresser, where she drew people all over it with crayon.  I need to clean it, but it's just so darn cute...although don't tell her that, she got in big trouble).

 

*She goes to speech once a week at the local school.  Now that she's not at speech at our house, I don't really know what they are working on, so I'm not able to help her as much as before.  Hopefully this summer I'll be able to find a private speech therapist who can work with Caitlin (and me) so I can be part of her speech more.  However, she continues to make progress.  S and C are the 2 sounds we are working on...she asks for "taks" (snacks) and "toe" (snow) for Tismas (Christmas)....but with cues, she's able to self-correct!  :)

 

*She loves to dance.  She is starting her 1st ballet class in January.  Her and Abigail have to be in the same class because of their age...so I'm sure Caitlin will hang by Abigail.  But I can't wait to see her dance because she loves it.  She still loves to "Irish Dance" and we are hoping to sign her up for the summer and see how she does!

 

*She loves Abigail.  She repeats everything Abigail does.  She wants to dress like her, talk like her, play like her, etc.  Yet, she's very independent and can play for hours by herself.  She's very into baby dolls right now.  Babys and Playdough are her most requested activities.

 

*Caitlin is in a funny "no pants" stage right now.  As soon as she can get them off, she's happy!  She also is in a crazy stage where she strips out of her pajamas whenever she's sleeping.  Bizarre I know, but she's a character.

 

*She makes us laugh all day long!  She is the sweetest little girl, yet she has an uncanny ability to get us so frustrated.  She is very stubborn, and sometimes she'll cry for hours if she doesn't get her way.  It is amazing to me how long she will keep it up without giving in.  Yet, I know this stage too will pass!

 

*She is our Caitlin Bug and we love her so much!!!!!!

Reading her birthday card on her actual birthday.

Wow!  New Elmo Pajamas!

Birthday Party at school.

Notice her crowns.  She had to wear 2 all day!  :)

Singing Happy Birthday with her friends.

Happy Birthday to our sweet, sassy 3-year-old, Caitlin Elizabeth!!!!!  "We love you MOST" (Whenever I tell her Good night and I love you, she'll say, "I wuv you too mama" and I'll say "I love you more!" and she'll say "I wuv you MOST!")

12*12*12

 

12*12*12

Happy Due Date to our sweet Libby!

 

While 12*12*12 would have been a great due date, we are happy you decided to come when you were healthy and ready...and we got 2 1/2 extra weeks with you!!!!

 

Updates on Libby:

 

*At her 2 week appointment, Libby was up to 7lbs 1oz (was 6lbs 11oz at birth). She is around 15% for weight...our first baby to make the weight chart!  Our pediatrician (who has been our pediatrician since Abigail was born) was laughing at how she's the first Wennerstrom who is on the chart).

*Obviously from her weight, she's eating well.  She eats ALL THE TIME!  She is exclusively b.f. until I go back to work in a month..it's a lot of work but worth it. 

*Speaking of eating all the time..she really eats all the time at night.  Right now she sleeps A LOT during the day (eats about every 3 hours) but from 4pm-7pm she eats like every 30 minutes.  And then from like 11pm-4am, she eats every hour.  It definitely doesn't leave a lot of room for sleep or time to get errands done when Rob gets home from work...but this time will go so fast, so I'm still enjoying it!

*Libby's height is 20.3 inches (up .3 inches from her birth height) and is at the 45%...the same as Caitlin always is.  So I think she'll be the same as Caitlin, tall but not too tall.  I think Abigail will definitely be the tallest, but things can definitely change!

*Libby is still a chill, go-with-the-flow type of baby!  She gets dragged with for preschool drop-off and pick-up, errands, Xmas shopping, etc!

*She rarely cries, but when she does, it's CRAZY loud!  Insanely loud.  She's got quite a set of pipes!

*She doesn't have a lot of nicknames yet.  I just call her Libs.  Rob calls her Lib-a-saurus.  Abigail calls her Libby Frances.  She's very formal!  Caitlin calls her "it"...."It's crying!"

*She has fit into our family perfectly!  Life seems quiet and like something's missing when she's upstairs sleeping...we all miss her!  We can't wait to celebrate her 1st Christmas!

 

Libby often sleeps with one eye open!

 

Libby at 1 week old

Libby posing!  She definitely got the Muskovich shoulders!  I can tell she's got my arms...which I'll take because she's really all Rob other than that!

 

Happy Due Date, Libby Frances!  The past 2 1/2 weeks have been fairly smooth and full of joy!  There is not a better fit for our family than Libby...she is definitely our Joy of this holiday season!

Christmas Time

Christmas Time is here...and so much fun!!!  We have been really enjoying having this time at home to celebrate the Christmas season!!!

 

We went a few weeks ago to get our tree.  We "sold out" a little and got our tree at Costco instead of our usual Christmas Tree guy "Beaver" (yep, real name)...but hey, it's still a real tree!!!

 

All decorated!

 

Both girls had a chance to put the star on top!

 

Last week we brought our letters to Santa's mailbox.  Santa luckily has a mailbox in our town's park district building.  Any day the girls should be getting their responses from santa!  Here are there letters (since they sent them)...

Caitlin told me the words and I wrote it..although she did her name all by herself!!!!

Abigail sounded her letter out all by herself!  She's really doing great at hearing the sounds!

 

"Dear Santa

I love you

I want a dream light and a"

 

"stuffie please.

Dear santa,

I just want 2

things.  Love, Abigail

Wennerstrom"

 

Also, we got our Xmas cards out this week.  They are trumping our Birth Announcements...but we haven't had Libby's pictures taken for her birth announcement yet...so those won't be going out until January.  We took some pictures one night after bath time when the girls had their new Xmas pajamas on.  (Abigail was with me when we picked out their Xmas pajamas.  I had "footie" pajamas in my hand, but she saw ones with tu-tus on them and really wanted them!  So, tu-tu Xmas pajamas it is!)

A cute picture that didn't make the card!!!!  I loved that they happend to have the book "The Xmas Baby"..such a happy coincidence!!!!  Libby has her first tutu on too!!!!

 

So, Christmas is in full effect...and we love it!!!! Last weekend after we got the girls in their pajamas, we surprised them with taking them to see Xmas lights.  We had hot chocolate ready to go in the car too!  We went to this cool place called Mooseheart...you drive through like 2 miles of Xmas lights and decorations.  It was the perfect activity to do with Libby because she was cozy and warm in the car!  We probably won't be able to do the Zoo Lights this winter...so this was perfect for us!

 

Still to do on our agenda:

Gingerbread House

Xmas Cookies (my favorite day)

Finish shopping (although we are almost done)

Xmas party at the Glures

Xmas Kiddie Festivus with our friends (gonna be a crazy night)

Xmas/Newborn pictures

Xmas concert at school

 

(PS...I really dislike when people use Xmas instead of Christmas...but I'm to tired to type that word that many times!.)

 

Updates coming tomorrow on Libby's 2 week and Caitlin's 3 year doctor appointment!