St. Patrick's Day!

Lots of excitement in our home approaching St. Patrick's Day!  There was a lot of talk about the previous year and how the leprechaun turned our toilet green and left gold coins in the traps that were made.  This year, the leprechaun didn't disappoint!  The toilets were green, gold CANDY (he upgraded this year since he ran out of coins, I guess!), green powder in the sinks, green milk and that sneaky little man even made green smiley faces on the toilet seat!!  SO much excitement and fun in our home this Saturday morning!!  

 He was a sneaky little leprechaun this year!

 Joseph's trap

 Ella's trap

 It was a rainy St. Patrick's Day morning which worked out perfect since Julia had just gotten a new umbrella the day before so they spent plenty of time outside playing in the rain.  

 I love seeing Joseph and Charlotte in the background of these next two photos!

 Drinking the drain water! 

 And then somehow the playing outside lead to swimming naked...not sure how it got this far but I feel like it happens often!!! After swimming for a bit, the rain stopped and it ended up being a beautiful day, perfect for soccer games and then playing in the cul de sac in the afternoon.   We decided against corn beef and cabbage since Rich has not been eating meat for Lent so finished out the day with pasta with pesto and broccoli to keep with the green tradition which was perfect!  

Thankfully these two didn't get pinched while swimming without their green on!  

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

A year and a half

How, how, how can this sweet baby doll face be 18 months?? We just love those blue eyes and blonde hair with the little bit of curl to it and there really are times when she reminds me of a little baby doll, but you also can't let that sweet little face fool you, because this 4th child definitely knows what she wants and makes her voice heard in our already chaotic home!  At her 18 month well check on March 6th she weighed 25 lbs, 5 ozs (75-90th percentile) and was 32 inches long (50-75th percentile).  Her head was 48 inches (90-95th percentile).  She seems to be right on track for everything and other than her rosy cheeks, from being dry, she is healthy.   She is not one who sits quietly in the stroller AT ALL.  She wants to be on the go constantly and if she is sitting in the stroller she is normally yelling, "Nack, nack", or "Out" or kicking off her shoes, throwing toys or pulling Julia's hair.  She is feisty and has some sass to her!  She is trying constantly to keep up with her older siblings.  For example, she is already telling us when she has a poopy diaper, either by saying "poop" and then always backing up towards us (this is hilarious-every.single.time she backs up to us, guessing it is to give us the easy access to check her diaper!) or if we don't catch her soon enough she comes to us with poop on her fingers, which is just lovely.  This happens more than I care to admit but thankfully she hasn't smeared any of it on the walls or other objects, at least that we know of, so after a good scrub she's back in action!  She has also learned how to spit this past month-sometimes her food, sometimes just to say hello, but needless to say that although it can be cute at times we are trying to put an end to it.  She is also a screamer and repeater to get what she wants.  She has a good amount of words right now, although the majority aren't super complete/clear (for example, "paw paw" for popcorn or "miii" for milk) but she gets her point across and won't let it go until she is satisfied.  Speaking of talking, she  has picked up on how we refer to passing gas as piggies in our family (Ducote tradition) and now will totally call anyone out by saying "Pi Pi"!!  We about died the first time she said it and she just cracks up when she says it, too!!  Hilarious. 

She does have a great bedtime routine of reading two books, getting her water, singing Hush Little Baby and then she is out.  She is sleeping from 6:30ish to 6ish with an occasional middle of the night waking where often we'll just bring her in to bed with us and she'll snuggle up right in the middle of us like she totally belongs there.  Most days she sleeps for about 90 minutes, although she'd probably sleep longer on some of those days but that's all we have time for in between activities but she does really well on the go.  She LOVES to be outside running around and is totally confident in doing steps/stairs now and pretty much any other obstacle that comes her way.  She just learned how to jump off of the ground and is pretty proud of herself.  

She loves her brother (bra bra) and sisters (Ewwwa and Ju Ju), but also loves getting in the middle of whatever they are doing at times.  She is getting better but often times during the day I hear, "Mom, Charlotte is bugging me!!!"  Ha.  She picks on Julia the most (she's an easy target!) and has been known to pull her hair and pinch her which always causes Julia to get upset.  Charlotte is great at making up though and apologizing and will always go and say sorry "are are" and give a kiss and a hug.  She is pretty affectionate in general which is just too sweet and gives really good kisses (with sound effects) and hugs.  She gets so excited to see Na Na (as she calls Nani) and Poppa as well as the rest of the familiar family here in San Diego.  Her and Finn almost always run up to one another and give each other big hugs.  So sweet!!  

She is growing up too fast and although I miss the itty bitty snuggles it is so fun to watch her grow and become such an active member to our family.  We love you sweet baby Lar Lar!!!!

Day to day March

The beginning of March seemed kind of quiet but then geared up for a busy second half of the month with soccer in full swing, and then lots of fun for St. Patrick's Day and Easter.  I'll do a separate post on both holidays but here is the update on the regular day to day stuff for March!!  

Our regular routine after school is to stop at the "grassy area" outside of school for 30-45 minutes before walking home.  There are a regular group of families that stay and play and the kids look forward to it daily.  The girls often play with other siblings of the elementary aged kids but some days just play together and I had to get a picture on this day since it was like how Ella says , "My heart is melting."  

 On Saturday March 3rd we went to Petco Park for a STEM festival.  They had all sorts of exhibits and booths set up and everyone had a good time.  We walked to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner following the festival which was great and fun to be downtown for the evening.  As we left the restaurant it was dark and the gaslamps were lit and Ella walked out and said, "It is so beautiful here."  It was so cute!

 Charlotte was modeling a hat that we found to give to Finn before church on Sunday, March 4th.

 Sunday morning shenanigans.

 We went to Nani and Poppa's after church on the 4th for brunch and Nani gave everyone outfits for Easter which we all loved.  It was a great afternoon together, as always.

 It turned into a dance party while trying on the Easter dresses!

 Love this little girl!!!!

 Sometimes I look at her and think she looks like a little baby doll.  And other times, I think she's just a hot mess.  She wears both looks well!

 

 This is Julia's first family portrait.  LOVE!!!!  We are all there...can you find us?!

 Spring soccer has begun and the first game we played in the pouring rain!!! SO fun for the players, not as much fun for the adult spectators, but lots of fun for the young spectators! Both Joseph and Ella are with the same couaches from the fall so that has been awesome and they have good friends on their teams as well so it is going to be a fun season.  Ella scored 2 goals in her first game and was just beyond excited-she was skipping and dancing around everywhere.  They both looked so much stronger, faster and more aggressive already so we are looking forward to an awesome season!  Ella is on the Orange Lightning and Joseph is the Orange Dragons.

 Charlotte and Julia loved watching the game in the rain!!

 On Sunday the 5th, Nani, Laura and these three sweet girls and I went to see "The Little Mermaid" performed by a youth theatre group at RBCPC.  We made a stop at Starbucks before the performance which was an extra special treat.  The girls loved the show,although it was a little longer than expected, and we were all so impressed with the level of talent with the high schoolers.  Joseph, Cole and Charlotte hung out iwht Rich at home and at the club and seemed to have a great time as well.

 Charlotte has learned some new tricks with the stroller, with one being able to shimmy her body almost out of the buckle where she can stand up in it, so it makes for our walks to and from school a bit more interesting. Thankfully she normally will just sit back down if I ask her firmly but very easily could she step out of the buckle and fall so it is definitely a bit nervewracking...she has awhile longer before her stroller days are done so she's gotta hang in there!!

 We had some rain at the beginning of March and the girls, especially, have loved the extra opportunities to wear their rain boots.  At dance there was a huge puddle so instead of trying to keep Charlotte out of the puddle for 2 hours I decided to go to the car to get her rain boots and just let her enjoy it.  And, boy, did she enjoy it!!  She loved it!!!

 Ella joined in on the fun, too!!

This next photo made me crack up when I saw Julia giving the "thumbs up".  She is getting so big and just catching on to so many things!  Finn and Linz met us at Stroller Strides one Friday when he didn't have school so it was a fun morning with them!

 Oh, Julia, always up to something!

On Friday, March 16th we went to the church's fish dinner and had a honestly delicious meal and the kids had fun with the face painter!  

 Sydney let Julia have her beanie baby kitty cat a few months ago and Julia is now obsessed with kitties, which is why she was painted as a kitty (never a cat, always a kitty!)  She has to have this kitty to sleep with nightly and if she gets upset that is what she asks for.  She can also be found playing "kitty" or if she is playing "family" then someone is always the kitty if not her.  

Playing at the community park.  The kids asked to go one Sunday afternoon to ride their bikes but we ended up at the playground for the majority of the time.

 Everyone helping!!  LOVE!

I snuck away one night to have dinner with my RBCPC preschool girlfriends.  Always such a treat to catch up with them and we had lots of laughs!

 Joseph has his first loose top tooth (third tooth total).  He was pretty excited about it and has been eating extra crunchy apples!

 This is Charlotte's first girlfriend, Lexy.  She's so sweet and only 6 weeks younger than her (although looks SO much younger since Charlotte is so big and Lexy is so petite.). We see them almost daily at the grassy area and they are just so sweet together.

 Sweet Charlotte enjoying the swing at dance.

 while eating popcorn!

 We had a rainy afternoon one day and used the time to complete Joseph's recent science experiment from school-the kids loved it!

 Charlotte sitting pretty before church on March 25th.

On March 26th I had to take this picture of Ella since she looked so grown up heading to school!

To finish out the week, on Friday, March 30th, Joseph was recognized at Friday Flag for being the top runner in the entire 1st grade for the Fun Run!!! He ran 15 laps (3 miles) in under 30 minutes.  He really enjoys running club and has really looked forward to the Fun Run the past two years and was SO proud of himself.  We are so proud of him, too!!  And, as a bonus, that night Rich pulled his tooth out so it was a big day for him!  

 Nakee Charlotte wanted in on the photo action, too!!!

 We finished out the month with another great day of soccer.  Joseph and Ella both played so hard and our good buddy, Jake, scored a goal so we celebrated with gelato at Frost.  Its been a lot of fun having Joseph and Jer on the same team!

Love these day to day moments with our family!