Coloring

The kiddos & I decided to do something crafty this past weekend. So I set up the baby table in our kitchen with all the coloring supplies. I know... coloring? Oh. How. Exciting. But I don't keep the art supplies out where Milo's little hands can get them & destroy our house (he does that well enough without things that can mark up the walls!). 

Xandra is my little artist. I neglected to get a shot of her artwork- I'll have to get some pics later. I'm going to have to brag on her for just a sec: we've been having a difficult time lately with her learning how to write her name. We even asked one of her former teachers (who happens to be a great friend of mine!) to please come over & help tutor her. Xandra just doesn't respond to Matt or me very well when we're in a "teacher mode." God bless the parents who homeschool. I briefly contemplated doing that a couple years ago. It has become quite apparent, though that it would not work for our family, or at least not for Xandra. So, Miss Kristin has come over twice a week for about 2 weeks now. And today, my girl wrote her name all by herself!! I'm so proud!! I started crying when she did it. Yep. I'm that sappy. 

I'm also incredibly proud of my little man. We had another session with his speech therapist today. She was so happy with his progress. :) He's up to 9 words:
Dada
Mama
Bye Bye
Uh-Oh
Ni-Ni (night-night)
Ba (ball)
Dah-dah (thank you)
Uh (up)
Ba-oo (balloon)
& he can sign "hungry," "thirsty," and "more" (though not always consistently)

He's attempting "Love You," "moon," & "cow" (thanks Good Night Moon), but they're not really clear yet. The therapist was also impressed with his willingness to imitate. She thinks he'll just start bursting out with words soon. :)  Yea!! So exciting!

My girl just blows me away with how gorgeous she is. I could stare into her eyes for hours if she'd let me. She's seriously coming into her own right now. She's testing out some new sayings & attitudes. Yesterday, I was cleaning up a huge mess the two of them had made in the family room (wood building blocks thrown all over the place). Xandra pulled out a DVD and said, "Are you gonna put my movie on, or are you gonna just sit there?" Wh...wh...WHAT??!! We're going to nip that one in the bud.

We're doing a little better over here with the schedules & time management. We've instituted a clean up time about 20-30 minutes before bed every night, which really helps me not feel so overwhelmed. I still do a little picking up here & there because, well, they don't always do a great job. But at least they're trying. And Matt has lightened my load more than I can say. I haven't cooked a meal, gone to the grocery, done laundry, or washed dishes in months. He truly is my hero. I couldn't do this without him. Love him more than I could ever imagine! :)