Our Little Ballerina Performs

Georgia has loved her little dance class this year, and Ms. Lisa and Ms. Kristen did a great job teaching them a little routine for their recital. It was yesterday, and even though we were very late arriving from a birthday party, and I had to throw Georgia in her tights, and pull her hair up in a bun so quick in the parking lot, and run her backstage where her teacher gratefully grabbed her up and put her in line with her class (because she knows the dance the best and the other girls were supposed to watch her)- Georgia still did a great job, had fun, and was adorable! :) Unfortunately the girls got put in the wrong order, which caused much confusion at the part when they were supposed to prance around in a circle, but it was fine, and not their fault. They finished with smiles, and that's all that mattered! And did I mention they were adorable?! :)

Thank you to Aunt Jen for the beautiful flowers for our little performer!

At the end, all the classes went up for the last curtain call...

Thank you to Grammie and Grandad for coming, and helping with little brother and sister!

Rosemary: 11.5 Months

Dear Rosemary,
Poor little third child... I posted this update this morning, and now it's late afternoon, and I just realized not only was I late in posting it, but I didn't even write an intro paragraph! So I'm coming back now to add it. It just seems wrong not to. And even though you're the third child, we still do nice things for you! They just may be a bit late! ;)
So now lets go through a few highlights from this last month- I know I had a lot more in my head, but these are the only ones that I could think of to finally get this post out. You are just growing and learning so quick! I watch you every day and think- "I should remember that, look how cute this is, look what she's doing now"! Just know that we are enjoying you every day, and love you so much!

~You are walking everywhere! You seem to think that if you're up, you should be moving. You used to play with your toys on the living room rug quite nicely, but now you are always up and going- even if it's just walking laps around the house. But usually it's not just walking- it's you getting into something! You empty cabinets, mess up bedrooms, and unroll toilet paper with lightning speed! Or the big kids will go running by, playing some game, and about 10 seconds later, here comes Rosemary- toddling after them! Often yelling like you're playing with them. Also, after busting your bottom many times, you've gotten the hang of picking something up while standing- it can be quite tricky for such a wee one!

~You're still not a great eater, surprise surprise, but you have finally started taking a full 8oz bottle, 3x per day. And you eat three meals, though sometimes a "meal" is just a bunch of puffs! You still turn your nose up at most finger foods, besides the basic puffs and cheerios. You love Cheerios! One day you found the pantry open and went right to the Cheerio box, and carried it around, trying to get in it. And it's almost as big as you are! You still drink water from your sippy cup, but recently I put a few oz of whole milk in it, to let you try it. Well, you had a bad reaction- messy diaper and blistered bottom, so we'll wait a bit to try that again. We are praying it's not some kind of allergy, just that your body wasn't ready for regular milk!

Eating is such a bore- I think I'd rather take a nap!

~After a month of serious teething, one of your top front teeth has finally -just- broken through the gum. The other front one looks to be right behind it. These will only be your third and forth teeth. My kids seriously take forever to get their teeth in. Maybe that's why they're not great eaters in the early years?!

~You still love your purple hippo lovey at bedtime, but also have become quite attached to your Curious George monkey lately. You sleep with one of each under your arms, and grab George to come with you when I get you out of your crib. Good thing is that we have plenty of monkey's around, thanks to Aunt Janet! ;) There's always one nearby for you to carry around and love on!

Hmmm- how many monkeys can I carry?

Two seems to be a good start- one for each hand! Let's go, friends!!

~It seems you are trying new "words" and sounds every day. Your latest has been "dah ooo"- thank you! You like to hand me something, say thank you, then I say thank you, over and over. Also, though you are a very sweet and good-natured girl, you have a bit of a temper. If something gets taken from you that you really want, or you get pushed over, or you get frustrated- you yell, and wave your arms fast, and will even try to bite! I'm really hoping you're not going to be a biter, like your brother was, but that it already seems to be your natural reaction is not a good sign. Another thing you do when you don't get your way- cover your mouth with one hand and do a terrible "fake-cry"- it's all very dramatic! Lets just say you WANT to communicate, but don't really know the best way yet! :)

~I can't believe you'll be a big ONE-year old in just a couple of weeks! It hits me in little ways how big you've gotten: that, after bath, you stand on the bath mat and let me dry you off, like the big kids. But then I still wrap you in a baby burrito! That you initiate peek-a-boo, and say "heyyy- ooooo!" When you find something funny- that really is funny, like you understand the reference! Or when you try to do something funny, just to make us laugh at you! When you give kisses, without being asked. You sometimes just lean into one of us with your open mouth, and plant a sweet wet one right on our cheek. That's the best big girl gift! :)

Sweet hugs for Blue Hippo- unbelievable that we are almost done with your year of weekly pics with him!

We'll celebrate your first birthday so soon! (Better get this update out before then!!) Love you so much, my sweet Rosemary!
love, Mommy

Georgia Graduates!

Georgia's preschool, Small Blessings, "graduates" their PreK-4 class- I always remember graduations being for Kindergarten, but do schools even do Kindergarten Graduation anymore?? Well, maybe we'll get to do this again next year, but this year was really great, and our first Hipp Family graduation. The two PreK-4 classes sang several sweet songs, with awesome hand motions- Georgia's class did a great performance of "The Florida Alphabet"... "Ah Ah Alligator, Ba Ba Boat, Ca Ca Conch shell- they don't float!" The whole thing was so cute! I've been hearing her practice it at home for weeks, so it was great to hear it "performed"! They also did an impressive song with handheld bells- I was amazed Ms Annette could get 32 4-&-5-year olds to play the bells! Georgia got her Diploma, and we enjoyed dessert in the banquet hall, while admiring some of her art work from the year. We'll have to have a Hipp Hall Art Show to showcase some of her great pieces! We are so proud of all she has learned and accomplished this year, and so grateful to Small Blessings, Ms Annette & Ms Shannon for her awesome education and with striving to fill her little heart with the joy of the Lord! We are excited for Lincoln to be there next year!

Singing Graduates- Georgia is in the back row, middle of this pic, in the blue dress... (sorry these are blurry! I was holding the baby and trying to zoom and get a few shots- not a great photography technique!)

Even while being adorable and happy for their Big Sis, little brother and sister did not get much out of the ceremony- they acted like we had never asked them to sit still for a minute (or an hour!) their whole lives! But at least there were treats after!

I didn't realize till the end of the ceremony that the gentleman behind Lincoln is the Head Pastor! Oops- hope he didn't mind those shoes on his pew cushions!

Great family picture, though I wish I'd remembered to untuck my hair from behind my ear. And Rosemary is holding breath mints- not bc of her stinky baby breath, but bc I had been emptying my purse trying to keep her occupied!
(Thanks for my cute dress, aunt Janet! ;)

Sweet friends and classmates: Caroline, Grace & Georgia

Georgia's life-sized self-portrait :)

Georgia's last day of school was a pajama day- so her last day pics are in pj's! I was going to have her change into school clothes for one picture, but, truth is, we were already running late. And since I actually got some smiling faces in these ones, I wasn't going to redo them! Of course Rosemary has grown this year, but it's amazing to see how much the other two have grown!!

Georgia's first day of PreK4!

Georgia's last day of PreK4!

Trifecta 2012

Recently we celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary, Mother's Day, and my 32nd birthday- another exciting Trifecta! And in the middle of three busy kids, a busted hot water heater, replacing a hazardous clothes dryer, long work hours and 16 hours of class- my husband still managed to spoil me!

Thursday, May 10, 2012
The "traditional" gift for the 9th anniversary is ceramics- Larry got me two beautiful pots to go by the front door with gardenias in them- "First Love" gardenias to be exact! I don't know if that was intentional, but he is certainly my first and only Love! :) And gardenias are one of my favorite plants- I've really been wanting some. We've already gotten two flowers and they are heavenly to smell! Grammie babysat that night so we  could go out to dinner and see a movie- The Avengers, in Imax 3D. Seeing super-hero movies is kind of a tradition for us- we saw XMen the day after we got married on our "Day-Moon"! My gift to Larry was not "traditional"- mainly because I couldn't see him loving a "paint your own pottery" class, or wearing leather pants (the "modern" gift for 9) and those were my only ideas... I got him, or us, rather, a paddle board lesson! We go this Saturday and we're both excited- he especially has really been wanting to try it!

Sunday, May 13, 2012
Next up was Mother's Day- a day I love because I really love being a Mother! And I love that I get a day to celebrate that amazing blessing with my family! Poor Larry had graduate school classes all day that day- he only has class on Sunday the first weekend of the semester, and it happened to be on Mother's Day this time. I really felt bad for any mother's in his class! But he did manage to share some gifts with me before he left- it was the Day of Dresses! I love that my husband can shop for me. We talked about that with the whole clan later at dinner, and, I think, determined that Larry is the only husband that successfully shops for his wife. Not that that means anything bad about other guys; I'm just thankful and proud that he gets out there and tries- and does a great job! I like everything he got me, but, even though he got everything the same size, not everything fit. Which is ok too, because then I get some shopping time to exchange things! :) The dress I'm wearing below is one of my gifts- cute and comfy! We had dinner at Mom and Dad's that night with a large crew, and it was great! One of my Mother's Day gifts every year that I try to insist on is simply a picture with all of my babies- not always an easy task... I had no idea Rosemary was chewing on that thing the whole time till afterward. Oh well- the Mother's Day she was teething!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Last but not least- my 32nd Birthday! It was pretty much a normal day at home- take Georgia to school, Rosemary nap, lunch, pick Georgia up... The big kids had a dentist appointment, so Grandad watched Rosemary while I did that. Georgia does NOT like the dentist, by the way. Not even on Mommy's birthday. Not even with the promise of cake later. Sigh. But that night Grandad, Wes and Jen joined us for pizza (yea- no cooking!) and mint chocolate chip ice cream cake- YUM!! It had little green-icing flowers and oreo cookies on top and Lincoln said- "hmmm, broccoli and cookie cake. That's weird." But he was licking his plate later, so I guess weird isn't always bad! Ice cream cake always makes getting older seem better! :)

(No pictures- just trust me- or Trust YOU, as Georgia's been saying- she can't seem to get that right!- it was a fun birthday! :)

Another successful Trifecta! Thank you, my "First Love" :)

Take me out to the Ballgame

We took the kids to a Tampa Yankees game recently- the minor league for the Yankees. It was Family Night, and if you got there an hour early, the kids got to run the bases. Georgia and Lincoln were the first ones out there, and I think they ran the bases 5-6 times total! They finally came off the field with beet-red cheeks and sweaty heads! I was hot just from watching them. But- then we still had 45 minutes to wait till the game started! We jumped in the bouncy house, got our hot dogs and chips, and even got to meet and get autographs from two under-enthusiastic players. We found our seats, got our hot dogs out, got everyone some more water, took turns eating and holding a wiggly Rosemary- and finally the game started!
Two innings later, Lincoln asked to go home. And Georgia was hot and didn't want her hot dog. And they wanted to stand- which really meant run up and down the aisle. And Rosemary wanted to stand- which really meant eat gross stuff off the ground. (And the game really wasn't very exciting- the Yanks weren't playing very well.)
We moved seats further back so the kids could have a little room to move without disturbing anyone, and lasted another inning. Then we called it- and headed out to get ice cream before going back home!

The kids liked running the bases- but are not quite ready for spectator sports!