Jeremy's first word

Stella's first word was "Mama."  She didn't know what she was saying as she babbled in the car after meeting Santa for the first time, but it totally counts.  You can read the original blog post here.

So....I suppose it is only fair that Jeremy's first word was "Dada."  Again, not so sure he knows what he is saying yet, but he says it often, and it totally counts.  How grown up does this little man look?!

Jeremy speaks:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY9dpHb5nhY




p.s. In case you were wondering, I'm not sure what Sylvie's first actual word was.  We gave her a book for her first birthday where I wrote in all of the words she could say by age 1, which included things like Da-da, Melmo, button, and bye-bye among other words.  She's always been a talker and these days she spends a lot of time trash-talking the Eagles.  Where did that come from?

Anyway, here is a video from way back when (1-29-08) of talking baby Sylvia:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U24mlbX065k



Lots of love, 
Keri

The Black Diamonds

Sylvia's first soccer game was so fun to watch.  All but one of their practices had been rained out, so they were kind of thrown into the game, but they had so much fun and improved greatly just in the one little game.

They played the purple team.  In this league you have to be 4 or 5 years old.  The purple team MUST be filled with five year olds.  They scored.  A lot. 

Sylvie plays for the fierce Black Diamonds.  They didn't score.  At all.  (Until the very end, they got the final goal...woo hoo!)

Sylvie spent a good part of the game whispering with her friend, C.  Both of the girls dads are coaches for their team and they are good little buddies from pre-school.

I asked Sylvie what they were whispering, but she said "secrets, Mom."

Later that night, C's mom called us to let us know that she found out what they were whispering.  While sitting around the dinner table, their family had been sharing things that happened to them that day.  C said that during the game Sylvia had whispered into her ear, "I wish I was on the purple team!".  C's response, "ME TOO!"

At least they were giggling and happy while they were wishing to be on a different team!


Lots of love, Keri

Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard - Sylvie Style

*If you only have time to watch one video, go with #3.  What a nut!  Must take after her father!!
______________________________________________

So you know she can sing; did you know she can play and sing?!

Take 1:  "Me and Julia, I mean me and Romeo, down by the schoolyard"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebPSALZZ1KU



Love the eye-crossing Sylv!

Take 2:  "It was against the log"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAWouScwnMY



Take 3:  Forget serious, this is the Sylvie-rock version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erEAETpG_OM



Take 4:  one...more....time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwMZfUt8MF8



Lots of love,  Keri

celebrate your half birthdays

Today was Sylvie's birthday...sort of.  She turned 4 and a half.  She wanted to take treats to school to celebrate, but we celebrated at home after dinner instead with chocolate chip muffins and a candle "Happy half birthday to you........."  She insisted we measure her again tonight even though I measured her 3 days ago.  She MUST be taller if she is 4.5 now!

John asked her when she had made one of her many, many pieces of artwork this morning as she ran around the house looking for pictures for him to take to work, and I had to laugh at her reply "Oh, I made that back when I was 4".  (In otherwords, probably yesterday).

The ABC video seems very popular, so I thought I'd post this other ABC video.  This one was taken back in February when Jeremy was not even a month old and the girls were just starting to make their ABC routine "fancy."   :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo_GZzSzrL4



Happy 4.5 baby girl!  (And happy birthdays to Auntie Mo and Uncle Jim too!)

Lots of love,  Keri

duets

The other day Sylvia informed me that she wants to be three things when she grows up:
1. a singer on TV
2. a nose doctor
3. a finger doctor

Then a few days later, when she found out that doctors have to go to extra school, she decided she would be a fashion designer instead.  On her interview, which she seemed very nervous about, she will tell them that they should hire her because "she can color really, REALLY well".  It's true.

When I ask Stella what she wants to be, her first answer is always "like Sylvie."  (melt my heart).  Although, tonight, she told me she would be a cook.  And make blueberry muffins.  For me.  :) 

This was "Take 1" of Do Re Mi.  I was initially going to delete this practice version, until I saw how sweetly Stella watches Sylv.  And how Stella keeps singing a different part of the song when Sylvie pauses to remember what comes next.  And how Stella makes a "T" with her little hands towards the end.  :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58NyzX5Da_A




and another sweet version of their duet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX7Z-WS18ps



Lots of love,  Keri

Mamma Mia .... here we go again

The girls are big Mamma Mia Fans.  They may not know all the words, but that will never stop them from singing anything. 

a medley by my sweeties:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6zMWVwtqvs



Lots of love,  Keri

guaranteed to make you smile and possibly pee your pants

I have a bunch of videos to share at some point, but I had to show this one from tonight first. 

I will bet that you've never seen the ABC's quite like this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tY7JTa8tEA



Lots of love,  Keri

her first book

Write this day down.  Be it known, on this 15th day of September, a rainy Thursday in the year 2011, Ms. Sylvia Randall Tex read her first book.  Just shy of 4.5 years old, she read Marc Brown's "Arthur's Reading Race," and I have never seen her more proud or more excited. 

Way too go!!

Lots of love, 

Keri

beef and gravy

Someday he will be bigger than me, sitting next to me at the dinner table eating a big plateful of steak.

For today, he is a grinning, slobbering, adorable little 7 month old, who sat next to me at the table while he tried his first bite of meat.  When I say meat, I mean jar of pinkish-gray mush that is called "beef and gravy".  He HATED it.  When he made a horrible face after his first bite, Sylvia said "Don't give him that, he doesn't like gravy!".  Sylvia and I both tried the stuff to see how horrible it was.  I think I'd rather eat dog food. 

Unfortunately for J, I wanted him to eat a few bites just to start to get used to the new taste.  Even though he hated the beef, he loves when you play air-plane (or bumble bee or choo choo train) to feed him, and as long as he isn't full, he gives you a great big open mouthed-smile...only to be rewareded with yucky, yucky pink mush.  Poor little guy. 

Someday there will be steak.  I promise.

Lots of love,

Keri

Fishing with Stella

Stella went fishing for the first time this summer.  Actually, she watched John fish for 2 seconds, then got away as fast as she could claiming "I no like fish.  Fish is yucky."

She does however, like fishing if it involves hanging over the family room sofa and trying to catch little pink, purple, and orange fish made of wood.

On the days that Sylv is in school I run all of my errands and *try* to spend a little special time with Stella.  Jeremy is on my hip non-stop, so no worries, he gets LOTS of attention.

Stella loves doing things by herself, like this fish puzzle and anything to do with counting.  I am trying to teach her the same colors and letters that Sylvie is learning in school.  This month is "Red" and "ABC".  She is pretty good with letter A so far, and I thought she got Red too, until we were shopping at Target and she was telling me all the decorations were "Green like Elmo".  hmmm....

The other day she was pretending to paint my toe nails.  I asked her what colors she was using and she said "pink, purple, and money".  My future business woman! :)

I love my smiling, giggling, silly little Stella Bella. 

 

Lots of love,

Keri

first day of school - (day two WILL be better, please God)

Here is the first day of school from Sylvie's perspective:

She picked out her clothes the night before, of course going to her closet where all of the "fancy dresses" live.  It was a tough decision, but in the end, she determined the black dress with butterflies and a hot pink ribbon was the fanciest. 

Normally, when she wakes up, she hangs out in my bed and begs for "just one more show".  That morning, she really, REALLY wanted to get dressed immediately.  She was VERY concerned about what socks and what shoes she should wear, and although she was not happy with me for vetoing the initial selection of sparkly play shoes, she eventually was happy to wear her flower-girl shoes to school.

She was super excited and a tiny bit nervous and very happily went off with her teacher, hand in hand, when we arrived at school.  When I picked her up, she was all smiles and talked about the picture she made by coloring in her handprint and adding a sparkly heart.  She told me she played with Maya and Alyssa, she led the pledge of allegiance, and she sang songs at Chapel.  During lunch, she threw a huge fit because she wanted to color on the floor instead of eating lunch at the table with her sister.  Remember that stuff I said about "the last nap".  I take it all back!  I sent her up for nap after lunch and she was fast asleep before I left the room.  4 yr old pre-school is wonderful and exhausting!

Here is the first day of school from my perspective (I'm still cringing as I write this).  We survived the earthquake and the hurricane, but I swear, we barely made it through day 1 of four-year-old pre-school:

I changed J's diaper and clothes while Sylvia got dressed.  Somewhere in the middle of that, Sylvia came in and we had a big discussion about which shoes would be appropriate / matched / etc.  Honestly, it has been raining for days (weeks?) and she probably should have worn rain boots, but we agreed on her pretty flower shoes.

As I was getting Stella ready that morning, she was freaking out over each step because she is wanting Daddy to do everything lately, and he was still there getting ready for work.  I hear this phrase 124 times a day "NO, NOT YOU!!!!  DADDY DO IT!!!!!!!!!", even when John is at work.  There is not a creature on earth more stubborn or determined as a 2 year old child.  Anyways, somewhere during that or after that, John was in Jeremy's room and found baby poo on the changing table.  Awesome.  Disgusting, I know.  The lesson is, do not discuss shoes with the 4 yr old while changing the baby.

As the girls were eating breakfast (waffles), I started packing Sylvia's snack.  For some reason, I have been very concerned with her snack.  I let her pick out some special apple sauce at the grocery store that she might want.  I made sure we had 10,000 cheese sticks on hand.  I made sure she was ok with the yogurt selection.  This child would be fine if I grabbed a handful of any random cereal for snack if need be, but I was a little obsessed.  I asked her what special snack she wanted for day, and the choice was yogurt.  I put the spoon and ice block in the bag, but decided I would wait a little to add the yogurt because we still had 45 minutes left before we left.  That was my first mistake, or second, or 35th.

As I was racing around making sure everyone had juice, went potty, bags packed, etc. I checked on the frog we were baby-sitting for a neighbor.  The last few years we babysat their 2 frogs.  Now there is only one.  I have been concerned the entire time Kermit was here that he would die of loneliness or that his time was up because the other one's time was up or something.  I looked in the box and oh my goodness the thing was floating on top and not moving.  The F-R-O-G was D-E-A-D.  I was so freaked out.  I felt like I was a psychic of horrible things. 

I continued to race around getting everyone ready.  In the back of my mind I knew I had wanted to take a "back to school" photo, but we were running late as it was.  I told Sylvie I'd catch her picture after school.  Just after I dropped Sylvia off I realized I never put a snack in her little backpack. Worst. Mother. Ever.  I went back home and grabbed a yoplait (I had intended to let Sylvie pick the flavor) and went back to school to drop it off.  Stella then cried for 5 minutes because she didn't understand why we went back to school without picking up Sylvia "I want Dahvieeeeeee!!". 

From the bank, I called John and told him Sylvie did great, but the F-R-O-G was D-E-A-D.  ugh.  We then went grocery shopping, where I realized I forgot my list and ultimately forgot at least one key ingredient for each dinner I had planned.  As we were leaving the school parking lot, I realized I couldn't see the stroller in the back and thought for a moment about pulling over to make sure it was in there.  "Nah, there's no way I forgot; not worth pulling over to check."  Um, wrong again.

I loved hearing Sylvie's thoughts on her first day, but everything went down hill - way down hill - when we got home.  She was sooooo tired.  The only photo I got that day was of her napping  :)  On a brighter note, I tapped the frog's container and as he leaped and swam all around I realized he was still alive!  Hallelujah!!  On a sadder note, he passed on that night and is no longer with us. 

Oh my goodness, please let tomorrow go a little bit smoother.   

Lots of love, 

Keri

The 3's of YOU - thanks Amanda!!

This was from an e-mail I got today :)  Amanda - I watched that video of when I first held Jeremy.  I am thankful for my babies, my video camera, and for you reminding me of that special moment. 

 http://thetexfamily.blogspot.com/2011/03/jeremys-birthday-with-all-of-videos.html

ps - photo below is NOT the first time I held Jeremy :)

***********************************************************************************************************
You are supposed to write a note with the 3's of YOU.


Three names I go by:


1. Keri

2. Mommy

3. Ker-Bear  (by my friend Gabe :)


Three Places I have lived (not the most exciting list for me):


1. Boyertown, PA

2. Easton, PA

3. Harleysville, PA



Three Favorite drinks:


1. Coffee

2. Red wine

3. Iced Coffee

 Three TV Shows that I watch:


1. Parenthood (I became addicted last year)

2. The Good Wife  (such a great drama)

3. How I Met your Mother  (the best ever)





Three places I have been:


1. Africa

2. France

3. Amsterdam (only 6 hr layovers on the way to and from Africa, but it counts!) 



People that email me regularly


1. John
2. Sarah
3. Michelle
my real answers should be Groupon, LivingSocial, and Amazon, just to name a few.  Holy junkmail!



Three of my favorite foods:


1. seafood!!!

2. chocolate!!!

3. mexican :)  I have to post the recipe for the sweet potato burritos I made this week.  yum.





Three foods I hate:

1. the ginger that comes with my sushi....ewwww!

2. hot, hot peppers (NEVER eat the peppers that come with General Tsao Chinese chicken - not even on a dare!)

3. i'm going to go with Indian food, even though I don't even think I've tried Indian food.  I think I need to get me some Indian food so I know for sure!




Three Things I am looking forward to:


1. Seeing how excited Sylvie will be on the first day of school (even though I know I'll feel a little sad about dropping her off, I know she won't be sad!)

2. finishing up that photobook that was supposed to be done by last Mother's Day - oops!

3. the energy, weather, and colors of fall.  I love, love, love that season :)



Three Things that are always by your side:


1. Jeremy on my hip - that boy is getting heavy!

2. Stella, who this week has been screaming "no not you, Mommy".  She wants to do everything herself or have Daddy help her (even when Daddy is away at work).  I love that little stinker.

3. Sylvie-girl, who spends her days singing, and kicked butt at her first night of soccer tonight.  Yay Sylv!
 
 
Lots of love, 
Keri

paybacks

I'm sorry Jeremy.  For letting them poke you and squeeze you and give you "forty-five shots", I'm sorry.  But trust me, I made sure they were very gentle, and they do what they do out of love.  (Notice Stella's words in the end:  "Good Job Jeremy, I'm Proud of You."

watch:  Stella Doctor



Someday, my friend, you have my permission to get even. 

watch: Sylvia Doctor



For now, you can just keep pulling their hair.

watch: Jeremy pulling hair



Lots of love, 
Keri