ten smile tuesday

1. three whole months...as i blogged about here (with some pictures of our three month old!)...jillian is three months old today. i really and truly cannot believe it...where has time gone?!

2. daddy dates...mike has been really struck lately with the importance of spending individual time with each of the girls, time to simply connect with them, to laugh with them, to treat them like princesses, and to make sure they grow up knowing just what kind a man they should someday marry...i might be crying as i type this...because, truly, he is such a fabulous daddy to his little girls, and my heart is beyond touched by their excitement and delight in spending time with him. he took elizabeth to the children's museum on his friday afternoon off...they had a blast, and, surprise, surprise, spent 3/4 of their time in the "science works" room...so elizabeth! when he asked kate what she wanted to do, she said, "see animals!"...since it was a little cold and many of the animal are gone for the season they headed to the pet store instead of the zoo...and then to a bookstore. jillian didn't get an official "date" out of the house...but she gets lots of love and attention from daddy all the time. (she might just have him wrapped around her finger in a way the other two truly didn't yet have at this age!)

3. mommy time...while daddy and elizabeth took their museum date, kate and jillian cooperated by taking 2 hour naps at the same time...meaning i had LOTS of uninterrupted sewing time. i was able to finish up a few stocking stuffers (crayon totes and baby doll slings for libs and katers), matching flannel PJ pants for the girls (we have a Christmas tradition that they get to open one present Christmas eve...their matching Christmas PJs), and some knit cotton pants for kate for potty training (figure it won't hurt to have extras on hand that are easy on and easy off!).

4. my first venture in applique...and it was a success (well, by my standards...no means professional quality...but i like 'em!) here are the Christmas PJs...they have matching flannel pants and then white shirts with their first initial appliqued on...you will have to wait for live models...since they can't put them on until we're at grandmommy and poppy's on Christmas eve!

5. speaking of daddy dates way back in smile #2...i got to have a daddy date this week as well. daddy, jillian, and i enjoyed some tasty Panera and chat-time...and then being the good sport that he is, we just might have finished the evening at jo-ann's buying the flannel for the PJs. :) have i mentioned lately that i LOVE my husband. i am so thankful for his hard work and long hours providing for our family, especially in the midst of the LONG project the past three months. we are so thankful to have him home more these days!

6. cutting and pasting...seriously, these two could cut and paste ALL day long! kate is especially fond of glue...frequently asking, "i do goo, mommy...PEAZ...i do goo!"

7. new schedules. i was increasingly frustrated the past few weeks with jillian's lack of interest in eating and the fact that i was often needing to wake her from a nap for eating. but i felt like surely at just three months she couldn't/shouldn't possibly be ready to only eat every four hours...and, i'll admit it, i was terrified that a shift in schedule might interrupt her sleeping through the night...but it didn't. hooray! she is still sleeping TONS...but is much, much more interested in eating. and, though we never did the sleepsack thing with either of the other girls (they were always plenty warm all swaddled up on their backs)...we gave in this time around. since j sleeps on her tummy and moves all over the place i needed something to keep her warmer (and to keep her from scooting and getting caught in the crib rails or flipping herself over). i found these grobags on mamabargains for a steal and decided to try them. fabulous! anything that helps my baby sleep, sleep, sleep brings a smile to my face!

8. an impromptu evening out with amy. even though the original plan--seeing a sneak peek of "the blind side" didn't work out, it was great to have a chance to see amy (and her friend shelley)...and to have some time perusing the aisles of united art and education afterward.

9. fresh paint. i've decided the only way our downstairs will ever get painted is one wall at a time, one naptime at a time...and yesterday was a productive start...i finished the play/living room and started into the kitchen. hooray! i'm including the pic for those, like my mom (smile!), who will be wondering what color it is. :) it is a greyish tan. love those productive days...though, i'll admit it, most of them aren't so productive! :)

10. winnie-the-pooh. elizabeth and i were running a quick errand saturday and popped in the library. i checked out the original "winnie-the-pooh", and i've been reading it aloud to the girls the past few days. elizabeth is enthralled...she will sit silently for three or more chapters/stories at a time, interrupting intermittently to ask a question or share some little detail she liked. priceless! next on our read aloud list is "charlotte's web"...but it has an amazingly long hold list at the library!

we are so blessed and have so, so many things for which we are thankful. i'm hoping to work on a post tonight filled with some of my thoughts on what makes us rich...come back for that. we will be heading out thursday morning for a quick trip to mike's parents for thanksgiving and an early Christmas celebration with them. we're looking forward to having some time there and then hopefully having a relaxing Saturday at home putting up Christmas decor and getting ready for the start of advent. :)