A Few Snippets of Our Merry Christmas...

Classroom parties...

Holiday baking

at Mimi's...

Gingerbread

house making...

The magical mystery of Santa...

Caroline's first Christmas...

Christmas Eve mass...

Looking at pictures from the past...

My very own cowboy...

Excitement for a "two-wheeled" scooter...

My little boy can ride a bike...

First baby dolls...

Matching pj's...

Time with Nana

and GranStan...

Our hearts are full.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas from our house to yours!!!

Zimmermans on Ice!

Park Place

2010

Caroline's first ice skating trip with us.

Daddy with his girls:)

Can't believe it but my baby boy loved skating!

She just got more...

and more...

confident with each lap around the rink.

Margaret loved her hot chocolate!

Beautiful night, beautiful people, beautiful memories.

Seven Months Old!

Happy Seven Months Miss Caroline!!!

Life is good in the Zimmerman house, just busy with the usual Christmas mania and oh did I mention that I haven't had a kitchen since last Saturday!!! We are doing some remodeling and I have been sinkless for just about my limit. To save money, Kyle and his good friend did the demo for us on Saturday and today they finally arrived with the countertops and I hope to get my tiling done on Monday. Kyle is actually upstairs as we speak earning his master plumber title. One of the many things that I love about this man, he had never done this before but was very willing to give it a try. Kitchen should be up and running soon... better be or I may turn into a crazy person.

Enough about that, let's talk about this baby girl!

She is in love with her food!

Sweet potato, avacado, peas, carrots, pears, apple walnut, bananas are just a few of her favorites. She loves it when we sprinkle Puffs on her tray so that she can reach for them on her own and put them in her mouth. She gets a few in there but most of the time they are stuck to her fingers, arms, face, or even her hair. Just tried a Baby Mum-Mum last night and loved it. I loved it too because it kept her entertained long enough for me to get a few bites of my dinner in:)

She loves to see her daddy!

Every time he talks to her or plays with her she gets so excited. She kicks her feet, smiles, and shakes her head from side to side. Between her babbles and her dimples she has him wrapped around her little finger already.

She loves for her mommy to hold her!

No matter how much fun she is having without me when I walk into a room and she sees me or hears my voice she immediately starts whining and giving me that sad face. I just don't do sad faces so I of course rush to pick her up and she just follows me around most of the time on my hip. I know all of the rules about this, she is my fourth one, I think that I just realize now how quickly it all goes by and I am okay with her being a little bit spoiled:)

She can scoot herself backwards and spin around in a circle!

She is starting to get up on those knees and rock back and forth. We might have a crawler soon!!!

She liked sitting on Santa's lap.

She loves listening to Christmas tunes on our early morning school drop-off.

Loves her sleep, is usually asleep by 6:30 and has been making it through the night.

Thank the Lord!!!

Happy seven months little bean!

Love you!

Santa Claus

Our trip to visit Santa Clause was a hit this year. As you can see there were no tears. Caroline was just in awe of his beard and glasses and Walter was actually pretty nervous (check out the seriousness on his face) as he had been quite naughty that morning and had been warned of Santa's magical powers of knowing who was naughty or nice.

Zimmerman's Wishlist

Isabella:

scooter with ONLY two wheels (apparently three wheeled scooters are not in for 6-year-olds!) and pj's that match her American Girl doll.

Margaret:

Highschool musical bike helmet and pj's that match her American Girl doll

Walter:

when Santa asked what he would like for Christmas his reply, "presents". I think that he is a bit worried this year that he might get that lump of coal I have been talking about.

Caroline:

what could a 6 month old with two older sisters need?????

We had a blast at our annual POP moms Christmas party at church. It was a day filled with games, yummy sweet treats, a turn on Santa's lap, face painting, and a nice lady who could whip out a balloon animal in no time.

Boys Will Be Boys

Tonight, as I was rocking this little guy to sleep and trying to settle him in for the night I was reminiscing about when he was just a little baby and how sweet he is to still let me rock him. That is until he burped and tooted on me... twice... all while saying to me "scuse me" between his fits of laughter!

Is this what boys do?????

Santa

www.portablenorthpole.tv

You have got to do this for your little ones.

Mine LOVED it!

Nutcracker 2010

One of my favorite Christmas activities is taking my girls to the Nutcracker. It always gets me in the Christmas spirit and I love to see their faces as the ballerinas dance across the stage. We always start out with a fancy dinner out and then a little shopping before the show starts.

Their eyes didn't leave the stage and throughout the performance Miss Margaret was up out of her seat twirling on her tiptoes telling me that she wanted to be Clara:)

I love these traditions and can't wait to go someday with all of my daughters and their children:)

Jesus's Baby Bath

I titled this post based on Margaret's description of what was going to happen during her baby sister's baptism. I love the thoughts that go through four-year-olds minds.

Caroline Elizabeth

Baptized December 5th, 2010

Her name added to the family tier on the gown her Daddy was baptized in.

GranNana & GranPapa

Nana & GranStan

Mimi & Papa

What a beautiful day it was to all be together celebrating Caroline's baptism.

She was so brave and loved the day of attention that she got from all of her loved ones.

Grandparents Day

Isabella celebrated Grandparents Day at her school last week. It was a very special day that started off with morning mass followed by her class singing songs and a nice reception for the grandparents.

It was a nice way to thank all of the grandparents who are such a big part of their grandchildren's lives. It is so important for children to build these relationships with the ones that love them most. I feel so truly blessed that my children have this relationship with their grandparents and all of the other wonderful people in our lives who are supportive and love my children to pieces. What mother wouldn't want this for their children?

Thank you so much grandparents for all that you do:)

Miss Margaret Turns Four!!!

Look who is four in the house!!!!!

Yes, my little cutie patootie (is that even a word, doesn't look like it) is a big girl now. She turned four last week and it was a week full of celebrations. I actually CAN believe that she is four because sometimes I have to remind myself that she is two years younger than her sister. She is so independent that I sometimes visualize them as the same age. Of all of my babies I believe that this one has grown up the fastest. With her little brother only 18 months behind her she went from my baby girl to a big girl super quick without even complaining about it. The one thing that still keeps her my baby girl is late in the day when she is tired you will find her in a little ball on the couch with her bobbie (aka: blankie) and her thumb in her mouth. She has told us for the last year that when she turned four she wasn't going to suck it any more. Well she is four and still sucking the thumb, it's just her thing and I am not messing with it:) She won't go to college with her thumb in her mouth...right?

Top Ten Things I Love About Margaret...

1. she is full of sassy spunk

2. she loves to bust a groove with her momma

3. she tells you like it is (wish I could be more like this!), doesn't hold a thing back, and lets you know what exactly she is thinking even if it sometimes isn't very nice

4. has a sensitive side that is as sweet as can be.

5. she loves to get her sleep. still a 2-3 hour afternoon napper:)

6. wants to be a doctor like her daddy and go to lunch with him everyday. when I asked if I could come too I was told "no". See # 3

7. has a deep belly laugh that is contagious

8. will wear anything I set out for her and not complain

9. likes to try new things

10. all she wanted for her birthday was a guitar

She has wanted to go to a KU basketball game since last season. Actually they all have so last week we surprised them. We didn't tell them where we were going until we walked into Allen Fieldhouse. They couldn't believe it, they were blown away. It was so fun watching them as they watched the game. Between the noise level, the cheerleaders to watch, and keeping track of Jayhawk baskets they were worn out by the end of the game.

More partying at Chuck-E-Cheese with the gang

Loved getting to do the ticket blaster!

She even got to have a special lunch with her cousins on her actual day. So glad that Mimi could make this happen, they had a blast!

Happy Birthday my sweet girl!

We love you to the moon and back!

Happy 1/2 Birthday Baby Girl!

She is six months today!!!!

As you can see this baby girl is growing up fast!

One of the biggest things that happens for my babies at six months is that they get to start eating some real food. I always forget what a mess they are at first when they are just trying to figure out how to swallow and use their tongue. You almost wonder if they are getting anything into their mouths. We have been doing cereal for about a week and she seems to be figuring it all out.

A couple of days ago I was so excited because it was almost baby food making time. I know this sounds strange, but I LOVE making baby food. It just makes me feel so happy. I think it is because I get to be in control of the first foods that go into their little bodies. I also love to cook and it is fun for me to experiment different combinations of food for them. Since they can't talk yet, if it really sucks they aren't going to tell me:) Chances are they will just eat it anyway and give their mama a great big grin.

We headed out to Whole Foods the other day to get the finest organic sweet potatoes and avocados we could find. Once home we steamed the potatoes and cut up the avocados and threw them into the food processor. I was so excited to find these fun containers to freeze the puree in. Before I would always just freeze them in ice cube trays because they were the perfect serving size. I am now obsessed with my new containers, they are bpa free/microwave safe/and best of all they are dishwasher safe:)

So far she is digging the sweet potatoes and today was our first day of avocado.

Enough about food already!

Our little sweet bean just loves feeling like a big girl. She misses her sisters when they are away at school. She is all about sitting up and playing with her toy phone. She insist on sitting at the dinner table with us as we eat . She loves the swing at the park. She loves her mommy to hold her... a lot. She still falls asleep on my shoulder each night as I rock her to sleep:) She reaches and pulls for anything and everything that is within her sight. She giggles like crazy when she is tickled.

Can't believe that it has already been six months!

You light up my life baby girl...thank you!

Even though we are celebrating this 1/2 birthday I feel like my other kiddos have been neglected lately so here are a few updates...

Little man is keeping busy, or should I say keeping his mom busy trying to keep up with him. He recently saw Toy Story 3 and truly believes that he turns into Woody if he puts on a cowboy hat. His current loves are his cars, the Jayhawks, and running around here like a crazy man. He recently moved up in swimming lessons to level 2 which means he no longer has to swim with his mama. He looked so cute last week going in with his sisters, I was a nervous wreck because I thought for sure he would jump in and no one would notice and he would drown. Thankfully this didn't happen:) He listened to his teacher and followed all of the rules. This means that I can swim with Caroline while the other three are in their lessons.

Margaret started gymnastics this fall and loves it. She decided to give dance a break until spring and give this a try. She loves getting to go each week and is getting pretty good at her backwards summersaults. School is going great and she is excited to get to have her first sleepover with her best friend at our house soon.

Isabella is not only loving being in Kindergarten but she loves that she gets to be a Girl Scout Daisy this year too. We have already had several events that we have gotten to do with her troop and it has been great for her. Our next event is a mother/daughter movie to see Tangled. I think I might possibly be more excited for this than her:)