Ketchup

I honestly don't know where to start. Seems like a lot has happened, but I can't really figure out what. Guess I'll work backwards and see what I have time for!

Arianna is sleeping right now, and Roman is supposed to be. But he's been banging and babbling happily in there for 45 minutes! I expect him to fall asleep any second, but who knows! I don't want to forget my favorite part about him right now: whenever it's naptime or bedtime, I nurse him first, then pick him up and cuddle with him. I tell him "It's night-night time" and he lays his head on my shoulder and settles right in. Then I sing Twinkle, Twinkle, and it's the most perfect part of every day. He's so snuggly, and doesn't fight it at all. When I finish, I lay him down, and he (usually) quietly lays there til he falls asleep. I will definitely miss that snuggle time.
Roman had his 1yr check up yesterday. He got a few shots (no MMR, pox, or flu), and did awesome. When he cried a little for the shots, Arianna said "It's ok, buddy" in her high-pitched voice. So cute. He weighed 17lbs and was 29.75in long. I think she said that was 50th% for height, but wasn't on the chart for weight. He's fine though - he's come a long way from 4lbs 14oz! It's so hard to believe he's 1 already, and acting so old lately. He's not walking yet, but he can take a couple steps, and he's so close! He waves and gives kisses, and is such a joyful boy.
We just got back from a chaotic visit to PA for Thanksgiving with my dad's side of the family. The kids were mostly pretty good, but we created chaos everywhere we went! It was so good to see everyone though, and Roman wasn't even terrified of anyone!

I love eavesdropping on Marissa when she thinks she's alone..."Thank you, thank you, thank you God, thank you! Thank you for this piece of tape on here!" She's still enjoying school. On her day off before we left for PA, she said "I wanna learn!" and got out a princess dry erase K school book and spent hours at the table. Haha!

For the past few weeks before Thanksgiving, I got to babysit some kids I hadn't seen in ages! I used to watch triplets (A, E, & L) and their little brother (S) when they were 16mo and newborn, until about when Marissa was 1. Haven't even talked to them since, although we still exchanged Christmas cards. Out of the blue, they called with a temp childcare need, and I said I'd do it! It was a little complicated because I had to be here for Marissa to get on the bus in the morning, and be back in time for the bus to drop her off. But they made it work, and it was so fun! Obviously the triplets were in school, but I still got to see them on their teacher conference day, and S is only in half day K so I got to see him still. They also now have a 3yr old, W, and he and Arianna had a blast together. S really enjoyed playing with Roman too. It was very challenging because they're not a baby-proof house anymore, plus they have 3 dogs, and Arianna was terrified of them. But I'm glad I got to help them out, and the extra unexpected money was nice too!

We had a nice Halloween. Some friends from church came and walked around with us. Marissa's friend C and Arianna's friend H. Marissa was a mermaid princess, Arianna was a ballerina princess, and Roman was the cutest monkey ever.

Me: No jumping on the couch!
Arianna: Can I hop?

Arianna: Oh no! A puma! A puma!
Marissa: Ayudame! Ayudame!
Arianna: I'll save you!

Arianna gave us our first ear infection in all our years of kids so far. It wasn't too bad, but she complained enough that I took her in and got something for her to take. I'm pretty impressed that it took us this long!

Well I was going to try to get some pics in here, but Arianna just woke up and Roman still hasn't fallen asleep! Maybe next time!