A year in review

Thanks Esther for inspiring me to do this post!
The idea is to write out the first line from the first post of each month in 2008.
I also thought it would be nice to write a sort of "day in the life" record since I've been slacking on the kid's month birthday posts. But first, here's a list of posts from the first of each month with links to the full posts (with an exception here or there when I had multiple entries on the 1st or I didn't write until the 2nd or 3rd day of the month).

January:
No wonder Julia wouldn't keep her finger out of her mouth at our photo shoot on Sunday! (Click here to see the full post.)

February:
Move over Ty Pennington, Sam's in the house.

March:
How can I love my baby girl anymore?



April:
Mr. Miyagi might have something to say about his technique,

but he won't find any fault in his enthusiasm.

May:
Three month old Henry wasn't the only one who was all smiles today.

June:
Karen's brother and his wife are moving to Kansas City and they invited me to come take portraits of the family before they say farewell.

July:
We've been living in a campground for 2 months now so I figured it was high time we did a little camping of our own.

August:
The computer techs gave me a glimmer of hope to get me through the weekend as I try not to stress about losing the data on my laptop.

September:
Check out all the foam on the shore because of the high winds.

October:
This small, inexpensive collection of toys can keep my imaginative 3 (almost 4!) year old entertained for hours.

November:
Six months ago today we moved into our current home. I figured it was about time I posted some pictures of what the house looks like with the floors redone, curtains hung, paint on the walls, and furniture in place. (Click here to see the whole post.)

December:
After a long holiday weekend I have to admit that I'm OK with Monday's arrival.


***The rest of this post is long and probably boring to most people, but this is the only journal the kids will get so I'm going to ramble on about a day in the life of BrotherBear and SisterBear whether you choose to read it or not. :) ****

BB wakes between 6 and 7, gets up to go to the bathroom, then reads in his room until 7am when he's allowed to go to the playroom.

SB wakes between 5:30 and 7:30 and then comes to bed with me to watch a WhinniePooh movie.

At 8am we go downstairs for breakfast. Favorites are Applesauce and yogurt, Grapenuts, peanut butter on sliced banana's, or a peanut butter bagel. These kids could eat ALL of those things in one sitting, but I make them stop after two things and set the timer as a snack time notice.

BB goes to school Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:30 and SB and I run errands or play in the playroom. Her favorite thing to do is watch a BluesClues video while I blog, but I'm trying not to do that as much anymore.

BB gets picked up at 11 and we either go to Old McDonald's for lunch or come home for a picnic in the living room.

They typically go down for a nap at noon, but it can be as late as 1pm sometimes.

BB has started staying awake more often than he sleeps, but he's very good about staying in his room for 2+ hours. He picks out 3 books to read "20 times" and then he knows to go to sleep. If he needs to use the bathroom he quietly goes down the hall and then climbs back in bed. He has a great imagination and can play quietly (usually no toys are allowed in his room at nap time, but we might be changing that so he has something other than books for 2 hours now that he's not always sleeping).

SB curls up in her bed with a paci (or two). She always puts her head on "big puppy" and wants to be covered up.

For the past month or so she's been allowed to have a book in bed with her, but she doesn't always look at it.

SB sleeps anywhere from 1-3 hours and then yells for me.

BB knows that when the clock in his room says "3:00" he can come downstairs for a snack.
We're trying to do only fruits and veggies for snacks so they don't eat so many empty carbs.
BB is slowly become a great veggie eater. He's the one who reminds me that he needs to have a veggie at lunch and dinner.

PapaBear gets home between 2:45 and 3:45 and then after his shower the kids play with him while I catch up on some work, start dinner, or go to the grocery store.

We eat dinner as early as 4:30 most days or if I'm making a more complicated dish it could be 5:30 before we sit down in the dining room. Some days the kids eat really well and others it is a battle.

After dinner we play PlayDoh or do horsey rides in the upstairs hallway. No matter what we do, these final hours of the day (for the kids at least) are all about family time.

With all the Christmas movies to watch in November and December we've fallen into the habit of making popcorn (or 'hotcor" as SB calls it) and snuggling on the couch.

Bedtime starts at 7 with brushing teeth and putting jammies on.

We usually read stories in BB's room. BB would listen to PB read for an hour but we usually cut him off after 15 minutes because SB is running around wild.

I'm going to start reading to SB at nap time so she gets her 15 minutes in each day. It's hard to get her attention at night.

BB can leave his lights on until 8pm and read. He likes his radio on, the hall light on, as well as the light on the stairs. Unlike nap time when his door has to be shut, we let him keep his door open at bedtime.

Some months the kids go down really well and other months they get in the habit of calling for us time and time again. We're in one of those slumps right now with SB. Not fun, but at least she's sleeping through the night unlike the month of November.

From about 8pm on it's all about the adults. That's when the tv programs get watched, the blogging gets done, or uninterrupted conversations take place. PB goes to bed around 8:30 and I'm typically up until midnight or later.
And that's a day in the life of the bear family.... :)