So Big!

I have been playing So Big with Stella for maybe a month now, and her Nana (daycare) has been playing it with her too. I'd raise my arms and say it, then would raise Stella's arms for her. I think that's the standad procedure for a 5-month-old. Tonight, my mom was over and Stella was sitting on my lap facing my mom. She happened to put her arms above her head and so my mom said "so big!", which prompted Stel to do it again. Now every time we say "so big!" She puts her arms up. It is SO STINKING CUTE!!!
Kate

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

If you didn't get a Christmas card from this Fluge family yet, stop checking your mailbox because you won't see one!  I skipped it this year.  Merry Christmas!  



Good Guy

Sami: "I like your boots Mommy. Where'd you get 'em?"
Me: "Gander Mountain"
Sami: "Who buyed them for you?"
Me: "Daddy."
Sami: "Oh. He's a good guy."
Kate

11/17/06 @ 7:26 PM

That's the time that this beautiful, smart, sassy little four-year-old came out of my belly.  Well...she wasn't four then.  Duh! Samantha has been having a great birthday.  She got to celebrate at daycare with all of her friends.  They had cake and ice cream, they sang to her, and she got presents.  Then we picked her up for her home party, where we had pizza, cake & ice cream, presents, a treasure hunt and now it's movie time! 

 ^ Showing off the new number 4 ^

 ^ After she ate her pizza she was allowed to FINALLY open her presents ^

 ^ On the treasure hunt for the GOLDEN COINS.  After finding four golden coins, she got to open up her last present!! ^

^ Opening the last present of the night.  It was Toy Story 3 (you see it laying there on the floor).  She chucked it right out of the box without even looking at it, expecting something bigger and better in there.

Happy 4th Birthday Sami!!!

Stella in Kansas

These were taken Halloween weekend when me, Stella and Karina went to KS to visit my younger sister, Leah. Stella was so happy to finally meet her aunt/godmother, uncle/godfather Nick and grandma Angela (or Grang, as I like to call her). Was a quick and well worth it trip.  Wish we could have stayed longer, but glad we got to be there even for just a few days. 

Round 3

Joe got another dog, again.  His name is Jett and he is 13 or 14 weeks old. He's a pretty good little pup and Leroy is extremely happy to have a friend again. 

Baby on Blog

CAUTION:  Baby on blog is smaller than appears! 

Some of the pictures I have posted of Stella make her seem huge, but she isn't really that huge.  The camera adds 10 pounds, you know. This picture of her little bubble face is one of the few that doesn't make her seem like a giant.

Little Stella Jo had a week or so where she was not seen without a little patch of bubbles around her mouth (see photo above).  She is finding her thumb A LOT quicker now.  Talking more and more every day.  And she just started laughing out loud today!  She's also becoming more independent every day.  She's been hanging out on her activity mat all night long tonight, all by herself.  She smiled and kicked, then dozed off for a little bit, woke up and started smiling, kicking and chatting away again.

Sami learned to ride a bicycle without training wheels last Thursday, thanks to her wonderful daycare providers!  She is also starting to go to bed on her own again, FINALLY!!

50 Dollars

"Mama, look! I'm helping you clean up so I can have 50 dollars!" 

What Stella thinks of Sami's dance class.
Kate

Two little monkeys sleeping in my bed

Stella slept in her crib from 10pm until 5am, without waking up to eat during that time!  After I fed her at 5am, I just let her lay in bed next to me.  Then at 5:30am, Sami showed up, crawled in and passed out.  I love my little monkeys.

Photo Shoot

Today I attempted to take Sami's 4-year pictures and some pictures of Stella.  Sami was not very cooperative and quickly became crabby, so it didn't go so well.  Here are some of the pictures that I took.  I am not done with my attempt to get good 4-year photos without paying a 'professional', but if I don't post these now, I never will.  Let me know which pix, if any, you like or think would make good hand outs. 

^ This one would be great if it wasn't blurry. :-( 

 ^One of my favorites.  I was trying to take pics of just Stella but Sami had issues with that.

 ^Also a favorite of mine.

A Woman's Work

Sami: "I'm tired...cuz I do EVERYTHING"
Me: "You do everything around here?!"
Sami: "YES, I do."
Kate

Thumb Sucker

Stella has discovered that she likes to suck her thumb, but she hasn't quite gained control of her hands yet. It's a little bit entertaining to watch her try, relentlessly, to get her thumb into her mouth. And I know this isn't a good habit, but I think it is SO CUTE!


On another note: Samantha just jumped in front of Stella and screamed at her. I asked Sami why she has to always harass Stella and her answer was "because she's my best friend".

"So you bug her because she's your best friend?"

"Yep!"

Dancing Queen

More like Dancing Diva. She thinks that serious dancers don't smile when they pose for pictures.

Sami started dancing for Just for Kix last week and she loves it! We aren't allowed to watch them practice, though, so I probably won't have action shots until she has a performance.

Big Day

I'll miss you today my sweet baby night owl.
Kate

My Sweetheart

Kate

2 Month Check Up AND SHOTS

Before shots
(she was smiling and cooing, but the nurse was getting the first needle ready so I plugged Stella immediately...thinking it would calm ME down).

After shots.
Stella now weighs 9 lbs 14 oz and is 21 3/4 inches long, which is a bit short for 2 months.

Kate

Out for a walk

Kate

Miss Match

Last night we (Joe) didn't feel like cooking, so we (I) ordered pizza for supper and Sami and I went to pick it up. It wasn't until we got to Dominos when I realized Sami was wearing two different shoes. I asked her why she was wearing two different shoes and she had a very logical answer: "Because I put this one on but I couldn't find the other one, so I put my sparkly pink one on." Logical, if you don't take into account the fact that the matching shoe was right where it was supposed to be.
Kate

Sami & Stella

Sami's on the left and Stella's on the right.

Lawn Mower Repairs

Joe went out to mow before supper tonight and the mower was inspired by the Indian and didn't start. So Sami helped Joe work on the mower and together they got it running again!

Sorry

I haven't posted anything in a while. Sorry. I have been meaning to update the blog in the past few days but I cannot, for the life of me, find my stinkin' USB cord for my camera. Sure, I have a dozen USB cords laying around the house, but of course, my little Samsung camera has a unique innie (technical term for I don't know what I'm talking about), so not just any USB cord will work. I have flipped my house upside down trying to find it, with no luck. Mom, I know what your thinking and all I have to say to that is: shhhh.

I do have pics from my other camera that I will post when I have a better attention span and perhaps more energy. Happy Labor Day.

Love This Life

Last night Joe and I were sitting on the couch (which is covered in folded laundry that needs to be put away) along with Stella and Sami. I was trying to calm Stella without walking around the house with her, and Joe was trying to look at something on the computer as Sami attempted to shove a necklace into his ear. Joe and I chuckled because this is our life. And we LOVE it!
Kate

Stella

Happy 4-week birthday, Stella!
Kate

First time at the movie theatre!

On Sunday, Joe and I took Sami to her first movie at a movie theatre. We took her to Shrek at the cheap seats. She kept asking when the movie was going to start (as the advertisements were playing before the previews even started), then she finally couldn't take it anymore and she said "Where's the remote?!" She made it through the entire movie, but 1/3 of the way into it she started to get antsy. I'm glad we decided to go to the cheap seats (even though we made the mistake of buying soda, popcorn and candy there so it was like we went to a normal evening show), and we'll definitely take her to see Toy Story 3 when it gets to the cheap seats, but we'll be smarter and smuggle our snacks in instead of handing over our life savings for them at the theatre.

I'm a Tree

"There's a tree in the city and it ain't lookin' pretty..." That's the beginning of a song by Imani Coppola called "I'm a Tree" and it's kind of a silly song, but it's catchy. Our tree makes me sing it.