Rogalske Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with my family a little early, because Josh was home.  Had our traditional prime rib with all the fixings.

Adelyn was soooo excited for her "make-up."

Brecken thought his singing Olaf was hilarious :)

Joelle got a really cute Patagonia coat and her requested "doll with pink hair."

Cinderella Lego's!

Sleds from Auntie and Sean!  They were thrilled.

New coloring books from Auntie.  All they need is some paper and crayons and they are all set :)

We all laughed hysterically at this.  My brother wrapped my mom's present from my dad.  Whoops.

Lincoln in his hat from Uncle Josh and Marianne.  And his hat "Auntie" knitted him :)

Lincoln and all his stocking stuffers :)                                We bored Sean.  Or, rather, he works 3rds ;)

We are a good looking bunch.

Most times.

Like I said...

There.  That's better!

Had to get some pictures of the kids and Josh.

Eric has requested we take pictures first next time.  Instead of at 10pm.  I'm not sure why.

Like he said.  Pictures first.

Christmas Eve Papa and Nana and Auntie and Sean came over for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner.  One of Brecken's present didn't show up in time so he got to open it then.  His marble run has gotten lots of use!

This was our dessert.  While it looks nice, it didn't get done.  Blech.

At least the presentation was nice.

Brecken and Joelle::4 years

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  I don't like the ages 2-4.5.  5 is where it's at people.  We have had some problem spots with these two.  Sometimes it's so hard with TWO of them.  One of them will have a bad couple days and then the other one will have a bad couple of days.  No reprieve.  With all that being said they handle the holiday's really well and we always have fun this time of year.  It helps a lot when *I* am consistent and have ideas for them to do all day.  Imagine that.  Their personalities are really developing and it's so fun to see them grow though.

We have entered the phase of funky pictures.  This is them at their best.  Put your chin down.  Not that far down.  Smile.  Show your teeth.  Open your eyes.  Put your chin down.  Sit up straight.  Sigh.  OK.  That's great.  Pretty much how pictures go ;)

Brecken::

-36lb 9oz, 57th percentile

-40.5inches, 56th percentile

- size 9/10 shoe

-4T/5T clothes

-still napping regularly, still sleeping great at night

-still sleeps with your blankie and we have recently downgraded to 3 stuff animals.  You guys had these huge piles in your bed and you wouldn't care if we took some away to get you to stay in bed.  We got you new blankies for Christmas and you told me "I was ready for some new corners.  These ones will be ok."  I was a bit worried about the transition because you love to rub the corners.  When I had asked you about them, while they were being made, you informed me that you would only rub the corners you currently had.

-are usually the first one up between you and Joelle

-working on colors.  Slowly you are getting better at them.  We are a bit worried you are color blind.  But are hoping it's just being diligent on Mommy's part on working at them.

-can count to 15

-can say the ABC's

-recognize about half of the letters.
-great at letter recognition if I do sounds
-working on writing
-love to write the letter B.  We find it everywhere.

-awesome at recognizing shapes

-LOVES to be read too.  No matter how crazy you are acting you will always sit down to read.

-loves to color.  Working at staying in the lines.

-loves playing outside.  Even when its freezing.  But, subsequently, you HATE being cold.

-are the craziest, wildest Indian I know.

-LOVES to pray

-loves to help with chores.  Peeling carrots is a favorite.

-pickest and smallest eater.  You still put loads of kids we know to shame though.  

-are so ready for Lincoln to be big so you an wrestle.  The girls tolerate your wrestling very well.  But you can be a littttttle rough.
-are always concerned when somebody gets hurt.
-you HATE loud noises.  You will slap your hands over your ears so fast when somebody is crying.  Amazingly, you don't do it when YOU are whinging.

-love your friends.  You especially love it when boys come over to play.
-are an amazing puzzle doer.  It just clicked a couple months ago and you can do them like crazy now.
-such a sweet, sweet little man.  You are always concerned when someone is hurt.
-working on your whining.  It's reallly, really awful.

Little Interview::

What's your name::  Brecken

How old are you:: Four

What's your favorite color:: Orange with Blue

Who is your best friend:: Sawyer and William

What is your favorite animal:: Zebras and Horsies

What do you want to do when you grow up:: I want to be like Daddy and bake

What is your favorite movie::  Cars.  Mater and Sally.

What is your favorite book:: Disney look and find write and erase

What makes you happy:: Aminals (how he said it) and owls

What makes you sad:: Angriness

What is your favorite food:: Cereal and eggs and muffins

What food is gross::  Salad and grass and leaves

What is your favorite song:: Marshmallow veggie tales song

What games do you like to play:: Mickey Mouse game at Nana and Papa's.

Joelle::

-39lbs 6oz, 81st percentile

-43in tall, 97th percentile  I can't even make that up.

-size 10/11 shoe

-4T/5T/XS clothes

-still taking a nap regularly.  Night time sleep...ha.  You sleep great...in our bed.  We are working on it.  I just can't be mean about it so we are trying various things.

-when we transitioned to new blankies, you were fine with the new corners.  But you just told me your other corner was better for rubbing.  Oh.my.word.

-LOVES to read

-knows almost all of your colors

-know your shapes
-can write your name and say it

-can sing the ABC's
-learning how to write quite a few letters
-went from doing your (seriously) dumb 6 piece Dora puzzle to doing 48 piece ones.  We love to do puzzles as a family and you both do great working on sections of those.

-still have quite the "accent" the doctor wasn't concerned and said speech problems should self-correct by school age.

-you are SO sassy.  You are a fighter.

-the second anyone says anything remotely "naughty" you pick right up on it and we have to correct it right away.

-love to cuddle.  If you are ever angry or sad you just want to be held tightly.

-love to help with chores.

-you LOVE to eat. You can put more food away than I can.

-love to hold Lincoln.  Love to hold any baby.

-love learning.  The second you see something, it's learned.  You memorize your Awana verses like nobodies business.
-you are the life of our family.  You are so hot and cold.  You keep us on our toes all the time.
-you dance ev.ery.where.  I always have to tell you to watch where you are going because you are constantly skipping and dancing and jumping around.
-call me Momma alllll the time and I love it.  Adelyn and Brecken call me Moooooom.  Not my favorite.  I think Mom sounds so old maid'ish.

Little Interview::

What's your name::Jojo

How old are you:: Three, Four

What's your favorite color:: Purple and pink

Who is your best friend::Rachel that went camping with us

What is your favorite animal:: Zebras

What do you want to do when you grow up:: Make cupcakes and cakes

What is your favorite movie:: Elsa and Anna, Frozen

What is your favorite book:: Princesses

What makes you happy::Smiling, being good

What makes you sad:: When I don't get lunch or supper or breakfast

What is your favorite food:: Macaroni and cheese

What food is gross:: Mushrooms

What is your favorite song::  Allouette

What games do you like to play:: Candy cane (Candy Land)



We took pictures of them in the sleigh when they were babies.  Look at them now.  The photographer that took their newborn pictures was selling it and asked me if I wanted it.  Um YES!  They love that they used it as babies.  They were constantly pushing it around with animals in it.  I had to confiscate it so I could use it as decoration with their newborn and 1 year pictures.




Where the sleigh, the newborn picture and 1 year picture are currently residing :)  Ladder bookshelf on the basement wall.

Lincoln::5 months

This is how easy you are.  I literally laid you on the floor, it was close to bedtime, said "ah boo," you smiled and we were done.  Now if I had noticed that the edges were brown from a glare off the table I may have tried again.  Such is life.

These are 12 month clothes.  PS.

- 18/19lbs

-size 2 diaper during the day, 3 at night
-6-12mo and 12 mo clothes.  We literally skipped 9 month clothes.  You have literally one or two things that say 9 month that you wear.   I'm going to have a whole wardrobe of summer clothes that you are never going to wear.

-your sleeping is annoying.  There.  I said it.  You will sleep through the night for a week or two.  Then you will go back to waking in the middle of the night for a week.  Then you will sleep through the night.  I think it's related to tummy issues and when you go to bed.  The earlier you go to bed the longer you sleep.

-you eat every 3-4 hours during the day

-you love to talk and laugh

-you smile loads.  You have developed a bit of a man phobia though.  You have to warm up to the guys before you let them hold you.  And man can you wail if you don't want to be held by someone.
-you LOVE to stand

-love to suck on your right thumb.  Does that mean you are going to be right handed?

-you LOVE sitting in the bumbo

-blow raspberries allllll the time.

-you are the happiest baby alive.

-you are loving the toys. 

-still lots of poop issues.  So annoying.
-we are now thinking you have a problem with tree nuts and eggs.  So crazy that we are thinking those things.  But your reactions to things are getting worse.  Now that I have eliminated eggs the barf is completely gone.  I ate some coconut almond ice cream the other night and you had a rash alllll over your face the next morning.  You get these bruised looking eyes too.  Sad.  T-minus 4.5 weeks until the allergist.

 -sleep on your belly

-still won't roll.  You sleep on your belly but I RARELY find you on your back.  We don't do tummy time much during the day because you have always barfed huge piles when we did that.  You are closer to rolling from your back to your belly.  You roll to your side.  Go you.
-you are almost sitting.  Might have something to do with the behemoth that you are.

All the kiddos at 5 months

B and J::Birthday Party

We celebrated these two today!  It was also Adelyn's Christmas program at church so we had to be on our A-game in the morning.  Eric and Adelyn left so they could be at both services.  I got the youngest three ready.

Some pictures before we left ;)

Some pictures of Oma with little Lincoln.

Uncle Josh

Daddy reading cards with Brecken

Safety First!  New helmets from cousins Kobe and Chase.

Boy dress up stuff!!!  I think these were Daddy's favorite gifts ;)

Seeing their cakes for the first time!

They wanted to put their own candles in ;)

Brecken wanted a cars themed cake.  His wasn't terrible to do.  The hardest part was carving it.  The icing was easy because I didn't have to be neat.

This is the Elsa cake Joelle picked out.  Hers was pretty easy too.  Just time consuming to make it look neat.

Sticking their candles in.

Elsa's was coming out of her side.

This is her "Don't touch my cake" look.

The photographer who took their newborn and one year pictures contacted me and wanted to know if I wanted the sleigh we used for their pictures.  Um.  YES!  We had these sitting out for decoration at the party and used the sleigh to hold the buns.  Can you believe they laid in there as babies?!

JBZ::Christmas for the Animals

We went to Christmas for the animals at JBZ.  We had never been before because our December is always insane.  I wrote it on the calendar and we said it would be a maybe depending on weather...and our moods.  It dawned relatively nice and we had a pretty mild weekend.  You had to bring one enrichment item for your admission so we went to the store before so the kids could pick their own.

They had a bunch of gifts for the animals to open.  

Grizzly Adams went to town on his.

Fun watching the tigers open their gifts.  They were very active.  One had a huge scratch on it.  Apparently they are still getting acclimated.

Naturally, we made a stop in the bathroom and I had to snap a picture of cute little Lincoln.

The kids really wanted to stand in line to see Santa Claus.  The line was soooo long.  We said they could sit in the sleigh instead.  So they did.  And all I could get was crazy faces out of them :)