Lucy and Ellory recently.

Lucy and Ellory are 2.5, almost three! They are getting excited to have a Frozen birthday party. They have loved Frozen, so it's very fitting for them! They haven't seen Frozen 2 (we decided to wait on the movie theatre), but I'm sure they'll see it when it comes out on DVD. What a huge blessing these years have been- huge in that it's been crazy sometimes and so wild to go from one to three, but also the greatest blessing and brought so much love and joy.

For the most part, Lucy and Ellory play quite well together and also with Norah. Initially I was sad when Norah went back to preschool and they didn't get to see each as much, but it's also been special for them to have their own time. They all play with each other about equally. We've heard other people with twins sometimes talk about how one can be more dominant, but we think that's hard to say with our girls- they each trade off being the leader we think!

Lucy is starting to be dry some mornings! They are both completely potty trained and rarely have accidents, but Ellory is still working on the pooping end some (she's struggled with constipation). They are wearing size 8 shoes and 3T clothes. Ellory loves to wear dresses and wants to wear one everyday, and Lucy prefers sweats more. Big news for Ellory is that she got glasses a couple weeks ago! We were noticing some eye crossing and holding things close to her face. She's doing really well with wearing them! She still occasionally takes them off, but is wearing them about 85% of her awake time I would say, so we are pleased with that since we know it's an adjustment. Ellory is definitely transitioning out of naps. She doesn't take a nap now more than she does, but it's still an adjustment because then sometimes she'll fall asleep later on the floor or something, but then we just wake her up after a bit. She falls asleep really quickly when she doesn't nap and sleeps all night. Lucy has not napped only a couple times, she still takes one almost everyday, though not as long as they used to be. Lucy still wakes in the night about 2/3 of the time, but goes back to sleep pretty quickly with a drink and a hug.

They both love to go to Kindermusik and story times at the library. I would say Lucy is a bit louder at home, but they almost switch in public and Lucy is more shy/stays by me, while Ellory loves to do all the activities. Lucy is a mover and is always doing something. She loves to help and is great at cleaning up. She's more laid back and is content doing whatever, though is getting more particular, like setting up something just so or not wanting to listen until she's done doing what she's doing. Ellory notices details and loves to compliment people, like she'll notice if I'm wearing earrings. She can be as sweet as ever, but is also practicing how to handle her anger calmly. If something goes wrong, Lucy gets sad and Ellory gets mad. Both girls love to sing at home, read books (Ellory more so), play babies, color, love milk, and love when Daddy comes home. Lucy is the best eater. It's fun that they can join Norah in more “big girl” things as they are getting older, like Polly Pockets, Barbies, and a few beginning games like Candy Land and Pretty Pretty Princess. They love to talk about going to preschool next year. We are anxiously awaiting meeting their new cousin Murphy! We love you so much, Lucy and Ellory! Twins are truly great!

Norah recently.

Norah is growing up so fast and is such a beautiful, sweet soul! She is learning so much about letters/phonics and loves to write. She will just write strings of letters and then ask us what they say, and she loves to ask us to tell her how to spell words. She can write all of her letters, but sometimes forgets how and needs a reminder. She will spell out different signs or words she sees when we go out. She is currently learning the glockenspiel (like a xylophone) in her Kindermusik class, and it's been fun to practice and see her learn notes and follow along with a song and rhythms. I've been showing her the same notes she's learning in class on the piano.

Back at her 5 year wellness check, she was 42 lbs (65%), and 44.5” (86%). She got her kindergarten shots- didn't love it, but endured it. I can't believe she's going to kindergarten next year! We've been slowly talking about it to prep her, about going to school all day, eating lunch at school, that there are different classes of kindergarten so she might not have all of her friends in her class and will get to meet some new ones, etc. I'm excited for her because I know she will be ready and it will be good for her, but I'm not ready and I will miss hanging with my buddy like we have for the last 5 years! Norah is wearing size 11 shoes and 6/small clothes. A big development is that for the past month or two she's been going to the bathroom by herself in the night! She used to wake me up every time (which was almost every night), so her going by herself is cause for celebration. She hardly ever naps, but usually does great about playing quietly in her room during rest time. Norah had the throw-up flu back in November and is just getting over influenza B, so hopefully the rest of the winter she'll be healthy!

Norah loves to sing, read books, color, make crafts with scissors and glue, play-doh, play house/pets/babies, and help cook/bake. We had a rough couple weeks back right around her birthday dealing with anger, but that has thankfully calmed now. In general, Norah is a great big sister, kind friend, and listens well. Not all the time obviously, but we are thankful that our rough times are phases and not consistent. Playing games with Norah is so fun and is relatively new, as she's getting old enough to really understand and have the stamina/patience to finish a whole game. It's been so fun to teach her new ones! Some of her favorites are Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, Mancala, Headbandz (a new one she got for Christmas that's like Guess Who but with animals), and Pretty Pretty Princess. Norah was so sensitive towards what she watched, and still is, but has branched out a bit as she's gotten older and has watched a few new Disney movies recently, like Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. (We still limit screen time, but have had a couple extra movie nights during the winter as we really miss playing outside and we've exhausted our indoor activities, especially when sick!) It's so fun that the girls are getting older and can all play together more imaginatively and with smaller pieces- they have been enjoying Barbies and Polly Pockets!

Norah has a new cousin Murphy that we are anxiously awaiting to meet! Norah is so sweet with babies. We also watch a friend's baby every Tuesday and she loves playing with her. Norah says her favorite colors are pink and purple, and still loves milk and mac + cheese the best. She's starting to understand more jokes/sarcasm and it's so funny when she laughs at something she's watching or picks up on something funny someone said. We love you, Norah! What a light you are to our lives!

Sledding!

Happy New Year! We found a church who was doing a free community NYE party with games and inflatables, so we went to that and the girls had tons of fun, and then we went out for pizza. We came home and explained to the girls what the ball dropping was and showed them a youtube video of it from last year before they went to bed. They thought it was awesome, and it truly was pretty awesome. One of my favorite NYEs to date. Love our family! I also told them that a lot of people kiss when the ball drops, so every time they see a clip of the countdown they think we all need to kiss each other. Adorable. 

Kley had the day off of work for New Years Day, so we went sledding! It was a good day for it in the sense that it wasn't too freezing, but not very good considering there wasn't a lot of snow and it was pretty icy. There is this hill that's pretty big that Kley and I tried first, and deemed to much for the girls first run. It went super fast because it was so slick, and you would have for sure sailed into the creek if you didn't put your feet down. We took Norah to a tiny hill two years ago, but she didn't love it too much. We didn't attempt sledding last year because Lucy and Ellory were too young. This was our year!

This was Kley trying the big hill. We were able to find a flatter part about half way down where the girls went down. I think they were a little nervous at first, but they all loved it after they tried it and went several times (with Kley or I, they didn't want to go alone yet)! A fun afternoon!

De Jong Christmas 2019.

Merry Christmas! What a fun and meaningful month we've had doing lots of Christmas activities! So thankful to celebrate our Savior who came as a baby for us! We were home during actual Christmas week, so we had a really nice mix of being at home and spending time with Kley's family. The girls are at such fun ages to understand more and be so excited for everything. 

Cute snowman matching pajamas as we celebrated our family Christmas, just the five of us. 

It was so fun to watch the girls open their presents. We don't do tons of presents, as they also get presents from extended family too. They got a few small things in their stockings, and then each got a book and one present to unwrap. Norah got two Polly Pocket sets, Ellory got a small Frozen castle, and Lucy got Trolley from Daniel Tiger. So sweet to watch!

Our family Christmas shot of the year. Not too shabby, could be much worse. ;)

Decorating name cards for the table.

How cute is my nephew Will? It's been so fun to watch my SIL Elizabeth become a mom this year! 

Cousin photo! (Ellory is on a roll with facial expressions this round.)

Papa and Amma did a little scavenger hunt for the girls leading up to a big reveal in the end that we are going to DISNEY WORLD as a family this May! So so fun! Everyone got one gift this year since the trip is the big ticket item. So generous! (So these summer hats were one of the clues.)

Opening the suitcase for the final clue!

Merry Christmas from the De Jong/Guthmiller crew! (Ellory likes to wrap herself up in big blankets and walk around pretending to be Queen Elsa, so that's what she's doing here.)

We started a new tradition this year of Find the Pickle! Apparently that's a thing? I hadn't heard of it before, but several other families we know do it, so we tried it and it was fun! It's literally searching for a small toy pickle and the winner got an amazon gift card. People got into it more than I thought they would!

Testing out Will's new car mat.

Disney princess figurines! How fitting that they can meet the princesses at Disney!

Lucy and Ellory got backpacks for preschool next year- bittersweet! They are all growing up so.

Norah got a bunk bed for her babies.

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed celebrating Christ's birth!

Recent reads.

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom- I had had this on my list for awhile, mainly because it seemed like a classic, and it was nice because I didn't have to wait for it at our local library. I enjoyed it, but also yearned for Christian aspects, as I believe believing in Jesus is the most important thing, but Morrie seemed to take bits and pieces of various religions. I did appreciate his positive outlook despite suffering great difficulty and his value on relationships.

Risen Motherhood: Gospel Hope for Everyday Moments by Laura Wifler and Emily Jensen- A women's Bible study I am in recently finished this, and I thought it was really good! I thought it was very applicable and relatable, and deeply encouraging. I loved how it went through different topics, and within each topic went through how that related to creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. It was also challenging in ways, to persevere in your Christian walk and to serve steadfastly and joyfully. I would definitely recommend!

Ghosted by Rosie Walsh- I heard this recommended somewhere, but I can never remember where because my book list is so long. I enjoyed it! I thought the first part was a little slow moving, but I loved parts two and three. It was intriguing to make you want to find out the story, and I was also satisfied with the ending. It's about a couple who only spends a week together, but falls in love, and then she suddenly stops hearing from him and she tries to discover why and there's a big secret. It's hard to say more than that without giving too much away, but it was worth the read!

Ellory, my sweet glasses buddy.

Big news in Ellory's world- she got glasses! So adorable!

We had been noticing a little eye crossing, and mainly looking at things closely (like standing close to the TV, holding books close to her face, and always walking up and staring at the book during story time at the library). I actually took her in last year to have her checked for this, but they said she seemed okay (but she was also not as communicative or able to cooperate as much as she was this year). I took her in again just to double check because I was still noticing some things, and thankfully I did, because they said she definitely needed glasses and her prescription is fairly strong! Her eyes/prescription are incredibly similar to mine, so I guess she got all my genetics in that category.

Supportive sisters, my three beautiful girls!

Kley doesn't wear glasses/contacts, so it was special that I could relate to her since I do. Glasses buddies!

I'm writing this on day one of having them, and so far she thought they were really neat for about an hour and then didn't want to wear them after that. Praying that this is a smooth transition for her, that she will get used to wearing them quickly and that she would realize that they help her see better and thus want to wear them!

Now, right before publishing this, she's had them a week and a half, and it's going pretty well! She still occasionally takes them off, but is wearing them the majority of the day. Way to go, Ellory!

Norah's church Christmas program 2019.

Norah had her Christmas program at church and she did great! She was pretty shy about it for a couple weeks before and didn't even want to do it, but we tried to talk positively about it and keep reassuring her that all her friends would be up there doing it with her. She did great! She didn't seem shy the day of and even sang and did the actions. Way to go, Norah! We'll always be your biggest fans!

One of Norah's good friends, Ainsley, that she stood by during the concert. They go to preschool together too!