Saturday, January 30, 2010

Just an update!

Things have been quiet yet busy around the Southern most Francis household! We've been enjoying the bipolar weather, with a trip to the playground last weekend and bundling up in the puffy jacket this weekend! Crazy. I really thought the weather in Georgia was crazy, but I believe that Southern Mississippi has the corner on that now!!!

Cortlyn is getting more vocal everyday. We're struggling some with her extremely good manners. "Peez!!" is said several times in a row on a daily basis, yet we have no clue what she is wanting when she says it! We're getting better, but we are hoping that she figures out some other words to help Mommy & Daddy out here!

We've got a busy spring ahead for us. Corey's school schedule is full of concerts, events and recitals (well... they haven't quite made it all on the books yet- but he is trying to schedule them!). We're trying to enjoy as much family time right now as possible! We've been cooking dinners at home a LOT and sitting down at the table together. I know that this won't always be possible, but I do love it!

We made it out to Target today with the sole purpose of purchasing shoes (Can someone tell my kid to STOP growing??? We're going to go broke here!!). Of course, the shoes are past the dollar spot and really- who can resist a stop at the Dollar Spot? I searched to see what we needed (a new spoon for the kitchen, a counting book for Cortlyn) and then I saw some silcone cupcake holders! I had already decided with Cortlyn's newest interest in helping and how much fun she had with cookies for Santa, that for her birthday, we'd be decorating cupcakes as the cake AND game! Well, these cupcake holders are colorful and come in different shapes. I got flowers and butterflies! I'm so excited! Strange that cupcake holders would make me so happy, but I'm a mom- isn't that what we do? I also happened to see some sprinkles that were pink and red for Valentine's Day! So, I grabbed those too! I'm thinking I'll have to check back, because they may have some green and gold sprinkles at St Paddy's day and pastles at Easter if I'm lucky! :) We'll be ready for lots of cupcake decorating by the time May rolls around! Oh, and in case you were worried, we DID end up buying some shoes for the girl! She's now comfy in her size 6 shoes.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Our Little helper!

We have a budding chef on our hands! Cortlyn has become quite excited about helping make dinner or lunch as of late! Its been interesting as we try and figure out (quickly, I might add!) how to let help. Sometimes, its easy. We made meatball subs the other night, so we let her sprinkle the cheese on the bread before we toasted. Othertimes, its harder, but we are figuring it out as we go. She is an EXCELLENT cheese sprinkler though. Maybe we should open a pizza place...

Monday, January 11, 2010

Melting for "chalk"

I know... I'm terribly behind in updating the blog. Has it really been over 3 weeks from Christmas? 2010 is already going terribly too fast, and I wish someone would find the slow down button!

We haven't taken too many pictures lately, I know. We're bad parents! We've missed 3 whole weeks of her life at this point. Honestly, our biggest task has been cleaning up after her with all the toys she got spoi- er- blessed with at Christmas. She has enjoyed her activity table and loves when we change out the top of the table for her. There is one small problem that I wasn't prepared for... See, she now understands that she can easily open the bins herself. Oh, and that she can carry said bins. Which means, the contruction bin will end up in the living room and the nursery bin in the kitchen, while the kitchen bin is mixed in with doctor bin on the floor in her bedroom. I thought these bins would be great, but I'm starting to think that MAYBE they should be kept in the closet and brought out one at a time. Oh well, live and learn!

Daddy has been busy prepping for his qualifying exams. He has spent time studying at home and at the office. Its a good thing he has stuck around the house. I mean, how else is Cortlyn going to be able to help him study and show him what he is missing if he's always at the office, right??
Isn't she just adorable sitting there with him? I could really just scoop her up and squeeze her to death!

We have now entered the stage where Cortlyn is getting increasingly more frustrated because she KNOWS what she wants to communicate with us, but her language skills aren't there yet. Its hard, when you can see that she wants something. (I know there is a difference when she is just whining!) Tonight was a prime example. Cortlyn walked into the kitchen, while dinner was cooking, and started fussing. She wasn't hungry (as I had watched her stuff her face with cheerios when I picked her up from her sitter's house!), but she didn't want milk or water to drink. I picked her up, thinking maybe that is all she wanted and when she was in my hands she THEN reached towards the cabinet where the Ovaltine is kept. Sigh. Well, I reached in and got it out and she started clapping and wiggling with excitement. I went ahead and put some in her sippy with her milk and she was happy as a lark. I wish it was always that easy to help her find a way to communicate with me. We worked on saying "chocolate" but it turned out to sound like "chalk." Chalk works for me though.