Necklace for your teeth

I'm researching the different types of braces since I'll be getting them soon, and was explaining them to Cora and showing her pictures. She looked at the pictures and said, "It's like a necklace for your teeth!"

We'll see about that!

"Newsletter"

Here's our Winter newsletter. We'll spare you the reading time since there are sooooo many photos. It's been awhile since I've posted pictures. Don't feel like you have to look at all of them.

Love you all!

Belated Christmas

Cora Gallery

Time to get up

This morning's conversation:

"Dad, your alarm went off. It's time to get up."

"Yeah, it is."

"But you need to say your prayer first."

"Yes, you're right. I do."

"It's really important to say your prayer, Daddy."

"Yes it is, Cora."

"Yeah. It's really important."

"And then I wanna take a shower."

"I bet you do. I bet you do wanna take a shower."

Twilight Zone at our house

Really weird kid yesterday at dinner time. Read below:

Chad mixed some peas and corn in her potatoes and instead of throwing a tantrum (or her food) she said, “Wow, thanks for the peas and corn, Dad! Yummy!” And she took a bite. And then another one. And what’s more, she finished it off by the time dinner was over.

I thought we were in the Twilight Zone.

What’s more, after saying “wow” at the peas and corn, she asked for WATER in her sippie cup, instead of juice. Chad and I were really confused at this point. We glanced at each other with big question marks over our heads and tried not to say or do anything that would jinx the turn of good luck.

But I’m not done. Once we sat down at the table, Cora offered to let Mommy say the prayer, instead of insisting on doing it herself. She then folded her arms and said, “I’m going to be reverent during the prayer.” And she was, by golly!

Later, before bed, she was finishing up a tantrum over something small, so I went up and checked on her and she said, “Mommy, just leave me alone, K? I just need to think in my head.”

Is our little girl growing up? Or seriously, what just happened? I’m confused.

Time

When some people picture heaven, they picture fluffy clouds and chocolate and angels and babbling brooks. I picture a big clock that never runs out of time.

Merry Christmas

A little blurry, but cute, right?

Just thinking about how to solve the world's ills.

Cora and Mary with cousins (Sophie and Jaxon)

This year marks the addition of our sweet little Mary Adele. She’s six months old now, which has gone by with hardly a blink, and we’re already sad at the prospect of our baby growing up. Recent accomplishments include eating rice cereal and mashed bananas, growing a new tooth, and trying really hard to NOT be adorable—but failing miserably! Mary looooves her older, more accomplished sister, Cora, and constantly hopes for any glimmer of a chance that Cora will pay attention to her or perform for her in some way.

Cora is good at making up songs, dancing in her “butterfly” dress, and finding a million ways to entertain Mary. Her favorite game is playing “boo!” to see if she can get a giggle out of Mary. Often times she is successful. Cora is currently potty training and that is going well (finally!). She is becoming such a big girl—we don’t know whether to throw a party or a funeral! She’ll be 3 in February and already does so many big kid things: she likes to feed Mary and change her diapers and often volunteers for tough jobs like sweeping the floors and doing the laundry—with mom’s help. Oh, and this year at our church Christmas program Cora sang Silent Night all by herself. In a microphone. We could almost hear it. (I think she got a little shy.)

Oh, also, Cora is afraid of hair and melted cheese--because they both wiggle and could "get" her.

Chad is still working for Accelerated Care Plus as a Business Analyst, which is a good fit, though he is always looking for ways to expand on what he is doing. As a rule of thumb, Chad will always enjoy sports, sweets and good business ideas. Any combination or permutation of those three things and he is doing just fine. If the fountain of youth were taking applicants, Chad would be at the top of the list just so he could play sports forever, and he will most likely own his own ski slope, tennis court and baseball diamond by the time he is 50.

I am busy as ever being a happy little mama. It’s so much fun watching the girls grow and learn. I always wonder what they will be like when they get older, but I try to just appreciate the small and tender moments we have while they are little. Sometimes those moments are anything but tender, and sometimes they are nothing but! I’ll take what I can get. New news on the Becky Farm is that I’m a Pampered Chef consultant! It’s been really enjoyable and I am lucky to have something I can do a few times a month just for fun. I recently got a new website that you can check out at your leisure (wink wink…) www.pamperedchef.biz/fishbein and let me know if there is anything I can get for you or party I can throw for you to earn your own free products!

We are happy to have this time of year to celebrate the birth of our Savior—especially that He has made it possible for us to be a family forever, which is one of the greatest blessings of all. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope you have many merry Christmases to come.

Diapers, snaps and bananas

Mary started eating solids this week. I think she's been fantasizing about it for a few weeks now because she went at it like a natural. It was no sweat even with the first bite! She just gobbled down her rice cereal and mashed banana and said, "more please" with her eyes. And her mouth. And her hands. She's been grabbing at my food and dishes for the last month or so, but I put off the transition for a few reasons (mainly because I just didn't want to see my baby grow up, but also because I didn't want the stinky diapers. I know, I'm totally selfish).

But now that we've ventured into the "solids" realm, it's kind of fun. Hopefully it stays that way! I've been giving her tastes of things we have at the table tentatively hoping it might broaden her palate for future meals in the Fishbein household. She loves to "sample" carrots, apples, bananas, teething biscuits--maybe because they are all great chew toys, now that I think of it. But still. Even Cora feeds her without a fuss. I think she even does a better job at it than I do!

New topic. Kind of. Cora said the cutest thing today when Mary was nursing. She looked at Mary and said to me, “When my a mommy, I’m gunna feed Mary too.” It was soooooo cute how she just wanted to take care of her and be a big girl all at the same time. She actually knows how to change Mary’s diaper almost all on her own by now, and she’s not even three yet! Just REALLY motivated. As in, she throws a mega tantrum if I try to change Mary's diaper without her help. If she knows I'm upstairs doing it on my own, she comes peeling up the stairs and yelling, "wait mommy! Wait for me! I wanna open the diaper. I wanna do the wipes!" This morning Cora and Mary were lying on the floor next to each other in pajamas, and I asked Cora if she could unbutton some of Mary's snaps to get things started while I looked for some clothes for her to wear.

After half a minute I turned around and saw Mary there wiggling around on the floor without p.j.’s or a diaper. Just skin! Cora got some of her snaps undone all right! She also got Mary's arms and legs out and her diaper off, and I never heard Mary make a peep. That was the funniest part!

Pretty soon Cora will be changing her diapers, giving her baths and feeding her, and I’ll be out of a job! (If she could just be that motivated about potty training...)