Spring is (Finally) Here!

The girl's and I spent Sunday afternoon playing on the swingset in the backyard - Claire loved the swing and Ella just loved being able to play outside again.


Claire was 7 months old last Thursday. She loves to eat and is clapping, blowing razberries and making kissing sounds. She is rolling both ways and I don't think it will be long before she is crawling and pulling herself up to stand.

Ella continues to try our patience on a regular basis - a note to all the new parents out there: you thought the "terrible two's" were bad, just wait until they turn three! We've been asking her what she wants to be when she grows up - Mike wants her to be a professional golfer and I was thinking a doctor - she says she is going to be a princess.

We leave for Florida next weekend! We will be on the Disney Wonder cruise ship Sunday through Thursday, at the Magic Kingdom on Friday, and then back home on Saturday. It's been a long time since we've been on a vacation, so we're really looking forward to it. This will be Ella's first "real" vacation and plane ride. It will also be the longest we've been away from Claire. Stay tuned - the next blog entry will be all about our trip!

Sisters

On Tuesday we visited the doctors office (seems like the billionth time this winter) for Ella's 3 year and Claire's 6 month check-up. Both girls are healthy and developing on schedule. Ella weighed 29 pounds and was 35 inches tall, still between the 5th and 10th percentile for both weight and height (hence her nickname - Peanut). Claire weighed 16 pounds, 12 ounces and was 26 1/2 inches long, which is the 75th percentile for both weight and length - she continues to be much bigger than her sister and is now wearing 9 month clothes.

Other news: Claire started sitting this past weekend and is very proud of herself. It happened quite suddenly, one day she couldn't and the next she was a pro. She has also started eating solid food and loves sweet potatoes, squash and bananas.

Ella started a pre-school tumbling class at Alpine Gymnastics with Keegan last week called Tumble Bees. She really enjoys it, but isn't as physically adept as the other kids - I'm sure she will improve by the end of the 8 weeks. We are also hoping (praying) it will help with her listening skills and direction following. She looks so darn cute in her leotard!

JJ Ranch

We went to JJ Ranch this weekend to celebrate Ella's 3rd Birthday. Saturday afternoon was spent at the Gold Rush Indoor Water Park. Then everyone, 13 in all, headed back to the Thomasma Suite after dinner. The kids had a ball running around screaming - we're lucky we didn't get kicked out! Some of us couldn't get enough of the water, so we headed back for more after breakfast Sunday morning. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures inside the water park (water and a digital camera don't mix). It was a great time - thank you to everyone who was able to enjoy this special weekend with us!

The 3 Musketeers (Mason, Maddy & Ella) - don't let them fool you...they're not going to sleep!

Ella blowing out the candles on her Cinderella Birthday cake (this one is a lot prettier than mine).

3 Years Ago...

...today, at 7:42 p.m., Ella Catherine Thomasma was born. She was a surprise, not due to arrive until St. Patrick's Day, and has been surprising us ever since.

We celebrated with family on Sunday (this is my pathetic attempt at making a birthday cake).

Surprise Visitor

Uncle Kyle surprised us with a visit from Chicago this weekend. He didn't have to work on Monday (the benefits of being employed at a bank), so he rode the train home Friday.