Finally...

Ok, so I've finally gotten back to update the blog. No excuse is a good excuse, so I won't make one. I'll try to be more regular in posting, recording my thoughts, remembering funny things the girls have done, ect. but I'm not making any published statements on how often I'll post or else I know someone will ask me what's going on with the blog if I haven't written in the said amount of time. Oh, and pictures... they may take a while to get back up on the blog. You see, we had an incident with our laptop and a glass of red wine- enough said. Thankfully, we're able to borrow this computer, and once we have a new one of our own, I will provide an onslaught of pictures. Now to the fun part- the updating!

We welcomed our sweet little love, Meredith Sarai to our family on Thursday, December 9th. She shocked me with her speedy, early arrival, petite size, and amazing amount of dark hair. While I was afriad I was going to have a sensitive baby on my hand based on the first month or so, Meredith has mellowed out and only fusses when she's really tired or hungry. Also, she sleeps a lot more than Elise or Rebekah did. When I commented on that, I was reminded that Ray loves to sleep, so I shouldn't be too surprised and maybe it's genetic. She just had her two month check up today and is measuring 22 1/2 inches and weighs 10lbs 13 1/2 ounces. Meredith is in the 50th percentile for length and weight. Finally, I think we'll have a child that will wear the same size clothes as her age, since Elise was always smaller than average and Rebekah was always larger than average. Meredith is in the lovely stage of readily providing smiles and "talking." She is the cutest two month old I know, and I think it's funny that she looks like a completely different baby when she has her hat on. I'm looking forward to these next couple of months to see her little personality come out.

Rebekah celebrated her second birthday on January 4th, and we are in the middle of her two year old world. While she's the most affectionate and loving girl, she's also the most emotional! For the most part, everything has to be on her own terms. She likes to test the limits to say the least. One of my favorite things about her is that she so badly wants to be a "big girl" like Elise and even older girls. She's not shy at all with other children and wants to be friendly with them wherever we are. Rebekah is definitely a people person, always asking what so-and-so is doing. Just recently she has shown interest in wearing panties (because Elise does), and she's doing a great job. The first couple of days of potty training, it felt more like she was training me because I was the one suggesting taking her to the bathroom to head off any accidents. Now Rebekah will let me know when she has to go, but I have to be quick to get her to the potty because her request follows an immediate need to go. Rebekah loves Elise and Meredith so passionately; I just pray theit relationship will continue to grow, develop, and strengthen over the years so they are the best of friends.

Elise is three and a half and such a joy! She is really blossoming and coming into her own. She attends Tot School two mornings a week, and while the transition at the beginning of the school year was really tough for Elise, she's made a complete 180. Elise's favorite thing about school is craft time. She loves to show me what's in her folder after school and talk about her day while we eat lunch. Ray and I especially like attending Chapel services monthly to see Elise and her classmates sing songs they've been practices. For her first Chapel in October, Elise just stood up in the front with the rest of her class. Now, she sings and does the hand motions to the songs. Elise also loves doing "homework" with some of the workbooks we've received from family and friends. She can recognize some numbers and letters, and thinks it's all great fun. I hope her love for learning continues to grow as she progresses through school. Elise also seems to have picked up the art of speaking with her hands. Ray and I have to laugh at least once a day with something Elise has told us while she's using her hands, shrugging her shoulders, and tilting her head in just the right ways to get her point across. She is also a very generous little girl, (almost) always happy to fulfill a request to help with a chore and regularly volunteering to help Rebekah or Meredith with something. I just hope her delight in sorting dirty laundry and putting her clean clothes away continues as well. I know, I know... wishful thinking!

Until another time!

More talk

So at least once a day I laugh at something Elise has said. She brings such joy to my heart with her three-year-old self and sayings!

"I'm dripping! Is it raining out?" -No, that's just sweat.

"Mommy, we need to go to the hospital." -Why? "So we can get our baby!" -Yes, we will go to the hospital to get our baby, but not until close to Christmastime.

"Ollie's coming at Christmas!" -Who's birthday do we celebrate at Christmas? "OLLIE'S!" -We'll have to work on that...

"I don't know because I don't know."

Rebekah has also become quite the talker lately. She's been putting two and three words together for about a month now. See if you notice a theme with her phrases.

"I need it." "I got it." "I want it." "Haf sum pees." "No dankyu." "Daddy's zert. Mine zert." (dessert) "Ice keem."

It's so neat to hear Rebekah talk. She certainly knows what she wants and doesn't want. Her favorite word is "no" and after telling her that she doesn't say "no" to Mommy, she's started saying, "no dankyu." This little one sure is clever!

OCNJ

It looks like a week at the beach is going to become an annual event with the Bosworth's, and I can say that we don't mind one bit! Last year we got a taste of just how much Elise liked the beach, and this year, Rebekah was enjoying the sand and water just as much. I on the other hand like the beach but not the sand. Our girls will lay down in the sand, roll in it, and would pretty much do whatever you can imagine in it without the sand bothering them. Oh well! They had a great time getting in the water with Daddy and playing with their cousins, aunts, and uncles. More photo highlights:

Dutch Wonderland

In June, we took the girls to Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, PA. We all had such a great time! We drove up after church and lunch on Sunday, got settled at the campground, ate dinner, and then went to Dutch Wonderland that evening for a little for a preview. After getting back to the campground, and spotting a herd of cows right on the otherside of the creek from our tent, we had a good night's rest and were refreshed for a fun day at the park. Beside the usual favorite attractions for the girls- train, carousel, monorail, ect.- Elise really liked the pony ride, and they couldn't get enough of the water park. After a busy day, we headed home. Bek was so tired she fell asleep with her snack in her mouth and hands, and Elise was asleep before we got out of the parking lot! We're all looking forward to going back next year! Here are some photo highlights.

Camping

We took the girls on their first camping trip this summer, overnight at Patapsco State Park- Hollofied Area in Ellicott City. Ray and I kept asking each other why we hadn't done it before because we all had such a great time and it was only 20 minutes away! We cooked veggie burgers for dinner over our campfire and then had s'mores. If you ask Elise what her favorite thing is about camping, she tell you chocolate and marshmallows. Rebekah kept coming over and asking for chocolate! Some photo highlights from our evening...

Matching

Everyday ask Elise if she wants to wear a dress or shorts. On Saturday, she told me she wanted to wear green shorts. Then she said she wanted to wear a red shirt so she could look like Daddy.

Ray and his buddy were dressed alike the entire day until we went swimming at the Y that night. Aftergetting out of the pool and changing Elise into her pj's, Ray told me Elise said, "But Daddy, now we don't match anymore!" He said that she seemed pretty upset about it, but he reassured her that they could wear matching clothes again. I love how much Elise loves Ray!

Family Update

Two pictures, we just had to share...



That's right! We're expecting the newest addition to our family in December. Ray and I couldn't be more happy, excited, or thankful for this new baby. We are so thankful to the Lord for his faithfulness to our family. Rebekah already loves that my belly button is starting to stick out, and Elise can't decide if she wants a brother or sister. It's such a wonderful season in our lives!