Blog Turns One

As of yesterday, we've officially been blogging on the Pullem Family Page for one year! Yay! We got the blogging idea from Aunt Renee, and we put off starting it for awhile. Finally, we made a New Year's Resolution to get it started & make regular posts. I have to say, it's one resolution that has been a pleasure to keep. In fact, I think everyone should have a blog... Especially if you have cute kid photos (like the ones below!) to post!

Like almost everywhere, our weather's been really wintery & frigid lately. So, I took the girls to the mall yesterday to run & play on the indoor playground. The breakfast foods that used to be there have been recently replaced with a "Junior Doctor" theme, and it's quite a nice improvement:

Here's a picture of the girls on the biggest (& most fun!) item: a hospital with stairs on one side and a slide on the other. It's especially nice on weekdays during the day, since there are only a few other kids there, and they're all little, like Jordi & Caroline.

Here's Caroline coming down the slide on the hospital. From day 1, she has not hesitated to climb up & slide down by herself... frontways, backwards on her tummy, whatever! If it looks like it might be fun, then Caroline's willing to give it a go!

Here's Caroline on the other slide. It's smaller, but it doesn't have any stairs, so it takes more coordination to get up there. It took her a lot of effort, but she kept at it until she got up there! Way to go, Caroline!

Jordi's Self-Portrait

Jordi has always loved to draw, first with crayons, and now with colored pencils, ink pens, or markers (her favorite). She drew her first smiley face just over a year ago, and her ability is constantly progressing, as you can see below:

This is the most recent version of her self portrait! You can tell it's a picture of herself due to the ponytail on top of her head... this one even has a bow! Other newly included details include: an open smile, a mouth full of teeth, and eyebrows. It's fun to watch her hone this skill!

Cookie Time

Jordi loves to help in the kitchen, especially when something yummy is being made, like chocolate chip cookies! I took these pictures a couple days ago:

Isn't it nice that you don't have to wait until after the cookies are baked before you can enjoy them!

Caroline might be too little to help on the front end, but she has no trouble picking up the slack when it comes time to eating! (Wouldn't you like to be able to enjoy a cookie this much, too?)

More Snow!

"I love SNOOOOW!"
Literally, that's what's happening in this picture; I just happened to capture this moment of pure joy as it came out! The girls were thrilled to see the white stuff again this morning, so we didn't waste any time getting outdoors to enjoy it. (As you'll see in the last picture in this post, it's a good thing we got outside when we did!)

Caroline re-discovered the play house today. She thought it was great fun to close the door behind her and be able to look out a window just her size!

Are children born with the knowledge of how to make snow angels? I didn't know Jordi knew what they were, but there she was, flat on her back, arms & legs a-goin'! She must have made a half dozen of them, anywhere she could find a spot!

Of course, our morning wouldn't have been complete without making a snowman! There was just barely enough snow to roll the little guy, but that's OK since it made him just the right size for the kids. If you look closely, you'll see a small white appendage on top of his head. Jordi added it, calling it a ponytail because she decided this snowman's name was "Snow Jordi." You can see how happy she is about it!

Alas, our snow fun didn't last long. This is what Snow Jordi looked like just a couple hours later. As you can imagine, real Jordi was quite upset to see her snow-self in such a state!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Jordi got things started by clomping out of our closet with my sneakers on. Within moments, little sis' was in there, looking for some big shoes for her to wear. Sure enough, Dad's slippers did the trick!
Even though each girl could barely stay upright, they couldn't resist the hilarity of walking around in such relatively big shoes!

Winter Arrives in Ashland

Well, it finally happened! It took until mid-January, but winter has finally arrived to eastern Kentucky. All week, it's been seasonably cold, and today, we actually woke up to some white stuff on the ground.

The girls were very happy to get outside and play in all the snow! (just kidding) But, no matter that it was just an icy & wet dusting, we were putting on those boots (for the first time) and going outside!

Daddy showed Jordi how to make a snowball, and how to throw it, too. She had to work for them, but she managed to make several!

Both girls really had a great time outside in the cold & wet. Caroline especially seems to like being outdoors, no matter what! Shortly after I took this picture, she discovered a puddle in the driveway behind her, and that's when the fun really began for her! Mommy doesn't let her stomp in puddles with shoes on, but boots... well, that's a different story! Boy, was she mad when it was time to go in!

Jordi Enjoys Learning!

Jordi got a new "computer" for Christmas (a My First LeapPad from Grandma Henri), and she likes to take whatever time she can to play with it.
I took this picture the other day. Caroline was napping, and I had been on the computer for awhile when I realized that Jordi had been playing by herself the whole time. When I peeked in on her, there she was: relaxed in her recliner, contentedly playing with her LeapPad!

Jordi's also been working on writing her letters. Although she's been using the magnetic writer part of this "Learn to Write" toy since she got it for her birthday (from Aunt Renee), it's only been in the past week that she's wanted to try copying the letters. I took this picture the other morning (before we got dressed, as you can tell by the pj's & messy hair!) of Jordi's letter V's. She also managed letters Y & W. You can see by the look on her face that she's very pleased with her achievement, and we are, too!

Here Comes Starbucks!

Today marked the official groundbreaking ceremony to mark the beginning of construction on the first Starbucks Coffee shop in Ashland! Being Ashland's Economic Development Director, Chris has been coordinating & moving this project forward since his first day on the job. The public was invited to witness this momentous occasion, and there was a good turnout, despite the chilly weather! Chris is 4th from the left in the picture below:

Doesn't he look nice? The other folks include officials from the city, the lady who owns the land, & a rep from Starbucks. Woo hoo! Actual construction will start soon, and I should be able to enjoy an iced/decaf/grande/1-pump mocha/1-pump mint/non-fat/no whip latte by spring! (it's been so long, I don't even know if that drink's in the right order or not anymore... Donna, how'd I do?)

Older Cousins make Good Buddies

In general, we visit with the Ford family on a regular basis, but the girls have had the opportunity to spend even more quality time with their cousins during January. Tim & Judy are in Florida this month, and Muffin has been very nice in volunteering to watch the girls for me once a week. I took these pictures after I arrived to pick them up one evening last week:

Jordi is just now old enough to start to enjoy puzzles, and I remember this one from when Emily was little! One of the reasons the girls love visiting over there so much is that Muffin always has the widest array of the most fun activities possible at her disposal. (You like puzzles, you say? Voila! Here is an alphabet puzzle, with curves even! Ta da!) Another reason is that cousin Emily lets them borrow all her fanciest accessories, like the headband Jordi has on here and the Hello Kitty "dress" Caroline's wearing in the next picture!

Caroline likes the toy selection, too, of course, but the big attraction for her in the Ford household is all the physical activity constantly going on over there! Caroline loves to race and "bop" and play ball, so it's no surprise that she's grown so fond of her big cousin, Richard. Isn't she sweet to give him a hug as she says goodbye? (and isn't he sweet to hug her back?!)

Fun Times in Lexington

I took this picture of Caroline in the play area at the Fayette Mall in Lexington, and, in a word, it sums up the time we had this weekend: FUN!

One reason we had such a good time on our trip was that we got to spend time with our friends, the Hall family. Jordi & I joined them Sunday morning for church, and then we all met up later for dinner. Here's a picture of Nathan, age 4, (in front) with his younger brother, Tyler, and Jordi, getting into the toy chest at Ramsey's Diner. What a great idea; it kept them occupied so the grown-ups could have an actual conversation! Every restaurant should have one!

What's better than ice cream for dessert? After dinner, we headed over to Graeter's, home of the world's best ice cream. It was Tyler's (red stripe shirt, big grin) 2nd birthday on Monday, so it was nice to celebrate with him a bit early! (BTW, for those of you who know about Jordi's feelings for ice cream, you'll be happy to know she wasn't left out.. that's a cup of whip cream, a.k.a. "hot" ice cream, she's eating!)

Once we finished our dessert, the kids just ran & ran & ran outside. Here's Jordi & Nathan on the "racing" ramp; it was wonderful to see everyone have so much fun in each other's company!

Time for another group picture! You can tell by their faces that they're all still having a great time together. Of course, we adults did, too, and we look forward to visiting again soon!

Bathtime

No matter what, pictures of kids in the tub are always cute! This one, that I took earlier this week, is no exception:

They love to play together in the bath!

Speaking of Leaping...

What a difference a couple years makes in the leaping department! I recently took this picture of Jordi jumping off the 3rd step of our stairs in the living room:

What height! What form! What a grin! Once she gets going, she will do this over & over & over, taking turns with her little sister, of course, who "jumps" off the bottom step only. Hey, Aunt Renee, doesn't it seem like just yesterday that you were teaching her to jump? Well, she's certainly come a long way, hasn't she? Just like Jordi, time sure does fly!!

Caroline's Leap of Faith

Caroline's constantly testing the limits of her physical ability, and these pictures illustrate a recent example of this:

Here she is, ready for take off! Caroline loves to "jump," but up to this very moment, it has involved heights no more than one stair (so it's more like a step-off than a jump), unlike here, which is about 2 feet off the ground...

...Wheee! At this point, she's still having fun, not realizing what's about to happen. No worries, though. As you can tell, Dad was already in motion, even as the shutter snapped, ready to scoop up his little leaper and soothe away the tears!

Apres Bath

Are they cute or what? We took this picture after baths one night this week. The girls are wearing matching robes, Christmas presents from Nana.

Both girls loved dancing around in their new robes with their new flashlights, and neither had any interest in putting on jammies anytime soon. However, we learned the hard way that letting Caroline run around sans diaper that long is not a good idea!

Happy New Year!

We had a big blow out in Lexington this past weekend to ring in the new year. We were joined by the Hall and Osborn families, so besides the six adults, there was a total of seven kids, all under 6 years old. The youngsters got along fine most of the time, with only a few tearful episodes!

Since kids are in constant motion, I didn't manage to get a group picture. This was the best I could do; 4 out of 7 at the dinner table!

Here's Jordi & Caroline with the Osborn girls, Miranda, 6, & Chloe, 4, after a New Year's breakfast at Bob Evans. Chloe is just 11 months older than Jordi, and they really seemed to have fun getting to be friends. I hope we get to see them all soon!

Check this out...

I'm sure you all have noticed that I've included a link to Julie Thacker's Photography website on our blog. She takes wonderful pictures, and Jordi & Caroline recently had a session with her. I have just noticed that she's included one of their pictures in her list of recent favorites. Click here (and scroll down!) to check it out! p.s. I loved my surprise and will post a picture of it ASAP!

Jordi & Libby

I've recently received some more pictures taken Christmas Eve by Aunt Sharon, and I decided that I had to post this one. Don't they look sweet?

Jordi & Libby are the same age, 3 years old, and as they get older, they seem to have more & more fun together during their visits! They spent pretty much the whole evening together on Christmas Eve, and Sharon got several cute ones of them, laughing & having a great time. It's fun to see them have so much fun together!

Merry Christmas!

Finally, it's Christmas! Santa was very good to us all, and brought everyone lots of things that we really wanted...
It started with the stockings, which Jordi discovered, stuffed and laid out on the hearth, when we came downstairs on Christmas morning.

Santa was so clever; even though he brought toys for each girl individually, each one seemed to appeal to the other one, too! This is a little magnetic writer that Santa brought for Caroline, but, as you can see, Jordi seems to have no problem enjoying it as well!

After morning at our house, we got dressed in our Christmas outfits and headed over to Nana & Grandad's for brunch and more presents. Caroline is a big fan of Pablo, so it was no surprise that she took to Sing & Spin Pablo right away! Here she is, giving him a hug after he finished doing his thing, dancing & singing the Backyardigans theme song!

Jordi got a set of tools from Uncle Al, which she got to work using right away. In this picture, she's using the drill, which she refers to as the "black & decker." Until we directed her to fix the box, she was walking around the room with it, saying, "Hmmm, I need to black & decker something..."!

Finally, here's Caroline on her trampoline, a gift from Grandma Henri. Both girls took to it immediately, and it continues to be wildly popular even a week later. However, it couldn't be more perfect for little Caroline, who loves to "bop" (her word for jump). Just look at the expression on her face! She's so cute jumping that I'm sure there'll be lots more "bopping" pictures posted in the new year!