Alright guys, here I am for another update. Once again, I am so far behind that I don't remember lots of details. So I am going to cruise through updates as I remember them. Or rather, look at the pictures.
One thing I know is we have gone through 2 holidays since last post, and are now on our countdown to Christmas! 
Halloween. We went back and forth multiple times on what we wanted to be, but I won out with my lollipop fairy. Heidi was going to be jelly beans, but she decided she wanted to paint and make herself a popsicle fairy. Lena completed the sweet Steffen sister set with being a gumball machine. The fun thing is we made all of our costumes ourselves! We had fun at our school parties (yeah, I actually dressed up like a bunny for that - because we were all animals and got to go on Noah's ark!). We also did our annual party at Avery and Mae's house. It's fun to look back at the old blogs and see how big we have all got. See, I told you I am getting big. Then actual Halloween night was so fun. A little cold, but we loved running to all the houses with our neighbors Avery & Rowan. We love playing with them - like every day. It is so much fun having them to play with.
Sticking with the holidays. Thanksgiving just happened. As we had just been to Nebraska and saw a majority of family (I'll come back to that), we stuck around here again. We decided that we didn't want a big turkey for just us like we did other years...so I asked dad to make nana's fried chicken. It was awesome. Lena was a big fan of green bean casserole and pumpkin pie. Lots of mmmm's coming out of her. We spent that long weekend raking (Playing) in the leaves and decorating the house for Christmas. Our lights are super fun this year, dad made a tent. I guess I should take a picture - next time. 
Not only did we have a long weekend over Thanksgiving, but we had the entire week off of school. Or as mom put it...9 solid days with all of us at home. (I think she may miss going to work!). We started off our long break with a weekend getaway to see my BFF Ava! They are moving from their fun house in Joplin to Arkansas, so we went for a last visit and had lots of fun playing with them. But then the next day we drove to Silver Dollar City. And go figure, even though it has been a very warm fall with no coats needed....we go to SDC and it is cold and rainy. Dad says we don't get to go back next year because we have the worst luck with the weather. Luckily it just sprinkled and that eventually stopped, so this time we got to ride rides. But before that, we went to all have lunch. With Santa! Yep, we got our 1st visit with Santa in. I told him right away that I wanted a barbie house. I wasn't nervous to talk to him, but I had no idea what to tell him I wanted - I just didn't know. So I told him I wanted a soccer ball. Hopefully it is cool! Lena didn't even flinch with her first sit down with Santa. I think mom was secretly disappointed that she didn't get the screaming pictures that we all had. Lena just sat on his lap, tried her best to not look at him, and waited for mom to pick her back up. Not sure if she is going to get something. 
The rides didn't disappoint. And bonus Maddie and Graham were also there. My favorite ride is Thunderation. I could have rode it all night. Mom didn't get any pictures of me, but I have finally made it into the zone where I can ride some little kid rides by myself. But I have yet to hit the 42 mark, so I can't ride those rides that Amelia, Maddie, Ava, & even Viv (who is younger than me) rode. Needless to say, that made me quite upset. It just isn't fair. As you can see in the video below, Lena wasn't super into riding rides. She preferred watching us. And looking at the Christmas lights. SDC is so pretty with ALL of their lights. We also braved the parade, much to dad's dismay. But I liked it. The next morning we even got some swimming in at our hotel. That is one of my favorite things to do. Mine too! I can pass. I'll wait till next summer to re-find the love of pools.
We were so lucky because the weekend before we got to swim in a hotel in Lincoln. That's right. I went out of order. Grandma Elmo has had a rough time of it as of late, so we wanted to get up to see her and then bonus our cousins Mallorie & Gabby and their volleyball team made it to state. So we had a busy weekend for sure. On top of playing at Elmo's house, we went to their games Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately, they lost the state championship in a close match, but I think they were great. We got to see most all of our Steffen family and friends! Like BJ and Tanja! BJ even gave me presents for my birthday. I was very confused when he started singing to me, but I hadn't seen him. Isn't that nice?! She is obsessed with the game he gave her. We play it multiple times a day. Even Lena is starting to get the hang of it.
What's that you say? Lena can play games and hang with us now? Yeah, she thinks so. But she still won't stand by herself or walk or talk for that matter. She is getting better and will stand up if we hold her hands. She has started trying to get up on furniture, so there has been some progress. Mom says not enough, but we don't like to see her complain. Well, especially Amelia. I am starting to get used to her fussing a bit more than her. But I am tired of her non-stop grunting, I try to get her to say my name but apparently Nala is still her favorite. One day, she can't grunt forever right? 
Hey all this talk about me, I should get to add in a word. I heard them talking about my lack of motivation (something called laziness) at the doctor. So I have been trying to throw them a bone and seeing about this whole standing thing. In the meantime, I did figure out how to go downstairs. I have mastered my butt scoot so well that the stairs are not too much of a challenge, but I do go down them nice and slow. I'm nothing but cautious. Oh, and I LOVE dancing - like all the time. She does. She grabs the remote all the time and tries to turn on music. Check out her videos below, they are pretty funny. In fact, all the videos are of her. It's ok...i get it, babies are cute. I look back at all the old ones from when I was little. Back to the doctor, why do they make those appointment so horrible? I mean those shots - HURT. In fact, I am still dealing with repercussions of the Chicken pox vac weeks later. Ouch. Outside of those, I did at least pass my doctor test by still making the growth charts. Barely. I weighed in at 16lbs 13 oz (3 percentile) and 28 1/2 inches (also 3%). Apparently I am staying right on my (small) track. And that is an ok track to be on. It sure is! Ok, good enough of an update for now. We have things to do!
Amelia OUT. Adding in a few other random pics
I love any opportunity I have to cook with mom or dad. So a day of making butterballs with mom. Sign me up! We made a lot!
