A few more things...

While I'm waiting for one coat of paint to dry here's a quick update...

1. Why must some things be learned the hard way? When it comes to paint brushes, you get what you pay for.
2. Will is finally walking. I know, right?
3. He is also a really good talker. He can say a whole bunch of words really well. My favorites include: Wuv woo (love you), MAM! (mom), cwacka (cracker), ad Pa Pa (grandpa).
4. Will can also throw a tantrum like nobody's business (which including hitting).
5. But, he loves and cuddles so much that I almost forget about those tantrums.
6. Liv is getting to be a great helper. And a piece of gum is her favorite reward!
7. Nat King Cole has the best Christmas album. Ever.
8. Bing Crosby's is pretty great, though.
9. Almost finished with two quilts. Now, to finish this painting project so that I can check those off my list!
10. Tyler is starting to clean up the paint while I sit here and blog. And he hasn't said one word about it. Love him.

The Things Kids Say

I'm taking a quick break from our painting project so I don't forget some of these precious things Liv is saying. Let me preface this by saying that I apologize in advance if you hate reading about stuff like this. But I can't resist.

Wendi was watching my kids tonight. Evidently Liv had gas. Pretty bad.
Wendi pulled a face and said, "Woah! What was *that*?"

Liv said, "My bum is talking." (Let me say we do NOT talk about it like that, LOL... which is why it was so funny).

Wendi continued, "Really? What is it saying?"
Liv, in a low, slow, growling, moster-like voice, answered "FEED ME..."

Wendi said she died laughing. And Tyler and I got a great laugh hearing about it. I think Liv said that because when she says she isn't hungry I often say, "Are you sure? I think I hear your tummy growling saying, 'FEED ME!"

You sure get an idea of the things you say (or do) too much once you have kids. Liv loves saying, "Mom, I've been a long day." It's usually after she lets out a big sigh. I guess I know what she hears me saying! Or when Tyler gets home from work she'll say, "Dad, you been a long day?"

Now, back to painting. We're almost done with the trim. I like it better already.

"Hi"

Will has picked up his first word. He says it to everyone, anytime you walk in the room, pick him up, or make eye contact he gives a big grin and says, "Hi." It's so cute because it actually sounds more like he's saying "eye." It's like he's so happy and proud of himself that he just has to say it all the time. He can't quite get the wave down at the same time-- I guess that's like patting your head and rubbing your belly... it takes some practice. LOL.

Will does say "mom" and "dad" but I don't really count those as his first words.

Life at our house...

I wrote this post a couple months ago (April, to be exact) but never got around to finishing it. So, I figured I might as well post it now. I think I'm going to see if I can get around to a few more updates...

It seems like so much has been going on lately. My sister had her baby (she's so cute... more on that later), My parents spent 2+ weeks in Italy and France, Madison camped out at my house for a few weeks, not to mention Valentines, Easter, and we've been making trips to the park on warm days and trying to find stuff to keep us busy on snowy days (which seem to be too frequently lately!).

Olivia and Will are changing so much every day. I can't get enough of them. It's crazy how something that requires so much work and sacrifice can be so rewarding. They're so tiring, they push all my buttons, they stress me out, make me worry, and yet they make my heart swell with happiness every time I look at them. I am in love with my kids.

Olivia has become a real chatterbox (hmmm... I wonder where she gets it?). Last night she told Tyler that he was her boyfriend. I said, "No! He's my boyfriend!" She quickly responded, "No, me!" Tyler was just eating it up. He loved it.

Olivia walked in the bathroom while Tyler was shaving and getting ready one morning. She handed him his deodorant. He lifted up his arm and Olivia gave him a disgusted look. She waved her hand around as if to dismiss the horrific sight of his underarm hair and said, "Oh, dad! Dat's a mess!" He laughed and lifted up the other arm and she said, "Eeeeewwww!" Tyler informed me that she is no longer allowed to watch him put on deodorant! LOL.

I was nursing Will and Olivia walked up to me and said, "Mom, feed me!" We laughed so hard. I haven't nursed her for a long time, so I don't know where that came from. But don't worry, I made her dinner instead.

One night I said to Olivia, "Dad is going to feed Will." I meant that he was going to feed him solids (obviously) but Olivia misunderstood because she pulled up his shirt, pointed to Tyler's bellybutton and said, "Dat not feed Will." Again, we laughed so hard.

One day Olivia was supposed to be going down for a nap but was doing her best to stay awake. She kept trying to get my attention by knocking on her bedroom door and calling, "Mom! Moooooom! Ma Ma..... MOM!" After about 10 minutes she realized I was ignoring her so she started yelling, "MAY-DUN! MAY-DUN! MAY-DUN!" I had never heard her call me by my first name, so you can imagine how funny it was. Wendi heard her do it again the next day and Wendi was laughing so hard she was crying.

Now she tries to call me by my first name periodically--mostly when she is trying to be a smart alec (she's no dummy!). I tell her to call me Mom and to try again. One time she said, "No, YOU call ME Haley." Oh, that girl is so full of it! I sure love her.

She insisted on wearing her blue Wendy/princess/nightgown-dress to Costco this week. Complete with plastic Snow White high heels. She wore the same outfit to a family dinner at grandma's house (but she had to eat naked because she didn't want to get her dress dirty). And today she wore a different blue princess dress to the park.

Disappointment

I told Olivia we were going shopping today and she said, "And mimimming sussons?" (Seriously, the way she says it is so cute).

She had a bewildered and very sad look when I told her that we didn't have swimming lessons any more.

Swimming Lessons, round 2

Liv started swimming lessons last week. She loves it. She is so eager to jump in the water that I have to remind her to wait until Pam is ready for her. Her favorite part is jumping off the diving board!

Watch carefully... you can see that she can turn over and float on her back all by herself. She just turned 2 years old, so I think that's a pretty big accomplishment!

(Update: Sorry, the videos don't upload very well. They're grainey and hard to see. Maybe I'll try YouTube to see if they're any better that way).



The diving board...

Dinner...

Who asks for second helpings of cucumber, tomatoes and spring mix salad but wouldn't even eat a second bite of chicken pot pie?

That would be Olivia. She loves the weirdest foods. Don't get me wrong, I love that she will eat healthy foods, but it surprises me sometimes. Now, if only I could get her to eat broccoli.

Olivia turns TWO!

I know everyone says this but it is so true!... they grow up so fast! What happened to my little baby? I can't believe I have a two year old. We sure love having Olivia in our family. She makes us laugh every day. She is so loving and helpful. I never knew kids could bring so much happiness.

The pictures are out of order, but I'm not going to fix it.

My family came over on Sunday afternoon so Amanda and Seth could be here to celebrate.
The cake was a better experience this year. She wouldn't even eat it last year. She actually gagged when Tyler tried to get her to touch it. But this year she just dove right in (well, after everyone stopped staring at her and putting her in the spotlight!).
The last thing I said to Tyler before everyone arrived was, "Don't let me forget to change out of this t-shirt." But, I was trying to finish Olivia's "2" shirt and forgot. I remembered 1/2 way through the party when Tyler snapped this shot of me. Olivia was spoiled by everyone. Princess toys, a new dress, new outfit, a little cookie set and more. Every time she opened a gift she wanted to get the toy out of the package. Maddie kept trying to get her to move on to the next gift. I don't think Olivia quite understood that each package contained another toy! She was so caught up in whatever she was looking at that she just had to open it!
My mom even wrapped the gifts in Princess wrapping paper. Olivia was delighted!

Haley and Will.






Tyler's mom & dad came over on Monday night (her actual birthday). By this time she had figured out that inside those presents were TOYS! She couldn't wait to get them opened.

A few pictures...

I just want to eat his cute face. I love it.

One day I went to wake Olivia up from her nap and this is how I found her. As I've said before, the girl is a nudist. And notice the two bottles of medication on the bed? She found them in the drawer. They've since been moved to a safer place.
The day we went to pick up Olivia's bed & mattress we decided to just take the Pilot. Tyler was sure it would fit. Well, it did fit. Barely. Barely, like 1/8" more and it wouldn't have fit. We had to rearrange the car seats and move the driver seat all the way up so far that Tyler couldn't fit behind the wheel. So I had to drive home. We got a good laugh at it.
One morning I woke up and found this. Evidently Olivia had woken up really early (this was when she could still get out of her room... before door knob covers). They got bored, so Tyler pulled out the big, long, banquet table and propped it up on the couch. He added a slippery blanket and voila! A SLIDE!

Halloween 2009

I'm finally getting around to posting about Halloween. Geez.

Olivia went as Wendy. She's been watching Peter Pan lately and really likes Wendy, probably because of her aunt Wendi. My mom had bought this cute blue "princess" nightgown for Olivia a few weeks ago, and I decided it would make the perfect Wendy costume. Haley's mom made a cute little Peter Pan costume for Will. He looked pretty darn cute, but he slept the whole night.

Olivia practically refused pictures (and therefore we have none of the two kids together) and leaving to go trick-or-treating. But, once she got over her fear of Kyler and Haley in green face paint she decided she'd go with them (aunts & uncles are always more fun than mom & dad!). Here she is, lagging behind Kyler and Haley. She wasn't too sure about following them.

This is the best picture that I was able to get. Seriously, the girl wouldn't cooperate. Once she figured out that each house was putting candy in her bucket she perked right up and started moving a little faster!



Kyler and Haley always have the best Halloween costumes (her mom makes them). Click here to see them as Batman & Catwoman. Kyler was once a Ninja Turtle, you know, back when he was about 4 or 5 years old. And now that he's grown up, not much has changed. Their Halloween costumes were his choice this year (obviously!).She loves Kyler. He plays with her like he's still a 4 year old kid. She even cries for him when we leave and asks for him during the day. It's cute.Here is Will, asleep, shortly after 6:00pm. The little hat was my favorite part. (Ignore the maroon striped sleeves... I put that on to keep him warm while we went trick-or-treating, but he fell asleep.)

Since we've been potty training we can't keep this girl clothed. She strips faster than you can blink. Here she is, in her semi-naked glory, enjoying a slice of pizza.

Updates...

Boring title, I know. Perhaps my post is too boring if I can't even think of something more creative for a title.

Transitioning to the big girl bed has not been too bad. It was a little rough that first week but she's finally sleeping until a decent time in the morning. I think the end of daylight savings and the freedom of being able to get out of bed (both her crib and the big bed) were the root of that problem. She slept until about 7:00am today. Her little personality gets stronger every day. We are constantly laughing at things she says and does. Her pronunciation of certain words is the BEST. Mickey Mouse? Ni-mow. But then she says words like "scissors" as clear as can be. She's so adorable.

I've debated about posting this here because my friend, Julie, and I both think that posting good sleeping habits on a blog seem to jinx us. BUT, after a horrible growth spurt and teething, I think Will is finally starting to sleep better (knock on wood). He's reaching for things and loves looking in the mirror. He's getting so chubby and I love his soft skin. It's hard to remember when Olivia was that little. Time goes by so quickly! I try to cuddle and kiss his little body as much as possible. After his bath I smell him constantly. I just want to remember that clean baby smell forever. It's so peaceful and soft. It's relaxing and happy. Mmmm.

Last Saturday my mom, Wendi, Madison and I got together to put up Christmas trees. We decided to make a day out of it. We worked together and moved from house to house. We always have fun doing it together. Tyler also put lights up on our houses (our house, Wendi's house, and my mom's). My goal was to have all my decorating and shopping done by Thanksgiving. I won't be completely done with the shopping, but I'll be close. I even have a few gifts wrapped. I love not working during the holidays. September through December was such a busy time at work that the holidays always seemed to pass by without any celebration. I am so grateful that I get to ENJOY this time of year now.

I'm downloading pictures right now, so I'll post them as soon as they're finished.

Catching up

I have a bunch of photos to post. These aren't the most recent pictures, but my camera is dead and out in the car. So, I'll upload Halloween and other photos later. For now, enjoy these.

Painting pumpkins in St. George. She is so proud of that beautiful pumpkin.

Here's my little man. He is getting so big.
Olivia never even liked a binky (despite my efforts to make her a binky baby) but she always likes to take Will's. She usually yanks it out of his mouth. Poor guy. Most of the time she makes him smile, but she can be a little rough! In fact, we moved her car seat to the 3rd row in the Pilot because she was torturing Will in the car (poking eyes out, yanking on his arms, etc). Some day he'll be twice her size, and then she'd better watch out. Good thing he won't remember all of the battle wounds he's received from her over zealous loves.

He melts my heart. He is starting to look a little more like Olivia. I'll have to pull up some old photos. He is such a happy baby. He jabbers all day long and loves attention. But he is so content if I need to clean or cook dinner. He'll usually just hang out patiently. Oh, I love him.

Isn't this the cutest thing ever? I was making breakfast and turned around to see her entertaining her brother with her princess book.

My kids make me so happy. Even when they decide that their day should start at 6:00am with the ending of daylight savings. Even when they wake me up countless times during the night and rob me of my precious, much-needed sleep. And yes, even when they pee on my carpet and spit-up down my shirt. I love them.

Big Girl Bed

Tonight is Olivia's first night in her big girl bed. It's also her first night with door knob covers to prevent her from escaping.

She got out of bed once and found that she couldn't open the door. She cried. Hard. Since she wasn't in the comfort of the bed she was familiar with, I decided to go back in and stay with her a little longer. She kept saying, "door, up." I guess that meant she didn't like finding herself behind a locked door? Hmmm... maybe these knob covers will work?

A few minutes later I kissed her goodnight and told her that I would close the door if she got out of bed.

Sure enough, she got out of bed.

So, I took her back in, laid her down, walked out and closed the door behind me.

I didn't hear another peep out of her. She didn't even rattle the door knob. It worked.

Awesome.