Letter to santa and random going-ons

Eva "wrote" a letter to Santa today. She is BIG into writing letters lately and has used up the measly amount of stamps we had to begin with. Anyway, it was cute so I thought I'd share.

Dear Santa,

Hi! My name is Kitty. A cat. I'm 3. I've been a good girl this year. Puppy cries a lot. A puppy doesn't say "waaah waaah" when they cry they only say "OooOOOoo!" I jump and help mommy clean the kitchen. I help lion too. I'm not shy with anybody. You're kinda scary, but I like your big fat belly. I already have a present but I want you to bring me a tiger. A big tiger. I want it to roar. His name will be "two" and I'm three. I'm going to make you cookies. A heart, flower, moon and star. I love you sweetie santa.

Love,

Eva

What else is on her wishlist? A cement truck. She's kind of a strange kid. :)


An update on Lyla: Just popped her seventh and possibly eighth tooth. (She won't let me look). Mom's best guess as to what she'd like for Christmas would be paper and electrical cords, but she will end up with something baby safe. Maybe a helmet to protect her from her loving sister. We debated back and forth as to whether it counted as her first word, but she is now saying "HI!" and waving emphatically.

I'd like to add something about Jared and I, but who am I kidding. The only thing we do all day relates to work and the little stinkers.

Playtime and Taking a break

First off I've come to the conclusion that I need a break from the computer. Not that I'm spending horrendous amounts of time on here. I only check my email and read a few blogs, but I'm finding the time that I'm spending thinking about what I need to blog about and the brilliant idea so-and-so posted and oh geez I know I just painted the whole house, but I NEED to do that to my dining room etcetera etcetera. I feel like I'm living in a fog during the times when I'm not on the computer. So I'm self imposing a week long computer fast and seeing if that helps snap me out of my electronic daze. Maybe when I come back I'll better be able to discern what's worth my time and what is just making me crazy.

In the meantime, here are a few random pictures of playtime over the past few months.La la la...this is fun

Ooo...what's in here?

Meanwhile Lyla's thinking....hmmm..this isn't going to end well.

You can't see Lyla's face, but she thought her predicament was quite funny

Spiking sisters hair

I need to tell Jared to quit taking pictures of me while I'm reading to the kids. Not good for the self-esteem! :)

Further proof that Eva has Jared wrapped around her finger. HE LET HER PAINT HIS TOES! Of course he was under the impression that I let her paint mine. YEAH RIGHT. I forgot to take a picture of all the stickers she stuck all over his precious car "for decorating" the fact that he left them on there and thought it was cute just blows my mind.

Happy 9 months Miss Flounder!

Dog-gonnit. This kid insists on continuing to get older. She is now NINE months! We're on the slippery slope to a year and I am NOT happy about it. Not happy at all. I am loving the age range she's been in the past little bit. Still cute chubby baby, but big enough to interact and show off her funny sense of humor. These days she is referred to as "Flounder" or on very special occasions "Sheriff Woody" by order of Eva who decides what we will all be called on a given day and strictly enforces it. She loves to play and have baths. Her favorite game is plowing head first into Eva's giant pillow lion and the rolling all over it while laughing like a mad man. I don't get the point of the game, but it's a several times per day event. She does not like to play peek-a-boo or really anything that takes mom out of her line of sight. She thinks the most random events are hilarious and is always reminding me to lighten up.

*random side note: Do you know the sign for "all done?" It involves waving both hands in the air like you're pushing food away from you. She can't quite get it, so she alternates waving hi and clapping until we get the point. At least I hope that's what she's trying to convey otherwise she probably is wondering why we keep taking her food away in the middle of dinner!

Happy Halloween!

We had a nice Halloween this year. (Read: I actually got to eat my kids candy this year thank goodness) I made the kiddos take about a gazillion pictures, but they were pretty good sports. I think they must be used to my madness at this point.

The sisters

Real cowgirls ride pink horses. Or so I'm told.

I had full intents to make her costume. Until I saw this one and knew I couldn't make one that cute for that cheap.

What did the girls think of the trunk or treat? Eva loved it, especially when they played the hokey pokey. Lyla thought it was pretty awesome too since she got to help dad pass out candy while sucking on a dum dum. We are bad bad parents I tell you.

After this particular photo shoot, Jared took Eva on their monthly "date" to the play area of the farm. She had a blast.

Different day, same place making them take pictures. Poor kids. I guess I can't blame them for not wanting to look at the camera and smile. For the gazillionth time.

There you go grandma's! All the cuteness and none of the sugar high. You guys should really live closer so you can experience both. :)

Happy Birthday Eva!

Last week Eva turned the big 3! I've seen a few slide shows done for kids birthdays so that's what I did for her this year. The music might seem a little (or maybe a lot) cheesy, but I've been singing it to her since she was a baby and she loves it. (It was either that or her other favorite "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley) Happy Birthday big girl! You add so much sparkle to our family.

Eva on Nursery

Eva and I were playing in her room the other day when out of the blue she says, "Mom, talk to me about nursery."

Me: "umm...ok. How's nursery Eva? Do you like it in there?"

Eva: "NO. I do NOT like it."

Me: "What don't you like about it?"

Eva: "cuz, sometimes it's crazy in there and crunchy"

Me: "What do you mean it's 'crunchy' ?"

Eva: "well, when I eat rocks in nursery it makes a 'crunch, crunch, crunch' sound and I don't like that."

Me: "you eat rocks in nursery?"

Eva: "yeah, and they just crunch crunch crunch."

I guess that explains her mysteriously chipped tooth.

Vacation Part 2

*I'm warning you. This is probably the most pictures I've EVER slapped onto one post.

The next stop on our vacation was to see my Grandparents in Colorado. It seemed so stinkin short, but after loading a bazillion pictures on here I know why....we were cramming a whole lot into a few days! Some highlights of the trip:

We went fishing. Not at the usual spot, but it was beautiful nonetheless. We didn't catch a thing, but I don't think anyone minded. Eva harassed, erm, I mean asked Abba (for many days in a row...several times a day) to find her a snake. He did this last year and I guess she figured that was his duty. He caught one while we were fishing and she loved it. Wouldn't put it down. Took it around to smell all the flowers. Aaaannd it was terrified of her. The poor thing puked up his lunch, so we made her let it go.

We hung out with the fam. Did I mention I hadn't seen my brother and his sweet family in two years? It was killer let me tell ya.

We FINALLY got a family picture taken. (Thanks Megan!)


We just enjoyed the fresh open air.

We visited the sand dunes. It was fun, but hot....and sandy....and sliding down hills didn't go as well as I had envisioned.
We went swimming. This kid. loves. to. swim!
And then I cried all the way home. :)

6 Month Lyla

Oh man.

We've been on vacation, dealt with a nasty stomach bug, celebrated an anniversary and I am having the hardest time getting back into the swing of things!

But since little Lyla is almost SEVEN months I thought I'd better give an update on her being 6 months.

At 6 months Lyla is army crawling like crazy, but has yet to master sitting up. She's over just sitting in her bouncer and watching what Eva and I do, she wants to be in the middle of it! I'll get Eva playing nicely by herself and then I hear her screaming "Lou Lou! No! Stop! That's mine! MOM! LYLA'S BEING NAUGHTY!"

I have a hard time imagining that face being naughty. :) At 6 1/2 months her first tooth has made an appearance, which made momma cry since her baby is getting so big. She loves other babies and blowing raspberries. We love her constant laughter and happy disposition.

Vacation Part 1

Living far away from family STINKS. I miss them :(

But it's so much fun when we do get to see them.

We started out our vacation in New Mexico for a few days and then headed on over to Colorado. Here's some of the pictures of our adventures in New Mexico. I love it there. The first thing I do when we get to the dirt road that leads up the canyon to my grandparents place is insist that the windows be rolled down and the music shut off. I LOVE how it smells!

Sorry about the gazillion photos. I really should figure out how to do a collage, but I'm too lazy to be technologically savvy.

Eva and Jared playing on the bulldozer. This is Jared's favorite thing to do there.

Takin' a spin around the pond

Somehow all the kids ended up in our car watching a Barbie movie one morning. It was pretty nice! We just kept passing food and drinks in through the windows and everyone was happy.

The alpacas were a big hit with Eva. I was explaining to her on the way there that alpacas don't have any top teeth so they can't bite you. That night at dinner my brother-in-law asked me if Eva had something wrong with her teeth because she was chewing weird. When I asked her about it she said, "I'm an alpaca!" Well...that explains it.

There was a dog running around with one of those cones around it's neck. Eva had recently seen UP so she starts giggling, "MOM! Look! Dog wears cone of shame!"

Excuses

*caution* You may find the following story shocking. Especially for those of you who know how sweet and kind I always am. *cough COUGH*

Yesterday the girls and I were just getting home from the grocery store. It was so stinkin' hot and I was carrying Lyla in her carseat along with 2 gallons of milk and Eva was leading the way to the house and the blessed air conditioning. Eva was going slow as molasses and there is positively no hurrying the girl.

Me: "Eva! Let's GO we're about to die of heat stroke back here!"
Eva "Mom, don't be cranky!" She has now stopped ALL forward progress and is looking at me with a hurt face
Me: "I'm not cranky!" I begin trying to prod her with Lyla's car seat so we can at least resume snail pace
Eva: "Oh, just tired?"
Me: "No, I'm not tired!" I move on to prodding her with the milk since the car seat isn't working
Eva: still completely stopped in the walkway, looking very puzzled. Suddenly she puts her finger in the air like she's figured it out "Oh! I know! Hungry! It's ok mama I'll get you some food" and confidently strides to the door.

I stood there dumbfounded in the walkway realizing that my two year old has just called me out.

I have a bazillion excuses for ONE thing.

I'm cranky.

Thank You Chik-fil-a

What would you do for free food?

Fill out a credit card application for one pepperoni pizza? YUP. I was a dumb college freshmen. Saving 5 bucks was a BIG deal.

Drive all over creation looking for a darn Seven Eleven that isn't out of their free slurpie cups? MmmHmmm.... I've done it. (How far did we drive when gas was $4.50/gallon? Darn that slurpie)

Wait in a line in the blazing heat for 2 hours with your 18 month old? Been there, done that.

Dress like a cow? YEP. I can now add that to my list of things I am, in fact, willing to do. All in the name of FREE.

Thank you chik-fil-a for this annual holiday. I will be there, every year, black spots, black nose and ears taped to my headband. Just keep the freebies a-comin.

I'm just glad this little girl is still at an age where Mom dressing up like a cow is "so fun!" Give her a decade and she'll be thinking Mom is "so dumb".

p.s. when Eva opened her box of chicken nuggets she took one look and said "HEY! WHERE'S MY HAMBURGER!?!? I WANT A BURGER!"

5 months

Little Lyla Lou is 5 months old and changing so much. She's trying hard to get up on her knees, which has resulted in a lot of face plants. She's managed to drag herself a few inches when she's really determined to get something. If I had to describe her in one word it'd be content. She loves to just sit and watch. She must be big because her size is the #1 comment we get, but she looks normal to me. We love this little peanut.

The Big Girl Bed, Sisters and Fathers Day

Eva has officially made the (reluctant) transition from a crib to a big girl bed. I sure as heck didn't want to buy a second crib, and Lyla was getting pretty gargantuan in the bassinet she was sleeping in. Eva threw a fit whenever we talked about getting her a big bed, so we finally just brought one home and set it up. I guess seeing it made her feel differently because she thought it was pretty cool. She's been pretty good about sleeping in it, but ever since Jared started work again (did I ever mention he was unemployed for 6 months? That's a whole other story) she's been getting up earlier and earlier. It sure makes for one cranky mamma when she's waking up at 5 am and I'm still getting up twice at night with Lyla. But I finally drew the line when I came out one morning to find her sitting on the counter eating the stash of dum dum pops I have on the top shelf of the cabinet. So, we're trying out an alarm clock in her room set for 6 am with the hopes that she'll at least stay IN her room until that hour. (Locking her in was not such a good idea. It resulted in a frenzied fit of kicking on the door and waking up the baby) So far she seems to like the alarm clock idea.She has about a zillion "friends" that sleep on her bed. They have to be placed just so with her favorites up by the pillow and moving down in rank from there.

Eva and Lyla are thankfully getting along. Ever since Eva discovered that other people like Lyla she's VERY protective of her. Eva insists on being the first one to greet Lyla when she wakes up. I'm not allowed in the room until she's said "Hello lyla! Good MOOORRRNING! Ooo you're bigger!" THEN I'm allowed to enter. Lyla thinks everything Eva does is hilarious. Well...except for when Eva tries to catapult her out of her bouncer. She doesn't find that quite as funny.

Father's day was nice and relaxing. I made this cheesecake which we both really loved. I won't get all mushy on here, he knows I think he's a great dad.

I keep telling Jared that he and I only get our hair cut after seeing ourselves in pictures! He's decided after this picture that maybe he'd better get one. :)

Advice?

Does anyone out there have some advice on potty training? Eva has declared "NO MORE DIAPERS!" but...she's nowhere NEAR being potty trained in my opinion. She's only accidentally used the potty a few times. Her pediatrician gave me some material suggesting a one day approach where they basically run around naked all day drinking as much of whatever they want, the theory being the don't like peeing on themselves and will use the potty. I'm willing to try that approach at least to see if she's really interested or not, but I just wondered if anyone has any advice or success with a different approach. I think the hardest thing for me right now is that I have a 4 month old and can't watch Eva intently all day long looking for those hidden "clues". Any advice/references would be helpful!

Four Months

Lyla is four months old today. She's a sweet little girl, and most of the time is happy to sit and watch the craziness or just talk to herself. She's very proficient at rolling from her back to her belly, which she does constantly, and then immediately starts yelling for someone to flip her back over. I'd forgotten about how much fun it is to change a diaper on a kid that MUST roll over. She has never wanted to take a binky, but has found her fingers and those work just fine for her. We're loving having her around.

She is rarely seen without those two fingers in her mouth. I guess the other hand is there to keep them from getting away.

Gila Valley Temple

Eva has been very interested in temples lately, so when the Gila Valley Temple open house was going on I got it in my head that we HAD to go. It's a 3 hour drive and the girls did so well going there and back. Eva was super freaked out about the booties they wanted to put over her shoes and she wanted to take off her clothes and swim in the baptismal font REALLY bad. Which she announced very loudly...repeatedly. If it wasn't my kid I would have been laughing my head off. :) And then she wanted to touch EVERYTHING! I can't really blame her for that one though. It was nice to go, but I don't think it was exactly the spiritual experience I hoped it would be for her. Oh well...if nothing else I hope she at least saw that it was important to us that we go.
I wanted to get a family picture in front of the temple, but the battery died after one test photo. So, this is the one photo we have...of me holding Lyla chasing Eva who was determined to get run over. But it is a beautiful shot of the temple!

Lyla's Blessing

About a month ago we blessed our sweet little Lyla. It was such a special day with a good amount of family in town. The microphone didn't pick it up, but I'm told she laughed through most of the blessing. She is such a sweet heart! There were WAY too many cute photos of the weekend to choose from, so I'll just include one of the star of the day and one of the whole group.

Easter

I hope everyone had a happy Easter! Ours was nice and relaxing. Here's a few pics (for the grandma's) of the Easter egg hunt. Both of the kiddos are fighting off colds, so the whole weekend was pretty low key.

Thanks for the cute Easter dress Omi!

The eggs around Lyla's head were courtesy of her big sister. I had to rescue her from having an easter basket put over her face shortly after this.