Letters to Lyla and Lottie

Guess What?

2012-01-16T20:53:00.001-08:00

Blogger is giving us the boot. Rude huh? I’ve exceeded the space for photos and I’m too cheap to buy more so we are moving!

HERE

I’m also going private (lame I know), so leave me your email address and I’ll be sure to add you to you can still read our blog. I know I have several stalkers and I’ll add you too! Assuming you’re not a serious creeper.

Santa

2012-01-16T20:25:00.001-08:00

Dear Lyla, you had your second opportunity to meet Santa at our ward Christmas Party. Just as before, you FREAKED!!! and wanted nothing to do with Santa. I thought that you might change your mind since there were so many other kids loving on Santa, but no such luck! Next year when I feel back because I have no pictures of you by Santa, this post will remind me not to feel bad. You kept saying “no like Santa!”. HAHA. This is the closest you’d let me get you to Santa. Maybe next year silly girl!

Special

2011-12-30T21:32:00.001-08:00

Lyla and Lottie, dad and I wanted to find a way to honor your blessed presence in our home at Christmas time, so we started looking for ways to do that. I came across this Etsy site that had the most adorable little hand-painted ornaments, proclaiming the name and birth on a snowman. I was so excited when they arrived, wrapped in pretty white boxes. I let you pull them out of the box and look at them. Lyla, you said “eww, pretty!”. I look forward to letting you each hang your special ornament each year.

Learning Day: Christmas Tree

2011-12-30T21:02:00.001-08:00

Dear Lyla, Thanksgiving came and went, which meant it was Christmas in our house and time for some Christmas crafts! Since we had hung our real tree the day before, I decided we should have some fun with another kind of tree. I just took a piece of cardboard, (thank you Amazon), drew this tree with a marker (I’m not the best artist huh?) and set out all sorts of fun things for you to decorate your very own tree with. You love dipping things in glue, so of course this was a hit. I had also struck gold with a new find; glitter glue! How perfect is that? We busted that out for the occasion too. Your little tree ended up so beautiful. I loved it so much I borrowed it to decorate the cabinet in our kitchen. Thanks baby girl!

Oh Christmas Tree

2011-12-30T20:52:00.001-08:00

Dear Lyla, we set up our tree Thanksgiving Weekend before dad left for work. We worked really hard to find the perfect tree like we do every year….at the home depot tree lot. LOL. We figure going to the lot is just as exciting to you as getting all cold and wet up the mountain. You proved us right and had a great time. We really did let you choose the tree and as you can see, you chose great! Everyone who came to our house asked if it was real because it looked so perfect. We LOVE the smell of real pine all December long. You also had a ball decorating the tree. I would give you the balls that were easy to hang and you would concentrate so hard to thread that little loop over the branch of needles. You did it skillfully and meticulously. I was so proud. Once we plugged in the lights you were in awe and starred up at the angel in wonder. It was a beautiful sight. It marked the beginning of the Christmas festivities, which was very exciting for me. Charlotte feel asleep on the way home from getting the tree but we let her try and hang a few balls later just for funYou were great to help me water the tree when it needed it. . It seems like a ball or two mysteriously falls off the tree each day, so it’s sort of evolved into a tree that’s decorated from about 3 inches and up

7 months & 26 Month

2011-12-30T20:17:00.001-08:00

Crazy Hair

(Hiding in the Curtains)

Dear Char, you are 7 month old baby girl! Definitely transitioned from a baby to a toddler. How does it sneak up that way? It’ like one moment you hardly move and can be held for hours, and then the next you’re completely aware of the world around you, and want nothing more than to explore it. You arch your back if you’re held for longer than a few minutes and just want to be down and moving all the time. It is amazing to watch you grow and evolve. It’s a miraculous experience to watch life unfold right along side you. Aside from the teething days, you’re still the sweetest little thing. You can play with toys and entertain yourself for a long time and will hardly make a peep (unless your sister bugs you or something). Although it’s always sad for me to say goodbye to the sweet baby-stage, I’ve especially loved watching you develop and interact more. There’s times where I’ll do an activity or pull out a toy I think Lyla will love, and find myself pleasantly surprised when you’re engaged with it as well. I love that you get to do big girl things with us more and more. I get glimpses of our future together and it fills me with the greatest joy. I’m in gratitude for little moments of beauty…when you smile big out of nowhere, when you get so excited about something you do the piggy-snort, the look of your juicy butt in leggins, or when you do that big belly-laugh after a good tummy tickling. Gosh I love you baby girl. Now, go and stay this way forever

`We lowered your crib this month after a few scary moments when I’d walk in to get you and you’d literally be hanging over the edge. You sleep in your carseat inside your crib (for safety reasons). It’s always one of those bittersweet milestones. I’m grateful that you’re growing so much that you need this, but sad to see the time slip away.

`You can crawl now!!! You mastered the hand and leg synchronization on 11.17.12 and it was to get popcorn! haha that’s you baby. You love food. Lyla was on the other side of the room eating popcorn and it was just enough to motivate you to get going! The best part was that we were skyping dad on the phone at the time so he got to see the whole thing!

`You can also pull yourself to the standing position now and pull up on everything (including me if I’m sitting there!). You picked this skill up remarkably fast! I know it won’t be long now….

`You also started clapping! It’s the cutest thing ever. We just say yay!! and you’ll smile and clap. So proud of yourself

`We had a little incident with chicken. Lyla had a plate of chicken pieces and gave you a good handful of it when I went to grab a drink. I figured it was okay, because you didn’t choke. Boy was I wrong. It must’ve upset your little tummy so bad because you were up all night puking. It was so sad. I was worried and felt so bad, but you were okay the next morning.

`You love to be sang to. You almost always calm when I sing to you. It’s so cute

`You’ve figured out how to take off your hats and bows now and do it instantly with such attitude! It’s hilarious

`I already feel like changing you is a wrestling match! You’re too young for this!! You move and wiggle and flip and turn. It’s crazy. You’re so strong.

`Overnight you transitioned into eating real food this month. You’re sort of over baby food and just like little pieces of table scraps. Correction, you LOVE real food. You’re all about bread, bananas, crackers, and anything else I dare give you. I joke that you have a food addiction because you are obsessed over food! Lol. You pant and lunge and get all excited anytime you smell something cooking. It cracks me up.

`You’re wearing size 3 diapers now. Just one size below Lyla.

`The other day you and Lyla started banging pots and pans and you got the BIGGEST kick out of it. I love that little things get you giggling so

`You are still such a mommies girl. You start whining when you hear me walk into the house, before you’ve even seen me! You can be completely fine, and then really put on a show when you hear me. I love it!

`You get distracted easily now during breastfeeding. It’s kind of the bane of my existence!! You rip off and whip your head around like it isn’t attached. Sometimes you will seriously breastfeed sitting straight up because you move and twist and that’s where you end up. I think you’re sort of inconvenienced by breastfeeding. It takes time away from your play! But you still love it for going to sleep and soothing.

`You’re wearing 6 to 9 month clothes right now. You’ve started wearing some of Lyla’s clothes because the seasons are kind of matching up finally. It’s SOOOO fun for me to see you in Lyla’s clothes.

`You’re so grabby still it’s killer! You can get to anything now that you crawl and are quite determined when you want something

`You love your big sis and it does my heart good. You smile and pant when you see Lyla and just want to play with her

`You’ve started to complain to me about Lyla. It’s hilarious. If she takes a toy from you or does something mean, you look to me with your whine face and make the best little complaint. It’s funny but worries me about future fighting!

`You’ve become my new vacuum cleaner. It’s terrible! Because you’re so close to the ground, you find any and everything to try and eat. I try my dangdest to keep the carpet clean, but it’s HARD with Lyla dropping things everywhere.

`You’ve already started to mimic Lyla. It’s amazing to me. You will raise your arms, clap, squint, and many other things we do

`You want to walk so bad and keep up with Lyla. Lots of times I’ll try to set you down and you’ll flex your legs so I can’t! It’s hilarious.

`You love peekabo and giggle like crazy. It’s so cute

`Your eyes have finally made up their mind and are officially brown like mine! You’re my brown eyed girl!

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Dear Lyla, you are rapidly approaching the other side of 2! How!!!???? Good grief I love you my vivacious, playful, little wild two year old. This stage is very much about independence. It doesn’t matter what, you want to do it, and demand regularly “I do it!” I think I jinxed myself last month when I said there wasn’t anything to the terrible twos. Your defiance is astounding at times!! You just seem too young to have such a mind of your own, and to have the desire to defy already! Sometimes I think you do things just because I ask you not to. Like if I say, “please don’t run in the street” you fight harder to run in the street. I’ve decided that the twos involve the sweetest and meanest moments everyday. You seriously do the sweetest things ever, and then do the meanest things ever! It’s remarkable how quickly you can make the shift between the two. I guess it happens this way to balance out the two. Like when you chuck everything off the table, breaking glass, spreading food about, and then look up with the sweetest little face and say “sorry mommy”. Oh you melt my heart so often it’s ridiculous. You still evolve and develop so quickly and seamlessly. It seems like you went from saying a few words here and there, to conversing in full sentences with me. I love it, and feel like I have a little buddy to hang with all day long. I think the very best sentence ever uttered in the human language has to be “I lub ew mommy”. I lub ew too sweet baby. It’s a pleasure to be your mommy.

`You get so excited by things and want to share it with me. All throughout the day you’ll say “look!” or “look at me!” with such vigor it’s infectious and adorable

`These days you think everything can be fixed with batteries. The only day I couldn’t open something for you, so I said it was broken and you said “need batteries mommy?”. Adorable

`One day you randomly started signing to Lottie. We haven’t signed in probably a year, so I have no idea what reminded you to teach Lottie but I think it’s the sweetest big sister act. When she’s eating you sign “eat” and then she lunges for more food you sing and say “more” Lottie Lou? The other day Lottie signed more. I was so proud. You taught her that my sweet girl

`You still LOVE cooking in your kitchy and try to get me into your room to cook for hours a day. Your new think is to ask me “make an egg?” which is basically saying, “come into my room so I can make you an egg”.

`You are as curious as ever. All day long you ask “what's that”? I love it

`You are such a polite child, it does my heart good. You almost always say “thank you mommy” and “peesee” when you want something

`You’ve kind a been a little gassy thing lately! I hope it’s just a phase and you’re not the farter. LOL

`You are kind of an ADHD eater. You take a bite, run around in circles, play a little, and then take another bite, it takes forever for you to eat

`You do peekabo to Char and it’s the cutest thing ever!!

I love that when you can’t find something you put your hands in the air and say “where is it?!” and then when you find it say “there it is” as if it’s all one word

`You fight me a lot on getting in the car seat. It’s like wrestling a calf. You’ll often wig once you're in there too and say, “I’m stuck!” lol

`You’re much more attentive to books these days and let me read most of a story before you lose interest. When you do, you slam it closed and say “the end!”

`I haven’t decided if all 2-year olds get hurt a lot or if you’re just the most clumsy child on the planet. I swear you’re tripping, hitting your head, or walking in to something every 5 minutes

`You think all fruit are grapes. LOL

`You do the cutest big sis duties, like tell me when Char’s awake, or snatch something out of her mouth when she’s not supposed to have it. You’ll also say “no no Lottie Lou” Like you’re in charge. You also ask me, “Lottie Lou poopie?”

`You’re almost to wearing 24 month clothes but mostly still wear 12 to 18 months. Only one size smaller than Char

`You are still my junk food junkie. You love pizza, fries, chicken nuggets, coke, and chocolate

`You usually sleep later than Lottie, so we are usually in the living room when you wake. I just love when you fling open the door and stumble out in a drunken stupor. It’s the cutest thing ever

`You pretty much never sleep in your bed anymore, just with mom. At bedtime you always say, “seep wif mama”. How could I resist?!

`You’re such a girly girl still and have really amped up the pretend play. You love dolls and do all the motherly things to them. You also wear your purse and go
shoppin”`

`When I say you do everything I do, I mean it You even wear tampons! (not really, but pretend to)

`You know where the park is and ask to go there! Too bad it’s been so cold lately.

`You’ve become more mommy mousey lately. Not sure what that’s about but you cry when I leave and want to be held everywhere we go

`The last tenant might have something to do with this one, you’re teething again. I HOPE it’s the last of your toddler molars. You’ve got the nasty bum rash again and the chin rash.

`You call Santa “ho ho” It’s so cute

`When I’m putting on your pjs at night you say “yip it!” for zip it!

`You LOVE snow and want to play in it all the time

`You say “shake your booty when you dance. Hilarious!

`You have a great memory. I' promised you the park one day and then it snowed, so after dance I just went home. When we got there you were ticked!

`Another example of your great memory: when the car we ordered you on Amazon arrived, it had a picture of the car on the box. Oh, how excited you were and begged to open it. I distracted you long enough to head to Grandmas but when we got back it was the first thing you asked for…and you didn’t forget for several days.

`You can verbalize and name emotions. You say things like “she’s sad”. I think it’s a wonderful sign of emotional intelligence!

`You’ve started some serious pouting. It’s killer. You’ll throw yourself on the ground and hide your face, or pout your lower lip and do a fake cry. It’s hilarious. Where do you learn this stuff child?

Thanksgiving

2011-12-28T22:33:00.001-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving in Idaho this year, amongst good food and family as always. I’ve decided the thing I love about Idaho visits is that everyone devotes the whole holiday to spending time with each other. It isn’t about activities, outings, or any thing except spending time together the whole time. It’s nice to be away from all the distractions. Lyla got to play with her 2nd cousin Taylee, which was so fun for her. They played so well together. In one of the above pics Lyla is brushing Taylee’s hair. While we were there we went to the Light Parade in Preston and drove by this house that does the most amazing light display ever! They have wood cut-outs of just about every Disney character there is. You make a loop through their mile long drive way just to see it all. So we let Lyla come up from to look and she LOVED it. I really didn’t think she’d give too much attention to it but I was wrong. She kept say “oooh!” and “look!”. She even pointed about Mickey before we saw him. Of course I made Todd drive through twice The drive to Idaho is long, but always worth it. We have lots to be Thankful for this year.

slobbery kisses. wonder. surprised faces. smile. snuggles in bed.

rocking in the big chair. lub we mommy. milestones. heath.

growth. jobs. brown eyes. blue eyes. forgiveness. 2nd chances. family. friends. shelter. love.

Learning Day: Lava Lamp

2011-12-20T21:27:00.001-08:00

Dear Lyla, thanks to Pinterest, we keep finding more and more fun things to do! This one was fun because each stage was interactive. First, you poured in the cooking oil. Then, you poured in the water and go to watch it separate and sink to the bottom. You watched intently and said “ooh”. Then, you got to add food coloring of your choice. After a short wait to let it settle (which was a fun time trying to distract you…NOT), you got to add the Alka Seltzer tabs. “Oh wow!” was the first thing you said when it started fizzing and bubbling just like a real Lava Lamp. It was so fun to watch you squeal in delight each time you added a tab. This was one of my favorite activity to date. We even brought it to Idaho to show your cousins who also got a kick out of it. Too bad we forgot and left it there! Oh well, we will make another one.

Learning Day: Colored Pasta

2011-12-18T18:56:00.001-08:00

Dear Lyla, this was a day where Elmer’s glue rained supreme. Dying pasta was surprisingly fun and turned out more vibrant than I expected. You got a kick out of picking the colors. I then cut stripes of cardboard and basically coated them with glue, and then let you go to town decorating them with any and every accessory you could find. You loved it!

The Finished Product

Dance

2011-12-18T18:49:00.001-08:00

Dear Lyla, you’ve gotten to where you look forward to dance each week and even say “dance! mommy!”. If you see your dance shoes anytime during the week, you get all excited, and then disappointed that it isn’t time for dance. It’s something I look forward to each week. You have rhythm and can shake your booty with the best of them.

Puffy Paint

2011-12-18T18:25:00.001-08:00

Dear Lyla, this was a fun activity we did! You mix up the paint with baking soda and what not, and go to town painting. Then, you microwave it and it comes out all puffy like! You thought it was amazing and went “oooh!” when I pulled it out of the microwave! You’re a cutie pie

Salt Lake

2011-12-18T18:08:00.001-08:00

Lyla and Lottie, we took another trip to visit Dada in the middle of November. It was much less eventful than our last trip north (a good thing) and a lot of fun. Dad did some research and go us an awesome suite right next to The Gateway. It had a kitchen, two bedrooms, two flat screens, and amazing views of the city. Unfortunately, it didn’t have an indoor pool like we thought . The first night we were there we went to a hockey game with Uncle Scott and Aunt Shauna. I was very surprised how well you guys seemed to like it! Lyla was all about the goodies and seemed in awe of all the hustle and bustle. Lottie was just totally chill, taking it in. The following day we went to Discovery Gateway which was the highlight of the trip for me. THAT PLACE IS AMAZING!!!!! It made me wish we lived closed so we could have a pass and go all the time. It’s hard to even explain because there is so much to it….a play house, a grocery store, building centers, art centers, water play, etc etc. It is the most engaging child-centered place I’ve ever been. They even have a padded 18 months and younger area for Lottie to chill…and a nursing area (but don’t get me started on the cracked out mom who was spralled on the couch the whole time so I ended up nursing on the floor). It is an understatement to say that Lyla had a complete ball. She ran herself ragged. Oh, and ALL the kids. I can’t wait to go back. We also did a little shopping at Gateway, and ate yummy food!

The Grizzlies Hockey Game

Discovery Gateway

The Princesses Come to Story Time

2011-12-18T17:29:00.001-08:00

Dear Lyla, after much waiting and one cancellation (in which we were very disappointed), The Princesses came to story time! Snow White and Bell to be exact. Grandma took Addie for Jenny and was nice enough to go early and save front row seating for the event (You’re a late sleeper and we barely made it!). You kept looking at them with what seemed like wonder and excitement. It was adorable. I loved watching you among all those kids, the shortest and smallest by far. You (as always) held our own and did all the hand motions on the dances they led. The funniest part of the event had to be when Cinderella got up off her seat to help half the kids with an art project and you totally climbed into her seat! LOL. There were only 50 kids there but that seat had to be for you right? Funny girl. We also got to meet up with some of your friends, Reagan and Mckinlee. Lottie even let Bell hold her! I love doing these little everyday things with you that become so wonderful and exciting when experiencing them along side of you.

Snow Play

2011-12-18T13:00:00.001-08:00

Dear Lyla, a few days after our first snow storm of the year, we decided we better get serious and go play before it was gone! A good 20 minutes later we were all bundled and ready for play. You looked so cute in your gear. We got lucky because Lottie was napping, so we set out to make a snowman. The snow was perfect for snowman making. I packed some random items to serve as eyes, a nose, and buttons. You got such a kick out of putting them on the snowman. It was quite the feat trying to shove the tiny gems in the snow with your mittens on but you did it. You were so proud of your snowman and would run to the sliding glass door several times the following day to check on your snowman. It was a sad day when you woke up on a seasonably warm day, to find your snowman wasn’t there. I told you he was sleeping and luckily you accepted that. You’re such a sweetheart. And freakishly smart! You thought about that snowman for days!

First Snow Day

2011-12-18T12:46:00.001-08:00

The first real snow of that year came seasonably late this year. Lyla was so excited and kept saying “noe!”. I think she would’ve been less excited had she realized snow meant the end of all of her favorite outdoor activities. Either way, it was new and novel so we dressed up and went for a walk out in the noe. I am mean and made poor Lottie experience her first snow from the sliding glass door. I held her up and said “Look Lottie! Your first snow!”. She stared unimpressed. When we went outside to play, Lottie cried (I think because she felt left out ) so we came back in shortly after. It was still enough for Lyla to get her feel of snow. Next time we’ll get serious and get in our snow gear!

Sweet Dreams

2011-12-18T12:31:00.001-08:00

Dear Charlotte, I started on your nursery the very day we learned you were a girl. I had big dreams of a soft girly paint and vinyl, but your dad’s practically reminded me that it wouldn’t be the smartest thing to have our only two extra rooms girly, in case we ever have a boy. So instead, I went right to work accessorizing your room to be the perfect place for you to rest your sweet head. For me, preparing the nursery is a way to bond and feel like I’m giving you my life before I can even squeeze you. Dad will tell you that I get obsessive and relentless about it, and won’t rest until everything is just so. I’d say everything was pretty much in order at 25 weeks. When I found the wall hanging little butterflies at Tiapan, I felt like I’d struck gold. I’d looked for something similar with Lyla and never could find them. Since you get to share her bedding, it worked out perfectly. The fabric pom pom balls were completed after you were born. I found a tutorial and put my mom and sisters to work helping me. We spent one full day while camping cutting tiny circles and glueing them. Would you believe we only got them half way done? They were a labor of love just for you my sweet. It ended up being 4 full yards of fabric cut into 1 inch circles and glued. It sounds insane..and I guess it was. But they look perfect hanging above your sweet head. Dad was nice enough to paint all the frames, that now honor your sweet newborn pictures, the perfect pink. I hope you see that this room was prepared with love, in an effort to welcome and celebrate your sweet presence in our home. Sweet Dreams.

Dear Lyla, it was a bittersweet experience to take out the crib and replace it with a big girl bed. I’m not so sure why I cried, because you sleep in our bed anyway It’s fun for me to look over these photos and compare them to your room when you were first born. It shows life, play and joy…along with a little clutter, stains and mess. When you were 17 months, we really got serious about transitioning you to this bed. The first night you did great! You only woke up one time, scared. I just came in and laid by you for a minute and you went back to sleep. It’s been touch and go since. Some nights you take a WHOLE hour to fall asleep. It drove me nutso when I was pregnant and trying to lay in that tiny bed with you to fall asleep. Other nights it’s a little shorter but still a long nighttime routine. You wake one or two times a night in which me or dad come and lay by you. Either way, you seem to love your big girl bed for jumping :0 I can’t wait until this room has bunkbeds in it and you and Lottie can share without waking each other up. It’s almost too crazy to even imagine!

A sad day…

2011-12-03T22:06:00.001-08:00

My little Lyla girl had a tough lesson in “all good things must come to an end”. After the first snow fall, we couldn’t deny any longer that fall had slipped away and winter was at our heels. We had done a good job evaded winter thusfar. the days were sunny and not too cold for the occasional outside play. Alas, it was we had one brief snowfall, which meant it was time for the trampy to come down. Lyla cheerfully helped dad take it apart, not knowing exactly what that meant. When everything was finally put away but the frame, Lyla turned to it and said “oh no!”. And started to cry. “I wanna jump”. This little girl loves to jump. We explained that the tramp “went bye bye for now”. For a few days after she would run to the door and say “oh no!”. I guess all good things come to an end.

Goodbye Fall

2011-12-03T21:58:00.001-08:00

Halloween 2011

2011-12-03T21:34:00.001-08:00

Happy Halloween from The Despicable Me Cast; Vector, Dr. Nefario, Gru, The Minions, and Agnes. Aren’t we awesome? HAHAHA

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We had a great and oooky Halloween. We started the day with ooky green milk and did fun Halloween things all day, including painting some pumpkins. Note to self: finger paint will give your 7 month old a cool sensory experience, but she WILL try to eat the paint. LOL. This year was the first Halloween Lyla really understood the concept of trick-or-treating. I was so excited to take her. She lit up at every house and wanted to eat every piece of candy the minute she collected it. Holidays are so much more magical when you get to experience them through the eyes of a little one. The weather this year was so wonderful that Lottie even got to experience some trick-or-treating. She sat in the wagon like a big girl. We started out trick-or-treating in our neighborhood and ended in Fiddlers. Hours had passed, the sun had gone down, it had turned cold, but Lyla still wanted to go go go. It was amazing her stamina. Lottie and I eventually went to grandmas and let the rest of the crew finish up. My little minions are the cutest! We ended the ay with homemade donuts and mummies. Happy Halloween!

Halloween Party #2

2011-11-27T15:34:00.001-08:00

Dear Lyla and Lottie, your second Halloween Party was at our house! We invited all your friends to come dressed up, eat ooky food, and play ooky games. The party went just as I had wanted it to..good, loosely structured fun. Lyla dressed as a witch this party (like her mama) and Lottie rocked her BOO! shirt. You both looked adorable. Lyla, you got so excited when people started showing up, that you would squeal! You played and played and played with your buddies, Mario (from Mario Cart), Addie the Pirate, Mckinlee the fairy, Sleeping Beauty, A Bear, and Cindarella. Making slime was a ball. Each kid got a turn stirring the green slime and then they each got some to play with in a baggie. Then, you guys went trick-or-treating in each room of our house! The parents took turns handing out candy. I thought that would just be a silly little time-waster, but surprisingly, you guys LOVED it! and kept knocking on the door for more candy even after the mommies were done. We had delicious food including ooky spirder web cupcakes and mummies.

Halloween Party #1

2011-11-27T15:31:00.001-08:00

Dear Lyla, you are a popular gal, and had a few Halloween parties to attend. We rocked THREE different costumes this year (It’s hard keeping you social calendar straight ). You went as a Princess to this party, and wore your birthday outfit. Obviously, you were the cutest Princess there! This party my friend Brittany hosted, and was amazing. There were probably 50 people there. They had a cotton candy maker and activities galore. Lyla’s favotire part was definitely bobbing for apples, or rather, soaking yourself to the bone. You love kids and activities, so of course you had a ball.

Learning Day: Squishy Bags

2011-11-27T15:30:00.001-08:00

Lyla is a huge fan of finding things right now. I’ll ask her, “where’s the ____?” and she’ll put her hands in the air, perplexed until she finds it. Proudly she’ll announce “there it is” in the poetic way with all three words running together. So when my fav website posted this, I had to do it with her. It’s just a ziploc full of $1 Store hair gel (Dollar Tree should pay me for advertisement huh?) and little foam letters and shapes hidden in it. She also added about a gallon of glitter, because everything’s more fun with glitter. Lyla spent forever finding the little things in the gel. She’s a big fan. Lottie also enjoys squeezing it relentlessly. However, note to self and others: if you leave the bag on the floor, the mother holding a screaming baby will step on it and send gel all over the place. Oh, and your 2 year old WILL find a way to get the ziploc open if it kills them. And then the possibilities of destruction are limitless. Why do I add this chaos to my life? Not quite sure.

Ho’s

2011-11-27T15:29:00.003-08:00

Yep, I’m posting about ho’s. Horses that is. Over the summer we randomly stopped on our walk to look at the horses (our next door neighbors are these beautiful horses) as they were feeding on the plants growing on our side of the fence. Lyla and I started pulling the ones that were too far for them to reach and feeding them. This was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. She got SUCH a kick out of this I can hardly describe it, she was so excited. “I feed the ho’s!”. Since that day we’ve gone and fed the ho’s about once a week. This day we invited Addie and Jenny along. Jenny was a fradey cat and Addie kept saying “be brave mom” lol. Addie loved it too. Lyla’s really into farm animals right now, so I can imagine why feeding them is so much fun for her. The plants we fed the horses with have since frozen and died but we still go visit them weekly. I *secretly* buy too many carrots and apples at the store so we have something to feed them. Lyla asks almost daily to go feed the hos, and the other day got into the fridge and brought me the bag of apples and said “feed the hos!”. Crafty little one she is! But gosh I love seeing her face light up when they start approaching. I can’t help but laugh as she summons her biggest voice to yell “mere ho’s!”. When they arrive at the gate it’s such triumph! She yells “there they is!”. I feel particularly spoiled to have such wonderful neighbors. These tiny pictures hardly show it, but these photos are so vibrant and not enhanced at all. We live in such a beautiful place.

A Penny Saved…

2011-11-27T15:29:00.001-08:00

We’re going to Hawaii this year for a certain someone’s wedding (that someone isn’t officially engaged so stay tuned), so we decided we should teach Lyla the importance of saving. HAHAHA jk. We’re not that responsible of parents. One day Lyla grabbed the laundry cup of loose change and I thought it’d be fun for her to put them in the slots of her penny bank. Then after the fact I told her we were gonna save it for Hawaii. She giggled and kept saying “my money!”. Sad story, when she got done she took the piggy into the kitchen to show dad how rich she was and dropped and shattered it all over the hard floor. She was so sad. So we promised her an IRA. LOL

What Woman Want Expo

2011-11-27T15:28:00.001-08:00

Brooke and I decided to brave the What Women Want Expo in St. George, and even braver, to bring our kids. It was slightly nightmareish mainly because Lyla has decided she needs to prove me wrong and demonstrate just how terrible the 2’s can be. She can be the sweetest child ever, and the meanest, which came out on our trip. She didn’t want to sit in the stroller which was a problem with the volume of people. After lugging her around and giving up and going to the jumpiest or retrieve, we had a greater nightmare at Kneaders. I’ll just sum it up by saying there were lots of tantrums and near wrestling matches, THREE cups of soda dumped out, and stabbing of the food instead of eating of the food. And Lottie screamed the whole time to boot. Phew! I’m tired just thinking about it. I had fun with Brooke though, I love our chats.

Learning Day: Paint!

2011-11-27T15:24:00.001-08:00

Paint is always a good fall-back activity anytime we’re board. Lyla got so excited when she saw me gathering the supplies for this “ooky” (Halloween) and Fall paint day. She started pulling the lid off the finger pain before I even had all the paper tapped over the table. The egg carton was used to made a tree and we used $ Store spiders as stamps. Lyla also digs on the paint droppers (thank you Township Pharmacy). She’ll suck up two or three colors of paint and then giggle as it splats out all over the paper.

Baking

2011-11-27T15:23:00.003-08:00

Lyla always says “wanna help cook!” and so of course she does. This time we were making “ooky” Halloween cookies. Baking with my helper invariably ends up in mis-measured ingredients, a broken egg or two, and a giant mess. Todd always asks me why in the world do I bake with the kids. It’s one of the questions whose answer lies in those lonely dark days, when I wondered if I’d ever be a mother. I revel in these moments….and hopefully the gals I visit teach understood why their cookies looked especially ooky.

Learning Day: Shapes

2011-11-27T15:23:00.001-08:00

This was another one of those activities that I thought was slightly lame, which of course ended up being a favorite. All it is is shapes cut into a cardboard box! I bought random objects at the $ Store (including Styrofoam shapes in the floral section), grabbed some things around the house, put them in a bin, and let Lyla go to town. My favorite part about all these activities is watching her take the invitation so easily and jump right in. How does she know those slots are for putting things down? After we were board with the items I prepared or the activity, I just grabbed a bucket of our everyday toys. It was surprising how many of our toys are basic shapes. We keep this box in our toy area and bust it out all the time now.

We had to take a time-out for stirring the gems..lol

Learning Day: Halloween Snow Globes

2011-11-27T15:21:00.001-08:00

Dear Lyla, you are so smart it kills me. I just set out all the supplies for making Halloween snow globes, which was more than enough to get your imagination going. You screwed off the lid and immediately started dumping things in. I think the glitter was your favorite. You’re getting so good at dumping that I could even trust you filling the distilled water and glycerin. I try to “butt out” and resist telling you what to do as well as letting there be no wrongs during these activities. So, I said nothing when you packed the jar so chuck full that the eye balls and pumpkins wouldn’t move! You loved it soo much that we made a second one for Lottie. For the next week or so, you’d randomly go grab it and say “shhhaakkke it!” or “look! oooky!”.

Our Little Helper

2011-11-27T15:20:00.001-08:00

Dear Lyla, you like to everything that we do. So, since we don’t have a little lawn mower for you, we improvised! Thanks for helping vacuum that lawn baby girl!

Poor Lottie

2011-11-27T15:19:00.001-08:00

My big helper couldn’t help but want to feed her little sister. This is what happens when an over zealous two-year old gets ahold of baby food. Carrot baby food to be exact. Lottie actually thought it was hilarious as well.

The Pumpkin Patch 2011

2011-11-26T23:32:00.001-08:00

We made our annual visit to the Paragonah Pumpkin Patch early this year, to get the best pickin. It was especially buggy this year, but we still had a great time picking pumpkins. Lyla loves her cousins, being able to roam, and the outdoors, so this was the perfect outing for her. I let her pick whatever pumpkins she wanted. She worked hard toting pumpkins from the patch to her little stash piled by the car. Anytime she saw a pumpkin that had been eaten by bugs she’d say “ewww!”. Silly girl. Lottie Lou slept during the picking but woke up just in time for a photo shoot. The day ended with an ice cream at the Dairy Freeze.

Learning Day: Spooky Milk Jug Faces

2011-11-26T13:56:00.001-08:00

I saw this idea on Pinterest; you draw spooky faces on milk jugs and then line them outside somewhere, lit with Christmas lights. I didn’t get a picture of the finished project which was pretty cute, but I let Lyla do one of the faces which is what’s pictured. Once I started making faces on the jugs, Lyla couldn’t wait to make hers. I’d say her face is pretty oooky!

Bath Time

2011-11-26T13:38:00.001-08:00

Dear Lyla, you are such a sweet little mother. Watching you mimic me mother Lottie gives me confidence that I must be doing one or two things right I get such a kick out of watching you take care of your baby. I love when I find your baby in your or Lottie’s bed all snuggle in her “lankey” (blanket). The other day Lottie had a blow out so she had a bath without you. I guess you figured you better bathe your baby while you had the chance. You came barreling in the bathroom with your baby and said “bath!”, so I grabbed the baby tub for you to use. We got you a wash cloth and you went to town. You even washed the baby’s neck (your neck always gets so grubby that we make a big deal about it at bath time). I think you felt pretty proud when your baby was all clean and wrapped in Lottie’s towel. Good job little mama!

Learning Day: GLOOOW Play

2011-11-26T13:36:00.001-08:00

Who knew $1 Store Glow Sticks could be SOOOO much fun. We used them in the bath, which turned out to be quite the kick for both kids. Lyla just giggled and giggled the first 20 minutes at this new and novel concept. Then, she went to work exploring her toys in a new light (quite literally). Lottie was enthralled with the light as well and would just hold her stick, turn it around, and stare. After bath time, Lyla took the sticks and used them to cook with in the dark. Silly girl. Good news, if you keep the sticks in the freezer, the last a few days.

Learning Day: Halloween Sensory Bin

2011-11-22T16:55:00.001-08:00

We did a SPOOKY sensory bin one day in October. I dyed the water with food coloring and then filled it with water beads (in the floral section at the $1 Store), spiders, and eye balls. I love when I find things that both kids are drawn to! Holla! Squeezing the water beads is such a cool sensory experience for them (but Lottie girl had to be watched CLOSELY since she’d like to eat the water beads!). Lyla loved digging around in the “oooky” bin. I can’t wait until the Daddy makes our light box so that the water bead experience will be all the more cool!!!

This is fun….

2011-11-21T20:46:00.001-08:00

It’s ridiculous how much I’ve been enjoying dressing Lottie in Lyla’s old clothes lately. It brings back all memories of Lyla’s first year alive (not that it was that long ago!). I had the external hard drive out tonight so I had to compare some photos. Lottie is 6 months in these and Lyla is around 8 months. They look similar but different at the same time to me. Their eyes are what differ the most.

EAT!

2011-11-21T20:32:00.001-08:00

My Lottie Lou, I need to tell you about this big milestone called eating. You had rice cereal one time when you were 4 months. You didn’t love it too much, so I lost interest and just stuck to the breastfeeding. You had your first real food on 10.15.11. Exactly six months! I think you LOVED it! You didn’t spit it out, purse or lips, grimace, or do any of the things Lyla did! You just went right to eating it and would even up your mouth as I approached you with the spoon. Such a novel experience for me!- I loved your little messy grin as you mowed down. It was sweet potatoes. I think this is the beginning of a great relationship with food. Yay Baby Girl!

6 months & 25 months

2011-11-20T20:44:00.001-08:00

Baby Char, nicknames must be a sign of love because you have a million, baby Char, Lottie, Lottie Lou, Lovey Lou, and others I’m sure. On the one hand It seems completely impossible that you’ve been with us for half of a year, but on the other it seems that you’ve always been with us. That’s’ how seamless your existence is in our home. Having you around is such a pleasure, I quietly thank our creator for every day. Little moments each day, remind me what a sacred and marvelous thing I get to be apart of….when you smile with the boob half way in your mouth…when you put on your little whine face when you hear me but haven’t yet seen me enter the room….when you pant in excitement….when you’re so tired you can barely remember that you’re eating….when you fall asleep in my arms and conk your head powerlessly on my shoulder…when you sooth the second I pick you up….when you take something new in for the first time….and those early mornings after a feeding when I let you stay in bed and snuggle with me.

You are so beautiful, and have the palest, silkiest skin. Your smile is so beautiful, and big, even your ears smile. You are such a good natured baby, that at times I wonder if it is too good to be true and that any moment you’re going to become a little monster baby! That’s not to say you haven’t had your moments Sleep has been hard to come by this month. I accredit it to teething (for both you and your sister). You have been waking up every hour and a half most nights, and sometimes at even shorter intervals. You mostly eat and go back to sleep but sometimes you decide you’re madder than mad and spend an hour or so telling me For the majority of your life you’ve been a good sleeper, so I won’t complain if you have a little spell. I also think you must be having a growth spurt too because you’re eating more during the day too. You’re so fun to interact with these days. You get excited at toys and want to hold everything. You develop and progress every day. This was a big month for milestones, including eating and teeth! I think you meet your milestones quicker than Lyla because you’re learning from here. You must be learning about food from her because you’re way too young to want to eat real food! But you do! You smell it and get all excited! I feel badly that you can’t really eat what we are because you whine and cry for it! I think you’ll be my good eater when you’re able to. It’s hard to accept that you’re just not my baby anymore, and that not only are you big, but you WANT to be bigger! I think you’re just itching to eat, run, jump and play. That’s the design I suppose, but it still makes me sad. I love you so much my little sweetie! Stay this way forever…please!!!!

Other things about YOU:

-You experienced your first snow fall! I put you to the window and showed it to you. You just blinked, but I think you liked it. I loved it because it forced me to stay inside all day and snuggle you!

-Like I mentioned, you LOVE LOVE LOVE food. You smell it and beg for it. You even get slightly anxious and excited when you smell it. We call you GG (garbage gut)

-You’re also pretty good about eating baby food. You had your first baby food on 10.15.11 (exactly 6 months old,,hadn’t had anything since rice cereal at 4 months) and went right to eating it. You didn’t spit it out or really even seem phased by it, you would even open your mouth up for more. I loved your little messy grin as you mowed down. It was sweet potatoes. You always do the cutest baby bird and open wide for mama when I’m feeding you. You rarely reject the food or grimace. You’ve since had carrots

-You also enjoy food in your little mesh teether and make quite the mess! You’ve had peaches, apples, and cantaloupe and liked them all

-You can already self-feed. I think that’s amazing! You feed yourself smashed up banana, puffs, and cereal

-You got your first teeth!!! It was funny, Aunt Jenny was holding you and said “when did she get her first tooth?”. I whipped around in shock and said “what?!”. I hadn’t even seen it, but there it was, fully poking out, in all of its tourturous glory. That was on 10.29.11. Your second one poked through a few days later, on 11.01.11. They are your middle bottom teeth and they’re adorable.

-I try to read to you everyday, but it doesn’t really happen because you prefer to eat the books

-You still have stranger danger and don’t really like anyone to hold you that isn’t mama!

-You get a kick out of peek abo and smile and giggle like it’s the best thing ever when we reappear

-You are SUCH a grabby grabber. So often I think there’s no way you’ll get ahold of something and then somehow you will! I used to always hold you while doing things like pouring Lyla’s milk. Forget about it!

-You love to be sung to and will quiet the minute I start a song (guess you’re not that discerning when it comes to musical talent )

-I swear you say Mama. I swear it! When you’re sad and want picked up you whine and say “maaaa”. Love you too babe

-I think your favorite toy currently is any plastic bag

-One night you stayed in bed with dad and I and it was so funny, you scooted and wiggled until you were literally in the small of my back. You snuggled right in and slept so good. It was so uncomfortable but I love it all the same

-You want to crawl sooo bad! You get down on all fours, but then get stuck and aren’t sure what to do from there. You can scoot and reach to just about anything

-You hit me softly while you eat, so cute

-You’ve become a social breast feeder as well. You think it’s a buffet that you can come and go to like it aint no thang.

-You giggle at Lyla all the time. It’s the cutest thing ever. All she has to do is get close to you and you start giggling. You’ll also laugh at her in the car, because you can see her from your spot in the car.

-When I get home from work, you will hear me walk in the house and start crying when you were fine minutes before. You silly girl

-Another favorite toy of yours is our old cell phone car charger. You LOVE the thing and we pack it around with us

-You like my feet and try to suck on my toes! EWWW!

-At 51/2 months you got a high fever. Because of your history, the Doc made you have a catheter to rule out UTI. Jenny did it at the Dr’s office on a sad sunday evening. The next day Lyla came down with the same thing so we knew it wasn’t that. I felt sooooo bad baby. I am so sorry. Please don’t have PTSD.

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Miss Lyla Jane, my big big girl, how have you grown up so well? I always feel blindsided by your development. It seems like you go from just starting to do something, to completely mastering it overnight. This month it has been putting together words. It seems like instantly you went from saying the occasional word, to putting together short sentences. It is so fun for me, because I feel like we interact like friends. You are quite possibly the cutest and most fun child that ever was. I say this all the time, but I quite desperately wish I could bottle away this little tiny human that you are, and revisit it when I’m old and grey. Capturing your essence is a task I regularly fail at, because it’s just too wonderful for words. I asked my mom the other day when the “terrible” part of being two starts because right now you are just SUCH a pleasure. That’s not to say you haven’t begun testing limits and practicing a little defiance here and there. It’s not too bad (yet) and seems to me more like learning. You have such a zeal for life and people. You live for outings and being around your friends and cousin Addie. You have so much confidence and take on new things with excitement. I hope you always hold this characteristic and never let the meanies in life steal that from you. You are beautiful, lovable, and perfect. You bring so much joy into Dad and I’s life. It’s a regular occurrence for dad and I to grin from ear to ear watching you do something. We spend most of our evening calls just talking about the adorable things you did that day. I just love getting to re-experience life through your eyes. Thank you love. Sometimes we worry that you’ll be adversely impacted by dad’s absence due to his new job. It’s a fear that just kills you daddy and brings him to tears every time he leaves. I have peace and know you’ll be okay because you get an attentive, loving dad when he is home. You have been given the opportunity to observe righteous service from your dada at an early age. Always remember he loves you. We love you to the moon and back

Other Lovable Notes:

-You say “awe cute” to so many things, in the most adorable, girlish way

-You call Lottie, “Lottie Lou” and say it almost as a rhyme. It’s so cute

-As I mentioned, you are testing limits and showing me some defiance! If I ask you to do something, you do the opposite. Like if I say “stay by mom and hold my hand”, you yank your hand back and run for the street. I’m learning that these are little power struggles. So far choosing my battles and telling you what you CAN do, versus what NOT to do it working (but I have a feeling you’re just getting started)

-You have so much confidence. When you do something, you look at me and animatedly say “I did it!”.

-You learned the word pumpkin and recognize them. You get so excited and say “punkin!”

-You have started to pray with me at night. It’s so cute. You fold your arms and say “father, thanks”. So cute

-We have started to little arts and crafts once a week. I’ve been astonished at how quickly you grasp a concept and go right to using your imagination. All I have to do is the “invitation” and you self-start. You love to sift and sort and dump things. It’s been so much fun doing these things with you.

-You ask to color all the time, but you’re not so much into coloring as you are into a quick scribble and then putting the crayons lined up in the box. OCD?

- You love to brush my hair…it’s SO fun

-You say “mommy” in the cutest little voice and call for me. It seriously melts my heart

- Not only can you do all your puzzles, but you can match up the pictures on your own. I think that’s impressive!

-You already play the big sister role in many ways. One way that isn’t my fav is that you will steal toys from her and then take something else and give it to her like a consolation price. I respect your craftiness though

-I’ve mentioned that it’s so fun conversing with you these days. The other day I wore a new headband with a big flower on it and when you saw me you said “awe, cute!”. Lol

-The minute I lay Lottie down for a nap you come running and want to be held. You say “bebe” and want me to hold you like a baby for a minute. You giggle and then squirm free

-You’ve been sleeping with me a lot more these days because dad is gone and I don’t have the energy to get up with you and Lottie all night. If you’re in my bed, you wake up a lot less. You still wake up though. Something a two year old shouldn’t do baby girl! At bed time you occasionally say “I wanna seep wif mom”. How can I say no?!

-Your fav snacks are fruit snacks and you ask for “naks” in twos. You also love donuts, pizza, toast, mac n’ cheese, hot dogs

-All the sudden you decided you LOVE tv. You went from very little interest to being able to attend to the TV for almost a whole 30 min show. I’ve realized that I have to limit it now, and that when we’re doing activities or playing, the TV has to be OFF!

-You play in the cutest ways. You will grab your keys, put your purse on your shoulder, push you stroller and say “bye, goin shoppin”. You are such a good mother too. Every now and again I’ll go to lay Lottie in her carseat and your dolly will be in there taking her nap.

-When your bum in sore during a change you will ask for “cream”. LOL

-You like order and want things just so (OCD). You line things up during play and have specific things you want Lottie and I to do. You even tell us where to sit.

-You like to straighten your hair. LOL

-Now that you understand and recognize cows and horses, you say “cow” or “ho” every time we pass a field. Even it’s empty

-You have the cutest conversations with dad. You will bring me the phone and say “talk to dada” and so we call all the time. You hold the phone on your shoulder and just chatter away. Not sure dad understands much but he’s a good sport.

-You dig the movie Monster’s and Aliens

-You like to have your back tickled while you fall asleep. If I stop too soon you say “tick!” in your dictatorish way

-You ask for “Pa” (pizza) every meal

Love you my babies!

Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon When You Take the North "Poll"

2011-11-16T18:35:00.001-08:00

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