Saturday, December 4, 2010

Rice Everywhere!!

Lizzie is my little shadow. Whenever and wherever I am going, she is too. The other day as I was holding Julie in my arms, I noticed her drifting off to sleep. Just in time for nap time! So I'm wanting to go slip her into her crib for a nice nap, but I KNOW that Lizzie is going to be following close at my heels. And Lizzie's favorite thing to do lately is scream really loud around baby Julie just to get a rise out of her (and me usually). So I explain to Lizzie that I really need her to stay downstairs while I put her sister to bed. I assure her that i will be right back very soon! Liz responds with an excited "OK!" Then, to my amazement she actually does stay downstairs! (This is a VERY rare moment that she is ok with not being within my immediate vicinity, even for a minute. I often hear her desperately screaming, "Wait for me Momma!" if she feels I am heading upstairs too quickly for her pace.) So I'm quietly slipping Julie into her bed upstairs while thinking, "I'm so proud of Lizzie for listening!" A total of 2 minutes passes from the moment I leave Lizzie, run upstairs, lay Julie in bed, run downstairs, to the next moment where I catch her THROWING handfuls of rice as fast as she can into the hallway. She looks at me, looks at the rice on the floor, and then jumps onto her stomach and starts flailing her arms and legs saying, "Look Momma! I swimmin in the watey!!(aka:water)"

My reaction: Not happy and about to discipline harshly, but the swimming act is so amusing it disarms me. I am now seeing this situation in a more humorous light and what the heck...

the mess is already made so we might as well have a little fun with a whole lot of rice on the floor! So we did some more swimming...backstroke, breaststroke, the butterfly... that was the first (and hopefully last) time I have ever gone swimming in pool of rice.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Baby Lucy

Mary had her baby! Cute little Lucy is here! She is such a precious little baby and it was so fun to visit her.

Took a couple pics of the lil sweetie but I think this photoshoot will have to be continued at a later time! It was pretty crazy trying to get pics while taking care of 2 crying babies and 2 toddlers running around! We'll put that thought on hold til a day the husbands are around...

Thanksgiving


Here are a couple pictures from Thanksgiving! A lot of the family was out of town so Jamie, Jason, Mike, the kids, and the Clarks all got together for some turkey eating!

We had a great time and went to see the "Tangled" Rapunzel movie afterwards.
There are so many blessings to be thankful for... a wonderful husband and two fun little turkeys...to name a few!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Snow!!!


The snow came early and surprised us all! Lizzie was very excited to run around in the snow and help build a snowman!



Eventually a snow ball fight ensued...and then there was a lot of running and chasing!
The snow was absolutely perfect for building a snowman! There was no grass showing when we stepped outside, but as we rolled the snow into balls it stuck so well that it seemed to lift every last flake of snow in those areas! Five minutes later we had an amazing snowman! Then five min after that Liz was ready to go inside!

Julie opted to stay inside where its warm so Dave and I rotated watching her and playing with Liz.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

4 Month Old Julie

Julie is 4 months old! She's a petite little girl in the 25th percentile for height and weight. It looks like she's going to keep her bright blue eyes like her big sis and insanely long eyelashes to match! She has the cutest little smile and makes what I call her "cartoon eyes". Its very similar to the Puss in Boots (from Shrek) look.




Julie's little muscles are getting stronger and she loves to stand. She will stand and hold her own weight for a good 2-3 min. as long as she has a hand to hold for balance. She's attempting locomotion by rolling from side to side and spinning her body in circles. She'll even slowly scoot on her back by raising her legs high and slamming them down hard, over and over again.
She's been testing out her little vocal cords lately, too. Cooing, laughing, raspberry noises, etc. Her favorite things to do are sit on her Mama's lap, be carried around in a Bjorn, and laying on her mat with all the toys dangling above. She's very good at spotting fun objects, grabbing them, batting at them, and stuffing them into her mouth.
Julie has such a sweet, mellow attitude. She's very quick to smile and laugh. Although, she's just barely starting to be leary of strangers at times. She's a great sleeper still- down by 7 every night like clock work and usually up around 8 or 9. Her big smiles in the morning are my favorite. She always wakes up in such a cheery mood!

2 Years Old















Jamie took some adorable 2 year old portraits of Lizzie and here is a little sneak peak...there are more pics to come soon.

I hope I always remember the little details about my little 2 year old Lizzie.. hopefully this will help:
There is never a dull moment when you live with a two year old. Especially a two year old with personality plus! This past year Liz's imagination has come into full bloom. Lenny, Meow, Misty, Purry, and Hoot are continual and ever present friends that talk, play, eat, have tea parties, laugh, dance, jump, and need diaper changes. I think Liz has categorized her little sister in with these animals as well. Julie gets played with in much the same way.. Since Julie is as silent as her animal friends, Lizzie includes her in the narration of emotions, needs, and even the pretend meals.

Lizzie is still a complete and total Daddy's girl. She tells me many times throughout the day, "Daddy at work! Daddy come home soon! I love daddy so much!" Its a favorite activity for all of us to go visit Daddy for lunch!

We've discovered this past year that Lizzie recieved a strong dose of mom and dad's indepent, stubborn-at-times genes. Even as an infant I described Liz as opinionated and now that she's two she's working on asserting those opinions!

Despite her many opinions and wants, she is very polite for a toddler! She uses please and thank you's all on her own, spontaneosly throughout the day. So many people and strangers comment to me on how polite she is.


Liz, you are so much fun to have around- we love you!

Favorite Activities: Coloring, Play-doh, Elefun, card games (memory), everything outdoors, going to the park, visiting family, reading, going to the movies, playing with her kitchen, and playing with stuffed animals.

Favorite Color: Yellow (Its been her favorite color since she was 12 months old)

Favorite Words/Phrases: Doo ba doo ba doo ba doo ba DAH!! doo ba DAH! and Peeeyah! (Ok so this is Dave and I's favorite things she says...family joke and made up words that have carried on since she was about 12 months)

Favorite Animal: Cats (including Lions)

Favorite Foods: Raisins, all fruit, french cut green beans, Go-gurt, and hotdogs (she thinks bratworst and other sausages are "hotdogs")
Favorite Candy: Jelly Beans and M&Ms

Favorite Song: The Beatles-- Come Together

Favorite Book: All David Shannon books like "Too Many Toys" and "Good Boy Fergus!" (We had to put away the ones about naughty David though because she was getting bad ideas!)
Favorite Movie: Beauty and the Beast












Toddler Academia: You've known your alphabet, numbers, and colors since you were 14 months old! At this point you enjoy learning to spell, recognizing written words, two letter phonics (ch, sh, etc), and reverse recognition and matching games. You're very good at answering questions like "Can you think of a "T" word?"
Nicknames for her sister: "Julie Jewels" and "The Giant One" (See below for explanation)


Funny Toddler Thoughts: I was unaware that tiny and giant were a part of Lizzie's vocabulary until the other day. I was saying how big Julie was getting and she said, "Baby Julie is a giant one!" Then I said, "If baby Julie's the giant one, what does that make you?" So she thought a minute and said, " A tiny one!" (She is still trying to work through her wanting to be a baby issue! She certainly seems to wish baby Julie would surpass her in size and age!) Lizzie has been calling her "The Giant One" ever since.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Lions, Tigers, and Leopards...

Lions, tigers, and leopards....and a failed wild cat tamer!! Oh my!!! Us wild kitty cats can not be tamed! Poor Dave tries so hard to tame us but its an impossible feat...as you can see from all the scars, scratches, and torn clothes.

We are wild women- hear us ROAR!


On Halloween day all of Lizzie's wildest dreams came true! She didn't have to pretend to be a lion like her favorite stuffed friend, Lenny. She got to BE a lion! Big thanks to my mom who made all the kiddie costumes!
And Julie was the cutest little baby leopard!
She was a good sport about wearing her costume.

After about a half hour she would give me this pleading look (these pics are well into that half hour mark) so I'd take off the head piece. Then all would be well again. Lizzie was such a good trick or treater/trunk or treater! She absolutely loved the whole experience!


Well, Halloween is over now. The season is past. But the legend of the masked baby lives on. Watch out! She's been rumored to rise in the dead of night, exacting her revenge and plaguing those around her with sleepless nights!!!

I'm JK Jules- you are so dang cute in that mask you stole from Lizzie's Build-A-Bear Cat and a very good sleeper :) I love how you let me put that mask on you and then act as if you could keep it on all day!