A Friend Called Melissa (and Her Gum)

There's nothing quite like when your kids start getting friends, as in, they start looking forward to seeing certain people and run to say hi to them arms open wide.

Melissa is one of those people for Caitlin.

It might help that she usually offers Caitlin a piece of gum, but we'll leave that up to speculation.

Pedialyte and Pooh

This past week Connor was down and out with a bit of a fever for a couple of days.  His appetite was in and out, as was his interest in fluids.  Concerned he might be headed towards dehydration I remembered we have a stash of pedialyte freezies and wondered if I could interest him in one of them...

And then my heart melted.  Even when he's sick he is sharing with others. Sweetheart.

Caitlin's Top Ten Latest

10. Your flawless ability to refuse any and all requests made by me lately astonishes me.  If you could only "mess up" just once and accidentely comply I don't know what I would do with myself!
9. You keep me on your toes with your stories and imagination.  At any moment you could ask me to participate and I have thoroughly enjoyed every role asked of me.
8. You are AWESOME at repeating back "the usual" instructions.  Like at quiet time: I'll say, "Ok, so you have your books to read, but what do you do after you're finished?" And everytime, almost word for word, you say, "If you have to go potty, you come and find Mama, if you feel tired you lay down and sleep, or if you don't feel tired then you just lay down and look around and wait until Mama comes and gets you."  You're pretty good at following these instructions, although last week there were a few days where you came upstairs from your room prematurely and said with a smile, "I had a goooood quiet time!  Now can I play?"
7. Keeping your brother in line is one of your hobbies.  A favorite "exhortation" from you lately is, "We don't touch your hair!" (said while eating. I used to have to tell him that since he's still primarily a "hands" eater.)  I try to remind you who's in charge of whom.
6. You love unbuckling your seatbelt when we arrive at our destination.
5. Cuddletime just about fixes anything in your book.
4. You are getting really good at helping Connor choose the option that you don't want (so the alternative automatically becomes yours).  Sneaky...
3. All things considered, you really are SO sweet to your brother and me heart melts when I see the special camaraderie between you two.
2. You are such a good nurturer-- today your Thomas was sad (you said) and he needed to "watch a show to help him feel better."  Thankfully I was able to convince you to just give him a good cuddle instead, since it was lunchtime.
1. I am so grateful for who you are and especially that although you are in the "I'm three-and-a-half and going to dig in my heels about everything" stage, you are still open to alternatives and able to change your mind when necessary.  I am so glad to be your Mama!

Craft Time

Connor's 10 Latest

1. The first thing you say when I see you every morning is, "I awake!"
2. If bananas and cheese were the only foods you ever ate you'd be perfectly happy.
3. Everyday when we get you dressed you can't wait to turn around and sit in my lap so we can put on your pants and socks.
4. Your favorite phrase today when you talked to Grandma was, "You ok?" (Your concern was so sweet.)
5. You see school buses, trucks, and any other interesting vehicles from your limited view in the backseat long before I do.
6. Pooh bear, Piglet, Kitty and blankie all have to be in your arms every night before you'll settle in to bed.
7. And we have to pray.  And the music box has to be wound. (I adore you, crazy boy.)
8. Caitlin is your inspiration for whatever the next thing is that you'll do.  Enjoy getting away with being such a copycat while you can...
9. You insist to "use" a spoon when you eat, but you always end up just holding it in one hand while you use the other to eat.  You also seem to like resting that messy eating hand on your head during mealtime more often than I would like. (Although tonight it was a plate as a hat that left a good blob of ketchup behind.)
10. You've started to say, "poopie!" but it's hard to know what you mean by it.  Usually it's been pre-poop, so we've had some marathon potty-sitting sessions with candy bribes, but so far unsuccessful in producing anything of substance.  Trying to encourage your interest though!

Dudes n Divas

Last month the kids had their first haircuts at a real salon!  They both did so well sitting in the big chair-- and of course it didn't hurt that there were individual screens for each chair with movies playing.  They caught a little bit of Finding Nemo and were hooked, it's both of their favorite movie now that we've watched it a few more times.  They both absolutely LOVE Dori and all her crazy antics, it's so fun to see them enjoy the movie so much!

Anyway, back to the haircuts, after they were done they got suckers and color spray...Caitlin thought the experience was just okay until she saw her *pink* hair, then she was through the roof!  She made sure Connor got green too, to "match his shirt."

Love my little Dude and Diva!

Perfect Imperfections

Taken last week on our front lawn, this is my favorite photo of the kids right now. The imperfections are perfect, like Connor's belly showing and the bandaid, how they aren't both looking at the camera-- I want to remember this precious time with them both being so young and cherish the unpredictability.

A Perfect Discovery

A Three Year Old in the House

Sweet girl, you are three!

We can hardly believe it.  You are such a joy to us and we love who God has made you to be!

Two Whole Months Gone By?!

Let's just say it's been busy around here...and certain kids have been growing and changing like crazy!

Connor turned 1 in February! 

Caitlin and her friend Jadyn peer out from their "house"

Connor loves to giggle

Butterfly Caitlin helps with dinner

Caitlin's first sucker

Caitlin and Connor watch Baby Einstein

A civil engineer in the making?

So creative, she figured out how to make a hole in her fruit leather all by herself!

Connor is becoming brave and wanting to stand by himself lately (only when he wants to though)

Blanket time "pose"

How's that for some volume!

Connor's "cheeeeeese" face (hehe)

Check us out on Facebook if you want to see more pictures!

Snow Day

So Proud of Himself

Connor finally has the strength to stand up by himself against something for extended periods now and is SO proud of himself in the process!  It is so easy to get him to smile.  Here he is "looking out the window" (although it's more of looking at the windowsill...not quite that tall yet!)  He is ten months old now, hard to believe...

Monkey Songs

Teethers are A-Comin'

I spy with my little eye...

...two front teeth underneath those gums!  It won't be long now!

Getting Along

They get along marvelously!  How wonderful.

Punkins and Leafs

Connor was pretty cooperative during this "photo session" today...what a cute age he is!  Almost 9 months...can't hardly believe it!

In Action

I've finally gotten around to uploading a ton of new videos to our YouTube site and here's one of my favs from this summer!

BIG Owie

Caitlin leaned over a little too far one day and fell out of her booster seat up on a counter-height stool...right on her head! Poor girl!

This was a swollen as it got, it went down right after this picture.

She even helped hold the "medicine" (frozen peas) on it!

He's a Blondie...

My dark haired, fauxhawked little boy has been replaced with a rather dapper, thick haired, little blonde one. The haircut today seemed to have gotten rid of the last bit of brown that had been hanging on at the ends-! I still can't help but see his darker hair when I look at him though, the blond makes him look so different!

Now, does anyone have an idea how such a dark haired, dark eyed person like me (and my whole family, btw) ends up with two super blond, blue eyed babies? It's just weird!

Giggles, Squeals and Squawks

During our trip to MT last month!