Garden lights

One night I decided to take the kids to lights at the gardens. It was great because it's free and it's only a few minutes away. Lilly loves seeing all the lights and as a bonus on this night, Santa was making a special visit and the sugar plum fairy dogs put on a show. We spent an hour and a half braving the cold and got to bed a little late, but the smile on Lilly's face was well worth it. It was a little to chilly for Kyle to be out of his stroller for pictures and I didn't quite have enough hand to juggle both kids and a camera, so most of the pictures I took are of Lilly but Kyle was there too!

Keeping busy

Art projects, art class, playgroups, and baking are just a few of the things we have done this month to keep us busy and active. I have found that the age and stage that Lilly is at right now she needs a lot of structure and activity which has posed its challenges with an extra kiddo. Talk about juggling. I thought that I was starting to get into a nice groove with the 2 kids, but then when I started adding more things to my plate, I realized that the groove is ever evolving. I have learned to plan and prepare a little better and have taken the motto "always be prepared" to a whole new level.

We have tried to take advantage of some of the recreation programs that are offered here, like a Christmas themed and art/cooking class. It was fun, but I am glad we didn't have to pay but 4 dollars for it because it was slightly disappointing from a mother's perspective. I have also tried to created some art projects at home for Lilly. Learning from my experiences, with these, they are best prepared the night before so that Lilly is given the instructions and has structure to the project and that way she seems to enjoy them. Two of our projects this month were a countdown to Santa and building a snowman. We also baked some cookies together for a church event, which Lilly loves to bake so was a huge hit. And as always we had our playgroup each week, although this month we tried to change them up and make them a little extra special. One week we did a little pajama movie party, another week we decorated gingerbread houses and had a little gift exchange and another week we made ornaments.It was a busy month filled with lots of little day activities, but it was a great way to pass the time, since it has been to chilly to play outdoors. I think January will be a fun month too!

Redecorating

Lilly decided that our entry way needed a new look. This is what she came up with.

Family pictures

Back in November we went to have family pictures taken. We had never had any before and I had a great coupon for no sitting fees. We just had to pay for the printout of the pictures we wanted. There were a ton of great ones and I wish we would have gotten more, but for now these are the 2 we chose. They turned out pretty good and I am so happy everyone is looking at the camera with their best smiles. That seems to be hard to get when mom stops all the fun to pose for a family picture. I think we will do more professional family pictures in our future as it is way less work for mom.

Letters

Within the last few months or so Lilly has become interested in letters and in writing. I have always tried to "teach on the go", meaning I spell out loud as I write or try to point out different letters so we can begin recognizing and connecting, but I didn't really think that it would show payoff for a while. In the picture is a card to Grandma for her birthday. I asked Lilly like always if she wanted to add something to it and she said yes she would like to write her name. So together we wrote her name and after we had written it she said "no mama I do it myself" and so I let her do it. I could hear her repeating the letters as she wrote each one (just like we do when we write together) and when she showed me the card there sure enough was her name written almost completely legibly (with an extra y, she got a little excited). At the bottom of the card are a bunch of straight lines and those are all of our names. She was on a roll and just didn't want to stop but hasn't really learned those letters yet. I thought it might have been a fluke but sure enough a few days later she wrote her name on a random piece of paper, so she must write with purpose. Yay for learning!

Of course she's no super writer and it may just be a mother and father's love that causes us to see through the scribbles and see the letters, but regardless we are so proud!

Candy and costumes

What is the meaning behind Halloween? I found myself pondering this when trying to explain the holiday to Lilly this year. So the best description I could come up with for a 2 year old is that it is a fun day where you get to dress up in a special costume, spend time with friends, and eat lots of candy. With that Lilly was all about Halloween. This year I wanted to get creative with their costumes making them a pair; like milk and cookies, a football player and cheerleader, or the princess and the frog. But I just didn't have it in me to buy a big elaborate costume or put a ton of effort into Kyle's since he would be in a carseat for most of the time. I do have something up my sleeve for next year though. But like always though I did put something together for each of them. Lilly was a princess and Kyle a skeleton aka Mr. Bones. We didn't trick or treat on Halloween and we didn't go to the treatsylvania like last year, but we did go to the carnival at church and we went trick or treating in old town on the Friday before. Lilly got plenty of candy and had a great time. She loved the carnival especially where she got to play games, go through mazes, be in a parade, get her face painted and trunk or treated.

Lots to do and see

While in Washington we wanted to see as much as we could. We crammed so much into our trip we were busy everyday we were there. The kids got to go on their first ferry ride, visit Fort Casey, go to a few beaches, drive to Deception Pass, visit the Fremont Troll in Seattle, see the Ballard locks, amd of course go to Fred Meyer. It was a lot of going, but so worth it. Lilly loved the beaches and loved spending time with her cousins. She played until she crashed every day we were there. And it helped that Grandma and Grandpa have a great play room for all of the kids, Lilly was in heaven. Leaving to come home was harder than when we left 2 years ago. I think mostly because now that Lilly is older family means something more to her. She asks to see pictures of cousins or grandma and grandpa or aunts and uncles frequently and every now and again she asks to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house. We took a ton of pictures but combined with the previous post and this one you will get a good idea of all the places we went.

Beaches

One of the things about my childhood that I remember most is how much time I spent at the beach. My grandpa went to a senior center right on the beach and so every day that he went during the summer my sister and I went with him, which was usually at least 3. We spent lots of weekends out there too. It was almost like my away from home backyard. We even took field trips to the beach in school. As I grew up I remember keepingthat love of the beach. It was a place I could go when I felt out of sorts or when things weren't going so great. It was a place that I felt a little closer to God and to my mom. Cheesy I know, but the beach brings that out in me. I was so excited to share this love with Lilly and to help start to build some of the same wonderful memories that my grandpa helped me to build. I wanted to show her the ocean and the sand and all of the neat shells and crabs. Lilly seemed to really enjoy it. We found a ton of shells, lots, of crabs, dug holes, built sand castles and dipped our toes into the ocean. Kyle wasn't quite old enough to enjoy all that the beach has to offer, but I'm pretty sure he had a good time. I cannot wait to take her and Kyle back.
She decided that the sand was a great place to practice her forward rolls

She loved throwing the rocks into the water.

Homebound

Towards the beginning of October, Ziff grandma passed away. It was bittersweet. She had not been herself for years and had many up and downs with her health. Now she can rest peacefully and not suffer. With her passing we were fortunate enough to go up to Washington to be there for her funeral. It was Ziff's, Lilly's and my first time back since our move to Colorado and Kyle's first time ever! I was excited to take them to all of the places Ziff and I loved growing up there. I had a lot on my list of things to do, including visiting family. We were staying with Ziff's parents, which was great. Lilly had so much fun there and played for hours in their playroom. Each morning she would wake up and ask "where's Grandma and Grandpa?" We filled our day with lots of activities seeing as much and as many people as we could. It was a great trip and we with that we could have spent more time there. The kids had a great time. Lilly loves her cousins and her aunts, uncles, and grandma and grandpa and now can put names to pictures. We can't wait to go back and see more and spend more time with family.Reed Side of family (this is just brothers, sisters, spouses, and grandkids)

Ziff, his parents, and siblings. (And what's special is that Obadiah is buried right behind where they are standing, so all of the kids are really all there)

Straight

Lilly has watched me straighten my hair day after day, and it finally dawned on her that she doesn't have straight hair. She doesn't get her beautiful curls from me, mine is just wavy, she gets them from her Grandma Reed, but in recent weeks she has decided that she needs straight hair like mommy. I don't do it very often as it takes a long time and is hard because it's so hot, but one day I decided I would oblige her and straighten it. It took forever and even after 15 min or so her curls were just to powerful. I wasn't able to get it perfectly straight, but the result was astonishing. She looked like a whole other little girl. Ziff and I decided that we prefer her sweet curls and by afternoon they had come back on their own. Every now and again she'll ask for straight hair, but most of the time I just reassure her she has beautiful curls and doesn't need straight hair. She likes it when you tell her she's pretty! :-)

Silverware

Lilly loves helping. She always has. As she gets older she finds new ways to help around the house. Now that she is 2 she has decided that she should be in charge of putting the silverware away. She goes and gets her chair and then does her best to sort the silverware matching up the different kinds. It can take a while sometimes and she does get impatient and dumps it all in, but she gives a good effort. I love that she doesn't mind doing a little work here and there and hopefully these types of things will help instill in her hard working values that she needs to survive as she gets older.

Art Class

With the weather turning cooler we decided to look for some different activities for Lilly to keep her busy. There was a 1 day art class she went to with fall as it's theme. She seemed to enjoy it somewhat, but I should have known that art was not going to be her favorite. Painting with her hands is something she did not enjoy. She does not like to be dirty and when she noticed the paint on her hands she needed to wash them immediately. She gave a good effort and made some really cute things, but I think that messy art classes are something we'll stay away from in the future.

Spares & strikes

Over the past weekend one of Ziff's friends was in town. He was only with us for a day and a half so we decided to make the most of our time with him and hit the bowling alley. I have been begging Ziff to go, but he has turned me down time and again. I think he was just trying to hide his fantastically practiced form! Lilly had a great first bowling experience and thought it was so fun to roll the ball and watch it roll slowly down the lane and knock down the pins. Although once her ball was going so slow she decided to take off after it and not thinking I took off after her. We were slipping and sliding all over! After bowling big Kyle treated us to a late dinner at Red Robin! I mean gosh we should have him out more often... our guest buys us dinner! Woo hoo! By the time we got home the kids were so worn out I barely got pj's on them before they fell asleep. What a great Friday night it was!

Baby Kyle was so alert. He was taking in every detail of his first trip.

Big Kyle got handed off the baby and he was so awkward having never held a baby before. And better yet was his face after he passed us back the baby, discovering there was drool on his swanky designer shirt. I laughed pretty hard, since it's all just part of my day. I told him to be thankful he didn't get spit up on.

Lilly's first time bowling caught on camera! She had on a huge smile the whole night.

Ziff taking a turn. (I am not really sure if this is good form or not but I tease because it reminds me of a professional)

Who knew...

...that shovels could do headstands!!! Lilly was so excited as she ran in to tell me about her fabulous shovels and then convinced me to take their picture! I sure am glad that I did too because I am don't know if anyone would believe me otherwise. ;-)

Dishwasher

These days I have a lot of help. I told Ziff I needed help and was praying for help and BAM! I got Lilly! She loves to help with anything and everything. She will take out trash, wipe the counters, help do anything that has to do with baby Kyle, Laundry, and dishes. I think the dishes are her favorite thing to help with because as an added bonus she gets to splash around in the water. I can't complain to much because it keeps her busy and teaches her the value of helping. She could wash dishes all day if I let her but because she like the water running she usually gets cut off much sooner. These pictures aren't the most flattering, but what can I say it was the end of the day. I call them her mug shots. Although she is beautiful to me no matter what!

Sunday best

It's not very often on Sunday mornings we have a little bit of time before we have to shuffle everyone out the door to get to church, but on this morning we had a few minutes to spare so I tried to capture the kids looking cute. It would have been a cuter picture without Kyle's pacifier, but he was starting to cry and I really wanted one of the two of them together. I am so proud to be their mommy! They are the two cutest most wonderful kids!

Rollin'

Kyle turned 3 months old yesterday and today he rolled over for the first time! It was so great to experience this first with him and I cannot wait to experience more. He is getting so big and looking less and less like a newborn and more and more like a baby boy. He is very talkative and loud. He loves to make sure that everyone can hear him. He already has BOY written all over him. He is active ALL the time; moving his legs, looking around, and standing. He still hasn't quite figured sleeping out yet but he is working on it. Hopefully he'll get the hang of it soon because not only does mommy need sleep, but so does Kyle. He is so much fun and we love him so much! Can't wait to see what unfolds over the next few months!

Making the bed

I just wanted to share this video because it makes me smile. Lilly's laugh is contagious and if you listen really closely you can hear Kyle giggle as he watches Lilly. I had asked Lilly on this morning to make her bed and she started to just like every other time, but then as she was pulling the blanket straight she noticed some wrinkles and decided to bounce them out! I don't know why I never thought of this method, but she seemed to have a lot of fun and she jumped for close to 20 minutes!

I'm a big girl now!

Lilly has officially stopped wearing diapers during the day. She only wears them at nap and bedtime. What I thought was going to be a long grueling process turned out to be not so bad. Don't get me wrong, she still doesn't go number 2 on the potty, but for over a week now she hasn't had any wet accidents and even after nap her diaper is still most of the time dry and she reminds us to go when she gets up. The first few days were a little rough for her, but she is way better now. She made her major break through at church of all places. She had only been pottying on the potty for 2 or 3 days and she decided that while at church she wasn't comfortable telling anyone she had to go so she waited till we we in the car and she let us know she had to go and we got her home and sure enough her diaper was dry and she really had to go! It's funny that 2 of her major milestones happened at church...walking and potty holding. She has also started telling us when we are out and about that she has to go and will now use a public restroom, even when she has a diaper on (we have kept her in diapers when we are out and what not just in case since it is all fairly new to her)

(She has grown up SO much)

(In this picture she is showing off her big girl panties)

Lilly is so proud of her big girl panties and she gets so excited when she goes potty. The first few days she would hop up and jump up and down saying "cookie cookie" and proudly show us her efforts. She has filled her sticker chart and continues to add stickers just to continue to encourage how awesome she is doing. Needless to say I am one proud mama!