september twenty-first

my baby is 2! i've never had all of my kids over the age of 2 before...this will be new for me. i don't think she really got it that it was her birthday until we had her presents in front of her and sang happy birthday to her. i guess she probably still didn't realize it was her birthday, but she got really excited and tore into her presents. of course, the $4 stackable cups were the biggest hit. she also got a baby doll with a binky and a sit-n-spin.

we also had a party for her and Clate on saturday with adam's family. grammie and pa came down, casey and jack came over, and andrea and michael came too. it was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun together.

chloe got this backpack from grammie and pa. soon after she opened it she put it on. she's worn it everywhere for the past 3 days.

she even wears it during nighttime prayers. luckily, she hangs it up on the coat rack before going to bed.

this is how chloe smiles now for pictures. i love it.

chloe at 2

• about 2 weeks ago she finally started babbling things that resemble real words. i think she finally has down "mama" and "dada". other than that, i would say her first word was probably balloon, said like "balum" or "baloo". today, she started pointing at every car and saying, "ca". she's definitely making progress in the speaking area. she also knows some animal sounds; i think those count as words too. oh yeah, she says "ease" for please.


• she loves balloons, baby dolls, purses, cell phones, going down slides, playing in the sandbox, playing in her kitchen, playing in or with water, stacking blocks, AND her binky...in fact, sometimes one is just not enough!

• she especially likes to "help" mom cook. if i'm in the kitchen, she usually has to be right there with me, watching everything i do.
• she can ride a 3-wheeled scooter
• she thinks she can do anything that clate and halle do, including drinking out of a regular cup. she melts down when i try to give her a cup with a lid, so i often let her have a regular cup...and she does fine if she stays sitting at the table, but when she gets down from the table, the drink usually ends up spilled all over the floor.
• she is a great sleeper; still takes a 2-3 hour nap everyday.
• she has the sweetest personality. i can't wait until she really starts to communicate because i think she is going to be quite funny. she has great facial expressions and the light in her eyes is amazing. she is a very happy little girl.
• she has even curlier hair than her sister...amazing.

i held her the other night in the middle of the night because she was having a hard time sleeping and i couldn't help but think, "she's not a baby any more." she was big in my arms, and heavy. i snuggled close and squeezed her tight as i sat with her for a few minutes. i just love that little girl. she has brought so much joy to me in her short 2 years here. i'm glad she's mine forever. happy birthday bo.

five

five years ago i held my little clate in my arms for the first time and cried uncontrollably. for a week or more i would cry every time i looked at him...and then i would laugh at myself because i thought i was crazy. my heart was so full of joy (or maybe my hormones were a little out of wack) that i literally could not contain it! this little boy continues to bring me so much joy...and now he's 5!

i threw together a little birthday party for him this week. he only invited 3 friends; andrew, anna, and sarah. they played games, ate cupcakes, and opened presents. it was a good time.

clate and andrew working together in a 3-legged race; boys vs. girls

potato sack (reusable grocery bag) racing

racing while balancing eggs on spoons held in their mouths


they frosted their own cupcakes (clate's should have been red, not pink) and sang happy birthday to clate along with the Countdown Kids.


for his birthday, clate got a spiderman transformer, Woody and Buz Lightyear, a book, and two stuffed animals, a hamster and a mouse (he loves stuffed animals). from his friends he got a batman action figure toy, a set of 9 mini-Cars (from the movie), and a paint set. he is still waiting for grammie and pa to get here this weekend with their gifts. clate asked for mac n cheese for dinner tonight, so that's what he got. then we went to red robbin for a chocolate milkshake. he was one happy camper.


clate at five:

• plays soccer
• loves to watch and play football with dad
• says "what the..." all the time
• refuses to wear long sleeve shirts except to church
• thinks he runs lightening fast
• has a major sweet tooth
• loves to help me around the house especially if earning money is an option
• asks me every night what the next day is and what our plans are and doesn't forget in the mornig
• loves to swing high (big change from last year)
• loves to drive his sisters mad by bugging them (he's such a big brother)
• could use a nap most days but only actually takes one about twice a week
• won't go to sleep unless i sing "i love to see the temple" and "i am a child of god" every night followed by a back scratch for 14 seconds
• still a mama's boy.

last night i had a fun conversation with clate before he went to bed. i told him that i was sad because he would never be 4 again. he told me that i could pretend he was 4 anytime i wanted. i told him he could open up one present first thing in the morning. he told me to tell him which one to open, and that it should NOT be a book. i said, "maybe it will be a really cool book." he said, "maybe it will be a really cool TOY!" i asked him what he was going to do when he was five. he said he was going to be nice to his sisters....i'm going to hold him to that one. i was thanking him for being such a great four-year-old and for having such a fun year. he reached up and gave me a hug and said, "you're the best mom ever!"

cold water fun

It wasn't even the hottest day of the year and this cold, cold hose water didn't seem to phase these kids. They filled up the pool, put the little slide in it, and went up and down, up and down...for a long time. The next day, they put the pool at the bottom of the big slide. They thought that was even better! They better live up these summer days...they are quickly coming to an end, sadly.

Here are the girls drying off and warming up in the sun after playing in the water. This face says it all...they had a great afternoon!

twinners

These dresses were worn 7 years ago by my nieces, Elley and Sammie, at our wedding reception. They both got "handed down" to us recently, so I thought I'd let the girls wear them today. I don't usually dress them alike, mostly because I don't buy 2 of anything, but I thought this would be fun. The dresses are actually the same size, 2T; a little long for Chloe and a little short for Halle...but they had fun being twinners for a day. I can't believe Elley and Sammie were so little back then...they're so big now.

halle goes straight

most would say halle's signature feature is her hair

her perfect blonde ringlets that we all wish we could have

she loves them too

most days

but today

she wanted to go straight

straight like mom and grandma dell

so we tried

hair blower and round brush

then a straight iron...

it won't go straight straight

it's just too curly

but it looks darn cute

twice the length now

only lasted until naptime

and the curls were back

Church Clate style

Last Sunday morning, Clate was excited to get dressed and put on his tie for church. This alone was odd because we can't ever get him to wear a tie. So he went down and got himself dressed and this is what happened. After I took the picture, he wanted to see it, so I showed it to him...and his comment was, "That's one good-lookin' boy! Except the socks." I asked, "Why don't you like the socks?" He answered, "They don't match." I didn't tell him that they weren't the only things that didn't match. Luckily, he gave up the tie before we headed to church.

The girls, on the other hand, with their new wardrobe from cousins Elley and Kinley, looked exceptionally cute, at least I thought so. Thanks Elley and Kinley!

What the kids pick up on...

Last week as I was preparing dinner, Clate and Halle were playing; Clate was the dad, and Halle was the mom. They were pretending to be on the phone talking to each other...and this is how their conversation went:
Halle: "Hi, are you coming home?"
Clate: "Yep, I'll be there in a little while."
Halle: "Okay, I'll wait for you."
Clate: "Watch for me out the window, okay?"
Halle: "I can't wait to see you. I love you!"
Clate: "I love you too. See you in a minute."

As this was going on, I thought, "Oh, how cute...they are mimicking my conversations with Adam." Part of me was proud that they seemed to pick up on the positive things they hear. Then the conversation continued.

Halle: "When you get home, we'll play, okay?"
Clate: "We can play for just a minute, but then I have to go in my office and work some more."

That's when I knew...they pick up on EVERYTHING! Not that Adam having to go back to work when he returns home is a bad thing...but just kind of funny that Clate picked up on even that.

I told Adam about this conversation when he got home and we all laughed!