Charlotte

Charlotte is now 2 years old (hard to believe) and full of all kinds of new things.

She can now...

Count to 20.

Use the potty... well, sometimes.

Recognize about half her letter.

Sing several songs all by herself.

Clean her own room.

Have entire conversations with anyone who speaks 2 year old.

Ride her very own bike.

Sit at her own little table for lunch.


She loves...

Books.

Talking with her sister.

Helping mommy with anything and everything mommy lets her help with.

Coloring.

Ice cream and oatmeal every single day if you let her.

Saying "Hi" and "Bye" to everyone in the grocery store.

Slides and swings.


She is...

Funny.

Sweet.

Kind.

Outgoing.

A delight.


Funny things as of late...


Folding laundry. First stick it under your chin, then ball it up quickly without moving her chin. Finally hand balled up clothes to mommy and say "I helping mommy."

While holding Kate, lifted her shirt and tried to "feed" Kate.

Announced, she would not be taking a nap today because she was going to work with daddy.

Told Tigger he better behave or he would have to go to back in timeout.


What fun the 2's have been thus far!

You might be a parent....

You might be a parent if...

You know every word to the song "If all the raindrops where lemon drops and gum drops."

You have read the very same book 19 times in a 3 day time period.

Your walls have at least one small spot with crayon on them.

You know that at Wal-mart they give away free cookies.

You can change a diaper with one had while taking a toddler off the table with the other hand.

You hear the phrase "Oh dammit, I dropped it." and immediately say a silent prayer that she doesn't repeat that at church. Along with another prayer asking God to forgive you because she just "might" have heard that phrase from you.

You might be a parent if you can cook dinner, feed a baby, color with a toddler, and not step on the dog all at the very same time.

You occasionally, think about a glass of wine at 10:30 in the morning, but wait until 10:30 at night!

You have done more then 5 load of laundry in a single day.

You wish you could put YOURSELF in time-out.

You secretly hope the UPS man does not come to your house today, because you just don't want to open the door and show off your messy house.

You brush your teeth during nap-time once in a while, because you just haven't made it that far in your day yet.

When a glass of water turns into this...At 3 AM you sneak down the stairs to the kitchen for water like a ninja in the darkness, being so careful that your karate kid like moves don't make too much noise. Suddenly, one miss step and Ol' McDonald is blasting through the living room like a wanna be gangster's stereo. You freeze and listen in the darkness praying you didn't wake up your sleeping babies.

You wouldn't trade the chaos, mess, or noise for anything.

When you can't wait to hold your little ones and you wish you could keep them small forever...

You might just be a parent.

Art

We love having a toddler. She keeps us laughing and on our toes every single day. We never knew a 2 year old could talk so much, move so fast, be so messy, and make you laugh so hard. She is indeed, awesomeness wrapped up in a tinny toddler package.

Yesterday, her WONDERFUL amazing pre-school teacher did an art project that involved using glue and coffee grounds. More specifically espresso grounds! The general idea was to glue the grounds to the paper, HOWEVER; being Charlotte she had to take her very own path. What did this path entail? Well, tasting a nice handful of the substance!

When she came home she was talking 900 miles an hour about EVERYTHING! She kept us laughing ALL afternoon! Here is a short clip of what that sounded like in our house yesterday!

I want a borrito for lunch. I want pizza. I read books in a little bit. I go to Walmart later and get a cookie. I go to school again tomorrow. Oh, Kate is a sleeping. Oh nope, kate is awake. I spilled water. I need a drink. Oh I wanna watch Pooh and Tigger and Pigglet later. Nope, not dark outside. I ride my bike later. I want a borrito for lunch. Twinkle Twinkle little star. Oh, Kate is still awake. I want milk. Olive (the dog) is outside. I go to the park tomorrow. I take a bath later. Katers is laying down. I go to my room later. I want pizza later. I read a book. I go to school again later? I want to watch pooh again. Twinkle Twinkly Little Star. Oh mommy. Mommy mommy mommy mommy mommy. I need a drink.

This went on for a good couple of hours. I couldn't help but laugh and hope she was breathing between the words that were spewing out of her mouth! She is indeed a talker, but yesterday I think she broke some records somewhere.

So, thank you Mrs. Debbie for providing entertainment to not only my sweet daughter but also to her big sister, mom, dad, grandparents, and everyone else we shared this little tidbit with!

Photo project

I have been working on a quick photo project for the girls over the past couple of days. It is finally finished, so here you go! A copy of this will go in each of their baby books.

Case of the sickies

Well, my goal for this year was to post twice a month, and seeing as how it is now March, I am not doing so hot! We have been busy taking care of the girls and just enjoying time together. We have also had a lot of sickness around our house. Both girls have battled illness over the last several weeks. Lots of little colds as well as some bigger illnesses. First, poor Charlotte started running high fevers that reached 105. She then came down with a nasty case of croup, which made her sound like a seal! Then a week later Kate started running a fever. After about 5 days of the fevers we were sent to the ER. Kate was admitted to the hospital with a massive infection that just took over her little body.

Watching our kids be so sick has been so hard for both mom and dad. It is heartbreaking that you can't fix it. We both wished with our whole beings there was a way to take their discomfort away. We are happy to report that as of now our girls are both HEALTHY!!! We are so glad to have healthy kids again. These past few weeks have really made us thankful that our kids are, for the most part, healthy!

Here is a quick recap of our last couple of months.
Sweet Kate in the hospital. She was such a trooper during the whole thing.
The girls hanging out!
Charlotte has been working on picking out her own clothes. Mom allows this when we are NOT going out in public. We like to call her a "creative dresser." The is the outfit she picked out to wear the other day. Charlotte said "I need a "sweatshirt." Too cute!One day mommy and Charlotte got to go to Little Monkey Business. It is a great place to let little ones climb, jump, and get out all kinds of energy!!We had a nice snow storm a couple of weeks ago. I believe our grand total was about 2 feet. Charlotte was still recovering from being sick, but we took her out for a few moments to enjoy the snow. Charlotte hanging out just before bedtime.Charlotte has started a one day a week per-school. Charlotte absolutely love it! This here ready to go her first day.A couple pictures of our sweet baby Kate. So glad she is feeling better!Our darlings.

Well, that is all for now. I have been working on a new photo project for the girls, that I am hoping to post sometime this weekend. We hope you are all doing well!

I will miss this someday.

There is a great blog that I follow written by a fellow mother. She witty, cleaver, a bit crass, and most days I nearly fall off my chair from laughter; but above all she is honest. I mean let's face it, sometimes being a parent doesn't bring out the best in us. How many time have I snapped at my toddler because I have had to tell her 9,000 times to stop doing the very same thing I told her 9,000 times to stop doing yesterday!!

In her blog the writer says this simple phrase: "Someday, I will miss this."

At 5 am this morning, when my 10 week old daughter wouldn't go back to sleep after waking up to feed, I began to throw myself a grand ol' pity party. I sat in the rocking chair telling myself how much I needed to go back to sleep and how frustrating it was that my daughter was awake. I ran though my day in my head telling myself how difficult it was going to be to get everything done without sleep. Frustration and irritation filled my heart.

Then, in one quick moment these simple words filled my head "I will miss this someday," they rushed over me like a wave. I remembered sitting in that very same rocking chair with my now nearly two year old. Oh how it does not seem that long ago. I do miss those days. Not that I don't love having a rambunctious, funny, and adorable toddler, I do, but I am amazed just how fast it all goes.

So, my new years resolution, if you want to call it that, is to tuck away in my heart that I truly will miss this all someday. So, during those 5 am feeding, or when I have told my toddler 5,000 times to please use her inside voice, I will do my best to remember, I will miss this someday.

Our Christmas Video
We hope you and your families have had a wonderful Christmas! Merry Christmas from all of us to you!
John, Kristin, Charlotte, and Katherine