Saturday, December 19, 2009

Christmas Eve and Christmas!

Since we're heading to Utah on Monday, we decided to have our Christmas a little early.
For Christmas Eve, we watched "The Nativity" video that is about 5 minutes long and sang Christmas carols before putting the girls to bed. Then came the work! We finished the play kitchen last night and Dan and my Dad (and Tyler too) finished the swing set today.

Starting the swing set last night--still smiling!


Christmas Eve...



Everything ready for the kiddos...



Yay! A play kitchen!


Good morning!


Megan enjoyed lots of things about the morning. We started with our stockings and she just wanted to read the books from her stocking and eat her orange before she opened anything else.



Brooke's favorite is her new ring of teething keys.


The kitchen is a big hit also. And you can see Megan's new rain boots in the picture too (also a big hit)


Cute, cute girls. It was a fun morning.

Sunday, December 06, 2009

We are thankful for...

The way Megan's eyes light up when she sees a new sight...


This sweet smile...


Snowmen...


that Megan didn't get sick from eating as much snow as she could find...


Our beautiful Christmas tree...


Warm fireplaces and stockings all in a row...


Aunt Carrie and her friend Lisa who let us go on a fun date to Dan's work party...



Cute girls in cute Christmas dresses...

Friday, December 04, 2009

SNOW!

This is insane. 2 years in a row of snow in early December? Did I not move to Houston? Because I'm pretty sure I did. I don't ever remember snow 2 years in a row growing up. I remember some around 91. And then again in like 94/95. And then nothing until Christmas Eve 2004 (but I was in college then). And now, 2008 AND 2009. Global warming, yeah right.


Thanksgiving Weekend

I love Thanksgiving. It is so fun to spend time together as a family and take time to reflect on the many things we have to be thankful for. We are so grateful for healthy, happy kids, a good job for Dan, and our wonderful extended families.

We enjoyed a really nice Thanksgiving weekend. Dan was done early with work on Wednesday and so we headed out to buy our Christmas tree and a few decorations--we are pretty excited to decorate the house this year!

Thursday we got up early and headed to my parents' place. My family has gone to the Thanksgiving Day parade in downtown Houston pretty much every year that I can remember. It was cool, but not freezing. Megan loved watching all the people going by. Brooke slept peacefully most of the time! It was fun to be there with my parents, older brother and his fam, one older sister, my younger brother, and my parents' neighbors. That was our group for the feast that afternoon as well--good food, good company, and a good time had by all. We even enjoyed 2 turkeys to choose from. And nearly as many pies as people (ok, ok there were only 8).

Dan had Friday off of work and we met the whole group from Thanksgiving at the zoo to enjoy the free day! Megan had a great time looking at all the animals and running around. I was glad to have extra people around so she could run around without me feeling crazy :)
And then, to top off the already great weekend, we even got to watch BYU beat Utah on Saturday! Wahoo, go Cougs!

Four Months


Our sweet Brook-ie turned 4 months old on November 13, 2009.
The stats:
Length=25 1/2 inches (89th percentile)
Weight=15 lbs, 2 oz (chunker!--80th percentile)

She started laughing on Nov. 9--but only for Megan.
She loves to be where the action is and complains if we dare to sit down to dinner without bringing her into the kitchen. She recently started finding her thumb--we'll have to see if this becomes a trend!
She is a great sleeper and still is just a happy, easy-going little girl.

Two Years Old


Dear Megan--
It doesn't seem possible that you are 2 years old. I can't believe how much you are learning and doing these days. Even though you have recently become an expert at frustrating me, you are also an expert at having me wrapped around your little fingers and I love you more than I ever thought possible. You have really found your voice this year and there are very few quiet moments when you are awake. You love to sing and talk and yell. You are very coordinated and often make me nervous with your climbing and jumping and balancing. You are my little shadow. You love to be doing and seeing whatever I am doing or seeing. Sometimes I get annoyed at how involved you like to be with me! But you sure do make me feel loved.
You "help" me with dinner, laundry, taking care of Brooke, talking on the phone, reading, bed-making, praying, reading scriptures, dishwasher-emptying, cleaning, and even balancing the checkbook.

Even when you take a break from being my shadow, you are always busy. There are always tupperware cupboards or your book box or your play food box or your block bag to be emptied and refilled over and over again.

You love to read books and color and sing songs and play on the piano. You love to care for your dolls (all named Daw-ee, your version of Dolly), bears (all named Bear), and especially your Bunny. You rock them, sing to them, bounce them on your shoulder, feed them bottles, take them for walks, and take them in the car. You love to put on my shoes and stick a doll in the play carseat and head out for adventures. You love playing outside especially on slides and swings or in water. You are potty-trained now and that has been so nice for me.
You especially love your sister. If I don't get you out of your shared room quickly enough in the mornings, you make sure to wake Brooke up so she doesn't miss any fun. You are always checking with me when we are getting ready to go in the car to make sure I don't forget her (you say "Bwoot-en-cah-seat?" over and over again). Daddy and I still can't get giggles out of her, but when you jump around and smile at her, she'll giggle for you.

Some of your favorite things right now include:
color: purple (or at least I assume this is your favorite because you say purple regardless of the actual color of almost anything)
foods: mac-n-cheese, cheesesticks, applesauce, raisins, anything sweet (especially cake or cookies), chips, and ramen noodles
song: Book of Mormon Stories (boot-ah-story)

Some of your least favorite things: wearing clothes (you spend a lot of time naked these days--and now you love to yell "maked-Megan" in case we haven't noticed), going to nursery (you are fine once we drop you off, but the separation is rough), being in time out (unfortunately, you go there often these days but it's only 2 minutes at a time)

Your usual day begins right at 6 am. You still have a cup of warm milk first thing in the morning and we have breakfast around 6:45. You, me, and Brooke watch Good Morning America until about 7:30 when you get to play in the tub while I take a shower and get ready. Then we make my bed and empty the dishwasher and read books and play until lunch time around 11:30. We play again until 1 when you go down for a nap and sleep until 2:30 or 3 (or sometimes you don't sleep at all, but I love it when you do). We often watch Cinderella after your nap while you drink another cup of milk and then we start on dinner. Dad gets home around 5 (you get so excited) and you play with him until dinner at 5:30. After dinner and scripture reading, it's bath time. Then you brush your teeth and we sing a song and you say your prayers and you and Brooke go to bed around 7. Sometimes you cry for a few minutes, sometimes you are so exhausted you don't even move before falling asleep.

You are so fun and love to tease. You love being chased more than almost anything else--which is probably why you are constantly running away. You giggle the whole time you are being chased (and you are FAST!--I have to be so careful in parking lots and stores).

Daddy and I love you so much and are so grateful you are in our family. We can't wait to see what you learn and how you grow over the next year!
Love, Mommy


Friday, November 06, 2009

Phases

As my sister-in-law Heather says, all things kids go through are phases--even the good ones. So if you're in a good one, enjoy it while it lasts and if you're in a tough one, know that it will pass.
In case it never happens again, I thought I'd better record it. Last night by 7:15 pm, both girls were asleep in their now shared room (they've been sharing for 2 weeks). It was an easy bedtime, neither one cried. Dan went to check on them at 8:30 or so and they both slept soundly all night long! No peeps until 6:15 am!!! Wahoo!!! Now some of you may be thinking that 6:15 sounds early, but with these girls, 6:15 is just heavenly. They usually wake up between 5:30 and 6. AND, because Dan isn't at his regular office today, he was going in later than his usual 6:30, so his alarm hadn't even gone off yet. Ahh, the small joys of life. And now I must go--Megan just rode past me on her trike...naked...and has just stopped off in the bathroom where I hear her playing in the sink. But what a fantastic night and morning. I hope this phase lasts for a few days at least :)



Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Birthday Week and Halloween

We really enjoyed the last week of October. We had a ward harvest party, a family bday party for Dan, Megan, and Zach (but mostly Dan), Dan's bday on Tuesday the 27th, a ward trunk or treat on the 30th, and then the 31st was Megan's bday, Zach's bday party, a neighborhood costume parade and some trick or treating! We love our little Princess and our litte Pea! By the way, if you didn't catch "The Office" last week, Dan went as Jim Halpert who dressed up as "the famous social networking site, Bookface". Here's a million pictures...enjoy :)

Ward Harvest Party


Dan's party


Dan taking his quiz on his b-day (he barely passed :) but DID earn his present)


Our little princess watching Cinderella (her favorite...we literally watch it everyday)



Sweet pumpkin. This is the outfit we put Megan in the day she was born (it was huge)..and on her first birthday (it was a little snug then--it's a size 3-6 months). It's perfect for Brooke right now.







Trunk or Treat night




Halloween Breakfast


Zach's party


Neighborhood costume parade


Ready to hit the street!


Megan and Gracey-2 cute princesses! Megan was a little shy from time to time but loved saying "trick-TREEEEAT!", "Ha-WEEEEN", and "ga-pow" (thank you--weird, I know).