Lydia's Turn!

Well, it's Lydia turn to be spotlighted! She turned 18 months last week and here are her "stats":
Weight: 25.13 lbs (75%)
Height: 31 3/4 in (50%)
She is still a big girl but she is no longer in the 98th percentile! People always ask me how Abigale can be so tiny and Lydia so big and its because Lydia likes food! Her favorite food is the dinosaur chicken nuggets from Costco. If I let her she would eat 10 of these at a time but I limit her to about 4 and try and get some fruit or veggies in. She is kind of picky but if there is something she likes she will eat a lot and I never know when she is full. She also loves just about all fruit but especially strawberries and watermelon. At meal times I usually can't bring out the fruit until after she has eaten the main dish or thats all she would eat. She has also discovered corn on the cob and loves it just like her Daddy!
Lydia has a very fun personality. She loves to laugh and loves to make others laugh. When Abigale will play with her and give her attention she eats it up! She is usually always smiling and with her big mouth and lips- it is about the cutest thing ever. She loves to sing songs- her favorites right now are Twinkle Little Star, Happy and You Know it, and Baby Bumblebee. When she dances she just spins in circles until she gets dizzy and she thinks she can jump but her feet never come off the ground. She loves to play Duck, Duck, Goose but doesnt understand the rules. She just touches everyones head and says Duck until she feels like running and then she will start screaming and will run away. It is pretty funny.
Lydia's two obsessions are books and shoes. She follows me around the house all day with a book in her hand. If I dont know where she is, she is usually is in front of Abigale's bookshelf pulling all the books out and looking through every one. She doesnt have a favorite- just all books but she does like Dora books a lot or books with babies in them. She also loves shoes. If a pair of shoes are anywhere in the house she will find them and have to wear them. It doesn't matter whose shoes they are- she wants to wear them and gets very frustrated until she gets them on.
Lydia is also a screamer and can be very aggressive. I guess this is from being a second child. She screams very loud until she gets attention or until I figure out what she is trying to tell me. She also does not back down to Abigale. If Abigale takes something from her she will come out swinging until she gets it back but she is always quick to say sorry and give her a hug.
As you can see from the pictures, Lydia has curly out of control blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She is still a thumb sucker which I am a little nervous about in the future but for now it is the only thing that puts her to sleep and calms her down when she gets upset. She started nursery three weeks ago and has been awesome. I usually stay with her for the first 10-20 minutes and then sneak out. The leaders told me that when she realizes I am gone she says mommy and then just sucks her thumb but is fine. She only cries when I pick her up and I think she is just letting me know she is mad at me!
Lydia is an amazing sleeper and pretty much always has been. She usually sleeps from 8:00-8:00 but likes to hang out in her crib for awhile before she screams for me to get her. She is in between taking 1 and 2 naps a day but usually sleeps for about 3 hours. The doctor said she has 5 teeth coming right now including 3 molars- she has been pretty grumpy but still sleeps just fine.
She is starting to talk more and more each day. Right now she says- mommy, daddy, Abi, nana, papa, apple, hot, baby, ball, more, thank you, hello, bye, please, puppy, cracker, books, bumblee bee, milk, duck, shoes, love you (kind of), and up.

We love Lydia so much! She keeps us on our toes but also keeps us laughing!

All About Abigale

Since my crazy little girl is turning 3 1/2 this week, I thought it was time to dedicate this blog all to Abigale (and for my personal records). Abigale can still be the sweetest girl in the world as long as she has had enough sleep and food (She gets that from me). She loves playing with Lydia and making her laugh and still loves all animals. She especially loves cats and dogs and if she sees one she has to pet it.
Abigale picks up on things quickly. She knows all her ABC's and has for quite awhile. She knows the sounds of all the letters and is starting to put words together. She can write almost any word but especially loves to write her name. We are working on the Articles of Faith and she has the first 6 memorized but will usually only repeat them in front of her parents. She loves going to preschool and can't wait to tell me what she learned when she gets home. She did not like nursery very much at all but she loves Sunbeams! The Primary gave us a cd of the songs they are learning ths year and she loves to listen to them in the car- Follow the Prophet is her favorite.
Abigale is still very shy but once she gets to know someone and feels comfortable she is just fine. She loves playing with her friends and asks every day if they can come over.
She still loves music and singing and dancing. Everyday we have to get the Princess dresses out and her and Lydia put them on and dance to the Disney songs. She has them all memorized and loves to make up dances. (I cant wait to get her in dance lessons because I know she will love it- just have to find a good teacher). Every week she has a favorite Disney movie. This week it is Alice in Wonderland last week it was Peter Pan and she always loves Little Mermaid and of course Dora.
Abigale's mind is an alarm clock. It does not matter what time she goes to bed she will wake up at 7:00 every morning. I usually get her a bowl of cereal, put on a movie and either go back to bed or if I am motivated- work out. She still takes a nap almost everyday which she does not like but still needs!
Abigale loves to help out and gets very excited when we give her a job or a project. She is really into helping me cook and anything with Daddy outside. She gets very frustrated when I am doing a project-like sewing- and she can not help. She is also at the "why" stage. She probably asks "why" 50 times a day. I guess she is still trying to figure everything out.
Sorry this was so boring for those of you that actually read it but I just wanted to get everything down so that I could remember everything about her right now.

Holiday Fun

Growing up St. Patricks Day was always an annoying holiday- wondering if you would look like a geek if you wore green but worrying about being pinched or worse if you didnt - but when you have kids it is a lot of fun. The tricky leprechauns left shamrocks all over the house and kept pulling tricks on Abigale- turned her milk and yogurt green, messed up her room, and also left a scavenger hunt to find some fun toys. She loved it and still keeps talking about those leprechauns.

Green milk

Finding shamrocks After the scavenger hunt

The presents

Easter was a lot of fun this year. Abigale had an Easter party with some of her friends and on Easter my parents came over for dinner and then we dyed eggs after Conference. Love this time of year but cant wait for it to really warm up. I dont think it has been over 60 degrees yet!

Her new favorite thing is to peel carrots for me:

Getting ready for the hunt:

Easter morning:

How Abigale watches conference:

And Lydia:

Dying eggs!

I cant get this picture to turn but this is what my parents got Abigale. Her own b-ball hoop. Now she can play "just like daddy because daddy loves basketball"

Lets Go Fly a Kite . . .

It was my parents birthdays last month and I asked Abigale what she wanted to get her Papa and she said a kite, of course. My dad loves doing anything and everything with his grandkids so I knew he would love flying a kite with Abigale and Lydia. Abigale picked out the perfect kite and after a delicious Thai dinner, we went to the park to test his birthday present out. The wind was perfect but also a little cold (actually a lot cold). I forgot to bring the girls' coats so luckily I had some extra sweaters in the car. They loved wearing the big sweaters and thought it was pretty funny. We had a great time and can't wait for more kite flying in the future! Look at that smile!

I love this picture:Very cold!Silly Abigale and Silly Papa

Well I am finally getting around to blogging about our trip to Disneyland which was amazing. We stayed for a week and went to Disneyland for 3 days and spent a day at Universal Studios. It was perfect because usually in the morning we would all go on rides together and then in the afternoon Jonathan's parents would take the girls so that we could go on the big rides and at night we would spend time with just our girls as a family. It was the best of everything! Looking at these pictures again makes me want to go back!

Since I have so many pictures (and I have finally figured out how to make collages on our new computer) I posted some of my favorite pictures first and then made collages with the rest. Sorry some of the pics are blurry, I am still trying to figure it out. Enjoy!

The whole gang waiting for California Park to open:

Disneyland! Universal Studios

Having fun at the Disney Store:

California!

Busy Busy

Ever since Christmas it seems like we have had one thing after another and we have loved it! My sister came in town from Singapore because they bought a house/cabin in Driggs, ID (outside of Jackson) and she wanted to start decorating and purchasing furniture. It was so good to see her and finally meet her little boy William. We were then busy with celebrating friends' birthdays and fun preschool field trips. At the end of January we were lucky enough to go with Jonathan's family to California for a week (a new post on this vacation coming soon!) The day we got back from California my sister and her family flew in from Chicago for two weeks. She had a baby boy on New Years Eve so I was able to meet my other nephew, Max and to be there for his blessing on Valentines Day. It has been busy but so much fun and we already miss seeing everyone.
Random pictures ahead:

Abigale is so sweet with Lydia and loves taking care of her. I was on the computer and heard the girls laughing. I looked over and saw this: I love moments like this!
Baby Will!! He is so cute and looks like a little Italian baby! Poor guys had a hard time dealing with the jet lag from Singapore but he was still adorable. Abigale and Lydia loved playing with him: The girls had a blast at my parents house because we just go all the toys out and they played all day long! This is the house/cabin my sister bought. She will be living here all summer! It is beautiful and I am excited for this summer to visit often!

We took a special field trip to a pizza place and the girls got to make their own pizza. It was so much fun and delicious. The moms had fun because we got to sit and talk while the kids played in the party room and ate their pizza.

Flattening the dough: Putting on the sauce and toppings:

They were so excited when it went in the oven: and watched it come out the other side;

Eating the pizza:Of course Lydia got in on in:

It was Abigale's best buddy's birthday so we celebrated at Monkey Business a really fun place for kids. This is how I saw Abigale the majority of the day. This is a big obstacle course and she did it probably a 100 times in a row. She loved it!:

BFF's!Before we left on our trip of course the girls got sick but Daddy didnt mind getting extra snuggle time with Lydia:After we got back from our trip- Caitlin, Jeffrey, and Max came in town just in time for the Super Bowl. Everyone was really into the game (notice the new paint in our tv room- Jonathan surprised me and painted and put up chair rail while I was in Pocatello. I wasn't sure at first but now I love it):I couldnt get enough of this little guy! Isnt he so cute!Valentines Day we were able to go to Max's blessing. The girls loved wearing their heart dresses. This is the best picture I could get because we were running out the door:I stole this from Caitlins blog but arent they the cutest family:Lydia loved Max and he returned the love with a lot of smiles:The girls and Max:We then made some heart pancakes for dinner:

We spent one of our last days with Caitlin and the fish park. We forgot Abigale's coat so she had to use her blanket but she was running around so much that she never got cold:

Abigale loved taking care of Max and she was so cute with him. We miss him already!:

Pictures of Disneyland to come soon!