Kate's First Big Girl Haircut

Last week Miss Loretta gave Kate her first official haircut. She has trimmed her hair and cut her bangs several times, but this was the first time she sat on the stool all by herself while Loretta worked her magic. I have to say, Loretta does a great job getting things even with these wiggle worms. I don't know how she does it...

Happy Easter!

Annual Blossom Pictures

Well, here you have it folks...my annual "throw the kids up in the trees and attempt to make an artistic masterpiece" blossom photos. I took the kids to see my folks last week (more on that to come), so we had to get the pictures in before we left. It was a bit last minute/chaotic, but darn it, we got them taken...whew!

2, toes, duct tape and table

Kate has surpassed several milestones in the last couple of weeks.

Two: I noticed recently that when I would start counting she would chime in, so I would say, "One" and she would pipe in with, "Two". "She is BRILLIANT!", I thought and so I continued, "three" and she would smile and say, "two". Okay, so she may not be Einstein, but she knows the number two...that's a start, right?

Toes: I painted Kate's toes for the first time last week and she loves them. She proudly shows her toes off to anyone who stops by our house and loves to point out that her toes and mine are the same "pretty" color. Too fun.

Duct Tape: Really this milestone should be titled "potty", but to grab your attention I decided to focus on the duct tape side of this story. It was quite a while ago now that Kate sat on the potty for the first time and not too long after that she actually went. Well, for the past 2 weeks Kate has been obsessed with the potty. I vented to a friend one day that by 11:16 a.m. she had sat on the potty 8 separate times! "Mommy Potty!"...off comes her pants and diaper...the little naked 21 month old runs to the bathroom...puts the potty seat on the toilet and climbs on...I take my seat on the floor and she proceeds to tell me which song she wants to sing..."pop-pop" (aka popcorn popping on the apricot tree)...clap-clap (If you're happy and you know it)...etc. etc...after a few minutes she announces, "all done!" and hops down...over and over again...AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! I am starting to feel insane. I will say, to her credit, that she does actually go once or twice a day. Unfortunately she still has the timing off, however and several times now has taken a poopy diaper off outside of the bathroom and I won't go into that mess any further. It is now that we come to the duct tape. I will admit that I have used duct tape on her diaper to keep her from taking it off before she gets to the bathroom. That worked really really well for a day or so, but she can even get that off. One of these days all of this will click for her, right???? I used to think that it would be fabulous if Kate was potty trained before the baby came. Now I am wondering if two in diapers would be better than the hours I am spending in the potty!

Table: Kate got a "new" little table with two chairs (the table belonged to Carmen--thank you Carmen!--and then I painted it pink to make it special for Kate. The chairs we got at Target). She has been loving it and I am hoping that we will see her distracted at her own little station there more and more often.

Uchtdorf and Tetanus

I am not sure if I have told this story before or not, but I mentioned it in a talk that I gave today in church and it still makes me laugh. Davis got a Bounce Back Racer (love it!) for his birthday last fall. One night Jed came in our room, after the kids were in “bed” and he was laughing out loud. Then he said, “Do you know what the boys have named that car?” We went to the door and listened as Owen was yelling, “Come on Uchtdorf!” Dieter F. Uchtdorf (from Germany) is one of our church leaders and they thought it was also a great name for a race car…too funny.

The week before last I cut my finger on the caddy in our shower…not a big deal really, but after telling my friends about it and calling my doctor, I had to get a tetanus shot…something about how tetanus in a pregnant mom can lead to her unborn baby’s demise kind of caught my attention. I have to tell you I have never seen my kids more helpful or excited to go to the doctor as when I told them that we had to head out so that Mommy could get a shot. “I am going to help you be SO brave”, Davis exclaimed. I think they enjoyed having the tables turned a bit too much!

Pen-Pals in South Africa!

Some friends of ours are currently serving a mission for our church in South Africa. The kids sent them some Valentines that they made and in return each of them got their own personalized postcard. Needless to say, they were SO excited! Davis was dancing around the house singing, "I got a postcard from Af-rica...I got a postcard from Af-rica..." Unfortunately I couldn't capture that on video, but I think this clip gives you an idea of how thrilled they were. Thank you Barbara and Ed for writing to these little pen-pals. We miss you!

Note: Yes, Davis is still wearing the "awesome shirt" at least 2-3 times a week.

Primary Spotlight 2009

Over the course of the past several weeks both Owen and Davis have had the honor of being the "Spotlight" at church in our primary (the children's organization/Sunday School). I thought that their answers to the questions were amusing, so here you have them for your enjoyment.

My name is: Davis
My favorite food is: Spaghetti, ice cream and cake
When I grow up I want to be: "an army"
My favorite story from the scriptures is: "the pictures of the storms"
My favorite primary song is: If you're happy and you know it
I think the best thing about being on a mission would be: "trimming trees" (huh?)
The thing I like best about primary is: "learning about Heavenly Father's Plan"
I am 3 years old.
I have 1 brother and 1 sister (almost 2!)
My favorite book is: "my Dinobot book"
My favorite thing to do is: wrestle with my dad, play transformers and army

My name is: Owen
My favorite food is: cake
When I grow up I want to be: a police boat driver or a spy
My favorite story from the scriptures is: Captain Moroni (from the Book of Mormon)
My favorite primary song is: Book of Mormon Stories
I think the best thing about being on a mission would be: teaching and helping others
The thing I like best about primary is: sharing time and class
I am 5 years old.
I have 1 brother and 1 sister (almost 2!)
My favorite book is: The Dangerous Book for Boys
My favorite thing to do is: "play with my Star Wars Legos!"