Random Goodness

I know Boho chic is a totally sincere style but whenever I see someone with their hair like this, I have to laugh.

Because that's how my 4-year-old does her hair.

Last weekend when it snowed, my kids were totally excited.  Well, Sarah was excited. Henry hadn't seen snow before (in his baby memory). Henry's snow clothes are little big.  His pants kept sliding down over his big boots making it pretty hard to walk and his coat was so long, his hands didn't reach the end. We didn't have to bother with gloves.

You can't ask your 18-month-old if he wants to go sledding and expect him to be excited.  You just have to put him on the sled and hope the traumatization is kept to a minimum and if not, then you hope their baby memory doesn't carry over to next year.

 He liked it. He didn't smile or laugh but he gestured to go again.

Sarah, the snow pro, was all over it.  Whenever it would stop snowing for 2 minutes, she would ask all paranoid if the snow was melting.  She's having a hard time today now that the rain melted away all that remained.

We went inside and had hot chocolate. Henry liked the chocolate covered spoon we got as a neighbor gift last Christmas. I love messy faces.

I taught Sarah to vacuum.  The vacuum is at least twice her weight so it makes manuevering a little difficult but she likes to help and do big things. I don't understand how someone so messy can love to clean so much and yet not clean up their own stuff when I tell her to.

This picture is a little old but it's never too late to post an awesome picture of something random on your baby's head.

Henry turned 18 months on Wednesday. This age is bittersweet for me because it seems like they shed their baby-ness at such a rapid rate from here on out.  He's such a sweet boy.

He says dad all the time and has said mom a couple of times but not for a couple of months. He says egg, cheese, hot, and waves good-bye.  He says the word "off" all the time and it could mean "take my socks off" "put my socks on" "take off your jacket" "open this jar" "open the front door" "put my shoes on my feet" "put my socks on my hands" "open the toy box" and many others, depending on the context. I remember Sarah saying more words at this age but I think that's a boy v. girl thing. He "talks" all the time, even to strangers. It's funny to watch people try to understand what he's saying to them. I have to tell them it's just baby jibberish. He loves to tell stories and tell me all about his night when I get him out of his crib in the morning.

I am amazed at how much he understands.  "Henry, will you throw this away for me?" "Can you go get the remote?" And he'll do it too.  Best kid ever.

He's still a world-class sleeper and napper. He's also walking pretty fast. I wouldn't call it a run but chasing Sarah gives him motivation to hustle. He whispers if you whisper to him which is the sweetest thing ever.  He loves any type of ball, car, and anything he can push around. I'm excited for him to open his Christmas presents. Oh, and books. We have yet to reach the end of his book-reading attention span.

I took him to nursery last week and he cried when I had to leave to conduct RS. He doesn't even come up to the other kids' shoulders.  And he can't get up and down out of the little chairs on his own.  I'm going to help in his class until the end of the year so hopefully by then he'll be okay (It took Sarah 6 months to stay without crying). Ordinarily I wouldn't really push nursery that much because, heck, it's just nursery but Justin and I both have Sunday responsibilities that Henry is not helpful with. He hates everything about church except for the drinking fountain.

Halloween 2012

Sarah got a bead set for her birthday and made her dad this necklace Monday night.

Then we carved pumpkins! Sarah wanted nothing to do with cleaning out the pumpkins. But she was all about telling me how to carve it. 

She watched with her hand over her mouth most of the time.

Demon pumpkins.

 Barfing pumpkins.

Sarah got to wear her costume to school the day before Halloween.  Her class then went trick-or-treating to other classrooms in the highschool.  Check out her belt buckle.  It's my favorite part of her costume.  Or the vest I made.

So Henry loves his blanket.  He sleeps with it on his head a lot.  It used to worry me that he couldn't breath but clearly it works for him.  Plus it blocks out light for those long naps. 

Surprise, surprise, Henry wouldn't wear his Halloween costume. So he was just a handsome boy. This is the best picture I got of the two of them before Henry walked away and Sarah pulled her hat over her face.

We went to Mapleton for Justin's parent's ward trunk-or-treat.  I thought this would be best for Henry since he walks slow and not for very long.  He liked getting the candy and eating it but not carrying his bucket.

Then we took the kids to my aunt's house but before we went in, we hit up a few more houses because while trunk-or-treating is good for large amounts of candy in a small amount of time, it doesn't quite feel the same as knocking on doors. And heck, more candy.

 And we ended up carrying Sarah's bucket because it got too heavy.

Sarah used some birthday money to buy this cash register. We play pet store, grocery store, balloon store, bookstore, you name it store nearly every day while Henry naps.  She had me make name tags and we take turns being the cashier and the shopper.  Money well spent.

 The best thing about toys made in China: They come with toy Mike.

And today is my mom's birthday. I'm going to try to get her a new president.

Fall Pictures

These are the hard-earned pictures I took of my kids. I think they turned out pretty good considering what we went through to get Sarah ready, not to mention getting them to hold still, smile, look at the camera, etc. I guess it helps that they have some dang cute faces to work with. And Nadine was there to help me.  There's no way I could have done it alone.

Sarah's Birthday

Sarah turned 4 on Saturday. She has been looking forward to her birthday for months. I remember telling her that her birthday was 100+ days away and we've been counting down since then.

She picked strawberry pancakes in the shape of a heart on the red birthday plate for breakfast. Then she opened presents from Justin and I. Justin surprised her with balloons (more on those later).

 

She wanted a Minnie Mouse birthday and I saw these cupcakes on Pinterest. Perfect. But then she wanted a flower cake like she had last year so I made her this cakestand so she could have both. My sister-in-law Lisa and her daughter Kyra decorated the house and I finished her cake and cupcakes while she was at my mom's with cousins.  She also came home to a decorated room and a new lamp and pillowcase that I made.

For dinner, the whole family went to Chuck-a-Rama (Sarah's favorite). I think there were like 26 of us. I didn't get any pictures of us all there because it was crazy and hot but delicious.  When they sang to her, she seemed way overwhelmed and I thought she was going to cry but she held it all together.  40+ people singing to you can be a little much for a 4-year-old. 

Then back to our house for presents, cake and icecream.

We love our birthday girl.  (And here's to hoping 4 being easier than 3.)

So yesterday I wanted to take pictures of my kids.  Sarah just turned 4, Henry is almost 18 months, the leaves are beautiful. Good time to take pictures, right?  I tried explaining this to Sarah. She said she just wanted to stay home and play then wouldn't cooperate when it came to putting on her new birthday dress.  First she wanted to wear the dress she wore last year for her birthday pictures then she insisted on wearing this outfit which consists of a skirt that I made from an old t-shirt of mine.  No way. So after an hour of negotiations, our comprise was I would take her picture in this outfit with her balloons outside then she had to put on her new dress. This little exercise was all on top of a promised icecream cone at Macey's when we were done and making necklaces when we got home.

Then she wanted her picture taken in her new dress with the balloons while on the toy horse. Fine.

 Here's where things get tragic.  Here's a photo before Sarah lost her balloons.

And after. This photo doesn't even do it justice.  She was sobbing, panicking, beside herself distraught.  I felt bad too since I should have said no to her taking them outside but I was desperate to get her to be a good sport for pictures.  She's been looking forward to her birthday balloons for so long.  I don't like when they last for 3 weeks but 2 days just wasn't long enough.

Good-bye, balloons. We've been talking about all the adventures you must be having.

Funtober

A few weeks ago we went to Logan for my niece's surprise party for her 16th birthday.

Here's Sarah and her cousin Bella on the lookout for the birthday girl. And how cool are the decorations?

It was an all-girl party (besides babies Henry and Mason). We went out to lunner (late lunch, early dinner) all wearing pink.  We had so much fun and the food was delicious.

Henry liked his socks on his hands while he cudded this balloon.

The next morning the girls went out to jump on the trampoline. It was like 45 degrees but they didn't care or notice.

Back at home, Sarah has a tea party picnic everyday.  You have probably attended and not known it because Sarah always has make-believe family and friends over.

My goofball loves to make funny faces when the camera comes out.

 I looked over at Henry and he was imitating her.

I don't remember what day this was but we finally decorated somewhat for Halloween (not my favorite holiday to decorate for). Henry likes to pull the window stickers off so they are slowly creeping their way up out of his reach.

 Is there anything sweeter than a sleeping baby?

Sarah started preschool last week.  She loves it and always asks when she gets to go back on our ride home.

Sarah was playing (torturing) a potato bug while Henry was checking out the pumpkins.

 This is his. He picked out the biggest one of all of us.

Sarah helped me roll out the dough for rolls we took to our new neighbors.  Of course she can't help herself around bread dough so there was lots of snitching tastes.

More goofy faces. The chocolate on her chin is from her birthday cake batter.

Yesterday was Sarah's last day of ballet.

They do the Hokey Pokey as a warm up so here she is shakin' all about.

The class lasted 6 weeks which I think was perfect for a 3-year-old's commitment level. We may try a longer-term class next year but it's good to know she likes to dance in class, not just in the kitchen.

Ballerina arms! If she's being honest, her favorite part was the candy from her teacher at the end of each class.

Up next: Sarah's birthday on Saturday. She can't contain her excitement!