So Smitten and other stuff

Yes I have bad days. Usually part of EACH day has its "down" minutes/hours. BUT overall, at the end of the day when I lay my head on my pillow- all I do is gloat over my 2 little sweeties. I lay there and laugh out loud recounting the happenings of our day to Brad. I get so silly and giddy when I try to describe their "cuteness" to him. Although most days I am working towards 8 p.m. when both girls are down for the night- I look forward to each new day with them. It is so fun to see what new things they will be saying, doing, or asking. Something as small as Caroline saying "no like it" for the first time- she always says she likes things or loves things, but yesterday she vocalized her 1st "dislike". Or how Emily devoured chicken nuggets for the first time in record speed. Oh how I would miss those things if I didn't get to spend each moment with them. I am so thankful for my job...even if it has aged me 20 years and has me SO out of the loop you wouldn't believe.


After talking with my mother in law on the phone yesterday she gave me the PERFECT description of our sweet Caroline. Anyone that has spent more than 5 minutes with her falls in love with her passion for life. The word that Deb used to sum up Caroline was VERY. She is VERY everything...very loving, very active, very smart, very excitable, very interested, very...you name it! She does it all whole-hearted and I adore that about her. She is not a low-key wallflower and probably never will be. I love that about her and look forward to learning to love this "very" sweet little girl. She gets me laughing and giggling each day at least once...if not more. She has such a fun sense of humor that I love being able to see.

She loves so much right now, here is just a sampling:
-poptarts...pink ones are the best!
-snacks of all kinds, at all times of day
-friends! We sing about them, read about them, tell stories about them
-cooking
-blowing her nose and she is GREAT at it thank the Lord!
-putting lotion on
-putting chap stick on
-checking for toys that need battery changes
-putting her animals "to bed"
-sneaking books and toys into her crib
-playing with her doll house
-our neighbors
-saying "i love you" finally!! Oh how sweet those words are!
-counting! She counted to herself to 10 the other day! She is so smart.
-Shapes...I asked her what shape she wanted her cheese toast cut into and she replied with "hexagon". Really?? The next piece was a pentagon. Thank you Iphone app for teaching my child shapes.
-playing computer
-watching Gina D, Imagination Movers, or Mickey Mouse club- but only the end song- all she wants to do is dance
-has a passion for corn dogs and little tangerine "cuties"
-bathing with Emily
-reading the same books over and over at bedtime
-art- painting, coloring, stickering, everything!
-Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear
-Humpty Dumpty song
Just to name a few. She is my little sunshine that makes my days interesting and full of fun.


Emily is amazing me day by day. She is truly growing out of the baby-stage and into a big girl! She will be 10 months this month and is learning new skills everyday. She gives the most amazing snuggles, long drawn out hugs, and sweetest smiles that melt me with out fail each day. She wakes up giggling and lays down like and angel. She still wakes up once during the night...but we are getting there slowly but surely. She watches and interacts so much with Caroline. She is very laid back and will play independently for extended periods of time. She is content to sit and go through all her toys until she is board, then crawl into the other room and find something else to discover. She is pulling up on everything around and will move from one thing to another by creeping slowly. No steps yet...but I think in the next few months we'll have a walker. No rush...my little baby is already growing to fast. Once they start walking, oh how time flies!
She is doing so many things now...
-drinking from a sippy cup
-finally turning the pages in a book and paying attention to books
-sticking her tongue in and out and making silly faces. She loves to mimic this and makes us all giggle when she plays with her tongue.
-she will mimic sounds and get louder and louder until you respond
-play for a long time in her crib with her Corderoy teddy bear
-she will chase after Caroline when a snack is in sight
-sit and stare at the Christmas tree
-chase "Izzy-ball" as Caroline says
-performing dangerous bath time stunts that just about give us heart attacks- she thinks its the most amazing, funny thing to stick her hands (or head!) under the running bathwater. She loves to flash a big dare devil smile at you when she does something like that.
-She responds to "Emily, no" or "don't do that" with a big flirty smile. She thinks its a game.
-has decided that riding in the car is not so bad...as long as mom is shoveling snacks back to her the entire time.
-she loves to turn her head almost all the way around while in the car and watch Caroline's dvd instead of hers that is right in front of her. I can't imagine this is comfortable, but it doesn't matter what we do...she wants to watch sisters.
-She loves eating and discovering new food. Currently she loves mandarin oranges, bananas, Cinnamon waffles, chicken nuggets, green beans, and cranberry sauce. Not to mention all the yummy graduate puff like things that come in maple syrup flavor...I love smelling my little pancake!
-how she already loves music and will immediately start bobbing up and down on all 4's when she hears a good beat!
-how she gets giggly when she sees certain people/characters on the tv
The list goes on...

Today we got to go spend some time with our newest addition to our pack of girls- Miss Charlotte Anne Richey! We went over and had a fun playdate today. She is 2 weeks old and absolutely beautiful. We can't wait to have many more playdates in the future.

We are ELMO fans at our house- rain or shine. It was shining, but the poncho was too cute to resist.

Super Girl dressed to kill :) And yes, we went out in public like this.

New "snack" technique I heard about from a friend. Put healthy snacks in muffin tin, after they are all gone, there is no more snack for the day. Caroline is a habitual snacker, so this is helping us. She LOVES the choice options and I have really tried to do some healthier options for her besides goldfish.

Playing with Nativity. She LOVES it. Thanks Uncle B and Aunt Sarah! We do advent every night with the girls where we light the candles, sing, and do a quick devotional. She has picked up the phrase, "Come, Jesus, Come!" She hollers out at no particular time or place"COME Baby Jesus, COME!!" I think she really expects a baby to come on Christmas morning...which will be a fun teaching/learning experience for her. Oh, and I KNOW she'll get a kick out of the birthday cake (with candles!!) for Jesus. I love this age. She is learning and soaking in SO much. She is simply precious.

Making candycane cookies for our cookie exchange with our Side By Side girls.

This weekend I will get to share the girls with our friends and family. I am taking the girls to St. Louis to see my mom's side of the family. My mom and dad are meeting us in Memphis, and helping the rest of the way. We will stay from Friday night to Sunday. Then my parents will come back to LR with us to celebrate Christmas and spend some time with us. My brother Andrew will be joining us too. He stopped by on his road trip to the east coast this past Monday and stayed for a quick night. We look forward to spending more time with him next week. This was his first time meeting Emily...he has been a mountain man living and working in California for the past year and we've all missed him dearly! And yes...he has a mountain man beard to prove it. Check out the video.

I have had some trouble uploading videos the past few weeks...so today I am catching up with a few. Enjoy!

Caroline enjoying her new easel from Grammy and Grandpa Wakefield- thank you!!! She loves it!

Super Girl Dance moves!



Andrew's Sunshine rendition...

Before church one morning. Yes, we listen to ABC 123 by Jackson 5 to get us in the spirit..lol..it was her birthday cd that was playing.