Sweet girl

Stella is in a stage now where she feels really nervous around people she doesn't see every day. Usually if someone addresses her she makes a sound or growls. It's hard on other people, I think, because they feel like maybe she doesn't like them. That really doesn't have anything to do with it though. Tonight after a get together, I asked her about it. I said, "You feel really nervous when you're around people you haven't seen in a while, don't you?" She said, "Yes". I said, "Some people might think you don't like them if you don't say hi or answer when they talk to you." She was quite upset and said, Well, will you tell them ...that's not true. And try to make them feel happy about me?" *sigh* I told her that people didn't feel badly about her. It actually broke my heart.

Cank You!

My girls are getting so big and I just don't have the time to stop and write it all down. Which sucks because my memory is so awful.

They are both so funny and I do not know how I could love them any more!!

Vivian just had her 18 month check up yesterday!  She is 32 inches and 22 lbs 6 oz. She is 18 months old, I can't believe it! She's right on the 50th percentile. She got two shots and she didn't even bat an eye. Right after she stood up grinning and said "Cank You!" to the nurses. She is so sweet!

We went camping a couple weekends ago, had a great time!! And a fantastic time at Angie & Tommy's wedding.

A couple more funny things.

Stella was throwing food to some birds while eating lunch. The bird wouldn't come close to get the bread, so she sat still and closed her eyes.  She said, "The bird was scared so I pretended like I was dead,"

Vivian was in the bathroom and I had to go do something for Stella. Vivian walked up and her arm was wet, I said, "Vivian did you stick your hand in the toilet?" She grinned at me and said, "Uhh-Huh!!" With a very perky, happy tone. Hahaha.

At Vivian's doctor appointment, Stella dropped a chip on the floor and stepped on it accidentally. I said, Pick that up please. But I wasn't really looking at her because I was looking at the doctor. So, then I hear the doctor say, "Oh, not with your tongue." Yep, true story.

Ahhhhh, my heart is so full.

Positive

A conversation with Stella.
Me: It's going to be ok, just think positive.
Stella: You think positive, I don't even know what positive is.

Bang, Bang on the Dog Ribbon

Ok, Stella and I were in the car this morning and Love Shack came on the radio. It was the end and I belted it out. She just at there with a bewildered look on her face. When it was over I asked her if she thought I was a crazy lunatic. She said, "that's the song they did at the wedding!" Then tonight she started singing it out of no where. I realized she was singing something a little different. She has informed me this is what they say, "Bang, bang, bang on the dog ribbon." Also, she had the following epiphanies:
She's going to have the longest wedding ever, it's going to be great because it's going to be a sleep over! And she's going to have a baby girl and name her Buttercup. She's so excited. 

Here are some pictures from the fun we had at Chris & Melissa's wedding.

August 2014 Pictures of Silliness

Pre-K Age 4

My baby girls first day of 4 year old preschool! On the way there in the car she said, "When we go to school it feels just like the old days." I laughed because, what can a 4 year old know about "the old days". But then add she went on I realized she meant before Vivian. 

She had a great first day of school!!

Opinions!

Gosh Stella has been saying some hilarious things lately. She is so wonderful. Amazing.

A week ago she could not go to sleep. She kept getting out of bed. On one of the trips to the bathroom, she stopped in our room. She was chewing something and I asked her what was in her mouth. She made up some story about it being her vitamin which she had an hour before that. Finally I told her she could tell me the truth and I would not be mad. She paused and then said, "Well you know, I never stopped eating my boogers. I couldn't hold in the laughter! 

We were eating dinner at my Parents house one night, out on the deck. Stella dropped a banana pepper off of her pizza. My dad said, Hurry pick it up and I will eat it. So, she proceeded to pick it up with her toe and give it to him. :D

We were at the Wendy's drive through one day and the lady said, "Have a nice one!" And Stella asked me what the lady meant. I said it was just a short way of saying have a nice day. She said, "Oh, is that how they say it at Wendy's?"

Tonight they were in the tub and she was playing with her two mermaids. She was telling me how one mermaid likes the soft seat and one likes the hard seat. "They have 'pinions!" She proudly told me. 

I LOVE HER TO PIECES! She makes my heart burst. 

She got about 4 inches cut off her hair today and first day of 4 Year old Preschool is TOMORROW! She is so excited, she has been missing school very much. 

Vivian is saying a ton of words. She is also working on 3 molars. OUCHY! She is so funny and will have 5 minute arguements where all she says is NO! She is so quick and sweet! I love her so much and cannot believe how blessed I am to have them both.

For Real Life

Last night Stella was acting a little out of control, so I was sitting with her in her room. She had a couple of hair clips and wanted to “fix” my hair. So, I let her take down my pony tail and do her thing. After she was done she said, “You look more beautiful than you have ever looked before! For real life!” It was very sweet. She is getting the for real from me, apparently she thinks life needed to be added on the end. 

Here is a picture of her night gown arrangement from a few nights ago.

Vivian is unfortunately learning to hit from her big sister. We are trying to teach her not to, but it’s slow going. This morning Vivian and I went into Stella’s room to wake her up. Vivian climbed up on the bed so I said, “Vivian give sissy a kiss!” So, she smacks her directly on the face. It was so awful, I felt so bad she had to wake up by being smacked in the face. She was ok, but she said, more than once,” Vivian, do you want me to show you how it feels?” Finally I said, “Honey, you can’t hit her.” She said, “But, I just……ok.” It was so funny to see how she processed it as she was talking. She can be so insightful.

Vivian is starting to talk up a storm. Sunday she said Thank You! It’s so cute the way she says it. It is really her first two word phrase. Mom said she said, “Thank you, Stella” the other day. For some reason when she says Stella now it sounds more like Daddy.

I just am so overwhelmingly blessed and thankful.

Sweet Girls

I wish I could spend more time writing about my wonderful girls. They amaze me every single day. Vivian is getting so big and really starting to say a lot of words. She is an expert at saying No! And it is so funny sounding every time I have to keep from laughing. She says, No, Mama, Daddy, Dog, Woof, Tweet, Down, Please, Cheese, Go, Kitty, Hello, Ew, Uh-oh, She tries to say Stella, but it doesn't always come out right. This weekend she has picked up Cookie and Yea. She is so funny and loves to play and laugh. She also gives great hugs. She still has NO hair!! She is still nursing and I don't see her giving that up anytime soon.

Stella is such a bundle of energy. She cannot wait to go back to school. It has been hard on her to be away. Hopefully that continues. She is so bright and insightful and just quick as a whip. Sometimes she can be mean to her sister but othertimes so sweet. Today she had a bath and I asked Jeff to get her ready for bed while I took V to bed. When I got back, 20 minutes later, he was laying face down on the bed and she was laying on top of him fresh out of the bathtub. So, I started laughing and said, "I guess we know who won this battle..." Stella started laughing and I picked her up and we both laughed. Then she said, "We should stop laughing at Daddy because that is probably making him feel bad!" It may have been one of my best mommy moments ever. To know that I am winning the battle against daddy's constant teasing and creating a kindness in my girl. So, so joyful about this.

I have been reading Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids and really been trying to implement it in all I do. I feel like I have been doing pretty good, I still lose my temper and yell. But no where near as much. I really try to problem solve, and encourage her to problem solve.

I LOVE MY FAMILY!!

Singing Contest

We got done listening to a song in the car. Stella: What do you think we should put me on, like a contest or something?  Me: awkward pause? Stella: Cuz I'm a good singer!

Sage Child

So my Stella totally schooled and humbled me tonight. She got into it with her daddy because he was trying to hug her (she had already asked for time alone), she told him no and he ignored her. So, she hit and kicked him. I was talking to her about how we could solve the problem of him not listening. She told me that she tries to block out me yelling at him a lot. She said when we yell at him it probably makes him feel like we're trying to get rid of him. Not that we're trying to kill him. But that we would make him feel like he wanted a different life.

Obviously I'm not perfect, but she brought me to tears with her brilliance. 

15 Month Stats - V

Vivian 15 Month Check Up 21 lbs 5 oz & 28.75 inches

Happy Memorial Day!

We had a great Memorial Day weekend! We left Friday night for the lake. It was a rough trip down, Vivian cried the whole way. Saturday was a gorgeous day. We took the trail down to the lake, picked up a bunch of ticks! Came back up to the house and hung out for a little while. Then we got in the hot tub for a little bit an had lunch. Then we down and got on the boat for a little bit and did some swimmig. Then we came back and had dinner.

Sunday Stella was a little drama queen. She was going upstairs to play and pretending it was China, there is a gate at the top of the stairs also. She went up the stairs and it sounded like she was having trouble so I said, "Stella, are you ok?" To which she responded, "I'm trying to live my life!" It was so hilarious and so scary!! lol Then I was trying to get her to come and let me brush her hair. I made her come over to me and she refused and said, "I live in China!" She was so feisty that day. Even though she was so crazy we still took her to Cave City to ride horses. She and I got to ride on Valentino! It was really an awesome time!

This is Stella talking about St-appling stuff. :)

Monday we cleaned all day! Then Vivian and I went to the grocery store. I picked up an avocado and she wanted to hold it. I let her hold it while she sat in the cart. She kept trying to put it in her mouth and I told her no. She acted like she was putting it in her mouth and then she would shake her head no. I got distracted an looked away. When I looked back I almost missed that she had a couple little green specks on her face. Then I realized she had bitten into the avocado. She was so funny. She kept looking up at me shaking her head no and grinning. UGH! she is so cute when she's bad.

Bugs Part 2

Vivian is getting so smart! She is really starting to figure out what is going on and knows what things mean. I can tell her something and know she comprehends. She can point things out when you ask. She is still excellent with her B sounds and M sounds. She has the flap book Baby Loves Spring and she loves it. It has a flap that has frogs and it says “Croak, Croak”. She can say it now and it’s so cute!! She knows she is adorable and thinks it’s funny to make you chase her. Which is only funny some of the time. She has started sleeping really well. She used to sleep 2-3 hours in her bed when I first put her down, then with me the rest of the night. But the last couple weeks she has stayed asleep in her bed until 3 in the morning most nights. Which is an amazing thing. It coinsided with me starting on a PPI/acid blocking medicine and let me just say I am not going off this medicine any time soon. She is such a sweet girl and I love her so much. Oh, and this morning she was in the kitchen and picked up a doodle bug and put it in her mouth. I think it was dead but it may have just died from being put into her mouth. AGH! Babies!

Bugs

Stella is so sweet and considerate. When she is at school she likes to pick up rocks off the playground. If she doesn’t have pockets she will keep the rock in her shoe to bring home. She did it for me the first time and I was so touched. So, Monday when we got her school folder to go through it she said, “Mommy, I got a bug for you it’s in my folder.” I was kind of freaking out as I looked through the folder. Not because I am scared of bugs, but I was a little worried it might be smushed in the bottom of the folder. She said, “I hid it behind a bunch of papers so Ms. Natalie wouldn’t see it.”  At that point I was like oh gosh, my kid put a live bug in her folder. So I am slowly pulling out papers, examining each one. I get to the back of the folder and find this:

Mother's Day 2014

What a day I have had this Mother's Day! I am so blessed. I have my Mom, my Mother-in-Law and my sweet girls. I got to spend time with all of them today and it was great. My sweet girls are the best and I can't believe how incredibly blessed I am to have them. I was getting stressed worrying about going to everyone's house and arranging the plans but I am trying to remember some people don't have their moms here to spend time with. I am grateful.

Just some updates on the ladies. Stella is so funny and clever. She has picked up a few adult phrases from us. So far, Apparently, Actually and First of all. She told me one day, "If Spiderman was real I would marry him." I went to pick her up one day and she didn't have her underwear on. She said, "My butt ate my underwear!" She is nuts! :) Then she told me, "Mommy I am going to marry Brayden." He is a boy in her preschool class. I asked her why she wanted to marry him and she said, "Well, because he is funny." She is getting so so good at writing. She can write lots of letters and did great jobs writing Grammy and Grandma on the mother's day cards. She is so sweet and bright.

Vivian is crazy too! She is working on some bottom teeth right now. She still loves to nurse and she LOVES to eat. She would eat and eat and eat if you'd let her. She is a piggy. Her personality has gotten more out going lately. She used to have this blank stare she would give to strangers. But now she almost always grins real big at everyone and waves. She is such a sweet baby. She loves to cuddle and hug and just all around kind. She is very brave and such a climber. She is working on words. She is getting really good at signing "More" and can say a word that is almost more. I showed her a video on my phone the other day and she signed "more" because she wanted to see it again. She is saying Bye very well.

I love V & S 4 ever!

Once again,mommy guilt over not posting more often!! The girls are doing great. Vivian is getting so big. She is so funny and sweet and strong! She loves to say Kitty, when she sees a cat she says, Kitty... Awwww! It's so sweet! She says Mama, dog, kitty is her main word though. She is very good at walking. They both had a great time at their Frozen birthday party.

Stella is still so brilliant. She is so good at playing guessing games. She gives me clues and I guess what she's thinking. She tells me the letter, color, identifying clues. She is so good at it. Today in the car she said, "Mommy when I grow up I want people to call me Sleeping Beauty SnowWhite Elsa Anna Rapunzel Jasmine Cinderella Princess and the Frog Dorothy. It was so funny. She is so artistic and great at coloring. Vivian loves to point, instead of waving at people she points at them. :) If you say Good Job Vivian or Yay she will clap. She loves belly buttons. She has to stick her finger in them. Thanks Pawpaw. lol Her smile is so bright and beautiful and happy. She is also working on blowing kisses.

They had their 1 and 4 year check ups on 3/24/14. Vivian was 20 lbs

Stella was 37 lbs and 41 inches.