Museum

We've made several more trips to the museum this year. I know I should stop taking pictures as they tend to be my kids, doing the same things, wearing different outfits. But I swear... I can't stop. So... no explanation needed. Here is another photo montage of my kids at the museum!

First oreo...

first capri sun....

din din

We have certainly reached the stage of messy, very messy, eating.  I can't complain though, because he can self feed!! 

I know all kids are different, not just boys and girls, but it's remarkable how much boy he is and much girl Xiana is!  He does things so differently than she did!  For one thing, everything is a car and makes car noises, whether it be the remote, a doll, or an actual car, Kolton pushes it around like a car vroom vroooming as he goes.  I've even seen him do it with a diaper or cell phone!  At 9 months he is taking steps, but not walking.  I'm pretty sure he's capable of it, but crawling is so much faster :)  He can stand up independently without falling.  When he is tired of it, he simply squats down and goes on his knees. 

He isn't as generous with his kisses, but he loves to give Xiana smooches.  The other day she was laying on the couch and he kept coming up to her, cuddling her with his head, giving her a smooch and then going on his merry way.  Another time he came and cuddled my foot... gross, but sweet nevertheless!  He got his first ear infection.  His eardrum popped and we didn't even know he was sick.. poor baby.  He got over it quickly and played cheerfully despite the double infection.  He walks with the support of his walker very skillfully (actually let's be serious, he RUNS!!) He babbles and talks, plays and pinches, thinks life is pretty hysterical, and never stops moving.  He is a boundless, wonderful, happy little guy! 

• Little Miss continues to be her loving self.  She adores her baby brother, although she's not keen on the fact that he already beats up on her.  It's not uncommon for us to hear cries from the other room, "Kolton took my toy... Kolton's pulling my hair... Kolton is pinching me... Kolton took my food!!"  We laugh and tell her that she's the big sister, but she doesn't seem to understand that. 
•  She is going through an annoying phase of having to say goodnight 700 times a night.  When she can't, she comes unglued.  We have fought about it repeatedly.  I hope it's just a phase... I hope I'll laugh about it some day... but not today! 
• The other day we were jumping on the trampoline together and it came crashing down on me that she is growing up.  She's so lovely and remarkable and smart.  She is, in short, no longer a toddler and it makes me simultaneously depressed and overjoyed.
• I have been dieting and the other day she assured me that I could not have chocolate cake because it had too many calories.  She still listens to everything!
• She now has the first 4 articles of faith memorized and will recite them to anyone who will listen.  She asked if she could tell the Kirby guy the 4th one.  I told her no because he was not Mormon but she could recite the pledge of allegiance if she'd like.  She promptly did only later asking, "Why wasn't he Mormon?"
• Her favorite trick with her daddy is to blow the traffic light green... I remember a similar trick with my own dad.
• She told me that the people in Nineveh were very bad because they were getting drunk on coffee and Jonah told them that God would destroy them.  How cute that she thinks coffee is that strong! 
• She speaks with such authority... sometimes you'd think she was much older.  For dinner one night she said, "mom, this is so. freaking. good!"  Later when I relayed the story to Brian he asked her how old she was.  With a hand on a hip and a roll of the eyes she exasperatedly sighed, "foe-or."  He said, "oh, you're not a teenager?"
• When American Idol came on one night she informed me, "clearly it's past my bed time!"
• The other day on her cell phone she told me, "I'm playing words with friends."

I sure do love my little monkeys!!!

Park

There was only one spare swing for two kids... quite the conundrum so... we improvised!

It's a good thing I make such small babies... these two will be able to share a swing for a long time to come!

It's hard to believe that we can still go to the park weekly in February!

I just wanted a shot of my little lumberjack... he definitely takes after his father... isn't he handsome?!

V Day

I think I had the cutest Valentines ever!  Brian had night school so my two little Valentines accompanied me to a party, dinner at Port of Subs, and Young Women.  They also helped me make a whole lot of cookies.  Xiana is so darling in her impromptu Valentine outfit.  It seems we always find clothes we never noticed when we look for a theme outfit!

We did the mailboxes like last year where we left little Valentines for each other.  I would not call it a wild success like last year... perhaps I need to market it better.

Seriously... they are too much sometimes.

At the Valentine's party, Kolton was a complete scavenger.  He crawled from blanket to blanket stealing sandwiches, cookies, and suckers.  Before we left he had to be completely stripped... he was covered in frosting and sticky from head to toe!

The kids played a game of red light green light which stole the show.

These are my love reject photos that I couldn't bare to dismiss entirely!

We got a lot of loot!  Brian and I got to go out earlier in the week to celebrate and our table was covered with Valentines.  I'd say we felt loved.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

LOVE

Happy Valentine's Day!

Truckee River

We still have not seen winter this year. I'm beginning to wonder if it will skip over us, give us an iou for next year. So, we have been taking advantage of the sunny skies, and the tepid temperatures. We took the kids to the river where they played around, walked across rocks, and made me cringe for fear of them toppling into the frigid water.

Thankfully Brian carried Kolton, otherwise he might have ended up in the water:)  Xiana is getting to be a prolific little rock scaler which is a good thing because she cannot be persuaded to not follow Ekco where ever she goes.  I was frightened at first, but sister wasn't about to let me slow her down.  The only person who ended up with a wet foot was Brian.

We went to a park out past Verdi.  It was a beautiful day and the river was breathtaking.  Kolton, following in both his sisters' footsteps, was less than pleased to be restrained in the arms of mommy and daddy.  Instead, he wanted to crawl around, touch the water, and explore.

The girls found layers of ice and made an entertaining game of picking up glassy shards and throwing them at rocks, laughing with glee as they smashed into millions of crystals making sounds of scattered glass.  This occupied them for quite some time, daring them to go farther and farther into the gleaming water.  Eventually, Brian and I had to pull in the reins lest they found themselves stuck on a rock surrounded with water like a lonely island. 

Then we went to the part of the river where Brian and I went on our second date.  We took the kids to the bridge where we looked for fish... and mermaids... and I was about as sentimental as I can get rounding the curves of the trails...remembering.  It was a lovely afternoon.