Growing up.

Yesterday we had some fun :) When we woke up in the morning I told the kids that I was going to take pictures of them... and Evan was excited! I usually have to beg (or bribe) them to let me take their pictures (okay, there was ice cream involved...) These turned out just perfect. I am simply in love with each photo. I also posted them on my photography blog.

This past month Evan turned 4 years old, and Makiah is now 2 1/2. As always it is fun to see the things they are picking up and learning. It is interesting to see comparisons between the two... and their differences. They are both slightly shy, but Kiah seems to be my brave child. She is more likely to tell someone hello in passing. Evan usually puts his chin down and won't say a thing. Evan is a little more picky about what he eats. Again Kiah is the brave one trying new things. Some of the things she likes to eat that Evan won't touch are, olives, meatballs and pepperoni. Evan prefers to eat the same thing each day. Lately it is nice to hear them say... "Yeay! Carrots!" or "Yum! Celery!" 

Both of my kids have extremely strong wills. It's their way or the highway. Some of our struggles lately are: getting Kiah to stay in her seat at dinner time (she wants to sit on my lap), getting the kids to stay in their room at night (Kiah now knows how to open doors), and Kiah wetting her pants when she is upset... I think it is her way of showing me that she is the boss. 

Our biggest struggle is bedtime. The kids want me at bedtime. Dallas and I help put them to bed, but then they cry and cry for mommy. If I go in there they they both fall to pieces because they want another story, song, or they just want me to hold them... All. Night. Long. So what do we do? We "pretend" that mommy had to leave the house. They see that I am "gone" and they are fine. They go right to sleep. I really don't know what to do about this. I don't want to have to leave every night just so they can go to sleep. Ideas? I know we should stop this before things get worse, but really. Kiah was up till 10:30 one night crying for me. They both know what they want, that is for sure.

Even with the silly struggles we go through, we have lots of fun. I am amazed at how much these two love each other. There are times when I turn to see them hugging, or snuggling. Evan likes to pick Kiah up and they just giggle and fall to the floor. Most days they just play. I don't have to entertain them so much anymore. They love to pretend together. Often I hear Evan calling "Mommy!" and I respond only to hear him say "No, the other mommy!" Meaning Kiah :) 

I am so lucky to have these two in my life.

One. Last. Post. (for tonight anyway)

Today was a snowy day... so I stayed home and it was so nice! I love not feeling like I have to go anywhere. It was nice to just spend the day at home. Winter does have some advantages :) This is what the kids did while I messed around with photoshop and the blog...

Evan got the fun car track from Grandma and Grandpa Johnson and the garage from Dallas and I. He is a smartie and put them together to make things more interesting. Then he got out his train tracks and made it even more fun...

Pretty cool huh? It looks like we have a little engineer on our hands :)

Comfy Cozy

Evan got this adorable shirt and cozy sweater from Grandma and Grandpa Bateman... so cute! He was so very happy to get a package in the mail a couple days before his birthday. Later that night he insisted on wrapping it up. He got out the paper, tape and was asking me for the scissors before I realized what he was doing. Thank you grandma and grandpa! Evan loves his gifts! Oh, and the book you sent? SO CUTE! It is my favorite... I might have to keep it for myself ;)

The collages that I have been using on my posts today are so much fun! They are actions for photoshop and they have made my blogging life easier... They are wonderful and I bought them here :)

Sunbeam!

This year at church Evan started going to primary rather than nursery. He is in the Sunbeam class which is for the kids who are 3 going on 4 this year. He has been pretty excited about this... but it is taking some time getting used to it. His first week was fine because Dallas was in Sharing Time with a different class, that way Evan wasn't too nervous to go. His second week he got hurt right before going into the room and so he just cried for me. This past week was fine except he didn't sit with his class when he went in... it is getting better though. Next week he gets to tell a scripture story in front of the Jr. Primary... We'll see how that goes ;) 

We got him a new suit for his birthday... doesn't he look handsome? Cute, cute, cute! I love little boys in suits :) 

A few Sundays ago Kiah asked me if she could go to primary. I told her she had to be 4 to go to primary. She told me that she is 4 and she gets to go to primary and Evan is two so he gets to go to nursery. Hahaha she is a little smartie :)

4 Years Old??

It's official. He is not a baby anymore. He isn't even a toddler. He is 4! But a very cute 4 year old at that. We all had a great time on his birthday....

He got really shy when everyone started to sing to him and he covered his face...

I had so much fun with his cake last year so I had to do something fun again. This dump truck cake was so cute! 

Evan had a small and simple construction themed birthday party... I made some cute signs and trucks to hang on the walls and we played pin the wheel on the truck :) Evan loved the gifts that everyone was so kind to give him. Thank you to everyone who helped make Evan's birthday so special!

Grandma's Visit

Whenever we get back from visiting family I always ask myself... Why didn't I take more pictures?? My mom came to visit this past week and though I was sure to take pictures I am finding myself asking that same question. We at least could have taken a some posed pictures with the kids and their grandma. But we did get some fun pictures of them all playing together.

The kids LOVED having grandma around to play with. They had so much fun with her. Since she has left Kiah has wondered where she is AND she has cried for her. So sweet. Mom got here last Thursday night, so the kids were already in bed. When they woke up in the morning it did not take long for them to warm up to her. Kiah almost instantly climbed into grandma's lap to read a book with her. After Evan got over a morning tantrum he was excited to show grandma some of his toys. We took it easy since the weather is so cold. We enjoyed playing with the kids, putting together a very purplish puzzle, watching Pride and Prejudice and Flipped, going bowling, shopping and of course Evan's birthday :) It all ended way too soon and I found myself asking my mom to stay a little bit longer...

It's kinda depressing when your son's score is almost twice your own... I am NOT a bowler! It was kind of hard to concentrate though with the kids there (yes, I'll blame the kids). Makiah was so excited to roll the ball before she stuck her hand in the shoot that rolls the balls back to the rack. She got three of her fingers pinched and wouldn't have anything to do with bowling after it happened.

It was so fun for Evan to have his grandma here on his birthday... that hasn't happened since he was 1! We miss being able to celebrate more with our families. Thanks mom for the fun gift, he loves his car track and so do his friends! It has been a lot of fun :)

Thanks for coming mom! I am excited to see you and all the family again this summer. The kids miss you so much! 

Play time!

Dear Grandma and Grandpa Bateman,

Thank you so much for the gifts you gave us for Christmas. To just say that we love them wouldn't be enough! We have had so much fun playing with Evan's RC truck and Kiah's new doll house :) The day we got the doll house we spent the whole morning AND afternoon playing with it. We love it SO much. We are so lucky to have such wonderful grandparents like you... thank you for being the best! We can't wait till the next time we see you... maybe then you can play with our doll house with us! We would love that. We miss you and love you so much.

Love,

Evan and Makiah

There is a story behind this doll house :) Grandma and Grandpa sent money for Dallas and I to buy it. We bought something a little bit smaller and cheaper... and it didn't work out as planned. Basically Kiah was sad on Christmas when the people started breaking not five minutes after we opened the box. I decided then and there that I was sick of buying cheap toys. I started shopping online that day and found this wooden doll house. We LOVE it! I have just as much fun as the kids do with it :) Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for helping us make the kid's Christmas so special! We love you!

Two of the many things that I love about this house:

1. It comes with tons of furniture! Kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom, Laundry room (with ironing board and sewing machine), weight room, outside furniture and a car :) So fun!

2. It comes apart... you can put the house together in several different ways. You can even make two houses if you want. It's pretty cool. I think this is one of the reasons Evan likes it... he can build the house in any way that he likes!

The kids love the bathroom :) The two people it came with are kinda silly, but cute in their own way. I can't wait to buy some more people to add to our collection...

Quiet time

Dear Grandma and Grandpa Johnson,

       Thank you so much for the Christmas present you sent us. We love getting packages in the mail! Christmas time is so exciting when we have packages arriving... we get so excited and we love seeing the presents under the tree. It was so fun to talk to you on the webcam on Christmas, we were especially excited to open the gift you sent to us while we talked to you. We absolutely love it! We love taking our quiet book to church with us. It gives us something fun to do so mom and dad can listen in church. Makiah loves the baby Jesus page and Evan loves the finger puppets. It is fun to learn about the scripture stories on each page. We are so grateful that you would take the time to make us such a wonderful gift. We will love it forever! Mom told us that she had the same book when she was little. It is fun to share this book with her. Thank you! We are so excited for Grandma to come visit us next week, we are counting down the days!

Love,

Evan and Makiah

P.S. These pictures are some of my favorites. Ever. I love them so much. Also, I still have more from Christmas to post, I am just waiting on some pictures... stay tuned.