Time to update

I know it is past time to update the blog when Jared is posting from work and using words like "divatastic"! So sorry, it has been a while again, hasn't it? As the girls are getting older some things are becoming much easier. For example, it doesn't take us nearly as long to get out of the house because I don't have to worry about food and bottles. As long as we have access to a grilled cheese I can get us all fed. Other things though are proving to be much more time consuming! For example,

Matney like to help with almost everything right now (except cleaning up her own messes!). She especially likes to throw things away. Not long ago I was cleaning in our bathroom and had some trash. M wanted to help so I handed her a piece of trash and said "please throw this away in the the bathroom". She came back and said she did it so I gave her another piece....we repeated this several times until I realized her hands were wet. She out grew playing in the toilet a while ago so I was really surprised and marched her to the sink. As I did something in the toilet caught my eye and I stopped. Bless her sweet heart. I'd told her to throw it away "in the bathroom" and she had done just that. All the trash right in the toilet. sigh. We got cleaned up and had a wonderful conversation about trash goes in the trash can (right next to the toilet) and poo poo goes in the potty. Lovely.

Now fast forward, another time when I wasn't blogging it was because I was chasing this WILD MONKEY. Do you see HK?

Oh yes, there she is...ON TOP OF THE TABLE. Halle Kate is a wild climber. I am positive she is going to make me have a heart attack soon. This day she climbed on the chair and onto the table and was standing up. Oh my goodness gracious. Matney has never been wild like HK so we had no idea that monkeys can exist in human form. Last week she pulled herself up a folded up step ladder. It looked like she was doing pull-ups/chin-ups as she shimmied herself up. sigh. She scares me.

And, if we aren't cleaning up or chasing Halle Kate then we're up to cute, girly things...like pigtails!

Isn't that so cute?!?!?

We are busy but it is all good stuff. Halle Kate is napping so I have to get the kitchen clean and Matney dressed before she's up or else we'll never get out of this house. I put new batteries in the camera and am downloading the pictures so more posts to come soon!

Getting Too Big

This sweet girl still comes up to just under my waist in height, but she acts as big as her shadow. What a trip. She is very opinionated, from telling her mom that her mom's dress "is not cute" and telling her dad "no wear your hat," she will tell you just what she is thinking at all times. And by all times, I mean all times. Stacey says that if the average woman has to use 10,000 words a day, Matney's quota is more like 50,000.

My Little Pony, Really?

You know its bad when you start cheering for a rare case of hoof and mouth disease to take out the new menagerie of toys located in your living room.

We Call Her Halle Cakes for More Than One Reason

Matney Isn't the Only Diva

Just in case you were wondering, both girls are divatastic.

HK is 11 months!

It seems impossible to me to believe that Halle Cakes just turned 11 months. Of course, it also seems impossible to know that I need to have her bday invites in the mail by the end of the week. Ha! I haven't done much writing on the blog recently (and part of the reason for this blog is for our own "scrapbooking") so I thought I'd do a post on each of the girls.

Halle Kate, or Halle Cakes or Cake-a-roos is SO SWEET. She is a total cuddle bug. If we're laying on the ground she immediately crawls over and onto us and puts her head on our chest. She and Matney do this all day long. So sweet. She gives hugs and kisses all the time. She loves stuffed animals. The robot is still her favorite and she has to have it to sleep but any other animal in the house gets big hugs from her. Between our two girls we are establishing quite a zoo!

She takes two naps, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. All I have to do is put her in bed with her paci and she'll play with her robot (sometimes body slamming him which is so funny to watch on the video monitor) until she falls asleep. She almost never has a paci unless she is sleeping. We put her in bed around 8:30pm and she normally sleeps until 6-7am, drinks a bottle and goes back to bed until about 8am. Unless she is sick I never have to go in her room at night. She is a great sleeper.

When she had all the stomach issues in March and I was trying to avoid going to a GI specialist I stopped all baby food and switched her to very small pieces of solids. This made the biggest difference and she seems to be thriving. She's gaining weight (finally!) and hasn't had anymore tummy problems. I probably don't use a spoon to feed her even once a week because she just won't touch it...unless it is carrying ice cream! There isn't much she won't eat and she loves black beans, cheese, crackers, strawberries and waffles/pancakes. I think that Saturday morning Daddy/daughter pancake breakfasts (otherwise known as "mommy gets to stay asleep time" sounds like a great idea in the next few years!).

Halle Kate walks great pushing something and can stand for several seconds on her own but we have a little time before she's walking. She is certainly our wild child. She already climbs the stairs as quickly as Matney. The Elmo chair has to stay in the middle of the floor because she'll crawl over the top and get on the couch if we aren't careful. She has no fear and is constantly trying to climb something. Many times a day I turn around to find her on top of something new. She terrifies me!

Right now she says Mama and Dada. She can say duck and tries to say lots of words that start with "b" (book, ball, bottle) but those aren't very clear. When she doesn't get what she wants she just stands and screams while she stares straight at us without blinking. Ha!

Her smile and laugh is the best! I cannot begin to express how totally in love with her we all are. Having two littles girls so close together has been the greatest gift. While it has made for a trying year sometimes there is certainly a light at the end of this particular tunnel. The girls LOVE each other. If HK isn't around Matney says "Mom, go get my sister". And when Matney hears her waking up in the monitor she yells, "yeah! My sister is waking up, my sister is waking up. Let's go get her!" and heads for the stairs. I need to video the exchange between the two of them when HK sees Matney in her room, the squeals from them both are precious!

Squealing Divas

Oh my goodness. Look at these girls. Sunday after church they were such a MESS! HK wouldn't take a nap so they ended up eating lunch together and they were cracking us up. Matney got new Dora sunglasses. ha! And Halle Kate is in love with Elmo. It is like some parts of the last year are on repeat. Remember this post? These girls are sisters all right and they love the same things! You want a squealing happy Halle Kate? Go to youtube.com and play Elmo and his ducks. So funny! I wonder what she'll do if Elmo's ducks ever turn up on the big screen for her.

A very merry unbirthday to you!

I totally didn't take enough pictures last week but we had a Very Merry Unbirthday party for Jared last Friday night. He knew there was something different going on at home because we sent him teaser pictures all day long. I think the balloons on the mailbox made him panic a little when he got home though. No honey, you didn't forget an important date...yet. We did get married on May 28th so mark your calendar! Just kidding, Jared is the one in this relationship MUCH better at remembering dates and making things special. So, for all that he does for us we wanted to surprise him with a day for him. We had a special dinner and made cookies that were SO yummy. Miss M colored pictures and we sang an unbirthday song. As we shopped and decorated all day Matney was so excited for "Daddy's party!", so excited. I think the day was a success for everyone. Thank you Jared for all you do for us. We hope you know how much we love you.

Involved

It is so sad to me to know that there are children without daddies who love and play with them. In this house no one has to worry about that. This Daddy is INVOLVED! And please, don't call us after 9pm. These girls are WEARING US OUT! They get in bed and we are close behind them. Looking at these pictures it isn't hard to see why. Wild girls!

Green Monster

I know you've all read about some of the changes we've made around here trying to eat mostly fresh, unprocessed foods. So, I thought I'd show you my new favorite breakfast, a Green Monster. I'd read a lot about these here and we bought a blender that crushes ice like a champ so I finally gave it a shot. It took me a couple of tries but milk, protein powder, 5 frozen strawberries and almost 2 cups of spinach...yes, spinach, is perfect. Honest, it is really yummy!