Back again!

I know it has been a long time. I'm not even going to try to catch up on all that has happened but I'm hoping to keep documenting some things about my girls because pretty soon I'm going to start forgetting things again. Both girls are doing great. School is going well this year but thanks to the boy/girl/boy/girl seating pattern at lunch K is getting a little bit of a potty mouth. Hopefully addition of the poo poo to everything she says will lose its novelty soon. She is a very bright girl and is still very interested in nature, bugs, leaves, and things that are creepy and crawly. I love this trait more and more all the time. I'm glad that she's interesting and I'm glad she isn't afraid of trying things. She has also come out of her shell a lot. She does have shy situations but not always the one in the corner.
Kylie is not in school this year, she is permanently attached to my leg! She is going through a little bit of a clingy phase right now. BUT! She did potty train herself. She is almost completely toilet trained but one thing I learned last time is she'll get it eventually so I'm not stressing it. She is totally hilarious in really annoying ways. Like, she only wears clothes that she can see her panties. ie no pants. She is very picky about shoes. So much so, that I have just stopped buying them because there is no way to tell if she'll wear them. She went through a phase this fall that she would only wear bathing suits- and this was after the pool closed! From day to day there is no telling what she'll be wearing and honestly, most of the time its not worth fighting with her because if you knew her temper, you'll know that even if I win, I still didn't win. I have also recently translated that she has one friend, Tinkerbell. I was lecturing K in the car about how if her friends did something bad she didnt need to do it also. After a couple seconds I realized that Kylie was in the back seat saying, "If Tinkerbell takes off her shoes and socks, I won't take off my shoes and socks." Okay Kylie!
The latest development in our family is that baby #3 is on the way. Both kids get it but neither really have feelings either way about it. We have decided to let this time be the surprise. John is really the one pushing this and I'm fine either way. This time has been harder but other than being a little neurotic, I'm feeling much better now. We went for our ultrasound today and baby was not very cooperative! It was moving everywhere!! But it was also really cool because we really got to "see" the baby in action and not just for a few seconds at a time. I heard that third children are pretty chill. I knew better than to think I would actually have a chill child. Also today during the ultrasound, they moved my due date up a little bit. March 26, 2012. For the record, my due date with Kaitlyn was March 26, 2007. I'm not sure I could do that again if I tried!
Our life is very full and blessed right now. I don't know that I deserve all of this happieness but I thank God everyday for giving it to me. I also pray for those we know who (for various reasons) aren't as fortunate.

Swim Team

We decided to put Kaitlyn on the swim team this year. Actually, we didn't decide. Last year when K was taking swim lessons we asked her if she wanted to be on the swim team and she said when she was four. Then she turned four and I asked her if she wanted to be on the swim team and she said when I'm... then she realized she was four. She is doing okay. She loves it, don't get me wrong... she started in lane one and then they moved her to lane two. Its been interesting. She liked the coach in lane one. I think because he looked a little like a younger Zac Effron. (She's my daughter what can I say.) But she has ended up being the best in lane one and the worst in lane two. I find it really hard to decide the balance between pushing your child to do what you know they can do and pushing them to do something that they really don't want to do. No... thats not really what the problem was... I knew that she could swim but she doesn't have the confidence to make it across by herself. When the girl coach leaves her she flips out and has been left stranded in the middle of the pool with no one to help her but I don't think she should have someone to hold on to all the time either. Anyway, last weekend I was finally able to get in the pool with her and work on her confidence a little. She totally has the ability to swim across the pool by herself- and she doesn't look like she might drown either- but she still needs to work on her confidence. I think Coach Chad is going to give her a little bit of time on Monday and hopefully he will get her to believe in herself. He may not be great at running an organization but I think he is great at teaching kids to swim. The first meet is this Thursday so hopefully she can make it across the pool! I'm going to be a nervous wreck for her though!

Tell me that's not the cutest body-ody ever!

3 year old preschool

Best teachers ever!

Yesterday was the last day of preschool. I have to admit, I was pretty emotional. I hope that I always remember Ms. Lisa and Ms. Elizabeth. I know that they are doing exactly what God put them on Earth to do- teach young children. I couldn't have asked for better, more loving, more encouraging, more nurturing teachers. They were so good with Kaitlyn and I really think they helped her start to come out of her shell. She will still play by herself a good bit but I also see her really participating in activities that I wouldn't have expected her to. She sings songs, she is beginning to talk to strangers, and she is building some confidence in herself. Honestly, what I really wanted was for her to be more confident- not more outgoing. Her teacher's have also nurtured her artistic ability. She is a pretty good at drawing and really likes to paint. She can write her name very well. I guess all of those cheesy art projects are paying off! She had lots of friends this year- boys and girls- and lots of things she liked to do in school. She came home every day and told me that she played Fire Dogs with Brady and Brady wouldn't let her be the fireman. Thats okay, she really likes acting like a dog. Not amused.

I forgot that she also had her dance recital. She did great!!! She was a little confused on where to stand and she was in the wrong place but for this dance she starts out on the back right and then ends up in back second from the left. You can watch it here.

Hair

Here are some pictures of Kylie's crazy hair. The only reason I posted these was to show you her hair!!!

Ode to Kylie

Kylie turned two! Her birthday came and went and I didn't get around to really giving her a proper birthday post. I think I've said before, she is the child that I never knew I would want. If I was to describe her personality in one word, I would say, her hair. It's wild and unruly, I can never get it to cooperate. If I need it to look good it's a total mess but when it doesn't matter it's perfect. Many people would love to have those perfect highlights and ringlets.
Here are some things that Kylie loves: saying bye, riding in Kaitlyn's carseat, messing with Kaitlyn's stuff, monkeys, funny expressions with her eyes, calling animals by the sound they make, sparkly shoes and flip flops, nigh-nigh, singing, Belle, her family.
It's funny because people always say, "she's going to be your tom-boy." But that really couldn't be further from the truth. She is very spirited and much more outgoing than Kaitlyn but she doesn't like to be dirty or wet. She is afraid of bugs, animals, and mud. She does have an arm on her but I think that is a self-defense mechanism- like she needs to throw K's toy as far as possible. My step-dad always says he can't wait to take her fishing but if he's going to take someone fishing, it ought to be the kid that's over digging up the worms.
I find it amazing that I have two equally incredible children but they are both so different. Kaitlyn is just like me. She talks, walks, and dresses like me. She has lots of friends, a couple close ones but not really a best friend. She wants to like many different things but she isn't totally focused on anything. She has John's laser focus (when she wants too - like John), and his artistic ability. Kylie, on the other hand is the mailman's kid, she is spirited and outgoing where John and I are pretty chill and reserved. She is short, where we are above average/tall. And girlfriend has a TEMPER!
So all this begs the question, what about number 3? Honestly, I can't imagine never being pregnant again, never nursing another baby, never holding a sleeping angel in my arms but I also don't know where this baby would fit in. Would it be a boy? That would be odd. Would it be a girl? Oh geez. Would Ky try to throw it like she does with her dolls? It's pretty hard to go away on vacation and expect our parents to watch THREE kids. All I can say is that, there were two fleeting moments in time where I thought I may want a baby and I had both of those babies approximately 40 weeks later. Since then there may have been a passing thought to having number 3 but so far (so good) it's not happening. I guess we'll just put it in His hands.

Easter

We had a beautiful Easter this year. It was also our 7 year anniversary but it was mostly Easter. The girls woke up and were so excited to see that the Easter bunny ate her carrots. They got a little bit of goodies in their baskets and had an Easter egg hunt. We then went to church and spent the afternoon with my mom, grandma, and the rest of the family. It was a very fun and relaxing day. While we were at church, I had to, of course, leave with Kylie, and I heard some of the church ladies gossiping. Among their gossip I found out that overnight, someone had vandalized, our new statue of Jesus! They put this statue in in March. I remember because the preschoolers, including Kaitlyn got to watch the installation. It was a pretty cool event for the kids to watch and even Kylie will wave to the statue every day getting into carpool. I wasn't quite sure what to expect so I told John that I wanted to walk around and see what happened. It really couldn't have been much worse. The seven foot marble statue was covered in hot pink spray paint. They painted a pentagram on his heard and testicles. They also painted his eyes and hands. I have no idea what these people were trying to prove my desecrating a statue of Jesus on Christmas morning but our church was truly blessed that they failed. It rained shortly after they painted it which kept the paint from sinking in the marble so a local company volunteered their time to fix it. We had nine masses filled to the rim, celebrating the resurrection of our savior. The church has had an out pouring of support of those Catholic and not. When I dropped Kaitlyn off this morning, I noticed that the statue was glimmering, ready to welcome all those who come to worship in his name. I don't know how anyone could see that statue and not cry at the hatefulness. I know that I couldn't. Even a four year old couldn't understand what had happened!
Here is a segment from our local news that shows the statue but they had to white out most of the graffiti because it was too graphic for tv.

Pictures