Blackberry Pie

Dear Kaylee,
This morning Grammy and I went to Sunnyside and picked blackberries. It was really fun. On the way home we were talking and decided that making a pie with you would be the perfect opportunity for some one on one time. So after your nap I took you over to Grammy's to make a pie.
As we were leaving our house Daddy was playing super strawberry with the boys and they were all giggling pretty hard. Daddy wanted to make sure the boys had a good time too, guy time. You love the game super strawberry. It's a plastic strawberry that Daddy pretends has super powers and you all try to keep it away from Daddy. I could tell you wanted to play but you went to the van. When I had you all buckled in and we driving down the road you asked "Why we leave Connor and Hunter?" I told you that I wanted to spend time with "just Kaylee because Kaylee is so much fun." I looked in the rear view mirror and you had the cutest little smirk on your face and then in your very best teenager voice you said, "Fine." Totally made me giggle.
You had a blast making the pie. You wanted to do it all yourself. We bought an extra pie crust so you could cut out some decorative shapes with cookie cutters and you loved that. We stayed at Grammy's until the pie was done cooking but it had to cool off and we weren't going to have time to eat it before bed time so we decided to have it in the morning for breakfast. You thought that was a great idea! I can't wait to see if you actually like pie. I have a pretty good feeling you will.
Thanks for a great afternoon kiddo!
Mommy

Oh. Yeah.

Dear Kaylee, 

You are such a funny little girl these days. You have so many phrases that you use a thousand times a day and each time those same phrases make me smile. My favorite one right now is you say "oh." 

"oh. yeah." 

"oh. I have an idea." 

"oh. I know." 

"oh. oh!"

My second favorite phrase is anything that you say with the word "remember." 

"Remember Mommy, no pooping your pants." 

"Remember Mommy, eating at the table." 

"Oh yeah. Remember Mommy, toys go downstairs." 

You always say the word "remember" like you are actually reminding me of this new rule we learned together. It's pretty adorable! 

Something that is a little less adorable is the setback we've had potty training. Before we moved you were done. We didn't have accidents anymore and the only time you needed a pull up was when you were sleeping. Then all chaos broke loose and you started having accidents like crazy. We're getting better and better each day but it's been a lot of work. We just started a new sticker chart. If you get ten stickers you get a new book. Every time you go potty or poop on the toilet you get to put a sticker on your chart. It's taken you two days to get five stickers but we'll get there. You're pretty excited about the book and day two was a lot easier than day one so I think it's just going to get better and better. 

The other set back we've had lately has been at bed time. This is extremely frustrating for me because at bedtime I have no energy left whatsoever. You have taken it upon  yourself to refuse to go to sleep. You won't sleep in any bed and you cry as loud as you can until someone comes to snuggle you, which in the past has been a long time. Finally, Daddy last night reminded the both of us that you are only two and the boys were WAY worse at bed time routine than you ever have been, so Daddy made a deal with you. He said as long as you go to sleep at nap time with no crying and no snuggling, he'll snuggle you to sleep at bedtime. That seemed like a pretty good deal to you last night around 10 pm. 

You are so full of personality! You make the funniest faces, and you giggle all day long. It's pretty contagious. You also are a Mommy's girl. You love to follow me around the house helping me do every little thing. You get so sad when you can't help make dinner. I think next week I'm going to have some one on one time with you and make a Hello Kitty cake just for fun. You've been really clingy lately and in the past that has meant you need Mommy to yourself. I love one on one time with you. Sometimes we go get a pedicure and sometimes we just go get groceries but it's always fun with you around. 

I love you Kaylee girl. I know that being two can't be easy. There's been lots of changes this summer in our family, but life is calming down and you're going to be three before you know it! 

XOXO, 

Mommy

New House, New Blockbuster.

Dear Bubbas,

We've moved into our new house. You guys were a little stressed during the process. I could tell because you're behavior was off. However, the entire time you were excited to get into the new house and your new rooms.

You absolutely love the new house. You're favorite parts are the stairs and the fridge. You love to watch balls roll down the stairs, and lay on blankets and pull each other down them. You love the fridge because you can get your own ice and water out of the door now. I love that you can get your own water but now we're working on cleaning up our own mess. Countless times I've walked into the kitchen and stepped in a puddle because one of you over filled your glass.

You tell everyone that we have a "big, big, big back yard!" It's decent size, no bigger than what you use to have, but you think it's the best yard in the world. There are lots of trees and bushes and hiding spots. There are also grasshoppers! You three found some in the grass the other night and were catching them.  It was very exciting!

Clayton was over here the other day and he said he needed to go to the bathroom. You all began telling him where the bathrooms were and then Hunter says, "They're all over this place." That made me laugh.

I was worried that you wouldn't like the new house and you'd want the old one back because when we got a new van in September it was fun for about a day and then you both started asking me where the old car was and why we didn't have it anymore. You told me repeatedly that you liked that car better. Periodically Connor still brings it up. I'm not sure what you liked about that beat up old van so much, but it had me worried you'd feel the same about the house. We've been here almost two weeks and you still love it! We asked if you wanted to go to the old house and say goodbye, and you didn't. That's a good sign.

One of your concerns was how we were going to get to blockbuster. That is literally your favorite place in the world! So, Daddy and I took you to the neighborhood blockbuster. You were so excited! I took a picture in the store and I told you to say blockbuster and all three of you yelled, "NEW BLOCKBUSTER!" We had some people looking at us like we'd never been in a video store before so it was pretty funny!

I'm glad that you like the new place. Connor even asks if we can stay here until we go to heaven. I'm not sure if we'll stay that long, I guess it depends on when we go! We're definitely here for many years though and I'm looking forward to filling this place up with memories.

I love you most!
Mommy

Dear Bubbas

Dear Bubbas,

Recently we had a weekend of birthday parties. We had one party Friday, Saturday, and Sunday! That is a LOT for our family. I was afraid we would get overwhelmed and Mommy did a little, but it was so much fun that it was totally worth it.

We started the parties with Abby and Gracie's Princess Pirate birthday. This was fantastic, because they even ordered a true pirate storm for their party! Actually, we showed up at the park, dressed in swim wear, completely ready to play in the water and on the toys and it started pouring rain! All of the kids still wanted to do the treasure hunt though, so you all did that in the rain and then we moved the party indoors. You thought this party was fantastic! You loved every little detail of it! Especially the fake tattoos. On the way home you asked if your next birthday could be a pirate party.

Saturday was Tripp's party. He had a cow party! I made some of the cookies for his party and special skirts for Kendall and Kaylee to wear. This party was outside and the weather significantly cleared up so we were able to stay outside. Tripp's back yard is like a park so you had a fantastic time! You love the trampoline and the little baby pool with the slide. Tripp also had a giant inflatable water slide. You really liked that too! I thought the funnest part of the party was watching you all try to break open the pinata! You came home with giant bags of candy! The cow party was such a success that on the way home you asked if your next birthday could be a cow party.


Sunday was Isaac's birthday party. He had a cowboy theme! He had the neatest decorations! There was an entire city made out of giant cardboard boxes, there was a real horse that you could feed apples, and there was a really neat sprinkler toy that you could play with. You all got cowboy hats and badges and were very cute running around playing cowboys. It was really hot on Sunday so the sprinkler toy was a big hit for you guys! When it was time to go home, I literally had to drag you away from the party. It was such a fun party that on the way home you asked if your next birthday could be a cowboy party.

I love you guys so much! You enjoy life to the fullest, and every day seems to be the best day of your life. I hope that never changes.

XOXO,
Mommy

Dear Hunter,

You've been pretty funny lately. You have so much attitude you are not sure what to do with it. Eventually it all manifests its way out in the form of silliness but sometimes it sneaks out as a very grumpy boy. Especially when we wake you up from a nap or in the morning. You're literally like a bear. We now have the joke, don't wake the bear!

We had a bug party and this time you were loving it! You had a ton of fun. No injured toes. However, you had so much fun that at the end of the party that at the end of it you ended up in the same chair looking just as pathetic. Grammy asked if you got hurt again, and I had to tell her that you were just worn out from too much fun!

We went to Olympia to see family recently. On the way there we stopped in Ellensburg to walk through the gift store and take a break. You saw this giant black bear that you wanted. It was expensive though so Daddy told you if you didn't want to buy anything else the rest of the weekend you could have the giant bear. You made it to North Bend when we stopped at the outlet mall and decided that buying candy was worth it. You ended up getting the bear on the way home which is another story all of its own.

We went to the zoo on the way home from Olympia. You loved every second of it! You even rode a camel! You were pretty excited about that. I was so impressed that you weren't afraid even a little bit, because it was just last August that you wouldn't even get on the miniature pony at the fair!

You still love to pretend you're Spiderman. You love playing "monster btack"  with Daddy. This year you love the water! You're enjoying the sprinkler parks and the pools more than you ever have before! It's going to be such a fun summer! I love you buddy!

Mommy