Preparations

We are having a big weekend around here. My sister, Karen and her hubby, Scott came down to visit and brought their precious 7 week old with them. The girls really enjoyed all of the baby items that we got out from the garage for her arrival. Here are pictures of them watching a movie while waiting for them to get here.

We also had to get ready for Father's day so this Mama decided to let them do something that she never lets them do...paint. They of course had a blast. I had them wear their aprons and of course all of the paint was washable. Cleanup was a breeze. Crayola's washable paint was great. The girls painted cards for  Daddy, Grandpa, Papa and Uncle Scott. Kylee was so excited that she wanted to give it to Daddy as soon as he got home from work. I had to remind her that we had to wait until Sunday. We still have to go and pick something out for Daddy. I usually take them to the dollar store and I love to see what they pick and why. I hope everyone has a great Father's Day weekend!

2 years

So it has been over a month since Bailey turned two, but what the hey at least there will be a post, right? We had an Elmo party for Bailey, or as she calls him, "Melmo!" We decided to just do a family party this year with all that we had going on. It was a great success. Bailey is still a super picky eater so I had a hard time deciding what to serve at this dinner party. The one thing that she always likes is oatmeal. So we had an oatmeal bar. There were all kinds of topping to put on your oatmeal and bacon and toast on the side. Everyone thought that it was a little unusual, but definitely made it work.

Bailey loved the icing on her cake! I went the easy way and made cupcakes with Elmo pictures. Nonny and Papa paid for us to take the kids to see Elmo Live the week before her birthday, and both girls really loved that!

Bailey is talking so much! We just recently had our Easter hunt and she was hilarious! Every time she picked up an egg, the following dialogue came: "I got it, I shake it, I drop it." She is too cute. She likes to repeat everything that big sister says now even if she doesn't understand what it means. She definitely gets easily frustrated when we don't understand her and we are trying to work through that so that her terrible twos are not quite so terrible!

Say What?

The girls said some really cute things today:

Age 4:
Kylee: "Mommy every time I take a drink it goes down my stroke."
Me: "What you didn't have a stroke?"
Kylee: "You know it goes down my stroke and into my tummy."
Me: "Oh you mean your throat?"
Kylee: "Yeah that's what I said, my stroke!

We are keeping my sister's dogs for a week. Bailey often follows them around and repeats what she hears us saying to them. She loves to throw the ball and have Wallace bring it back. When she throws it she says, "catch!" I have never heard her say that before. She also hears us tell the dogs to hush when they start barking so now she goes around and tells them to "ush." Too cute

Too long!

I feel bad that I have made only a handful of posts in Bailey's life. So I need to update about her. She is 21 month old now and has such a sweet personality. She still like to snuggle every morning when she gets up and lots of times throughout the day. She is definitely a Mama's girl. She probably says Mama and Mommy about a thousand times a day. While I know it drives me crazy now, I will long for her sweet little voice in days to come.

Bailey likes to do everything that her older sister does. She loves to play with markers, paints and anything else that you wouldn't normally let a 21 month old play with. But it is hard when you have an older sister that is doing so many fun activities. She has only drawn on the couch twice :)

She is talking a lot. Her favorite words are no, uh-huh, juice (which is odd since she doesn't drink any juice), dister, dog-dog, pat-pat (movie), mine, and banket. She can say a lot more and we are amazed at the things she comes up with everyday. She always has a blanket in her hands, but isn't particular to a certain one. It just has to have a soft and silky side.

She likes to impress us with her tricks and say "ta-da." She has always been a great sleeper and we are so thankful. She goes to bed at 7 every night and sleeps until 6:45. She only wakes up if she is teething or has an ear infection. She is just starting to notice that others stay up later than her and she might miss something. But if we take her in the other room and read her a couple of books and sing some songs she is usually okay.

Bailey is still very small. She is in the 5th percentile in height and weight. We still give her formula once a day because she just doesn't eat very many different things. She loves her formula and cries when you give her plain milk. She has a big belly so we don't fear that she isn't getting enough calories. I do feel that I treat her a little bit more like a baby than an almost 2 year old because she is so tiny.

She also has the sweetest disposition. It is really hard to get upset with her because you know that her intentions are sweet. Well most of the time...she likes to run in the street, color on anything except paper, pull Mommy's earrings, and scream when she doesn't get her way.

Bailey likes to entertain us with such games as peek-a-book, pronounced "peek-boo," run away from Mommy and Daddy and giggle and act like she doesn't want to be tickled, but always comes back for more.

I am still waiting for her hair to grow out. I can only put it in a whale spout on top of her head. Bryan calls it a pole lol! She has started telling us when she has pooped. Sometimes she tells us that she pooped when she has peed, but at least she knows that there is something going on down there. Today I ignored her and paid for it! She told me she pooped and then I got distracted and forgot all about it. The next thing I knew there was poop on the floor that had come through her pants. It was GROSS! Lots of wipes and a bath later we were better.

Kylee will be 4 in just a couple of weeks and I must say that 3 has been very difficult. She is still trying to figure out what she can get away with, but is so sensitive that any kind of scolding really sends her into a mess. She always thinks that we are mad at her if she gets in trouble and is constantly apologizing. We of course assure her that we are not mad, but that it is our job to make sure that she learns how to behave etc. I think she gets her sensitivity from her Daddy and that is something that I love about both of them.

She is really into cutting everything up. I know that it is good for her fine motor skills to practice this skill, but I get really tired of picking up all of the pieces. Plus she thinks that everything that she cuts is very special! Luckily when she gets up in the morning she doesn't remember these special pieces and doesn't notice that I have thrown them away.

Kylee is really into cooking with me. She loves to pull a chair up next to me when I am doing anything in the kitchen. Her favorite is washing the dishes, but now that we got new floors that don't do really well with lots of water, I have to watch her carefully. She really loves anything with water. She would take 4 baths a day if I would let her. Sometimes I let her take a bath so that I can get stuff done :)

Kylee is very protective of me. If Jonathan and I get in a disagreement she quickly tells Daddy to leave me alone. It is cute, but can get on Daddy's nerves fast. She is protective of her sister too. Sometimes she will randomly knock her down, but she won't let anyone else do it to her.

She comes up with some really cute sayings. Her most recent one is, "You're breaking my heart!" She recently said this to Nonny and Papa when they decided to go home instead of spending the night with us. She also likes to tell us how crazy we are.

I love both of my girls and they are growing up way too fast. I am scared to have a third because I am afraid the days will go by even quicker.

Third Time's a Charm!

I just got done with one of the busiest weeks that I have had in a long time! I am starting my third year as the director of the Belton Christian Preschool. We had our teacher inservice on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Thursday morning was meet the teacher and that night I had a new parent orientation. 

The orientation started at 6:30 and I was a little nervous when no one was there at 6:20, but we ended up having about 20-25 families there. It was pretty informal and I didn't have to use the microphone. I was so nervous about it, but I thought it went pretty well. 

I have been working such long hours this week that I have hardly seen my kids. When I ran home Thursday to eat some dinner before the meeting, both Kylee and Bailey ate dinner in my lap. It was really sweet actually. We have done pretty much nothing today. All of us took a 2 1/2 hour nap! It was very awesome. We also ventured out to Chick-fil-a for lunch and I let them play a little. It was nice to spend a whole day with them. This week makes me very thankful that I don't have to work full-time. 

I never saw myself becoming a preschool director, but God always has his own plans for me. I am very thankful that he plans my life and not me. This is my third year and I feel like I know a little bit about what I am doing this year. My kiddos did get to meet their teachers, but I didn't get pictures. I will get some on the first day of school.

The Mess

I took the girls with me to get my van inspected the other day and we were sitting in the lobby. A lady came in and saw Bailey and was talking to her. Kylee ran over (to make sure she got some attention too) and said to the lady, "This is my sister Bailey, she is a mess." The lady and I laughed and I remembered how kids always quote you.

Bailey is very busy all of the time. She is always getting into something. We have most of our cabinets child proofed, but we are going to have to go back and do our drawers for Bailey. Her favorite drawer is the one in the end table by the couch. I have found all kinds of treasure in there: apples, bannanas, crackers just to name a few.

She also loves to throw things in the trash. The other day Jonathan went out to the garage to get another corn dog from the freezer. Bailey followed him out there and he asked her to bring the corn dog to me in the kitchen. I was washing dishes and didn't even notice that she came in. When he got back from the garage he asked me if I had his corn dog. I said no and we went and found Bailey, no corn dog with her either. We searched the house. Guess where it was: the trash can. Luckily it was one that was individually packaged and salvageable. I have to check the trash a couple of times a day to get bowls, spoons and cups out of it.

Bailey is saying a few more things, but they are pretty random and she might say them one day and not the next. I have heard her say sister, backpack, pancake, mama, dada, daddy, help, shoe and pease. She doesn't really say no yet, but she loves to shake her head no even if her real answer is yes.

She is starting to care if Kylee takes her toys so I am doing a lot more refereeing. My girls are not cuddly with each other. I have to make Kylee give Bailey a kiss when she goes to bed. But I think it is just because they are so busy. They are only snuggly with me after they get hurt, do something wrong or are tired. I am a loving mom, but they are independent kiddos I guess.

Here is a sweet video of Bailey rocking her babies. I know it is a long one, but I don't know how to edit them.

Goodnight Moon

Tonight I read an oldy but goody to Kylee, Goodnight Moon. We read this every single night until she was about 2 years old. I can't remember exactly when we let go of the tradition, but Jonathan and I still have it memorized. I remember reading it and asking Kylee to point to the different pictures that we mentioned. She would get excited about the colored pages and looked a little bored when we read the black and white ones.

Tonight I read the same book to my 3 1/2 year old. Boy was it a different experience. I recently purchased a night light that is a moon when it is time to sleep and a sun shine when it is time to get up. The idea is that it will teach your child to sleep later (or really just stay in her bed/room). Kylee has been getting up about 6 every morning and coming in our room. She lays on the floor, but never goes back to sleep. She sucks her fingers very loudly, sings and talks. I can doze, but I don't get to go back to sleep. On days that I have to go to work I am up and getting ready when she comes in and it messes with my schedule.

Anyway, back to the book. I thought it would be a good idea to read this book to her to go along with the discussion of the new nightlight. The website offered a book to read with the nightlight, but I opted to save my money on that purchase. While we were reading tonight instead of pointing and naming the pictures, Kylee was asking questions. Why is there a little house, does it belong to the mouse? What is the little old lady making? These are just small examples of how my baby is growing up. I ask her every day to stay little for me. She says, "I can't Mom I have to grow, but I love you."

Goodnight stars.
Goodnight air.
Goodnight noises everywhere.

Today was the day...

Kylee is three and a half. I have found that three is much more challenging than two! Now she is opinionated and can also voice it. So today it happened...we were in church and one of the elders was doing the communion devo (imagine an auditorium full of people who are intently listening to this devo). Kylee was not responding to me when I asked her to stop singing at the top of her lungs. I gave her a warning and asked if I needed to take her out to give her a spank. Of course she said no, but didn't stop the behavior. I stepped out to the aisle and snapped my fingers and told her that she needed to come with me. This is when it happened. At the top of her lungs this is what she said.

"No Mommy I don't want a spank."
"I won't talk anymore!"
"I promise I will listen."
"Mommy I just love you."
"Can't we just talk about this??"

As I was walking to the back of the auditorium I was laughing and everyone that I walked by was also laughing. So we went into the bathroom and I did spank her and we talked about her behavior. Then as I was walking back to our seat everyone was still snickering as I walked past. Just in case that wasn't bad enough. As the preacher was leaving after his sermon, he stopped by our pew to find out who it was that was protesting. I had to admit it was my Kylee. Needless to say I have heard all about it all day from everyone.

Kylee does have a sweet side as you know :) We have been working very hard to get her to not carry around her silky 24/7. In case you don't know what "silky" is...it is a former silky robe that went with a night gown. It is purple and her absolute favorite part about it is this little bitty belt loop. She puts that pointy part right under her nose while she sucks her fingers. Silky has gotten her through a lot of tough times.

Well we are hoping to break her of sucking her fingers when she turns four so it starts by breaking her of silky. So for the last week or so we have told her that she has to leave it in her bed. We saw her doctor the other day and he told her how big girls leave their silkies in their beds. She does whatever Dr. Burke says, so that was a good start. Plus now I can blame it on Dr. Burke when she gets upset. The first couple of days I wanted to pull my hair out, but it is better now. I have to remind her to go put it back on her bed, but there is very little protesting. Little Bailey knows that purple silky belongs to Kylee and brought it out of her room the other day and handed it to Kylee. It was the sweetest thing ever. I let Kylee keep it for about 10 minutes.

Here are some much needed updated pics of Kylee

 At the zoo

 This ice cream is so good, it takes me to another place!

 She only thought she was going to get out of a picture with her mommy!

 Playing at the Salado creek

 Sisters watching Busytown Mysteries. Notice silky in hand and sister has her silky blanket too

 Playing pretty pretty princess with her daddy