She Makes Me Smile

Two can be trying at times.  Not just two kids, but the age of two.  There have been many moments of...what was she thinking, followed by what was I thinking.  However, we are almost through it.  I don't expect things to get magically better at age 3.  My little girl is an independent spirit, who loves people.  Caelyn is so sweet and so compassionate.  

Caelyn has started her own card ministry. Almost every morning when Jackson goes down for his nap Caelyn proclaims "Mommy, it is morning and I get to make cards." So off we go to the dining room where there are cheap stickers, markers, and note cards for her to decorate.  Each one has a purpose and a recipient in mind.  After she is done she asks that I put them in the envelope and then in the mailbox, so that whom ever receives the card "will be happy."

Caelyn has recently started picking out her own clothes.  Pink is Caelyn favorite color, mine is purple, Phil's is green, and Jackson's blue.  Why? Because she says so.  Also, pink matches.  Today she was wearing four shades of pink and loving every minute of it.  She loves to dress her self, especially in dresses and most especially in pink.

I love her and she makes me smile.

Princess Caelyn

Last night our local Chick-fil-a had Princess and Super Hero night.  Translation: free food and fun.  Caelyn got dressed up in her best princess duds and off we went.  I forgot my camera while we were there, but here are the pictures I snapped before we left.

All Dressed Up

A Cinderella Moment

A princess not afraid of a little hard work

Jackson is wondering why his sister has more tools that he does.

Potty Humor

We started potty training a week ago.  Just like every other time, unplanned and Caelyn initiated.  This time, however, we followed through with it.  We tried potty training twice before, in the middle of moving and having Jackson, so we gave up.  This time we decided to finish it.

Day 1 was great.  Day 2 we went through 4 pairs of Dora underwear before 10 am. After that things went so much smoother.  We are pretty much done with the training part, there is still some hesitancy with the #2s, but they still end up where they are supposed to...is that TMI?  Anyways.

We have had a lot of good laughs over the last week, mostly over poop.

Here are some of the good ones:

Caelyn running out of the bathroom "There is a giant in my potty!"  - Interpretation:  Her first poop, she had never really gotten a good look at one before

Phil: "How does it feel to poop on the big girl potty?"
Caelyn:"...Stinky"

Me: "Caelyn, do you need to go potty?"
Caelyn: "No, the poops are at the bottom of my belly getting ready to come out."

Caelyn: "Mommy, can I wear my princess underwear?"
Me: "No, you are already wearing Dora underwear."
10 minutes later
Caelyn: "Mommy, I am just a little bit wet, I need my new princess underwear."
I don't think it was an "accident."

I hope you found some smiles from our week.

Good Idea/Bad Idea

Good Idea: Buying a large pot of hyacinth flowers
Bad Idea: Setting them next to your 2 year old in the cart

Good Idea: Planting them into new cute small pots
Bad Idea: Doing it on your kitchen floor

Good Idea: Letting 2 year old wash her hands while you clean up
Bad Idea: Spilling water on top of the dirt creating mud

Good Idea:  Let your daughter swiffer up the dirt left on the floor
Good Idea: Put your new cute hyacinths on your shelving to enjoy

We headed to Lowe's today to take a gander at the mis-tint paint shelf before heading to meet some friends for lunch at Chick-fil-a.  Lowe's didn't have any paint that I wanted, so we took a few minutes to look around and see what kind of good deals they had going on.  AND I HIT THE JACKPOT!  The best deal was the hyacinth on manager's special for $2.  I got one pot, which had 14 bulbs in it.  I filled seven different pots with hyacinth.  Five are in the living room and two are on the ledge in between the kitchen and family room.

I also got two sets of 3 baskets for $3.97 each, marked down from 17.97.  My closet upstairs is in need of some serious organization.

I got two curtain tie back hooks for $2.97 each, marked down from 9.97.  I am going to use those as hand towel hooks for our down stairs bathroom.  Right now there is a full size towel bar, which makes no sense in a half bath.

Dancing

I have a little girl that loves to dance. 

She has music in her head all the time.  

She will dance by herself or grab an unsuspecting partner.

Merry Christmas!

So, it has been a while since I last posted.  Things have been pretty busy around here and they aren't slowing down for a little bit.  Here is our Christmas card/summary of our year.  I still have Christmas cards to mail, but I ran out of stamps.  I also have pictures to post, but we still haven't found the cable to download the pictures.  We will find it eventually, but for now here is our card.

Merry Christmas!

Little Helper

I hate doing dishes, it is my least favorite chore in the whole world.  Fortunately I have a husband who doesn't mind doing the dishes and is quite effective at it.  However, since Phil has been busy working on home projects to prepare for the arrival of Jackson I have volunteered to do the dishes until I can no longer reach the faucet.

However, it seems like every time I start the dishes Caelyn goes from playing nicely on her own to wanting to be right at mommy's side.  So yesterday I filled the empty side of the sink with water and bubbles and let her go to town.  While I did dishes for 1/2 and hour, Caelyn played happily with one little cup in the soapy water.  It was great knowing exactly where she was and she had a lot of fun "doing dishes" with mommy.

Slurpee Round 2

Caelyn calls slurpees "Special Treats" because that's what they are.  We don't get them very often, but we all enjoy them when we get the chance.  We stopped to get slurpees on the way home from the beach with Phil's parents when they came to visit.  I don't think I took any other pictures while they were here, but I did get this on camera.

Trying it with a spoon

Looking for a quicker way

Style

My little girl has her own sense of style.  Including wearing her sunglasses upside down.

Look Out

Caelyn loves her binoculars.  Her favorite thing is to climb up on the ottoman and look for Phil.

Zoo with Daddy

Once a week we try and do something "special" with Caelyn as we prepare for the business that will come with a new baby.  We love to go to the zoo and this time Daddy was able to come with us.  It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun.

Caelyn's First Slurpee

Taking it Seriously

Up Close with the Ostrich

Watching the Giraffe Eat Breakfast

Riding the Rhino

Sitting Pretty on the Butterfly

One Angry Bison

Hopefully we will get to go again before Baby Jackson arrives, if not we will wait until it cools down and visit in the fall.

Big Girl Room

With Jackson arriving in September, we wanted to Caelyn used to sleeping in her "Big Girl Bed" in her "Big Girl Room."  We sent Caelyn to Meme and Papa's for the weekend so we could make the big switch without her being there to through too much of a fuss.  Caelyn isn't a big fan of change, so we hoped a fun filled weekend with grandparents would help smooth it out.  We painted and put the bed together the week before, but we still had to switch all of Caelyn's clothes, toys, and some of her furniture from her old room to her new room.

Phil and I were at Tim & Angela's wedding when Caelyn came home, so we missed the big reveal.  However, my mom sent me a text message to tell me everything had gone smoothly so far and she loved her new room.  It took a couple days to adjust from the toddler bed to the full bed, but I think we are on track now.

Here are some pictures of Caelyn's "Big Girl Room."

We painted her walls Pale Apple by Valspar and she got a new headboard and footboard from Ikea.  I got a steal of a deal on the bedding from Pottery Barn, which made me oh-so-excited.

I updated the letters from her nursery to make them more fun and to match the colors of her bedding.

Inexpensive plain white curtains from Target with cute coordinating ribbon ironed on with Stitch Witchery, easiest project ever!

It is still a work in progress however, I need to paint this chair.  However, I am waiting to ask Phil until he is done with Jackson's room :)

Hopefully I will have pictures of Jackson's room near the end of the week.  It is almost done, but just a few finishing touches.

Happy Birthday Caelyn

Our little girl is 2!  She is a crazy wide-eyed one.  We love her that way.  She loves to sing and dance.  Caelyn loves to play with her babies & cook in the kitchen with mommy.  I don't think she ever stops moving.  Here are pictures of her birthday.  She had 3 parties.  The first was with Dan, Tabitha, Matt & Sarah when they came to visit for Memorial Day.  I learned that Caelyn doesn't like frosting or sprinkles.  I had to cut the top off of her cupcake so she could eat the cake part.  Here are some pictures.

Testing the Water

First Bite

Showing Her "Big" Smile

Frosting-less Cupcake

"Mommy, Me Messy"

The second was with MeMe, PaPa, David & Tia (Natalia) on her actual birthday when we went to get our family pictures done.  She also had a doctor's appt. that day.  We were told no shots, they lied.  However, she took it like a trooper.  Nothing a Strawberry Frapp from Starbucks couldn't fix.  I am still working on getting the pictures from my parents, so they will be coming soon.

The last was the day after her birthday.  We only brought a couple presents with us to see my parents, so we opened the rest of them the next day and finished off the cupcakes.  We put candles on her cupcake, which she wasn't too sure about.  We had a fun day.

Voicing Her Opinion on the Candles

Picking off the M&Ms, she still wouldn't eat the frosting

Making Sure She Gets Them All

Reading

We love to read!  Caelyn has a love of books and has them tucked into every corner of our house.  However, she likes to "read" her book first and them place them in a pile for me to read next.  We have a shelf of books that she isn't quite ready for or I don't want to keep in her room, but when she remembers that they are there she likes to sit and look at the pictures. Here is what Saturday's reading session looked like.

"Mommy Read?"

Babar

Spot's Giant Treasury

Arthur's No Good Very Bad Day

My Reading Stack

About 5 minutes later

I am so excited that my little girl has an appreciation for reading and books.

Out Cold

We stayed out too late on Sunday night.  So Monday at lunch time this is what we ended up with.

Pig Tails

Caelyn's hair is finally long enough for pig tails.  If you ask me, I think she looks pretty cute!

Zoo with Nate

Nate is Caelyn's best bud.  They have so much fun playing together.  Today we went to the Norfolk Zoo, it isn't a very big zoo, but it just the right size for two toddlers in 80 degree weather (not to mention a pregnant lady).  The zoo is really well done and you can get fairly close to the animals, which was really fun for Caelyn & Nate.  Right next to the zoo is a playground where we ate a picnic lunch and played for a few minutes.

Buddies

Caelyn Charging the Way

Bongos (I think)

Watching the Elephant through the Glass

Coming Out Into the Yard

Fascinated by the Elephants

Caelyn Loved the Cow and How Close She Could Get

Swinging with Nate

Trying to Hold Nate's Hand

Riding Together

Passed Out After a Day of Fun