Happy Helper

Kels has been a super helper this weekend. She is at that age where she thinkgs that chores are still fun, and it is still an adventure to get to help. She is also at that age where her attitude is all out there, and she gets VERY put out if she isnt allowed to do something for herself.

We have started a new chore "chart" program for the kids. She really wanted to help, even though vacuuming wasnt her job. Kaeli let her "help" in the library. I just couldnt stand it seeing them look so cute together, and had to snag the camera. Of course, Kaeli is camera shy, but she humored me by letting me get their pict together

Part of our helping this weekend included taking care of horses, dogs and cats for one of our HT families. We are always excited to help, and the kids love being around all the animals. We were thankful for this extra treat to help because it was a great distraction for Kels. The boys got invited to go to a playdate, without her. She was so sad and in tears as she watched all the bigger kids leave withouth her. I was able to take her with me, and help her forget about being sad that she hadnt gone with the boys. It seemed to have worked because when we got home she chattered excitedly about what we had done to anyone who would listen.

This is Kels giving Katie a treat for being good and for staying in her stall(another post to follow about our Peyton Petting Zoo adventure)

This is Kels and Drew. She is a sweet, old dog and she and Kels hung out together lots

Ky & Kels Bday Party

Our friend Elizabeth is totally amazing with cakes and cupcakes. My health has been pretty crummy for a long time, not letting me do things I have been able to do in the past. She has been our angel to make special cakes for the kids so they still have a homemade, fun cake just for them. Her gifts and talents in this area are just mind blowing. Her cakes are always hand done, and so detailed. And so very extra YUMMY! Her cakes are so moist, and sweet, and perfect!
What was even more fun was that when she brought the cake to the party and I saw it, it was the exact picture I had in my mind for her cake. I had never said a thing to Elizabeth about pict ideas. It was just wonderful! Thank you Elizabeth for sharing your wonderful gifts with us!

Kels was THRILLED with her Tinkbell cake. She was just all full of giggles and excitement about her party, but esp about her cake. She has been talking about it non-stop.

Ky decided that he wanted a "lightning" cake. When Colton turned 5 we did a CARS cut-out cake for him. It was shaped as a #5, and we built the racetrack on it. We were going to go for another try at that, but kept running into snags. Kaeli really wanted to do Ky's cake, so I just gave her free reign. She is so artistic in so many ways! She did the racetrack by hand and then filled in all around it. She used Gma Miller's brownie recipe, Gma Afton's frosting recipe, and a whole lot of extras. One of the extras included hand washing all of the CARS Ky wanted on his cake. I came home to this darling pict of all the CARS drying on the countertop. A fun, cute memory.

It was so much fun to just take TONS of picts of Ky's cake.

So many different angles and ways to take picts!

I cant wait to get all these scrapped for Ky so he will have them to look at all the time.

Ky was SO happy and excited about his cake. Spent several minutes pointing to all of the CARS characters and telling me about them. Kaeli did an amazing job, and we are all so proud of her for all of her hard work!

Ky & Kels Bday Party II

I think this is the first year that Kels has really known what was going on and what a birthday is. It was so fun to see her so excited about it.
She really got the hang of ripping all the paper. She knows exactly what presents are!

This book was absolutely perfect for her. She LOVES Tinkbell still, and this was a great addition to her little bedroom library.

It was fun to watch her enjoy her cake. She has been asking every day for weeks about her Tinkbell cake. She told everyone she could, even the missionaries who came for dinner, that Elizabeth was making her special Tinkbell cake for her birthday! She couldnt wait to dig in!

Ky had fun blowing out his candles, and then watching them melt and run down onto the cake. He thought that was the most hysterical thing.

Kaeli bought this hat for him months ago. She has hardly been able to stand it to wait for him to be able to open it. I think she, and all of us, were waiting to see what his reaction would be. He didnt disappoint - and had everyone in stitches of laughter. He knew what it was. The first thing out of his mouth was "I threw this in the garbage at Disneyland! Dad squashed it flat as a pancake and I threw it away!" That was MONTHS ago, and yet the memory was still just as fresh as if it had happened yesterday. I think kaeli was more than pleased that she had gotten it for him. I wish we would have had a video camera to capture all of the adults in hysterics as he continued to chatter about his hat that he had thrown away!

Christy knows Ky well. She just got it perfect by giving him lots of fun stuff with CARS stuff one it, even including a new pair of sunglasses and band-aids!

This awesome gift was from another friend. A big, oversized beach towel with CARS on it too. You can tell Ky REALLY likes it. Kels thinks hers is another blankie. It has been on her bed with her other Tinkbell blankies since we brought it home. Funny kid....

Ky thought he was big stuff that I let him have a piece of EACH cake. He made sure he had lots. Birthdays are the one day that I relax with the treats a bit. You only get to enjoy birthday cake 1x/year!

Potty Happy Dance

Kels took a long nap today. When she woke up she asked me to change her diaper. About 2 minutes after I did, she came in to tell me she needed me to change her again, holding her bottom. I have finally figured out this is her cue that she knows she is going to poop. I hurried and stripped her down and plopped her on the potty, along with a bucket of books and a snack. She sat there contentedly long enough that I just left her. When she told Kaeli she wanted to get down, I told her to go ahead, worried that Kels still hadnt gone potty. Imagine my surprise when Kaeli informed me that she HAD used the potty! We all started doing what we have named our "potty happy dance" (never did it with the big kids but it sure works for Ky & Kels) After we got her off and dressed in a diaper, Kaeli rewarded her with her potty treat - a yummy cookie (again something we have only used with Ky)
She was SO excited that she had gone potty, and so were we. She proudly showed off her cookie and continued her happy dance. Gotta love that we may actually be getting close to being done with diapers forever. I wondered, knowing she is doing everything Ky is doing, if him finally learning to use the potty would get her going that direction too. It really may have been a fluke today, but we'll take it, and hope that we are on the road to seeing a pay raise in the family budget!

Trying To Figure It Out...

Kelsianne has decided to try to get in on the whole potty thing. She sees Ky getting cookies and stars every day, so she tells me she wants cookies too. I keep telling her she doesnt get cookies or stars unless she goes potty. Today she told me she HAD to go...so I let her....I remembered that I had a kiddo potty seat that we had used with the big kids. I had to run to an appt so I put Kaeli in charge of her while I was gone... Kaeli got the camera out to document this big event. Kels sat in the bathroom for more than 30 minutes, happily reading her books and making faces at Kaeli for the camera.... I'd like to say we had a big "ah hah" moment today, but we didnt. She has the right ideas, just not the awareness quite yet of the "before", only the after. She is making progress. We'll keep at it, who knows, maybe by Summer we can say "good-bye" to diapers for good!

Kelsianne's First Haircut

Little miss got her first haircut yesterday, more out of neccessity than out of style. I was so hoping with this last girl that I would finally get to do all the fun, cute girl hair stuff - much to my sadness, she will have none of it. We are lucky if she will let us just brush it most of the time. Preston helped me with the kids' baths yesterday, and while it was wet, I went ahead and cut it. It is a bit shorter than Kaeli or I had thought, but I think it is cute and it will grow out with this short style and will work well for her and us. No more fights over brushing it, or trying to keep it out of her face. It will just be cute and short and easy.

FUNNY GIRL

Kels upon waking up today came and found me in the office, and the first thing out of her was "I eat lunch" to which I introduced the word breakfast. "I eat breakfast. Syrup?" (she has recently discovered the joy of pancakes and syrup)

To which I replied no syrup because I dont have anything to put it on. Without missing a beat she asked "pancake?" To which I replied no pancakes today, how about PBJ? "peabutter jam syrup? (as she pointed to the fridge) I repeated to her no syrup, and that I didnt have any. To which she pointed towards the kitchen (intending her little finger to point at the fridge), and more emphatically said "syrup!" This kid may grow up to be a lawyer!

She knew full well that I DID have syrup and right where it was, what she didnt understand was the "yes there is syrup, but no you cant have any today". Usually when she wants to make her point she raises her voice to high pitched volume, and I try to not let it get to that point. We were almost there today though. It is a bit challenging to have a rational conversation with a 2yr old....

We found her PB&J biscuit left over from yesterday (she LOVES putting things in baggies lately too and then being able to open them) and she is happily parked in front of DUMBO. Silly girl is quite the little character at times. Dont know what we would ever do without her.

LITTLE MISS CHATTY KATHY

This little girl is just too smart for her britches. She is constantly watching all of us and apparently sucking it all in, including watching us talk on the phone. Kels is our little miss "sticky fingers", and the big kids are constantly being reminded to pick up and put away their school things so Kels doesnt get them. Well, one of the big girls' big monster scientific calculators got left out and Kels helped herself to it. When we all realized she was using it as a phone I got out the camera and just started quietly following her around.....
She LOVES buttons, and was more than happy to "dial up" whoever it was she thought she needed to talk to....
She was really having quite the conversation with herself - wish we had a video camera to capture all her antics....
Apparently whatever she or "the other person" said was uproariously funny....I was in hysterics trying to get the pict. I have almost an exact copy of this pict of Caiden about this age...every time I even think about those picts - and now this one - I laugh hysterically!

She got very serious for awhile, and the chattering she did on her "phone" went on for quite some time. Wish I could have heard that conversation and understood it all!

Way to multi-task - you go girl! She spent quite a bit of time walking and talking - boy is she learning it all early.....(dont you just love those pants she has on...they were kaeli's until a couple of years ago...they really do fit her around her middle, just a bit long, but probably not for long!)

OH, SOOOOO TIRED

Both Ky and Kels have pretty much stopped taking naps....which leads to some very tired and often very cranky kiddos by the end of the day. We usually try to do dinner early (5-ish) so we can get night jobs or homework finished. This last week or so though the kids have not even made it through dinner...
Every once in awhile I let the kids have a "picnic" in the TV room. The boys came in to tell me they were done so I went to check on kels - and this is what I found....she was totally out. Much to my dismay though, when I tried to move her to her bed she woke up. She thought she had had a power nap and was up for hours after that....


Ky has been in a "toast and choc milk" stage - at least we have moved from the only choc milk stage - he was running around crazy when I finally got him to come to the table and eat. I walked away for a few minutes and came back to him totally zonked. I think he did get through 1 piece of toast.....thankfully he was so out that he didnt wake back up and he was done for the night.

Sometimes the only way I get Ky to stop is to gather his blankets and pillow. I had separated everyone one day to just get everyone to chill out for awhile. He finally stopped for about 2 minutes and was totally out. He took a good long nap which helped a ton for us to get through an extra crazy day.

LITTLE BIG GIRL

Kels thinks she is a big girl! She spends part of every day watching the boys play on the Wii. One night she was up late with us and she wanted to play the Wii with Ceana. We let her have a go, thinking she would just stand on the board - well, we should have known better! She has figured out things from watching the boys! It was really hysterical watching her, she knew exactly what to do!
Colton's favorite game is the Ski Jump and apparently it is kels's too!
She knew exactly what to do - she got in a squat position as she watches the boys do....

and she knew right where to jump up to follow the instructions on the Wii. She gave herself a "high five fist" because she was so excited. I could hardly take the picts because Ceana and I were laughing so hard!

Just had to get a picture of her cute little toes in her snuggy PJ's - the feet are a little long, but the leggings were too little. I think this is the last time I actually got these on her.

KELS IS 18 MONTHS OLD!

Well, Kels is officially 18 months old as of yesterday. I just dont know where the time has flown to, it has gone even faster with her being the last of our little people.

She went to nursery yesterday for the first time. I didnt think she would have any troubles, but had my doubts when we arrived and several little people were screaming and there were way too many kiddos and adults in the tiny room they have set up for the nursery....

I sat her down at the table with a book and a car though, and that was that. She was perfectly content to be amid all the chaos, guess it really isnt much different from what goes on at home every day....:)

I watched her for a few minutes through the window and I laughed at the puzzled look she had on her face, she just watched all the chaos around her with a look that seemed to say "what is the problem?" and just took it all in stride.

I think it was hardest for me yesterday. It felt really strange to be without a little person in tow. Sitting in adult only classes without keeping an eye out for a little person wandering the chapel, or eating the teacher's eraser caked in chalk, or clanging my keys against the air vent on the floor. I am sure I will get used to it eventually, but for now it is a big change.

I am hoping to do a photo shoot with kels soon. The weather has just been so icky, it might mean pulling out all of the studio equipment during the break next week. It will be fun to get some new picts of her, she still changes so much every day, and has changed tons since we had family picts taken in July. I will be sure to get them posted as soon as I can. It will be so important to get new picts if I can, she just is changing and growing so much, she is not my little baby anymore....

SNACK SNITCHER

Ky made the mistake of leaving his snack on the table and walking away. Kels has figured out how to move the chairs and climb up onto the table - her new favorite place to be. When she has the extra incentive of getting a snack for all her hard work, you can guarantee she will do everything she can to get to the snack.
I have to make a side note here that these picts are the result of a seasoned mom-1st time mom would have been in just as much of a panic as colton was when he told me where she was, seasoned mom of 6 kids, I calmly walked into the other room and came back with the camera....

I just love the smirk on her face, so classic of how the whole situation looked

She showed me that the cup was empty, "all gone"

I just died laughing when I saw this one - it just screamed "I can't believe I ate the whole thing!"