Cousins

I'm [not so] patiently waiting for more pictures that I know my sister has, but the kids really enjoyed having their cousin Alayna around to play with the last two weeks. These are some pictures of the time they spent figuring out grandma's remote control school bus.

And then some pictures of the morning before Erc and Alayna got on the plane.  Getting all three of them too look and smile was impossible, but I got a few good ones.

Kendree - 18 months

At 18 months Kendree:

• First official stats:  Kendree is 22 lbs. 9 oz (25th %tile) 32.5 inches tall (75th %tile) and looking very healthy!
• Tries to run everywhere.  I love this stage of movement as she usually can only get one hand pumping along with her legs and then gets busy watching her feet and totally runs into something (don't worry, I only laugh if she isn't actually hurt).
• Really wants to be a big girl on stairs.  She just wants to walk up and down them, thankyouverymuch.  She will crawl up them, but if she feels like she has a sturdy enough handhold (like on the door frame coming up the three steps into our house from the garage) she'll attempt to walk up by herself.
• Recently decided that Ronnie and I are Mommy and Daddy instead of Mama and Dada.  This can either be the cutest thing ever, or the most annoying depending on her mood and tone of voice.
• Is not afraid to stand up for herself, but as a result can be a little bit of a bully.  We are especially working on hitting and biting (Easton only bit a handful of times in his entire life, so this one is a new one for me).
• Went to nursery for the first time on Sunday and LOVED it.  Was completely entertained even when the other kids were leaving and seemed surprised to see me standing there to pick her up.  Ronnie and I LOVED having our hands a bit free-er (we have to take advantage of our next 3 months as we'll be right back at it after that).  I found myself looking around for her during the 3rd hour of Primary (the time I am usually on Kendree duty).
• Takes one nap a day and now that I can stretch out her awake morning to after 12:30 p.m. she's becoming a much better napper (better meaning longer in my world).  She usually sleeps at least 2 hours and leans closer to 3 hours several times a week.
• Loves her big brother with all of her heart and wants to be JUST like him.  This usually drives him insane.
• Likes to give my belly hugs and kisses although she has no idea what that belly will do to her little world in 3 short months.
• Loves to read books but MUST be sitting on your lap to do so.  Not next to your lap, or standing near you, ON your lap. period.
• Got three new teeth this month (her top right tooth-next to the front teeth on July 22nd; her top left molar on July 24th; her top left molar on July 25th).  Those were a rough couple of days. In case anyone is keeping track (I know you aren't) that brings her tooth total to 6 on top and a very lonely 2 on the bottom.
• Loves babies.  We visited a good friend and her 2 month old and Kendree fully believed that she should be holding that baby all by herself.  The baby also needed her pacifier at all times and the baby wanted her own baby doll to play with as well.  I have a feeling that setting this new baby on the floor while Kendree is awake will not be an option.  Easton was completely oblivious to Kendree when she was little, but I don't think that will apply.
• Has started throwing herself down when having a fit.  Most times this only serves to hurt her.  Like the other day when she did it on the tile kitchen floor and discovered how good that feels.
• Really likes to color with crayons.  She finds the container of crayons at least once a day and brings it to me so I will pull out the giant pad of paper from under the couch and she colors to her hearts content.
• Is a "picker."  One of her favorite activities is to cover a paper in stickers and then spend the next 30 minutes (no joke) picking every single sticker back off of the paper.  She also loves to pick at her many mosquito bites while we ride in the car.  No band aid or tape can keep her away.
• Lights up our lives.  We love that girl!

Modeling the outfit from China that Grandpa Cali bought her:

 And now the outfit from India:


Swimming (picture stolen from our friend's blog):

On Kendree's official 18 month "birthday" I neglected to take pictures until after dark when we were waiting for Daddy to lock up the church.  With the need for flash, I got some pretty fantastic photos:

And this one from our trip to see Rockies is pretty great too!

So, we're going to go with this one as the "official" 18 month picture.

 Now for some videos: Kendree showing off her India outfit:

And Kendree dances.  Please ignore that saggy bum diaper she is about to shake off.

And more pictures

All of the pictures of the Splash Pad can be found here and Swimming can be found here.

I know, you love me for not posting all 500 on the blog.

Those kiddos of mine

You probably saw the pictures that my fabulous father in law took while we were in Cali of the kids.  Want to see more?
The entire web album is up here.

Easton at 3 years and 8 months (give or take)

First, some pictures that haven't seemed to make it up here yet.

Silly glasses:

 Swimming outside with his Buzz goggles:

 Silly boy.

 Captain Hook!  I have no idea why this is upside down.  Darn you blogger!

 Spending some time at disneyjunior.com

 Being a ham.

 Easton loves hanging out with friends and some of his favorite buddies are Damian and Bianca.  Here we enjoyed a horse-drawn wagon ride at Super Day in Cheyenne.

 Easton's the only one looking at the camera...but he sure is cute!

 Daddy and Kendree enjoyed the ride as well.

Easton is at a very fun (and slightly frustrating) age.  I can reason with him on most things and he understand so much more than I think he will.  He loves to know what we are doing that day (and will ask multiple times during the day if he feels like the day hasn't been fun enough so far).  He says his prayers on his own and hates to be helped if he tells you he doesn't want any help.  Most times we assume that Heavenly Father knows that we are thankful for the food and would like it to be blessed even if only one of those items is actually said out loud.

He is a great little buddy and loves to help with chores (well, not every single time I ask him).  He is especially good at putting away the silverware and helping to fold clothes.  Cleaning up toys though?  Not his favorite at all.

While he continues to love playing with Toy Story and Cars toys, he doesn't request the movies much at all.  His taste for movies has moved to a different movie every day instead of stretches of the same movie over and over.  He also loves spending some time on disneyjunior.com and playing the wii.  He is great at Mariokart, Wii Sports, Mario and Sonic Olympics and Carnival Games and likes to play several other games with a little bit of assistance.

He takes about 2 naps a week (one always on the drive home from Laramie on Tuesdays and then another random day), but is starting to enjoy quiet time in his room on a daily basis as he finally realized it was mom approved "get away from Kendree" time.  We set the timer and he can only come out when it rings (I make sure he goes to the bathroom and takes water in with him so there are no other excuses).  We're not very good at execution on the weekends, but during the week he is great.

Easton loves church.  He loves his friends in Primary and in his Sunbeam class and while his interpretation of what they learned about it usually quite entertaining, he can't wait to go back every week.

He has had what I consider a breakthrough with swimming.  When we started lessons the beginning of July, he hated getting his face wet and had a lot of fear.  After a two week class here in Cheyenne and a one week class in California at grandma's house, he is quite the little fish.  He revels in going "all the way under" and getting his face wet (although he still comes up sputtering, he will readily do it again).  The rest of the sessions are full this summer, but I'll be putting him in a class this fall and through the winter so we can keep up that love.

He hasn't (knock on wood) gotten to the "why?" stage of things yet, but I'm anticipating it anytime. We love his energy around here...and love every day we get to spend with him.

Easton Cuts a Rug

Easton love to dance.  Loves it.

Recently, he does not love when I try to watch him dance, so these next two videos were taken yesterday on the sly.  I'll warn they are a little long, so feel free to stop watching whenev.

Easton and Step in Time (he loves this song forever-more).


Easton Break Dances

Kendree Walking - July 2011

So I didn't get Kendree walking until she had been doing it for a month and a half. Can you say second child?

Here she is!