Just give the baby some tissue...

Kyla (w/big sister assisting) Christmas morning. More to come...we've been sick here (well, the girls have) going on day 6, so we have much to show and share ! Hope your holiday has been great!
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Cookie baking play date

We don't have daycare (Elaine) over the 2 week holiday break, and Mama didn't have to work, so we had Brandt and his mommy over on Monday to make some cookies and play. They live about 5 minutes from us, so it was very convenient and fun!
Keifer was so excited to have Brandt at her house (although you might not have known it when he was actually here).Brandt apparently told his mom on the drive over that he would share his cookie sprinkles with "Keifer's mom" but NOT with Keifer herself. Ahh, the joys of egocentric 2 year olds! LOL.
It was a lot of fun. The 2 hours flew by and we only had 3 knock down tussles and Keifer only tried to bite Brandt on his head one time. Oye. They are honestly like sister and brother- thrilled to be together but can't put up with the other having something they might want!

Here, Brandt sits to watch the "Movers" with Keifer, and she is so excited!

Our girl attempts to put her arm around B. but he is resistant to the touch

Let's make some cookies (and yes, Mama only gets store bought dough for now! LOL)

We're making cookies!

our first batch, with only a few gimpy gingerbread boys

Keifer double fisted the sprinkles and would've rather eaten them all rather than actually decorate cookies

Sprinkle girl!

Tasting our cookies!

Brandt trying HIS cookies - he was very fond of the red hots!

Holidazzling good time

Last weekend, we loaded up the girls, met up with Keifer's buddy Brandt and his parents (from Elaine's house), and took the Light Rail (choo choo train) down to watch the annual Holidazzle parade. We were nervous, as Kyla has never been up past her bedtime, especially in the outdoors (and cold outdoors!) but they all did great. Keifer was thrilled to spend time with her buddy (aka brother practically) but you wouldn't have known it from the way these two 2 year olds interact! LOL. Fighting and sharing and loving and disliking. That is how we sum up their relationship!
Keifer was excited (I think) more so for the train than the actual parade, in comparison to last year. Kyla did great as I carried her in our Ergo carrier- she was bundled up and comfy and mama was comfy in her new Jacket (my Christmas present from daddy early! YAY CJ!), and Keifer kept the spectators among us entertained with her "oh, no! oh, no! Here they come!" while watching from daddy's shoulders.
Enjoy!

On the train, giving Kyla some good eats

Brandt and Keifer waiting for the parade to start
Mama snuggling Kyla (yes, she is in there!)

Keifer on daddy, exclaiming with awe over the lit up floats

Brandt and his mama and daddy

Family picture!

Jingle Bells!

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Wordless Wednesday: Mom, these stockings are way too big for me (Ho ho ho)

Gingerbread houses

Keifer made her annual Gingerbread House at Elaine's house this year. And, as before, it was a tough thing to keep her away from once we got home that night. Last year, she was convinced that if she took a big ol' bite, she could eat the house. This year, we had to combat the girl all night long for pieces of candy. She had us suckered in for more pieces than we would've cared to have given her. Ehhh, it's Christmas, right? :)

So proud of her work

Last year: who IS this small, short haired child?(*sigh*)I remember it was the day after we first cut her hair in this cut. (*sighing again*)

Investigatingand...Chomp!

All you need are....plastic bags!

Our Kyla girl got SO excited last week just shaking this plastic grocery bag. Honestly, she played with that thing for over 20 minutes straight! Who knew that toys were so low on the list? LOL.
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Wordless Wednesday (*sort of*): Baptized

So much love. Blessings and intent.

Big sissy picks her nose.
Then big sissy assists in the blessing with water.
And Mama blubbers.
*sniff*
Angel child of God.

"I got the potato chips": out of the mouth of K1

I have been keeping notes on the hilarious things that Keifer Lynn has been telling us throughout the past few months. I keep meaning to sit down and type them out, so as not to bore you with one gigantic post of cutesy things that only my family and CJ and I think are the sweetest sayings ever. However, working full-time and parenting has gotten the better of my time: I have great intentions to sit down and blog,but sleep gets the better of me. Soon I hope to have a better balance on this whole working-mom life thing, but until then, please put up with me slacking on my blogging capabilities.

Keifer says:

I got the potato chip! ~~ after digging in her ear with a Q-tip and finding the tip yellow with wax. When I was little, my doctor used to say he was looking for potatoes in my ears. I now say that to Keifer when I attempt to clean out her ears. She took potatoes, and made them into chips (and quite proudly, I should add!)

Mama, I just love my fresh sheets! They are fresh, aren't they!? ~~ I changed Keifer's sheets and put on clean sheets. One of my favorite things is fresh, clean sheets (especially cottony flannel types). She imitated me telling her they were clean and fresh, and dropped the "clean". LOL. She was so cute saying the "fresh'.

You tell her: Keifer, you're a hoot!
She replies very seriously, No! I'm KEIFER!

Many times we've heard this lately:
Daddy (Mommy): You're not listening to me! ~~ this is her attempts to stall us from doing what she has no desire to do. So she has her own agenda, but we don't always follow that, so we aren't listening to her!

A few days ago, we received a thank-you card and picture of her Baby Ballroom friend, Dani, after attending her 2nd birthday party. Keifer was delighted to have mail from a friend. Ever since that day, she has been asking us to help her "write a letter" to Dani. She also enjoys pounding on the keyboard to write to Dani on the computer - we open up a text.document and she pounds away. We just pray she doesn't delete some major file on our hard drive by accident!

CJ got this one last month:
Daddy, settle down! ~~ he was attempting to stop her from switching out the DVD player. She is quite good at it now but initially she was freaking her parents out by her attempts to learn how to do so.

Mama, that's not a choice! ~~ told to me when I ask her to do something outside of her capabilities (according to her).

Mama, I sooooo proud of you! ~~ complete with hugs and offers for M&Ms because I went potty like a big girl!

Mama (Daddy, Kyla): I love you, too! ~~ this is the phrase that most melts my heart. CJ and I have managed to successfully (so far! Knock on wood... ) raise a 2 year old cuddle bug. She loves to cuddle us, and when she gushes with love for us (or Kyla) she is usually squeezing us tight somewhere (leg, arm, body) or placing her little hand against my cheek. *sigh*

When strapping her into her car seat one random day, she blurted out to me: Mama, I just LOVE to kiss you!

One night, when putting her to bed, she very matter-of-factly told me: Mama, you made me cry yesterday, so you have to rock me!"
Ahh, yes, Ma'am!

A day or so after Halloween, I had asked Keifer to stop doing something. She responded with, again, Just settle down, Mama!
I asked her: what did I do?
You pick me up and throw me around!

What? LOL. By no means am I a Mother who picks my children up and throws them around. However, I think she was referring to the incident prior to Halloween when she would not settle down for nap time, and I had lifted her off her floor and put her back into bed, causing her much anguish and self-pity (this must be me "throwing her").

Ahhh, Keifer. She really is a drama mama in the making, now isn't she?

Happy Birthday, DADDY!

Happy birthday to the world's best dad (for real!) We love you SOOOOO MUCH!!!!!

Wordless Wednesday: Santa doesn't scare ME!

Unlike her big sissy...........

Exhaustion

The weekend; the previous week. The holiday season: exhaustion today.
Friday night was Elaine's Christmas party, complete with her visit from Santa. Keifer wanted nothing to do with him, while Kyla was indifferent. Fun times, but an exhausted girl that night.
Saturday: both sets of Nanas and Papas were in town, and Keifer got to swim with Papa Dale and cousin Aubrie at the hotel. Nana Margie put her to bed in her house.
Sunday: Kyla'a baptism. We were surrounded by love as friends and family witnessed an extraordinary ceremony. Pastor Joy included Keifer in on the baptism: she helped put the water over Kyla's head, helping as always and loving on her sister. Of course, the nose picking was to be expected, and the dancing with the band while they sang was just icing on the cake.
So much love at our home afterwards. Yummy food. Delicious cake (after some mishaps with the pick-up), and energetic, playful cousins. Tired people, tired kids. Too much food, and not enough "healthy" food.
Monday morning came too soon, and too much to do still. The Christmas season is a joyous one with a 2 year old in the house, just beginning to understand it's significance. Holiday songs on the radio each car ride makes each day joyful and exciting.
Rambling? Yes. Tired? Yes. Pictures? Yes, soon...................

Get that Puppy!

Kyla has really started to notice the puppers -who wouldn't, with Sassy in your face licking you all the time? Here she is, trying her darndest to get that big puppy! Luckily, he is such a sweet boy, he gives her a snicky lick on her hand when she reaches, unlike Sass, who goes for the full face attack!


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Introduction to Solids:

Kyla has officially started her rice cereal eating adventures, as of last week. Yep, we waited the full 6 months (and a week or so) as she had her sucking issues for awhile there. She didn't really think rice cereal was all that great the first few times (as seen in the gagging here), but she is now a happy and cooperative eater! She does especially well for Elaine during the day (of course! LOL).
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Wordless Wednesday: When "Christmas Mint" Chapstick attacks!

The city of lights?

Christmas is coming. Keifer is now aware of this. She really isn't sure what Christmas is, other than it's "Baby Jesus's birthday". Just who Baby Jesus is -well, we're slowly trying to get that concept into her ever-working brain. The other part of Christmas is the excitement of Santa! And of course, the lights! Everywhere we go, the minute we see even a smidgen of a light on a tree or house or deck, our girl (aka "Eagle Eyes") will proclaim "look, a Christmas tree!" Or, "look, it's beautiful lights!" or saying such as this.

Because she gets SO excited over the simplest string of lights on an outside tree, when we heard that Duluth was opening up Bentleyville in the Bayfront area, well, we knew without a doubt we'd be there on Friday night. And we made it. It was amazing. Simply amazing. I cannot believe how much work went into the beautiful light display, and all the hard work the volunteers did (because it is all volunteer work!). Free cookies, cocoa, coffee, marshmallows to roast over open-pit bonfires, and of course, Santa. Beautiful lights, and Santa. And don't forget his crew of trusty Reindeer - all walking around in costumes. And Frosty.
To say Keifer enjoyed it is an understatement. I almost think it was TOO much for her to take in. She didn't really know where to go first! LOL. However, I can say for sure that going into a "tunnel" of lights was by far her favorite part of the whole experience. To be surrounded by the lights was as amazing as anything will be for her.

Oh, CJ and I had fun, too!

Welcome!

Keifer called this "the light castle!"

Ready to start walking!

There were so many amazing displays, pictures like this don't do this event justice!Frosty! Keifer was willing to go up to Frosty to shake his hand and say hi, but forget about getting NEAR the Reindeer or Santa!

Into the "light tunnel" they go! Can you see her little lips saying "cheese"?
Look!!!!
Away in a mangerMama's girl! She wanted Mama to carry her quite a bit- which is hard when you're hauling around 38 pounds of active girl!

The replication of the Aerial Lift Bridge (which is right outside this display)