Snow Play

There was a really nice snowstorm on Monday. We got another 2.5 inches and another storm is supposed to come through on Friday.  Typically it snows once every 3 weeks or so here (last January it didn't snow at all for the whole month) so these past few storms have been out of the ordinary for us and really nice. Today was actually pretty nice so after naps Jared, Lydia and I headed up for some good old fashioned fun in the snow. We made a snowman, threw snowballs (softly) at each other and made a snow angel. Neither Jared or Lydia had ever done any of these things and they really enjoyed them. We built our snowman on our patio table and then had a great time sliding it across to each other.  There was quite a bit of snow in our backyard so we could have made it much bigger but this worked out great.  After we played outside we of course came in and warmed up with hot chocolate and marshmallows. It was very nice.

We were outside for about 45 minutes and I took so many pictures. Sometimes it's just hard to stop.  They were having so much fun. Even I had more fun than I thought I would. I think it helped that it was above freezing and there was no wind. 

 I haven't built a snowman since I was 6 or so. At least that I remember. The first time I tried putting it together I was trying to round out the bottom and I crushed it! I was much softer with my patting after that.  He slid across the table really well.

They were really excited about the marshmallows! 

We also had some fun with a snowman inside. I found this great project where you make a foaming, melting snowman.  It was super fun and easy.  Jared Lydia and I mixed up the dough (baking soda, dish soap, water) then squirted it with vinegar. I love how the dish soap made it bubble. We had fun building and melting our snowman.  This recipe made enough to do it at least 4 times. After we melted it the last time we played in the foam and then took the leftover dough and drew all over our island. It was a great indoor winter activity. After we cleaned up my sink was so sparkly. Baking soda really is great for cleaning.

Super Fun!

We also made a snowstorm in a jar.  We mixed baby oil, glitter, white paint, and water. Then after it was mixed in we dropped in Alka Seltzer tablets.  Jared and Lydia loved dropping the tablets in and watching it swirl around. It was snowing outside so we had our own snowstorm inside. 

We made lots of fun snow art projects as well. 

The mittens and the snowman on the right were projects Jared made at preschool. My favorite was our melted snowman. (Bottom right.) It was so cute and simple. People are so creative.

Room to grow

We bought Jared some new bedroom furniture last week. He was getting too tall for his toddler bed and Lydia no longer needs a changing table.  (We had a changing table/dresser combo that I loved) We went to three furniture stores hoping to find a deal. I knew I loved captain's beds, with the drawers underneath so that was our focus.  We ended up finding a great bed with a headboard and dresser.  We splurged and got him a pretty awesome mattress too. They didn't have all the pieces in that day so Mark went to go pick them up a few days later. They wanted to charge about 50$ for a delivery fee which we didn't feel like paying so Mark decide he would Make it fit. We thought we would borrow a friends trailer but Mark, who is very good at arranging things to make everything fit in tight spots got it all to fit.

H couldn't quite get the back door closed but was only off by an inch or so. Sadly for Mark our budget is not big enough to buy furniture that doesn't come in a box so he spent the evening putting it all together. We ate dinner and then he looked at me and said "I want to put Jared's bed together." It was 6:15 or so which did not sound like a good time to start this project but Mark really wanted too so that is what we did.  Since Jared's previous bed was a toddler bed we did not have any twin size sheets so while he started assembling, I got the kids in the tub than ran to the store to get some sheets for Jared.

 Mark did a great job and had it finished by 8:30.  Jared typically goes to bed at 7:45 so not too bad.

 There was a cute excited boy ready to sleep in his "Huge" bed. 

The thing I really like about these beds are the drawers underneath.  I wanted them so we did not have to buy a dresser but thought we should probably get the dresser anyway because if we later needed one I would want it to match.  It is sitting in a box in our living room waiting to be stored somewhere till we need it. Lydia got Jared's old dresser.  Right now she is in her crib with the railing off but we think we will keep the toddler bed for awhile then move her into it.  I think this bed will last quite a few years for Jared.  So I spent the next morning rearranging and reorganizing Jared and Lydia's room and which was so enjoyable. I sorted through toys and clothes and enjoyed every minute. These kids are growing up fast!

10 years

Wednesday the 22nd marked 10 years of Mark and I kissing. 10 years!  If you missed the original story and want to read it here it is: FIRST KISS

He followed through with tradition and brought home some lovely flowers, daffodils included.

 I really love being married to Mark. We often talk about how grateful we are that each other is so stable (we talk about other great attributes as well). Synonyms of stable include: firm and steadfast, sane (always a plus) not easily disturbed, well balanced and rational.  I know that sounds terribly unromantic but it makes all the difference. Neither of us are very dramatic or opinionated and we are firm in our beliefs and goals which are very similar. People often talk about how opposites attack and I am sure they do but I am happy to be with Mark who is very similar to me. I am just happy to live our calm wonderful life together. Thanks for everything Mark! Here's to many more years of kisses!

Lydia as a two year old

I took Lydia to her 2 year old check up today. She is not a fan of going to the doctor. When we walked into the patient room she just tensed up and would not leave my lap. We love our pediatrician so it's a bummer that she is so unhappy there. Jared loves going now that he has discovered the flavored Popsicle sticks they use to get kids to open they mouths or just be calm while they are examined. (He also hasn't had to get shots for awhile now so maybe he thinks he is done.  It will be a bummer for him next time when he gets his school shots.)  Lydia was not swayed by the special Popsicle sticks.  She doesn't yell or sob she just feels tense. She is now 26 pounds (44%) and 33 inches (31%). The doctor declared her healthy and we were on our way.

As we were eating Lydia's birthday cake last night we all said what our favorite things were about Lydia.  I think this will be a new tradition that we start.

Jared said his favorite thing was: "that Lydia shared so well." Which she does do very well. We really hope this continues!
Mark said: "her happy smile"
I said: "how sweet and happy she is"

We do love our little girl.  The Nursery leaders in our ward really love Lydia too.  They always have funny stories to tell about her.  A few weeks ago they told us about Lydia wanting seconds of her snack.  She noticed the other kids getting more goldfish so she took her cup of goldfish and dumped them in the trash can and asked for more!  They of course told her we don't throw food away and got her some more. (So it did work for her)  She then took her new goldfish and dumped them into a little girls cup and asked for more.  Seems like she is showing some aptitude for problem solving! The other week when the music leader came into Nursery she started to sing "I am a Child of God" with the kids We sing this song to Lydia right before we lay her down for bed so when they started singing she went and sat by the Nursery Leader (Beth Adams) and snuggled up in her lap  and said "Nap." They think she is pretty smart. We think she is too.

Lydia and I have been working on learning all kinds of new things. We do a new letter each week, practice our colors, do lots of sorting and lots of counting. We go over shapes too but she likes to say every shape is a heart. She seems to know her colors really well and is learning more letters. When I introduce a new letter we then "watch" it on starfall which she loves. She will often go to the computer and say "ABC? ABC?" She does not seem very interested in counting but we will keep it up anyway. I enjoy this quiet one-on-one time with her a lot.

Lydia's vocabulary has really taken off. She rarely puts two words together but I find this actually more helpful for understanding her.  Our friends have a little girl who talks so fast and says so many words she loses me most of the time she is talking to me.  It's interesting though because with all her words she has never said Jared's name.  She calls him "boy" all the time.  It sort of cracks me up.  The other day we were dong something with colors and blue came up. She looked at it and said "boy" because Jared loves blue and everyone who has spent time around him knows it. So she is making connections.
Her favorite food is currently Beef Stroganoff. I must have a really good recipe or something because both Jared and Lydia love this and always want me to make it.  Her favorite "game" to play is Nap. She gets all her blankets and animals from her bed and brings them somewhere in the house. Most often it is on the stairs.  On her birthday Mark took the railing off her crib. She has done great so far, two nights in so I hope she will do fine. This transition was really not a big deal for Jared so hopefully our luck holds out.  She has wanted so baldy to use a cup without a lid but we have held off until we took the railing down. We told her if she stays in bed she can use her special "Belle" cup that she picked out. Belle is her new favorite princess. We did this with Jared too and it worked amazingly well. Hopefully it's some good motivation for her. She loves using it this morning.

She also loves to play with this jeep, Jared's Play Doh garbage truck and lately this ramp has been a favorite of all the kids who come over to our house. We got it when Jared was 18 months old so it's weird that all of a sudden it's so cool. One cold day I moved it into the living room so it wasn't right by the sliding glass door and that apparently made all the difference. I have moved it back since then but they still use it way more than they did previously. Her tower building skills have greatly improved as well. I think kids should play with what they want and be exposed to a variety of toys but I do sort of like that Lydia enjoys Jared's more stereotypical "boy" toys. It's nice that we have them around for her to choose from. She also loves to build with the train tracks.

Lydia is doing great with her potty training. In the past week she has consistently woken up dry from her naps and in the morning. I love how smoothly this went. She is a happy healthy little girl. We are so blessed to have her in our family. She is a sweetheart.  Typically when Jared or Lydia get hurt they come over to me and ask for a kiss. Lately Lydia has been the one giving kisses.  We were watching a movie tonight for Family movie night and she stepped on me and hurt me (accidentally) I said "Ow" and she came right over and kissed me right on the lips.  It was really sweet how immediately she tried to make me feel better.  She is also really good at giving hugs when she has done something naughty.  Before she was talking and couldn't say sorry we would have her hug the person she needed to apologize for.  She doesn't say sorry much but is quick to give you a hug. She certainly gets her fair share of timeouts, mostly for not cleaning up when she is asked but has a sweet giving disposition.

Birthday Fun!

Sweet Lydia turned two years old today and we had a great time celebrating her! Since Mark had Monday off we took her and Jared over to a bounce house to play. They loved it.  It was the same one we went to for Jared's birthday in October.  I could tell that they seemed more confident right from the start since they were familiar with it. We had fun bouncing around.

Today was her actual birthday so we started the day off with donuts and chocolate milk two items reserved for special days. She was thrilled. I went to the store Wednesday night to pick them up and they had none! So Mark helpfully picked them up on his way home from seminary. She got an extra bonus today because we had a great snowstorm last night (4 inches of powdery fluffy snow) so Mark had a two hour delay.

 After lots of playing and a great nap (which I used to make her cake) we waited anxiously for Mark to get home. Lydia opened presents when he got home and then Lydia and Jared played with them happily while Mark and I cooked her favorite dinner, beef stroganoff.  Jared wanted so badly to help her open her presents. I don't know how many times I said "Who's birthday is it today?" He handled is quite well which was great.

I made Lydia a personalized alphabet book and she loved it. It made me so happy to see her so excited to see herself in a book. She has looked at Jared's a lot so I think its extra fun for her to have her own.

I LOVE this picture of the two of them looking at their personalized ABC books.  Makes me feel like I know my kids and what they will enjoy. I enjoyed making them.

Lastly we ate Lydia's castle cake.  I am happy to say that what I pictured in my mind came to life. She was really happy with it and I enjoyed making it for her. I love how the turrets came out. I know it sounds weird but I love how homemade it looks. I think it turned out really well but you can tell that someone who loves her made it. I don't know if I am expressing that the clearest way.  It just made me happy.

It was a fun day and I am excited to start our birthday traditions with her next year.