McKinley
- Puzzles - She's getting pretty good at them too! We have four wooden ones in a big bag and it's pretty cute to see her hefting the bag over to us to open so she can do her puzzles!
- Cups - She loves to get all the sippy cups out of the cupboard and put them in a row on the kitchen floor. Then she asks me for a sippy full of water and proceeds to pour water in all the other cups
- Reading - YES!! She's finally starting to get into reading! She sits on the floor by herself and reads or brings books to one of us. She especially loves the letter books
- Dad's toothbrush - Just Dad's. Maybe because it's a fancy spinning one or because it just has a round head. We keep it up on a shelf in the bathroom, and she literally BEGS for it every time we're in there
- Food - The girl is always eating. She constantly brings us things from the pantry, anything she can get her hands on. If one of us is eating something, she comes right over and says "Ah, Ah, Ah" with her mouth wide open until you share.
- Sleeping - This girl loves going to bed! As soon as you give her her blanket and bink for naptime and bedtime, she literally tries to jump out of your arms into her bed. No kisses, no snuggles, nothing. She wants bed!!! And she never makes a peep once you put her down.
- Legos - She's the one who always wants to get the legos out and likes to build with them
- Doll Stroller - She LOVES that thing!! It doesn't even have to have anything in it; she still happily pushes it around. She usually tries to take it out the door as well and put it in the car whenever we go somewhere
- Outside - This girl loves being outside way more than Madison. As soon as she hears one of the doors open, she sprints for it! And once she's outside, good luck catching her and trying to bring her back in!
- Clothes - It doesn't matter if she's already dressed, she loves putting clothes on. Most of her clothes are up where she can't reach but she can get to her bloomers and often brings us several pairs to put on at the same time! She also loves to have shoes on (anyone's will do) and hats!
- Bubble baths - We've only recently introduced her to bubble baths but now she can't have a bath without the bubbles
- Unloading the Dishwasher - a constant struggle between us and her!!
- The Wii Fit board - We keep it under the couch, and she's always wanting us to pull it out for her so she can stand on it. It's cute to see her get down on her tummy trying to get to it!
- Music - She hasn't tried to sing yet, but she loves to dance and conduct. She's figured out how to turn on the music on Jordan's alarm clock and does so whenever she's in our room. When she gets her hands on the iPad, she always turns on Super Why, not because she likes watching the show, but because she really likes dancing to the music at the beginning! I guess that's her favorite song :)
- Coloring - But it has to be a pen, not a crayon or colored pencils. She loves to color with pens. She does pretty good at coloring on paper but marks on both our couch and mostly herself tell you she doesn't quite have it down
- Sticking things in her ears - usually her fingers, but I've also found her walking around with pens, crayons and pretzel sticks sticking out of her ears! Silly girl!!
- Phones - real or imagined. She turns everything into a phone and walks around chatting it up. Her conversations mostly consist of "Hi", "yeah" and "Bye" but sometimes she gets pretty elaborate. She's always trying to get our phones, which is why I don't respond to calls or texts very much during the day - it's just not worth fighting with her over it because once she sees my phone, she has to have it! I've tried to be better about putting it in airplane mode when she has it so she can't call anyone, but sometimes she still figures it out and calls people, especially A names (Sorry Ashley, Allie, Amy and Amy!)
Madison
- The Library - Madison's favorite place is the library, and she always asks to go there. She just loves to read!! We always bring home 6-7 books, and I read them all to her in one sitting as soon as we get home. Then she spends the rest of the week reading them to all her "friends" (her stuffed animals). It's amazing to me how fast she picks up the stories.
- Singing - This girl is ALWAYS singing. She picks up songs that she hears really fast, but she also likes to make up her own songs. It doesn't matter where we are or what we're doing, she's usually singing about it! We went to a Christmas concert one night that one of the girls from church was performing in, and she started singing right along with the choir. Except she didn't know when the song ended since she'd never heard it before so she ended up with her own little solo :) Good thing she's cute!
- Helping in the kitchen - She always wants to make things with me, whether it's helping with dinner or random baking projects she wants to do. Sometimes this is an exercise in patience for me and a little tough for me to try to come up with things she can do if I'm making something that requires a lot of chopping or stovetop work, but we do our best!
- Her sleeping bag - She ends up sleeping in her sleeping bag about 50% of the time. We tuck her into bed every night and then go in to check on her later when we go to bed and find her in her sleeping bag on the floor!
- Magic - She's very into magic right now. She randomly turns us into things all the time with her magic words (magic-ka-? with the ? being whatever she's trying to turn us into). She had me make her a magic wand a few days ago but was devastated that I wasn't able to put actual magic in it. She was very disappointed as we tried to explain that magic comes from our imagination and that we can't actually turn things into monsters, rabbits and cars. We've ruined all her hopes and dreams at only 3 years old!
- Christmas - I think we're going to be hearing about Christmas for a LONG time! She thanks Heavenly Father for Christmas in every prayer she says. She pretends to be Ms. Claus and told me that her two rubber duckies in the bathtub are actually Rudolph and Comet. She's already started her Christmas list for next year, which so far consists of a plane set and a real car that she can drive on the road all by herself (you and me both, kid!). And she's written several notes to Santa, his elves and his reindeer. I think she liked Christmas this year :)
- Being Busy - She loves to be busy and be going places. She asks me every night what we're going to do tomorrow and does not like when I say nothing or I don't know. She wants activities!! She loves doing projects with me and is always asking to do something!
- Tootsie Rolls - By far, her favorite candy. She actually isn't really into sweets, but she LOVES tootsie rolls! She got a big can of them in her stocking and has been in heaven!
- Her "Favorite Friend Ethan" - Yep, she has a crush. And the feeling is mutual!! Ethan is about a month older than her, and is seriously the cutest boy ever!! Every time they see each other at church, the library or other outings, they get so excited and give each other big hugs. Then they're inseparable! Both us and Ethan's grandparents (His grandma watches him most days) have had several people tell us how cute they are and how much they like each other. Every time there's a substitute in nursery, they come find me and tell me all about Madison and Ethan. Her regular nursery leader has even told me that another little boy in there is pretty jealous of Ethan and there's a little love triangle going on!! Oh boy!
Jordan's and my lists aren't really going to be our "loves" necessarily. But we were having a discussion recently about our most prized possessions and I thought our respective lists were kind of interesting and funny so I wanted to document them!
Jen
- Our couch - Our couch is old, broken in several places and has every stain imaginable on it, but I LOVE it!!!! I seriously love this couch. It's just a gray microfiber sectional that we paid like $700 at Costco for, but it is a great couch. It's super soft and comfy, low enough to the ground that my feet don't hang off the edge when I sit all the way back on it, wide enough that I can sit cross-legged on it without hanging off and just overall perfect. And it's perfect for us. Jordan likes to lay on the part that extends out into the living room and I like to sit on the cushion right next to that part so we're always close. It's also very convenient when we watch movies or just want to snuggle because I can lay with my head on his shoulder or chest and we can still both be totally stretched out and see the tv. You can't do that with a regular couch!! It's the first purchase we ever made together (we got it about three months before we got married and kept it still in boxes in the living room of my apt until we moved - my roommates loved me - not!). I've resigned myself to the fact that we're leaving it when we move because it's so broken but I will definitely miss it and I hope we can find something just like it!
- Our piano - I don't get to sit down and play it as often as I wish, but I'm very glad we have our piano. Music has always been a big part of my life, and I love sharing that with our girls. I love that we can just sit down and sing together at the piano whenever we want to. That's one of our favorite things to do for FHE. Both my girls also love to play the piano, and I look forward to when they can really start learning to play.
- My blog - I guess it's not really something I possess, but it is mine, and I do love it!! I love recording these memories and documenting our lives. I've always loved writing so this is a good creative outlet for me! It's also made me more conscious of taking pictures and really being in the moment so I can make sure to capture it on the blog. Sometimes, I have to make a conscious decision to not take pictures or worry about getting a great shot for the blog so I can just enjoy whatever we're doing, but most of the time, I'm always looking for opportunities to record our activities and just our every day adventures. I know I'll never have these days back, especially with these girls, so I want to be able to remember it!! I regret not being diligent in blogging when Madison was a baby, because I don't remember or have recorded so much of that first year with her. But now I'm on a roll! And I've recently discovered the awesomeness of blog books!! I have 2012 printed and just need to finish this post to get 2013 done!! I love that I now have a book with all these great pictures and posts!!!
- My Food Processor - Jordan got me a food processor two years ago for Christmas. I had never even thought about wanting one and was a little unsure of how much I would use it. Turns out, I love it and use it a ton! I love to cook so I use a lot of fresh ingredients and sometimes pretty involved recipes. The food processor makes life so much easier! When I think of how much time I used to spend chopping onions by hand, I shudder. I honestly used to dread making homemade pizza because of the time it took to chop the onions, bell pepper, olives, etc. Problem solved! I really love my food processor! Now I've gotta get my hands on a Kitchen Aid ...
- My Body Pillow - I have to put this in here, but it's a little bit of a sore spot for Jordan and I :) He got me a body pillow for Christmas when I was pregnant with Madison, and it was seriously the best present ever! I hadn't even asked for it, he just heard it was good for pregnant women and got it for me (he's pretty awesome in the gift category ... or any category, really!) It's super soft and gloriously comfy! I'm naturally a side sleeper, and I love sleeping with it on my side in between my knees and under my head. The problem is that I'm not referring to sleeping with the body pillow in the past tense! I still sleep with it every night, going on four years!! Jordan jokes about it coming between us, literally! He complains about it, but half the time I have to wrestle it away from him because he tries to steal it! He laments about our newlywed days when we fell asleep cuddling with each other. But he's full of it! What really happened is that he fell asleep cuddling with me and then promptly turned on his side with his back to me, leaving me all alone!! He always naturally sleeps on his right side while I prefer my left. We've tried switching sides of the bed so we're facing each other instead of facing away from each other, but it just doesn't work!! So the body pillow is my cuddle buddy, and I love it!!
Jordan
- The Dresser Mirror - Yep, that's right. My husband loves the giant mirror above our dresser!! I have no idea why. He's not vain at all and rarely even looks in the mirror. But he says it's big and nice and it makes our furniture look nice. So it's his number one most favorite possession!
- iPad (aka Fred) - Let's be honest, we all really love the iPad. But Jordan loves it most and uses it a ton!!
- Books - How do I even describe the love affair between my husband and his books?!?! We have three Ikea bookcases full of them and still have more just waiting for a fourth bookcase. His ultimate dream is to have a library in our house with wall-to-wall bookcases. He'll read pretty much anything so our collection is pretty far-reaching. I love to read as well and am quite proud of our horde, but he really prizes those books! Sometimes, he just sits down in front of the bookcase and reads all the titles, pulling out random ones to flip through the pages and make sure everything is still in pristine condition! Not touching the books is one of the first things Jordan taught the girls, along with how to throw away their own diapers ;)
- The TV - We bought our first tv together less than a year after we were married, a Samsung 40-incher, and Jordan loved it!! It started having problems over the summer so my Dad bought us a new bigger tv for Christmas, which Jordan loves even more! We watch a lot of sports in this house so the tv HAS to be good!!! And it is :)
- The Fan - And I do mean THE fan. There are ceiling fans in every room of our house and standing fans in both girls' room, but we have a circular floor fan that we bust out in the summer when it gets really hot that Jordan loves!! I don't even remember where or when we got it, but it puts out a lot of air and does a great job keeping things cool. He pretty much carries it with him around the house in the summer, plugging it in wherever he goes! He'd go crazy without that fan!
So there you go, a little insight into what makes each of us tick :) And now for the pictures!
One of many nights in the sleeping bag. I love that she set both of them up in her room!
A rare moment of playing together instead of fighting over the toys!
Cheeser!
Madison made herself this cozy spot to relax and watch home movies on the Flip. The umbrella at the top is a nice touch :)
The now-infamous advent calendar incident!
McKinley, Madison and Daxon at our end-of-the-semester breakfast
Madison's idea of hide-and-seek :)
McKinley and her puzzles
Dancing with Cinderella
Madison got a little stamp in a goody bag at gymnastics and decided to decorate herself and her little sister. Those stamps were there for a good four days before we could get them off!
Playing in the leaves. McKinley liked it a lot better the second time around!
We had a tornado warning the Saturday before Christmas and ended up hiding out in the closet for about 30 minutes. We thought we had escaped any damage until we looked outside the next day and saw this!
Jordan's giant Reese's peanut butter cup from Santa
At the piano
I have the best kitchen helpers and taste-testers!!
New Year's Eve balloon drop! We went to the Walkers for NYE, and Lyndee planned this balloon drop for the kids at 8 pm. They loved it! Definitely a new tradition!
Madison and her favorite friend Ethan! Ethan actually requested this picture after Church one day and his grandma took it on her phone. They're seriously so cute together! He's a good-looking kid!!
This actually happened in November, but I forgot to include it in last month's randoms post. SCO did a new recruitment video and asked the girls to star in it!! They basically just pretended to have an eye exam and showed off their cuteness :) They both did great! We haven't seen the finished product yet, but we'll get a copy when it's done. It will then be sent out to all prospective SCO students to let them know what an awesome school SCO is!
