Memorial Day: Part 2

The second half of our Memorial Day was spend at Curt's parent's house. Grandma had bought an awesome bounce house/splash land for the grand kids. The girls love it!! Emery is a little sheepish because it has a sprayer at the top of the two slides and she doesn't like to be sprayed at all. Yet she was the one who was the last to get out. Isabelle loved having her cousins in the pool with her. They never took a break and played for hours. 

It was a great great day! The weather was perfect and we spent time with both families...and, the best part, Daddy was home! :)

Memorial Day: Part 1

Memorial Day was extra special for us this year. On the 24th (Friday) we sold our house. It was a wonderful start to the weekend and a great birthday eve present. Curt came home for the weekend and was home for three whole days. It was wonderful! Especially since it was my birthday. We spent all of Saturday morning an early afternoon together. We went to the temple, got lunch, grabbed a mini bundt cake from Nothing Bundt Cake on the way home and just enjoyed the time together. 

On Monday we spent the first half of the day with my family. We met at a park and had a full BBQ lunch. It was very yummy. The girls loved being at the park! While waiting for the food to finish cooking, the girls played with my cousins...whom they love and adore.

Following lunch we took bread to the ducks. They were already pretty full though. 

There was a hill by the duck pond and my cousins tried teaching the girls how to roll down it. It was quite entertaining. Emery loved to jump down it instead. 

Isabelle didn't have much luck with it and didn't like it so much either...so she ended up following Emer and enjoyed jumping down the hill. 

The girls went back to the play ground an enjoyed their time there some more.

The day before, the girls had helped fill up water balloons. However as soon as they started popping and splashing them with both water and mud, they decided water balloons weren't so fun after all. 

The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we had such a fun time. 

Conversations with Isabelle: Part 11

While playing Mr. Potato Head:
Isabelle: "I'm making a boy one. He need purple shoes. And purple eyes."
Sigh...we have too many girls in this house.

***

Isabelle: "I want to be her. (Princess Sofia) You (Ella) can be Princess Amber and you (Emery) can be James."

Emery: "James?"

***

Me: "It's bedtime!"
Isabelle: "Ahh! Me?!"
Me: "Yes. It's bedtime."
Isabelle: "I'm not going to sleep. I'm not closing my eyes, Mom!"

***

Isabelle to Emery: "Mom said go to bed or clean my room!"

***

Isabelle: "We no have a movie in the car. Abby and Gibbum (Brigham) have one. Tomorrow let's go buy one. 

Me: "Isabelle we don't have money to go buy a new car with a video in it."

Isabelle: "Let's go buy some money tomorrow."

***

Isa: "Remember Elijah hurt his arm?" (He broke it and it's in a cast.)

Me: "Yeah."

Isa: "I wish I hurt my arm."

***

Isa: "Dad? Do you want to play babies or Barbies or tea parties?"

***

Isa: "Mom. Purple is not my favorite color anymore. Yellow is."

The next day...
Isa: "Mom. Pink is my favorite color now. Not purple.

Apparently she's having an identity crisis... :)

***

Me: "Man! I'm freezing!!"

Isa: "Can I get my blanket for you?"

Me: "Sure! That would be so nice!"

***

First Swim of the Summer

In April while I was at Target, I picked Isabelle up a new swimming suit. However, it was too small because she's growing up so fast I forget that I need to get bigger sizes. I told her that we would take it back and get her a new one that fit. She was very very worried about it not having a swimming suit. So, on a Saturday in early May we ventured out to Target to get her a new one. We also picked up a pool too. Emery fell asleep on the way home, so she missed the swimming, but Ella and Isabelle loved it. We were pretty surprised since it was so cold out too! They stayed in a good 30 minutes too. It definitely looks like we will need to get Ella a new swimming suit too. Isabelle wore both the swimming suit Ella and Emery are using this season only last August and both Emery and Ella are growing out of them! 

I have to admit, the most memorable part of this day is Isabelle picking Ella's wedgy. Cracked.us.up!

Play Doh

There are days that I just want to pull my hair out and give up on being a mother. Especially back when I was trying to sell a house and reduced to being a single mom during the weeks when Curt lived in Houston and we stayed behind in Fort Worth. One day I totally hit rock bottom. I was at a loss as to how to keep the girls from fighting and whining. I pulled out the play doh. Oh my. Even though I owned some...it's cause I couldn't turn down the clearance deal. I had the play doh for a year and a half and the girls never knew it. I was desperate though...and I pulled it out to let the girls play. They loved it... I loved that they didn't fight and that I didn't have carpet in my dining room anymore. :)

Ella and Emery at 2.5 Years

Ella:

1. She's a screamer! Boy-oh-boy! She loves to scream at the top of her lungs for just about every emotion!
2. She gets so excited and it is very visibly evident! 
3. She has the most entertaining faces. She is so super expressive.
4. She's still a climber and super curious and into everything.
5. While she used to say "Yes" all the time, she transitioned to "Yep" for a couple of months, but I'm happy to announce the "Yes" is back. We love it. 
6. She's a picker. She loves to pick at things. 
7. She eats things in layers. Instead of picking up her hamburger, sandwich, pizza, etc and eating it all at once, she'll eat the cheese off her sandwich, then the meat, then the bread. Or with her pizza she'll eat the toppings, then the cheese then the bread. 
8. She thinks she's the boss and loves to boss her sisters around. She does it without being prompted and also repeats me as soon as I'm done telling her sisters what to do.
9. She has started trying to get herself dressed. 
10. She asks to wear skirts everyday like Isabelle. I can get her to wear shorts, but I suspect the day will come when she refuses to wear them and only will wear skirts like her sister. 
11. She would sleep in everyday if Emery didn't wake her up.
12. She thinks she older...as in Isabelle's twin instead of Emery's. 
13. She's much more into learning her shapes, colors and numbers than Emery. She can count to 12.

Emery:

1. The girl is addicted to me. She has to be holding my hand, sitting on me, holding on to my leg or back pockets when I'm walking around, freaks out if I go to leave a room without me, etc etc. 
2. She's super whiny.
3. She is very afraid of men she doesn't know...especially dark haired ones. She will literally start her growly/screamy cry as soon as she sees a stranger in her house and if she's not holding on to her mom or dad. It's really bad.
4. She looks to Isabelle as her example. She picks up Isabelle's traits and habits. The latest is picking up is Isabelle's, "Ahhh...Mommmm" whine whenever she doesn't like what I say or do.
5. She loves to sing and have conversations for the toys she's playing with. (Just as Isabelle has taught her to do...)
6. Her favorite songs are Book of Mormon Stories and Popcorn Popping.
7. She doesn't liked to be helped unless she's tried to do it herself first. She wants to be able to do everything herself, but she can't so she ends up getting really frustrated and she immediately jumps to crying and throwing a tantrum instead of asking for help.
8. She poops all the time (at least 3 times, daily) and HATES having her diaper changed.
9. She repeats the same question over and over and over even if she is looking at you while you answer it. Drives me insane.
10. She doesn't like to have any water splashed around her. She hates when water gets on her face.
11. She loves to help. If I ask Isabelle to do something she often tries to run ahead and do it instead...causing Isabelle to get upset and cry. The same thing happens when I ask Emery to help, except Isa runs ahead and makes Emery cry. 
12. She could still take a nap everyday, but doesn't too often, unless it's in the car.
13. Wants to be the first to do everything. Get her hair done, get her shoes on, get to the door so she can open it, etc. 

Both:

1. They can say whatever they want to say and repeat any word you ask them to. 
2. They both love the shows Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Wild Kratts, Sophia the First and Jake and the Neverland Pirates.
3. Alongside Isabelle, they all migrate together. They play together. They are always together.
4. They both want to be potty trained so badly! 

Smiley Emery

I needed a picture for a scrapbook page I was assigned, so I asked Emery to take some pictures for me. She was being so silly and I love when she is in a happy/silly mood. :)

Monkey Ella

When it comes to Ella, you can rest assured that if she wants to climb something, she'll figure out a way to do it. You can also rest assured that she wants to climb just about everything. These two were having such a blast. They were both laughing hysterically. I love when they laugh so deeply. 

Donuts

On an early Saturday morning house showing, we didn't have time to get us all up, dressed and fed before we had to be out, so we went to the donut shop to eat breakfast. The girls were a little unsure about their donuts (they aren't big fans) but by the end of this trip, I think they like them a little more. I'm sure the sprinkles are a big reason though. It was a very special outing that we had never done before, so it was a fun family time. 

Ella has the silliest faces. She is so so so expressive! I told her to smile for the camera, and this is what I got. These pictures are literally taken one right after the other, as fast as the iPhone camera would take them. So, each face lasted no longer than a second. She's such a hoot!

Slushes

I normally don't like ice. So much that I would rather drink a warm drink over a cold one with ice in it (unless there is a straw). It slows me down. :) However, when I'm pregnant and especially postpartum, I cannot get enough ice. I definitely prefer easy to chew, small ice, but I'll take it all. I love Sonic's slushes cause the ice is that perfect consistency that I get to feel the ice on my teeth but I don't actually have to chew it. So, after my miscarriage, I was super anemic and I could seriously drink 3-4 slushes in a day. I'd get a medium one over on my side of town and drink it before got to my mom's side of town 15 minutes later and get another one. Yes, it's ridiculous...but the cravings were so strong that it was like a true addiction. I can't describe the intensity of the cravings. During this period of time, my kids, unfortunately, learned to love slushes too. On a Friday afternoon during Happy Hour, we had a house showing, so to Sonic we went. The girls were so very excited to have their own cups.

Patrice's Balloons

At the end of April, my aunt Patrice came into town for work. She works for Children's Miracle Network and is assigned accounts that she has to travel to meet with and go to events and meetings with. She had an event in Fort Worth, so she scheduled her flights further apart so she could stay with us and visit. After her event, she brought back balloons for all the kids to play with. They were instantly in love with her because of it. They played and played and played... Isabelle still asks for "Atrice" to come play and bring balloons.

Playing Outside

On a mid morning house showing, we went over to Grammie's house. She had people over working on her back splash in her kitchen so we headed outside. Emery is scared of men, so it was just easier to go outside. It was such a nice morning and Isabelle took it upon herself to pull Emery and Ella around in the wagon. As long as she didn't hit a small incline, she could do it. It isn't easy on her, but she can do it and the babies love it!

Ella's First Hair Cut

At just short of 28 months old, Ella had her very first hair cut. I could be wrong, but I don't think we had so much as trimmed a single hair on her head up to this point. Heather is our resident hair dresser and we had both been asking for weeks when we were going to get around to cutting it. It had gotten crazy and the longer-than-the-rest pieces in the back needed to be trimmed up. Her bangs had gotten in her eyes too. Between not having a camera around or scissors, it was never the perfect time. We gave up on having both in one place and I just used my iPhone for pictures. Ella did really well...of course we let her play Grammie's phone to keep her still. I have to admit...we were really excited her hair was finally getting long enough to trim it up! :)

Shorts

From about the time Isabelle turned two until this past April, she flat out refused to wear shorts or pants. "Princesses wear skirts!" or "Girls wear skirts!" is always the answer we received when we tried to get her to wear shorts or pants. This past winter I bought some really cute jeans that had glitter woven in. She wouldn't touch those. My mom saw these purple shorts at Target and told me to go get some. So, I did. I was super skeptical...but she liked them enough to try them out! We were amazed! We were also blown away with how skinny they made her look too!

As it turns out there is a butterfly on the snap of these jeans that she really likes. I went back and bought a pink pair too. However after wearing them a few times she discovered that there are buttons on the inside of the jeans to tighten the waistband (which we definitely needed to do!). She has a very very strong opposition to buttons too. I had to cut out the buttons on the pink pair to get her to wear them. After a month or two brake, she seems to be okay again and will wear them. Not every time I pull them out, but it's getting more and more lately. This winter will be the real test when we try pants. I'm sure they would be so cute on her!
For the record, it isn't like I/we didn't like the skirts. It's just that there are occasions and seasons that her prejudice against shorts and pants has been a big headache.

Train Ride

On a day that my mom had Levi for the full day, she wanted to get out and go do something to make the day go by. We decided to go to the zoo. However, the day we picked, even though it wasn't half price Wednesday, there was a forever long line just to get into the zoo. So, we decided to not go and to go on the train ride around Trinity Park. The girls and Levi had a wonderful time. It was actually a little chilly from the wind, but they didn't seem to mind. The train ride was actually quite long too. It is even set up to let you off at the other end of the park, if you want to play on the play ground, then get back on when the train comes back round. Round trip, it's about a 45 minute ride which made the price worth it. 

Picture Day

Isabelle had formal pictures taken at her Dance Studio. She looked so pretty and grown up. Her pictures were so cute too. I bought a picture of her in her tap costume, so here's an informal look at her ballet tutu first. 

Her official tap costume:

Man, she's getting big!!

Silly Emery

When this little girl is happy, boy is she silly!!
We have two tunnels...and three girls. You do the math. I hate getting the tunnels out cause they end up fighting over the tunnels and it's just maddening since the whole purpose of them is to actually crawl through them instead of hoard them and sit in them or use them to turn yourself into a worm.... However this day, Emery got in one and the other two didn't care. So she just got to take a turn uninterrupted and she loved it!

Violin Lovin

Isabelle really loves the violin I got her for her birthday. She plays with it often and doesn't let her sisters play with it. When ever she plays it, she wants me to turn on Lindsey Stirling's youTube channel. She plays along with Lindsey and even watches her for dance moves. It is so adorable to watch!

 Ella did manage to get her hands on the violin one day without Isabelle knowing it. She couldn't quite figure out how to be like Isabelle or Lindsey. :)

She was so excited to be playing with the violin though!

Easter Day!

Easter, like Isabelle's birthday, came within days after my miscarriage...so I was very much not in the mood to celebrate. So I wasn't even there for Easter morning. Curt played Easter bunny all by himself too. He went and got the girls each a set of Squinkies. They are still very loved today and not all lost... They also received a clementine, a big girl princess cup and an Easter egg or two with candy in it.

Following church, we headed over to my parent's house. I kept the girls in their Easter clothes so I could get pictures of them. Emery and Ella wanted nothing to do with pictures and Isabelle put up a good fake fight. She wouldn't look at the camera, frowned on purpose until she couldn't hide the smile and tried running away. She did it cause she was grumpy and wanting to be obstinate but also to play with us.

Following dinner we let the girls do an Easter egg hunt. With the ward hunt the day before as a warm up, the kids went to town gathering as many eggs as they could get. Isabelle even branched out and didn't just stick to the purple eggs.

The girls did really well and it was fun to watch them. After all the eggs were gathered, we let the girls checkout what was in the eggs. Ella and her faces entertained us for quite some time! She is such a hoot!

Emery has a different style than Ella. Open and eat as fast as possible while she's under the radar.

Once it was all over though, the girls went down to the hammock with Kenzie. They sure do love her...
Then the girls dyed Easter eggs with Heather and Andrew. Ella and her love of picking at things pushed her to destroy her egg... Leave it to destructo child!

From what I can remember, it was a good day. I really remember very very little from the day.