Happy Halloween

The girls are very sad that Halloween is over. In fact, after trick-or-treating, Kylie kept asking me when it would be over. I kept telling her this was the last day, and she would get sad and say "I never want Halloween to be over."

Poor girl.

Thankfully, like I reminded her a hundred times, she had (and still has!) lots of Halloween candy to enjoy for a while and a new dress-up costume to wear whenever she wants to play dress-up. The girls' dress-up bin has a lot of past Halloween costumes in the mix.

And this year, they had some good ones to add: a clown and batman!

To see pictures and find out why they choose those costumes, click "read" more" down below.

New Hobby

Before = my mom's old sweater
After = new dress for Kylie

Click "Read More" to see what my new hobby is! I think my picture gave it away...

802 Pictures...

No, I'm NOT posting 802 pictures to this post. That would be ridiculous. But I did just send 802 pictures to Snap Fish to be printed out. They were having a penny per print (6x4) sale! (Plus shipping of course, but still an awesome deal: It came out to less than 6 cents per print with all shipping and tax.) So for the past week, I have been busy. Busy going through all my pictures from 2011. I have been organizing, deleting and editing. I deleted a huge chunk of the pictures I had, mostly because when I take pictures, I just click, click, click, click, click and then go through later and pick out the best ones. Well I haven't been doing a good job of keeping the good ones right away, because this was a HUGE project. 

Sadly, I still haven't printed off any pictures from 2010 and barely any from 2009. So I'm going to need to attack all those pictures shortly. I think I need another sale to motivate me, so if there's a good one out there, fill me in! I think I have over 802 pictures from Christmas alone... so I'm a little worried.

The fun part was seeing some old pictures that I haven't seen in a while (read only a couple months: they're only from 2011, how old can they be?) and so here are a few of my favorite ones I loved revisiting:

Note: They are in reverse order, from September all the way back to January.

Click "Read More" to see more of my favorite pictures from last year. I can't wait to sort through all my new pictures. There's something so fun about holding a picture in your hands, something digital pictures just can't match up to. 

I know I say this all the time, but when did Kylie get to be so OLD?

How did this:

(This picture was taken when Kylie was just an hour old. I just fell in love with those studious eyes and big kissy lips, she was absolutely perfect.)

... go to THIS:

 

Kylie turned three and a half this past month. 

She continues to be the most curious little girl. She has to know how everything works. She told me the other day that when she grows up, she wants to build bridges. So maybe one day we will have an engineer in the family. Maybe. She also told me once that she wants to be an alien when she grows up. I'm not sure which one would make me more proud.

She has developed an amazing memory, which she uses to repeat back books to me after I've read them once or just remind very accurately me of things that happened from over a year ago. 

She is still very controlling and insists on doing things her way, which doesn't always go over so well with her headstrong little sister. Being the first born and her mother's child, I doubt she ever loses her controlling nature. Thankfully, she also has a very sweet side and is sensitive to other people's feelings. 

She is developing a great sense of humor: she loves playing jokes on people, she makes up funny little words and she enjoys cracking up over her sister's antics.

I really do miss having her as a baby, but I love having this three year old around. The other day Jason asked her if she thought Eve would ever be as big as her and she responded: "No daddy, when Eve gets as big as me, then I will be four and I will be bigger too." She will one day be four? I'm glad she has come to terms with it, because I'm still adjusting to her not being a baby anymore.

Happy Summer!

Big Girl!

We found Kylie a bike with training wheels at a garage sale. She was never very good at riding her tricycle, but she was an instant pro on her bike. She rides it all over, even to the park and back, and loves it. Eve has inherited her tricycle, but can't reach the pedals yet, poor girl.

Recipe: Eclair Cake

Step 1: Gather tub of cool whip, 3 cups milk and a package of instant vanilla pudding.

Step 2: Show everyone your belly.

Step 3: mix the pudding, cool whip and milk all together in large bowl.

Step 4: Notice that the recipe actually calls for two packages of instant vanilla pudding. Search in the cabinet for another one while praying for a miracle because you usually prefer to buy the heat and serve pudding packages. (This step not pictured, but thankfully I found the right kind of pudding at the very bottom of my pudding stash. Yes, I have a pudding stash.)

Step 5: Layer graham crackers at the bottom of a 13 x 9 pan.

Step 6: Add half of the pudding/cool whip mixture to pan and spread it over graham crackers. Add another layer of graham crackers and add the rest of the pudding. Finally, top it off with third layer of graham crackers.

Step 7: Give your little "helpers" some of the pudding mixture to keep them busy while you spread chocolate frosting over the final graham cracker layer. You can either make your own chocolate frosting, which is what I would have done if I was still a stay at home mom. If you need something convenient, just pick up some already in the store. (I will admit it felt a little weird buying frosting when I know I could have just made it myself, but then I remembered I wanted this to be a quick project.)

Step 8: The cake is done! Let it sit in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

Step 9: Invite some friends over for dinner to share the cake. (I forgot to take pictures of everyone eating their dessert, but I did snap a couple while they were playing.)

I also made a chicken cordon bleu bake casserole for dinner. I realized as I was eating that I had made American versions of two French foods. Maybe I'm feeling a little nostalgic?

Here is the real recipe for the chocolate eclair cake: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Eclair-Cake/Detail.aspx

Where has the time gone?

Kylie is getting so big. I'm really loving the age she's at right now. At three, she's so imaginative, intelligent and inquisitive about life, but there's still a little part of her that's babyish, sweet and cuddly. I love watching her grow up, but sometimes wish she would stop doing it so fast. Yet, I keep loving every age and stage more than the last. Today, she went shopping with my sister and me for three hours and she loved every minute of it. I bought her the dress she is wearing in the picture and she was so excited to try it on in the store. She was singing and dancing in the dressing room and prancing around like a peacock in front of the mirror. She was absolutely no help picking out dresses because everyone Rachel and I showed her was "perfect" or "so beautiful" or "her favorite dress ever" in her very own enthusiastic words. She even enjoyed tagging along when my sister and I were looking at clothes and shoes for ourselves. She helped make lots of suggestions for us. She was a real trooper and she was cracking us up just how much she enjoyed shopping and looking at clothes and shoes, even though we didn't leave the mall for three whole hours. When we got home, she just had to wear her new dress the rest of the day. She even agreed to pose in it for a picture. As soon as I saw it, I just thought "Wow, she's so grown up." And she is. She might only be three years old, but it didn't seem like very long ago that she was only three months old. And I don't know what it's like to be the mother of anyone older than three, so she's always going to seem so big to me.

Speaking of her looking old, check out this picture Jason took of her a couple weeks ago:

He took it on his cell phone and texted it to me. The very first thing I noticed was that she looked just like Jason with long hair. Then I couldn't stop staring because she honestly looks like a big kid, maybe even a 12 year old big kid. This just confirms what I've always though all along: "Jason would make a very pretty girl."

Potty Training Everz

Look who's wearing big girl panties! And by big girl panties, I mean they are huge on her. Why don't they make underwear smaller than 2T? At least, they stay on her, even if they go halfway down to her knees.

Now that Jason is a stay at home dad and I'm working (That is an entirely different post, one I need to make, but that's also the reason this blog has been so neglected lately!), Jason has had the burden privilege of taking on the majority of the potty training responsibilities. The time is perfect for him: He has eight weeks off from taking classes. We weren't quite sure she was ready, but decided to just go for it. That's what we did with Kylie, we just went with it and knew she would eventually get it. We just went straight to panties and didn't look back. It didn't take too long with Kylie and there have been hardly any accidents day or night since it "clicked" with her about a month after we started, but I very vividly remember the feeling of hopelessness in the beginning. So I was very apprehensive about doing the whole thing over again. But then I remembered that I would be at work most of the day, so I encouraged Jason wholeheartedly to just go for it! :) At least I was nice enough to warn him that it was normal if he wanted to cry during the first week. I know I did with Kylie.

But guess what? Eve is doing so well and I'm so proud of her (and Jason too!) We started less than a week ago and I feel like she is catching on faster than I thought she would. Here are some cute and funny things that arose through this experience:

-The first day, Eve kept chanting "Potty Train! Potty Train!" We think that she thinks there is an actual train involved in this process. Poor girl, she is going to be very disappointed. I'm thinking of finding a train to let her go see, preferably one with a potty on it, just for it to make sense.

-When Eve has an accident, she says: "I spill! Oh no!" The first time it happened, we were outside in the backyard (what better place to potty train?) She had an accident, and started whining that she had spilled. I asked her where she spilled, and she looked very confused and finally pointed at a huge rain puddle. Then I realized that her panties were wet and she started pulling at them telling me again that she had spilled. Ever since then, she says the same thing every time she has an accident and we even use her terminology and ask her to "spill" in the potty. It still cracks me up :)

-She's been getting a little mint every time she goes potty. Yesterday, when I got home from work, she told me "I want candy!" and then put herself on the potty. She went in the potty and walked up to me with her hand extended. I've got to hand it to Eve, she has always been good at getting what she wants. And now we have just given her a tool to get candy when she wants. Oh boy. I'm just glad she's catching on.

-Without telling anyone today, she went and put herself on the potty. Only she didn't pull her panties down. And no one knew that she was going potty until it was too late. But still, that's progress. She's really starting to catch on when she has to go. I'm so proud of her!

Leave it to Eve to make me laugh about potty training. Or maybe I'm just glad that Jason's the one dealing with all the frustrating moments. He tells me, however, that it's been very productive, but that sounds almost too good to be true.

Eve is...

...dramatic:

... a daredevil:

... our little monkey:

... a great big sister tackler:

I love how Kylie is stopping to smile at the camera even though she is being tackled and ticked by her little sister. That is so not typical of her to try and take a good picture!

... an awesome maker of funny faces:

Jason says this picture itself is sufficient to describe Eve. Yes, this picture does say a lot about our silly girl. She loves attention and making this face gets it!

... the perfect Pebbles Flintstone:

Eve at 7 months. Her first Halloween

Eve's second halloween (19 months).

... absolutely no help at putting Christmas ornaments on the Christmas tree (but has a great throwing arm!)

... good at getting away with things like throwing ornaments because she's just so cute:

...a great counter. (She's been able to count into the teens for a while now. She counts all the way to 12 then says some random teens and then shouts 20 and claps for herself because she's very proud of herself. She can also count pretty accurately if you give her a small amount of objects and ask her how many are there.)

... a very happy child:

... but very good at giving the cutest and most intense mad looks when necessary (which Eve thinks is quite often.)

... without a doubt the cutest mess in the world:

... a tiny little munchkin. Here she is at 23 months wearing a dress that Kylie wore at 10 months and a 6-9 months sweater:

... such a cute little munchkin!

... getting so big, even for a little munchkin. Here she is for example swinging like a big girl (so sad!)

... a little fashionista. She loves clothes and shoes and plays dress up every day. She sometimes insists on sleeping in her tutu, and we let her if that's what it takes for her to go to bed without screaming her head off:

Sometimes she does silly things like wear her tutu up to her armpits. I tried to put it back around her waist for a picture, but she threw a huge fit. She is very headstrong when it comes to her fashion :)

This day she insisted on wearing her princess dress the library. Ignore her paci, this was back in the fall before we got rid of it. Notice how long the dress is, it's hard to find dress up clothes in Eve's size.

I love this one. She picked out all her accessories herself (and her one sock, that was a purposeful move for Eve.)

Someone's hat became Eve's treasure.

... so silly.

... very lovable.

... my baby.

The many expressions of my dimpled child

I took all of these pictures in less than a minute. Her many faces crack me up!

My little messes...

I was lucky with Kylie, she hated messes. She ate very carefully and when she didn't, she wasn't happy about it. Here she is at 15 months, unhappy about having carrots all over her face:

Now, Eve is a different story. Her middle name should have been "mess." Who else do you know manages to get chili all over their foot at dinner?

Here are just some more pictures of her eating chili that night. Keep in mind that this is typical. I only went to get the camera because of the chili on her foot. (Now THAT is a little atypical and I'm not sure how she did it.) Oh and I was actually happy this day because she didn't wipe her dirty hands all over her hair or pour any bowls of chili on her head. (But she did pour a cup of water in her lap. On purpose. While giggling.)

Ok, so maybe Kylie does like being messy every once in while. It's not often, because usually she needs to wipe up every little spec of food that she spills on the table. But every once in a while she loosens up. She has learned after many attempts that finger painting can be fun. She also likes digging in the dirt (but insists I clean her up before she does anything else.) But she can be a neat freak. Big time. She will sometimes pretend to go to the bathroom just so she can wash her hands.

There was this one time, back in August, when Jason and I were cleaning out our kitchen cabinets (we had to have them emptied out because the pest control was doing their scheduled spraying in our apartment) and as we were putting everything away, we turn around to see that the girls had found the food coloring in one of the boxes we were storing the cabinet goodies in:

Yikes! Thankfully the girls poured the green food coloring out on the table and it did come off since I cleaned it right away. I'm so glad they didn't dump this out on the carpet or couch. That would have been more of a disaster.

Kylie thought it was so funny at first!

Until she noticed how messy she really was.

Not so happy now about being a mess!