Little Helper loading the dishwasher

Carter has loved helping by putting the dishes away and sometimes will insist on puting dishes that are not yet clean away. I sometimes have to wait to load the dishwasher so there is no melt down because he wants to unload it every time.

Updated Kitchen Cabinets

I can say I am finally done with the Kitchen Cabinets. A project that was suppose to only take a week end up taking a month and a week. I don't think it would have taken so long if I had started out by sanding them and then priming and painting. I guess you can't trust everyone at the Home improvement stores. I can officially say I am painted out now. I loved how they turned out but next time will have someone else do it.

Club house fun

When they are not swinging they love getting up into the club house and throwing toys down the slide and instead of going down the slide they go back down the steps from the club house and get the toys and go back up the steps so they won't actually go down the slide. I think that the slide got hot once and they have never gone down it since.

If it does not run just push it!

I keep meaning to get rid of this jeep because it does not charge and takes up a lot of room. I kind of forgot to charge it one night and know it won't charge at all. I can't bring myself to get rid of it though because they have been having so much fun with it. Bailey has learned to use her legs to manuver the jeep if they get stuck and Carter pushes her around until he can't. I have tried to see if Bailey will push Carter, but I think she knows how good she has it.

Sweet Dreams

I couldn't help but get a picture of Carter napping holding onto his sippy which he can get very teritorial over.

Pool fun

With the hot Summer days it has been nice to setup their kiddie pool to cool off with. We almost have set it up every night this last week in half because it has been so hot. It has been fun watching them get wet, especially when they get each other wet and then squeal in delight because of it. Oh, if you look closely you can see that Carter is wearing one of Bailey's pull ups. We have been using these when we have been out of diapers.

Care free days of Summer

Oh, the days when nothing mattered and there was not a care in the world. I remember as a kid going bare foot playing make believe as we used our bikes as cars, making pretend food out of mud pies, playing house, going anywhere that my two feet, or my bike would take me. It has been fun to watch my kids create fun memories of their own. The biggest thing of the summer has been the swing set that we got in the beginning of June. We are out there almost every night as they want us to push them again and again. We also have set up the pool that they both have had fun taking turns for the most part drenching each other.

I am Cool and I know it!

I finally got Bailey some afordable glasses at the dollar store so if she loses them it is not much of a loss. It has been so cute to see her wear her glasses that she demands to have every time we are in the car and some times likes to wear them in the mirror has she stares at herself.

Things are slowing down

It feels like forever since I have posted on my blog. It just seems life as taken over with the many projects that I have done over the last couple months. I am excited to say that my Kitchen cabinets are all most done and I am excited to reveal what they look like here in the next couple of days.

The Swingset is up

We finally got a Swingset for the kids from Wal-mart. I always felt bad when they would go out and play in our backyard because there was nothing for them to play with. Carter would actually play with the wire fence that blocks off the garden and Bailey would play back by the hose. Carter loved swinging on the swing and Bailey loved going down the slide. I think that they would have stayed out longer if it was not getting so dark and they were not so tired. I am not sure that I am going to be able to keep them in the house now that they have a swingset right in our backyard.

Carter's Birthday Party

We finally celebrated Carter's birthday on Sunday even though his birthday was a couple of days ahead. It was so cute to watch him open presents. He actually knew what to do. He loved the toys and had no interest for the clothes. It was actually funny when he saw the clothes he had the expression like, "What is this?"

A lost boy at the Zoo

I was at the Zoo on Thursday with a couple of families from my stake. Bailey really seemed to like looking at the animals while Carter just wanted to wander and had no particular interest in the animals. I let them play on the Giraffe slide at the Zoo and had turned my head for a couple seconds and looked back and he was gone. I did not get too panicked at first because I did not think he could get that far, but after a couple of minutes of not being able to find him, I started thinking of all the different possiblites of what could happen to a toddler at the Zoo. I immediately went up and let the personnel know that I had lost my little boy and they started searching for him and after ten minutes of not being able to find him they called the cops and then announced over the PA his description so we could have everyone looking for him. It felt like forever before they found him even though it was only 30 minutes. He had gone into one of their sheds and closed it and none of the workers at the Zoo thought to look there. I actually had a lady that was not working there bring him up to me. I really felt like my prayers and those praying on my behalf had been answered. I am so grateful that my little boy was okay and was able to celebrate his second birthday the following day.

Hair cut for miss Bailey

 Once I had straighted Bailey's hair I realized just how much she needed a hair cut. I was thinking of taking her to the Hair Salon to do it because I did not want to hassle with her moving her head all over the place and I was not sure if she would sit still. Everyone talked me into doing it since I had my Cosmetology License. It was nice of Sam to help distract her as I cut her hair, plus there were a few incentives like Toy Story and chocolate so she was quite good, surprisingly. I was planning of only taking off a couple of inches and instead decided since she had three different layers in her hair just to even it all out by making it one length. I was a little nervous to do this because I have only had her hair cut once and I was also worried that she would not retain her ringlets. Oh well. It looks so healthy and hair is so forgiving. I will post more pictures of her hair cut.

Straight hair

We all thought it would be interesting to see how Bailey's hair looked like straight. It did not take long to do and when it was done I had to laugh because it looked like she had a wig on. This hair do actually made her look a couple years older.

Having a casual conversation

Bailey really likes talking on the phone. Why not with blocks? It was cute how she wanted to imitate very thing that I was saying. My cute girl.

Signing

We borrowed some signing videos from a family in our ward and they both have liked watching the videos. We particularly got them for Bailey to improve her speech but she has had no interest in signing. Carter though has picked up the sign for more. I usually have to show him the sign and then he repeats it. I hear that repition is good though.

They are dancers

I love when they dance they always go around in circles. I think they are going to be dancers and singers.

She needs her own vaccum

She thinks she is trying to help out by using her own stroller to vacuum. She is getting so big.

No a common word we hear

Carter as picked up quite a few words over the last six months and one in particular is the word no. He especially likes to say it if he is upset and not getting what he wants.

A song she learned at School

Bailey loves to go and see Kim the student that works with her and Molly the puppet. She learned a song where Molly gets dirty and has to put her clothes in the washer so she is clean again. She can mostly sing the first two sentences without any help. This will actually help her so she cannot only differentiate between being dirty and clean, but so she can eventually help me with Laundry.

Having a good time

It was nice to go and help Christine right after she had Surgery with the kids. They really enjoyed eating their Popsicles and playing outside.

Speech Update

I may sometimes feel like a broken record but she is catching on so fast. I am always amazed to see what she picks when I think she is not getting it, or is not listening. When we got up this morning she said, "Carter is awake." and then she said, "Carter is crying." As the day progressed she told me as she was playing with the her dolls that they needed a nap because they were tired. She also was playing with her Barbie and asked where her glasses were. And when we were in the car on the way to school she said, "I am tired." I am so thrilled to see the progress she has made even within a day or even a week, especially since a couple of months ago she was babbling.

Sofa Table

I had my cousin Reed make this sofa table from a blog I saw off of Pinterest. I am sure you would have never guessed this came from my favorite site. I really thought that this would be a piece of cake. All I would have to do is sand it down and then stain it to the particular color of my liking. Yeah, a project that I thought would last a couple days extended into a three week project as I was unprepared I would have to redo the top and legs several times either because it was blotchier in some areas than others, or it did not stain evenly, which can happen with certain woods.I have since learned that you have to sand it really well and put a wood conditioner on it so it will stain evenly. I would have been able to put the wood conditioner on, but I already had put a gel stain on after doing the regular staining to try to help minimize the contrast in color. I did not want have to redo everything to make sure it all turned out right, which the table top and legs did turn out well once sanded really well. I love how it turned out and have had fun decorating it. I will show more pictures of it once I am finished decorating it.

Tuckered out

Daddy and bubs tired after a long filled weekend of Easter events. How cute!

Easter Baskets

You can't have Easter without the Easter baskets. I gave Bailey her first Barbie, a cute book, and a water pitcher. I gave Carter a couple of Dr. Seuss books and a water pitcher. They really loved being read to and Bailey had fun playing with the water pitchers,but was not sure of the Barbie even though she liked putting the glasses on and taking them off.

Easter Pj's

What cut Pj's. This is the first thing they put on when night time came.

Easter Gathering

I remember from a young girl on having these fun Easter gatherings with my mom's side of the family. It was the one time that we all got together and were able to enjoy each others company as we did our traditional Easter get hunt in search of the many yummy eggs that were filled with an assortment of Easter candy and the one golden egg prized with money inside for that one lucky recipient who was able to find it. We have still been able to gather, but as time has gone on and schedules have gotten busy and we have all grown with families of our own we still have carried on this wonderful tradition just on a smaller scale with our own children and those close by. Oh, the memories that I will always cherish and hold close to my heart.

It was fun to watch Bailey and Carter collect eggs to put in their baskets even though they were not fully aware of what was going on they had a really good time and would have collected all the eggs if they could have, Carter especially.This was followed with a nice lunch at our old Lansing Building and then an adult Easter egg hunt for those that put in 10 dollars for some fun prizes of our own. I guess you are never to old for a little fun and some good chocolate.

Story time and Easter Egg at the Library

I decided to start taking the kids to the Library on Thursdays when I am able to. It was fun to go and hear the cute little Easter stories and hunt for eggs. I am not sure if they understood what was going on, but I think over time they will.

The care free days

They really enjoy playing together and one of the things they like to do is wrestle. It was fun watching them hug and then tackle the other to the ground as they laughed in unison and then get back up and want to do it all over again. What it would be like to be a child without a worry in the world and an imagination of endless possibilities and dreams.

A nice time with Grandpa

It was nice to have my dad come for close to a week. I have really enjoyed how our relationship as revolved into a friendship. Bailey and Carter really loved having Grandpa around especially since he took them to the Boise Aquarium and the Zoo. I hope to have some pictures of the Zoo soon to come.

Update on the bubs

He has figured out how to get out of his crib. I not sure how he did it because the door has been closed both times. I don't know if I am officially ready to change him to a toddler bed. He just seems to little still.

Girls can dream

She loves wearing my ring any chance that she gets to wear it. She loves putting it on her finger and twirling it around. What a girl thing to do.

Blue lips

Carter is like his mommy and loves pure sugar. I gave him a fun dip pack and he devoured it. He is all boy even with blue lips there is no way that he can be a girl.

Reading out loud

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I love reading to my kids especially when I can see how much they are learning

Her voice had to be heard

She made very sure that Grandma Ott heard and knew everything that was important to her and was going on in her week.

Mimicking

Bailey and Carter were glued to the TV has Jared played one of his video games. I think that they thought he were a part of the game.

Speech Delay

They informed us that Bailey has a severe Receptive and Expressive Language delay so the information that she takes in does not always process correctly and comes out differently.She has a hard time expressing herself, because she is only using one or two words and is not able to get her point across. I have always know that she as seemed a little behind her peers, but I did not know the extent of how far behind she was or how to best help her. I have had a mixture of emotions of sadness because you never want anything to be wrong with your child. You want them to be like any other normal child and advance and do whatever they set their minds to.It is a relief to know she is getting the proper help she needs and her prognosis is good for developing normal speech and vocabulary. I am so grateful for my sweet Bailey that has come into our lives and has blessed us richly with her sunny dispostion and sweet spirit. I am so grateful that we live in a time where she can get the help she needs. My little angel!