Poppy's swings

There's typically an argument about who gets to go first when Poppy starts swinging. Nobody wants to be left out! Although I say that and this time when I pulled out the camera, Reese was once again inside. She was playing Legos and My Little Pony on her bed and missed out. 

Funny story about Layla in that coat - she put Reese's coat on by herself and then asked me for help with the buttons. She wanted to show Daddy, but I thought he wasn't getting home for another 20 minutes, but she didn't care. She wanted to wait for him. Well, an hour later when he got home, she still had the too-big-coat on. I couldn't believe it. Such determination and patience.

 Matson's turn!! 

Layla is two!

(see her one year old photos here.)

  
A few words to remember Layla at two years old. She...

+ continues to bring JOY to our family.

+ is in the mix.

+ has a great big personality.

+ talks nonstop, and therefore communicates extremely well.

+ loves her brother and sister. She might say their names about 50+ times while they are at school, and she tells everyone about them.

+ loves her daddy too.  She won't let him get away without giving her a kiss before changing out of his work clothes.

+ never meets a stranger, unless very tired.

+ says "hi!" to everyone at the stores, which brings a lot of smiles to people. It's truly a joy to watch her interacting with others.

+ has unruly hair that needs to be pulled back.

+ takes out all clips from her hair.

+ has to wear a shirt over her footie pajamas b/c she'll take them off in her bed. We all know that doesn't lead to good things! One poop fiasco got her an extra shirt every single time she's in bed. :)

+ loves bubble baths (unlike daddy-o who doesn't like giving them.)

+ loves to sing and dance.

+ has several favorite songs... "Dinosaur", "Away in the Manger", "Twinkle, Twinkle", "Glasses, Read, Read".

+ wants to listen to her music in the car all the time, and some of the songs over and over and over and over. 

+ has a habit of pulling or rubbing her ponytail.

+ loves going on playdates to "Anna-Cake's" house. Translation: Anna and Kate's. All I have to do is mention Anna and she's ready to go. One day when Liz showed up to pick up Layla I was barely out the door and Layla was climbing in the car yelling, "Bye, Mom!" I wasn't sure what to think of that! She does love her friend Anna though, and they play really well together.

+ counts very well, even in Spanish.

+ loves "Boots and Dora" and "Daniel Tiger".

+ knows several shapes. No colors yet.

+ has a new favorite word: "What?" It's just behind "no!". It's about to drive me insane. :) I think she does it to me just to make me repeat myself. I need to break this habit now.

+ says she loves something by saying, "I love it, heart!" With Valentine's Day this week we are seeing hearts a lot.

+ thinks she doesn't have to take a nap. She'll play in her bed for 2 hours some days. I would say she takes a nap about 50% of the time these days. :(  Makes it easy for her to fall asleep at night though.

+ says "thank you" to me almost every single time I give her something. It warms my heart.

+ is one solid girl. At her two year check up she weighed in at 31 lbs! (91%) Can we say HEAVY to carry?! It's even harder when she's arching her back or trying to slither out of your arms.

+ measured 34" in length at her two year check up. (65%).

+ has the most loveable, contagious smile. See my happy baby girl...

Matson joined us outside for these photos, while Reese stayed in the warm house to work on homework. These two have a really, really sweet relationship. They can play for the longest time together in Layla's room or outside in the backyard. 

We love you little Layla!!!

winter hat

Gram, this one's for you. 

This photo is perfection in my eyes. 

It was actually a quick snap while Layla was playing with Matson in the backyard.

Thank you, Gram, for the sweet knit hat. 

Layla has been wearing it on the cold winter days. 

Two Hula Girls and a Ninja

It's quite the miracle that I picked up my big camera to take these pictures, but I thought it was about time, especially on Halloween! The kids were too cute dressed up as hula girls and a ninja. And, we had a very fun evening. We started things off by going to a party at one of Reese's classmate's house. We then trick or treated with a big group of friends before breaking away and making our way back to our house. The streets of our neighborhood were filled with families and dressed up kiddos. I love seeing everybody out and about. We were a bit worried that halloween would be rained out b/c we had torrential rainstorms for two days. So much of our neighborhood was flooding that morning, but the skies broke about 2 o'clock and Halloween went on! 

Some individual pics:

The kids with some of their friends...

 Out on the streets after the sun went down...

Back at our house handing out candy to the last of the trick or treaters...

The middle of the night wasn't very good to us. Matson came down with the stomach bug at 2:30 in the morning. :(  Reese came down with it the next day at school. :(  And then Matt partially got it the next day. I say partially b/c he never did throw up. He was a total trooper that day too and rode to my parents' home and went to the Texas football game with Reese, Matson and me. More on that later. After the stomach bug the kids haven't wanted any candy. I think we will donate what I haven't eaten to the dentist office for some money. She sends it off to the troops overseas along with a toothbrush. 

Family

Another one for the treasure chest!

{Also taken at Nathan & Dani's wedding in Pennsylvania.}