Sledding

With all of the new snow we were aching to take the girls out for a real sledding experience. The Ballings, Wests, Stevens, Sharps united for one excelent day of tub riding.

Texas Road House

Snowmobiling and Pizza Hut

Presents at Dad's

Temple Square Lights

CHRISTMAS

PRESENTS
enough said

Lily asked Santa for a vaccum this year. And not just any vaccum, it really works. It's just like one she played with at a friend's house. We were happy to let her have it since it would really help with the chores. She was so excited and happy when she finally got it. She had been talking about it for weeks. The funniest part about it is that she really hates our big vaccum. She runs and hides everytime I get it out. I think she loves her vaccum because it's quiet enough for her to handle. What a funny girl.

Niki would have been happy just playing with the wrapping paper, but she did get excited about her fuzzy gloves. They are the same fabric as her lovey and she was just thrilled.

Lily's first ski trip

On the day before Christmas Eve we had our annual Balling Family ski trip. It snowed all night and looked to be a perfect ski day. We started with aspirations of going to Alta, but after waiting for an hour in traffic before we even reached the canyon, we decided to go up immigration canyon instead. We made a ski run out of the usual tubbing hill and had a great day.

Lily had a great time and really loved going fast on the skis. We had to carry her the entire way because she's not strong enough to maneuver yet, but by the end of the day she was standing up. What a fun day.

On our way to Utah...

We packed up enough for two months and headed to Utah. Both girls were quite excited about the trip. Niki even practiced her new standing tricks as we waited at the airport.

Niki standing

Yep. It's offical. Niki can stand up. And she LOVES it.

Pre-Christmas Festivities

Niki's Walker and our Anniversary


Trip to see the Lights


A Break at the Park


Christmas Wreath Snacks

From the home of the Invilids...

So we've been sick since Thanksgiving.  Colds, pink eye, antibiotics, and phenylephrine HCL have become our houshold topics of conversation.  The worst day thus far happened on Wednesday the 8th, yes my birthday.  Lily was in pain from her ear infection and it turned her into a kicking, screaming, whining, disobedient, tantrum throwing stinker!  To top it off, Tyler was finally able to meet with a surgeon about his hernia (he's been seeing doctors since early November) and, da da da, congratulations, how about surgery tomorrow?  I'm so tired and I'm tired of us all being sick.  Needless to say, I really really really enjoyed the fact that Tyler took us all out to dinner that night and I didn't have to do anything.  I got a camera, YEA, and a much desired electric blanket for my birthday.  It turned out to be a very happy birthday after all.  If anything, we have learned this holiday season just how grateful we are for our usual health.


Lily's Laundry
   One morning as Tyler was saying his usual good bye he informed me that his shirt on the top of his laundry basket was completely soaked.  "I think it might be pee" he said.  Great.  Later when Lily woke up I asked her if she knew how dad's shirt got wet.
  "Mmm.  Maybe in the washing machine." she stated.  Good thinking Lily, but I don't think so.  I checked out the shirt again and it was definitely completely soaked uniformly, not just a spot job.  Plus I didn't think it smelled like pee.
  I asked her again a while later and again she insisted it was the washing machine.  She then proceeded to show and tell me how she opened it up, put dad's shirt in, and pushed the buttons.  "Then I put it in the dryer" she said "and I put it in dad's laundry (meaning his basket) and folded it", just like I do with his clothes.
  I guess my current laundry routine of every-other-week isn't sufficient for Lily and she took matters into her own hands.

Bye Bye Baby
  Over the last few weeks Niki has outgrown being a baby.  She's into playing and making messes just like Lily now.  After I feed them, they both take off with a mission, usually to the play room.  I'm no longer needed as Niki's constant companion.  It's just play, play, play and then come cry to mom only when needed.  She's just like Lily now except she can't communicate as well.  I love watching her play and figure things out, but I wish she hadn't grown up quite so fast, she was such a cute and cuddly little baby.

Play Skills
Lily was given a bag of blocks for Christmas last year.  All year she's ignored them, 'till we got out the Christmas decorations.  Lily wants a vaccum for Christmas and we keep explaining how Santa will bring it to her if she is good.  Well, she discovered that she can build vaccums with her blocks and then put them under the Christmas tree as presents.  Now she builds with the blocks every day and her towers are getting more complex.  The funny part is, they are always symetrical.  I've even seen her reject pieces because they don't make the tower even.  Silly girl.

Niki is crazy coordinated.  She moves and gets places like I can't believe.  She can walk along with us if we hold her hands.  Unlike most babies who stomp or drag their feet, she's actually walking one foot then another.  I'm excited to see what she can do as she gets older.

8 Months, First Tooth, oh yea..... GO UTES!!!

Yea the UTES won!!!
Tyler began the day with pre-game chalk decorating of the driveway and car windows...
.. belonging to our neighbor BYU fans, of course!
Now we are glad to report that they are decorated appropriately.
We all dressed up and went to a friend's house to watch the show with a crowd.  For an un-eventful game, it sure had a great ending.

Niki is EIGHT MONTHS OLD as of yesterday.  I can't believe it!  She's a crazy girl.  Unlike our careful Lily, she's not afraid to do something dangerous (like crawl head first of the bed, climb on the fireplace, or pinch her hands in the cupboard doors) over and over again.  She has more bumps and bruises right now than Lily's had her entire life.

I was fishing a whole baby dill pickle out of Niki's mouth today (yes, she loved it instead of spitting it out like we thought she would) and I felt, her first tooth!!! on the bottom right.  Yea.  A big excitement for the baby that wants to eat everything we are eating.  I bought a hand crank food grinder to make baby food for her last week.  Every time she sees me get it out she gets so excited and starts salivating over the thought of "real food."  Soon she'll be able to grind those foods all by herself.

Next to Elmo, Niki really loves Baby Doll.  Lily is quite protective of her dolls so Niki rarely gets a chance to play with them.  Nevertheless, she is persistant.  Niki grabs a hold of Baby Doll's hand and takes her along as she plays.  Niki's favorite place to play is the fireplace.  Something about that step is just the perfect height for standing up against.  Anyways, it's funny to see how hard Niki concentrates on pulling Baby Doll up to see the fireplace too.  She'll start out, baby in hand, get half-way to standing, let go so she can use her hand to balance herself, get up and realize she droped the doll, then try hard to bend back down to pick it up only to fall back onto her bottom and start over again.  It cracks me up.

Sea World

We took a day trip to San Antonio and Sea World. It was so much fun!!! Thanks to the military, we only spent $15 (for parking) on the entire day. It was the first day of their Christmas celebration. It was so nice to have gentle Christmas music in the background and relaxing in the evening to see the lights. We were having such a nice time, we even stayed for 2 more shows after dark.

Niki's favorite was Elmo at the Sesame Street show. She just went crazy and kept waving and lauging at him. Lily says she like the dolphins best. They didn't do a show, but she was close enough to pet them (still too scared to pet them though). Niki didn't like them seeing as they splashed her right in the face as we were leaving. Tyler and I liked the Steel Eel roller coaster. I had so much fun, I went twice!


Niki is getting so smart!
She's figured out how to do several signs:

Eat, Sleep, and Play(clapping) are old hat, but latley she's added

Terminado (spanish for done),

Milk/Leche,

Potty (I'm still not sure how she figured that one out),

Bye-bye/Adios/Hi/Hola

She definatley knows what she's trying to say. The hard part is trying to tell the signs apart. She doesn't have the finger cordination to differentiate the hand signals yet.

She's even tried saying words when she can. Of course, she only knows how to repeat the "k" sound, but I've heard her try to say "Coo"(cool, her favorite) and "ku"(stuck) and "k"(milk) repeatedly 'till I figure out what's wrong with her. I can't believe she really understands that much already! It makes me wonder what she would say if she only could.

New Camera!!!

Well, we ordered and received our 3rd pentax water camera this week. Yea! This time, I'm taking better care of it. I've made a PADDED case for it and I'm going to haul the old broken one around everyday and save the nice one for sure-to-be picture trips.

Tyler, thanks so much for letting me have my B-day present early!!! I love it.

Picture Orders Anyone?

Hey Grandmas-
We got the pictures that we ordered.  I can get any of the following in any size (wallet, 4x6, 5x7), courtesy of WalMart.  Let me know what you want ASAP and I'll get them made.

Out of Focus

Yesterday I grabbed my camera because the girls were having so much fun.  I didn't get very far however. 

My camera screen is broken!!!

Here are some pictures I've taken since.  Even though it is still taking pictures, I can't see what it's taking.  So these are a little out of focus.  Sorry.  Does anyone have a camera to recommend that I can get for <$100?

Elmo and the Clean Freak

Niki has been watching Sesame Street with Lily in the mornings.  She's kind of entertained by it.  UNTIL... Elmo's World, then she's glued to it.  She stares and giggles everytime she sees Elmo.  There's something about the red fur and google eyes that kids just love.

Anyways, We went home teaching to "Grandma Latsha's" house last week.  We took the girls because they love to look at all the stuff she has collected there.  Half way through, Niki just started laughing.  She had noticed the Elmo doll sitting on the couch.  I've never seen her laugh and giggle so much over a toy.  She just loved it!  Sis. Latsha was so amused by her obsession that she insisted we take it home with us.  

I thought Niki would get bored with it, but she's played with Elmo every day since.  She drags him around with her as she crawls to new toys.  She smiles every morning when she sees him.  Just like Lily and her baby doll, Elmo is Niki's best friend.  Too funny!!!


Lily is a total clean freak!

One day Lily came up to me and said "Mom, I made a mess."  "Oh great" I thought.  Let's go see what happened. 
She smells like sunscreen.  "Lily did you get the sunscreen"   "Yes.  I rubbed it"  Her hands and arms were greasy.
There's the bottle, Oh good it's on the tile floor.  Nothing on the floor.  Hmm.  Nothing under the shoes.  "Lily where did you make a mess?"  "Right there"  That's wierd.  No mess.  Oh here's a little spot in dad's flip-flop.  "Lily, I don't see a mess.  Where's the mess?"  by this time my mind was racing to all the places in the house that she could have smeared it.
"I cleaned it up.  With my rag"  "With your rag?  What rag?"  "My little rag in the kitchen"  "Where's the rag?  What did you do with it?"  "I put it back in the sink.  I cleaned it with my little rag and put it away in the kitchen."  Sure enough.  That's what she had done. 

Well, how could I complain about that?!?

"Ok Lily.  Thank you for telling me you made a mess.  Next time ask me and I will help you put on the sunscreen."  "Ok Mom.  I love you"  and off she went to play.

Halloween Activities

Here's what we did for Halloween.  Our ward Trunk-Or-Treat, our halloween pajamas, our pumpkin, and our spider (he was the favorite all month long).

Professional Pictures and Projects

I took Niki to get her "6 month" (she's 7mos) pictures today. Despite my planning to have her happy, fed, and napped, she was so grumpy and clingy. Oh well. Good thing Nicole was great at capturing when she did smile. We both had to laugh at the full out cry picture she took. I ordered the last 3 and managed to pay only $6.50 I'm a real fan of the Supersaver plan and military discounts!

Niki is such a cutie.

Projecting...

... as we call it at our house.  That's what I've been up to. 

The bibs were a copy from a lady in our ward.  I love them!  They actually cover everything and they fit no matter how many times they go through the wash.  Everyone should have these kind!

My purse was finished a month ago, but here's a picture for those who heard about it.  It has tons of pockets and they fit the things I have.  I really love that it used Tyler's old uniform.  I had fun making up the pattern, but next time I think I need to make it fatter to account for all the things I usually stuff into it.

The shelves in the living room were a long time coming.  I've been looking for something with cupboards on the bottom.  I finally gave up and realized I will have to make the doors myself.  Finally, we unpacked the last boxes!

Spider, Cat, Ghost, and Sparkle Witch

This isn't the best display picture, but since we were in them, I thought we should at least get one picture. Tyler had a haunted house at work that we went to and helped out with. More to come next week.

I need a break ...

Tyler has been working serious overtime this month. I'm alone with the kids all day every day and it's starting to drive me crazy! At first I thought what I really need is to take a break from them more often, but now I realized I need to take a break WITH them more often. So today we went swimming. We invited our friends (whose dad is deploied) since I figured their mom could also use a break with her kids!
We're going to keep going more often through out the winter.

Gone and Back again

If you've been wondering why I haven't posted for so long, it's not because the girls are any less cute. We've just been BUSY!!!
We were home one week, just to unpack. Then off we went again to California to visit cousins and grandma for the weekend. Now we're home again and I think I might get caught up with things after another week or two if I'm lucky. Whew!

First Hair Cut
It's official. Lily's hair was finally long enough to merrit a trim. A package of fruit snacks and one inch later, her little curls look so much better! I just can't believe how long it took to grow.


My Bed!
Like always, the girls were so happy to see their beds when we got home. Niki goes for the railing everytime I put her in the crib. She loves to climb on anything she can.

Niki's started trying to 'play' like Lily. She especially likes to watch Lily with her dolls and she really likes it when she gets a chance to play with them herself (Lily's quite protective of her babies). I caught her trying to feed a bottle to the baby the other day, it was so cute!!! Of course, she still likes to feed the bottle to herself and chomp on the babies hands and face too.


Grandma's
Thanks Grandma for inviting us for such a fun trip! We really enjoied spending time together. Lily especially loved the "fluffy bed" comforter and taking pictures of everything in the house.


Cousins!
We had a fun few days with the cousins. They loved each other! We went to the farm, the redwoods, and the beach. It didn't matter where we were, they had so much fun laughing and playing together. I wish we could get together more often. Thanks for the fun trip!


First Plane Ride
Niki's first flight was from Killeen to Dallas to San Jose. She really
didn't get it at all, but the buttons on the arm rests, tray tables, and seat belts were cool! I was nervous about juggling both girls by myself, but the extra seat seamed to be enough to keep the occupied. They had fun and everyone ooo-ed and ah-ed over how cute they were.


First Word!!!
I can't believe it. Niki's figured out how to say a word. "Cool" which sounds more like "Ku". At first I just thought she was making it because it's a neat sound, but nope. She uses it correctly, when she loves a toy or sees something she likes or does something new.

She's got some great new tricks too, which I haven't been able to get pictures of. She claps by smacking her fists together against her belly. She signs "terminado" (done) by puting her hands up by her ears. She pulls herself up onto her knees and sometimes to standing on her feet by pulling on anything she gets a hold of (chairs, her crib, boxes). She rocks on her hands and knees and manuvers all over the place. She'll be crawling any day now. She never stops moving. I just can't keep up with her changes!


Dress Up
Lily's imagination has expanded to dressing up. Here's a few I've captured pictures of. She gets them on all by herself and only has to have help if they get turned inside out.

She really loves being a "Bride" with her "Boy" and getting "Married". It all started when she found the white heals in my closet and called them my married shoes. She dances and kisses and sits with her boy while singing "I love him, I love him..." A combination of ideas from our wedding book, Little Mermaid, and Cinderella I guess.

She finally found cowgirl boots on our vacation. I tried to get her the red ones with black flowers, but Lily had to have PINK. As usual. "Howdy Mom" she says.


Lily's Photography
Lily finally figured out how to aim the camera. For every good pictures seen here, she took 5 that were not aimed right on. Her favorite subjects are her baby and Niki of course.


Cake for Tyler
Tyler asked me to decorate a cake for a guy at work. I guess his was better than I thought. I saved myself the time cruch by buying the base cake from Walmart. It went so much faster that I really enjoied it. Perhaps I'll make them more often now that it is so easy.

Trip Time Ends

Finally, we've arrived
HOME
We are so relieved to be home again.  The girls were so excited to see their beds and their room again.  The next morning we looked outside to discover
A Jungle!
Niki spotted it from her high chair during breakfast and couldn't hold still.  She wanted to get out there.  So out we went and she just laughed delighted for half an hour.  Crazy.


Road Trip - Day 2
Carlsbad Caverns
were awesome.  Well worth the hour and a half we dragged the girls through the cave.  The pictures just don't do it justice.
That night we camped at
Guadalupe National Forest
We got some tent poles so that we could stay in the tent.  Niki's first tent experience went pretty well.  It was a little colder than we were used to so the girls kept waking up, but were easily calmed back to sleep.  We were, however, quite crammed in there.  Tyler and I agree it's time for a bigger, family-sized tent.  Especially if we need to put anything besides our sleeping bags into it with us.


Road Trip - Night 1 we stayed in
El Paso
What a nice hotel.  Too bad we weren't sticking around the next day.  The girls loved the mirrors and laughed for a good hour together on the bed.  On our way out the next morning, we stoped to overlook the urban sprawl that spans the border.  See the HUGE flag in the distance, that's Mexico all right.


Farewell Sierra Vista
And the mountains.  We miss living by the mountains.


We finally made it to the border.  We drove up to the lookout of the Coronado National Monument and hiked to the tip of the hill where we could see...
MEXICO!
Not much different from Sierra Vista, but Lily though it was exciting.

Hotel Life Continues ...

These girls just crack me up. We've sure had fun doing nothing!

Niki officially sits up.  All by herself.  She's getting so big so fast.  I love her.

We watched Shrek 2 and got "I need a hero" stuck in our heads.
  Tyler said "Lily, do you know who my hero is?"
  Lily "Mom"
  T:"Yep. You're so smart. Who's your Hero?"
  L:"You are dad."
It just melts your heart.

Hiking and more Hiking

We hiked up the road in the hills on post after a day of work. The girls both really love to hike, we just wish they weren't so heavy!

Tonight we drove to Corronodo National Monument. It was late, but we hiked up the hill to overlook Mexico! It was a beautiful sunset.

Tuscon

We spent Saturday driving to Tuscon. We stoped at Davis Monthan AFB and looked at the airplane bone yard. That's alot of planes! Then we headed up to the mountains for a picnic, hike through wildflowers, and of course Mt. Lemon Ski Hill. Lily was sad when she didn't get to ride up the lift.

What to do in Sierra Vista

Nestled in these "desert island mountains" is the small town of Sierra Vista.


Well, you can always go somewhere else:

Bisbee
This small little town was established due to the copper mine across the revine. Now it's a place for bold colors and hippie/granola living. Really. Nice people, but they definatly have their own style.


Tombstone
Famous for it's gunfights, this was a silver mine town that has remained preserved from the early days (due to it's early closure when they reached the high water table). We especially had fun touring the mine tunnels and seeing the primative technology/tools. We had a delicious steak dinner with apple cobler too!

Hotel Life

The hotel we reserved was nice, but we found the one accross the street to be nicer and the same price, so we moved the next day. It's amazing what a difference a bigger fridge and 3 more feet can make. The staff love the girls and we have been treated like VIPs here. It's funny how exciting a hotel is to a 2 year old.

Pool Time
Lily can get anywhere in the pool with the aid of her noodles now. Niki just loves to sit and lap up the water. She gets giggle and "kicks" her legs when you tell her to. My personal favorite is the hot tub.

A Typical Day

We've Arrived

Fort Huachuca and Sierra Vista

There's not much to do around here, but we're making something of nothing. We went up the hill on post along the Coronado National Forest for sunset. We remember how much we miss living so close to mountains. We "hiked" (acording to Lily) up the road to look out at the city lights.


There are quite a few fun parks on post. We picked Tyler up for a picnic lunch after grocery shopping one day. Lily says it was "a fun day".

Road Trip - day 3

White Sands

Before hitting the road we visited White Sands National Monument. It was fun sledding down the dunes. Niki loved eating the sand.

We finally made it to Sierra Vista with time for dinner from Pizza Hut. The girls were so well behaved! With only one potty accident, they finally started to melt down an hour before we arrived. Considering we drove for 3 days, we had a great trip. We're looking forward to the trip home.

Road Trip - day 2

Cloudcroft, Sunspot, and Alamagordo

For those of you who are following along, we spent then first night at Lake Brantley state park. We had everything we needed for camping on the beach EXCEPT TENT POLES!!! Oops. So we slept under the stars ontop of the tent instead. We also went to the "Star Party" where Lily got to play on the jungle jim and we looked at Jupiter.

Then next morning we went to church in the nice town of Artesia, Cloudcroft ski resort (the closest resort to our house), Sunspot solar observatory, and the Kid's Kingdom in Alamagordo. We realized how much we miss the mountains during the beautiful drive.  The crisp fall air, the moutain sun, the smell of pines - we even stoped for a picnic in the park. 

That night we stayed at Holloman AFB in TLF.  AFBases are so much nicer than Army Posts.  It was nostalgic.  Anyways,  here's the pictures...

ROAD TRIP - day one

Enchanted Rock

We stoped and hiked at the Enchanted Rock State Park.  It seamed like a huge mountain to us compared to the hills we live by.  Lily liked the "little swimming pools" at the top and we had a hard time getting her to stop splashing and hike back down.

Sitting Up

Niki and Lily are starting to play together.  Niki intently watches everything that Lily does.  One day she found the bottles that Lily was feeding to her animals.  She got so excited, she knew just what to do with them!!!

Niki is growing too fast. Now she is sitting up. She sits with a pillow behind her because she still falls down, but she'll be going solo soon. Here's some video of one of her first attempts. And another of her giggling.

Lily fell asleep on the toilet.  Ha ha ha.  Future black mail picture for sure.

Under Where?

No, not underwear, though with Lily potty training we've been talking alot about that lately.

Today I left Niki playing in the study and came back to find her missing.  I found her and just laughed at her.  She was pretty frustrated about being stuck under the bed, but I made her wait 'till I got the camera.
Then later at lunch, she managed to scoot her walker under and back out from the table.  She was very proud of herself for completing such a neat trick.  Of course Lily's praise and amusements made her feel even more accomplished.

Project Complete

I'm not very good at decorating.  I attribute this to my mother who also lacks this skill, mostly due to her choosing curious and independent kids over fancy stuff.  Anyhow, I would like to improve on this.  Here's a big THANK YOU to Lisa who kindly donated her unfinished project to me.  After some painting, it looks pretty cute and will serve it's purpose all year long.  The pieces are quite kid-proof too which is perfect.  Thanks a bunch!

Rolly Polly

It's official.  Niki is rolling.  I even caught it on camera the first day she did it.  Now she rolls all the time, but she usually gets stuck on her belly.  She's growing so fast!!!

Fashion Queen

Fresh from the designer line of Lilia K, a great look for summer and potty training.  Here she models this latest trend for the camera.  Silly girl.

Girls, Girls, Girls

All I have is girls.

Things a Picture Can't Capture
Lily can do a somersault.  I have no idea how she learned it.

Niki rolls with laughter whenever she gets to do something like Lily.   We helped her jump on the bed with Lily and both girls begged for more for 30 mins.

Lily is potty training.  She noticed some of her friends going to the bathroom and wearing underwear.  Then she told me she wanted to wear underwear.  So we got some and we got some potty treats.  We've only had a few accidents and she's starting to get the idea of holding it.  She gets upset when we make her put on a diaper to go to sleep.

Aug 12
Lily's hair finally fits into a pony tail.  Well, kind of.  She still has so much fun playing with her dolls.

Niki loves playing in her walker.  It's a great break from laying down all of the time.  If she stretches really hard, she can push off with the tops of her toes and scoot backwards.  She started eating solid foods.  Now she whines and signs eat like crazy when it's time for dinner.  She doesn't want to be left out.  She sits and chomps on a rice cracker or I feed her some oatmeal or squash during our meal.  She gets so excited to eat like the rest of us.

One night we gave in and let Lily eat some apples as a snack just before bed.  Apparently she was more tired than she thought.



Aug 2
I went to get Niki out of her crib and found that I had not attached her diaper properly during my half-awake middle of the night feeding. Her but was bare, clothes were soaked, and sheets needed changing. Then we had breakfast which Lily gets all over herself lately. I had just finished cleaning that up when I discovered what Niki had been up to while we were eating.  Poop.  Gross:

Some days I say to myself sarcastically "Oh that's all right. It's not like I was planning on doing anything with my day anyways."

Hooray for Captian West!

(can you guess the Disney movie quoted?)

Tyler put on Captain this week. We were very proud of him. I even made a cake for the occasion. The party turned out well for only have a day's notice to plan.

At ThE BeaCh...

Oh how we miss the beach!

We drove 4 hours to Corpus Christi last weekend.  Our friends Devon and Sarah came too.  It was fun very hot and felt even hotter due to the humidity, but we had fun anyways.  That's what Vacations are for.

It took Lily a while to warm up to the ocean again.  She was mostly concerned about the sand that was getting her dirty and felt funny on her feet.  But soon she realized it would wash off with the water and that she could splash the waves with her hands as they pushed her around.
Funny Story - Lily is potty training and needed to poop.  There were no bathrooms so we tried digging a "camping potty" hole.  She wouldn't have it.  Soon she was screaming and crying from the torture!  "I want to go on the potty!!!"  So we tried holding her up like a seat.  Then we tried just going in the water.  Finally, after a good 20mins of tears we constructed a seat using her sand pail and a diaper pail bag liner.  I can't believe she held it in that long.  Silly girl.

Niki just loved splashing and jumping and acting like Lily.  She slept a lot in the beach bouncer too.

We did all there to do in Corpus Christi:

• We rode "Captain Cook's Flagship" paddle boat around the bay.
• We drove over the bridge and around the town and along the bay view.
• We took a quick swim in the Navy base pool before it closed.
• We stayed in the Navy Lodge impossible-to-get-during-the-summer suites.
• We went to the aquarium and watched the dolphin show.
• We went to the beach and even caught a few small waves on the boogie boards.

Climbing Wall

Tyler and I haven't been as good as we should about our "date night" recently.  We finally got out and the only thing we could come up with to do so last minute was the climbing wall at the gym.  While it may not seem like much, the time we get without the girls is AMAZING regardless of what we do.

Ode to Jenni's Mom

"When you have a crab,

put it in WATER."

This little piece of advice from Jenni's Mom has stuck with me.  No matter the age or ailment, it ALWAYS WORKS.

Why are mom's always so smart?
Forget a PH.D., I'm working on my M.O.M.

A Fountain at Twilight

Lily couldn't resist playing in this fountain.  We were just finishing our tour of the SAN ANTONIO river walk with one last stop in the town square.  Lily was overjoyed by the small, "BABY ONE" because she could touch it without getting sprayed in the face.

She was having fun staying dry 'till a corner of her bumpkins got wet.  Then, oops, there goes part of her dress.  Oops again.  You guessed it.  By the end she was SOAKED, but it sure was fun.

ABC's and Graduation

Niki has GRADUATED to bathing in the big tub.  She loves to kick and splash.  I think she even splashes more than Lily, though Lily's splashes end up on Niki's face more. 

Lily is learning her letters.  She put all the letters she knows up in the tub.  I can't believe she knows 16 along with a word that begins with that letter:  "D for daddy", "T for Tyler", "C for Cookie", "U for Go Utes" she says.

Niki likes the letters too, but in a totally different way.  She's teething and loves to gum on them.  She whines when she drops them 'till Lily gives her a new one.  The sibling manipulation has begun.

Entertainment Please

Niki's 3.5 months already!

I have been told how "first babies" are always your smartest, mostly because it is all new to you and you are so amazed at what babies can do. Contrary to popular thought, I've been constantly impressed with Niki. It's either because I'm more aware of what she's trying to tell me because I now have some experience with deciphering children, or I just can't remember Lily being this way at her age. Probably both.

Niki is a totaly different baby this week! Sitting up (with help), playing with her toes, go go go.  I can tell whenever she is really concentrating on something because her little feet just start kicking like crazy.  She's been insisting on sitting up instead of laying down. I finally got the walker out just so I could set her down and keep her sitting up. She's so curious about all her toys. Unlike Lily, she's constantly demanding entertainment. After 10 mins she's done with her toy and wanting a change. And don't even think about leaving her alone in a room. She'll play for an hour in her crib if Lily is in the room playing, but the moments after Lily leaves, Niki starts crying for attention.

Niki's already trying to keep up with her sister. She signs so much better/earlier than Lily did. She not only plays the piano in her crib (a neat trick) but no matter where I set her down in the crib, she will wiggle her way over to it so that she can play.  She puts herself to sleep and sleeps through the night. When I read them books and Lily points at the pictures, Niki tries to touch the pictures. When Lily's taking a bath and Niki hears the water running, she will cry and fuss 'till I put her in too.  Addicted to her pacifier and lovey, She's such a petite little go-go-goer.

Funny Story

So we finally figured out how to hook up our computer to our TV.  This means we ditched our cable and now only pay for internet.  Yea!  It's surprising how much TV is actually on the internet anyways.  Here's an article about how:
http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/110122/you-dont-have-to-pay-for-cable-tv?mod=series-a-article

Anyways,
  growing up we had a favorite book that Dad would bring home from his campus library:  Pigs in Hiding.
We found it on Between the Lions and now Lily asks for it everyday.  She laughs every time the pigs come out to eat food.  Enjoy:
(on the site scroll down and choose Pigs In Hiding)
http://pbskids.org/lions/stories/animals.html

Having fun with Lily

Saturday, July 17
Elmo came to visit on post.  Lily was enthralled by the live singing and dancing.  She of course loved Elmo, but Super Grover was a close second.  Our friends were there too.  Baby Zoie was born 2 weeks after Niki, which made Lily a big sister and Corey a big brother.  Somehow all of this got interpreted by Lily to mean that Corey is her brother.  So Lily would say, "We saw Elmo dancing, with my brother Corey and with baby Zoie and baby Niki"


Monday, July 19
Lily came in to wake me up fully dressed in her Ra Ra outfit.  Notice the zipper up the front and the inside-out bottoms.  Funny Girl.
She's been learning cheer moves from her Dad.  Having grown up with a cheer-leader sister, he knows more about that stuff than me and frequently demonstrates with random cheers.  They are both getting pretty good I say.


Tuesday, July 20
Lily built a house out of blocks.  She is quite pleased with her creativity.  She had some help with the windows, but the door was her idea.

Ballings come to visit!

We had so much fun on our stay at home vacation with my Mom, Dad, and Heidi.  We tried to come up with the most exciting things Killeen and the surrounding area have to offer.  I think we visited almost every pool/water park in the area.  We really enjoyed just spending time together and were very sad to see them go.  We can't wait for the next time we get together.


 
We also caught Niki's first laugh on camera. I just can't get enough of the rolling giggles.

Summer Days

Here are some snippets from the last week:

July 12
"Mom, mom, mom"
   "what Lily"
"It's time to take my picture!"


July 13
Killeen has a "Water Park" too.  Tyler and I enjoyed the slides, although they were a literally hard to ride.  Lily's favorite part, as always, was just swimming in the water.

Niki was so tired afterward that she fell asleep with her arm in the air, still clinging her toy.


July 14
Niki took her first real swim.  She actually lasted about 40 mins. just content as can be, watching everything and relaxing in the water.  Not even Lily's splashes bothered her.  Everyone around was impressed by how she seamed to be enjoying it.  After her fish sister, I just figured all babies love water.  If you look closely at the last picture, you can see the pool reflected in her beautiful blue eyes.

New Car!

Tyler's pround and happy to be in his new car. I guess we are an official Mazda family now. Tyler spent MANY hours researching and finding just what he wanted. Even Lily is excited and keeps asking to go for a fun ride in Daddy's car. It's a special treat for us all. Without further intro, here it is:

Splash Park Break

We went shopping at Costco (a big ordeal since we drive for an hour to Austin just to get there) after a long day of car shopping. It was hot, as usual, and we were dreading the long drive home. Then we saw it, a splash park playground at the "Taraburger" next door. We had just purchased a swim suit for Lily from Costco and that sealed the deal.

Splash Time for Everyone!

Picture Time Reposted

Niki is officially 3 months old.  That means time for professional pictures.  Lily actually warmed up to the photographer quickly once she learned that her name was Niki too.  After that, she sat just where she was told to and said "Cheese" a lot.  Niki was just cute, squirmy, and talkative.  I sure had fun dressing them up.  Thank you Tyler for all your help.  All this and I managed to spend less than $30!

Head, Shoulders, Knees, ...

and Toes of course!

My favorite part is the fact that she only sang for the camera on condition that she would get to see it afterward.  She wastes no time once the song is over getting me to show it to her.

View Album HeadShouldersKnees

Tyler's Day

Our family likes to watch the show "Phineas and Ferb" together because it's clever for the adults and animated for the kiddies.

Anyways.  Lily and I had fun making Tyler a special father's day card with the Dad-Inator this year.  He got quite a chuckle out of it too.

click here to view card animation

We love you Tyler Daddy!!!

Floatie Freedom

We tried a pair of arm floaties on Lily at the pool this week.  Well, as good as swimming was before, it just got so much better!  Lily instantly loved how she could swim all by herself and in a few seconds successfully "swam" to the edge of the pool.  She went to the edge and back over and over.  Splashing, kicking, and "digging" her arms.  She was all smiles and so proud of herself.  What a little fish.

Niki's Third month

Niki is "talking" and smiling all the time.  Be it when you smile at her or her own reflection in the mirror on her swing, she particularly likes to talk when she finds a face to focus on.  I think Niki just likes to be part of the conversation.  She's so cute, all I want to do is hold her and talk to her all day long!

Niki really loves squawking at Lily, until Lily mauls her or squashes her with excitement.  Lily's getting better at giving good attention too.  She's learning that when she is soft, that means she loves Niki.  Lily really loves Niki, allot.

Niki's learning to take a bottle.  Even though it's the same milk, it's just not the same experience.  With sucking being such a comfort for her, she really gets upset and disappointed when she signs eat and gets a bottle.  She spits it out.  She cries.  She downright refuses 'till I give in to the real thing.  The milk temperature and bottle placement have to be just perfect before she'll take it.  Then, once I do get it right, it only lasts a few minutes before the milk cools or Lily interrupts or I have to move her.  After that she won't take it again.  Picky, picky, picky.

Niki can grab toys, blankets, burp cloths, and hair.  She enjoys her play mat and "parrot" chair and is starting to hold on to toys.  Playtime here we come.

To good to be 2 !!!

We celebrated Lily's birthday yesterday with a day full of birthday activities.

We woke her up by singing Happy Birthday (her favorite song). We had a birthday requested breakfast of eggs and banana bread. We made a birthday crown which Lily got to decorate with flower stickers. She loved wearing it all day and hearing people tell her Happy Birthday. We listened to people call and sing her happy birthday all day, thanks everyone, she loved it! We had her favorite lunch of 'pasta' at the Olive Garden. She also liked the coloring, but not as much as the pasta. We watched an e-card birthday dancer, she loved that.

And best of all, we opened presents. Who knew $25 could buy so much fun! When she opened her pool she just stared and stared at the pictures with a huge grin as she began to realize that she would be able to swim in her own backyard anytime she wants. Lily absolutely loves to swim. "put my swimming suit on me" she said. Then we finished off the day with her fish cake (which she said she needed to have a birthday), ice cream, and neighbors for a real birthday party.

Thanks again everyone for the love and wishes. She had a great birthday!
BTW- today she said we should have her birthday again.

Now Your Two ...

A funny story
On your birthday, we were getting ready to go and you were getting fussy for attention. Dad stopped to play with you and tickle you on the bed. Mom came in and found you two playing around and asked
"Lily were you distracting Dad?"
to which you quickly and accurately replied
"No. Dad is distracting me."

Our favorite phrases
"oh dear"
"yes. I would like that"
"sank-you Mom!"
"that didn't work"
"tum on tiny" (come on tiny)
"her say no" (when Dad tells you to ask Mom if it is ok)

Songs I sing completely,
over and over and over again
Wheels, wipers, babies, mamas, driver, doors, and kids on the bus
Popcorn Popping on the apricot tree
Ring around the Rosie (every FHE since we started having it)
Twinkle Twinkle little Star
Head Shoulders Knees and Toes

Half your height
We've been told that your are half your adult height at age 2. You measure 35 inches and weigh 27 lbs. This puts in in the 90th percentile for both height and weight. You are comfortably wearing size 2T except most pants are too short for your long legs, good thing it's summer shorts season. 5'10" hear you come.

Favorites
TV show - "Elmo's World on Sesame Street", "Phineas and Ferb", and "Mythbusters"
Book - "Go Dog, Go!"
Story - "The Holy Ghost" (made up by mom, but the most requested by far)
Movie - "Your Baby Can Read" and "Green Eggs and Ham"
Food - Cheese, Asparagus, Candy, Quesadillas, Hot Dogs, Grapes preceded by "I want some ..."

In the past 6 months...
You've grown 4 new teeth for a total of 12. We're still waiting on that second set of molars. You are a full fledged talker with few grammar errors, and you do it non-stop. You're initially shy, especially around guys, but you warm up to people and love them. You like to watch people and what they are doing. You know basic shapes (heart, star, circle, triangle) and are getting really good at colors. You know pink, red, black, yellow, and sometimes purple. You can count to 10 or 11 by yourself, but you usually mess it up somewhere in the middle. You watch Elmo's world everyday after breakfast and learn so many new things that come out during your play time. It's funny to hear what you come up with and wonder where you learned it.

You still like to organize and clean things. You won't play with play dough. You just ask me to do it and say "wash my hands" when I make you do it. You like to help with chores and fixing meals. You have your own cleaning bucket with supplies and apron for cooking. You're dishes from Christmas and empty containers are your favorite toys, especially when combined with your babies and animals that you feed and take care of. You like to "do a project" with Mom like stringing beads or coloring a page or sticking on stickers. You get excited when we go shopping at Hobby Lobby.  Funny, all these things can be said about Mom also.

You love your sister Niki. We worry if she'll live through your loving. When you focus, you can be really soft and gentle. But usually you are too excited and playful to restrain from mauling her. You try to pick her up, change her diaper, feed her bottles and pacifiers, cover her with blankets, change her clothes, and give her toys all day long. She puts up with most of it and I think she actually likes all the attention. She surprisingly cries less when you are around, even if she can just hear you playing nearby.

You fall asleep eating lunch most days. Food is still your biggest comfort, next is your lovey. You won't go to sleep at night until everyone else is asleep, no mater how tired you are. Once the lights are off and we are in bed, you'll wander into your own bed and fall asleep. Lately you like to sleep on the floor.

From Mom
Lily I love you. You make messes and demand attention and it is so much work to take care of you, but I love it. I love playing with you. I love that you talk to me all day. I love hearing you explain things that you learn about the gospel. I love to tickle and play with you. Thank you for being my friend.

From Dad
Lily you are such an amazing daughter.  I love your little personality and being able to spend time playing with you.  We have so much fun together having tickle time, tossing you on the bed, reading, and playing games.  I can't get enough of your smile and enthusiasm for life...seeing you happy means the world to me and makes me happy.  You are so smart and you say things that amaze me every day.  I can't wait for all the fun time we will get to spend together as you continue to grow.


-------
but wait there's more... keep reading for more posts from today.

Silly Lily

What is that girl up to now?

Farewell Contour

After 4 years post-mission and 4 years of marriage (8 total), Tyler finally said farewell to the contour:

It's been good to us
as a beach car, a family car, a commute to work car, and a dating car. After all, it's ski/board rack is what sealed the deal as Tyler and I started dating. We're grateful for the memories we've made together.

We've towed it several times during the last month and decided that it's time for something newer. After a good washing and yet another last minute trip to the mechanics for unexpected repairs, we were able to sell it for $2,100. Not bad. Now Tyler is anxiously awaiting the purchase of a Mazda Speed 3. We'll keep ya posted!

Pool Time!!!

Memorial Day weekend means all of the local swimming pools are now Open!

We are so EXCITED!

It is hot here and there are few things to do outside without water.
Here are some pictures from our pool trip last Saturday.

Lily's Games

Here are some pictures of the games Lily plays:
Thanks for sending my old crayon dress mom. It's still so cute.
Ballet and Picnics. 100% her own ideas.

2 Months Old

I love seeing Niki's personality beginning to come out. Emotional and expressive. I think she even likes the mauling physical attention from her big sister. Each time she is attacked instead of crying, she just looks around as if to say "Where did Lily go? We were having fun playing together." Well, whatever.

2Months Old = Shots - May 26
Is Niki really that old already? I took both the girls to the doctor for their check up (Lily's 2 in 2 weeks). Lily finally was excited and happy to go to the doctor. As upset and scared as Lily has been over the last 6 months, Niki takes the cake for displeasure during her visit. She was not happy being naked and prodded and boy did she let us know it! It took me 10 mins afterwards just to calm her down enough to be able to calm her down further by nursing her. Then we got to get her shots. I thought the first round was loud. She immediately ramped up to screaming as soon as I set her down and she had to drink one vaccine. Then with each actual shot she full out wailed. That girl has a set of lungs like no one there could believe. I just had to laugh. All the while Lily was just checking out the room and washing her hands and saying "Niki crying. She getting a shot" like it was nothing. After it was over Niki muttered a few sighing sobs to me as if to express what she had just been through and fell asleep exhausted.
.
Toys and Cooing - May 17
Niki likes looking at and reaching for her toys. Sometimes she just stares and stares with "Brinley" big eyes and other times she goes to town on the fist swinging. It's so fun to watch her. She is starting to smile and coos as if she is talking to you when you look at her. What a cute baby!

Signing "Burp" - May 15
That's right. Niki's learned another sign. Last evening I thought she was crying because she was hungry. When I picked her up, she started signing "burp" so I burped her instead. Sure enough she was right. It mostly came out the other end, but to her credit, it probably feels about the same inside.

Seeing and Signing "Eat" - May 4
Niki is becoming active and recognizing faces. She's just starting to show some expression too. After teaching Lily to sign, I figured I might as well get started with Niki so she'll get it months from now. I can't believe it, but she's already got the sign for "eat" down. At least she understands it anyways. She still has a hard time controlling her arms so she can't always sign it, but she tries to and stops crying when I say eat in return. I'm often amazed by the intelligence of my children that exists but just can't be expressed!