kaelyn: 21 months

_MG_1505Clothing size: She’s mostly still wearing 18-month clothing, just because everything still fits fine, and I haven’t pulled the next size out of the closet. 2T dresses. Size 4 shoes are starting to get tight, but she’s still got some room to grow in size 5.
Eyecolor: Blue.
Teeth: Eleven! Finally, another tooth came through!
Eating: Her appetite seems to have significantly increased! She puts down pretty large portions at mealtime, and if she’s hungry at any other time of day, she helps herself to the snacks I keep in the diaper bag. Talk about being self-sufficient! Her favorite foods are cucumbers, Greek yogurt, pancakes, and pizza!_MG_1225

We’re still nursing three times a day… but she’s drinking about 8 ounces of whole milk per day now, and I feel like my milk supply might be starting to drop, so we’ll see how much longer we go.
New words: I can’t think of any new words, but the words she does use seem to be getting a lot clearer/more articulate lately.
Favorite things: Blue Kitty, Piggy, and basically any stuffed animal that we give her and tell her is “hers”. She just loves having something of her very own. She likes ducks (real, rubber, or in books), reading, “driving” little cars, and has recently started to love Daniel Tiger._MG_1212Dislikes: Getting her face wiped, being told no, sharing, and the car seat. The worst of all is getting her diaper changed. Seriously… it has become a battle between her and I to take off the dirty diaper and get her cleaned up without a huge mess and/or fit happening. Michael says she doesn’t fight him, so apparently, she only does this with me. Why?
Sleep: She’s down for bed around 8:30 or 9, and wakes up around 7 am. She naps for three hours in the afternoon, starting around 1:30 pm.
Nicknames: Baba, Baba Grace, KaeCakes, Monkey.
Milestones, etc.: -She has officially earned the nickname “Miss Independent”, because you better not dare to try and help her to do anything, or she immediately screams and throws a fit.

-She is pretty good at doing a lot of things on her own, like buckling (and recently, unbuckling!) her high chair straps and putting on her shoes.

-She’s mastered actually walking up the stairs now, as long as there is a railing to hold onto.

-She’s great at throwing a ball overhand.

-She’s getting so good at building block towers! She can stack several wooden blocks without them toppling over.

-Tantrums. Whew. She’s had a lot of time-outs… and this week we started “hug it out”, and it seems like it works. She’s strong-willed.

Dear Kaelyn,

You are definitely finding (and showing us) your personality these days. You are wild and crazy half the time, and along with that, you’ve got a bit of a stubborn streak. You are determined to learn how to do things on your own, and while I admire that, I do wish you’d be more willing to let us help you more often. I hope that your determination sticks with you as you grow older and take on school projects and church assignments.

You’re half-naked in half your photos, mostly because you still make a giant mess whenever you eat anything, so we have to strip you down to your diaper. I’m constantly sweeping and scrubbing the floor underneath your chair these days.

_MG_1199You are now the same age that your big sister was when you were born! It’s crazy to me, because in so many ways, you still seem like such a baby, but I’m starting to see you grow and mature in small ways. It also just feels like you reached this age so much faster than Kaya did! The same amount of time just passes faster when you have two kids, I think.

I’m also excited for you to really start talking so we’ll finally know what you’re thinking._MG_1533I love you, Baba Grace.

Love, Mommy

easter baskets 2016

I’m pretty much the slowest at finishing blogging about our Easter festivities… but better late than never! I love having all these details to look back on, so yes, I took about 30 pictures of my kids and their Easter baskets. Haha.

I am always so excited to put together any kind of gift for my kids, and Easter baskets are no exception. Here’s Kaelyn’s basket, which contained a stuffed bunny, a stuffed “Arlo” from The Good Dinosaur, finger puppets, flip-flops, two books, carrot bubbles, guinea pig stickers, a Minnie Mouse plate, a hopping chick, and of course, a chocolate bunny!_MG_1281 _MG_1286 _MG_1288 And it all fit in her bucket… amazingly._MG_1292 Kaya’s basket had Minion stickers, a stuffed bunny and Arlo, Calico Critters with their baby stroller, two books, carrot bubbles, a rainbow necklace, a matching/memory game, a hopping bunny, a Frozen cup, and a chocolate bunny._MG_1295 _MG_1301 _MG_1299 _MG_1311 We gave them their baskets on Saturday, after the Easter egg hunt. There just isn’t really time for it on Sunday with early church and then afternoon naps, so I thought we’d all enjoy it more if we did it a day early. I also thought it’d be nice not to worry about all the “wordly” things on a day that we should be more focused on our Savior.

We had some very excited girls._MG_1346 _MG_1348 _MG_1351

I think that Kaelyn had no idea what some of the things in her basket were… but she was still so excited to take everything out and examine it. This is her very first pair of flip-flops. We’re ready for summer now!_MG_1356 Frozen-themed anything is her favorite._MG_1357 Guinea pig stickers for my little piggy-lover…_MG_1358 Kaya has loved the minions ever since she saw the movie with us on my birthday. They are pretty hilarious. I love that she’s old enough to enjoy silly things like that with us now._MG_1362 Again… I’m not sure she knew what the finger puppets were for, but she’s figured it out and loves them now!_MG_1363Kaya’s favorite item was her Calico Critters bunny twin set. She practically hasn’t stopped playing with them all week. They sleep up on her bed and she pushes them in the miniature stroller all around the house.
_MG_1368 She insisted that I take a picture of them, too. I really love the little details on these guys._MG_1373I couldn’t resist also making Michael a basket. He got some candy (Sour Patch Kids, a bunny, and Whoppers), and this new Apples to Apples game. I can’t wait to play it, but we obviously need to have some friends over, since it doesn’t really work well with just two people. Anyone up for a game night? 😉_MG_1372A certain little girl begged me for her chocolate bunny almost immediately after the basket-opening was done. I was shocked when she ate 2/3 of it in one sitting… but it was a holiday, and so I let her enjoy it. She had the sweetest little smile and made the happiest lip-smacking sounds._MG_1374

Happy Friday everyone!