Random thoughts about my girls...

I am watching my nephew T.J tonight while my sister Sasha and her husband Jason are getting in some alone time at temple square and doing some last minute shopping. The girls just love him and are always excited to see him, especially since he lives in Vernal and they don't get to see him as much as they would like. They are playing with their very favorite toy, their castle. We had a really hard time getting Sadie to decide that nursery was a good thing so I decided to bribe her. I bought this castle (in the boys section...who knew there were cool toys there?! It's a whole other world of toys that we have not ever explored before!) and displayed it for a couple of weeks for her to look at and want. She was so excited for this castle and after 10 months of tears she went to class. I did have to tell a little fib about getting a drink, but it worked and I was able to sneak out of her class. The following week she went to class and promptly told me "don't get a drink", but I was able to convince her that I needed to check on Brynlie and Daddy and left after a couple of minutes. She is now loving nursery and yesterday hugged me good-bye in the chapel and tried to leave all by herself to go. I am so glad that we are done with that battle. I was released from the nursery at the beginning of the year, just before finding out I was pregnant and I think that Sadie really sensed that she was losing her place as a new baby was coming and she was losing her mommy as her teacher. But she is getting so big now!

I am so lucky to have my little Brynlie. She is such a sweet heart, and never cries unless there is a good reason (like in church yesterday, when she filled her diaper for the second time and mom wanted to wait until after the sacrament to change it). She is a very happy baby and loves to smile and talk with anyone that will hold her and listen to her. She has started rolling from her tummy to her back, and from her back she gets on her side, but gets stuck. It is so much fun to get to know her and see her personality emerging each day. I can't believe how big my baby is getting!
Sadie is my strong-willed child. She was the sweetest, most pleasant little baby from the moment she was born. In the hospital I would have to ask the nurse to wake her up and bring her to me so that she could eat. She was just so much more interested in sleeping. And she adored her big sister Kylie and anytime Kylie was in the room she would follow her with her eyes. She spent the first year of her life quietly studying the world around her, and then...BAM!!! She turned 1, learned how to walk, and released the inner fire that she had been hiding. She can be so sweet one moment, and in an instant she becomes a fireball. I think that she looks a lot like my mom. I will catch her with certain expressions on her face that make me think that my mom probably looked a lot like that when she was little. If you can look past the dirt on her face
in this picture you might be able to see what I'm talking about. Sadie loves to sing and dance and can't wait until she is old enough to start dance. It is torture for her when we go to Kylie's dance class and she has to wait outside in the lobby.

Kylie just amazes me with how big and smart she is getting. They are learning how to read in kindergarten and I am surprised everyday with the words that she knows or figures out. She loves meeting people and making friends and tells me everyday about what she and her friends did. I'll be sad when the day comes that she doesn't want her mom to know every little detail of her day. She is such a great helper around the house, always trying to surprise me by cleaning something or helping out with something. I don't know what I would do without her. I was able to go to the grocery store with her a couple of weeks ago and leave the two younger girls with their daddy. It was nice to have a mommy/daughter night alone and made me realize that I need to spend some more one on one time with her. It is scary, humbling, and fun all at the same time when I realize how much she tries to be just like me. She makes me so proud! Here she is wanting to wear her towel on her head, just like her mommy does.

I am lucky to have such beautiful little girls and couldn't imagine my life without them. (Although I could imagine a night without them if anyone is ever interested in babysitting!) It makes Christmas so much fun to see their excitement and watch them go crazy trying to get mom to let them open presents early.