Visitors

Nana B.'s sister, Tia Edith (tia means aunt in spanish), came to visit for a week while her husband, Uncle Darrell, had to work in Toronto.  We were able to go and spend the weekend with them in Canada.  We hadn't seen them since we last went to Utah in 2009 so it was great to get together to talk and spend some time catching up.  It was also just plain nice to get away for the weekend as we haven't been to Canada since New Year's.  It was warm and so we were able to spend lots of time outdoors which always keeps Y happy. 

Now we just need to convince more family members to come for a visit...

fun with Grandpa P

Enjoying a trip down to the bridge.

Beautiful Weather

We have been experiencing the most beautiful March weather, it really reminds of more of North Carolina than Michigan.  This winter has been surprisingly warm anyway but 80 degrees in March just doesn't happen in Michigan, or at least it hadn't happened since I had lived here...until now.  I have been loving it and the girls have been loving it, we've spent quite a bit of time outside playing and just enjoying the warmth.  This year has been a nice change and I know for many reasons we need the snow here in Michigan to replenish the Great Lakes and other sources of our water but I can't help but be excited about this weather.  Here are some photos I took as we ventured out on the first of many successive warm days.

Y loves the "tall grasses" that run in back of our condo complex, she always goes there with Grandpa P

Y's Version of Clean

Y and Q's room has a tendency to become really messy, really fast and Q is not yet able to contribute to the messiness so I end up telling Y to straighten up her room quite often.  Sometimes it happens but most times it doesn't.  On this particular day we were having a friend over and so I told her she had to clean up her room.  I was busy in the kitchen cooking and she said she was going to clean her room all by herself, which made me more than happy! When she had finished she called me to come look and I could tell that she was so very proud of herself.

I walked out of the kitchen and stepped towards her room and I was so astonished by what I saw I called for B to come and look as well!  Here is what I saw:

That's pretty amazing, right?!?  She's cleaned her room a couple times before but never that thoroughly and so I step into the room to check out the rest of her handy work and I see this:

and this:

I was so proud of the effort she put in but at the same time I was trying hard to suppress my laughter.  I should add that the next day when I went in the closet I found even more toys that had been "cleaned up."  As you can see in the photos she was so very happy that she had cleaned her room all by herself and if this is a tiny step towards teaching her to be independent, then I'll take it!

7 Months

Wow, time is flying by!!  Q is 7 months old, I can't believe it, but I am loving every minute of it!  She has really started to gain a lot of personality now, i've probably said it before but I'll mention it again.  I can see such a difference in her and Y's personalities already.  They both were/are very laid back and content babies but Y was far more serious and not extremely friendly towards other people, in fact I frequently get comments about how "unfriendly" she can be - I've learned to accept that it's just part of who she is.  Y on the other hand seems to smile at everyone, doesn't mind allowing others to hold her, loves to make us laugh and loves to have the attention of those around her.

If I, or even B now, walk into a room and do not immediately recognize her she can throw quite the fit, but most of the time she's pretty happy.  The reflux is really nonexistent now, she eats solids like a champ, sleeps great most of the time and yesterday she rolled over for the first time all on her own.  She wants to grab anything and everything, if it's in your hand she wants it.  I always get comments on how good of a baby she is because she really just "goes with the program."

We consider ourselves to be the luckiest parents on the earth to be blessed with our two girls whom we love beyond measure.  Our lives are infinately better because of all the joy they bring us and the love they have for us.

Here are a few pictures of our youngest princess taken today.  I still can't believe it's been 7 months already!!!

 

Acorns

Y, like many kids her age and even older, picks her nose.  I know even many adults pick their nose at some point but most at least do it in private.  Well that's not the case with Y, she will pick her nose pretty much anywhere and lately I've been trying to correct her and I figure that the best way to get her to not do it in public is to get her to stop doing it at home.  What follows is a very brief discussion on the topic which happened today as she picker her nose:

Me:  Y, do you need a tissue?
Y:  No.
Me:  Do you need a Q-tip?
Y:  No.
Me:  But you're picking boogies and a tissue or Q-tip might help you.
Y:  I'm not picking boogies, I'm picking acorns.
Me:  (Delayed reaction attempting to think of what to say next) Acorns can't fit in your nose, sweetie.
Y:  (Very matter of factly with a serious face)  They're small acorns.
Me: Laughing, a lot!

I thought of saying something about squirrels and acorns but then decided against it because squirrels eat their acorns and since she hasn't ventured to the point of tasting her "acorns" yet, I figured I'd leave well enough alone!

Introducing...Leaf

To say that Y has a flair for the dramatic and quite the imagination would be a HUGE understatement.  Today, after finishing dinner she came to me dressed in her Tinkerbell Halloween costume (yeah, shoes too!) and a hat which was bought for her about 2 years ago for Easter.

She said, "mommy look at me," and I told her she was beautiful and asked her what her name was.  She twirled for a while while she thought of a name and then she stopped twirling and said, "Leaf, my name is Leaf."

And there you have it!

Finally

It finally happened!  The day before she turns 7 months old (today) she finally rolled over.  Granted she only did it once but she did it!!!

Y was Skyping again today with Nana B, Grandpa P, and Grandma G (great grandma).  I had laid Q down on the blanket with a few toys while I was eating my lunch.  I was standing and after watching Y and the computer screen for some time I glanced down and Q and it took me a moment to realize that she was on her stomach and I hadn't put her there, I had laid her on her back because she had just finished eating.  I squealed in excitement and told the grandparents and then moved the webcam so that they could see and then I texted B at work.

She's been close to doing it for some time now but this was the first time she actually did it.  Now just to get her to do it again...and keep doing it.  On the plus side I believe I've heard that it's easier for them to roll belly to back than it is back to belly, so if she was able to do that first I'm going to venture a guess that she's probably good to go!

Y Says

A while back I started writing posts called, "Y Says" but over time, for whatever reason, I stopped writing them.  Well for the last few months I've told myself that I should ressurrect the idea because she says some really funny and thoughtful things that I'd like to hold on to for a very, very, very long time.  And so, I'm finally getting around to it now.

This funny little comment came as she was Skyping with Nana B. yesterday.

Nana B: Yanna do you want to be a mommy when you get big?
Yanna: No, I wanna be a nurse and take care of babies.
Me: Do you wanna get married when you get bigger?
Yanna: Ugh, I wanna be a baby nurse.
Me: You can be a nurse and get married.
Yanna: (very matter of factly) No, that won't work.

We Love to See the Temple

We love to see the temples and we're fortunate enough to have one within a half hour's drive of our home AND right beside our Stake Center.  So this past Sunday when we went to Stake Conference we told Y that we would take her to look at the temple afterwards.  I know it's kind of shameful but this is only the second Stake Conference we've attended since we've been married and the first since Y has been born.  And even though B and I try to go to the temple often, we never have the kids with us when we go so this was Y's first experience seeing the Detroit Temple.

So when we told her we'd take her to see the temple after conference was over she was expecting us to get into the car and drive all the way to Washington DC to see the temple where B and I were married and where we took her last year on our drive to NC.  So I had to clarify several times over the entire weekend that we were going to see a different, smaller temple but no matter what I said it didn't sink in until we were actually standing in front of the temple.

And so we took a few pictures:

And after we were done taking pictures and walking back to the car, Y's first question was if we were going to the Washington Temple now. Haha, we attempted to explain to her that that's a really long drive and maybe we'd go next time we drove down to NC.  Her response to that?  "Can we go to North Carolina now?"  I hope she keeps such a desire to visit the temple as she grows older and is actually able to enter its doors.

It's Official

Last Thursday, February 16, 2012, B became a US Citizen!!  He's happy and excited and now whenever we go through Customs we can say, "we're all US citizens" instead of, "my wife and daughters are American and I'm Canadian."  Well the truth is he'll still likely say that when he's crossing into Canada since he's considered a dual citizen.  The best part of it all?  No more shelling out money to the government for immigration costs.  Of course being able to vote is a pretty cool thing too!

If you're curious how he celebrated?  He went to get a Coney Dog from American Coney Island which was right across the street from the courthouse.  Next time he'll make it a point to try both so that he can better compare and make a decision for himself which one is better.