Our cutest terrible two-year-old EVER!

This little lady turned the big and terrible 2 in October! Believe me, she was "terrible" before she turned 2. Kya can be kinda like a little tasmanian devil...like a hurricane...like too much spunk and energy and emotion stuffed into a too little body! She is incredibly smart...too smart...she figures things out so easily....figures out how to get into EVERYTHING!!! Such curiosity!!! She talks in complete sentences and almost always uses the correct grammar. She asks questions galore and is already into the phase where kids ask "Why?" to everything you say! She LOVES to run, jump, climb, yell, splash, bounce, roll, color on everything, including herself and eat candy. The cutest thing she has been doing recently is holding her hands together, like she has caught something, then coming up to me and asking me if I want to see. Then she opens her hands a little so I can peek inside to see what is usually a pretend ladybug. I could seriously write pages and pages of all the funny, cute, and exasperating things she says and does! This little one for sure keeps us on our toes!

Here she is inspecting her cake. She was SO happy when it was finally her birthday after going to many birthday parties all summer! She kept telling me all day long, "It's my berfday! I so excited!!!!" and then jabber on and on about presents and wanting to eat her cake!

She kept practicing blowing out the candle too. And did you notice the outfit? She picked it out herself! She loves clothing with princesses on it lately. As active as she is, and rough, she especially loves to wear her church dresses. After I put a dress on her, she will tell me how pretty or beautiful it is and say, "Momma, I a pwincess!" and then twirl around and sing, "La,laa,la,LAAAAA!" It is so funny!

What I LOVE about Kya is she just had to sing "Happy Birthday" to herself with everyone else!! So cute!

The cake was HUGE! 4 layers of yumminess!!!

And here are 3 of the 4 kiddos on Halloween. We had ourselves a ninja, fairy, and kitty. Anna and Carter kept arguing about why their costume was better. Anna is ALL about being "fashionable" as she would say it and has entered the stage where anything "boy" is just too awful to bear! Carter is all boy and was in heaven pretending to be a ninja. Kya was ecstatic to be a cat....for real! They were so cute and had so much fun at the ward trunk-or-treat and then going around the neighborhood afterwards. Kya was definitely the first one to finish eating all her candy...I think hers was gone within a matter of days!

As for Thanksgiving, I forgot to take pictures! Oops. I traveled to Twin Falls to my grandparents home and Russ got to stay home with Anna. She got an awful flu virus....fever, swollen red throat, gunk in her chest, cough, she lost her voice, and of course it wouldn't be complete without some vomit. You want to know what they had for dinner? A bowl of cereal. And some popcorn. Later that night Russ ate some keylime pie I bought for him. The following Sunday we had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and real homemade pie so they didn't feel too left out!

We sure are grateful for our family! I definitely am! I love, LOVE, love my kids even though they can drive me crazy some days! Anna is full of sass and attitude, Carter is in his own little world of super heroes, Kya just torments us all, and Brennen is the sweetest little bug EVER! I am so lucky to have such awesome, smart, amazing, cute kids and a husband who loves us come what may!

Homemade Hot Cocoa and warm Cinnamon Bread

 

It's been awhile. It seems like forever ago when I had a watermelon for a tummy, couldn't see my toes or tie my shoes without gagging. But the past four months have gone by so quickly...

This little man was born in the wee hours of the morning. For his birth, it was just Russ and I. It was pretty special. Our little guy was wide awake right after birth, and I got to hold him for an hour as he just quietly gazed around the room, taking it all in.

Then came the baby acne, sleepless nights, and lots of diaper changing! He was so tiny, with scrawny little legs....but they grow up so quickly!

Brennen gave me a scare for a few months....I was wondering if he was going to be colicky like all his older siblings were. But the night time fussiness didn't last very long and during the days he hardly cried at all! Best. Baby. Ever.

So soon, he went from sleeping all day, to being awake and alert, recognizing faces, and at 3 months giving us all those sweet smiles, cooing, and giggles.

Now he loves to sit in his bouncy chair and look at his toys and can now hit them with his hands and even grab them and try to put them in his mouth. He can be so content just laying on the floor, kicking his now chubby little legs and gazing at the window.

He gets more and more handsome every month and he has the most kissable little cheeks! He is also so very, very ticklish! That is always fun to tickle little tummies and toes and watch them wiggle and smile and squirm!

He got to meet great grandma Meredith recently and gave her lots of smiles and told her all kinds of stories.

We sure love him. The days never end on a bad note when I have my little bug to snuggle before bedtime. He mostly sleeps all night and always wakes up happy, giving me lots and lots of smiles.

He has discovered his thumb and sucks on it quite often. He is always chewing on his hands and fingers too.

He is getting so big! And for once I don't want him to ever grow up! So as I sit here sipping my mug of hot cocoa and eating my sweet cinnamon bread, it all reminds me of this baby boy and I can't help but feel blessed for being a mother. It's the best thing that ever happened to me.