cuteness of the moment

Bryn loves shoes.  Loves to find them and then place them over her feet as though that will make them go on.  She loves balls, and big stuffed animals.  Loves to carry them around and hug them.  She loves her sisters.  She loves to lean back as far as she can when I'm holding her and almost fall out of my arms, she thinks it's hilarious.  She is a daredevil.  She likes to climb the stacks of Amazon boxes we have around our house at the moment filled (unknowingly) with Christmas presents.  She runs now and is incredibly fast.  If she notices that the gate is not up blocking the stairs she makes a beeline for it to try and crawl up them as fast as possible.  Luckily Kaitlin is usually right on her tail.

Claire is excellent with nicknames.  "Gobi" has stuck for Bryn and now has many forms - "Gobe-girl" "Gobe-meister"  "The Gobes".  She also calls Kaitlin "K Love" and it warms my heart every.single.time (and this is 50x/day).  The drawl with which she says it is the best - it's more like "K Luuuuv" or sometimes "K Loves".  She is our little peanut gallery still.  When Kaitlin is in trouble, she will quietly elicit a steady stream of "Ohh, Santa saw that and he's not going to bring you any presents, just me and Bryn, no presents for you..."  or will run and go get me the spanking spoon and say "I think sissy needs a pow pow".  In one word she is hilarious.  She is weird and cute and hilarious.

Kaitlin is an excellent helper.  She loves to pick Bryn up and so I have been using her to my advantage when I need an extra set of hands.  I'm hesitant to write this, but I really feel like she has turned the corner on the fit-throwing, she has matured quite a bit in just the last few months.  I love to see her imagination, especially this year with all the Christmas going-ons.  We have an Advent calendar that is filled with treats and trinkets by "elves" and she just runs with how they get things in there, and hearing them come swooping in, and pontificating on how they must have gotten the presents to different places in our house.  The mind of a child is so sweet, I love getting glimpses into hers.   Speaking of elves, Claire thought they were called "chefs" for about a week.  She could never remember what they were called, but in typical Keith fashion, would pretend like she knew and confidently say "I wonder if the chefs came?!?" and I would just crack up.  Kaitlin was of course quick to correct her every time.  So, so, so grateful for these girls and cannot imagine our life without them. 

Kaitlin is FIVE!

So a couple months behind, but what's new?  We had a great time celebrating Kaitlin's 5th birthday on her actual birthday this year with all her little friends at the local aquatic center.  She had school and playgroup friends, as well as our family and close friends there to celebrate.  She wanted a peace sign/tie-dye birthday party, so that is what she got!  I even made tie-dye cupcakes with tie-dye icing to match (which is a big feat for the non-baker).  Here are some pics:

Sporting her new peace sign swimsuit for the occasion

Sweet friends

I love this pic, pure joy

Pretty sure if she saw this pic she'd be mad that Claire was blowing too.

Blue lips!

Bryn supported in her tie-dye onesie

Yin & Yang &...?

Tonight Scott took Kaitlin to the Rangers game (which ended up being rained out).  I got to spend time in Claire's favorite place (at home) alone with her.  This is a rare occurrence.  We have Thursdays alone together, but that is quickly filled with her dance class and errands and a quick nap before it's time to pick sissy up at school.  And obviously when I say "alone" I mean with Bryn too, but she is still either attached to my hip, napping, or off exploring the house and putting everything she can find in her mouth, but she doesn't really determine what we do.  I'm trying to help Claire find what SHE likes to do without Kaitlin's influence.  By no fault, Claire has lately been asking "What does Kaitlin XXX?" about everything before she will make a decision, because she wants to do everything exactly the same.  "What does Kaitlin want for breakfast?"  "What does Kaitlin want to wear?"  "What does Kaitlin want to do after school?"  I'm trying to get her to make decisions on her own, both b/c the copying drives Kaitlin crazy, but obviously mainly b/c she needs to be her own person!

This afternoon Bryn happened to be taking a late nap while Claire and I painted.  She loves to paint, and loves to have me paint her hands and feet, even though it tickles her to death.  At one point I was just staring at her as she was painting, lost in her own little world and I said "you are so pretty Claire, did you know it?" and she goes very absentmindedly "I love you too Mommy."  She wasn't even listening, she just knows that when I say "Did you know it?" I've usually said "I love you" before it.  What is so funny to me is how different she and Kaitlin are.  I literally have to beg Claire to say "I love you" and I have a game that I play to make her give me hugs.  I have to force affection out of her pretty much.  That's not to say she isn't sweet - if you are hurt she is the first to run and get the boo-boo buddy out of the fridge, or to ask to kiss your boo-boo.  But I love you's and hugs and direct forms of affection are just too much in her busy little world. Kaitlin is the opposite - so emotional it is almost painful to watch.  If I get hurt, I end up having to calm her down because she gets so sad for me.  She will cry at the drop of the hat (and often does, and I have to remind myself that she is uber-sensitive so I can't be so short with her).  It just really struck me tonight how very different they are, but how they are such a good fit for each other as sisters.  Thin skinned older one with thick skinned younger one seems to work well in this way.  I can't wait to see what we have in Bryn and how she will fit into the mix.

8 is great!

Kind of a random month for an update, but Brynie Bear had a big month!  In her 8th month she:

Got baptized at the same church Kaitlin did, wearing the same dress Kaitlin, Claire and I did (made by my grandma)
Got 5 teeth
Is crawling everywhere, standing and cruising
Says mamma and dada
Got a nickname from big sis Claire - "Gobi"  It has hung around and she is called that by all of us now. Here are some pics from the baptism:

Look at her sad face here.  She was a wiggle worm during the whole ceremony, and then passed out immediately after getting her head wet.

Best pic we got in the gown.  She was not having it.  I like the little foot in the upper corner.

Sweet girl

Of course you did Claire.

Godparents!

What happened right after she got dunked!

overheard...

Girls were talking in their beds tonight, Kaitlin was telling Claire "CLAIRE!  You can NOT be called Riley.  Your name is Claire.  But you can be Ms. Tooter Head."

Love those little potty mouthed ladies.

Last Hurrah

School starts for the big girls next Tuesday, and I work tomorrow and Friday is meet the teacher, so today was our last totally free day of the summer.  We had Kaitlin's 5 year appointment at 9 am, but then hit the road to Ft. Worth to use our Children's Museum membership one last time.  We hit some traffic so didn't get there til a little after 11, but we stayed until 4!  The girls all had a great time and we had the entire place to ourselves.  Literally I think there were less than 50 visitors today.  We started in the hands on area where Claire shopped for a while at the grocery store while Kaitlin played doctor with the babies and built some Lincoln Log castles, and Bryn checked out the little baby crawling area.  We went outside for some water play next, and then Claire came and told me "I'm STARVING Mommy" so we headed to lunch, where she proceeded to chow down.  Build your own tacos and nachos - hit all around.  Then we went to the science-y part where they had several instrument experiments that we played with, hula hoops and then of course the air park, where you can use coffee filters, paper cups, and paper to make airplanes or just random things that will fly in the big air tubes they have.  We had that whole room completely to ourselves and thankfully Bryn fell asleep, so I got to spend some nice, relaxed one on one time with the girls.  Claire was of course in heaven with the scissors and tape they had out, and Kaitlin was very interested in perfecting her paper airplane making skills.

Then we tricked Claire into going up to their "Grossology" exhibit.  The last time we went she fa-reaked out b/c it has several big talking robot things and she is not a fan of all that nonsense.  I taught her today to plug her ears and close her eyes and once we got past the first scary lady she was fine.  Especially once I showed her the toot machine, and the big slide where they end up coming out the rectum.  Yes, it is gross, hence the name.  It's all about bodily functions and my girls never tire of those jokes, so really a win-win.  Bryn was very helpful and continued to sleep during all of this.

We rounded out the day outside where we dug up some dinosaur bones.  It wasn't too hot and once again we had the whole area to ourselves, so Bryn got to have her lunch while the big girls dug.  It was just such a nice, pleasant, relaxed day and the girls were so good for me, I wanted to etch it in my brain.  When we were walking back to the car I was carrying Bryn and I turned around and looked and saw those two girls slowly walking, kind of shuffling their feet, talking about how much fun it was.  I just want to burn that image in my brain - the light already seems like fall to me and the way they were just casually walking down the street talking to each other.  I can't describe it really, but it brings tears to my eyes.  I love these girls so much, and I am so thankful that I get to do these things with them.

We came home and Scott is working late for his year-end, so we all swam for a bit and then they continued while Bryn and I came in and made dinner.  We ate on the patio and they enjoyed the meal so much that Kaitlin wrote me a note on the chalkboard "We Love R Meal," and Claire came running over to me several times with both thumbs up saying "You made good food Mommy!"  Then they went in and took a shower while I cleaned up the kitchen and gave Bryn a bath.  They even got themselves totally ready for bed and went and started their dance party while I put Bryn down.  Kaitlin got a ribbon wand at the museum today, so that was a huge hit during dance party tonight.   Kaitlin kept talking right before bed about how today was "the best day ever" and how she just had so much fun, and I'd have to agree with her.  Which is why I'm writing such a detailed post about it - I can never remember specific days when I think back to their younger years, so wanted one down for the history books.  I am not good at taking pics when we are out and about, but here are a few from my phone:

Happy Birthday Kaitlin!

We are so proud of you and all that you have become in five short years!  Some highlights:

• You are so tender-hearted.  If anyone else in the vicinity is crying, you will tear up too.  Especially if you ever catch me teary-eyed over something, you immediately start crying, even though you have no idea if I'm teary out of sadness or happiness.  You can't really watch most movies b/c they will make you cry - out of both happiness and sadness.  I don't remember if I posted this on the blog, but last Christmas we watched Santa Paws and there was one part that was happy and you were just BAWLING and almost yelling "I"M JUST SO HAPPY!!!"
• On a similar note, you are quite the drama queen.  There is no luke warm with you - it is either TERRIBLE or THE BEST DAY EVER (or you ALWAYS do this, or you NEVER let me do that).  I'm still learning to not get my feelings hurt either way.
• You love your sisters with all your heart, and are such a great big sister.  You have to carry a big burden b/c I am always drilling into you that "You are the example", but you take it in stride and do a great job.
• You are still the pickiest of all the girls.  Won't touch a veggie unless forced, and really only stick to the four main food groups - pizza, beans/rice, quesadilla and fruit.  At least there is fruit in there!  Making lunches for you for school is difficult though b/c you won't do sandwiches!  Coming from the two most sandwich loving parents in the world, I don't know how that happened!
• You still love music and love to dance.  That is still a daily activity for us.  You know how to work spotify and itunes and come in here to the computer and turn it on all the time.  You love to hear new music, but Taylor Swift is still No 1 for you.
• We've done soccer, gymnastics, dance, Kindermusik, tball, Gymboree, cheer.  You tend to favor the cheer/gymnastics over everything else, even dance.  While you love to dance yourself, I don't think you like the regimentation of a dance class.
• You are our social butterfly.  You make quick friends with everyone and love school and playgroup b/c of that.  So funny after what we went thru your whole first 2 years - hated to leave your momma!  But now you don't even look back and are always asking for playdates and love to go to school.  (Claire on the other hand is the complete opposite - she would rather be home with just her family at all times).
• You are our little fish.  I think next summer we will see if you want to try swim team.  You are an excellent swimmer and would do it all day, every day if you could.  You aren't as confident as you should be with your skill level though - you say you are too scared to do swim team, but I think if you try it and get over the initial hurdle you would love it!
• You love to read, and spend every night after we tuck you in with a stack of books and your flashlight.  You are reading wonderfully - you can read almost every book we own.  You do great picking words up from the context of the pictures, and surprise me with all the words you know!
• You are a good writer and spent a good portion of the summer writing letters to your classmates and to me and Daddy and the rest of the family.  You sound everything out and make up some unique spellings!  You also love to draw and color - I think you and Claire both love the craft table equally.
• You love to play games and I wish we had more time to do that with you.  It's hard with two little sissys who just mess everything up while we play!

We love you so much and are so thankful that you are ours!

Claire's 3rd Birthday Party

We had Claire's third birthday party in conjunction with her friend Trevor at the Ark (a big indoor playground at a local church - a Godsend for kids with summer bdays in Texas!)  She was very adamant that she wanted a "kitty" themed birthday bash, Hello Kitty that is.  That's what she got and I think she has the most HK stuff in the world after she opened all her gifts!  It was a great time.

All the friends ready for some cake

She had a blast!

Goofy girl

Contemplating all it means to be 3 years old

Some of us partied too hard...

Can't hang with the big girls

Getting a bit shy during the song, but at least no tears this year!

Enjoying sissy's singing

Check out my loot!

What is very peculiar to me is that both Claire and Kaitlin INSISTED on wearing the same dress for their 3rd bday parties.  With Kaitlin, it was much more dramatic (as all things are with your first kid when you haven't quite realized you can't force them to do anything) since I had purchased an entire frilly birthday outfit that she refused to wear and I can remember vividly the fit she threw and how she demanded to wear the green dress, and I was of course horrified b/c that dress was just not what I had in mind for her party.  And then the morning of Claire's party I gave her a couple of options for her attire, green dress NOT being one of them, but she went in and pulled that puppy out and put it on so that's what we got!  I've learned to pick my battles and this was not one of them this time.  But Aunt Amanda pointed out that they both had small braids in their hair too, which both of them specifically requested.  Guess they are related!  Here are some pics from Kaitlin's party just for kicks:

Claire - Pictorial Year in Review