Monday, December 19, 2011

My Girl

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She can be so sweet. She's is genuinely funny. She is bossy, bossy, bossy!

She says things all the time that I just have to write down so I don't forget them.

She's listens to everything we say and soaks it all in.

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One day, we were driving through Kirkwood, a cute little town in St. Louis County. She remembered me saying how cozy all the house were on a previous drive through Kirkwood, so she says, "Wow, this is a cozy road."

One night, she was talking about taking care of "Emily". "Emily" is still going strong. Most of the time, she is Kate's daughter. I think. She told me, "I have to do dinner, bath, and bed. It's crazy." Gee, ya think she's heard that before??

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She'll announce, "I've had SUCH a long day." You have no idea, girl.

One day while watching football with Daddy, you could see her wheels turning, and she asked, "Do football players get a lunch break?"

A lot of her stories start like this... "You are not going to believe this, but here it goes..." or "I'm sorry to say this, but here it goes...."

She uses words like gorgeous, hilarious, adorable, and beautiful. She'll say, "Oh, Jack is so 'ilarious'".

At the beginning of this month, we baked a bunch of cookies for a Christmas party for foster children. Kate and I were talking about how these were kids that didn't have a family. I asked her what she would do if she didn't have a family. Very matter of factly, she said, "Well, I'd go live somewhere else. Like downtown. Actually, no... I'd go live with my boyfriend, Uncle Brad."

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The way she phrases things cracks me up. One day while drawing on her thank you cards, she said, "Mommy, help me think what I can draw on this. I want something really nice. My mind is not thinking of a happy face to draw."
Me: "How about a house? You know how to draw houses.
Kate: "No I don't."
Me: "Well, then, just draw a happy face."
Kate: :"I said my mind isn't thinking of that!"
Me: "Ok, well what IS your mind thinking of?
Kate" "My mind is thinking, "I don't know!"

She bought a United States puzzle at the preschool lemonade stand. She showed it to me and said, "Look! It has all the stadiums (states) on it!" So cute.

She says things like, "Let's do it, sister friend!". She adds the SPICE to our life, that's for sure!




Thursday, December 8, 2011

Jack Man Videos

Note to self... turn my phone the other way when taking videos. These are tall and skinny. :)

Here's one of Jack wearing Kate's boots. Told you he likes dress up!



One night, we were all hanging out in our bed and Jack was cracking us up.



And one of my favorites... Jack throwing his grapes. He seems to be naked a lot, huh??



Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Happy Birthday, Daddy!!



Daddy is the big 3-0 today!!!

We think you are the best daddy EVER!!

Thanks for always making time to play with us, to give us baths at night, and to play "tickle" on the bed.



Mommy says thanks for going to work everyday and working SO hard so that she can stay home with us!

We love you, Daddy. All the way to the moon and back! We can't wait to celebrate with you tonight.



Love, Kate & Jack XOXO

Mark, happy birthday. How did THIRTY happen?!?! Weren't we JUST 17 with not a care in the world? Thank you for loving me, for being so patient with me (smile), and keeping me grounded. Without you, I think I would be a frenzied, crazy mess. You keep me sane. I love you so much!!! -Jen

Oh, and thank you for taking pictures all the time and for doing it so well. If it weren't for you, our lives would probably not be documented very well, or like... at all. Without you, all of our pictures would look like the ones in this post. So, thanks.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Jack

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Jack continues to make us laugh all the time. He is a total comedian when he wants to be.

If he falls down on purpose and we laugh at him, he'll do it again... and again... and again.

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The other day, I asked him to take his blanket to his room. He disappeared for a minute and came back with it wrapped around his head like a hood and said, "Kee- kee" (trick or treat) in his squeaky voice. He knew that was funny right when he did it. It's always crazy to me how kids even this young can pick up on how to make people laugh. He's good at it, too.

I think I've written about this before, but he will lay on the ottoman, work his way to the edge so that he can fall off. But, when he does, he just kind of stands on his head for a minute laughing. I seriously need a get a video of that! Then, he tumbles off, laughs, and gets up to do it again. He's a nutcase.

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He's such a little daredevil. He climbs, jumps, falls off of things. I have all intentions of keeping him in a crib until he's three. I can't imagine him in a big boy bed... alone. He'd probably get into trouble the minute we left. ha!

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He did this on his own... Papa had to rescue him.

He thinks it's hilarious to chuck things across the room, too. Not so funny, Jack. He has also started filling up a cup at the refrigerator water dispenser, bringing it in the living room and just pouring it all over the carpet.

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I let Kate drink out of my water bottle in the car. She gave it to Jack and he turned the whole thing over in his car seat, soaking himself while laughing. Crazy, I tell ya.

Major dose of crazy here... he did his little pour water out on the living room floor thing as we were rushing out the door one day. He proceeds to stomp all in it, then gets down on his hands and knees and starts slurping the water off the carpet. Really, Jack? Really?

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His vocabulary has sort of picked up lately. We almost always know what he is trying to tell us because he's really good at gesturing. But, lately, he has started making more sounds that actually sound like the word.

He has actually started calling me "ma-ma" now. He used to say it every now and then, but only when I prompted him. Now, he will hold his hands out for me to pick him up and say, "Mama". So sweet. Especially considering he used to call me "ba".

Speaking of "ba", that's his word for a lot of things... his blanket, my phone, his lovie. And speaking of his lovie, he is madly in love with that thing. Addicted is more the word. Kate never had an attachment to something like that, but it's just so adorable. He will ask for it before bed, and when he gets it, the thumb goes in his mouth, the lovie goes up by his face, and he's ready for bed.

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He LOVES to "dress up". Mark just rolls his eyes. He will disappear for awhile and then come out of Kate's room with a hat, a purse, and wearing her high heeled dress up shoes. Let's hope this trend doesn't continue for too long. ha!

He also loves to play with toy cars. He could drive them all over for hours. He makes this cute little "vroom" sound. He likes to build with blocks and put things together. We bought him a tool bench for Christmas with all these little gadgets.
He's going to love it!

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He naps like a newborn baby. You can usually always count on three hours, but he's been known to sleep up to five.

He has finally started growing out of his 18 month clothes. His shirts are getting a little shorter. The pants still fit great, though. He's a little shortie (compared to his sister at his age, anyway).

He is such a good boy. I asked him to take his shoes off and then go put them in his room. Later that night, when I was looking for his shoes, I remembered that. I went in his room and there they were sitting side by side right by his bedroom door. So sweet.

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He is such a sweet, loving little guy. The other day, he came out of Kate's room with two of those little recorder, flute things. He gave one to Kate and kept one for himself. If we have two of something, he will bring one out for both he and Kate. It's so cute!

He loves his mama, let me tell you! I get snuggle time with him on the couch almost every night before he goes to bed. It's his little wind down time. He is just my precious little boy. I LOVE having a boy more than I ever thought I would. He and I have a bond like no other.

He loves his sister fiercely, but she drives him crazy, too. She's just "a touch" on the bossy side if you didn't know that already. The two of them are good buds, though. They take a bath together every night and they will just make each other laugh in there. So cute!!

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We love you, our silly little man!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Kate's 4th Birthday Party

Better late than never... Kate's birthday party pictures!

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We had a "Sweet Treats" party at Uncle Scott's house. This was a fun party to plan!!

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I loved these pink polka dotted balloons!

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The little craft for the kids...

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Yummy, yummy food...

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I made a bunch of these big lollipops on dowel rods to stick in the yard. The wind was not cooperating. It was SOOOOO windy that day. Two of them held up the whole time in some big planters on the front porch, but there was no way the others would have made it.

Instead, I jut stuck them in random places all over the house. I think I even put a couple in the bathroom!

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My favorite part of the party was the candy buffet. I loved putting all of that together.

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There were so many of our friends and family there. It was a blast. Scott hooked up a little hayride for the kids. They loved jumping on the trampoline, too.

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A few of the kids were missing in this picture. It's pretty much a miracle, though, that they are all actually looking at the camera!

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We had a pinata in the shape of a cake.

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Kate got some awesome presents!!!

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We played a dress up game that I think the kids were way too young to "get". Oh well, it was fun, though.

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Oh, and Kate didn't cry this year when everyone sung to her. Ha!

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Our sweet girl had a WONDERFUL day at her party... a BIG thank you to everyone that made it so special!

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And of course, the family picture was taken AFTER the party when I finally remembered to get one of all of us... everyone looks exhausted! ha!

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