Duece

Yesterday Neelah turned two. I seriously can't believe it. I had just found out I was pregnant with her when we moved back to Utah. My life hasn't been the same since. She is so different from Finn. My mom says she reminds her of me when I was that age. Hmmm. She is seriously HILARIOUS. She has started singing (even if she doesn't know the words, she improvises with the names of our family members) and dancing (with arms held high in the air going round and round in circles). And though there have been days where she spends the first 2 hours of the morning crying because I can't hold her ("Mommy, carry you!"), she brightens my day with her sweetness.
Where Finn never wanted to be the one to say the prayer over meals, she wants to say it every time. Finn didn't like to get dirty and Neelah is a disaster. But Neelah loves to cuddle and have her tummy tickled just like her brother and daddy. She insists on singing Wheels on the Bus and Itsy Bitsy spider every night before bed. She still caries around her "lovey" but has learned that we don't take it into stores with us anymore. She is a tease just like her brother too. Always wanting to make a game of anything. Her eyes melt my heart over and over again every day.

Anyhow, here are some bday pics that of course are in random order. Above is her new tricycle. That was the favorite gift this year.

Think she is enjoying her cake?

See what I mean about her eyes?!!?

Aunt Alisa made a FABULOUS bday cake for Neelah. A lemon-y, cream, berry concoction that was to die for. Alisa, you are the BEST!!

She didn't much like the elastic around her chin.

Alisa's Birthday Cake Masterpice. Way better than the costco cake I served the kiddies. :)

Neelah is such a sweet little girl and I am so blessed to have her in my life. One day she won't ask me for "chok at meewk" first thing in the morning and I will be so sad when I can't hear that little voice asking such an innocent question.

Party at the Aquarium

Finn was invited to a birthday party at the aquarium today. It was fun to meet all his friends from school and their parents. These are the Parana fish and Finn was fascinated by the fact that they could eat HIM.

Finn is trying to convince Neelah to crawl in. She wasn't having any of it...too scary.

We are in a place with thousands of fish, spiders, reptiles and bugs and she is only interested in the balloons. Appropriate.

Spring in the Park

We took an afternoon outing to the park this week. I loaded the stroller and Finn's bike in the car and we went up for a couple rounds around the track. I promised the kids time on the playground after we went a couple of miles. Finn told me that he could ride his bike "super-fast" which was "114 fast". Very fast indeed.

This I know...

As I have blogged about before, my love language is "acts of service" and "gift giving". Eric sent me these flowers this afternoon. They smell so good!! I have them on my kitchen table so that I see (and smell) them at least 50 times a day. What does that mean? It is as if Eric is here telling me that he loves and appreciates me 50 times a day. Aside from wanting you here with me honey, I can't ask for more! I love you Eric!

Happy St Patricks Day!

We love this holiday around our house. I wish that all my kiddies had the red hair! If you make a trip into Cafe Rio today and tell the person at the register "Happy St Patricks day" you get some sort of treasure! Hopefully I will get my own treasure.

trials at the table

Tonight's dinnertime tragedy was inevitable. It was going to happen sometime. I will admit that I had been toying with the idea for about a week now. Savvy has graduated to the highchair and so since I only have one, Neelah "gets" to sit at the table. That means that I "get" to tell her over and over to sit down. I "get" to chase her down when she is wandering the house with random bits of food.

Tonight was different. I had too much going on in my head. I have a LONG LONG list of things to accomplish before we move as well as continue to run this house in a semi-normal fashion and I didn't have the patience to deal with "roaming Neelah" tonight.

Introducing the packing tape.

Am I a terrible mother that I admit to hoping that being taped to the table was traumatic enough to get her to sit and eat her food from now on?

spring sports

Finn came home from Grandma and Grandpa Watson's house this afternoon with some new toys. A baseball mitt, bat and ball. After he figured out that he is a lefty, he really did well. It was a glorious day today and we enjoyed the 60+ degree weather.
A sunny day is incomplete without shades.

More pictures of our MD house

I have never understood why when I load pictures, they don't post in the order that I load them. It is really annoying. So we start with the master bedroom closet. There are 2 of these...one for me and one for ME!! Just kidding, I guess I will give one to Eric.
This is the master bathroom. On the left is a little room with the potty and the wall opposite has 2 sinks and vanities.
This is the Master bedroom. The picture was taken from the door to the bathroom. It is HUGE!! I am so excited!
We are so excited about this AMAZING paint job!!! Uh. NO. This will be Savvy's room after a quick paint job.
Also after a quick paint job, this will be Finn and Neelah's room. Along with these bedrooms, there is an upstairs guest room and full bathroom
The kitchen of course. I don't know what I am going to do with all the cabinet space.
This is the great room. On the left of the picture is a 20 ft stone fireplace. We also don't have enough furniture to fill half of this room.
Formal Living room....right! Like my kids understand the word "formal"
Formal Dining room.
Entrance way. We are so excited and can't wait for lots of visitors!

Slacking Off

I know, I have been such a slacker lately. I really do feel guilty. I feel like I am missing out on documenting my kids lives. Here are a few things that have happened over the last few weeks. Finn drew this picture for Savvy to make her happy. She loves her brother and sister. Finn is such a helper with Savvy. Neelah is starting to really take an interest in Savvy...always asking where she is or if she is happy. She loves making Savvy laugh, they both do.
Since I switched Neelah into a toddler bed and gave Savvy the crib a few weeks ago, every night when I go in to cover the kids up before going to bed myself, I find SOMETHING in bed with Neelah. Wow, what a run-on sentence! Above is the perfect example. If you look closely, you can see that after I left the room, she managed to get her shoes on the wrong feet. She was obviously playing with a soccer ball, piglet book, Backyardigans book and her baby doll. What a combination! I love this girl...ALWAYS full of surprises!
Exhibit B. I walk into the bathroom and Neelah (who has peed in the potty twice now) is sitting there reading the Pottery Barn catalog. Need any decorating tips? Neelah is brushing up on her skills.