My Caitlin

I haven't done a tag in a long time...but Rikki tagged me for one that I really think I needed. It's a kiddie tag, and she tagged me to write 5 things about Caitlin. Why did I really need this? It seems like lately I just have a hard time feeling great about my relationship with Caitlin. I try all different ways to be friends with her, and make our relationship go smoothly, but it seems there are always times when she is just completely unhappy with me. I feel like, a lot lately, when I go to bed, I'm always wondering how I could have interacted differently with Caitlin that day to make her realize how much I really love her. It's kind-of been eating away at me recently, so I'm glad that I've had a chance to think of a few things that I really love about Caitlin.

1. Caitlin is my helper in times that I just couldn't make it without her. When Emma was born, I really struggled recovering and with my emotions, and Caitlin truly helped so much with Emma and Abby. She always does things to help me out (even if I don't need help with those things ;o). Today I told her to come get her dress on for church, and I asked why the water was running so long. She told me she was doing the dishes for me, and she'd be done in a minute. And she really did rinse all the dishes for me and stack them on the counter.

2. Caitlin is so smart. She is learning to read so quickly, and she figures things out so fast. One of the other mom's that helps at center time in her class told me this funny story. She said that she had the center all set-up and was explaining to the kids how to accomplish the task. I guess Caitlin looked at her and said, "Well, it might be easier if we just do it this way..." and explained the 'easier' way. The mom said, "Well, she was right. It WAS easier that way, and now I tell everyone that I was shown-up by a 5-year old." I love to see how much she is learning in school...thank goodness for teachers. I could never teach her all that at home!

3. Caitlin has such a tender heart. If Abby ever gets in trouble (oh wait...when Abby gets in trouble all the time ;o) Caitlin always asks me if she can take Abby her 'sippin' corner, or if she can go in the room with Abby, or just anything to ease Abby's 'pain' from being on time-out. Caitlin can always tell if something is bothering me...or if I've been crying, and she always puts her arm around me and just gives me that love that I need.

4. Caitlin LOVES babies. She loves them! She always begs to hold our friends' little Lily. Anytime we are at a playplace, or anything like that, she'll always find the babies crawling around and play with them or help them. She's definitely got a soft spot in her heart for the tiniest of us.

5. Caitlin is just flat-out FUN. She loves to play outside, she loves to play with friends, she loves to play games, she is just such a fun little person to have around. My world wouldn't be complete without my sweet Caitlin, and I am so so grateful to have her in my life. Thanks for the tag Rikks...I really needed this!!!

OH YEAH....and by the way, Emma got her 1st tooth! Well, she cut her 1st tooth Friday, and then Saturday her other bottom one cut through. Craziness! She's not my little baby anymore....

Time for a Haircut!

Well, Emma's hair has been begging for a haircut for some time now. I've been leery to do it because I don't know anything about cutting hair. Her hair grows so fast, and that back layer was just getting so long...it was borderline mullet-ized. So on Sunday I gave in and cut it. Not perfect, but with those lovable chubby cheeks...I think she looks pretty darn cute!

And by the way....just an Oompa Loompa shoutout....

If you want to see THE CUTEST OOMPA LOOMPAS that I've ever seen, go to my friend Sara's blog, her 2 little kids are to die for! Now THOSE are some serious Oompa Loompas!!!!!!!!!
http://sarajoyner.blogspot.com/

Happy Halloween!

Here we go with another round of picture-mania. Sorry..I know there's a million and three pictures, but it's easier for me to show than tell.

We went to many Halloween events this year, and it's been great weather for all of them. I can't remember the last time I was sweltering in my costume on Halloween, but yes, it was 95 degrees today. ;o) Love it baby!

Here's the fam at our ward Trunk-or-Treat. (And yes I dressed up. Thanks LeeLee for the subtle hints...) Nate got home from his surgery rotation just in time for the party...so he put some shorts and boots on, but the rest was his git-up from surgery.

Psycho!

Abs workin' the cake walk.

Cait and Abs with their favorite babysitter!

Abs and Als

What? Not you again.

Caitlin with her teacher for their costume parade this morning.

Caitlin and Nate's pumpkins

Abs and my pumpkins. And YES my pumpkin says "OOMPA" on it!!! (Abby said she wanted her pumpkin by mine because she "loves mommy". Love that girl!)

Ok..so the orange on their face was NOT from them ravenously eating pumpkin pulp. It was actually from pumpkin donuts we ate WHILE carving pumpkins. Boo-yeah!

Abby PRETENDING to be happy about being sticky with pulp. She dislikes it about as much as her mother.

Caitlin diggin' right on in.

Ok...look close. Everyone always says that Abby looks like her daddy. This picture TOTALLY proves the point.

Go. Fight. Win. Chubby.

At one of the many Halloween events. And yes that's Linds that decided to bust on in the pic last minute. Love it!

Abs tap tap tappin' away in class.

Nate and Danny at one of the Hallween events. Yee-hawww boys!

Linds and I (and yes that's my dad in the background ;o). Lily is looking at Emma because she's afraid Emma is going to eat her.

Our cute kiddos.

Well, there ya have it! A little dressin' up, a little carvin, a little tappin, a little more dressing' up, and now time for a little sleepin' and a little YEAR until next Halloween! THANK GOODNESS!

Catchin' Up Picture-Style

Ok, so not a ton new, but I thought I'd catch up on a few things with some pictures. So here goes....

Dressed up for a Halloween Party! (Yes, Emma's hair counts for her pom-poms). Thanks Katie for the costume by the way...

This is what happens when I'm busy and the girls are bored...

GRANDPA CAME TO VISIT!!!!!!

My Dad came to visit this weekend and it was a blast! He got stuck in traffic on the way out of town, so instead of getting here at 10pm on Thursday, it was almost midnight. BUT...the girls stayed up and went running outside screaming and giggling when he pulled up. They love their Grandpa Brian!

Of COURSE my Dad and I couldn't miss the Blake Shelton/Miranda Lambert HICK concert (that was for you Linds). It was at the state fair, so we took the girls during the day to ride rides and such, and my Dad and I headed back for the concert in the evening. Thanks Buns and Lindsay and Danny for watching the girls so we could go to this!

Abs wakin' up happy to see Grandpa

Annie and Jenny came to visit too!!!!

So I got a phone call on Thursday night from my long lost roommates from USU Annie and Jenny!!! They came for a wedding in Mesa, so they stopped by to visit on Saturday before they flew back.

Emma took a serious liking to Annie...(while Jenny listened patiently to Caitlin reading her about a zillion books).

Annie, Me, and Jenny. FUN REUNION!!

Abs and Als with leis on. Lindsay made leis for the girls when my back was out-of-comission to keep them occupied...and they turned out super cute!

This was outside a cafe on our quick trip to Mexico. SIKE!!! Just a backdrop at the zoo when Nate came with us finally. We LOVE THAT ZOO!

This is what you get when you leave Emma with Daddy and sunglasses and a camera. Ooo Bebe!!! Lookin' good.

I've got some other pics on my phone that I want to put on here, but I can't figure out how to find them on my computer once I hotsync it. So more pics to come....

Blog THAT

Do things ever happen to you that you think in the back of your mind "I've GOT to put that on my blog!"? Well, here goes my blog THAT for the day. 1st let me give you a little background.

Abby has always been very mature for her age. She started talking very early, and she speaks very well for her age now. After she turned one, she never really ate toys or chewed on things much. She just always wanted to be grown-up like her sister. That being said, what she did today totally was un-Abby-like, but so funny I couldn't help but laugh so hard!

We had gone swimming this morning, and I got Abby and Emma down for naps early. My leg had been hurting all day, and I was exhausted, so I set my alarm to take a 10 minute power nap before I tackled cleaning the house. I had dozed off for one minute, when Abby comes walking in and says, "Mom...there's something up my nose." I looked up there and told her I didn't see anything. She said, "Mom, there REALLY is something up there." So I felt around in her nose with my pinkie, and still felt nothing. Then I put my finger over her other nostril and told her to blow really hard. Shooting out of her nose (so hard it stuck on my other arm) came this:

Ok..so you can't tell from the picture, but this is about in inch long and 1/2 inch wide little sequin-jewel thing! I looked at her in disbelief and said, "Abby, did you PUT this up your nose?" She just stared at me and said, "Yeah." WHAT? So while laying down trying to go to sleep...what in a kids' mind would make them grab a jewel and stick it up their nose...really far too? Sheesh. Kids these days.
I guess I only have one person to blame for this...know of anyone that sticks the end of a fork up his nose? Hmmmm....

(Does this jewel look familiar Jess? It came from that cute pic that Ellie sent the girls...thank you for sending it by the way!!!! They kept the picture in their room and the jewels have long since fallen off and they carry them around like their prize jewels. ;o)

Random Fun

First of all, General Conference was wonderful!!!! Nate is in his Internal Med rotation at the hospital, and he was on long call all weekend. So it was the 3 kiddos and myself for Conference, and surprisingly I was able to pay attention to all 4 sessions! Our primary and nursery sent home cute packets for them to do while watching Conference, and that helped a ton. I really enjoyed all the talks and the Spirit that always accompanies Conference weekend. Between sessions today, the girls and I went to walk around the temple, and the weather was BEAUTIFUL!!!! It's the 1st day we've been able to open doors and windows in the morning to let it cool the house off. I think the high today was 85 maybe? But there was a breeze and it was AMAZING weather!!!!

We finally fed Emma rice cereal for the 1st time the other day. As you can see from the pics..she wasn't very impressed. (I guess it's probably not as creamy as what I've been giving her...as you can tell from her chubbas!;o) It was funny because every time I put it in her mouth she looked at me like I had betrayed her trust or something!

And...back out it comes! Yuck mom...are you serious?

And of course, the tub pics. Emma gets to be the guinea pig for the girls' giggle fests in the bath. This time it was the washcloth hat, and for some reason they thought it was hilarious! Good thing Ems is a good sport...