A Sweet Time

I stepped outside to get the mail today and couldn't believe that the sun was shining and it was as warm as could be. This year has been so cold and rainy I just had to take the opportunity to get my little ladies out of the house for another day of fun filled memories. So, I packed us up a picnic lunch and we went to the park. Riley couldn't wait to get there to eat so she had 1/4 of a sandwich before we even left the house! Too exciting... The people walking by, were filled with smiles and comments on what a great day it was for a picnic. That made me feel even better that I wasn't home trying to keep warm in my robe layered over normal clothes and slippers.
It was just a perfect couple of hours. The girls were happy. I was happy. The sun was shining. Ahhhh...


Cailen had a great time covering Ri in leaves, fortunately, she didn't seem to mind.
The girls have had so much fun lately with their butterfly (Riley calls them: "pudd-eye") wings and ballet ("spinning")skirts, I thought I'd bring the wings and let them roam in the open air.


They'll thank me when they are 25!


**For anyone reading this (like my mom) I just want you to know I was hanging on to the girls while taking the pics of them leaning toward the water ;) **

They had fun throwing leaves and moss in the water, Cailen found a stick and pretended to go fishing, Ri yelled out in excitement every time she saw a doggie and I just loved watching my little girls grow up as best friends right before my eyes.

Ribers

Riley has surpassed any of my expectations of her developmentally. Back when I had planned on teaching her sign language around a year old, she started talking, so I didn't bother. She says so many things it astounds me. Right now she's at the point where she attempts to copy 3-4 new words a day that she hears us say. The other day while watching a dvd she said "tigger and pooh" as clear as day. She says she wants to get up, down, out, etc...and uses simple sentences to express this. She refers to her toothbrush as "Ahhh" since you have to go "ahhh" to put it in your mouth and so now she calls toothpaste "Ahhhpay" :) I thought that was clever. She says banana better than Cailen even does currently which is kinda funny. She has taken on our family tradition of calling each other our names ending in "o", Riley-o, Mommy-o, Daddy-o, kitty-o and doggy-o. (the pet ones are new to us-her own creativity at work). The one thing I marvel at is that she really doesn't seem to have a name for Cailen yet. At times she's referred to her as baby, so my curiosity is killing me because I want to know what she will someday refer to her hero as. :) She calls cars "wooooahw" due to the noise they make. Yesterday Cailen was flapping her arms and said she was a bird "tweet." Riley said "too-weet." Then Cailen said, "let's march!" Riley started to march and even said "march." She tried to say Cinderalls repeatedly the other day "Ahrella."

When she gets really excited about something she will almost roar the word related to it like if she sees baby Ben she might roar "Baaaaaby!!!" At other times her excitement will cause her voice to get really high pitched and she repeats what she wants you to know, if you don't respond enough, she will put her face sideways right in front of your face and excitedly tell you one more time. It is one of my favorite things about her personality. (Having her little face craned in front of mine and lit up with the love of something.)

She loves her kitty cat, brushing her teeth, pretending to eat or feed people, pretending to sleep as Cailen tucks her in, reading books, dancing and she also sings. Most of her songs are oddly enough, to the tune of "Are you sleeping brother john?" She freestyles the topics she sings about. She loves her belly which se calls "da beddy." She's finally warming up to daddy in a major way. She's a lover, a snuggler and a total goof ball like her sister. I can't imagine life without either of my sweet girls. :)

She's turning three soon...

I look at this picture and can't believe how grown up my Cailen is getting. She is just such a doll. She has become a total daddy's girl which I always thought would break my heart but it's so precious. Obviously, no matter how much she loves her daddy, she will always need me too. We recently played "Tomorrow" from Annie for her, a few days later she was playing with my hair and quietly started singing "Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya Tomorrow..." I perked up and realized our plan was working! Someday, she'll be ready...just in case Broadway ever calls! :)

Cailen makes up numerous songs every day and dances and makes jokes and her laugh is so silly it's contagious. She's been drawing happy faces and rainbows for months now and has been moving on the other things. Some aren't very distinct but her imagination sees it and it always seems she's trying. She is an artist at heart.

She loves her sister so much. Cailen has a special spot on the couch where she likes to sit and Riley lately has been sitting right next to her. They sit the same direction pull up a blanket and watch Caillou together. The couch is so big, and yet, Riley has to sit with her big sister. It's very cute.

Cailen is finally old enough to pay attention to whatever degree in the nursery at church and to longer stories at home. The other day she brought me her children's Bible and said 'mommy, God made the animals!' At lunch time when we say Grace she helps me say "Thank you Jesus for this food Amen" but she usually likes to add in 'and Daddy.' Because she is so thankful for him. :)

She's an awesome little girl with lots of love and hugs and kisses to give, but don't be offended if you give her a little kiss and she wipes off your "slimers!" even if there's none.
;)

Anyway, I just thought I would mark the last month of her being 2 before she goes ahead and becomes THREE!! :/ Where does the time go?

I was crying my eyes out before minute 2 of this...

In case you missed this link on my Facebook page, I have seen this guy before, but the montage with the music just moved me. I thought I would share it. It's very, very inspiring. I hope there's someone out there who HASN'T seen this guy yet, and if you have, watch it anyway. It's beautiful. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFVGdZOhlL0

Apple Picking: Season 4

The day started off drab and promising of rain. I saw water dripping from the eves outside the church window. I thought our 3 weeks in the making plan was doomed, but by the time church was out, the clouds had cleared. We would meet BahBuh and Yaya
and get them out of a few hours of studying, to participate in our fourth year of tradition. Cailen and Riley have both been apple picking since they were in utero. This was Cailen's "fourth" year and Riley's "third." Crazy since Ri is only 17 months old and Cailen is not yet 3...But the reality is they have been on this earth long enough to say they were here. :]

Caillou was picking apples on tv this week and Cailen actally asked me if we could go apple picking. Little did she know the plans had already been made for this weekend. She was pretty excited about it. Riley was pretty excited that there were "nummies" all over the ground. I had to keep an eye out that she wasn't eating them off the ground while I was trying to take my celebratory pictures. :)


Well it was a fun afternoon and we all came home with a bag of apples each. 3 in total. Yikes!

We picked Kendalls this year. It struck me as funny that I almost wanted to name Riley that, until I heard a woman in a store calling to her daughter Kendall and I didn't really like how it sounded.

I thought this was sweet....