Fat Rody

One of Charlotte's favorite things to play is feeding her Rody horse. She loves that thing.

Nutcracker Convert

Elise reading the scriptures to her Nutcracker Barbie

Block Towers

Five Cents to Ride

Charlotte riding the pony for a nickel at the Children's Museum in Indianapolis

Day 27-Mirror, Mirror

Vera loves to see the cute baby in the mirror.

Day 26.2-Pete the Cat

I already posted for today, but this is my blog so I get to make the rules, right? I'm a sucker for kids' art and writing. I think it is so adorable.

If you haven't heard of Pete the Cat, you should read some of his stories. He's a favorite around here.

Elise drew Pete in his favorite shirt with his four, big, colorful, round, groovy buttons. So cute.

side-by-side comparison

Day 26-Lips

Vera has the best lips. I'm in love.

Day 25-Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ Love Me

Elise gave a talk today in Primary, and she did amazing! I stood by her to help her, but she didn't need any help at all from me. She confidently read the entire thing by herself and did so great. She also colored that crest she is wearing, cut it out, and poked a hole in it. (That was awhile ago, so it's pretty wrinkled now.) CTR stands for "choose the right." I'm so proud of my big girl!

Day 24-Indianapolis Temple

We drove north to use our gift certificates for See's Candies (yum!), and we drove by the temple to see the progress that has been made on its construction. We can't wait for it to be finished this summer! It will be open to the public for an open house from July 17-August 8, 2015, and the dedication will be August 23. We love the temple!

Day 23-Tutus, Tickling, and Airplanes

I let the other girls nap too late so I could spend some much-needed one-on-one time with Elise. She is amazing.

You know it has been a good tickle session when it ends with, "I'm gonna pee in my panties!"

Day 22-Morning Snuggles and Hand-holding

What could be better than snuggling with your sister in your pajamas in the morning?

Day 21-It's Important to Be Silly

Don't worry, I'm teaching Elise all the important things in life.

Like how to write words on a calculator turned upside down.

This picture was Elise's idea. I love my sweet girls.

And she's teaching me how much fun life can be.

Day 20-Proud Big Sister

Ignore the unfolded laundry and the mess and Charlotte's messy hair. Just look at how proud Charlotte is to be holding baby Vera. Charlotte loves Vera fiercely (and sometimes violently, making her cry when she pinches her cheeks too hard). Sisters are a blessing.

Day 19-Strung Up

Elise loves to tie strings. She makes some pretty gnarly knots, and we often find things like this:

Gotta love her.

Also, I know my husband loves me because he bakes me gluten free cookies for no particular reason. He's a keeper.

Day 18-Jane Eyre

I just finished rereading my favorite book of all time, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. I had forgotten how exquisite it is!

Day 17-A Baby and Her Ball

Vera's favorite ball

Day 16-Leaf Pile

Charlotte loves to jump in "leaf piles." Today she dumped out all of the dress up clothes so she could pretend she was jumping in a pile of leaves. I took this picture just as she was putting on a glove and telling me, "Mom, I have magic in my hands, so I have to wear gloves." Too much Frozen, maybe?

Then later, a meltdown that ended in her "hiding" in the baby swing. Being two is hard, guys, it really is.

Day 15-It's What's Inside That Counts

Elise started randomly crying one day because she didn't know what the inside of a throat looks like. Um, okay? So then we looked up diagrams on the internet of throats, then hearts, then brains. She has asked about what the inside of the body looks like repeatedly since. Future doctor maybe? She has the stamina for it.

We went to the library briefly today, and while we were there we asked the librarian in the kids' section to help us find books about the human body. Well, the librarian did even better than that. Our amazing public library has kits on all kinds of subjects. The one we checked out about the human body was a backpack with x-rays, books about the body, a game with body trivia (over our girls' heads still), and--our favorite part--this amazing apron thing. The organs velcro on. Elise thought it was the best thing ever and told me she was going to wear it always.

The brain headband is pretty great, right?

The kidneys on the back add that special touch.

Of course, Charlotte had to have a turn too.

Day 14-Say Apple!

I love this smile (and this girl!) with all my heart.

Day 13-Hold Me

All Vera has wanted today is to be held. Sick babies are so sad. But at least I get to enjoy her snuggles.

Day 12-Touch Your Toes

This cute chub loves grabbing her toes.

Vera is now almost 5 months old! She had a doctor's appointment today (poor kid caught what Charlotte has), and she is now 18 lbs 6 oz! That is dressed, with a wet diaper, but that is up from 17 lbs just a couple of weeks ago. She was 27 inches then, which I'm guessing hasn't changed much since. We love this growing, beautiful girl!

Day 11-Name Scramble

Charlotte surprised us when we realized she knew the order of the letters in her name! She can find the right letter out of the bunch and slide it over in the correct sequence, but by the end her name looks a little scrambled. But she's getting it! And I thought she would have a hard time with such a long name. She showed me!

Day 10-Blackberries

Elise saw blackberries on a grocery store ad a few days ago and kept asking for them, insisting that she loves them. So we bought her some not knowing if she would like them since we don't usually buy blackberries. She really did love them and gobbled up as many as we would give her.

Day 9-Poor Charlotte

Poor Charlotte has been sick. She fell asleep on the couch, which never happens. Her "dozing dog" (named for The Napping House by Audrey Wood) and her butterfly blanket soothe her when she isn't feeling well. Also, she loves that blue jacket. She had the chills so I put it on her, poor kid.

Day 8-Raffi the Duck

We've been sick, so we pulled out our trusty duck humidifier. Elise named it Raffi. She likes to wear the top like a hat. She has been doing that forever.

June 2013

Day 7-Pink, Blue, and Belly Laughs

Charlotte didn't want to wear jeans today, so she ended up wearing this fabulous pink-on-pink ensemble, with blue accents of course since blue is her favorite color. She cried to wear those blue socks, which are Vera's and way too small. We stayed in today since Charlotte has a pretty mean cold, so I guess it doesn't really matter. Also, it was crazy cold today.

#ootd
Love that dimple.

Charlotte loves to cover her eyes and "hide from the sharks!"

This is what I got when I asked her to smile, the goof.

Vera adores Elise. All Elise has to do is babble nonsense at Vera to get some great belly laughs. I love how much they love each other. Sisters are the best.

won't take her eyes off Elise

such a beautiful baby

Elise had been making Vera laugh for several minutes when I took this,
an activity that entertains them both. Makes my life easier, and my heart happy!

Day 6-Snowy Day

We got some snow, and Elise begged me to  help her build a snowman. The snow wouldn't stick together at all though, so we ended up with a pile. I did the best I could, but the result was pretty sad. I wanted a quick picture of Elise before we went inside, but she was cold so this is her trying to smile. But the sunset was beautiful! The picture doesn't do it justice.

world's most pathetic excuse for a snowman

poor Arizona kid

The girls loved all the pink.

Day 5-Daniel Tiger Obsession

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood is a big part of our lives recently. Both the older girls like it, but Charlotte is obsessed. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that they watch two episodes pretty much every day. Lately the same two episodes, over and over. My brain is due to turn to mush any time now.

Really, though, it could be worse. Like Teletubbies. *shudder*

Charlotte delighting in her favorite show.
This is how she zones out, with her left thumb in her mouth while she feels her hair elastic with her right hand.

Charlotte got these toys and this book for Christmas. Fuel for the fire.

Day 4-Pre-Church Play Doh, Fridge Magnets, and a Roly Baby

Today was the first Sunday of the new year, and our church time changed from 9am to 1pm. I prefer 9am, since 1pm is Charlotte's naptime, but it was nice to have some time to play together this morning before church. The girls love play doh. I even let Vera touch some today.

(Also, I have noticed that a lot of pictures so far have been the kids in their pajamas. I promise that's a coincidence and that they get dressed every day.)

Elise with her play doh family

Charlotte was being a stinker and tasting some even though she knew she wasn't supposed to.

Then later I was working with Charlotte on her name with our fridge magnets. I would tell her the next letter, and she would pick it out of the group of letters and put it in its place. Poor kid has nine letters and a confusing beginning sound, so I suspect we will be working on her name for a while.

Last, but not least, Vera has finally started to really roll from her belly to back! She has been able to do it for a while now if you position her arms for her, but she is finally getting her arms out in front enough that she is rolling on her own more often. It's hard work to roll over when you're four and a half months old and 17 pounds, the poor little chunker! We love this beautiful, growing babe and enjoy her blossoming personality every day.

Obviously, this is more than one photo from today. I don't want to limit myself to one if I feel like posting more, but the plan is to post at least one photo each day. I'm having fun so far!