Art Projects and Cold Weather

Gabby has been very into art lately. She is constantly wanting to draw a picture or paint, or whatever else she can think of. It's also been absolutely frigid here, so we haven't been venturing outside unless absolutely necessary. The other night while Darren and I were watching t.v. I spent some time cutting out shapes with construction paper. I cut out all different shapes in all different colors and sizes. Then the next day I got them out for Gabby and also gave her a glue stick and a few sheets of paper. She loved it! She spent at least an hour, if not longer gluing the shapes on the paper to make different patterns and pictures. It is definitely something I'll be keeping up throughout the winter, and let me tell you winter is here!

Better Late Then Never

I guess it's about time I posted my Halloween pictures. Since its been a month and a half. Since I don't really remember that much about Halloween at this point, I'm just going to post the pictures. Gabby was a cave woman and Annie was a butterfly.

A Plan Backfired

So lately we've been having trouble with Gabby staying in her room after we put her to bed. She comes out at least three times every night for various things. Basically, she's a staller, and a very good one. So I came up with a plan that I was pretty sure would work. Tonight when she came out I said in a very pleasant voice, "Well, since you keep coming out you must not be tired, would you like to come down and do some chores?" To which Gabby responded "What chores?" and I said, "Oh I'm sure I can find something." I expected her to say no, that she wanted to go to bed. But no, she wanted to come down and do chores, so I set her to work cleaning out the fridge. I was still pretty sure that after a few minutes she'd be tired of it and ready to go to bed. Wrong again. She had a great time. She sang while she scrubbed and had a big smile on her face the whole time. Then when she was done she wanted to do something else. I told her no, it was time for bed because it was already 8:30 and she had preschool tomorrow. She then proceeded to throw a fit because she wanted to do more chores. But at least my fridge is clean, right!

Gabby gave her first talk in primary today, and she did a great job? She helped me write her talk. The topic was the temple and I asked her questions about the temple and then wrote down her answers in complete sentences. Then we found a picture to go with each sentence so that way she could remember what she was supposed to say and I wouldn't have to be standing there whispering in her ear. She was a little nervous at first but once she got the hang of it she did great!

Camping Trip

Over the weekend we went camping at City of Rocks with a bunch of families from our neighborhood. There were 8 families and 17 kids. Gabby had a blast climbing around on the rocks and playing with her friends. Annie did great! I was a little worried about how she would do, but I kept her up until 10:00 and by then she was so tired that she went right down with no problems. It was a fun trip!

First day of School!

Today was Gabby's first day of preschool! I can't believe my little girl is already old enough to go to preschool! She had a great time, and is already excited to go back tomorrow. Her preschool is just around the corner from our house and a lot of kids from our neighborhood are in her class, which helped her to feel more comfortable. I think Annie enjoyed having some one on one time with mom for the 2 1/2 hours Gabby was gone this morning. She followed me around from room to room while I made beds and cleaned up breakfast, and then she plopped herself down on my lap for some cuddles. It was very cute. 

Yummy Recipe!

Does anybody else love the chicken salad's from Cafe Rio? They're tomatillo ranch dressing is so yummy! I found a recipe that taste's just like it and is sooo easy.  Just thought I'd post the link to it in case anyone's interested. This blog also has a lot of other yummy recipes. 

http://thesistersdish.blogspot.com/2008/08/cilantro-lime-tomatillo-ranch-dressing.html

The Indiana Jones you never knew existed

Gabby likes to have whoever is putting her to bed tell her a story. Darren doesn't do Little Red Riding Hood or The Three Little Pigs, he does Indiana Jones, or Star Wars. Gabby loves them, she sits with her hands covering her mouth waiting to find out what's going to happen. So after one of these oh so exciting stories this is how the conversation went: 

Gabby: Is Indiana Jones a princess?

Darren: No, Indiana Jones is a boy.

Gabby: Indiana Jones is a boy!? (very disappointed) I really want Indiana Jones to be a girl. 

Darren: Okay, if you really want, Indiana Jones can be a girl.

Gabby: Can she wear a dress?

Darren: No, she's an archeologist, she needs to wear khaki pants.

Gabby: I really want her to wear shorts.

Darren: Fine

Gabby: And can she wear a yellow shirt with her name on it?

Darren: Whatever

Suddenly Indiana Jones isn't quite as cool....unless your a three year old girl.

Update

Anabelle:

Annie is just as cute as ever and has started saying quite a few new words. Her newest word is "hi." She says hi to everyone, and continues to say it over and over, and louder and louder until she gets some kind of response. 

Gabby:

Anyone who knows Gabby knows that she is a very cautious little girl and is afraid of everything. On Saturday we went to the park and Gabby wanted me to go down the slide with her. I told her that I was too big to go down the slide and that she was old enough to go down by herself. She, of course, refused. I decided it was time for her to learn to go down the slide by herself. I carried her up to the slide, set her down at the top, and pushed her, screaming, down the slide. Darren was standing at the bottom waiting for her and by the time she got to the bottom she was grinning. She loved it! After that she went up and down the slide by herself for the rest of the time we were at the park. I guess I should have done that a long time ago. Now if I could only get her to ride her bike. 

Book Review

Earlier today Gabby and I were reading stories while Annie played on the floor. Gabby decided that she wanted to read Birthday Monsters, which Annie was looking at at the time. I told Gabby she would have to wait until Annie was done with it, and then we could read it. I figured it would be about 30 seconds, a minute tops and then Annie would be off exploring something else. A half hour later Annie was still carrying that book around with her! It was driving Gabby crazy! I even tried giving her another book, thinking maybe she just wanted a book. Nope. She wanted that specific book. So there you go, a book review from a one year old. Birthday Monsters. 

Yes!

Just a short, cute video. Please ignore the crazy hair!

The Beach

This was Anabelle's first trip to the beach and she loved it! She had a great time playing in the sand and dipping her toes in the water.

Gabby also had a great time. She would go play in the water and come back freezing cold, but happy. After she warmed herself up in a towel she was ready to go back to the water. This is her new swimming suit this year. Not only does it keep her more protected from the sun, I think it's super cute. She calls herself a surfer girl while she's wearing it. 

Disneyland!

We were so lucky to be able to go to Disneyland while we were out in California visiting my dad. Gabby was so excited, and we had so much fun. It was a very long day, but it was very fun. One of the first things we were able to see were some of the characters that were out greeting kids as they came into the park. Gabby was able to say hi to Goofy. 

Anabelle was SO GOOD! She spent almost the whole day in her stroller and she handled it so well. What a cutie!

Gabby and I went on the Dumbo ride together, she had a great time pulling the lever and making the elephant go up and down.

We had to go on the tea cups. Gabby seemed to be having a great time as we made the tea cup spin faster and faster. Then all of a sudden she leaned over and started looking a little sick so we made sure to stop spinning. That didn't stop her from saying she wanted to go on the tea cups again later that day.

I think the highlight of Gabby's day was being able to meet the princesses. We had to wait in line for quite a while, but for Gabby it was totally worth it. It was really cute the way they had it set up. There were three princesses there and each had their own little area. The girls got to go in one at a time and talk to each princess individually. It was very cute. Gabby got to meet and talk to Belle, Ariel and Jasmine.

This is Gabby sitting on a chair in Mickey's house. Funny Story: As we were walking into Toontown (if you're not familiar with Disneyland that's where all the characters "live.") Minnie came out of her house accompanied by a Disneyland worker. Gabby was shouting "Minnie, Minnie!" but Minnie didn't hear her. Minnie and the worker walked down a little side street and disappeared behind a door. All the other kids were happy to stand back and watch Minne walk away, but not Gabby. She took off down the street at fast as she could trying to get to the door, all the time yelling "Minnie, Minnie!" It was so funny and so cute!

Just another example of how great Annie was. I made sure to have her blanket and her monkey that she always sleeps with. I just laid the stroller back and she went right to sleep, she took a great nap.

Over in California Adventure they had "Dot's Puddle Park." Gabby was starting to drag by this time of the day, but after a few minutes playing in the water she was re energized and ready to go. Anabelle enjoyed the water also.

Gabby and Bubba (my dad) driving the bumper cars. 

California Here We Come!

We left for California at 1:00 this morning. Our hope was that the kids would sleep and we could get the first half of our drive done before they woke up, for the most part it worked. They did wake up when we put them in the car, and it took about an hour and a half for them to go back to sleep, but they were very good during that time. Then they slept all the way to St. George. After that there was a lot of movie watching for Gabby, and toy playing for Annie. I was a little nervous about how Annie would handle the trip, but she was excellent! I packed a bag full of toys for her and when she wasn't sleeping she was happy to play with her toys one at a time. About 8 hours into our trip we stopped at a place called Calico. It's an old ghost town that is now a tourist trap, but it was a fun place for the kids, and Darren, to take a break. 

She missed it!

So on Mothers Day all the primary kids were going to sing in sacrament meeting. We were running a tiny bit late and got there just as sacrament was starting so we didn't get a program. A ways into the first talk Gabby said she had to go potty, so we went potty and just as we were coming back into the chapel the kids were singing the last note of their song. Gabby was so upset she stood in the middle of the aisle and said (pretty loudly) "I missed it! I missed it" It was so sad! I have to say I was disappointed too, I was looking forward to being able to see and hear her sing. This isn't the first time the primary kids have sung in sacrament meeting since Gabby became a Sunbeam, but the last time I was up there with them playing the piano so I didn't get to see. I would have loved to see Gabby up there singing on Mothers Day. I guess there's always next year right?

Party Time!!

Annie's first birthday is on Monday so we had her party today. I can't believe my little girl is one. This year has gone by so fast!

We got Annie to show us how old she is, it took a lot of coaxing to get this shot!

Her big sister and cousins were more then happy to help open the presents.

And the best part.....THE CAKE! This was her first ever taste of cake, and she loved it!

Easter

Darren and I hid Eater eggs all around the house Saturday night after the kids went to bed. I woke up Sunday morning to the sounds of Gabby rummaging through her Easter basket in the kitchen and trying to open up all the eggs she had already found. Most of the eggs were for Gabby with candy in them, but there were a few for Annie with animal crackers in them. Annie mostly just wanted to play with the empty eggs. 

Baby Animal Days

We went to baby animal days on Friday, and although it was fun, it could have been better. I decided to go on Friday because it was supposed to rain on Saturday (it didn't, but oh well). Darren decided that he wanted to come so he took a long lunch and came with us. There were a TON of people there. Gabby wanted to go on the pony ride, but the line was sooo long that by the time we were done doing that there would have been no time to do anything else before Darren had to go back to work. I convinced her that we should go get a balloon from the Macey's booth instead. We did get to pet a few animals, but there were just sooo many people that we didn't get to do much. Maybe we'll try again next year and go first thing in the morning. 

Gabby kept saying she was hungry, which didn't actually mean she was hungry, since we ate lunch right before we went, it just mean she saw everyone else eating food and she wanted some too. So I debated, do I buy my child popcorn, which was $6 a bag, but slightly more healthy, or do I go for the cheap $1 sucker. The picture says it all. 

Gabby holding a baby turtle

Gabby and Anabelle with the Easter Bunny, of course they wouldn't look at the camera

Questions, Questions, Questions

Gabby has always been a pretty curious little girl, but lately it seems like the questions have quadrupled. She wants to know what every animal in the world eats, she wants to know what every word she sees says. She must ask me a million questions a day. Now don't get me wrong, I'm very glad that she's inquisitive and want's to know about things, and most of the time I'm more then happy to answer her bazillion questions, but there are days when I wish that girl had a mute button!

She loves that sippy cup!

I decided that since Annie is going to be turning one in just a little over a month (I still can't believe it.) it was time to start getting her used to a sippy cup, so we can get rid of that bottle. So yesterday while Gabby was having a little snack in the afternoon I put Annie in her highchair with a graham cracker and a little bit of water in a sippy cup and let her try it out. She loved it! She actually cried when I tried to take it away. Today I gave it to her again with some formula while I fixed the rest of her lunch and she drank almost the whole 5 oz. all by herself. She needed a little bit of help tipping it up when it got down to the end, but other then that she did great! I think soon we'll be able to get rid of the bottle completely.

Finally!

Annie can scoot! Today I was vacuuming and she was sitting and playing on the floor with her toys and I turned around to look at her and she was going after the vacuum cord. She's still being a little lazy and she'll only go as far as she absolutely has to before her fingertips just barely reach what she wants and then she stops, and you have to find just the right thing to bribe her with. But we're making progress! I tried to get a video, but of course she wouldn't do it anymore once I got the camera out. 

Poor Gabby

Last night after dinner Darren took the girls to go and run a few errands. They were gone for awhile and I was in Gabby's room putting away a few of her toys when they got back. I could hear Gabby crying before they even got in the house and I heard Darren say "Go show mom what happened." It turned out that Darren accidentally slammed Gabby's hand in the car door. He had put her in her car seat and just as he was closing the door she stuck her hand out. Her poor fingers were all bruised and swollen. So the above picture is Gabby sitting on our bed, watching Backyardigans while she eats a banana and puts ice on her fingers. Poor girl!

Yummy!

Okay, so I have a confession. I struggle when it comes to baking anything from scratch, especially if that something requires yeast and rising. But the other day I decided to try to make some cinnamon rolls, I found a good recipe online and Gabby and I spent the morning baking. I didn't have high hopes, but let me tell you they turned out pretty yummy! Even Darren liked them and he's kind of hard to please when it comes to that kind of stuff. Yay!