Catch up Time

I know I haven't posted in a REALLY long time. I'll try to quickly catch you up on what's been going on with the girls. Hopefully from now on I'll do better at keeping this thing up to date, but no promises.

Gabby

I took Gabby a few weeks ago for her kindergarten registration. They did a little assessment and she got a cute little t-shirt. I can't believe she's already old enough to go to kindergarten. She's ready though, I just know she's going to love it.

Annie

Annie is potty trained! I've been wanting to do it since Lia was born, but I just could never get up the energy until about 2 months ago. I'm so glad I finally did it. It was so easy! She was definitely ready. I also signed her up for preschool next year. She is very excited. She sees Gabby getting to do all these fun things at preschool and asks all the time when she gets to go.

Lia

Lia is 7 months old! We just got her ears pierced last week and she looks so cute! She's getting so big and starting to do so many cute things. She rolls all over the place, sits up, waves and gives kisses. She's also starting to jabber quite a bit (mainly she says da-da, but we don't have to talk about that). She also has two teeth coming in on the bottom so she's been a little grumpy lately, but for the most party she's a really easy going baby.

Gabby's Quote of the Day

"Wake up Lia! You're not nocturnal!"

She's Here!

She's finally here. Lia Mae Arnold was born Thurs. Aug. 12 at 5:36 p.m. She was 7 lbs. 5 oz. and 19 inches long. As you can see from the picture she has lots of dark hair, which has turned out to be a trend with my girls. I actually went into labor on my own this time, which was a first for me. Although it was exciting, it was also a little stressful. She was two weeks early, which meant she decided to be born right when Darren's parents were out of town. Luckily I was able to call on a friend to watch my girls for me and everything went smoothly (thanks again Chris!). So far everythings going well. Gabby and Annie just love their little sister. More pictures to come later!

Catch up time

It's been a long time since a posted anything, and a lot has been going on so I'm going to try to play catch up. Only 4 weeks to go until my due date, and all I have to say is 4 weeks is too long! I didn't think that being pregnant through the heat of the summer would bother me because I'm the person thats usually freezing when its 80 degrees out, but it has been sooo hot. Darren thinks I'm crazy. You know the movie Father of the Bride 2? Where they have the air conditioner turned way down and everyone else is running around the house in winter coats? I wish that was my house.

Gabby Can Read

Gabby learned to read in pre-school this year. She picked it up really fast and has been doing really well with it ever since. She loves to sit down and read books to Darren and I. Lately though she's been reading with expression and its so cute!

Fun Fourth!

We went down to Salt Lake for the Fourth of July and watched fireworks and the park with Grandma and Grandpa and the cousins. The girls had a blast! At the park they also had a little carnival with lots of rides. Annie was a little hesitant at Knotts Berry Farm, but that was not the case here. She couldn't get enough of the rides. When it came time for the fireworks Annie wasn't a big fan. She laid down with her eyes closed and pretended to be asleep. I laid down next to her and every once in awhile I'd catch her peeking and she'd whisper "there's a pink one" "there's a green one."

California

We were able to take a trip out to California to visit my dad and take a trip to Knotts Berry Farm. Annie was old enough this time that she was able to go on some of the rides, and Gabby was old enough that she could do some of the rides by herself and was also able to do some of the more grown up rides with an adult.

Annie's Birthday

My little girl turned 2 years old! I can hardly believe it. We had a fun little party for her down at Grandma's house. She got this cute little pink scooter which she loved! The funny thing is when I bought the scooter I was actually thinking it would end up being more for Gabby then for Annie. I had been wanting to get a scooter for Gabby, but couldn't justify spending the money when it wasn't Christmas or her birthday. Then when Annie's birthday came along and I couldn't think if a single thing to get for her I thought I would just get the scooter and they could both use it. I didn't think Annie would be that interested in it, but she loved it, which was great!

Only Gabby...

I have to start this story by telling you that lately Gabby has had a fascination with tape. Every art project that she does at home has to have tape on it somewhere. I have to ration her tape use, if I didn't we'd probably go through a roll a day. So the other day we were driving in the car and Gabby is talking to me all about Jesus dying on the cross. (I know, weird transition, just stay with me here) So she's telling me the whole story about Him having to carry the cross and how they put nails in His hands and feet. Then the conversation goes like this.

Gabby: That might have hurt.

Me: I'm sure that it did.

Long Pause

Gabby: They should have taped Him up there.

She said it so seriously, I had to try very hard not to laugh!

Girl Number 3

I just had my ultrasound this morning and it looks like we're having another girl. I quickly got over the slight disappointment that it wasn't the boy I was hoping for and now I'm just ready for delivery. Too bad I still have 20 weeks to go (actually probably 19 since I tend to bother my doctor until she induces me a week early)! From the ultrasound it looks like I'm going to have a shy girl on my hands. She had her face completely hidden behind her hands, and her legs crossed. The ultrasound tech. was getting very frustrated because he couldn't get a good shot, then she finally decided to cooperate and uncrossed her legs just long enough for us to tell that yes, she actually is a girl. Do you think that's shyness, or just plain stubborness? Hmmm. If anyone has any super cute girl names that they're willing to share I'm all ears!

What we've been up to

I haven't posted anything in awhile so I just thought I'd let everyone know what we've been up too. Not anything too exciting. As you can see from the above picture, Annie's decided it's fun to take her clothes off several times a day. Most often when she's supposed to be in her crib taking a nap. Gabby's latest activity has to been to change her clothes several times a day to different combinations of shorts and tank tops. Some battles just aren't worth fighting, I told her if we go anywhere she has to put on warm, matching clothes, other then that she can wear whatever she wants, I don't care. We went outside and played today after nap time, the sun was shining and it felt so nice outside. When we finally came in so that I could get started on dinner I got on the computer to see what the high was today. It felt so nice I figured it had to be somewhere in the forties. Nope, 36 degrees. How sad is that when 36 degrees feels so nice! I am so ready for spring!

Pure sugar anyone?

This is a picture of Gabby eating a Fun Dip that she got at her preschool Valentines Day party. It's her first one. So what do you think? Am I a horrible mother for letting my 4 year old daughter eat a sugar stick dipped in bright green sugar from a pouch? Probably.

A Conversation with Annie

This morning Darren was sitting on the couch and Annie came over and licked his pant leg.

Darren: Why did you just lick me?

Annie: Cuz...I like you.

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!