The Pumpkin Patch

Grammy and the Girls...

Snuggles

My thoughts are with those in the middle of Hurricane Sandy. My lovelies are snuggled safe in their beds tonight and my hope is that wherever you are, you are safe and warm. Take care of yourselves.

I Love Fall!

And sweet toddler curls!

Superman Onesies Aren't Just for Boys

Aliyah Says...

Aliyah got a hold of some barbies today (we don't have any at our house... yet) and when Barbie's beautiful gown fell down and her top was *ahem* exposed... Aliyah gave me the doll.

Aliyah: Mommy Help!! Her Milk!!

Typical Girl

Have your man (Papa) hold your purse for you so that you can shop or do other important things like collect fall leaves.

Aliyah Says...

Aliyah: I forgot my name
Me: Oh no! You forgot your name?
Aliyah: Yes!! But I remember that I am 5

K...S...U... WILDCATS

Unless you are Aliyah who says "K-R-S Cat Cats" no matter how many times we try and tell her it is KSU... oh well!

The Wildcats are having an excellent football season this year which makes the weekends a ton of fun for Daddy (especially since the Chiefs are having a hard time pulling it together).

We didn't attend KSU but have family members who did. YaYa even taught there for many years. We are wildcats at heart (GO BAKER) so it feels natural to cheer for KSU too! Plus, the girls look great in purple!!

Mermaid In the Making

San Diego

Aliyah Says...

Aliyah: I have hiccups! I have blue hiccups.

From the Land of Big Girl Achievemnets

SMILES!!!

POTTY: Miss Aliyah has decided all on her own that she is finished with diapers by simply refusing to wear them. This all started around the same time I posted about how I was no longer going to rush my daughters to their next milestones while I just enjoy the moment - I am proven time and time again that Aliyah will lead the way when she is ready.

Since she told me she was a big girl and wasn't wearing diapers, I thought we better go to the store and have her pick out her very own big girl underwear. We found the little girls section with dora and tinker bell and barbie (all of which she knows nothing about). We finally spot a package of princess undies - now we're talking! She is very happy to have her new skivvies but informs me that she wants Buzz Light Year. Mmmmmmmm.... I don't see any underwear with Buzz.

Well ladies and gentlemen, they do not make girl underwear with Buzz Light Year. So... we find a package in the boy section (with the little cross over piece in the front) and Aliyah is so very happy to have Buzz in one hand and princesses in the other.

She favors the princess under roos but it still makes me chuckle that she loves Buzz so much... and that we have little boy underwear in our house!

She has only had a few (two or three) accidents and basically potty trained herself. I really believe that using sign language has helped encouraged communication early on (she started asking to "potty" at 15 months old) as well as using cloth diapers.

Tyler was helping move laundry over to the dryer and shouts out to me that he thinks he might cry. I ask if everything is okay. He says yes, but got choked up to see little girl underwear in the wash. We are so proud of our "big" girl but still get blown back at times by how grown up she is becoming. It's a good thing :)

LEARNING AT HOME: Aliyah would always tell you her name is "Ali" but now says her full name "A-LEE-LA" (so cute) and even knows her last name if you ask her.

We have been talking about weather lately and she will give you the weather forecast (also in sign language) if you ask her.

SMILES: As for Miss Everly, her grunts and puppy noises have slowly turned to sweet coos. She has also mastered her smile. It is beautiful. Sometimes you can even catch her laughing in her sleep.

2 Months

My Dearest Everly,

On Saturday you turned TWO months old!! You are topping the charts: 90% in height (24in) and 97% in weight (13lbs 4oz). You are the cutest roly poly baby and are so very happy!! It is such a joy to be your mama.

You have been busting out your ridiculously huge grin now for a few weeks. It makes all four of us squeal when someone catches one. Whoever is gifted by your upturned lips feels like they won a prize shouting for the other members of our family to come see how big they were able to make you smile.

It is so cute how much you grunt and kick. You only cry out when you are hungry, but most of the time I can feed you before you even make a peep. The most I have heard you cry was at your two month check-up this past Friday when you received your first shots. Luckily, your tears didn't last long and you were all smiles once again.

You love your big sister, car rides, snuggles from mom & dad and slobbery dog kisses.

You Are My Sunshine

Everly Jean 

 Aliyah Jacquelyn

my loves

Swimming with Dolphins

Tyler is an amazing man. The dedication and love he has for his daughters and me. The sacrifice and service he gives of himself for our family in order to balance our lives, his job and studies at school. His gifts are always meaningful and full of love, and what he did for my 30th birthday will be added to the many reasons why my husband is so amazing!

I don't know if any of you have seen the clip of Kristen Bell's Sloth Meltdown, but that is almost exactly how my dolphin surprise played out.

We went to San Diego for my birthday, and I was under the impression that the trip was my birthday gift. Tyler had us scheduled to spend my actual birthday at Sea World. He was rushing me all morning (nothing out of the ordinary) and when we finally arrived in Sea World he said he needed to take me somewhere. Completely oblivious, I thought he was trying to get me to guest services because he had told me earlier that he was going to make me wear a birthday button.

He took me to a small gift shop - It didn't look like guest services. I started to look around and saw lots of pictures with people hugging dolphins. At this point I am starting to get real excited!! "OH TYLER!" I shouted. "Is this where I can stand by a green screen and get a picture that looks like I am with a dolphin?!?"

note: Tyler's and my parents got really cute pictures like that at the San Diego Zoo a few days ago with a baby panda. Tyler knows I love dolphins (it's a Tri-Delta thing), so I thought he had set-up something similar for me here.

Tyler tells me "no" with a huge smile on his face. This is where I start to freak out. "Those are real dolphins, aren't they? I know they are! They are real?" This is also when I start crying (looking through theses pictures I get tears in my eyes). It is truly ridiculous my friends.

I was crying because I was so excited. Because I knew that this was an experience not everyone gets to have. Because how thoughtful and amazing my husband was to do something like this for me. It was all just so much to take in.

I had NO IDEA! I had tears running down my face the whole time I was in the water, the waiting time before we got in the water and probably about 30 minutes after we were out of the water. It. Was. Awesome.

I hugged, kissed, pet and swam with a sweet dolphin on my 30th birthday. What an amazing way to celebrate!

Sunshine and Seashells

My love for the ocean is undeniable. The first sight of sandy beaches, the smell of salty waves, the crisp cool ocean breeze - I turn into a little girl on Christmas morning, with silver dollar-sized eyes and high-pitched squeals.

Tyler asked what I wanted for my birthday and it was easy to answer. I value time together and life experiences. My birthday wish would be to travel with my family and experience a new adventure together (and I mentioned that the ocean would be nice).

Tyler planned everything. We invited everyone in our families to join us who could. It was absolutely amazing! Although, going to the beach 6 weeks after having a baby wasn't the best choice when it came to squeezing into a swimsuit, but really - who cares when you are surrounded by the people who love you the most.

One of the highlights was watching my darling girls experience the beach exactly the way I had dreamed they would...

Aliyah running down the shoreline, jumping in the waves, building sandcastles, digging trenches and coating herself in a healthy layer of sand. Everly sleeping peacefully in the shade of her stroller with the crashing waves as her lullaby. My heart was overflowing at the sight of it. Seeing my babies together on the beach, enjoying family and this special day together. It was one of my greatest gifts!

The Big 3 - 0

I always expected I’d hate this birthday. Being young, doing youthful things has always been something I’ve clung to. I have been guilty of looking back on my childhood and the passing of the carefree years of my life with an over sentimentality for what was.

Some parts of my soul stopped growing at eight. and sixteen. and twenty. and there are days when I only want to see the world through the eyes of the girl I was at those ages.

But here I am, the very first days of my thirtieth year on this big world and I am feeling sublimely peaceful. My twenties were a helluva ride - some of the best years of my life - but when I look at what I have today and what I had ten years ago - I wouldn’t trade places for even a minute. I spent the last ten years finding out who I wanted to be, discovering who would be the love of my life, learning what it meant to be a self sufficient adult, and more recently, how to be a mother.

With those lessons tucked closed to my heart, I feel nothing but excited anticipation for what lies ahead. I hope a piece of my soul stops growing at thirty too. And I can look back in as many years with the same weepy over-sentimentality that I do now. I’ll see myself as this very woman - trying her best as a wife, as a mother, and in her "career" adventures  - and I’ll smile that same smile I now reserve for that knobby kneed 8 year old on her backyard tire swing. For that busy teenager singing loudly with the windows down in her first car. For the twenty year old version of myself as she learned to juggle her college courses, a part time job, and living on her own.

I am thirty years old today and it’s a good place to be.