Bliss

Paul and I have been married eight years today. I went through our wedding album to find this picture and it seems like that was us a life time ago. Paul has a few more grey hairs and I have a few more pounds but we also have more love for each other then we did on the day we were married. I look forward to another eight years and all that comes with it.

Natalie's School

I got a letter in the mail inviting us to orientation for Natalie's Preschool. We also got a school supply list. I know it is stupid but I was so excited to get that. I can't wait to go school shopping with Natalie. There was also a school schedule for activities that are planned for the school year and there is a Christmas program. I told Paul that we need to buy a video camera before the program. That will make my Christmas. I also noticed there was a grandparents day. I told Mimi and she was so excited about that. If you can't tell I am so looking forward to sending Natalie to school. Natalie is so smart and cute I think she will do great but every mother says that about their child.

Cutie Kate

She is so cute! I so wish I could lay down and take a nap everyday.

Time with the Martins

This weekend we had some of the Martins come into town and stay with us for a couple of days. We had a blast and it was great for Nat and Kate to spend some time with their cousins. We got to use every seat at the dinner table finally. Everyone was so helpful when it came to getting dinner ready and setting the table. I got the real feeling of having a big family and it is a lot of work but I do have to admit that it was fun.

Guitar Hero was played all weekend long and when it wasn't your turn to play yet everyone was parked on the couch until they were up.

Natalie was so glad the Lane was here. She loved playing with him and he would wrestle with her. I think she like having boys around to play with. Amos and Michelle came by and we took everyone to Bullwinkle's. I think everyone had a blast. I got up early on Sunday before they left and made cupcakes with Taylor and Natalie. Taylor wanted to make cupcakes so bad but when it was time to put the frosting and the sprinkles on she had lost interest. Paul's sister Liz loves kids and Kate was her buddy all weekend long. Anytime I told Kate no to something she would go running to Liz and ask. Of course Liz was a good aunt and gave in to her every time.

We had so much fun that I can't wait till Christmas till we all get together again.

Breaking Dawn

So I finished the book in 36 hours and it was so good. It totally answered all the open questions and I couldn't put it down. I had Paul come home early from work so I could pick the book up at midnight. There were people of all age so I didn't feel so out of place. and of course there were people dressed up as vampires. Then there were some kids dressed up in formal dresses. I didn't understand that but to each their own. Overall I loved the book and the ending was perfect. I will probably be reading it again soon just to make sure I got everything. I read the book kind of fast because I was excited to see what would happen next that I might have missed somethings.

Potty training

We have started potty training with Kate and I have decided to take a completely different approach then I did with Natalie. We are going really slow. I let her keep her diaper on and every so often I will ask her if she has to go potty. She has told me no a couple of times but she has said yes quite a few times and wants to go sit on the potty. This is only day two and and she has peed and pooped in the toilet. With Natalie I started her the day after she turned two and then I made her try and go potty every hour. I think I put to much pressure on her to pick it up quickly and it back fired. Plus I have learned with Natalie she does everything at her pace. The only bump we have hit with Katelyn so far is that she knows when she is in the bathroom and goes potty she gets candy. So sometimes it is a struggle to get her out of the bathroom. The progress is good and I think if we just let her go at her pace she will do better and probably potty train faster then Natalie. We are not even close to being out of diapers yet but I am so looking forward to it

Cupcakes

We decided to make some cupcakes and yes both of my girls are half naked. Clothes seem to be totally optional around my house lately. We made chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting and a little bit of sprinkles for the girls. Katelyn normally doesn't eat a lot of sweets but she inhaled this. She even ate some of the wrapper. I went to clean up the table after they were done and I could only find half of Katelyn's wrapper then I saw one of the pictures and it was in her mouth.

Stubborn Kate

Kate has decided lately that she doesn't want to go to bed when it is time. So this is her latest stall tactic. She figures if she doesn't look at you and you can't see her face then she doesn't have to listen to you. Also as you can tell from the video Natalie couldn't let Katelyn get all of the camera action.

Dress appeal

Natalie has decided that she is old enough to pick out her own outfits now. I love the coordination and the colors match perfectly. It is also suppose to be 90 degree's today, I think she might get a little hot. Also this is only the first outfit for the day. When she goes down for her nap she changes outfits while she is supposed to be sleeping and then sometime in the early evening she gets into another one. Paul I have been discussing what we are going to do in the future and we had to decided if I was going to work swing or day shift at my next job. Well Natalie starts preschool in the fall and this picture totally pushed me to working swing shift. If Paul was responsible for getting Natalie dress and ready for school I am afraid that she would show up in outfits like this. Paul doesn't really understand fashion at all and I know that surprises everyone. I don't want to have the dirty grubby kid in the class.

S'mores

We decided that it would be fun to do some s'mores. We haven't done this with the kids yet and it had been awhile since Paul and I cooked s'mores.

I forgot how good they taste and the girls seemed to enjoy them too.

Preschool

Natalie has officially been signed up for Preschool. She starts Sept. 2 and is so excited. I am a little nervous though. She will be around a bunch of new people and hopefully I won't have any parent teacher conferences right off the bat.

4th of July

We had the girls get in their PJ's before we went out to do the fireworks. We told them we needed to wait until dark so they planted themselves at the bottom of the stairs and waited (not so patiently). They were a little hesitant at the beginning but warmed up and weren't so freaked out after the first couple fireworks went off. We had the opportunity do hang out with some friends and also some family but we decided to just to have are own fireworks show and stay home. The girls stayed on the tailgate of the truck and handed the fireworks to Paul. We just brought fireworks at a local stand so nothing went any higher then six feet in the air. Lame I know but I think the big ones that we normally buy off a reservation would have freaked Katelyn out. The girls wouldn't even hold the sparklers.

Over all is was a fun night and the girls really enjoyed themselves. Paul did a great job with the fireworks although at one point he was growing tried of the lame fireworks so he started lighting multiple ones at the same time. One of the times he left one to close and Natalie, Kate and I were on the truck and had to jump up and run to the back of it. Everyone was OK and to my surprised no one cried.

Kate's 2!!!!!!

I can't believe my youngest is already two!!! Her birthday was great and I found this place in Portland that specialize in cupcakes. I thought it would be a little different and something special for Kate.

She loved the gifts that she got and Natalie was right on her tail to help her play with them. Kate played with toys for about a day but then Natalie had to have her turn. Thanks to everyone for coming and enjoying her party!

Cute little Sadie

Sadie is such a cute smiley baby.

Even when she is eating a pickle.....

Or just hanging out.....

What a cutie!!!!

Time with Sadie

This trip was completely different from any other trips where my girls got to spend time with their cousin Sadie. Natalie wanted to play with her all the time and she was always piling toys in front of Sadie so she would always have toys to play with. She also wanted to hold her this time too. Natalie was really into babies and it was so sweet to she her play with Sadie.

Katelyn in the past never wanted anything to do with babies and would take the toys away from them. This time she tried to tickle Sadie and even sat next to her a lot. The only bad part was that she wanted to help Sadie by trying to put the pacifier in her month but she couldn't get it in her month. Kate was pushing on her face and Sadie was moving her month around and they never seemed to match up. Half the time Kate pushed to hard and Sadie was down on the floor. At least this time Kate made an attempt to play with Sadie.

Beach

We also went to the beach while Emily was in town and what a trip that was. It started out with Katelyn getting car sick and sour milk sick on top of that. The car smelled so bad. We had to pull over and take Kate's clothes of scrub the car seat and try and get rid of the smell. We pulled over at so empty building that had an old trash bin so I grabbed everything to thrown it away and all I needed was Emily to open the lid. Of course Emily was to big of a chicken so I had to stand there and argue with her about lifting the lid until Mimi walked over and did it for me. Thanks Emily!!!! HaHa

When we did get to the beach it was a lot of fun and Aunt Lulu ran around in the water with girls. Kate was into throwing sand this time which wasn't so good for her cousin Sadie. Poor thing!!!! The day was great and the weather at the beach was a little cooler then I would have liked but it was a good day. I also stopped reading the twilight books to do this trip but I thought about it the whole time. HaHa

Enchanted Forest

I had never been to Enchanted Forest so we loaded up the girls, Mimi, and my cousin Emily and her daughter and went. It was a lot of fun. I do have to point out that most of the little plastic people around the park look kind of creepy. The best part was the crocked house (I think) both the girls and I had trouble walking through that one. There were some slides that the girls went down and a few kiddie rides they went on. It was a good day and nice weather. We didn't go down any of the bigger rides but I figured Paul and I could take the girls another time.

The great Aunt Em

My girls love it when Aunt Em comes to visit. They always get their toes painted and get more candy during that time then I probably give them the rest of the year. We always get to go to some cool places in Oregon that Emily use to go to as a kid that I might not know about.

Katelyn has always seemed to love when Emily comes to town because she gets to use baby stuff again. She always tries to find where the baby stuff has been stashed so she can get into it.

We had a blast while my cousin Emily was in town and she is so patient with my little monsters. Thanks a million.

Twilight

I love the twilight series!!! So much more then I problem should. They are good books that I can't put them down. I am so excited for the 4Th and final book to come out in August. I need to know how this ends. I know these books were written for high school age people so I guess that totally shows how immature I am. HaHa. I took about a week to read the books but I was so into the third one that I read that one in a day. Thank you to my husband for watching kids and for watching them when the last book comes out.

Natural light

I love the natural light outside when I take pictures. I took about 50 pictures and only a couple turned really good. I am trying to work on taking better pictures. I love the candid shots of the girls. I prefer candid shots rather then posed. Plus my kids don't sit still long enough for me to try and pose them. Also they both don't look in the same direction at the same time. The girls love the summer time even though we have only had a few good days so far this year. I think I want to try and get a new camera sometime soon. There are a few more features that I want to try that I don't have on our current camera. I hope the weather stays good for a couple more days so I can get some pictures of the girls with their cousin Sadie.

Pull-ups

Natalie is completely potty trained. She no longer wears pull-ups to bed. We started this about a week ago and no accidents from the get go. I know the picture looks posed, that's because it is. I wanted to document this step somehow. I tried to get Natalie to look at the pull-up with a disgusted face but she didn't quite understand. Now we just need to get Katelyn potty trained and then we are done. Hopefully Katelyn will learn quickly.