Sittin' Pretty

Laurel is sitting up by herself...at least for a little while. She does a lot better when her older sister is not touching her and causing her to lose her balance, but Erika is wherever the camera is.

Game Time

When Erika was really little, I remember talking with my friend, Katrina, about how I was worried about Erika getting older and wanting to play boring games. Well, she is at the stage now where she does in fact want to play games, but surprisingly, they are not as boring. Ok, they might sound boring in explanation, but the fun comes from watching her imagination develop and realize how observant she is with her world. Here are a few examples of popular Erika "games"*.



Going to the park:

This game involves putting her baby doll in her baby doll carrier, getting dressed up in her princess high heels, and making Daddy, Mommy, or Aunt Sarah carry her baby, take Erika's hand, and walk back and forth across the living room as if we were going to the park. Thrilling for the adults, but she loves it! Her face lights up and she is so happy! This morning, we added a new dimension, she had Wyatt follow us as we went to the park.



Mommy:

Her all-the-time playing game. She loves to be a mommy to her dolls. She carries them; bounces and shushes them when they are crying; and tucks them into bed. The other day, I asked her a question and she said, "Shh Mommy! Baby sleep." I looked over at her and she had 3 of her dolls on the floor under a blanket. Soon, she was singing them a lullaby, "Go to sleep, baby." So cute!



Mailbox:

Erika has a slide with a little platform and a house facade complete with a small mailbox. She will find any piece of paper lying around the house and fold it and place it in her mailbox. She loves "finding" mail in the box, even if she is the one who put it there!

So, game time is pretty fun at our house!

Carrots

Not all my posts will be about food, but how cute is she when she knows food is nearby?

Ready For My Close-Up

Erika loves the camera! Her favorite thing to do is sit by Laurel and say, "Mommy, take picture!" She then proceeds to throw her arm around Laurel and wait for the picture to be taken. What a goofball!

Her signature pose:





Laurel loves eating. She loves watching me eat or eating herself. She is still just eating rice cereal for solids, but next week I'm going to start on baby food veggies! Lucky girl!

Again, we see Erika worming her way into the pictures.






She's not picky...if there isn't any food around, she'll just eat the coffee table!

VBS

Erika attended her first VBS this morning! Our church is taking a journey through Rome as their theme. While Erika had fun learning about Paul's journeys, Laurel and I hung out in the nursery playing with other little ones whose parents were with the bigger kids!

First of all, I love to hear Erika say new things, and "vacation Bible school" might be my new favorite phrase of hers! It sounds a little like "applesauce cake", which is ironically the same color of paint we bought this weekend to paint our baseboards. Anyway, she was all excited on our way home and was singing songs that I assumed they sang today. Here's a snippet!

*You have to turn the volume way up to hear her say, "vacation Bible school", but be warned, Mommy will be very loud!

Three Of A Kind

The verdict is in. Laurel's personality is quickly developing and she is.......a Parnell! Just like her mom and sister. She's loud, really loud, possibly the loudest one in our family so far. And not when she cries, just when she wants to make noise, it's very loud. She's funny and smiley and seems like she will be very outgoing.
It is very interesting, and a little scary, to see myself in both of my girls. Don't get me wrong, I really like myself and wouldn't mind a whole world full of me's, but I don't like seeing some of my less attractive attributes in the girls. Like when I ask Erika to pick up her toys and she looks at me as if to say, "I will think about picking up my toys. And if it sounds like something I want to do, I'll go ahead and do it. But if it doesn't sound like any fun, we are going to have a fight about it." Yikes! Matt says he has seen that look from me at times as well. Oops!
So, our house if now full of 3 loud, fun, at times argumentative, loving girls. I was halfway hoping that Laurel would get more of Matt's easy, laid-back, quieter personality, but no such luck. It is going to be much more difficult now to get Matt to agree that we need one more child.

Running

Sarah came over to go running with me last night and Erika decided she's try her hand at wearing Aunt Sarah's running clothes!

Yep, the running gear works for running! Please note, her baby doll, Baby Sarah, goes with her everywhere!

Yum Yum

Big day today....Laurel had her first taste of food! Well, if rice cereal can be considered food. She really enjoyed it. She couldn't wait for the spoon to get to her mouth! I think we've got a good eater on our hands!

And, here is just a cute video.

Say What?

These are some of my favorite phrases that Erika uses:

"Okay, Mommy"
"Mommy! Erika obey."
"Oh, cool."
"Go away, Wyatt."
"Erika awake!"

It seems like she learns at least two new words every day! She is a lot of fun to talk to....except when she is talking excessively while I'm trying to watch Gilmore Girls.

We went to Yakima this weekend to paint the inside of my grandparents house. There were 10 adults (helpful) and 3 kids (not quite as helpful) painting the house. We got done in just under 24 hours, which was awesome! The best part was my grandpa had no idea we were in his house painting (my grandma tricked him into going away for the weekend) so when he came back, his family was there inside his newly painted house! Painting parties are a lot more fun than painting solo.

Erika and Laurel also got to spend some time with some great-aunts and great-uncles. Erika loved their dog, Rocky, and enjoyed pushing him around. Much easier to push than Wyatt!

Last week, Aunt Sarah taught Erika to "Jump! Shake your booty!" Erika loves to sing and jump around, shaking her booty! Most of the time it's quite cute...just not when she yells it during the sermon at church!

Erika loving Rocky...or trying to get his ball. One of the two.

Laurel enjoying the toys Aunt Becky and Uncle Karl bought for her....thanks!

Erika was confused where the headphones went. I guess the name didn't give it away.

Laurel with Aunt Becky.

Laurel with Uncle Karl.

Blanket Face

Laurel is now rolling over all the time. On the floor or in her crib, it doesn't matter, as long as she's rolling. It's fun that she can entertain herself that way, but it also makes for some anger when she rolls over and pulls her blankets over her face.
Case in point....

Cats

I am not a big fan of cats. In fact, when Matt and I first met, we had an equal dislike of the creatures....is solidified our love for each other. Cats always jump on you when you don't want them to and rub against you and they make me sneeze. I think my dislike of cats came early in my life, when at the tender age of 5, my dad told us that the only way we would ever get a cat is if a baby tiger was dropped on our front step. He really didn't like cats.

That said, we have four stray kittens living next door to us that are making me rethink my stand on cats. They are so cute! I am seriously considering keeping one. Or at least helping them find good homes. When I go out to the car, all four kittens come out of their hiding spot and stare and me with their big huge eyes as if to say, "Can't you keep us?" They even have names: Sparkle, the only white/grayish kitten; Midnight, the all black kitten; Checkers, one of the black and white kitten; and Kitty, the other black and white. Erika named Kitty.

So, does anyone want a really cute stray kitten? Although I love my kittens looking at me when I get to the car, I really just want them to have a family.

Sparkle and Midnight.


Either Checkers or Kitty.

I think these two are twins...they have the exact same markings.

Thankful

I have so much to be thankful for! Every day, I know that I am blessed and God takes care of me, but some days it is just an overwhelming feeling of how much my life and the people in my life are a gift from God!

My amazing, wonderful husband has spent the past two weekends doing home improvement projects. He remodeled our bathroom, complete with taking out the ugly old vanity, toilet, and floor and replacing it with beautiful new vanity, toilet, and tile floor (pictures to come). He is so good at handyman stuff...I am very lucky! I can dream up anything for the house and he does it....amazing! He also installed ceiling fans in the girls' bedroom and our bedroom to combat the warm nights we have been having lately. Everything he has done looks fantastic!

I am also blessed with the best sister in the entire world! For the past two weekends, she has let the girls and I stay with her while our bathroom has been out of commission. We always have so much fun together and the girls love their Aunt Sarah. I am so thankful that she lives just 15 short minutes away from me and not, say, in Texas!

Last weekend, to keep the girls out of the house, we went to my sweet in-laws house. What a blessing in our lives they are! The girls loved staying at Grandpa and Grandma's house, and having Grandpa make them "Mickey Mouse pancakes" (that Erika is still talking about!) They love me just like I was one of their own children, which is awesome! We had a great time with them.

I am also blessed with two of the most wonderful little girls God has created. Erika keeps getting more and more funny every day. And Laurel is too sweet...she loves to smile and coo and laugh and she makes my heart happy. What a terrific gift they are!

Erika wants to drive Grandpa's tractor!

Riding in the tractor with her cousin, Ashley.

Best sister friends.

Notice the panties....Erika now only wears diapers at bedtime, and 75% of the time, she wakes up dry! Yeah for her!

Smiley baby girl.