Our Little Ones

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-12-31T21:47:00.005-07:00

Garrett and I were excited to have Thanksgiving at our house with the majority of renovations done. We started work on the kitchen by repainting the cabinets, putting down new floors in the kitchen and dining room, and building out some new cabinetry for some new IKEA appliances and pantry space. Garrett also made some new countertops and put in my new sink so we just needed to paint and put up a backsplash. We did Thanksgiving a day early since Nick had to work on Thanksgiving and it was a really nice, relaxing day. I took some time off, which was awesome, and made the majority of the meal which turned out to be delicious.

Garrett's parents also came to town in November. They flew over from Portland to celebrate Garrett's youngest brother's birthday (Trevorr) and see their other grandkids. Garrett also put his dad to work and got the new wood floors installed while I was at work one Saturday. It was nice to come home to some home improvements that I didn't have to do.

Brooklyn's new thing is being "nakey" and she strips down any chance she gets. She usually looks at us, says "I get nakey now" and unzips her pajamas. It's a silly little striptease and she hasn't had any accidents yet (she also takes her diaper off). Her sister will join the nudity at times and they'll come running upstairs and shake their nude bums at us. We've got a couple of silly girls on our hands. Kami still refuses to wear anything but dresses. It's been tough with the colder weather, but I have convinced her to wear shirts underneath and I'll sometimes manage to get leggings on her instead of tights. I keep warning her that when it gets really cold, she'll have to put pants on, but you choose your battles. She also continues to end up in our room at night. We let her sleep in our room on the floor on the night before church (she doesn't know it's Saturday night), but most of the time, she'll sneak up to our room in the middle of the night and I'll wake up to hear her snoring on the floor. I wonder sometimes why she even has a room. Maybe she'll use it one of these days.

Brooklyn and Kami were running around downstairs completely nude and Garrett had to try to get B dressed. She wasn't very happy about it.

We're trying to train the dogs to stay on the pillow while they're inside and they're getting pretty good at it.

Brooklyn doesn't realize that walls aren't for coloring. I still haven't washed it off, but she knows now that she can only color on paper.

Brooklyn and Jonah hanging out at the kids' table.

The three animals needed a post-Thanksgiving nap too.

They were all enthralled with Jonah's game that he was playing on Nick's phone. And check out my new kitchen floors courtesy of Garrett and his dad and a long weekend.

Thanksgiving shot!

Kami got a hold of my camera while I was distracted and took a few shots. Brooklyn will pose for her sister, but not for me.

Kami's self-portrait. She's still got those blue eyes. Lucky girl.

Happy Halloween!

2011-12-31T20:51:00.011-07:00

October was another busy birthday month. Jonah turned two and Patsy (my sister-in-law married to Nick) and my dad had birthdays at the end of the month. We also had some Halloween celebrations; we went to my friend's work where the zoo brought in some bugs, snakes, and other animals and we got to go trick-or-treating with Patsy's family. Kami, after long deliberation, decided to be Princess Peach from the Mario Bros. games. It was between that and a Barbie Princess. Princess Peach was a total surprise, but she was a darn cute Princess Peach. I tried getting Brooklyn an elephant costume, but she got hysterical when Garrett tried to dress her up, so she wore a Halloween shirt for trick-or-treating. She definitely marches to a different beat and is pretty stubborn, so when she says no, she means it.

Brooklyn is getting better at talking and is now starting to put words together in two- or three-word sentences. She also tells me when her diaper needs to be changed. I know that's a sign that she's getting closer to being potty trained, but I had such a rotten time with Kami that I am willing to wait. Kami is becoming more of a princess every day. She wears a dress every single day, tells everyone that pink is her favorite color, and dances instead of walking from point A to point B. It's funny because she still loves to dig in the dirt, shove worms in my face, and watch Batman with dad. She drives me bonkers with her attitude (four going on sixteen) and will argue every single thing with me, but she's also the sweetest thing and a great big sister to Brooklyn. We are very blessed.

Enjoy the October pictures!

This actually happens a lot...she goes into our room to watch a show on the iPad and ends up falling asleep. It was pretty funny to find her with the iPad still on her lap.

Brooklyn's awesome smile.

Jonah getting ready to blow out his candles for his second birthday! We had a little celebration at our house during our weekly dinners with my family.

We also got to go to Patsy's brother/sister-in-laws house for Jonah's official party. Kami loved it because there were four girls for her to play with and Brooklyn had tons of fun playing with the cars and Grandpa.

It's hard getting these two to look at the camera and smile at the same time.

Kami posing for the camera and Brooklyn totally ignoring me.

Riding her bike.

Brooklyn loved playing in this car.

Whoa!

He had lots of fun in his pretty pink car.

Jonah might be more interested in the card than the gifts.

She's got him wrapped around her little finger. And he loves it.

These two sure do love each other.

Jonah was pretty excited about his laptop from Grandpa.

Here are some pictures from my friend's work. The zoo brought in "creepy crawlies" and there was lots of candy to be passed out. Kami got to dress up and Brooklyn didn't care to, but she wanted candy.

My friend's daughter and Kami posing together.

Examining a snake. She's a big fan of animals.

Playing with the hedgehog. Isn't it cute?

A pretty brave princess.

Please sir, can I have some more?

Looking at the walking stick. Gross.

Pictures from Halloween night. It was so freakin' cold.

The cutest garden gnome you've ever seen and Princess Peach.

I tried getting all three of them together for a picture...

All bundled up with dad. It was a really cold night.

Brooklyn and Jonah had this trick-or-treating thing figured out!

We tried to get her to wear a monkey hat, but she wouldn't even do that. Turd.

They ended up with a ton of candy and I think I ate half of it.

Happy Second Birthday to our Monster Baby!

2011-12-31T16:29:00.012-07:00

September was a good month. There was a lot of stuff done on the house, so we didn't have to spend all our free time on renovations. Instead, we were outside for bike rides, visits to some parks, and playing in our backyard with our dogs and cat. We also got a visit from Garrett's mom, brother, sister-in-law, and nephews for a long weekend. Since they were here with us, we had an early birthday celebration for Brooklyn with some cake and presents. We did another birthday celebration with some of my family and our friends. Brooklyn didn't seem to really care about the presents, but she loved the cake! Kami was very willing to help B out with all the presents and opened the majority of the gifts.

We also went to the Discovery Center, which is a science-filled center with lots of hands-on experiments. Kami was in science heaven and loved everything. We might be making repeat visits there to foster her science nerdiness. She's also been watching a few "How the Universe Works" and "Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking" shows on Netflix instead of Dora or SpongeBob. After watching those shows, she informed me that on the dark side of the moon, there are aliens and she wanted a telescope so she could see comets and asteroids. Such a geek, but I love it!

Enjoy the September shots!

Brooklyn's first birthday celebration with Garrett's mom, brother, sister-in-law, and nephews.

Trying to put the cake on the fork.

Kami and her cousin Keenan. She was thrilled to see him.

Such a cute birthday girl.

Holding a fork but stuffing her face with her hand.

Brooklyn telling Grandma "kank-ew" for her new boots.

Such a mess, but a cute mess.

B's second birthday celebration with some more family and friends. It was so nice to see everyone that we miss from Nampa/Caldwell.

Brooklyn using the no-hands method to eat her cupcake.

And this is why we call her our monster baby. She is quite the disaster but sure do love her.

Brooklyn wasn't too interested in her presents. Luckily, Kami was more than happy to help her sister open her presents.

Ooh...what is it?

Yet another cupcake with one of her favorite birthday presents, a Zhu-Zhu puppy that she loves to carry around with her everywhere. Good thing we got the white one...

Kami still loves art and will sit for an hour by herself doodling things.

Sadie and our cat, Oliver, love to hang out together.

Getting ready for a bike ride! Meow!

Kami posing on her bike. I had to force her to put pants and actual shoes on.

Brooklyn showing off her new hand-me-down helmet.

Nighttime bike ride!

Brooklyn had so much fun hitting dad's back during the entire bike ride.

Pictures from our Discovery Center visit:

Kami pulling herself up.

Brooklyn trying to blow a bubble on a huge bubble blowing thing.

Pop!

Dad and Kami thought they'd try it out.

They're on TV!

Brooklyn wasn't too sure about it.

Kami weighing some eggplants.

Brooklyn trying to get a cart out. And yes, she does have only one shoe on.

August

2011-12-30T15:48:00.007-07:00

August was a good month. We got to relax a bit from all the house renovations and unpacking since most of the painting and the main bathroom were done by now. The girls love the backyard and I love that I can kick them out of the house to, as my mom used to say, get the stink off them. We mostly hung out around the house but did get to go to a wedding of a good friend where Kami was a flower girl. She was thrilled to wear a pretty dress and we had tons of fun at a beautiful wedding.

Brooklyn is talking a ton with lots of words that we can translate for other people ("candy" is one of her favorite words) and Kami is still amazing us with her smarts. She loves anything science-oriented like space, the human body, and all sorts of animal shows. She is getting better at writing letters and is starting to see things in groups of numbers instead of having to count out all the individual items. She's also pretty good with some basic addition/subtraction stuff, so hopefully in a year when we send her off to kindergarten, she'll be ready.

Work-wise, I got moved to a new branch at the end of July. This should be a more permanent position and I've learned a lot from being at four different branches in a year. Garrett is the spiritual care supervisor for a hospice company and is really enjoying it. He gets to develop most of their spiritual care programs and has about five spiritual care providers that report to him. He's also working on his second master's degree in counseling. After this, we'll see if he decides to go into a doctorate program.

Enjoy the pictures!

The almost two year old getting a little too close to the camera.

Brooklyn drinking out of her cup like a dog. Not very effective.

The girls before the wedding. Brooklyn's hair stayed this cute for about five minutes.

Close up of our sweet girl.

Kami the flower girl and her Bear-Bear at the wedding. Pretty nice, huh?

Brooklyn hammin' it up for me.

We're pretty fond of her.

Family shot.

Brooklyn not listening. Nothing new here.

Kami getting ready to swing on the rope.

Peek!

Kami concentrating very hard on her flower girl duties.

Trying to do some somersaults.

Doggie BFFs.

Getting ready to make some pizzas.

Concentrating very hard on their pizza masterpieces.

Happy (really) belated 4th of July!

2011-12-30T14:39:00.012-07:00

Happy belated fourth of July! We had a great one and celebrated with some family and friends. We first went out to a family friend's house to do some swimming and visiting then came back home to have a meal, fireworks, and marshmallows with the four of us and Garrett's youngest brother, Trevorr. It was a pretty low-key fourth, but it was nice because we were making headway on the house and everything was unpacked.

We also got to do some traveling in July. Garrett and I went to Sun Valley by ourselves (thanks dad!) for an Avett Brothers concert. If you haven't heard of them, check them out. They're amazing live! It was a blast to be in Sun Valley all alone, but we did miss our girls. The day after the concert, we packed up and drove over to Portland, OR to visit Garrett's family. It was great seeing everyone and for Kami and Brooklyn to have some time with their extended family that we don't get to see very often. We went to IKEA (and spent too much money, but new house, new stuff, right?), went to Voodoo Donuts (I don't get the appeal...I like Albertson's donuts just fine, thank you), and got to walk through the Saturday market downtown. If we had more time, we would definitely be spending more time over there and we hope to make some more trips soon!

Enjoy all the pictures! I took a ton during fireworks, but these kids are so cute, I couldn't resist!

Brooklyn enjoyed the corn on the cob.

They both have such dorky grins.

See what I mean?

Remy hanging out far away from the fireworks.

Sadie hung out at Trevorr's feet most of the night.

These girls end up with similar expressions a lot of the time.

I guess Sadie does too.

And I wonder why these girls are such dorks...

Having fun with the sparklers.

Don't they look thrilled?

More sparkler fun.

Kami was pretty excited about the fireworks that she got to pick out. It had pink in its name, which is her favorite color.

Brooklyn lighting dad on fire.

Caught up in the fireworks.

Mom and Kami.

There were about four or five family shots taken, and this was the best of the bunch. It's tough to wrangle two girls for a good shot.

It's a team effort to light fireworks around here.

Roasting some marshmallows.

So good.

Uncle Trevorr helped Kami cool her marshmallow down.

Brooklyn's licorice mustache.

She was a sticky mess.

I somehow managed to not take any pictures in Portland except for this one where Kami was so exhausted, she fell asleep on Grandma while listening to a bedtime story.

They were all pretty excited about the new riding lawnmower.

If I can't find my phone, I know to ask Kami for it since she's usually playing games on it.

My little Cindy Lou-Who playing in the driveway.

June 2011

2011-11-28T19:48:00.008-07:00

I'm sure everyone is tired of hearing how busy we've been with moving and job changing, but this month was no exception which explains the lack of pictures this month. The weather was so nice and sunny, so the girls played outside a lot. Garrett and I stayed inside a lot and painted, cleaned, unpacked, and moved tons of furniture. We were living without the hall bathroom and dropcloths everywhere, but the basement was done and the girls had rooms to sleep in. We love being back over in Boise and close to family, but still miss lots of our Canyon County friends/family. One of these days, we'll have a party to get together!

Man, these girls are cute!

We had a pool for a while and the girls really enjoyed it. I didn't really enjoy cleaning out everything and trying to keep the dogs out of it, which is why it didn't last all summer.

B's been doing this for a while now. Kami never did, but that's why Brookyln is our "baby monster." She cleaned her bowl though, so that was nice.

Sadie, already huge, at two months.

And Remy, at three months, still tiny.

This is how a lot of the summer was spent: outside with Brooklyn watching what Kami was doing and not being able to do all of it.

Yeah, this didn't last long. It was cute for a while though.

May 2011

2011-10-27T19:24:00.011-06:00

Alright, still trying to play catch up, so forgive all the omissions of details that happened.

May was a BUSY month for us. My work actually closed the branch that I had been at, so there was a ton of work put into that, especially since we had been operating with a skeleton crew and me being the only manager there, I had to do most of the work myself. We were also getting ready to move from Nampa to Boise, so the same week I was closing my branch, we were packing up our house. Needless to say, it was stressful.

We also got a puppy, Remy, at the beginning of May. He's a Corgi/Border Collie mix and is the runt of the litter. He spent the first few nights in our bed, but after waking up with wet feet and washing our sheets every morning, we kicked him out into the garage. It took us about a week to find a name, but the girls love him and he's a pretty smart pup. We also thought it would be a great idea to get another dog, Sadie. She's from our daycare lady, Denice, who has a yellow lab who's a smart, sweet dog (BG). BG just happened to get pregnant with an unknown suitor. The girls got to see some of the puppies when they were born and Garrett picked a little girl puppy out with some white paws and white on her nose. Denice thinks they're a lab/pit mix, which I wasn't too thrilled with, but Sadie and Remy get along great, the girls love them, and Sadie has been such a sweet dog. I've gotta say, it's been kind of easier getting two puppies at once; they keep each other entertained and run around after each other, so I don't have to pay too much attention to them!

The girls have adjusted to the move extremely well and are loving the house. We are living in Garrett's family's house and decided from day one to do quite a bit of renovating. Garrett did most of the basement before we moved in and we painted just about every single room within the first week of moving in. It's been great being over in Boise and living about five minutes from my brother and dad. We do miss a lot of people from the Nampa area and Costco was so close, but we're all adjusting. Enjoy the pictures!

One of our new dogs, Sadie, with Brooklyn in the cooler, an appropriate container for both.

Two puppies hanging out. So sweet. For now.

This kid is such a dork!

Hanging out in Grandpa's backyard.

Lights out for both of them. Kami's in there somewhere...

This doesn't happen very often, but it's fantastic when they're both asleep in the car!

All tuckered out after running around with the girls.

Kami loved the story. Not sure if Remy did...

Trying to share the iPad.

Bedtime for both of them.

Brooklyn was pretty tickled about this little puppy.

My dad might not admit it, but he thought Remy was pretty cute. I know it's my dad's feet because of the socks and sandals.

Such a serious swinger.

Having fun at the park.

These two girls love going to parks!

Stationery Card

2011-08-18T18:47:00.001-06:00

Special Number Magenta Birthday Invitation

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Happy Easter!

2011-05-21T15:03:00.013-06:00

Okay...so I do have a few excuses for not getting an Easter post done until September. A.) We moved from Nampa to Boise at the end of May, B.) My work location closed, so I was pretty busy making sure everything got closed okay, C.) Our house in Boise needed some updates, so we've been busy with some renovations, D.) I've been moved to two different locations at work since my other one closed, so needless to say, it's been a bit much, and E.) We've got two busy girls that keep us all entertained, so one of the last things I want to do after work or on the weekends is update this blog. Plus, my laptop stopped working, so all pictures after this are stuck on my hard drive which Garrett promises me will be taken care of soon and some are on his work laptop, so I promise, I will be getting this blog updated!!

Now, on to my end of April update:

Brooklyn continues to grow into more and more of a goofy girl each day. It's so fun to watch her get older and discover new things. She loves her big sister and candy and is still quite the Grandpa's girl. Kami is getting smarter with each day that passes. She also loves her sister and candy. Hope you enjoy the shots from Easter and random ones from the fun that we have!

Kami finally decided that she wanted to take a ride on Garrett's bike. About two seconds after they pulled out of the driveway, she was done.

So engrossed with the iPad...
They do this a lot...striking the same pose and not even meaning to.
Kami can be quite particular. I thought it was funny that she wanted all her marshmallows standing up on their ends. A girl after my own organized heart...
So excited for Easter candy!!
Not quite sure what to think of her Easter donut. She ended up picking the candy off and licking all the frosting, but didn't take a single bite. Stinker.
Gotta love the pajama dress, shorts, and slip on shoes. She dresses herself a lot these days...
Headed to church and pretty happy about it.
Also pretty happy about going to church.
They were so excited for the Easter egg hunt it was ridiculous.
Mmm...cocoa eggs...
Family shot!
She finally figured out how this Easter egg hunt thing works.
And she didn't really care...
She just wanted her chocolate. Kami, on the other hand, had to be told to stop picking up eggs. She's got this whole thing in the bag!
Family shot at my dad's house.
Kami going crazy! So many eggs!
Brooklyn with one of her favorite people: Grandpa.
Kami showing off her dyed Easter eggs.
I was trying to take a picture of the three Dokken cousins and this was the best shot I got.
Cheese!
She really is a sucker for him. And it's fantastic.
Jonah and his feed bag, I mean Easter basket. Isn't he the cutest?
He was pretty stoked about the candy.
After Brooklyn figured out that there was candy in the plastic eggs, she went to town. Can you tell she's already digging in?
Kami checking out her stash.
Man I've got cute girls! I am kind of partial, but come on! Right?
The sugar was starting to kick in: Kami jumping, Brooklyn spinning...
and Jonah with his evil laugh!
What a goof.
She had a lot of fun spinning. She had a lot of sugar to spin off too...

Kami was trying to make the elephant "pee" in Brooklyn's hair. What a weirdo.

April Showers?

2011-05-21T13:41:00.006-06:00

Well, we did end up having some April showers, so the girls were inside a lot. Luckily, we had a birthday party to go to and got to play a few days outside. These girls play together pretty well, so even if we are just at home, they have tons of fun. Brooklyn is starting to chatter a little more and Kami's getting better at math and letters every day. These two keep us busy and keep us laughing. Enjoy the pictures!

Pretty proud of her mud cookie.

We go through a lot of washcloths around here.

Sisters eating delicious ice cream sandwiches.

Ouch.

She's got the cheesy grin, but it's pretty cute!

What is it with kids eating like dogs?

These girls sure do love birthday cake!

Hard hats necessary.

Racing around the track.

Having fun on the rope swing.

Out Like a Lamb...

2011-04-02T21:10:00.007-06:00

The second part of March had a few more nicer days, and Kami and I ended up going to the park on one of these days, even if it did end up in a storm. I think that sometimes Kami gets jealous of baby sister's behaviors and attention, so I try to spend some alone time with her every once in a while, and our trip to the park was fun for both of us. Brooklyn's continue to gets bigger and bigger every day and she has an extreme stubborn streak that rears its ugly head a lot. She also has a HUGE temper that she displays when she doesn't get her way, which often includes candy that she's found in the pantry and us taking it away from her. She's also quite the hitter and likes to try to slap us when we pick her up from throwing a fit or try to put her to bed. She listens to Kami really well and sometimes we'll ask Kami to tell Brooklyn something for us and she looks at Kami and listens to every word she says. Turd.

Enjoy the pictures of our sweet girls!
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Kami and I took a walk to the park and she had tons of fun, even if there were storm clouds close.

Even though she's not a baby, she loves the baby swings still.

This poor girl had purple cheeks by the time we were done, but it was worth it! I think sometimes she needs some one-on-one time, without her sister.

Peek!

Dad lifting the girls for a workout.

Brooklyn thinks it's hilarious.

Wheee!

Now it's Kami's turn!

Big smile!

Time for some chest presses with these two.

They had tons of fun playing with dad.

Me: Brooklyn, leave those alone! B: blank stare...This is the usual response we get from her when trying to tell her to stop something or leave something alone.

Brooklyn really wanted to wear big sister's pj's. When I saw this picture, Garrett and I both had the same thought: we both thought it was a picture of Kami. Maybe they do really look alike...

Up close and personal with her dorky grin. You know the movie "The Christmas Story" and the mom tells the younger brother "Show me how the little piggy eats!"? Well, this is what I think of her when I see this face. She breaks it out anytime my camera or phone are near her, since she knows that I'm taking her picture. Kami used to do the same thing around this age.

Kami saw baby sister having so much fun with big clothes on, she decided she wanted to wear Dada's shirt.

Brooklyn's cheesy, ice cream sandwich grin.

Kami tried to imitate Brooklyn's grin, but she doesn't have quite the same effect as her baby sister.

Another cheesy grin, this time with dip on her face. Man, she's a ham, and a cute one at that.

Cheesy sister grins!

We let Kami watch a show on my phone one night, and we realized that we hadn't heard any noise from our room, so we went to check on her and this is what we found. She was nice enough to turn my phone off and had tucked herself into our bed.

In Like a Lion...

2011-04-02T20:23:00.004-06:00

After a dreary February, the Price household was ready for some nice, sunny weather. We got a few days of it right at the beginning of the month, but after that, we had rain, wind, and even snow, so we were stuck inside for most of the month. We still managed to enjoy ourselves and get outside a few days. The girls love playing together and had fun making St. Patrick's cupcakes and eating them later. Enjoy the shots!

This kid loves frosting.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Kami and I made some cupcakes and the girls enjoyed the frosting. Kami even knew that she had to wear green and was so concerned with getting pinched that Garrett took her to Target to get a new dress with green in it.

Sisters and their computers.

Brooklyn feeding Kami chocolate chips.

Such a dork.

Look Ma, no hands!

Cheesy grin!

Kami riding her bike on one of the first nice days of March.

Happy February!

2011-03-15T19:45:00.001-06:00

The second part of February was spent with lots of medicine, Kleenex, and sick days, so I didn't get many pictures. I assumed most people wouldn't want to see sickly, pathetic children so I only took a few pictures during the second part of the month. In between everyone in our house being sick, we had a few good days here and there where the girls were their usual goofy selves. Enjoy the few pictures that I managed to take!

Brooklyn's favorite way to get up on the couch.

Brooklyn thought she wanted a Peep.

Not so sure about it...

Still not sure what to think about it.

You can have it back!

These girls like to watch their stories.

Brooklyn's a big fan of the ottoman.

She also loves her dada.

She has a lot of fun swinging around!

Tons of fun on the big pony!

McCall Winter Carnival

2011-03-13T21:40:00.006-06:00

In the beginning of February, we got to go up to McCall with "Uncle" Chad and "Aunt" Tara and their boys. We had a blast looking at a few ice sculptures, eating at the brewery, and doing some serious sledding. The next day, the sickness came down upon our household. I was sick for a while with the crud, then Kami and Garrett came down with stuff and actually were diagnosed with ear infections. That lasted for a week or so, then Kami had to go back to the doctor and still had an ear infection and I got some antibiotics as well. We also had to bring Brooklyn home later in the month for throwing up and the poor girl couldn't keep anything down for 2 days.

In between everyone being sick, we just kind of hung out around the house. We had a few days of sun and signs of spring, so we took advantage of them and headed outside to pick up our winter-weary backyard and (as my mom would say) get the stink off of us. The girls had fun running around out there and chasing the cats all around.

We're hoping that all the sickness has been Lysol-ed out of this house. Enjoy the shots we got when someone wasn't sick!

Kami loves the art set that Grandma and Papa got her for Christmas. I love her self-inflicted hairdo.

Brooklyn didn't have her glasses on when first inspecting the butterfly mask.

She got a better look with her Mr. Potato head glasses on.

Kami and the boys at an ice sculpture.

And two seconds later. Kami is an expert whiner.

A family shot in front of a sculpture.

Kami got to take a pony ride and she was pretty tickled about it.

She loved it!

Fake sleeping on the way home.

Having fun with some moon dough.

"Sister" (as we've started calling her since that's what Kami calls her along with "Brooky" or "Brooky-pie") loves to follow her big sister around and do what she's doing. I'm still a little surprised one or both girls didn't fall off the stool.

Brooklyn is getting better at running and loves to run all around the house.

Sweet girl.

She almost always looks like she's up to something, and she usually is.

Combing her hair.

Running around the backyard.

Luckily she's about a millimeter shorter than the grill, so her head was spared.

January part 2

2011-02-14T20:49:00.006-07:00

This post should really be titled "Gobs of Brooklyn." I obviously didn't take many pictures of Kami this month, so there are a lot of shots of our sweet baby. She's becoming more of a little girl and less of a baby all the time. She's asking "dat," as in "what's that" all the time and starting to repeat more of our words. I think she's going to be a lefty since she's always using that hand to color and eat with. Sometimes, I can't get enough of her.

Kami loves her baby sister and they play together in her room all the time. There are sometimes some jealous streaks shown, but for the most part, they're each other's best friends. Kami is getting better at writing her letters and numbers and still working on letter sounds. She is quite the independent turd (as are both our girls) and knows what she likes.

We're all ready for spring at the Price household. Kami's itching to ride her Christmas bike and I know that Brooklyn loves getting out and running around, especially now that she knows how to run. I'm looking forward to some bike rides, some hikes, and some good ol' vitamin D! Bring on the sun!

So many bubbles!

She'll give up her Tylenol, but not her kitty.

Sweet face, but there's usually something else going on in her head...

Goofy grin. She knows the camera beep means to smile.

She refuses to give up her kitty during her meals.

One fork wasn't enough.

Ready for take-off.

She loves jumping on Dada.

She has a spoon, but her hand will shove cottage cheese into her mouth better. Nice.

Kami ended up falling asleep in my sweatshirt and backwards on our bed. Sweet kiddo.

Welcome to 2011!

2011-01-24T22:23:00.006-07:00

Happy 2011! The Price family got to go to my dad's house and enjoy some crab legs with my family and some friends on New Year's Day, and on the Eve of New Year's, we spent some time with our good friends, the Bewleys, and their boys. We sure like to live it up around here! I'm too old anymore to stay out past midnight, and by the time I went to sleep, around 11:00, it was 2011 somewhere, so good enough.

Every day I am reminded of how blessed I am to have this sweet family and my two adorable girls. They love each other so much and Brooklyn will listen to Kami better than she will listen to anyone else (other than Grandpa-he holds a special place in that girl's heart). She can be quite the turd and is now starting to "run," which means she can run away from me when I'm trying to get her to stop doing something or if it's bed time. She giggles the entire time she's doing it, and I often end up giggling with her. Kami and Brooklyn also love taking their baths together and even though I end up cleaning up tons of water from around the tub, it's worth it to hear Kami say, "Watch this Brooky-pie!" and then to hear Brooklyn scream in delight. Kami is maturing more and more each day. She can write all her numbers, knows how to write her name, and is becoming more familiar with the letters and their sounds. She is constantly cracking us up and amazes us with her insight. One night, she wanted something warmed up in the microwave, and she asked me to put it in the time machine. I wasn't quite sure what she meant, so she clarified, "You know mama, the time machine that makes things cool down. I mean warm up. Up there!" It's funny to figure out her train of thought and her point of view.

Enjoy the pictures!

For some reason, Brooklyn will fight sleep in the car. Kami was the opposite (as are most children) and will fall asleep in the car in about 2.5 seconds. This is one of the rare moments she actually fell asleep in her car seat, and she's so darn cute, that I had to take a picture.

These two love to push each other around in Kami's strollers. Come on Brooklyn! Put your back into it!

What a good little helper girl!

The reason I had children: slave labor.

She's a pretty happy kid!

And this one's a pretty tired kid.

I'm glad bath crayons are non-toxic, because this girl eats a lot of them.

Kami loves cupcakes!

Again, she actually fell asleep in the car! Look at that cute little mouth!

This girl only needs two things: Tylenol and cupcakes.

Kami's quite the fashion icon around here. Don't you love the juxtaposition of her pajamas and Batgirl costume? I'm also diggin' the mismatched slippers. Dork.

Brooklyn loves big sister's stuff!

She always looks like she's up to something, which she usually is.

She REALLY wants these cookies, which I'm sure she needs after eating a donut...

Blueberries and blackberries do a wonder on her skin! They keep her face looking baby-soft. Surprisingly, she cleaned up pretty easily. I was worried that she'd have a purple-stained face for a week after this.

This kid is definitely my daughter. She loves her donuts! Who doesn't?

It's about time for a Christmas post!

2011-01-10T21:05:00.039-07:00

Yes, I know I'm late, but I'm sure you expected blog-tardiness by now. But now that I'm officially an adult and in my 30's, I will try to be more consistent with these. Scout's honor! Anyways, a lot to cover in this blog with Christmas and Kami's fourth birthday, so on with it!

Christmas was good to us this year. We spent Christmas Eve with my family and I made clam chowder. It's our tradition (along with crab on New Year's Eve), and I've tried to keep true to those, even with my mom being gone. The clam chowder might be different (heck, it might be different every year), but we still get together and break bread (sourdough) and enjoy our growing family. We then spent the night at my dad's house and had our traditional Christmas morning breakfast of Dutch oven surprise (thanks to my dad, the early riser) and monkey bread. After opening presents and cleaning up, we played a little Kinect Sports (where Garrett TKO'd me in boxing) and ate a fantastic roast, courtesy of Nick and his smoker. Our family of four did our own Christmas day on the 26th where Santa brought Kami a bike and Brooklyn and zebra ride-on thing, because Santa couldn't think of what Brooklyn wanted for Christmas. Plus, she screamed when she sat on his lap, so he might not have gotten any good ideas. We then had Kami's birthday a few days later and went to Chuck E Cheese and let her play whatever game she wanted to, then off to my dad's house for pizza and a Spongebob ice cream cake.

The holidays were nice and peaceful and we all got to enjoy some time off. It was a time of reflection and thanksgiving (even if it's a month late) for us. We are grateful for our family and friends who bring joy to our hearts. We are grateful for our two beautiful girls, who make us smile (and sometimes grimace). We are grateful for each other and even though we've been together over a decade, we still love each other and make each other laugh, even if it's in the stupid things (Garrett...). Although I sometimes lose sight of these when life gets hectic and work bogs me down, it's always nice to have these in the back of my mind and for me to realize that I've got it pretty good and have been blessed with so much. We hope that the holidays were a blessing to you and yours and here's to 2011!

Not really sure what to do with this...

Aren't they cute?

Jonah checking everything out.

The story behind the popcorn popper (which is actually Jonah's gift): last year, Nick and Patsy got Kami a Snow White cleaning set, and the broom plays an awful, annoying song. Brooklyn has now found that button, and we hear that song a million times a day. Yes, we could take the batteries out, but that requires effort. So this year was payback, and we knew the of the perfect toy. I hope that this popcorn popper bring years of noise to Nick and Patsy's ears. And that, my friends, is the true meaning of Christmas.

Kami was pretty excited about her new unicorn pillow pet!

Being oh so gentle.

Brooklyn needed Grandpa's help with this one. She's such a Grandpa's girl, and Grandpa loves it!

Reading her new colors book.

Jonah did a fantastic job opening presents!

Opening some new puzzles from Grandpa.

Uncle Nick enjoys using duct tape. Luckily, Kami was available to help.

She also wanted to help Uncle Nick.

I love how Brooklyn has wormed her way into Aunt Patsy's lap and Jonah's trying to keep her away from his toy.

Grandpa helping Kami with one of her new puzzles.

Grandpa should have been a professional.

Hanging out in the TV cabinet.

Kami modeling her new backpack and hairstyle. Hair compliments of Grandpa.

Quite the haul this year.

I was trying to get a picture of these two in front of their Santa gifts, but Brooklyn obviously wasn't playing.

Brooklyn really wasn't interested in opening her presents, but Kami was happy to help. Kami opened every single present this year. Probably not going to get away with that after this.

What do you have in there?

Checking out her new pillow pet.

This $2 lizard stole the show this year (except for the bike). Even Brooklyn tried stealing it a few times. We should have just gotten ten of those things.

Pretty happy about her princess art set from Grandma and Papa. We've hauled this thing around with us quite a bit and Kami will sit there and draw or paint for about an hour. It's fantastic!

Helping mama.

Making a break for the candy!

She's got the chocolate, and she's outta here!

Opening their Santa gifts.

Proud owner of a new bike!

I think she keeps waiting for this thing to move on its own.

Brooklyn trying to adjust her sister's training wheels.

Tons of fun with her Polly Pockets.

Our budding artist.

Having fun in her new swing, which we've actually had for about two years now, but finally put up.

Goofy girl.

And this is why we call her our monster baby. Love the bed head!

Kami the "famingo" and dada the "memo fish."

Brooklyn trying to feed dada's hat.

Brooklyn enjoying some birthday pizza and breadsticks.

She's really focusing on something.

Taking her aggression out on sharks.

Driving her car.

Not so happy about this ride.

On her race horse.

Dada and Kami dancing like crazy!

Still a little short for some of the games, but she sure did try.

Quite the birthday stash!

Pretty excited about her birthday shoes! Mom was pretty excited that they were $0.86 at Target!

Kami calling her pumas under the Christmas tree.

Goggles in the bathtub seems like an obvious choice.

This kid loves chocolate!

Kami got a necklace that had magnets on it. She was pretty excited about it!

Brooklyn blowing on her eggs to cool them down.

Mmm...cupcake...

She was really excited to have her hair curled.

Brooklyn coloring with Grandpa.

Apparently turning four is exhausting.

The birthday girl all decked out in party gear.

The birthday girl and her birthday pizza.

Doesn't he look cute in the hat?

Jonah really liked the Barbie scooter.

Pretty excited about her Spongebob ice cream cake.

Kami putting the candles in her cake.

Winter Garden-a-Glow

2011-01-10T20:35:00.007-07:00

The first part of December was spent trying to get our Christmas decorations up and recuperating from Thanksgiving. We hung out around the house and enjoyed the snow from inside, but did get to go to the Idaho Botanical Gardens with my work and enjoy some pretty Christmas lights, cookies and cocoa, and a visit from Santa Claus. Overall, a nice start to our December.

Who is that masked girl?

It's Brooky-pie (as Kami likes to call her)!

Goggles and pjs-the perfect combination.

Brooklyn's pants weren't cooperating.

Kami being silly and Brooklyn lounging.

Playing at McDonald's.

Gotta love the cheesy grins these girls have!

Pretty cute!

She's pretty silly!

Mmm...cheeseburger...

Mmm...ketchup...

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Pictures from the visit to the Botanical Gardens:

Kami telling Santa that she wants a bicycle for Christmas. Will Santa bring her one? Stay tuned to find out!

Something's funny!

Patsy and Jonah

The Dokkens

The Prices

Yeah, I know Brooklyn's clothes are too big, but I didn't really want to spend extra money on new clothes when Kami's old clothes were only a bit too big. Notice Kami winding up to throw a snowball at her baby sister? Nice.

The view from above.

Busy November!

2010-12-15T18:59:00.010-07:00

The second part of November was a little busier than the first half. We had a visit to the zoo, went to the bouncy house, had some good times at Thanksgiving, and went to get a Christmas tree, or a Christmas bush. We ended up getting a five-footer that's about six feet wide. Enjoy all the pictures!

Something's good on the TV.

Batgirl showing me her princess book.

Batgirl helping out in the kitchen. What a nice superhero.
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Pictures from the zoo

Brooklyn and Dada.

Playing on the animals.

She's outta here!

Brooklyn thought they were pretty funny.

Feeding the goats at the zoo.

Playing with Grandpa.

C is for cookie!

Baking some cookies.

Sweet sisters.

Poor girl with strep throat.

Mmm...Cool Whip...

Isn't he fantastic?!

Someone just got up from their nap...

It's hard to get all three to look and smile at the same time.

Nick, Patsy, & Jonah. Don't worry, Nick has shaved since this shot.

Too much turkey!

Perfect way to end Thanksgiving:Carroms with the family.
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I was taking a few pictures of Brooklyn, and every time the camera beeped, she broke out a cheesy smile. See below.

Oatmeal is so good!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pictures from the bouncy house extravaganza.

Getting ready to drive!

White men CAN jump...in a bouncy house...

Whoa!

Getting ready to slide!
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Pictures from our Christmas tree journey.

Trying to walk in the snow is hard for a baby.

And she wonders why she's got snow in her jacket...

Cute girl and her cute Dada.

Getting ready to throw some snow.

Family picture with a tree.

She had tons of fun sledding.

Kami and Dada sledding.

Like our star?

Kami's Oregon coast ornament.

All done!

Hawaii 5-0!

2010-11-29T20:14:00.011-07:00

Hawaii was a fantastic trip. I highly suggest it to everyone. We went to Kauai for our tenth wedding anniversary and it was just Garrett and me. The girls stayed home with Dave and Carol, who were nice enough to watch them for a whole week.

We stayed up in Princeville on the northern side of the island for the whole time, except for the last night when we stayed in Lihue by the airport. We had fabulous weather, sunny and in the 80s. There was some rain here and there, but who cares when you're in paradise? We did some snorkeling, sight seeing, shopping, did an eight-mile hike to swim in a waterfall, and a three-hour zipline tour.

This vacation was a great way to celebrate our ten years of marriage, but we were ready to come home to our sweet girls. Here's to ten more!

Taro fields outside Princeville.
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Pictures from our hike:

This is what most of the path looked like. Uphill, both ways.

Apparently this is emergency helicopter landing. It must be the smallest helicopter ever.

It's bizarre to see it raining in the middle of the ocean.

Random fireplace with a pot leaf on it. Classy.

Garrett and his unsuccessful try at picking bamboo.

We're so close, we can see the waterfall.

See those people under the waterfall? It's not us, but we were there!

Mai tais on the lanai.
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Pictures from ziplining:

Ziplining into the lake. Random guy, but it made more sense to have a person in the picture.

I love these signs!

Kilauea Lighthouse.

On our way to the lighthouse.

Pretty Episcopal church on the road to the lighthouse.

Waimea Canyon, apparently aka, the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.

A nice tourist offered to take our picture. One of the few pictures of both of us from this trip.

The rainbows are fantastic over there!

Wailua Falls

The Princeville Fountain, right outside our condo complex.

Close to Thanksgiving!

2010-11-29T19:30:00.006-07:00

Not much happening in the first part of November. After getting home from Hawaii, Garrett and I both went back to work and the girls went back to daycare. I took Kami to get her hair cut since she had already done a number on it herself, and we had some fun just hanging out at home. Brooklyn is becoming more active and independent (maybe a bit too independent) and climbing on top of everything. Lately we've found her on the couch or on the rocking horse and if we try to help her, she screams at us. Nice.

Making messes is fun.

Brooklyn is a professional climber these days and climbing on everything.

One of her favorite hang out spots lately. It's the gateway to the couch...

Trying to decide what book to read.

Attacking Dada is fun!

She's a screamer too!

It's all fun and games till Kami cuts her hair off...

Most of it was fine except for the pieces around her face, that were about chin-length post scissors. There's also a good chunk that everyone missed until later by her crown that was about 2-inches long. That will grow out one of these days.

The fabulous Hayley and her skilled scissor hands.

Kami did really well and got a sucker for listening and holding still.

She got about eight inches chopped off and it's now much easier to manage.

Trying to use a fork.

She's got some!

Forget the fork-these are finger foods!

October, part 2

2010-11-21T14:23:00.008-07:00

I've finally gotten around to getting these pictures organized, so here's the second part of October. We had some birthdays (Grandpa Dokken's and Patsy's), Halloween, and a visit from Grandma and Papa since mama and dada went to Hawaii. Kami got to dress up in two different costumes. One was a pair of butterfly wings and a pirate sword (for a school party) and the other was Wonder Woman, courtesy of Grandma. Brooklyn was a panda, because every kid I have is going to wear that panda costume! Kami had lots of fun going trick-or-treating and got some good treats. She also gave herself a bit of a haircut, so in next month's post, you'll see her new 'do. It was sad to see so much hair go, but it is much easier to comb.

Take a good look at this shot. Look at that long hair!

Fell asleep watching a show in our room. Sweet girl.

She loves the washer!

Can you tell she just got done throwing a fit?

Kami will be a 49ers fan if Grandpa can help it. She had fun wearing Grandpa's "hack."

These girls are talented mess-makers.

Brooklyn has become quite the climber and loves to get into sister's chair and rock.

Getting ready for our evening run.

Does this thing really work?

Cool girl in her sister's sunglasses.

What's Brooklyn doing over there?

Just trying to put Mr. Potato Head's glasses on dada.

Steering two strollers isn't as easy as you would think. She yelled a lot...

This panda's outta here! Look familiar?

Foraging for food.

Wonder Woman with her lasso of truth. Trick or treat!

Look at that attitude...

Kami wanted butterfly wings and a pirate sword, so that's what she got. They got to go to a Halloween party with our daycare lady, and Kami had a blast.

"Helping" Grandpa open his birthday presents.

Brooklyn wants in on it now.

Having fun with the leaves.

I couldn't get Jonah and Brooklyn to look at the camera at the same time, but Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Sweet sisters playing together.

October, part 1

2010-11-08T21:55:00.005-07:00

Sorry for the late post, yet again. These girls keep us busy along with work and life, so needless to say, the blog has been moved to the back burner. I solemnly swear to try to get back on track with these things.

We didn't have a ton of events at home to capture pictures at, so there are just a random smattering of shots. Brooklyn did have her one-year check up (albeit a month late) and was in the 80th percentile for her length (about the same as Kami at that age) and 50th percentile for weight (a little lighter than her big sister). She has really gotten thinner in the past few months, but she's still got some chunkiness here and there. She's quite the climber and we often find her in Kami's rocking chair and rocking horse. Kami continues to get better with her numbers and letters. She knows that "K starts with Kami" but gets her "3" and "E" mixed up. She can write a mean "S" and it often finds its way onto greeting cards and sidewalks.

Enjoy the random photos of our sweet girls.

Helpful.

I think she found what she was looking for.

I love finding magnets all over the house...and by love, I mean loathe.

Pushing the stool all around the kitchen to find out what's on the countertops.

We never had to baby-proof our house, but we might think about it now. She needed her medicine, which is luckily just a gummy bear vitamin and not the "good stuff."

Millie hanging out in the garage. I don't think she's sleeping. I think she's ignoring me. She's pretty good at that.

Playing on big sister's scooter.

Eating big sister's scooter. Yum.

Look at those beefy legs! Don't you just want to squeeze 'em? I do all the time...

Dada, Kami, and Po going on a night time walk.

Enjoying the sunset. See below.

I'm constantly picking food out of her hair. Gross.

I like that there are three cushions on the couch, but Kami has to sit thisclose to Garrett.

A toddler and pre-schooler

2010-10-10T21:46:00.008-06:00

The end of September was a busy one for the Prices. There were lots of stuff going on for both Garrett and I at work, then Garrett got sick (he's feeling better now), and Brooklyn (teething) and Kami both had some sick days here and there, so needless to say, most pictures are from around the house. There aren't as many as usual because I lost my camera and now have to use my big digital SLR camera instead of a point-and-shoot, but there are still plenty of pictures.

Brooklyn has a new sense of independence now that she's a toddler and walking all over the place. She has a mind of her own and a bit of a temper (we've seen a few temper tantrums recently-awesome), but it's neat to see her come into her own. Kami is still our hilarious, sweet big sister. The two girls love to play together and it's fun to watch them use their imaginations, even if it means I have to clean up Kami's room (most recently, they were throwing balls at each other and there were about 100 to pick up later that night). Brooklyn is chatting more and more, and her favorite word right now is "uh-uh," but she means "uh-oh." She also loves the kitties, and I would let her play with them more if I knew that she wouldn't pound them on the head. Kami is fantastic with them and loves to try to play hide-and-seek with them in the garage, or as Kami calls it, the "buh-gage."

Enjoy the pictures!

Her favorite word right now is "uh-uh," which roughly translates into English as "uh-oh" and is always telling me this when she splashes water on to the ground, throws her cup on the floor, or drops something. She thinks she's pretty funny when she drops something, says "uh-uh," then smiles. Thanks.

Helping Mama out with the dishes.

She finds all sorts of stuff while she takes her baths in the sinks.

Playing with mama's sunglasses that are now broken.

Smiley, happy baby.

And this is why we call Brooklyn our "monster baby." She has fantastic bedhead. This morning, she was trying to get out of her room with her beloved blanket.

Trying to get it wrapped around herself.

She finally managed to walk with her blanket.

Millie wasn't too thrilled at the idea of Po. We'll try again later.

Nice belly tat.

Kami was complaining one night that she didn't get to watch a cartoon on the big TV, then got really quiet for a while. I finally checked on her, and she had fallen asleep on the couch. Can you find her under her blankets and bears? I spy...

Brooklyn now gives kisses...hope you don't mind open-mouth kissing my 1-year old!

Brooklyn chillin' in the ball pit. Luckily, this one is much cleaner than McDonald's.

Dada reading a bedtime story.

These two have so much fun together.

Kami all wrapped up after her bath.

Is it just me, or does it look like Garrett's going to punch my kid?

Dorky face.

Brooklyn hungry!

She was a big fan of Kami's mac and cheese.

I think this graham cracker might be bigger than her.

She loves her black beans!

1 year old!!!

2010-09-22T13:55:00.011-06:00

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY BROOKLYN!!!

Can you believe it? Brooklyn is a year old and time continues to fly around the Price household. We celebrated Brooklyn's birthday with some friends and family, and of course, a nude baby eating cake. We also got to go to a friend's birthday party, enjoy some time outside, watch our BSU Broncos play some good football, and watch our little baby learn how to walk. That's right, Brooklyn's walking!

Since there are a lot of pictures to check out, I won't post too much. Enjoy the pictures and feel free to leave some comments!

Helping Dada brush Po.

Sweet girl hanging out.

A few modeling poses:

Some shots from the park for a friend's birthday party.

Nice swimsuit!

Yummy cupcakes!

Frosting 'stache.

2 girls against 1 dad. Who's going to win this one?

Not sure how many times she'll get to wear this onesie.

I unwrapped a baby! Isn't my nephew adorable?

Brooklyn and Kami were pretty excited about her olives. So was Mama...

Kami was nice enough to help Brooklyn open her presents.

Such an innocent little face.

Just like her sister, she sat on her cake.

Yes, I'll take half a cake please.

She likes cake!

What a mess. This is why there's a tablecloth underneath her.

Mama helping Brooklyn blow out her candle so she doesn't grab it.

Brooklyn's little cake and cupcakes. Mmm. Cupcakes.

Brooklyn riding the rocking horse on her birthday.

Kami fake-sleeping.

Chewing on an upside-down pacifier.

Mmm...coffee...

Big girl in her forward-facing carseat!

Brooklyn's birthday dinner.

Brooklyn LOVES this blanket.

She thinks it's funny to try to escape the sweater.

Dad's pretty funny.

Hair everywhere!

There really are two girls under there somewhere.

Kami and her shells from the OR coast.

Kami talking to her "pumas" on her "talking watch."

Go orange, go big blue, fight, fight, BSU!

If Brooklyn can't pick up her food with her fingers, she just eats it off the table. Classy.

So close to a year!

2010-09-08T22:13:00.000-06:00

Our two girls keep us on our toes! Brooklyn is a speedy crawler and a stubborn little turd and Kami has a HUGE imagination and loves to make up songs about whatever strikes her fancy. They love to play together and Brooklyn thinks Kami is the funniest person on the planet. Brooklyn now has seven teeth (her four on the top and three on the bottom) and has taken a few steps on her own. Enjoy the pictures!

Brooklyn and her walker. Kami used the same stroller to learn how to walk. Time flies...

Kami's pizza face.

Brooklyn trying to use Kami's cup. She's pretty good at it.

Nakey Kami jumping into the sprinklers.

Kami peeking out of her fort.

Brooklyn's turn to peek.

Front-loaders are fascinating.

All three cousins reading with Garrett. I like that it's the oldest one that's nude.

Ready, set,

Peek!

Grandpa and Brooklyn.

Having fun with the stroller.

Evil smile. Weird.

Kami finally figured out somersaults.

These two girls have so much fun together.

Wearing Grandpa's boots.

Smiley girl!

Already August?

2010-08-22T15:46:00.007-06:00

I can't believe it's already August and we have an almost 1 year old girl on our hands. The two girls continue to crack each other up as well as us.

Kami's new thing is to assure us that "it okay with me." If she wants candy at nine in the morning and I tell her no, she responds with, "but it okay with me" as if I was really concerned about how she felt about her sugar consumption. Anytime she does anything wrong or bad, "but it okay with me." Thanks for the clarification.

Brooklyn is getting pretty close to walking. She can stand up on her own and has even taken a step without holding on to anything, but hasn't yet started walking. She loves to squeal at us if she's not getting her deserved attention. She loves to bonk heads with her dada and sister as a greeting and has been pretty drool-y lately, so she might be teething. She refuses to eat baby food and is now feeding herself at all meal times. We cut up canned fruits/veggies for her and then she'll feed herself her bottle and gets cranky if someone tries to take over. She's quite the independent little girl with a temper! That'll be fun in a few years...

This is how we know she's tired-she starts to play with her hair after she's done eating.

The food in her hair is for later.

Look at those segments on her arms! Chunky monkey!

She loves olives, just like her big sister.

She's pretty funny and will poke her first finger through the olive.

Ooh...

Brooklyn loves animals, but doesn't know the meaning of "gentle" yet. She likes to slap them in the face and pull on their fur. Nice.

Kami's on a bit of a make-up kick lately. Notice her purple eye?

We had some ice cream samples at Costco, and Brooklyn was convinced that she needed some.

I know it's wrong to laugh, but how can you not?

She still wanted more. Maybe big sister will give me some if I lay the cute on...

Jackpot! But still so cold!

She's very careful about her application.

Eek! So much lipstick...

Someone's been in my closet...

Kami and Dada heard the ice cream truck one night, but couldn't find it, so they went to the gas station and this is what Kami came home with.

So tired, she couldn't even finish her popcorn with cheese sprinkles.

Standing on her own! And screaming!

Lately, Kami has been telling us "I can't see berry (she's been watching Strawberry Shortcake where 'very' is 'berry') good." I told her we'd have to take her to the doctor and get her some glasses, so now she puts on her sunglasses and magically sees so much better.

Nice outfit.

Brooklyn, the baby prison escapee.

Kami's drawing of the family. L-R-Kami, Brooklyn (lying down, apparently), Mama, Po (who's tiny) and Dada. See the resemblance?

July, part 2

2010-08-13T22:11:00.009-06:00

The second part of July was busy. We had pre-teen camp that Garrett and I were at all week long. Brooklyn stayed with Garrett's parents and Kami got to come to camp for part of the week. She had a blast, like always, but ended up getting a mosquito bite on Friday night right above her left eye. It ended up swelling up so huge on Saturday night that we thought about taking her to the hospital. On Sunday, she could hardly open her eye all the way. By Tuesday, it was almost back to normal, but she looked pretty beaten for a while. Garrett then had teen camp to go to during the last week of July and I went through our annual audit at work, so we didn't see much of each other or the girls that last week.

Brooklyn continues to be a sweet girl. She is pulling up on everything and I wouldn't be surprised if she were walking before she was a year old. She's got her four teeth on top and two on bottom that look like little, white Chiclets in her mouth. She is quite vocal and squeals when she wants attention or food. She won't let us feed her anymore, so we have about 20 containers of baby food left over. She wants to feed herself, so we've been cutting up numerous veggies and fruits for her to munch on. She's a pretty speedy crawler and has managed to escape baby prison without being noticed. She still loves her big sister the most out of all of us and thinks Kami's hysterical. Really, who doesn't?

Kami's idea of quiet time is to kick back, relax, and watch a show on the "beemin." She still calls the laptop that, and it's kind of stuck.

Kami remembered the golf cart from last year and wanted to ride in it everywhere.

Having fun in the golf cart.

Focusing on making a pinecone friend.

Kami and dada painting rocks at crafts. Can you tell she got dada's eyes?

Kami and mama. Twinners!

The Price family in their matching camp shirts. Kami's smile continues to be awesomely dorky.

You can already see it starting to swell. She was so wiped out after not napping for a week straight and playing hard at camp.

This was Saturday night after camp was over. Now you can see why we considered taking her to the ER. Ack!

She is one of the cutest girls, right?

Playing with dada's new toy.

Kami was kind enough to style my hair for me. This was day 2 of her giant mosquito bite on her eye. It was way worse in person. Poor girl. She kept complaining that "I can't open my eye all the way mama!"

This is how Kami does her own hair these days.

Kami's rocket ship.

Some more of her sidewealk art. I can't get it to upload right, but it's pretty cute.

Which graham cracker should I eat?

Definitely this one.

Tired girl with her bear-bear.

I was trying to get a picture of Kami before she left for a camping trip with "Aunt" Tara. Nice pose dork.

She got to help me run errands by herself one day, so when we stopped to get gas, she got to pick out a treat, which was a gross, Hello Kitty, marshmallow on a stick. Eww.

And this is why Brooklyn sometimes has two baths a day. She gets food all over her hands, then tears her barrettes out and plays with her hair.

Getting ready to clap...

Big clap! Check out those Chiclets!

Kami and Brooklyn had a blast in the tub together.

Brooklyn looks like she's about to attack!

Smokin' a bathtub crayon and playing with the Little Einsteins.

Happy Belated 4th of July!

2010-07-27T21:41:00.012-06:00

Happy 4th of July! The Prices had a blast with a brunch in the morning, a BBQ in the afternoon with a swim, and a spectacular backyard fireworks show to cap off the evening. I was "that mom" that dressed their girls alike, but they were pretty adorable, so there. Kami loved the fireworks and helped light some and both the girls loved swimming. Other than that, we've spent the first part of July hanging around our families and enjoying each other's company.

Kami continues to be a big dork and still has her imaginary friends, the pumas. Sometimes they're nice, sometimes they're not. She had lost interest in her Bear-Bear and allowed other stuffed animals into her life, but has gone back to the dependable black bear that goes with her everywhere. Lately, she's been sleeping in our room on the floor in her princess sleeping bag. If she doesn't start off in there, she's always there in the morning. At least it's not in our bed anymore, and one day, this will end.

Brooklyn is an expert crawler, and is constantly pulling up on everything. At her 9-month visit (which was closer to her 10th month), she was in the 90th percentile for her length and 65th for her weight. She's getting narrower every day! She really likes to feed herself and is a squeaky girl. She'll yell at us if she wants something, like food or attention. Her favorite game right now is to see how many times we'll pick up whatever she's dropped. Hilarious.

Enjoy the pictures and I'll try to get the next post done closer to the deadline!

Our sweet dork.

Laughing baby!

Kami loves swimming with her ring.

She loves to splash in the water.

Brooklyn having fun in the frog.

Ava and Aunt Ginger enjoying the show.

"Helping" Uncle Darrick light some fireworks.

Watching Garrett light one of those weird snake fireworks that kind of look like charred poo. One of these things is not like the others...can you tell which one's mine?

Mama and Kami with sparklers.

Garrett and Darrick having a little too much fun with fire.

Stepping on her pop-its because she throws like a girl and they wouldn't pop when they hit the ground.

Having fun with sparklers.

Kami lighting fireworks with Dada.

And with Uncle Jerrod.

Kami sure is enjoying herself.

Sweet baby!

Mmm...leaf...

Brooklyn's trick.

"I'm not up to anything..."

Dada loves to toss the girls.

Wheee!

Brooklyn LOVES animals! She squeals anytime there's one near her.

Again with the leaf eating.

Grandpa and Kami enjoying a swim.

Aww...

I tried to get both the girls to look at the camera. Here's how Kami helped.

Well, sort of.

Sweet sisters.

This was one of the funniest things I've seen: Kami was pulling a blanket around and Brooklyn crawled over and laid on top of the blanket while Kami dragged her around the house. They were both giggling the entire time.

The tail end (literally) of the game.

Brooklyn and her "monster hair."

Kami was pretty pleased with her 4th of July donut, which she only ate a few bites of.

Kami helped cousin Ava with her shoes. "This is how my mama helps me."

"Princess" Kami making Uncle "Nicky's" cake. Notice how she's making sure that she keeps her purse out of the cake batter.

Looks like Uncle Nicky enjoyed his heart cake. I didn't make a heart cake on purpose...I didn't have any round cake pans and only had hearts left over from Kami's 3rd birthday.

*Brooklyn's a funny girl...she won't use a pacifier that I give her, but she'll steal someone else's like nobody's business. Here's a montage of her thievery in action.

Luckily, this was an easy strike since Jonah was distracted by Kami's musical talents.

Again with a distraction.

He didn't even see it coming.

Kami and Brooklyn getting to ride in the back of Grandpa's truck. Kami now wants a truck...

Isn't my nephew the cutest?

Brooklyn loves bananas!

Kami was nice enough to let Papa take a nap.

Here's Kami's new "pic-sur smile." She's been practicing.

Summer's Here!

2010-07-11T20:49:00.005-06:00

Well, I would apologize for being late once again with the blog post, but my dad always told me not to say it if I didn't mean it...

We've had a busy second half of June. Summer finally arrived so we've been doing some swimming and hanging around outside.

Garrett's grandma actually passed away as well, so we had lots of family around. We got to see his older brothers and their families as well as some extended family and Kami got to hang out with her cousins. She had to spend some time recuperating from that, but she seems to have recovered.

Brooklyn is all over the place with crawling and pulling up on everything. She's a babbler and knows "mama" and "dada." She's a big fan of eating and would rather be eating with a fork on her own like everyone else. She double-fists Cheerios, is a bit of a mama's girl, and loves to chase Kami around. Kami loves to be chased and chase her baby sister, tries to pick her up (ack!), and is thrilled that it's finally warm enough to go swimming.

Enjoy the pictures and I'll try harder to have the next post done as soon as we get back from pre-teen camp. Promise!

Some more of Kami's bathtub drawings:

Some of Kami's friends...Uncle Nicky is on the right. Can't you tell?

More friends, with Aunt Patsy on the right.

Artist rendering of Mama...

and Dada with "Brook-y."

Kami loves "pa-nake-y time!" It comes from the book, "Pajama Time," by Sandra Boynton.

Kami watering Grandma and Papa's plants.

Brooklyn's two rad pontytails.

"What you talkin' 'bout Willis?"

Kami may not have read that infants need to be rear-facing...she loves to take her babies all around with her. Granted, I usually end up carrying them for her, but it's cute.

Kami wearing some of her Nonny's jewelry.

Driving home one night, here's what I saw. Hope Kami likes Dada's car, because it'll be hers in about 13 years...

Like Pavlov's dogs, Brooklyn was trained to put her hands up in the air when I yelled, "GOAL!" Kami thought it was "gold," and it got the same result.

And she loves to clap! Sweet girl!

Almost 3 1/2 & 9 Months

2010-06-26T22:15:00.016-06:00

The first part of June was a busy one. We got to go over to Portland for an extended weekend vacation, so we've got lots of pictures from that. The girls and I went to the zoo while Garrett was in class for the day and ended up spending 6 hours there. We wore each other out but had a blast! We also go to see Garrett's 2 older brothers and their families, watch some World Cup action, and go to IKEA to finally get some bedroom furniture for ourselves. We all survived the drive there and back and it was nice to have some time off.

Brooklyn is now crawling for real, has mastered the bear crawl, and can pull up on furniture and stand for a while. Kami has a new nickname for her: Brooky. This all started when uncle Nick called Kami "Kamo" and Kami decided that he needed a nickname too, which is uncle "Nicky." Apparently, when deciding on a nickname, you just have to add a "y" to a shortened version of your name, so my nickname is "Tessy," there's "Garry," and "Brooky." She had a tough time coming up with a nickname for aunt Patsy, but she settled on aunt "Patty."

For a while now, we've been waking up to a 3-year old in our bed. She sneaks into our room and crawls up in bed with us, and we have to wake ourselves up enough to either put her back in her room or tell her to sleep on the floor if we want to avoid bed-crowding. I've gotten up a few times around 3 and have tried to say, "Kami go back to your room," but I'm pretty sure it sounds like, "Blah glurg zabba zabba." Needless to say, three's definitely a crowd, especially when Kami sleeps diagonally. We're trying to break her of the habit, but sometimes I'm just so tired...hopefully this will end soon or I'm going to end up with four people in bed when Brooklyn is mobile and smart enough to figure it out.

Enjoy the one million pictures we took in Portland. Hopefully that will make up for being late, once again.

Kami showing me her mad face. That's pretty close to the real one.

Brooklyn found some new toys...hood pull-y string things! What are they really called? Or maybe we should all start calling them that...

Dada and Brooklyn gearing up for the England v. USA World Cup match!

This is how our trip to the zoo ended.

And Brooklyn was asleep and naked. Obviously a good time had by all.

Pics from the zoo:

Waiting her turn to drive.

She loves to drive! "Drive, drive, drive mama!"

Being a silly girl as usual.

Having fun with the mama lion and her cubs.

Playing the drums for the second time during our zoo extravaganza.

Pictures from the little cement-animal part of the zoo. I think that's the official name of this area.

"This hippo so big mama!"

She made it.

It's almost like she's really reading the info at the bottom of the tank.

Swinging on the rails. She does this at all the grocery stores too. Why is it that every kid thinks rails are awesome?

Kami loved seeing the penguins swim through the water. Mama did too.

Excited for the train ride.

My best attempt at a picture of the three of us.

"Mama, that tiger not paying attention to me." Yeah, that's probably a good idea.

Tired girl.

Trying to figure out where we were.

Yee-haw!

Kami loved the goats!

She even got to brush them.

Brooklyn was pretty smiley the entire time.

Kami was pretty fascinated with the horsey with stripes.

Tractor seat!

Taking charge of Mr. John Deere.

My girls.

Cheesy grin.

Playing in the waterfall.

Chowin' down on a roll.

Pose!

She sees what she wants and goes for it.

Got it!

Now back to harass dada and hit his head.

Watching some TV with dada.

Trying to look cute so dada will give her some food.

It always works!

Mmm...shoe...

She bear-crawls on the hardwood floor because it's too slippery for her normal crawl. Smart kid.

She really wasn't too sure about peas and carrots, but she kept eating them.

Brooklyn learned a new trick-pulling up on furniture (or my leg) to stand up.

Kissing big sister's foot. Weird. This picture is especially for her Uncle Chad, who LOVES feet.

Saving that one for later.

Apple smile!

What mom? I just need some more dishes in my bath.

Astro Brooklyn!

Fancy curls.

Tasty bottle handles.

Kami was nice enough to give all her bears and dog a blanket, but she didn't want one. How self-sacrificing.

Kami had gone to the park earlier this day and drew a slide and swings in the tub that night. My little Picasso.

Kami loves to float on her back during her bath.