. 212/365 .

. sunday morning photo shoot .

i have to randomly have quick photo shoots with my girls.  they are VERY hard to catch!!!  and it makes me crazier than crazy!  here's a quick one before church one morning ...

. 211/365 .

guess what the girls went to see this weekend ...

. 210/365 .

right now, this is my favorite part of my house.  probably because it's the only spot that's complete.

. 209/365 .

my girl got new fast runners.  and boy do they make her fly.  being a size 12, you'd think they'd weigh her down.  her feet grow so fast!!

thank you jasey and james!!

. 208/365 .

i {heart} chubby baby feet.  even if these chubby baby feet are two and a half years old.  they are still chubby baby feet.  and i {heart} them.

these particular chubby baby feet were standing on a stool in the kitchen while sweet baby was helping me wash dishes.  that is her favorite thing to do, and i don't discourage it.  at all.

. our own words .

i love how kids have their own words.  and mine could rewrite the dictionary with some of the stuff they come up with.  it doesn't matter how many times they are corrected, they still say it how they think.  and, i admit, it's cute. 

here are a few of our current favorites ...

flug.  instead of plug.  "i can flug that in for you, mama." (karsyn)
baccum.  instead of vaccum. (both)
dumb.  instead of thumb.  (both)
halle-you-ya.  instead of halleluja. (mykah)
basketti.  instead of spaghetti.  (mykah)

here's some in song ...

"it's fleece was shock a go."  karsyn REFUSES to correct her words to mary had a little lamb.  and no matter how many times i sing it or say "it says it's fleece was WHIIIITE AS SNOOOOW" she still says it her way.  "it's fleece was shock a go."

"i may never march in the infantry, ride in the calorie, shoot the itenery ..."  i NEVER correct that one because i love it so.  for those who doesn't know that song, it goes "i may never march in the infantry, ride in the calvary, shoot the artillery."

of course i planned a long, cute post because of the so many things my children say, and now i cannot think of any more.  seriously?  i'll add to it as i think of them.

. non-stop entertainment .

this may sound weird, but i always said that i wanted funny children.  do all people think their children are funny though?  some kids are quiet.  seemingly boring.  i guess most little ones act different at home with their parents than they do around others.  my girls are the same way, but i always wanted our children to be riots at home.  keeping us laughing and never knowing what to expect next.  boy did we ever get what we wanted.

they are constantly making faces.  mad.  happy.  sad.  excited.  you name it, we've looked it.  i'm not real sure what those faces are in the pictures above, but cheesy would probably describe it best. 

this one is probably my favorite ...

she fit that one, huh?  that was obviously her scared face.  you'd think a monster was headed over the back of that seat to get her.  she played it well.

and, the classic mykah face ...

we already know that we have our hands full now, and they will be overflowing as she gets older.  but i wouldn't have it any other way.  here's her latest ...

they went to fun days at church last thursday and learned about jonah in the belly of the whale.  when she came home, she told me the story as she learned it.  the next day, i asked her to tell nana and papa about jonah.  apparently she had enough time to think about it and make it her own.  she said, without hesitation ... "jonah was in the whale.  and the whale pooped."  and laughed hysterically. 

seriously.  i cannot make this stuff up people. 

. 207/365 .

when you're trying to lose weight, don't let your mother bring these into your house. 

. 206/365 .

. lack of .

talk about lack of content.  lack of something good to say.  lack of whatever you want to call it.  i've always (since blogging came around) wanted to be a really good, serious blogger.  really.  i do.  but my brain is stuck somewhere between changing diapers and pick up playdoh pieces out of the carpet.  it just doesn't happen these days.  it'll come back to me, i promise.  i dream of me getting up early, sipping a cup of coffee (which apparently i'm not old enough to drink yet), and blogging before the wee ones get out of bed.  that's a dream and i'm no morning person, so there's no telling what i'd come up with at that hour. 

i either get busy.  forget to take pictures.  or just don't feel like it.  so, here's to feeling like it again and getting back in the saddle. 

. 205/365 .

this is currently my favorite part of our home ...

picture the chairs white and it'll be perfect.  i'm at it again trying to make our house the perfect home for us.  i'm focusing on dwelling in this space and making it just what i want it to be.  our living room is small and we are saving up money to buy a new couch, so we are pretty short seating.  good thing we seldom have people over.  i needed something on this wall, but nothing too wide or long.  it had to fit perfectly because to the right of it is the hallway and to the left is an opening into our kitchen and dining room.  right now, i love all things white, so it's perfect and i love it. 

. 204/365 .

today we painted.  it got really messy, but the girls loved every minute of it.

. 203/365 .

for whatever reason, karsyn insisted i take a picture of her with a grape in her mouth.

. 202/365 .

this is for the BFF.

she's pregnant.  due in november with sweet baby girl elliott.  on our way to franklin this evening, i saw this sign and made my favorite man pull over and make a u-turn to get back so i could take a picture just for her.

. 201/365 .

i {heart} little pink piggies.

. 200/365 .

i love this picture.  this is how the three of them sit most every day when it's time to watch cartoons.  how cute is that?!

. 199/365 .

this is how i know i'm home ...



that's what you see when you look at the front of our house.  the other side of our backyard fence is home to the city water tower and we love to look up at it.  it's really big when you're standing close to the bottom, staring straight up at the sky above it.  and it simply reminds us that we're home.  we just pray it never springs a leak!

. 198/365 .

 

summer means sno cone season where we live.  there's a sno cone stand right down the street from our house and we have to pass it everywhere we go!  usually we try to drive fast distract the girls while we drive past, but with the building being bright yellow, it's kind of hard to miss. 

. 197/365 .

a sweet friend made this and used it on a cute little present she gave me as a thank you for taking care of her little girl.  i decided to use the little flower on my living room lamp.  and i'm hoping she'll make me a few more AND show me how to make them myself.  isn't it cute?!

. 196/365 .

izzy is the perfect dog for us.  she loves the girls.  she is pretty lazy.  she is house trained.  she's been amazing.  the only thing is ...

her. breath. stinks.  be very thankful you don't have smell-o-vision.  seriously.  it's the worst of the worst when it comes to dog breath.  she's due for a good teeth cleaning.  maybe some mints.  isn't she cute though?  this picture was taken after she came in from doing her business outside.  she was hot and nothing beats a cool tile floor when you're hot.

. 195/365 .

photo taken by karsyn while we were doing a little shopping at target ...

. 194/365 .

mykah and her friend reagan.  they so happened to be wearing the exact same outfit today and you can barely tell who is who from behind!

. 193/365 .

just another list around here.

this time, i was trying to organize my house.

didn't happen, but the list was nice.

yes, i'm one of those people who has to write down "clean every room". 

yes, that's weird.

no, it still didn't get done.

. 192/365 .

one of my most favorite places to eat.  their sweet tea rocks and so does that coconut pie!!

. words to remember .

karsyn really just said "daddy, you're being so silly.  OMG."  seriously.

********************************

david told mykah "i wish you would wear some different jammies."  she was wearing feetie jammies and he was having issues getting them off so she could go to the bathroom.  her response?  "i wish you would let me pick the movie." 

. sea world 2011 .

we haven't really taken a real family vacation, but we decided this year we'd go to sea world san antonio.  we made it a vacation by staying 2 nights in a hotel nearby.  the girls had the best time!

we had gymnastics that evening, then headed to san antonio.  i think it took almost 4 hours to get there, so the girls were wiped out.  as most kids do, however, they hyped up a little when we first arrived.  mykah is definitely my child.  she loved the hotel bed!

the next day, we got up and going.  sea world opened at 9am, so we wanted to be there early.

i got them these super cute matching outfits so they would be easy to spot.  obviously i know nothing about sea world.  within 20 minutes of being there, we were changing into swimsuits and spent the rest of the day in our swimsuits.  the outfits were pointless, but were still so very cute. 

sea world was so much fun!  we can't wait to go back.  the girls had a blast!  i didn't take my camera b/c i didn't want to have to worry about losing it or getting it wet and i really just wanted to have fun.  we made it until about 6:30 that evening, then the girls wore out.  mykah fell asleep during the shamu show that we went to at 5:00.  they enjoyed the rides, which surprised me.  kiddie rides, but still.  roller coasters.  karsyn and i went on the river ride.  mykah didn't like that she wasn't big enough.  all in all, we had fun and will be going back next year!

. 191/365 .

. no words can describe her .

that's my girl!

. two and a half .

sweet baby is two and a half! 

she keeps us on our toes and is definitely at the peek of "the terrible two's".  i'm so thankful that both of my kids hit that stage later than usual, but it also seems to forever as well.  mykah is by far a "bad kid".  she definitely has a strong personality, is somewhat stubborn, but is hysterical 90% of her day.  there is never a dull moment around here.

at 2 1/2, mykah ...

*still sucks her thumb.  i know.  i know.  i  keep saying "she won't go to kindergarten with it in her mouth", but of all the kids that would do that, it would be my mykah.  we have been working on only having it in her mouth when it's naptime or bedtime.  and she knows.  she even asks "can i suck my dumb now?"  or "can i suck my dumb in the car?"  she's so stinking cute it's hard to tell her no! 

*still has her "gankies", as she calls her blankets.  she has 5 actually.  it all started with 2 big ones.  then i had a sweet friend make me a few small ones.  each time we lose one, she makes another.  we always have 3 small ones on hand and she never goes anywhere without one.  i keep one put up usually to have as backup.  they ARE that important and i'm all about doing whatever it takes to make my babies feel secure.

*started gymnastics and absolutely loves it.  and, to me, she has a tiny gymnast body.  so stinking cute.

*bounces and dances ALL THE TIME.  she has more energy than i can even imagine having.

*LOVES sweets.  she's her nana's child.  she'd eat cake and cookies all day if i let her.

*still drinks lactaid milk.  that's really no big milestone, but i like to keep track of it.  her little tummy still can't handle dairy, so our whole family has pretty much converted.  we drink lactaid and eat frozen yogurt instead of ice cream. 

*she has a very catching laugh.  when she laughs, you can't help yourself. 

*is VERY ticklish.  and we tickle her.  a lot. 

*although she's pretty stocky, she still wears a size 2T clothes.  she's pretty short.  her shoe size is now an 8 and likes wearing her "fast runners" because they make her run "super fast".  love it when she says that.

*is a HARD one to get to stay in bed at night.  she'll get up 500 times before she falls asleep it seems.  we do what we can to make her stay.  sometimes it ends in tears.  sometimes it takes an hour.  but she still loves her sleep.  some days she'll sleep till 9am.  most days, i wish i could cuddle up in bed with her.

*that's another thing.  she's a cuddler.  she gets that from her daddy.  she wants to cuddle when she first wakes up in the morning. 

*her smile lights up a room.  although she always does a cheesy grin, it's cuter than cute.  and her tan little summer body always catches attention.  she's my little seniorita.

*she packs a mean punch.  ask her daddy. 

there's so much more about her that i can't explain in words.  i wish i could bottle her up and keep her little forever and ever.  she's such a fun kid!  and loves her sissy.  sometimes i find her sneaking to her sissy's bed at nighttime.  they are such different little girls, but they love each other so and i'm thoroughly thankful that i am able to watch their relationship grow daily. 

sweet baby,

i wish i could squeeze you and hold you in my arms forever and ever.  you are just one of those babies that i can just eat up and never let go of.  please never stop being you.  because i love you for you.  you bring so much laughter to our home and i wouldn't have it any other way.  all of the belly laughs make my heart smile. 

xoxo

mommy.

and here's a quick poem that i found this morning ...

Hold her a little longer

Rock her a little more

Tell her another story

(you've only told her four)

Let her sleep on your shoulder

Rejoice in her happy smile

She is only two and a half

For such a little while!

-Author Unknown

. 190/365 .

. 189/365 .

. 188/365 .

i'm practicing making bows for my girls.  so much cheaper than buying them.  here's my first one.

. 187/365 .

. galveston beach 2011 .

we're not really beach people, although i LOVE the beach.  and that absolutely makes no sense.  maybe because my children are small and i'm not able to relax like you're supposed to, which is exactly why we go for one day.  the girls love it, which makes me enjoy it while we're there. 

i think sweet baby ate more than she played.  ok, maybe not, but it seemed like she did.

and this is probably my favorite picture from the trip ...

ok, maybe it's this one ..

or this one ..

ok ok, one more ...

obviously we had such a great time, as usual.