The Kids

Flying the helicopter at Discovery Gateway.

Mack has turned out to be the best big brother. When I ask him to help me, he is so willing and quick. I really appreciate all his help this year. It is fun to watch him grow and learn new things. For the Primary Program, he was asked to talk about his favorite prophet from the Book of Mormon. His part was written completely on his own:
"My favorite prophet of the Book of Mormon is Helaman, because he lead a big army of young boys and they won a big fight and nobody got hurt."

He is also really into complimenting me lately. He tells me all the time how much he loves it when I smile, how it makes him happy. He tells me I am beautiful, too. Last night he asked me, "Mom, what is going to happen to you?" I wasn't quite sure what he was talking about and then he said, "I don't want you to get old like Grannie and Papa (sorry mom and dad). I want you to look like this forever. " I smiled and he then said, "Ya! I love it when you smile." He is going to make some girl pretty happy someday!

He always likes to make Addie laugh and he likes to wrestle with Lydia. I just love being his mom!


Lydia, Lydia, Lydia. The best way to describe her personality is quirky or unique, although silly. She is very busy and into everything: pulling all the DVD's off the shelf, climbing onto and into things she shouldn't, playing with items that are not toys. But, while she does these things, she is funny about it. For example, she was playing on a stool the other day and attempting all sorts of crazy tricks. She began to fall, so she reached down for a toy, as if that's what her intentions were. When she did fall off completely, she quickly recovers and acts like she meant to and was secretly hoping nobody saw it. I rarely see her with a baby toy in her hand. Usually, she carries around a Nerf dart in her mouth and either a cell phone or a remote control. Lydia doesn't sit still for long, either, and diaper changes are a two stage process: take the diaper off and clean her, then let her roam for a second, and then wrestle her to put the other one on her. I've tried everything I can think of to just get the job done in one step, but she is also freakishly strong and manages to escape every time. We began sign language this week, and she already signs for "all done." Also, she takes meal time very seriously and will eat almost everything I serve her. She never leaves food on her tray and clears it really fast. I think she just swallows the pieces whole sometimes. We call her Tinkerbell (because of her tiny nose), Teeny-Tiny, and Lydee. Lydia also likes to copy us and even says, "Hiiiiiiii!" It sounds more like Ha, but it sure is cute!

Here she is in the wagon with our neighbor friend. She LOVES to be pulled around in this thing!

Typical playtime. Addie was also in the room playing with their new Christmas toys, but Lydia would rather play with the old cell phone.
And just for fun, this is her sad face.

Addie is still pretty sweet. She has had an ear infection and a cold, so the past month she's been fussy. We found that she LOVES babies, which I find funny, since she is a baby.... She says mom and dada and likes to growl. This week, she finally began to scoot around and even rolls from her back to her tummy. She is also getting close to pulling herself up to standing. I guess she will skip crawling. Addie has also mastered kissing. She purses her lips together and then makes the smacking sound. She gives hugs every morning, too. At church on Sunday, she rubbed her binkie through Mack's hair, which pulled, and made him cry. Addie watched him for a second and then stuck her chin out with her lips pursed and placed them on Mack's mouth. She then held them there for a good 2 seconds before she let out a really loud *SMACK*. It was so cute! I couldn't keep from laughing. I was surprised she knew what it meant. Another trait she has developed is what we call an Addie-tude. She loves to give nasty crusties and then thinks it's funny. She has started throwing some pretty good fits, too. It makes me laugh, now, but we will see how I feel about it in a couple more months. I think overall, she is a pretty good communicator.

Here is her Addie-tude with yogurt on her lips.

Busy playing with the baby dolls.

Silly. I do adore her little teeth. They are so cute!