Mary Ka's words October 2012- 17 months

(without prompting; in addition to previous words) thank you (ting) 17. bean 18. Rita 19. apple (app!) 20. ride 21. open 22. dice 23. "bounce me" she says when she wants to bounce on our knees there are more, but I'm out of time

Mary Ka's words September 2012- 16 months

words she can say without prompting 1. Mama 2. Dada 3. Baba 4. GG 5. rice 6. tea 7. fish 8. waffle (waff!) 9. done 10. please 11. thank you (sign) 12. milk (sign) 13. light 14. no 15. dog

Making Muffins and Botanical Gardens

I'm uploading some pictures of us making muffins and some of our visit to the Botanical Gardens. Mary Ka is really walking like crazy now; she had a great time at the gardens. Daniel showed her all the best paths to run down, and he was very patient with her because she can only waddle.

Daniel's birthday cookie letter

Dear Daniel, In two days you will be four years old. I cannot believe it! You are growing and changing every day. You can do SO MANY new things! You can dress yourself in your pajamas and regular clothes. You can put your shoes and socks on by yourself. You can keep care of MKC while I'm doing my morning work. You can open lots of things with scissors. You can walk all the way to Lyon's Farm with me and back. You can make snacks and food. You like to make olive and pickle trays these days. I love being with you so much. Today you did something new. You used the electric mixer for the first time. We made your birthday cookies this afternoon for school at Ms. Rebecca's tomorrow. You opened the sticks of butter, you got the eggs out of the carton. You beat the butter and eggs together. We spilled the first two eggs we cracked. At first, I was really upset, but I kept my calm. While we were waiting for the second set of eggs to get to room temperature, I said, "Well, I guess we'll just have to hug while we wait." You hugged me, and we rocked back and forth. You hummed a song to me while we hugged. I will remember that hug for a long time. That made me so glad we spilled the first set of eggs. If we hadn't, I would have missed that good hug. The cookie dough is in the refrigerator now. You are riding your bike on the porch with GG. After dinner, we will roll out the cookies and bake them. We will celebrate your birthday at school tomorrow. Ms. Rebecca will tell your rainbow bridge story. I am looking forward to it. Then, on Saturday we will celebrate with your friends at the park. You requested a Halloween theme birthday party this year. We will see how that goes. I am going to try to dress up as a carpenter bee. You are really into carpenter bees right now. I'm going to try to dress up in black and yellow and carry some tools (carpenter). We will see how that goes, too. I haven't decided how we should dress MKC. She might wear her chicken tutu. Happy Birthday, Daniel. Thank you for making me a mama. I love you this much in the bottom of the ocean. Love, Mama.

Daniel's prayer tonight (April 18, 2012)

Dear Jesus,
Thank you for apples, thank you for pine needles, thank you for windows, thank you for houses. Dear Jesus, please help Dada make enough money that he can stay home and play with me all the time because I love him. Amen.

Zoo- April 2012

All dressed up

Thank you, Katie Rose, for sending us fancy clothes for MKC. Here she is in one of the three Easter dresses Katie Rose sent.

Easter 2012

We are in front of the azaleas at the Old Well in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It was such a beautiful day. We had to wait in line to get our picture made. There were about six families there doing this same thing.

Easter egg hunt at Sunday School

Daniel's Easter egg hunt at Sunday School. He received MUCH unplanned-for candy. He was thrilled.

Easter Egg Hunt 2012

We had a GREAT egg hunt at our house today! Daniel is 3.5 yrs old, and MKC is 10 months old.

General Update March 8, 2012

MKC is well from her long horrible cold. Everyone except me is experiencing some allergies, but nothing major. MKC turned 10 months old on the 6th. She is pulling up everywhere, even in the bathtub. We figured out a new system where Daniel sits against the open side, then she doesn't pull up. She is picking up every piece of lint and trash all over our floors, but only eating them about half the time. :) She learned how to blow a raspberry with her mouth and does it often (as I am typing). We were playing Candyland the other night, and we wouldn't let her hold the cards. She got REALLY MAD and shook her head no while yelling. It was the first time she'd done that, and it was hilarious. Daniel can now play Candyland according to the real rules. He prefers to make up alternate rules, but he can do it the real way. Daniel can buckle himself into his car seat by himself. I have to stand near and remind him to sit in it, but he can physically work the straps and buckles. He can reach the light switches in our house; that is relatively new and VERY HELPFUL.
Joseph is in Chicago this week at the fly meeting. Aunt Jenny has been over to play and help. We are making it fine. I gave up yelling for Lent, and that has been helpful. On Saturday we plan to go to Duke Gardens with our friends. Lots of spring flowers and trees are blooming, so now is a great time to go. Happy Spring!

Sticky Sickie

MKC has a bad cold. She has had it for four days now. Fever, coughing, and mucus everywhere. We have nicknamed her Sticky Sickie. Hopefully she will get well soon. I have not been out of the house since last Sunday, when Daniel got sick. She came down with it on Thursday. Joseph and I are kind of just hanging around to see what will happen next. Get well soon, Sticky Sickie!

Miscellaneous February 2012

Tea Party

Daniel made MKC a tea party the other day. They both enjoyed it, but only MKC ended up in the pictures.