a brother, a sister.

There can be no companion better than a brother, and no friend better than a sister.

Once in a while I wonder if these two will make it to their teens without killing each other.  But most days?  I wonder what one would do without the other.

They do everything together.  If Addie's playing with dolls?  They both play with dolls.  If Garrett's playing with dinosaurs?  Addie's playing with dinosaurs.  They drive cars together.  They 'cook' together.  They color together.  They dance together...

If you throw one in a pile of pillows, they want the other one in there with them.

Addie doesn't like getting her picture taken...unless Garrett's getting his taken.  Then she tries to sneak in.

They read together...

They try new things and imagine together... They get into trouble together...

They both love to be outside... picking fruit, kicking a ball back and forth, playing in the dirt, throwing rocks.

They're finally learning how to take turns.

They both get excited when they hear dad coming up the stairs after work...

They're both curious and excitable...

Addie does a fine job at keeping up with Garrett and fighting back... They chase each other, they laugh together, they tickle each other, they see who can scream the loudest, they race.

They snuggle...

They push the limit together, taking turns being the first one to dare doing something they know they shouldn't, and the other one always follows.  Think- climbing on the table, inching away from the shopping cart, sneaking marshmallows before dinner, throwing balls in the living room, pounding on tables at restaurants...  It's almost like they already communicate through looks, like a, "Follow my lead on this one, I'll take one for the team." expression.

They amaze me everyday.  They make me laugh.  They surprise me.  They entertain me. They teach me to be patient.  They teach me how to love better.  It's nearly a nightly occurrence that Paul and I look at each other as we're all hanging out and playing, like we're both thinking, how did we get this lucky?

I'm so happy they're mine.

And I'm so happy they have each other.

project 365: 47-53

February 16- I started a new project and the kids wanted to help.  But letting them shake cans of spray paint was as messy as I was willing to let them get.

February 17- Garrett was so excited about getting up bright and early because he got to go on a train ride with Auntie Annie and Poppy to Santa Barbara for the day.  He reminded me several times the night before that he needed to wear his new 'choo choo hat'.

February 18- Taking a quick break from playing to have a drink.  The older they get, the more they feel like twins.

February 19- I spent so much time searching stores for all things circus/carnival for Garrett's last birthday.  Who knew I'd be doing it all again for a carnival themed fund raiser 5K that I'm helping out at?  At least I remember where to get all the good stuff.

February 20- I had an ignore the mess and dishes day for my birthday, and I read a book...a whole book, from cover to cover.  Then later I got a pedicure.

February 21- "Garrett. Let's go!  Garrett! ...Addie! GARRETT!! ADDISON!!!"  Gotta love the balloon decorator lady at Home Depot who thinks it's a great idea to give each kid a balloon as we're about to leave.  Especially when my hands were full of stuff...no carts in sight...kids who wont listen...  For a second I didn't know if we'd make it to the car.  And one of the balloons didn't make it to the car, which made it that much easier of a process.

February 22- I've seen this trolley around town since we moved to California.  Garrett loves it and always wants to ride in it.  I assumed it was some private company that had their own schedule/tours or something but I couldn't ever find anything on it.  I even followed it for about 10 minutes a couple of weeks ago, but lost it in traffic.  I learned from Paul a couple of days ago that the trolley has quite a history in Whittier and that a man lives in it and drives it around.  And his dad owned it/lived in it before the son did, and then had a heart attach on it's steps several years ago and died.  It was parked on a street while we were out on a walk, so of course I headed right over and met the man who lives in it.  I told him how my son loves it, and we get excited when we see him driving around town.  Ralph (the owner) talked to us about the trolley/himself/his dad.  His dad was a big time activist here in Whittier, not sure what for.  A lot of things I guess, but it sounds like he was always stirring things up, and everyone knew who he was.  I was glad to finally meet him.  I almost asked if  I could pay him to take us for a ride.  But...the dude lives in it... and I could tell that house keeping wasn't one of his strong suits... and it was pretty clear that the trolley isn't equipped with a shower...  Really nice guy though.

Addie's 15 month well-check

Garrett went to breakfast with Bapa White this morning, while I took Addie to a check-up.

This girl does not like the doctor.  She cried on the scale.  She cried while getting her ears checked.  She cried while getting her head measured.  She cried when a nurse smiled at her.  She cried if there was anyone in the room but she and I.  And even then, it was rocky.

This is new for me, because even though I remember Garrett being very aware and even skeptical of what was happening at the doc when he was younger, he's always been very quite and willing to cooperate.

She's in the 50%ile or both height and weight. 23lbs 5oz and 30 inches tall.  She's in the 95%ile for head circumference.  This was the same doctor who, when Addie's head was off the charts, looked at my head like it was a planet and said, "I see that it runs in the family."  She didn't have anything to say about it today.

This was the check-up where I had to fill out a little worksheet about milestones and development.  Does she walk? Does she run? Does she fall often?  Can she climb on furniture on her own?  Does she say more than 8 words?  Does she stack blocks?  Can she go to another room and get an item you ask for? etc. etc.  These would be easy to 'fudge' answers on, and the older my kids get the more I think these are kind of dumb and inaccurate, but whatever, I answer honestly, and don't pay much attention to tips, concerns, praise, or anything like that.  But this doctor is kind of a 'prove it' doctor.  Fortunately my skeptical, fussy daughter did everything the doctor asked of her.  Said a couple words, walked down the hall, and stood up without holding on to anything.  I think the reason she had her walk and stand was because I'd mentioned that her left foot turns in slightly.  The doctor said it's normal/hardly noticeable/will be naturally outgrown.  There was one area that Addie was 'borderline' on.  Problem Solving.  I answered 'not yet' to both: If something she wants is out of reach, (like while strapped in at the table) does she try to reach it with another item, like a spoon? and, If you draw back and forth on a paper and hand the crayon to her, does she draw with the same back and forth motion?  The doctor did both of these activities with Addie, and sure enough she tried to get closer to the sippy cup with a board book in her hand, and after the doctor drew back and forth on a sheet of paper, Addie gladly took the pen and also drew back and forth.  The doctor didn't say anything to me, just flipped to that page and changed my answers to 'Yes'.  Sorry doc.  I guess I'm just not giving her enough problems to solve.  Have I mentioned that I haven't found a doctor in California that I like??

We finished up with a couple immunizations and went home for a 3 hour nap.

a new year.

I turned 33 yesterday.  There wasn't much excitement about the day, which is fine with me.  After some coaxing, Garrett said 'Happy Birthday' so that made me smile.

I made waffles for breakfast, and didn't clean up the mess.  Then I made trails of crackers and fruit snacks leading away from me so the kids would leave me alone so I could read.  (I'm {sorta} kidding.)  I read a new book, in one day.  The kids napped well, which was great.  And I took a break to take them to McDonald's for lunch.  I wanted to go on a picnic, but it was supposed to rain and it was pretty cold out, so we settled on a mcdonalds with it new big play area.  I was not impressed with the new setup.  I don't really know what the old one was like, but the new one felt very industrial, and not toddler friendly.  One the kid was about 4 steps up the kind of disappeared behind the black mesh looking walls.  There was a tiny toddler spot that kept my kids entertained for about 20 seconds.

Then Garrett ventured into the big kid area.  I think I would typically describe him as a cautious boy, but I'm often surprised at him bravery and willingness to try new things.  I really couldn't see him once he was inside, and I heard several times from other kids inside, "Oh look, a baby!" or "Be careful, there's a baby." or "Let the baby come with us!"  And they weren't talking about Addie.  Garrett made it to the 3rd level where there was the entrance to a slide that went the the second lever.  He yelled for me, just to make sure I was looking, and then he dove right in.  He went on the slide several times.  And he did not want to leave.  And they built this one to be particularly hard for parents to coax or even grab their kids from.

 If you look closely, you can see Garrett's face looking down at me.

Addie was feeling sad that she was too small to keep up with the big kids.

Oh and the picture at the top was our order number.  I thought 333 and a 'Happy New Year!' was fitting for my 33rd.

And later Paul and I went our for dinner and pedis.

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And a couple extra photos from a couple days before.

Addie the food hoarder.

 Garrett the junior conductor, after his train ride to Santa Barbara.

Addie checking out her ruffles before a dip in the hot tub.

The professor.

Frozen Yogurt.

According to the kids...

According to Garrett:
-Trains are his favorite thing in the world right now.  He lines anything and everything up and calls it a choo choo.  Yesterday I had a row of cupcake shaped post-it notes stuck to the arm of the couch and he saw it and siad, "Mom! Choo choo cake!"
-On an episode of Phineas and Ferb about a giant jukebox, he kept saying, "Woah. Big Juice box."
-We record Phineas and Ferb and he gets to watch one episode a night after Lulu goes to bed.  When the episode ends and he wants to watch more, he hands me the 'remote' and casually says, "Mom, the mope."
-He doesn't lie much when he's done something mean to his sister, and when I catch him and he admits it, in order to attempt avoiding a punishment, he grabs her and kisses her.  She's usually trying to avoid him at this point and is often crying, but he doesn't give up.  The tackle/grab/pin-her-down to kiss her, probably causes more pain to her than whet ever he did to make her cry.  But it's cute.
-He loves walking around the house with one hand in a fist, arm going up and down, saying, "March! March! March!"  And if Addie will follow him it's even better.
-He can count to (almost) 10.  1-5 is perfect, but he's struggling with the S sound, so we stumble a little over 6 and 7, but get right back on track for 8, 9, 10.
-He's doing well with colors.
-He'll repeat the alphabet with me, but gets overwhelmed at the idea of doing it himself.
-He's in a phase that I wish would last for a long time, that if he needs me and I'm busy, he'll grab my cheeks and kiss me over and over.
-He has a dramatic fake shiver if it's even slightly cold, and a long, "Buurrrrrr" that goes with it.
-Addie thinks she's two, and when I ask her and she says "Two!" Garrett corrects her saying, "No Lu, ONE! Me two."
-When he toots he laughs and proudly announces, "toot!" or he blames someone else, "P.U. mom" "P.U. Lulu".
-He's started saying parts of the prayer with us.  He'll repeat a couple words out of each sentence.  He calls Jesus, "Jeez".  A couple nights ago he said, on his own, "bless police. bless Baby Will." (his cousin William)
-He tells me who he misses almost daily, "I miss Mimi.  I miss Baby Will.  I miss T." (He calls my brother Taylor T.)
-Because we live 'very near' to where most of the California family works, it's been confusing to him why he can't go visit them when we see them through a window or door when we're outside.  He's starting to get it, but asks when we head out for a walk, "Dad at work? Anne at work? Bapa at work?"
-Whenever I work on anything, sewing, painting, etc. he'll watch for a minute, then say "cute" and walk away.

According to Addie:
-Yeah, she thinks she's two.
-She says hi to everyone.  And if strangers don't respond it turns to, "hi, Hi, HI, HIII DAD!!"
-When she's upset or tired or wants something she always says yells, "Mama!"
-When she's happy or excited, its, "DAD!!" ...whatever.
-She loves saying hi to whoever I'm on the phone with.
-When she's done eating she's starting to learn that you don't drop your plate on the floor.  She does sign language for 'done' and a couple days ago started saying 'all done' but it sounds like, "Aw none."
-She stores food in her cheek, mostly at snack time, when the kids are sharing crackers or apples, and the way I know when she is doing it, (aside from the chipmunk cheeks) is I make her say "more" instead of just accepting the sign language for it.  A little food usually sneaks out as she carefully tries to say, "Mow-aw"

Project 365: 40-46

February 9- I took a royal icing class.  I learned how to pipe and flood cookies.  It was easier than I expected, but it's still true that royal icing is more for looks than taste.

February 10- My two manly men, rockin' their dinosaur tattoos.

February 11- If motherhood was a regular job, I would have called in sick this day.  But we still managed to get in our morning walk before I spent the rest of the day trying to be entertaining from the couch.

February 12- I spent the morning dipping strawberries for Paul to take to several marketing appointments.

February 13- Mimi and Bapa sent Valentines to the kids from Utah.

February 14- I'm slowly working my way through a book called '2,001 Things To Do Before You Die' and last read I read one that was: Have a picnic on the beach in February. Check!

February 15- Garrett spent the morning with Grandma White, so Addie and I had some one on one time, so Target it was.  Seeing how cute she looks here made me want to work on a train party or a Halloween costume or something...but I won't.  Instead I just bought the 2 dollar hat for our dress up box.

Valentine's Dinner (part 2 of love, love, love.)

After the kids' epic naps, we got right back into the fun...

We gave each other and the kids some little gifts....frosted cookies and dipped strawberries...and prepped for dinner.

Paul's family came over to make pizzas with us.  I made little flat bread appetizers.

Please notice the one heart-shaped pepperoni on Garrett's pizza.  I cut a whole pack of these babies with a small heart cookie cutter, but forgot to get a good picture of them covering a pizza. 

After dinner we dressed up the kids, packed up some treats, and headed out to a senior center to cheer some people up.

The kids were a hit!  We even stopped by two other businesses near us to say hello\to some friends.

Paul gave me Parenthood Season one (Yay!), and later in the day I got these roses.  Paul 'knows a guy', and I get free flowers on special occasions.  One of the perks of the funeral industry.

But my favorite gift of the day.  This necklace!

Garrett made it for me with his Grandma White a couple of days ago while I was at the chiropractor.  He was so excited about it that he may have tried to show me and tell me about it as soon as I got there to pick him up.  He was so happy yesterday when he put it on me, and it made my day.

Addie thinks it's hers.  

What a great day...I hope yours was full of people you love.

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The pictures that my mother in law created of my kids.

 "I hate Valentine's Day!"

 I love how happy Addie is to see Garrett.

 She looks so sweet and innocent.

So, so happy.

 Kisses...

 And...Done!