Loooooooooooong Picture Post:)

These pictures date back to January 11th.  I'm a little behind on downloading pictures so brace yourself for the next 20 pictures or so:)

 Svea is in love with this Hello Kitty dress AND she let me put her HAIR up!  She barely lets me touch it and usually runs around like a mop head, but I love it when she allows me to do something with it because I think she looks so cute! Here she has a "ballerina bun"!

 I caught him reading books on his chair.  He looks upset, but was starting to laugh and giggle that I walked in and found him on the chair.  He does the whole turn away, wiggle/giggle like you are going to come and tickle him.  He is babbling/talking like crazy. We are slowly making out more words.  Right now his favorite is , "HEY, hey, hey, hey, hey"!  It's usually when Svea takes something away and he goes running down the hall after her.  We are trying to get him to sign more such as please and thank you, but he just isn't buying it.  All he'll do is occasionally more and milk, but milk means water too if he adds a "wa" to it. Right now he usually just resorts to pointing and saying HEY!!!

 Addy, a girl from our daycare came over to our house last Friday.  Her Mom, Teresa, is a teacher and had a staff development day and our daycare was closed.  We had a fun day and Svea loved having her here.  She's a good little reader. Now, every couple of days she asks if Addy can come over! 

 Dan was going to take Svea out to play last weekend when it was nice and warm and here she is getting ready and being a ham.  She kept making this goofy face and sticking her arms out.  I can't remember what she was saying, but she made us laugh out loud.

 Eating snow!

 Daddy and Svea came over to the window to make snow angels.

 They are both not angels, but I love them:)  Look Mom!!!

 After church last Sunday Kieran fell asleep at lunch.  Then, I put him in his crib for a nap and he talked and played for 45 minutes before actually falling asleep.  Such a goofball!

 I love these next few pictures! I think Kieran looks like one of the seven dwarfs. 

 Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go....

 I'm not sure what he was thinking or if he was babbling, but I just love those cheeks and couldn't narrow these down.

 Hi Ma!!!

 I love their little mouths!

 Then Svea wanted to be silly because, well, that's what she does best:)

 I think she learned this from Jackie/Kayla.  They are always taking goofy pictures together on the girls' phones.

 Fun!

 Kieran after dinner that night.  He thought he was so cool when his shirt got stuck on his head.

 Dad reading "Ten Apples Up On Top".  Kieran is into this book right now.  Svea got a new winter hat.  Her old one kept falling down in her eyes when we'd play outside.  She has a small head so we got her this one.  It appears it's too big too, but it's better than the old one.  Of course she loves the hello kitty!  I ordered her two of them and she got to pick one.  Right away she wanted both of them, but after explaining to her that we only keep what we "need" and Mom and Dad only had money for one, then she decided she would like to give the other hat to a little girl that needs it.  We are so proud of her.  She is starting to show how thoughtful she is left and right.  She brought Peyton a bracelet to daycare and just today she brought me two of her hair bows and said she wanted to give one to Jaylee next door and one to Peyton.  When I told her that giving something to someone means forever she said it was ok because she already has another pink bow that she just got from Gaga.  I love seeing those little lessons sink in!  So proud of her!

 Finally a decent shot.

And our other goofball!

 

We have a fun night planned tonight, an African Drum/Beat band is playing for kids at the school gym and the kids can dance.  I think they both will love it and then we are going to Pastor Rick's house (Methodist pastor in town) and he is having all clergy from around Paynesville and their families come over for desert.  I'm looking forward to a fun evening!

Svea's Three Year Old Pictures

 Back in November I took Svea in for her pictures.  We debated on what to have her wear, but at the time the only thing she would wear was her ballet dress and shoes.  We decided to just let her wear that since that is who she is right now:)  We threw on a sweater and a pair of pants and headed up to St. Cloud.

 At first she was VERY shy and would NOT pose for any pictures.  So I took a couple of photos with her to hopefully warm her up.  I'm so glad I did because I cherish the above picture with her!  It was enough to get her comfortable and from then on she was a ham, twirling, jumping, and posing.

I thought they turned out awesome!!  I love them! They capture who she is at three so well! I also found a great deal on "Groupon" and got the rights to these pictures for $25.  Kathy, I am going to go and send you a 5x7 of this one right now!

I Can Feed Myself

 Kieran has been showing some interest in using his own spoon and feeding himself.

 I remember this stage with Svea very well!

 This is where you give in to the idea that each and every meal time is just going to be a mess and let them go because how else will they learn:)

 But, it sure is a lot of fun to watch.

 And, you get to see the huge sense of satisfaction on their face when they realize they can do it all by themselves!

 

 

 

 Here's to messy kitchens and messy hands and faces....and clothes, highchairs, floors, walls, etc:)

 

 

How Do You Measure a Year?

In special moments like these:)

 

Meeko gets in as much snuggle time as he can, wherever he can!

 I swear Kieran wears more than just jammies, but for the past two weeks jammies it has been through his flu and the extreme cold.  It's just more comfortable.  I finally put him in clothes again this weekend!

 He was enjoying the farm very much on this day:)

 Above and below are two fine examples of why he is called "the hurricane".  "Just hanging out Mom, having my morning coffee and checking my phone"!  If he isn't a mini Dan:)

 And here....Svea was quietly reading her book and here he came and tackled her from behind and wanted to wrestle.

 I asked Svea to take a picture with me and smile.  She loves sticking her tongue out for pictures and then can't wait to, of course, see them again.

 Dan and I went out for dinner on Friday night and Jackie/Kayla came over  to watch the kids for a couple of hours.  Both kids had a blast and so did the girls. We love the fact that we know our kids are well cared for and hardly notice we are gone because they are having so much fun.  The girls said they got Kieran to say "Kayla".  He repeats words every once in awhile, but then they don't stick with him. We went to "Indulge" in Spicer, one of our new favorites! It was a nice break, great food, and a relaxing time for both of us.

 We tried the Mohawk look on Kieran the other night for his bath:)

 And someone is obsessed with his glo-worm these days.  It used to be Svea's, but Kieran took to it much more. For awhile we had to take it out of his crib at night because at 2:00, 4:00, and 6:00 we would hear it go off in the monitor and it would wake us up.  It does bring him a lot of comfort I think.  Thanks Papa and Lynn!!

We've had a nice 2014 so far! Here is a cute story about Svea. Today at church the piano started playing and she came up to me and whispered very quietly..."I dance, Mommy"?  I said sure and she stepped out into the aisle and twirled and danced until it was over.  When it was over she asked when the next song would be so she could do it again.  She also wanted her to Dad to watch her again.  It was precious.  I hope when we read this post again someday we can picture her in her ponytail, hello kitty dress with pink ruffles, and polka dot pants.  So precious:) 

What I've Been Up To (Svea)

 If there was a career of making silly faces I'd be rich.  I love to be goofy and pose in silly ways for the camera.  I have to view them immediately afterwards and laugh too! What do you think of my hair?  I love it.  I don't know why Mom is always asking me if she can put it in a ponytail or pigtails. I never let her and I run away. I can see just fine and think it's totally in style!

 How cool is that.  I was re-arranging my snowmen in the window and you can see my snowgirl I built outside too!  These two guys in the window didn't have any feet so I ripped apart one of the snowflakes and made them some legs. I am very creative!

 My brother gets into everything I do.  Mom is always telling me to play things up at the table if I don't want Kieran to bother me, but I can't play sleeping bag up there.  Sometimes I push him away.  Here I am squashing his head into the floor. Mom and Dad don't like that when I do that, but I always forget to ask for help.  I get really frustrated sometimes.

 I LOVE to play with my dollhouse.  Yesterday I played with it all morning with Daddy.  Here I am playing with the people. I think I was putting them to bed for their nap. I like to dress myself too and polka dots are my absolute favorite!

See my hands....those are weights?  I found them downstairs when I was hanging out with Mom while she worked out. I like playing downstairs.  I have a good imagination and make up all kinds of scenarios when I play.

 

Here are some more funny phrases that Mom and Dad have been writing down that I say.

 

"good night darling Mommy or Daddy"

"I don't have a drop of pee mommy.  I went potty at the store.  I don't want to go potty before nap"

"________that's a fancy word for _______"

What is your full name? "Svea Amazing Grace"

To the guy at church who helps Mommy with Kieran, "That guy (Steve) is a funny uncle"

"I like Pastor Paul, he's a nice guy"

Singing/when she says thank you sometimes..."Thank you, for everything you do"

What I've Been Up To (Kieran)

 I like to stay busy.  Here I am trying to put random objects into the puff ball container, which I LOVE to do! I am also a sucker for my paci.  It will be a sad day for me when Mom and Dad take it away.  I'm very sneaky and know how to pull them out of my crib during the day.

I am also a very good climber.  Here I am freaking my Mom out by crawling in our grocery cart and then I like to stand up. 

 I am such a stinker!

One of my best friends is Meeko.  I can't get enough of him and sometimes he runs away from me....if he is quick enough.  Sometimes we like to watch tv together.  He told me he likes it when I sit on him.

 I might be a farmer someday.  I love to play with my new John Deer tractor toys!

The best part of my day is playing with my older sister.  Here we are sharing her sleeping bag.  Only she was screaming in my ear and I don't talk yet, so I'm not sure what she was saying, but Mom says I need to give her some space sometimes.

 My newest trick I learned is climbing up onto my chair in my room.

 Pretty cool huh?

 I think it's so funny....

 to lick the window. It's like getting a drink.  Mom doesn't let me stay up here too long as I hang on with one leg!

This is my puppy.  I love him SO much.  He makes me laugh and I make funny faces at him.  Here I am shaking my head back and forth at him.  He says I make him laugh too!