Just an update

After potty training victory and fun Christmas times, things have been slower and really "normal" around here lately so there is not much to report. Everyone is happy and healthy, so I guess no news is good news :)

Kate is now 9 months old. She babbles all day long and charms everyone she meets. She is content and low maintenance, just as Cole was (although he's still content and good-natured, I can't honestly call his toddler antics low maintenance). She loves to walk with help and try to keep up with Cole, and she loves her daddy too and has a special smile just for him. She army crawls all over and has just this week started up off her tummy and it's sooo funny. It looks like she's Pinocchio the way she bends her knees awkwardly and has one leg straight and one bent. I'm sure she'll get the hang of it soon :)

Cole is just an awesome kid and just fun to be around. He is BIG into pretending and will spend most of his days at home acting out something from his imagination, usually about dinosaurs, aliens, tractors/trucks, or dragons. He is extremely excited to start tball this spring, and randomly will say "I'm SO esscited for baseball to come!". I am really looking forward to seeing him do that, hopefully the beginning of many years of sport watching to come.

Tyler continues to work hard for us and be the best dad we could want. Just yesterday I was thinking to myself how lucky I got in getting him, he is SUCH a great dad, so patient and fun, and such a great example for them to look up to. I can't tell him enough how grateful I am he's ours.

He takes Cole on "man dates" several times a month, usually a snowshoe hike on a new trail he wants to try out. Cole beams about it for days. I can't wait till Kate gets old enough to appreciate daddy dates, I remember those with my dad still and how excited I would get.

On top of my usual mom duties, I've been subbing at my school once or twice a week which is great. I've also been running a lot which makes me happy :) I love getting out in the snow in the morning before anyone else. One morning on Lagoon trail a deer jumped out just a few feet in front of me and I thought I was being attacked. I'm glad no one was nearby to see me embarass myself.

Here are a few things we've been doing this past month...

It's amazing how much fun a little cornstarch and water can be. This is one of Cole's favorite things to do, and we thought Kate would like to join in as well.

Kate's doing great with her solid foods, she likes everything except the dinner ones with meat in them. I don't blame her, they really are yucky. She loves these puff snacks though, as you can tell.
She now sits up so well that she can take her baths with Cole, and it's the most adorable thing. I love bathtime.
Okay so maybe this was even more adorable than bathtime. One Sunday morning Cole decided he wanted to wear a white shirt (which wasn't hard, we do that often) and TIE, which unfortunately we haven't had one his size for a few months. Anyway, I tried to talk him into just the white shirt but no, he wanted to look like a deacon (his words exactly). Tyler found one of his older ties and worked it out for him. It was such a great day.

This is after church, the tail of his tie was tucked up under for most of church don't worry.
Letter time! Cole practicing his letter C in flour. We focus on one letter a week and do lots of different activities that go with it.
This guy loves his sister.
Chubby bunny! A whole marshmallow, wow.
Kate in the walker.
What I do most days most of the time. By the way, we really have gotten out of the house lately. I just realized all my pics are taken here at home. My next blog should be dedicated to all things we do outside of our home :)
Same couch, same helmet, different day.
One morning we woke up to a couple inches of beautiful snow and we just couldn't wait, we headed out before breakfast to play. It was gorgeous!


Kate loves swinging!
Later that day Cole had snow soup for lunch.
Here's my little climber, pulling her self up and standing on her own. She's so petite!
Looking at new snow.
More fun tub time. Cole's trying to get Kate to look at the camera. After taking a quick picture I made an amazing catch to keep Kate from drowning.
Notice the art work (pen)above her eye? The dangers of having both car seats by each other in the back unsupervised.
Another day playing in the tub, this time without water and at lunchtime, not bedtime. Cole wanted a picnic in the tub, I obliged.

Being an astronaut. The shotgun is to shoot aliens. The flag is to know where he's from, and the lines on his suit are the bullets for his gun. The things this guy comes up with. He also had an alien catcher (empty can) that is not pictured.
My favorite video of the year. I love these two!