We love Halloween

Makayla: Witch Kalyana: Sally (Nightmare Before Christmas) Tarl: "I dont know" Debbie: Princess

Our ward had a Halloween party on Friday so our family got all decked out for the costume parade and the trunk or treating. Unofficially I won for the best decorated trunk. We had a few skulls (with glowing red eyes), pumpkins, spider web lace hanging from the top, and a cut off arm. Next year we've got a better plan so we're already pretty excited (it involves strobe light, fog machine, and music).

No more army crawl

Although she's been walking around furniture for over a month now she finally just decided it was about time to stop the 'army crawl' and start crawling like the rest of the babies out there....here's the video to prove it!

Video: MCKnees

Motorcyles & Rapping

We had a great weekend getting to spend time up at Derek and Marshae's cabin. We took the most beautiful drive on the way home along the Wasatch Back. I wish I would have gotten out and gotten pictures to prove it but believe me, it was awesome! Up at the cabin Kalyana's cousins Abani and Aislin let Kaly play with the motorcycles and they all had a great time driving. The girls just couldn't get enough of it! We also spent a day at Grandma and Grandpa D's. I was able to get my mom to cut out Kalyana's Halloween costume (that seems to be the hardest part for me) and then I sewed it up. Stay tuned for pictures of her wearing it later this week. Also I stuck this hat on Makayla and snapped a few photos and didn't realize how funny it was until I uploaded them and realized she was a little rapper baby.

Spidey Man Spidey Can

Tarl did an excellent job decorating the front of our house with halloween decor. (Look closely! The spiderwebs look so real, not like the cotton you pull apart.) He has this nifty little "spiderweb sprayer" that attaches to a drill and spins out spider web fluid (it smells a lot like rubber cement)--think something along the lines of a cotton candy machine (heats up sugar and sprays it out). It's mostly an indoor thing (due to heat and wind acting against it quickly) and really only lasted about 1 day, but it looked so awesome that we even had several neighbors flocking over to ask how he was doing it and to get a demonstration. Luckily I took pictures as he was doing it since by the time we woke up the next morning it was all gone. Pretty realistic looking though huh? We'll have to do it again the day of halloween.

Last Week

This all happened last week but I wasn't able to get the picture file to load up. It was so cute I couldn't stop trying to get it to work so enjoy. Like daddy taught her, Kalyana is trying to teach Makayla to play video games. It's incredible what these little kids are capable of. Kalyana and I had a good time trying to get Makayla to sit in the backpack. She's become quite the wiggle worm and wouldn't stay put but we managed to get a good laugh (and picture). Makayla is showing how she can climb out of (and onto) her walker. Kalyana is eating her yummy halloween cookies she made at preschool. They even got to decorate pumpkins with stickers and jewels.

Good Company, Good Food

We enjoyed spending family night with the D's and J's and even got Cafe Rio for dinner. We also discovered that Austin's (2.5 mo) and Makayla's (9 mo) feet are almost the same size. I took Makayla to the doctor today and found out she's gained 1lb 4 oz in 3 months which gives her a grand total of 14 lbs and 8 oz. She is no longer on her growth curve and is down from 10% down to 4%. That's my little active walker. The doctor was concerned but Kalyana did the same thing and really, we're a short family. Kalyana is showing us her friends (starts with "F"--the letter this week in joyschool) and the number 6 because the girls are learning about friends and feelings.

Sleeping Piano

Makayla was sequestered to her crib for a bit to play while Tarl and I cleaned like crazy this week. We had a cleaning check from our landlords-which despite what initially seems like a bad thing was actually really nice to get us motivated to get the entire house clean at once. As you can see she tuckered herself right out (and it was naptime).

Our own Houdini

Makayla doesn't like to be strapped into anything and if we dare try she'll try to show us who's boss by escaping. Kalyana was the same way and as my mother tells me (and from the home movies I've seen) I was too. Makayla's pretty funny about the whole thing too because she'll keep turning around and looking at us. I can't tell if she's doing it to get a laugh or reaction from us, or if she's trying to be sneaky (pretty tricky for a 9mo old).

Apple Stealer

Makayla is a little apple-stealing turkey. Her sister put it down for a minute but now that Makayla can walk around furniture nothing on the coffee table is safe. She knew she had to be sneaky too because she grabbed it and crawled away to eat it.
Today we got to babysit the girls' cousin Austin while his mom and dad went golfing for their anniversary. We got this fun 'grandkids' photo for grandma.

Family Tea Party

This afternoon we decided to have our first family tea party. Tarl and I made a yummy lunch of ham, mashed potatoes, asparagus, and corn and Kalyana set the table. It was really fun and Kalyana loved getting to pour us all "hot chocolate" (apple juice). (I think Aunt Heather taught her that her tea parties were really hot chocolate parties.)

Girls Night Out

Makayla and Debbie celebrated with Kalyana that she kept her panties dry all day. (This is one of the variety of rewards we've tried.) Kalyana invited us girls to a Princess teaparty Tuesday night and we all shared "hot chocolate" & "crumpets" (or really water and fish crackers).

Family, isn't it about time

A day in the home of the us. Makayla climbing into and onto everything, Kalyana doing crafts and going to preschool, Tarl playing with the girls and Debbie reading. Alot. In the past 3 weeks I've read 5 books, although it's a bit trickier to do with 2 kids in tow.

Sneaky Sleeping Beauty

Kalyana doesn’t like to miss the ‘fun’ when she has to go to bed and sometimes she’ll sneak downstairs and sit on the step and listen to Tarl and I after her bedtime. Last night I went running upstairs to check on her and I almost stood right on her, not expecting her to be sleeping on the step.

"smilecheese"

Kalyana actually IS good with a camera. We’ve let her take quite a few pictures and she’s honed her skills surprisingly well! However after she takes pictures she always wants to snap pictures of herself so we end up with a lot of close ups on our digital camera. These are all pictures she’s taken herself. And just to explain the title, since Kalyana was a little tike (I'd guess 1 1/2) whenever she'd hold a camera she'd say "smilecheese" as if it were one word.

Pulling up

For the last two weeks Makayla has been standing up on every piece of furniture we own. The only time she crawls now is to move from one piece to a further, non-connected piece. She loves to be up where the rests of us are and is loving her new found freedom. Needless to say there has been a lot of crying as she’s learned to hone in her balancing and instead of falling.

J-e-l-l-O

Aunt Heather gave us some fun crafts to do. Today we made Jell-O aquariums complete with fish inside!

Xbox Baby

Kaly is getting the hang of this “hand-eye coordination” her dad has been teaching her or what it’s otherwise known as: the Xbox. Her favorite games are “the funny Homer Simpson game”(Simpson hit and run), the ice game (fusion frenzy), the marble game (Ultra blast), and “the roller ball game” (Totem ball). Totem ball is a new game you can play with no controler but instead you use a camera and your hands and you move by going up or down with your hands. Tarl is teaching her how to play and Makayla is joining in mostly because she found another place to stand.