Love my angels!

This morning I was reading in bed before the girls woke up.  I have been reading longer than normal because I don't want to get out of my warm bed!  Lexi woke up before Addy and I still wanted to read a couple more articles in the Ensign (our church magazine).  So I brought Lexi in bed with me, covered us both with blankets and read out loud to Lexi. She sat and listened until I was done!  I loved it!  Lexi doesn't hold still very long, even when I read her books to her so when she cuddles I take advantage!  I LOVE my family and these sweet moments in the morning before the busy day gets going.  After reading I said my prayers out loud so Lexi could hear, thanking my Heavenly Father for my sweet angels!  Lexi said "amen" a couple of times before I had finished, lol.  When I did finish she said "prayer" and folded her arms so I helped her say her prayers.  The only part she says is "amen" though haha.  I am really going to miss this age!

Yesterday at church Addison's teacher mentioned to me that Addison is always so happy and she cheers up everyone she plays with.  She said what a good talent that is.  I agree!!  Addison is so blessed to have that talent!  For the past couple of months I've been babysitting a 3 year old boy and an 8 month old baby girl 4 days a week for half the day.  I took a leap of faith when I accepted the job, not sure how I would manage four kids when my own two were quite a handful.  I have noticed that my girls LOVE playing with Asher and Ella, look forward to it every day, and they are easier to handle when they are here!  What a blessing!  Addy asks almost every day who is coming over today.  She gets so excited when someone is coming over.  She is somewhat of a puzzle to me still though.  She loves watching tv and could sit for hours watching it.  Yet she is so extremely social and it seems that she thrives in social settings.  In so many ways she is opposite of me. But one thing I think we have in common is attention to detail.  Last night when she went to bed the house was a mess.  I picked it up before I went to bed and put the Christmas tree away.  When Addison got up this morning one of the first things she said to me is how nice and clean it looked :) A girl after my own heart!  Makes me happy lol.  Clutter and messes make me anxious!  Don't know if Addison's attention to detail is a result of nature or nurture :)

I'm kind of rambling now, going off subject a little but oh well.  Those of you who have seen our townhome are probably thinking, 'she must always be anxious then' and to answer that, yes, yes I am.  We don't have a pantry so we use open bookshelves for a pantry in our kitchen.  It drives me nuts and I can't wait to move somewhere that has a pantry and shelves to organize and hide our clutter/projects!!  We also have a treadmill in our living room which isn't ideal but it's our only option and it helps me a lot so for now that's what we have to deal with.

Now back to my angels....I love when they are sweet to each other!  I took this picture while I was writing this post.

More funny things Addy has said:

I made a jello salad recently and it's been a really long time since I've made one.  I kept calling it a jello salad so when I put it in front of Addison she asked “Is there lettuce in it?” She’s been eating lettuce salads a lot lately so I think she thought since I was calling it a “salad” that there would be lettuce in it.

Beth took Addy and Lexi to Temple Square with them one night (I stayed home because Steve was sick).  When they got back Addy said to Steve “We went to Square Temple!”

Addison said to Steve today in such a sad voice, “Oh I really want another baby because Lexi is growing up”.  She LOVES babies!  She can be so sweet, yet so mean to Lexi.  I babysit an 8 month old baby girl named Ella and Addison is so sweet and tender with her.  She always says how cute Ella is and talks in a high-pitched sweet voice to her.  Addy is always willing to help Ella and she's very protective of her.  When I put Ella down for a nap Addison always wants to give her a kiss and a hug, which is what she always does with Lexi too.  She is a caring older sister.

Christmas

She picked out her outfit lol. She LOVES stripes. Even her underwear is striped :)

I often see Steve's traits in the girls but here is one from me: look at the way they're both sitting. My mom, my sister, & I are all double jointed in our knees so we can sit like this. 

In one of her Christmas dresses.

I recently happened upon this cart at walmart & felt like I was shopping in luxury, lol. This cart seemed brand new, I could push it & turn it with one finger, AND most importantly there was a seat for both girls. Thank you Walmart! Haha. The next time I went there I drove around the parking lot looking for one of these because they are never inside with the rest of the carts, I'm guessing because they're popular.  Makes shopping with two kids so much easier!

I went upstairs for a few minutes & I knew when I couldn't hear them that they were up to something...sitting on the counter is not allowed. Neither is playing with the camera & baby monitor.  

Here's another time they did this. Addison's expression is so funny - it's as if sitting on the counter is normal & no big deal. These two together are trouble!

She is my daredevil!! She keeps me on my toes.

Playing dress-ups. 

Presents

With Addison getting older and understanding things more Steve and I have to be a little more careful this Christmas season to keep things a surprise.  It makes me laugh though how somewhat easy it still is to keep presents hidden.  We have presents hidden in the garage just under a blanket.  Even though she goes in the garage sometimes she doesn't think to look under the blanket.  The other day a package was delivered to our door and the picture of the toy was on the box.  My neighbor so nicely warned me of this so I was able to tell Addy to hide her head under a blanket on the couch while I brought the package into the garage.  She surprisingly obeyed and after I hid it under a blanket in the garage she never asked about it again LOL.  She has forgotten about it.  We also have presents hidden in our closet behind our clothes.  I should have written down where I hid things because I have forgotten where I put some things!  Woops.  Yesterday Steve, the girls, and I were at Costco and we found some books we were looking for for the girls.  While Steve talked to Addy to distract her I put the books in the cart underneath something else.  Next year I'm not sure it will be so easy :)

They love to play in the shower

Potty training again

This is the victory "dance" of our little 18 month old who just went potty on the toilet! 

Now that Lexi is 18 months old I thought I'd see what her readiness is to go potty on the toilet. Several times this past week I've placed her on the potty during diaper changes. Last night before bed was the first time she actually peed in the toilet. It was exciting! Haha. Tonight she did it again & it was even more exciting, haha. Maybe she's understanding? I hope!

O Christmas Tree

We put up our Christmas tree last night (in our master bedroom).  Addison was so excited.  She loved it!  She wanted to turn off all the lights to look at our tree all lit up, even before we had put any decorations on it.  She wanted us to close the computer and turn off the lights on our phones so it was completely dark except for the light coming from the tree.  Lexi was so helpful and pulled OFF the decorations she could reach.  So it's another year of a tree decorated only on the top half :)

When Addison got up this morning it was still dark outside and the tree lights weren't on.  Addison frantically asked, "Is the sun coming up?!"  When I said yes she complained, "I don't want the sun to come up!"  I think she wanted it to stay dark so we could turn on the tree lights.

At breakfast she said "I'm tired.  Can I go lay down in your bed and look at the Christmas tree?"

Later she said "I wish we could put up another Christmas tree."

Setting out cookies for Santa!