Spring Break Continued

Goodness we had a fun week! It is always wonderful having Cade home. He's a great kid (well, MAN almost) and the family feels complete when he's in the house. As he gets older he doesn't loose his sweetness (which might not be what a 16 year old wants to be known as, but I hope so) and it's so cool to see him play with his little sister. I wish I would have made an effort to get more pictures of him. At least he'll be back in 2 months! :) We also got to have Grandma and Grandpa Schurz and cousin Asher visit! Olivia and Asher are only a few months apart and it's adorable watching them together. Asher is a laid back little angel. They did pretty well playing together non-stop for a little over a day. Olivia wasn't used to sharing her own toys, so there were patches of disagreements, but even then Asher remained steadfast in his sweetness :) I should not forget to mention he knows all about construction vehicles: frontloaders, dump trucks, tractors, cement mixers, and many more! Jim helped Jeff most of one full day on his boat, which I know was much appreciated! Here are WAY too many pictures, but you know me, I just can't delete!!!

another doll house! Patsy's dad built this one and Aunt Jennifer, then cousin Hannah used to play with it. Very cool!

Olivia is getting really good at puzzles. 

"cheese"

playing with the quiet boxes. stringing beads.

a little afternoon cake

relaxing talking to mommy and daddy on the phone

letting Olivia talk

i love this. it looks like Asher is giving his parents a good talking to

classic

if only the toilet wasn't in the way I would totally frame this and put it in the bathroom :) nothing more adorable than little tushies.

this guy knows how to enjoy a shampoo session

headed to the park. i love the shadows. (PS, lots of these pictures are courtesy of Pasty!)

look at those clouds coming in. it was cooooold. 

there little fingertips touching. swoon.

sticker time

the oldest boy and youngest boy

electrical work!

that's my man

dump truck time

Asher's got quite the form

why is it so appealing to play on stairs?

Asher talking to mommy and daddy again, Olivia pretending

I love these shots with Grandpa

time to say goodbye :(

men and their computers. little did anyone know Asher was buying a $22 season of Dora the Explorer! 

too cool

reading up on boats

there is a lot to learn

reading with Grandma (she really was here, too!)

umm, too much adorable.

soldering

Olivia Layne - 2.25 years :)

I thought after you turned two I'd ease up on my monthly posting, but now that you're 2 and a quarter, tehre is SO MUCH you are doing. It's overwhelming. You are adorable and smart and funny and precious and so much more. I'm just going to do a bulletpoint list this time, and probably go back to monthly posts from now on. I don't want to forget anything!

almost any time there is a camera pointing toward you, you say "cheese" and make this hilarious smiley face.

when we talk about you getting bigger, you mention "doctor" because you remember that that is where you get measured to see how tall you are.

you went to the bathroom on your potty chair for the first time on 2/1. since then you have tried maybe twice but aren't too interested in it.

sometimes you ONLY want to play with Daddy and you will say "no play mama!" and push me away.

sometimes you will only let Daddy get you out of the car. "daddy get me out, not mama."

when you say Mac n Cheese it sounds like "monkey cheese."

you could probably run back and forth in the house ALL DAY, but only if one of us runs with you.

you got new friends at Nadxieli's and you seem to be transitioning well. you help take care of the baby and you aren't too possessive of toys that used to be mainly yours. many days on our drive to her house you say "Tgen Logan here?" wondering if your new friends will be there to play with.

you often ask to watch Georgie or "George George" immediately upon waking up but you also like watching Care Bears, Dora, Dinosaur Train and Daniel Tiger. other times you will immediately ask to "play dollhouse?"

you mention grandma's house when you remember something you did there, and you will point to the mountains when we are driving and say "grandmas house other side mountains."

when we turn onto our street you say "made it home."

you always ask if "daddy here?" on our drive home from Nadxieli's, meaning you want to know if he's home from work yet.

a story: I wanted to take Olivia to Focus on the Family to have lunch and play one cold day when Jeff was at a swim meet. Her nap was late so I wanted to make sure they would be open first. I told her where I wanted to go, but that I needed to see if it was open. I've checked the computer once before to see if the swimming pool was open and she must have remembered because she said "Peter?" (computer). I said, yes, I'll see if it's open. I found out it wasn't so I told her and she said "I know!" I asked her what and she said "mall!" How she can know to relate playing at Focus and playing at the Mall is beyond me. She is a genius, obviously.

i believe you are empathetic. You ask "what's wrong." You notice when babies cry and it seems like you want them to feel better.

when we had quite a bit of snow and ice on the ground you would always say "careful mama" when we walked to the car in the mornings.

for the most part you are a good listener. you seem to understand why we ask you to do things and you will often say "okay mama". it seems like the biggest times of not listening we have involve changing your diaper. you will flat out refuse at times, but other times you come right over and "lay down me self".

You LOVE chips and salsa.

owl has become your favorite animal to take everywhere.

your say "later" often, especially if you don't want to do something right away or don't want mama or daddy to do something right away.

you talk about buying things at the store a lot. "buy more wipes, mama? buy more jello at store?"

you tell Daddy you love him back when he tells you he loves you at night or saying goodbye.

you sometimes talk to your baby the way Nadxieli or we talk to you. "I carry you, baby. no shoes on." "shhh, baby sleeping, be quiet."

when we play dollhouse you like to tell Daddy or me to "be this one" and "me be this one." Your play with dolls often include the doll crying because they fell or because they want their mama.

if anyone calls you a baby you say "i not baby, I little girl."

after Asher visited you learned Daddy's name: uncle Jeffy :)

There is so much more! You talk up a storm and sometimes I have to remember how young and little you are because you seem like you're 6 years old! You like to wear your owl shirt and you like to wear tutus (skirts) and leggings. You don't like to wear dresses. You don't like to get your hair brushed but you are very good about brushing your teeth. Every time I say "dinner time" you RUN over and say "oooh! YAY! come on daddy, eat time!" You can climb up the ladder and down the big twisty slide and the park all by yourself. You have at least 3 of your two year old molars. You weigh 28 pounds. You are the sunshine of my life.

Love,
Mama