Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Last week was our ward's annual swim party. Kalianna got some fairy tattoos from her grandma so I thought this would be the perfect night to wear them. Kali picked out which one she wanted each of us to wear and she giggled as I put them on. She has been showing them off to everyone ever since. She especially loves to point out that even Magdalyn has a Tinkerbell fairy on her arm.
Her eyes got so wide when the flash went off, it makes her look terrified!

Kalianna's new favorite thing at bath time is having me style her hair after we put shampoo in it. Here she is sporting a lovely mohawk. I hand her a little hand mirror when I am done, and she looks at herself and just laughs and laughs.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Magdalyn 4 Months

Magdalyn had her four month check up today. She now weighs 13 lbs 8 oz and is 24.61 inches tall. Still taller than she is big, but both are 40% and 60% so she is pretty average. Her head however remains in the 4%. She has a very cute, petite little noggin. Kalianna at this same age was taller and weighed less. Several people have commented these last couple weeks on how much Magdalyn is starting to fill out. You should see her thighs! They are super cute and chunky!

She hasn't changed too much since last month. She is still super sweet and easy-going. She loves to be around lots of people. She will happily play on her blanket and observe while everyone moves around her. She is starting to become very interested in toys. Now that she can hold them. Especially the ones that make fun noises. She also loves being sung to. Kalianna will sing to her when she is sad, and it is so sweet! Whenever Mommy or Kalianna sings to her, she calms right down and is super happy again.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Bear Lake

Last weekend we went to Bear Lake with Matt's family. His parents have a timeshare so we all met up there Friday night and stayed until Sunday evening. His aunt Becky and her family and their grandparents joined us. The lake is really high this year, so unfortunately we couldn't go to the beach. But the condos had a really nice pool, which the girls loved! We had a nice relaxing weekend of hanging out, playing games, and watching movies.

Playing by and in the pool

Playing with aunt Miranda

Playing games outside

I asked Matt to take some pictures of his family...this is what I got

I gave him another chance

Swinging in Grandpa's sling

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Summer Fun!

I've been trying to play catch-up lately, so I decided to just combine my last several posts. Get ready for a lot of pictures!

I love summer time! I love that the girls and I have been able to have play dates with friends, and go visit places together. We have spent a lot of the summer in Kalianna's pool in the backyard, and at tumbling. But here are a couple other places we've been.

Pedicures with Mommy:

Grandma's house, eating popsicles with her cousins:

Gateway Discovery with her cousins:

Wheeler Farm with some old roommates and their kids:

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Tumbling

Almost since Kalianna learned to walk, she has been jumping and somersaulting and climbing on everything. She is very active and has no fear! Matt and I kept saying how we needed to find her a tumbling class or something. We knew she would excel in an environment like that. So after she turned two, and things calmed down with Magdalyn, I started looking around. I found this place called My Gym that offers a tumbling class for 2-3 year olds and they had a free two week trial. I figured why not give it a try - it's free.

I took Kalianna to her first class at the beginning of the summer and I knew we would be signing up in the first ten minutes. We walked into the gym, Kalianna took one look at all the mats, bars and trampolines and she squealed and started jumping up and down. She ran for the gate and was ready to go! Once we got her shoes off and entered the gym, she was all grins and giggles as she ran from one thing to the next, trying everything out. Climbing up and over and through and bouncing off one thing after another. Class started and she had a hard time with the structure at first. She did not want to sit on the mat and warm up when she still had things to explore! But after that first class, she has gotten the hang of everything and she does fantastic! The teachers who work there are amazing with the little kids and the classes are absolutely perfect for the short attention span of a 2-year-old.

The most awesome part is during the summer they have unlimited classes. So I can bring Kalianna almost every single day of the week and we only pay the small fee for the one class she is officially signed up for. They also have free play several days during the week, where she can go and just play for an hour. So technically I can bring her twice a day for the price of a one day a week class. They also rearrange the gym every week, so the kids get to explore something new each time they come. It has been such a fun thing for us to do this summer! It gets us out of the house, Kalianna gets exercise, and she is learning and making friends at the same time. Matt was able to come with us to free play last Monday since he had work off, so I was finally able to get some pictures! I didn't get everything, but I got enough to give you an idea of how much fun she has.

The ball pit. Kalianna loves to stand on the edge and jump in, then bury herself in the balls.
Climbing. They climb up this ladder built into the wall and touch the tape at the top. Kali did this on her first try. The girl amazes me with her athleticism!
Monkey bars. Still trying to master these. Her arms aren't quite long enough yet to do them without help.
The unparalleled bars. She uses the padding to climb up one of the sides, then she grabs the top bar and swings for a minute before dropping onto the mat. She saw a couple older kids doing it once at free play and immediately joined in.
The ladder walk. She loves this! Having to climb up one box, walk across a ladder a couple feet off the ground, then jump down on the other side. I think she is a monkey. I really do.
The trampoline. Another favorite almost since she could walk. And thanks to Grandpa and Grandma's Christmas present last year, she seriously flies on these things.
Sledding down the ramp. They have all kinds of "rides" they set up for the kids each week.

Magdalyn 3 Months

It has been a crazy couple of weeks, so I know I am totally behind on this! Magdalyn is the calmest, happiest baby I have ever met! And I am not the only one who thinks so. It's not just a case of proud-mommy syndrome (which I do have). People at church ask me all the time if she has ever cried. The other moms at tumbling talk about her frequently (or so I have been told) and many of them have said, "I would have another baby if I could be guaranteed one like her." On July 15th, when she was exactly 3 months, I was at a book signing boutique all day. I was there all the next day too and Magdalyn spent both days with me. The other authors could not believe what a content little baby she was. She was perfectly happy laying on her blanket and playing for hours at a time. Everyone wanted to hold and snuggle her (she loves to snuggle!) and I had several offers to be my new babysitter.

Magdalyn loves to look around and take everything in. If we are watching a movie, she has to be facing the TV, just because she can tell something is going on. Bath time is one of her favorite things in the world! She kicks and splashes and goes crazy as soon as she gets in water. She also loves to watch her mobile. She enjoys being on her feet, you can tell she can't wait until she can run and play like her sister. It is very easy to get her to smile. With Kalianna, you had to work to earn her smiles. But Magdalyn loves to show off her gummy grin. She is such a sweet little girl! I honestly can't believe she was only born 3 short months ago. I can't imagine our family without her!