Gwyn update

When Gwyn was a baby, the first thing people would notice was her eyes. 

Gwyn turned 2 in December and refuses to stay a baby. I had to take her high chair downstairs in the beginning of January because she would not sit in it. She insisted on sitting in the big chairs. Then she insisted on getting potty trained. She started this shortly after Christmas and it was the easiest potty training I've ever done. The hardest part was when she would wipe and flush at least 3 times everytime she went to the bathroom. Sometimes she would go every 5 minutes. We went through a lot of toilet paper. She's been completely diaper free for over a month, except at night. I bought a big pack of diapers at the end of December so we've been using those at night. 

Finally, a couple of weeks ago I took down her crib. Here's a few pictures of her in her new bed. She loves it and does great at not getting out of it at bed time. 

I love the way she talks now. It's so nice being able to understand what she says. One of the things I like the most is when I ask her something and she'll say, "No! I already did it." It's really cute, she says it so seriously. I just can't believe that that's my baby saying those things! The other day she kept saying "icky house" over and over. I had no idea what she meant. Then she handed me the remote control and I said, "Mickey Mouse?" and she said, "yes!" I didn't even know she knew who Mickey Mouse was. Matt had been showing her some Mickey Mouse on demand stuff to get her ready for Disneyland. I had no idea!

Updates

I just realized that I never put the results of Kelsey's last blood test. Her platelet levels were at 211,000 which is totally in the normal range. So this ordeal is over. It's a one time thing, like chicken pox, and should not happen again. Yeah! 

Also, I have joined the millions of people on facebook and I'm having a lot of fun catching up with old friends, and even new friends that I don't get to see very often. So, if I'm not already your facebook friend, look me up. I will get Matt to join soon, but he doesn't have the time right now. 

Reagan's birthday party

This year I decided to do a traditional birthday party for Reagan. We had games, pizza and cake. There were 12 girls and Reagan had a lot of fun. 

The party ended with a big birthday surprise. We gathered clues from balloons and the girls read the surprise out loud to Reagan and Kelsey. They found out that they were going somewhere on a plane. To find out where we were going, they had to call their Grandma Marini because she was the one who came up with the idea and she would be going with us. Kelsey is listening in on the conversation. 

Finally, the big surprise was revealed! We are going to Disneyland! They were very excited. This will be their first time going there. We can't wait!

Reagan Marley

Reagan just turned nine. We love having Reagan in our family. She is a great big sister. She helps Kelsey and Gwyn do things all the time and she's the one that will give up something to keep the peace. She loves to read. She'll read anything from science and fact books to Captain Underpants books. She likes to make her own books too. She's also interested in cooking and sewing and does it as often as I let her and she is still taking piano lessons.  She just enjoys learning. Here's a few pictures of her throughout the years:

3 years old

5 years old

6 years old

almost 7

7 years old

8 years old

almost 9 years old

Meet Kelsey: age 6

This is our Kelsey Love. She is so sweet, helpful, obedient... 

But when she gets mad...

she's got a look that could kill!

(She will probably want to kill me for posting this.)

Happy Anniversary?

Well, Matt and I celebrated our 11th year anniversary but it wasn't much of a celebration. I spent the whole day puking or sleeping. Being sick is so not fun, especially when you wanted to go out and celebrate.  I wanted to post some wonderful things about my husband, but for now I'll just let you watch this video that Matt made for me a few years ago. If you haven't seen it before, or even if you have, you should take a minute to watch it. It's sooooooo romantic! Just click here.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

This was the 1st year we stayed in Spokane for Christmas since we moved here. Since we couldn't be with all of our family, we wanted to make it fun and memorable and maybe start some new traditions. We decided to get together with the Buers on Christmas Eve and have a fondue party. It was fun and plenty of food for everyone. We made a cheese sauce and a chocolate sauce. 

Afterwards the Buers joined us in a little Christmas program. Reagan played us a couple of Christmas songs on the piano, Kelsey sang Jingle Bells, and Matt sang and played his guitar. Then we all sang some songs together. 

After the Buers left, the girls got to open up their traditional one present before getting ready for bed. Brand new pajamas! Reagan and Kelsey also got new robes this year. Gwyn loved her Yo Gabba Gabba  pj's, Kelsey loved her Hannah Montana pj's and Reagan loved her pj's as well. 

Here's some pictures of Christmas morning. It's always just as fun for the parents as is for the kids. 

And here's some pictures of the kids playing with some of their new presents. Even Maya was playing with her new toy. It was a pretty relaxing day after that. 

     

Snow fun

Here's a few pictures of all the girls playing in the snow.

Family Pictures

Matt took our family pictures this fall. Check it out!

"Mt. Rainier called...

...and said it wanted it's snow back!"

That was Matt's joke first thing this morning. 

This is what it looked like out our backdoor:

It started snowing yesterday morning about 6 a.m. and didn't stop until this evening. Spokane hit a record of 19" during the first 24 hours. This afternoon Reagan and Kelsey played in the snow that measured 26" for about 2 hours.  

Maya likes playing in the snow too. She was playing in the footprints that Reagan and Kelsey left behind. She would probably get lost if she wasn't in their trail.

Matt was dying to take a flying leap into the snow. 

This is what Matt said about global warming: 

"Yeah the polar bears are moving south... they're coming to Spokane!"

and

"Let's go to the park to feed the birds... they're penguins!"

He tells these jokes to get a big laugh out of Reagan. She's thinks he's just hilarious.

Luckily Gwyn was taking her nap. The snow would have gone over her head! She does like playing in the snow though. This is about 24 hours earlier. I let her play outside for 15 minutes or so yesterday. What a difference 24 hours of continuous snow can make!