Livy is 2!

Our little Livy is now 2!  At two she:

• is a shrimp.  She weighs in at 22.8 lbs (7%), is 34.5" tall (70%), and her head is 18.8" (50%).  She meets and exceeds her milestones!
• runs, jumps, climbs, gallops, tries to skip, falls, leaps, and is always trying something new.  She has mastered the big kids playground and since she's too small to climb the ladders, she climbs up the straight slides.
• is LOUD.  She rarely does anything but speak at full volume.  The doctor says this shows she is smart to have figured out already that loud gets her attention quicker but I could do without the yells!  ;)
• is sweet sweet sweet.  She kisses like the French, one on each cheek.  She still doesn't put "I love you" together by herself yet, but we are working on it.  She gives great slobbery kisses and big bear hugs.  She likes to give high fives too.
• loves her babies.  Baby dolls are her favorite toy.  She rocks them, reads to them, tries to change them, feed them, LOVES to swaddle them... anything baby and she is all over it.
• is a pretty good eater.  She will eat pretty much everything, especially if you offer a dessert in exchange for the food she has to eat.  The problem is if you show her what she has to eat, she'll shove every.single.bite. in her mouth all at once so she can have the dessert RIGHT then.  Ha!  She loves LOVES juice but it makes her...ahem...very regular so she doesn't get it often.  It is referred to as "juju".  Milk "mick" is a second runner, but she'll gulp down water too.  Appies (apples or plums in her mind), really any fruit, french fries, salad, green beans, milkshakes, chicken tenders or grilled chicken, spaghetti, crackers, mac n cheese, tacos, quiche, peanut butter, cheese, sandwiches, and breakfast foods like eggs, pancakes, waffles, and anything sweet is among her favorites.  She does NOT like chicken nuggets, hot dogs, pizza is tolerated, bacon isn't a fave either though she will gobble up vegetarian bacon and sausage (like her Gramps!), she doesn't like deli meats either.
• She does okay at night.  She has slept through the night forever but nursery and our move happened at the same time and she started having separation anxiety big time, even at night.  She's having nightmares too, because the waking happens in our bed too and she'll yell and scream and cry even when we are trying to comfort her and have to turn on a light to wake her. :(
• Nursery... it has been a nightmare.  I went in for about 3 months trying to transition her.  Unfortunately we have had a big turnover in nursery workers and so she hasn't had a consistent set of teachers and she is an extremely stubborn child so finally I just started leaving her (after getting it okayed with the teachers) and letting her scream.  It took a few months but the last Sunday she actually didn't cry when I dropped her off... small miracle!  I have to admit often I would go cry in the hall with her.  It hurts my heart to hear her so upset.
• Addie... Livy calls her "Wivy" (Livy).  No matter how many times we correct her, she calls her this.  She also calls her "baby".  When we pull onto the block before Addie's preschool, Livy (EVERY single time) squeals "Wivy!!!!" She loves her sister and they fight like cats and dogs too.  Addie likes to push Livy's buttons and Livy never disappoints with a bloodcurdling scream in reply.  They do play very well together though and are so sweet when they do.  They play best when they play "pets" and Livy is a dog and Addie the master... go figure.
• says "No taint you" instead of just no to everything.  For example "Livy, it is time for nap!"  she replies "no taint you!".  At least she is polite about all of her objections...
• is becoming a chatterbox and her speech is becoming clearer.  She is putting several words together and can repeat almost any word you ask her to.  Or if not she will at least try to.  She is very vocal when she wants something to drink or eat, if she is stinky, or if she wants to watch Dora the Explorer (her favorite show-she calls it backpack).  She says no less than ten times a day "backpack watch peassss!!!"  If she accidentally exits out of Dora on the ipad she runs in frantic "mommy backpack bwoke.... peaassssse!!"
• doesn't mind getting filthy.  (opposite from Addie).  She loves digging in the dirt and mulch, piling it all over herself and getting stuff in her hair.  She has to bathe almost every day.  Good thing she LOVES "bash" (bath) and loves to hop in the shower.  If she hears the shower turn on she comes running, pulling her clothes off as she does.
• She loves her hair pulled up in an elastic.  She brings them to me regularly for me to pull her bangs back and likes a bow if there is no elastic nearby.
• LOVES her daddy.  She goes running to him the second she hears the garage door.  She does not like to be left at home with Daddy without Mommy though and screams her head off unless he takes her in the car somewhere first.
• loves to be barefoot.  She pulls shoes off constantly.
• needs to be potty trained.  She now removes wet diapers, gets new diapers and wipes, hands them to me, then lays down on the floor to be changed.  Stinky diapers are the same routine except she proclaims "stinky" first.  She hides in another room to make her stinkies... I am waiting to potty train her until we are in a new home because KJo just had new carpet put in everywhere and I don't want to stain it!  In the meantime I let her sit on the potty whenever she comes in and I'm there and she loves it. (She will also strain until she poots and finds that hilarious then immediately grabs the TP and wipes her bum).
• has to have her silky blanket pulled up over her shoulders and covering her feet to nap.  She won't go down for nap without it unless she is in the car.  She will accept another blanket if we aren't home thankfully.
• Takes about a 90 minute to 2 hour nap each day.  She sleeps about 10 hours at night unless she has had a crazy busy day then might sleep up to 11.5 hours.
• Says everything she doesn't like is "ewwy".  Though her taste buds are definitely maturing and now will munch happily on sharp cheddar, salad, etc.  If she doesn't like something watch out.  It will be spat out into her hand and then slung somewhere.  We are working on that...
• has found a new love for books.  8 months ago she wanted nothing to do with them, but around 18 months she discovered the fun and now wants to be read to constantly.
• loves to color and draw.  LOVES it.  Thank the heavens for magic markers that only draw on special paper!!!
• is our love bug.  She loves to cuddle Mommy at bedtime and doesn't want it any other way.

So that is our Livy Lou, Liv, SULLIVAN if she is in trouble, sissy, and Livs in a wrap!  We love her dearly!!!!  

Addie's play date

Addie had her first official "drop off" play date today. Up until this point, Addie has only been dropped off with family... I'm overprotective, I know.

My sixth grade history teacher is the grandmother of one of Addie's best friends from preschool, Rowan. Today Hunny (what Rowan calls her gmaw) picked Rowan up from school and asked if Addie could come over to play. I wasn't sure if Addie would want to since she doesn't know Hunny, but she was so excited!

I dropped her off, and they colored easter eggs, had a tea party outside, and rode tricycles.  Addie was not ready to leave (I left her for an hour and 20 minutes), but Hunny assured her that she could come over again.

Addie wrote a thank you card tonight and we put it in the mail, since I couldn't get the stinker to thank Hunny today. Sigh.

I know Addie is a big girl now, but I still want to treat her like a baby... Hah! Today made me realize we are entering another stage of life. Bittersweet!

Darn it electronics... a little update

Right now I have the blogging itch again... finally! It seems I've been running like a chicken with my head cut off and now I'm finally settling into a productive groove and have some time to blog, but alas all of my electronics are not cooperating. My cell is being exchanged for one that will hopefully work, J sold my laptop and has yet to replace it, which is fine because I was using the iPad... but then the iPad's touch screen went out... ARGH. And our desktop has major issues, leaving me computer-less... Jarom is at the priesthood session of conference, so I have his laptop, but it lacks my photo software and all of my pictures. So... tomorrow I will convince J to load up his laptop with some software and I'm sure within a few weeks of me hogging his computer, I'll have a new one! ;)

But until then... Livy is becoming a regular chatterbox and as of today is trying to repeat everything I say. She's very interested in learning her body parts at nap time and will poke me in the eye a thousand times saying "hieyyyeee" and then if I ignore her she says it properly "eyyyyyeeee". She likes her "mose" (nose) and has her finger up it constantly since allergies struck her and she found the stream of snot amusing. She is very independent and won't allow me to do anything for her hardly now. She wants to walk instead of me carrying her, she feeds herself soup and cereal, and she wants to wash her own body in the tub... the last is where I draw the line... she's gonna be clean dang it after eating the soup by herself!!

Addie is my little momma and loves bossing sissy. She is learning to write and read and writes me notes all the time now! Most consist of just me, Livy, and Daddy's name with "I love" written before it and her name signed below it. But she recognizes words more readily now and I'm really going to have to get on the ball and work on her reading this summer. She also is VERY motivated by desserts... Dinner can be disgusting until I mention a dessert and she will shovel down the food to get it. Most of the time at least. Addie gets along with all the kids at school and she assures me now that she "isn't shy anymore" around most people... which is true. She is quickly coming out of her shell. Preschool has helped immensely. She has a group of little friends there that we play with almost daily after school and she is so happy to have her friends.

Well Livy is up from her late nap and is destroying the artwork on the walls in her room since I've been ignoring her to blog, so I guess I'd better so save the artwork and my child. :) Hopefully I'll have some pictures ready to post next time!

Cowgirl Addie

Addie earned money last summer to buy a toy horse. She named it Racey and has said since that she wanted to ride a real horse, so we finally got the chance to today.

Addie requested her skinny jeans, boots, and braids so she could be a REAL cowgirl. She wanted to ride a horse by herself until she saw how big they are in person! So she decided to ride with Daddy.

About ten minutes into the ride my horse was being ill tempered and biting the other horses and their horse trotted a bit so Addie got scared and wanted to be done. Jarom pulled her closer to him and let her hold the reins and from then on she loved it! We had a great ride and an exhausted little girl when all was said and done. We will have to make a return trip sometime soon!

thankful 22

22. Good people. I was in the shower when I heard something outside ... I hurried out to find Joe Webster's tree care in my yard, with a dead tree of mine cut down and a new tree about to be planted. I had talked with Joe about the tree but had decided to wait until next year to replace the tree and really I could do it myself because it wasn't huge. I ran out to see who told them to come and they said Joe wanted to take care of it so he replaced our maple with a new breed of dogwood for free. The thing is Joe had planted the maple too deep and so it died. The droughts and then monsoons we had didn't help either I'm sure, but I had called him several times to get help to save the tree when I saw it struggling and he thought it was just blistered from the heat. That was kind of him huh?

thankfuls 20 & 21

20. Answered prayers. I teach relief society and the lessons I've had lately have been challenging. So I was worried that this past Sunday's would be hard too. Surprisingly the subject was fascinating to me and I came across an amazing blog with references to everything so I could verify everything the author writes! It truly was an answer to my prayers and the lesson went off without a hitch!

21. Calm kiddos. I'm thankful the girls were in good, sweet, easygoing moods today! I've had several items on my to do list for months now and was finally able to cross them off! I also was able to clean the house, do laundry, do a little service, and make a few crafty things I've been meaning to do. I am zonked but happy. Thank goodness for Livy's nice nap, and play dough for Addie.

thankfuls 16-19

16. Down time. I took a little time to myself to catch up on some favorite TV shows and it really helped me relax. I then spent the next 5 hours on my feet cooking and cleaning up dinner, bathing girls, doing laundry, and such, but the hour I had to myself was wonderful!

17. Promptings. I'm grateful when I receive a prompting from the Holy Ghost, recognize it as such, and follow it. It truly is an amazing blessing. I heard once that if you followed every prompting and was close enough with the Lord you would never make a mistake. How amazing would that be???

18. Dates. Not the fruit variety. Jarom and I spent the evening out celebrating our 7th anniversary (a night early). We saw Breaking Dawn (not so great) and then had an incredible dinner at Conner's steak house. I am so grateful that after seven years I still look forward to date nights and time with my sweetie. I still look forward to him arriving home each day and I'm grateful for the love that we have. We are far from perfect but perfect for each other. He is my rock.

19. Birthdays. We are having Addie's 4th birthday party today due to next weekend being a holiday and the following weekend a vacay and then celebrate Scott's 22nd birthday tonight. Addie is having her party at Bananas. They are dressing each kid in a prince/princess costume, doing their hair/makeup/face paint, then they have a crowning ceremony, royal "tea" party, a royal ball, pizza party, cupcakes, and then making pucker powders (Pixie sticks). Addie is thrilled, I'm thrilled to not have to do cleanup. I love birthdays because they are such a special perfect time to show extra love for those you love and remember them and what makes them so special to you. Seeing Addie's excitement growing has been priceless.