April Moments

Beauty and the Beast

We had the most wonderful day today, thanks to Grandma! Last week she surprised us by buying tickets to Beauty and the Beast at Gammage Auditorium for today's show. It was amazing. We sat right in the middle of the second row. The girls were able to look over at the orchestra pit. It was one of the first plays I had ever been to where you could really see all of the facial expressions of the actors and actresses. There was a point during the song, 'Be our Guest' where the cast shot streamers out to the crowd and they came right to us. It was so exciting for the girls. The music and the singing were beautiful. And, even though the show was pretty long, it kept the girls attention the entire time. Thank goodness for intermissions. Thank goodness for Grandma. Her kids and grand kids are sure lucky to have her. Thank you so so much, Grandma!

Patchy and JoJo

Joey and Mikey came over this morning to play. Ellie and Mikey played together doing their big kid things, while JoJo and Patchy ran all round the house playing their little hearts out. It was one of the first times that JoJo and Patchy played with each other. Usually, they acknowledge each other for a second or two and then move on to whatever else has their interest. Today, they ran around, played with ball, went down the slide, played peek a boo, gave high fives and wrestled with each other. While they were eating a snack they were making each other laugh with their farting sounds. Boys will be boys and it is certainly fun to watch.

               

18 Months

Patrick,

18 months now! We are sure having fun watching you grow and change. You are soooo sweet. When we are at the library or the park you will go up and hug another kid so gently. Then you kind of pet them on the head. You do that with us too. You still give the cuddliest little squeezes. So tender. Don't get me wrong...you are a feisty, rough little guy too. You hit, throw things, head butt, and scream when you don't get something you want or if we take something away from you. If we don't open something you want open (bubbles, candy, etc.) you will just give us a dirty look and then chuck it across the room. Sometimes when you are mad you will scrunch your face up and yell, "GO" while you are trying to swat us away. We haven't quite figured out your temperament...maybe it is just sweet and feisty.

Your sis loves you. She loves dressing you up and playing with you. You LOVE her too. You give her the biggest hugs and slobbery kisses. Unfortunately, her hair often gets in the way of your hugs so she gets mad and thinks you are pulling her hair when all you really want to do is snuggle into her. Other times, you get all fired up and into wrestling mode and tackle her. You two are also starting to chase each other around the house. You are also both good at pushing each other's buttons.

You copy so much of what she does and says. Because of Elise, one of your first words was, "why?" You use it all the time and in the right context so it makes us laugh. You also say, "more". You say, it in a really high pitched voice while you put one finger up by your nose as if to say, one more. Some other phrases and words you are saying;

here you go, all done, thank you, hi, bye-bye, go, outside, I want that, yeah, no, ball, goal!, dog, please, pizza, Kikey (Mikey), JoJo and Yeyyee (Ellie).

When I ask you if you are ready for bed you either shake your head no for a long period of time, or you actually wave bye bye to everybody and walk down the hall by yourself, or you go up onto the couch and snuggle into the corner like you are trying to tell us you would like to watch a movie and sleep on the couch.
You have these cute little curls in your hair that I am sure will go away as soon as we cut your hair. You are starting to tell us when you go potty. It is easy to know when you go poop because you will walk around saying "ewwww" until we change you. Hopefully that is a good sign that potty training might come sooner rather than later. If you are trying to get us to figure something out and we finally get it you shake your head yes with excitement while panting with your tongue out just like a little puppy.

You like reading books about animals and making their sounds. You especially love lift the flap books. You love playing outside. You love balls and Mr. Potato Head. You love dogs. You have started to dance...but it looks more like galloping. You really love wrestling, peek a boo, jumping around and hiding under the pillows or in the cracks of the couch.

You are such a joy. We love you little guy!

 

Easter

Easter was a lot of fun this year. The Easter Bunny decided to hide their baskets this year. Ellie was not very happy about that when she came out and her basket was gone and an egg was left in its place on the table. At first, she didn't even want to open the egg but she finally did and saw that it was a clue to find more eggs with clues to find her basket. She did a great job with her clues and did all the hard work while Patrick was still sleeping. He was very excited when he woke up and saw his basket. We were able to Skype with Mommom and Poppy as the kids went through their basket and did the egg hunt in our back yard. Patrick's excitement as he found each and every egg was priceless.

 

Then we went to church with Grandma and on to their house for afternoon festivities. Chloe, Cannon and the neighbors had another egg hunt for the kids. Grandma cooked a delicious ham dinner. The weather was beautiful. Luke and Mary came over with their new baby Brynn. It was the first time Papa got to meet his grand niece. We are excited to watch Brynn grow and join in on all the fun in Papa's backyard!  

 

Patrick's 1st and 2nd Easter: 



The day before Easter we had to talk to Ellie about the Easter bunny and that we weren't sure if he was coming or not because she was being quite sassy. So, she decided to sing a song about whether or not the Easter Bunny was going to come after her hard day. Here is a little piece of that song. Patrick was trying to sing too, with his swifter.