joys of motherhood: february

-Everyday Caitlin HAS to wear dance clothes and/or a tutu. I actually think it's really cute and I would probably just let her dress like that except for the fact that it is literally freezing outside and a leotard and tutu just isn't going to cut it. Pants and coats have to be worn. So getting her dressed is a little bit of a fight. And then as soon as we get home and she strips down and insists on either being naked (in a diaper) or in a leotard and tutu.
-Nolan is loved by all we meet, especially people in our ward. There is even one family that calls him "rolly Noley" just came up with that on their own... so one Sunday Paul had him during the last hour and before the lesson the guy that was teaching (who is not a small man) announced to the whole class "Well i just went through my closet and I've lost some weight so now i have a couple pairs of old pants that will probably fit Nolan." I love my fat and happy boy. 
-Caitlin wants to dance ALL THE TIME. First thing she says in the morning is "Mom, can you turn on some music?" so we put the music on and she has us put out "her stage" (a blanket on the floor.. but a particular one) and she goes to down and dances all over the house. Praise and applause at the end of each song are mandatory. But I like it.
-Conversations with Caitlin heard throughout the month:
"Caitlin are you done eating?"
"mom.. i'm SO done"

What does the red light mean? "STOP"
What does the green light mean? "GO"
What does the yellow light mean? "FASTER!" ...wonder who taught her that one?

Watching a show on TV and randomly she says "i like her dress" about one of the girls. she has stated giving us compliments and says "thanks!" when we give her one. 

-We celebrate lots of birthday over here. One of Caitlin's party things to play is birthday party. She makes a cake and you have to sing the birthday song at least 5 times. The other day was the bears birthday (Paul's bear rug hanging in the office) So we brought him a cake and a present and sang to him. And then she started petting him and saying "oh you are such a big boy! You are so tall!"
-We were watching a cartoon with her the other day and two characters kissed. She was staring at the tv at them kissing and then turned to Paul and I and said "ooooh how sweeet. He loves her... how sweeet." We were cracking up.
-Everytime I get Nolan to look and me and I say hi to him he smiles. And every time it totally melts me heart. I'd say he is happy 90% of the time. (and considering about 8% of the rest of that time is spent sleeping he is really happy).
-Nolan completely has buck teeth. His two top teeth are gigantic and I'm slightly worried. They are growing out of the front of his gums opposed to downward. Braces here he come. But at least I'll have a little bunny rabbit for Easter :)
-At the beginning of the month we went to "Color me Mine" with Mike and Jenna and Cassie. I had a hunch that Caitlin might love it and I was right. She picked out a little ceramic horse to paint and she went to town on it. It actually turned out really cute (kind of tie-die-ish) and She was really happy with it. She keeps it in her room and often likes to hold it and watch TV with it and she always tells me she painted it. We also made a little plaque for Nolan's door to his room with his name and his foot print. It was a really fun outing.

-We've been going to Provo Beach Resort lately as a good indoor outing from the cold. The kids love all the arcade games (the candy crane is play til you win!!) and the carousel. Last time we were there we were sitting at a booth eating and Caitlin got up and went over and sat on a stool at the bar. Paul went and sat with her and the girl came over and asked if they needed anything and without skipping a beat Caitlin said "pink ice cream please!"  

-I had to get Nolan new pajamas because he had outgrown all of his so we went to Carters and I got him a few pairs and then I told Caitlin she could pick out one new pajamas to have. Their whole back wall was filled with tons of cute pajama sets and she had a hard time choosing but ultimately decided on the "blue princess dress" that has a little castle on it and has wanted to wear it every night since. I got Nolan size 18 months (more than double his age) and they fit him pretty well with HOPEFULLY some room to grow!


-(this doesn't have to do with my kids or being a mom but wanted to mention it somewhere) Our ward missionaries along with the youth leaders put together a "youth mini-missions" program the last weekend of the month. It turned out to be a really cool experience for everyone involved. Every young man or woman got a mission call and then on Friday night all of the 12-13 year olds went to the Draper Temple and then everyone met at the church to hear some speakers and then the older kids got to go sleep over at a few houses and learn more about places in the world and missions. On Saturday morning we got to have 3 young men over to our house and listen to them try to teach about the church. All of the youth got really into and did a great job. I loved going to the beautiful Draper temple with all the kids and seeing what a spiritual experience that was for them. I'm so thankful for missionary work and that the youth are so enthusiastic about it.