Silly kids

Some days kids are so fun. Maybe I should post about a few of those times to balance out my crazy mommy days of weeks gone by :)
So first, a few Addie funnies. I think she's really enjoying having time with all of us. Usually it's Monday nights when we're all together, and we have family home evening, and then we have ice cream for a treat. Now that we're together all the time, she's constantly asking for family home evening (or family home meeting as she says) so we can have ice cream. She is her mother's child. And if I can get her to make it through family home evening for some ice cream euphoria, I'll comply.
Addie has got some fashion sense. She's also almost always in her full "costume" which consists of a tutu that she calls her dancing skirt, some shoes (it varies by the day as to which pair she chooses, some days slippers, some days sandals, some days mary jane's), her sun hat, a ribbon belt which she turns into a necklace/scarf/headband depending on her mood, and her sunglasses. Mind you, all of these items are pink, except for the shoes depending on the day. I really need to remember to take a picture of it soon. She wears some variation of it daily at least for a few hours. At any rate, she has decided that Pat and I should get involved in dress-up more often, so she's been relinquishing her sun hat and insisting that we wear it. When we put it on, she then decides if we're currently a cowboy or a clown. Yesterday I had it on and was a clown, and then she started squeezing my nose and telling me I had a clown nose. Thanks a lot, Ad. Way to find one of my insecurities and capitalize.
Tonight I made dinner and then cookies later. She "helped" both times which consists of her sitting on the counter getting into things while I try to occupy her and prepare food that's still edible. During our round of cookie making (thanks for the recipe, Leslie- I added toffee with the chocolate chips tonight- yum!) Addie said to me "You're a good cooker, mama. Make dinner... make cookies... You're a good cooker." Ok, kid, squeeze my clown nose, cause you did make my day.

Sam is just so pleasant, I sometimes forget that I have a baby. Laid back, easy going, so opposite of his sister, so opposite of myself, he's a breath of fresh air. He's currently struggling to learn to sit up. It's like he purposefully dives for his tummy when you try to sit him up so he can pivot around. I'm thinking this boy is going to skip my favorite stage of sitting and playing with no real mobility and go straight to crawling. I'm sure once that starts, the flood gates will open and all things boy will take over, but I'm really hoping to prolong the calm before the storm as long as I can. He is also the biggest flirt. He gets so excited when he sees me and flexes every muscle and kind of grunts, but then looks away all bashful-like. It's the cutest thing ever. If the tinge of red in his hair sticks around along with his big blue eyes, I'd better start getting my stick ready for the hussies that are sure to frequent our house in search of my sweet Sam boy.

I've decided I want to start a new tradition to document my kids. I'm thinking for their birthdays I want to make photo books using shutterfly (or another source if any of you can recommend one) documenting their year, and I'll write text to go along with it. I want it to be kind of like a storybook. I'm not a scrapbooker, but I thought this could be a fun way to give them something to look forward to. So, for Addie this year I'm hoping to do a book about her first three years, and then I'll do them annually from here on out. Sorry, Addie, that I wasn't forward thinking enough to start this from your infancy. I'm sure it will be just one more reason you'll resent me in your teens and resent your younger siblings throughout your childhood, but that's how it is to be the oldest. I know, I was one too. If any of you have any suggestions on this project, please let me know. It will be my first attempt, but I'm already getting excited about it!