my little lady friends right now

Robert and I were watching old videos of Minnie and Lou the other day and it reminded me how quickly things change. We are with these little babes day in and day out and I barely realize how tall Minnie is getting or how smart she's becoming or how Lou's baby chub just seems to be melting off. I know I am going to look back on all these simple days with these girls and just ache to go back. To remember them just as they are in this very moment.

Minnie, if you couldn't tell, will layer on the dress-ups...I'm talking 2 crowns, 2 dresses, 12 rings and bracelets up to her shoulders. Our dress up box is pretty much always open and dresses are flung as far as the eye can see. The one she wants is somehow always at the bottom of that blasted box. Oy! She also loves to "decorate" around the house, which means little odds and ends scattered here and there on display, necklaces on doorknobs, stuffed animals lined up on the dresser and pretty much every single toy placed somewhere around the house. It drives me nutty! Some of the displays she comes up with are pretty cute, but somehow when it comes to cleaning up the mess she's "so tired, Mom!" Oof! 

Ariel has been her very favorite princess for a solid 3 months now (which by Minnie's standard is like a year). She will be Ariel for Halloween (thank you 40% off kids costumes at Target!) and she writes a letter A on pretty much every piece of artwork in honor of beloved Ariel, of course. She and Lou have become really great at playing together, which has made my mama heart so so happy, and now that Louie is talking so well they have had some of the funniest little conversations. Lou will often call Minnie "Ariel" and I don't think Minnie has loved Lou more than when this happens. "How did you know my name was Ariel?" Minnie will ask with a big, fat grin. It's hilarious! Lou just knows how to make here sissy happy (and how to drive her insane...but that's what sisters are for).

Minnie hated ballet. I mean, she liked the getting dressed part but once it came down to actually going to class I'd have to drag her out of the house to get there. I think it was just too structured for her little free spirit. For Minnie's birthday my mom bought her dance lessons at Virginia Tanner Dance in Salt Lake and Min can't wait for dance days now! Creative dance is way more her speed and it makes me so happy. There are only four girls in the class and her teacher is this sweet older lady, Miss Sue, who Minnie loves. There's even a pianist in the class who plays music according to whatever they're dancing like. The whole thing is kind of magical if you ask me.

I asked Minnie if she would want to play soccer in a year or two and she promptly responded, "Mom, if I play soccer I will miss the ball, fall on the ground and lose the game." Ooooookkk. Where does she get this stuff? When I mentioned that maybe her friend Norah could be on her team she said, "Oh yeah, that would be fun. We could practice together." If it involves friends, the girl is all about it. My little social butterfly.

When we were at the doctor the other day, Minnie had to get her four-year-old shots and when the doctor mentioned it, Minnie went batty. The girl couldn't focus on anything else. Even after the doctor and I had explained why we get shots, when the nurse came in to administer them Minnie started screaming bloody murder. Am I a bad mom that I laughed...like a lot? The nurse asked me to help Minnie get her pants down because she had to give them to her in her leg but Min was pulling up on those pants just as hard or harder than I was pulling down and I was laughing so hard that I could barely do a thing. Eventually the nurse helped me by holding Min's hands and then I had to trap her on my lap, holding every limb as tightly as I could, while the nurse moved quickly. I'm surprised I didn't get a shot to my own leg. Min is a strong little bug! My ear about popped off she was screaming so loud, even after the shots were over...and I was just laughing. I couldn't help it! When Robert asked her if she was brave she gave out a resounding, "No, no I was not brave at all!" At least she tells the truth.

Min is a strong-willed little peanut and has my head spinning most days. I question my parenting with her about a bazillion times a day but gosh, she's sure a lot of fun. I know her determination is going to be such a great quality later in life, and really, it's her sass and spunk that make her so much dang fun. It's amazing how far a hug or a little rub on the back goes with her in times of frustration. Sometimes she doesn't want it, but when it's offered she generally takes it and it seems to just ground her. I love that she's such a love bug, even at four-years-old.

Ever since Lou turned two, she has become a little chatterbox. I think in the last two months her vocabulary has expanded about 10 times over and it has been hilarious to hear the funniest little things come out of her mouth. She's always asking me a million questions like, "Mom, where are we going?" or "Mom, are you happy?" It's the cutest. She has also recently started telling people she's missed them if she hasn't seen them for awhile and then gives them a big hug. The other morning after she woke up she told Min over and over she'd missed her and then gave her a big squeeze. It was the sweetest thing.

Lou knows my sister Julia carries gum in her purse and every time she sees her, the first thing she asks is, "Julia, can I have some gum?" Without fail! It kills us both. Lou is also obsessed with Julia's boyfriend, Colin. I honestly think she has a crush on him or something. She's constantly telling me how nice Colin is and asking me, "Is Colin at work?" even when we haven't seen him for weeks. When he's around Lou just beams and asks me if I think Colin will hold her. Killer!

Lou is also a major social butterfly. She has a handful of favorite people and talks about them often. I love that both of my girls love other people so much and are so quick to hug and love them.

We have begun the daunting task of potty training with this lady. I think she's been ready for awhile, I've just been holding back because I feel like I need to be ready. Well, ready or not...here we go! We are on day three and number ones are going really great, it's just those blasted number twos. We had our first real success with them this afternoon and I'm crossing my fingers it's a sign of things to come. Her diapers at night have been dry the last three nights, so I think we may have a good thing going for us. Pray for us!

Louisa is always having to identify things. She's constantly asking me what everything is and I love that she's so curious. Big things are always "daddy ones", smaller things are "mommy ones" and the tiny things are "beebee ones."

The twos are hitting us hard these days and Lou has become Miss Independent. It is wonderful and trying all at once. When it comes to punishment, hardly anything works. She loves time out and often even puts herself in time out. I don't get it. The only thing that kind of works is taking away her beloved blanket (mankey) and it breaks my heart to do it. I'm praying we figure something else out soon.

The girl loves to jump. She will jump off any ledge or chair or anything of any decent height. At first she was falling constantly, but she has become pretty good at it now and it makes me laugh every time. She is also still obsessed with shoes and has a different pair on every 10 minutes. Our house is constantly littered with shoes.

Lou's hair has a mind of it's own and can take lots of different shapes in the course of a day. She has kind of just naturally grown these funny bangs and Robert mentioned the other day she looks kind of like Heman. I about died because she does!!! We often make her say, "I have the power!" She loves it because we think she's hilarious.

The girl is a major goon and loves to make people laugh. It's funny how you can't imagine loving anyone like you do your first child, but gosh, I love this lady so much. She and Min are so different and both bring so much light to our family. It is a gift to be a mom to these little ladies.