Two Two

We definitely have a 2 year old.  My goodness.
I know it has been a little while now since her birthday, but we still can't believe she is already so big!  And we really can't get over how fun this little girl is!  She has the sweetest little spirit about her and the dang cutest face ever!

I swear she changes over night, every night!  She's growing too fast and I am amazed all the time at what she knows and how quickly she learns.  She has quite the little memory, especially for music and books.  She loves to sing and dance, and she loves to read!  Dr Seuss is a current favorite. I don't complain about that.

She is a ball of fire and has quite the personality.  She has developed a bit of that famous "terrible two's" attitude.  We hear "no", "mine", and "want it" a lot!  But she is sweet.  She's still stingy with the lovies, but she does like to hold hands and cuddles up snug when she wants to.  

She is actually a really good talker and talks all the time!  For the most part she's easy to understand, but we've had to adapt to a few odd balls:

An uhwya is an umbrella,

the poopilly is the computer,

she loves to eat woopnacks (fruit snacks) and drink cocky ilk (chocolate milk),

peacock is both St Nick and picnic,

aboony is balloon,

awe-paleen is an airplane,

she loves to wean (swing) and steers clear of things that are dijijus (dangerous).

When she's upset we most often hear "shoot", "darn it", and "awe boy..."

She loves to count, but gets stuck after 6 ("1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6... 5"), and she is obsessed with the alphabet.  She always points out "dooper wetty's" (super letters) and loves to practice colors.

She is very headstrong, very independent, and kind of likes to have her own space and time to herself.

Can't imagine where she gets that...  

She insists on going everywhere "too fast" and has the cutest little half skip run step.  She thinks she's really tough, but wants all of her boo-boo's kissed and stays pretty cautious.  She hates being up high, hates having her clothes wet, and hates having to take a break.

She keeps us smiling and reminds us what's important.  She loves to sing about Jesus, loves to point out the "puppet" (prophet), loves nursery, and folds her arms and likes to help us say prayers.  She likes to kiss my belly and "love the baby".  She loves it when daddy comes home and likes to follow me around and copy me all day.  She is the funnest little companion and will be the best big sister!

Basically, she is the best!  We love her to pieces and feel so blessed to have this sweet little lady running around our home.

If only she wouldn't grow so fast...

...sigh

Personal Space

They say kids have no concept of personal space.

Yesterday when I got Brinlee up from nap I found one of her cuddle buddies looking like this:

Yes, maybe what they say is true.
When she saw me notice it though, she said "Pooh, Ernie, Mickey, friends"!  So sweet.  Perhaps I should be a little more patient about her clinging onto my leg and insisting on following me into the bathroom.  After all, it's what friends do!  And really... what else is my lap for anyway?  :)

Here and There

I feel like it wasn't that long ago that I last updated, but at the same time I feel super behind on my updates.  We are staying busy and loving having this time to run around Boise.  We are especially loving all of the family time!  Such a blessing.  I warn you now, this post is packed and will probably get a little lengthy so, take a nap halfway through if you need to.

At the end of May we went on the ward campout with Reed and Melody.  The Greg and Jaylene Borup Clan came too, and we had a blast.  It was Brinlee's first time camping (read: not the best night's sleep for anyone!), but she did pretty good and braved the freezing cold water like a champ.

A few weeks ago I played in the alumni band for the retirement concert of my high school symphonic band director.  He was easily the best teacher I've had and one of the best people I know.

We ventured down to Utah to spend some Borup family time.  Brinlee was a little moody, but still in heaven with all of the cousins. 

Speaking of Brinlee, she has been quite the kid lately.  She has been practicing with utensils and is getting pretty good.

She's very proud of herself.

For her birthday she got a tea party set that she has been absolutely in love with!  She'll serve tea to anyone (or anything), sound effects and all.  It's pretty dang cute.

Little BeBe literally popped out of nowhere just in the last couple of weeks.  I am not quite 19 weeks, but I seemed to all of a sudden just wake up one morning sporting quite a noticeable bump!  And I can feel Peanut squirming around like crazy all the time.  I love that part!

Tim got a sweet new ride.  He found a good deal on a nice road bike, so rather than a second car, we got him that instead.  And he is in love with it!  

He has been taking it downtown everyday already for his internship and is getting really excited about exploring Columbus via the two-wheel method.  But the other day he and his favorite little helper took it out for a car wash.  She also fell in love with it.  She always wants me to follow him in the car so she can watch "daddy bike go so fast"!  I just like the cycling outfit he wears  ;)

My mom won Elementary School Teacher of the Year this year... she was shocked, but it's really no big surprise. She is totally the best!

Last week we went to the zoo with Amy, Brian, and Aiden.  The boys made it super fun!  Brinlee... not so much.  She wasn't as into it as I would have hoped.  In her defense, the animals weren't doing much. But the butterfly room was a huge hit for everyone!