Natalie's First Hair Cut

We finally cut Natalie's hair for the first time (3.5 years old).  I cut it in our kitchen after her bath.  Nothing fancy, just 3 or so inches off the bottom.

Before (this was after the A.G. Strawberry Festival - hence the face paint):

 

AFTER:

 

Happy 75th Birthday to Gramma - 5/17/13

Gramma (G.G) celebrated her 75th birthday last week!  We were able to take the day off and head that way to hang out with family.

She had a great time.  There were lots of visitors from Oklahoma and Texas and a little informal birthday party. 

I'll post more of the birthday / reunion pictures later, but for now, here are a couple good ones of the birthday girl!

How do I look? - 5/15/13

Natalie came out of her bedroom with her "high heels", purse, and a bracelet.  Then she posed and said "How do I look?"

3 going on 13. Oh my!

Mother's Day - 5/12/13

The Remillard / Arnold clan came over for Mother's Day.  The kids had a blast, but we made them take a picture before they got too wound up...worked pretty good!

 

The kids drove the jeep the whole afternoon! Pretty good for not charging it after Christmas!  I think Olivier was the most adventurous driver..they did pretty good!

And a silly picture..

Getting some sun - 4/28/13

We hung out outside and were eating watermelon.  This is the outfit Natalie came up with: Hello Kitty Hat, Princess glasses, sweatshirt, no pants, sparkle shoes.  Nice.

 

Can you see this attitude??  What will she be like at 14?

Raising their hands for something good.  We always ask "Who wants ___?" Usually it's something good (dessert), but we do it for a lot of other things too because we know they will usually be excited.  Like, "Who wants to go potty?"  (working on it with Rhys..she's interested, but not having a whole lot of luck yet.  Plenty of time, but if she is interested, we're doing it).

Nice & Clean - 4/14/13

Just some random pictures after bath time.  Everyone must have been in a good mood.

Dress up - 4/4/13

Every now and then, the girls get their dress up clothes out and run around the house.  They are good about making sure the other one is dressed up - they will go get each other outfits and bring them to the living room.

 

I love how Rhys is looking up to Natalie in this one..

 

 

 I was trying to keep them interested in pictures, so I told them to put their hands up!

 

Hugs for sister!

Easter 2013

We tried a "stamp" kit to color eggs this year...didn't really work too well.  They ended up just smearing color everywhere.

They got pretty Easter dresses from their G.G. (Great Grandma)...unfortunately this is the only decent picture I have of them wearing them.  Natalie was practicing her spins (not good for picture taking) and Rhys was being a grump...

Easter morning we went over to Matt & Tania's.  We took kites for the kids..

Natalie got a spin wheel..(and I don't have a picture of the girls together wearing their matching dresses from Grandma either!)

Rhys was playing in the other room until she heard "Who wants a cupcake?"; then she came running! (Grandma made cute bunny cupcakes)

That night we went to Grandma & Grandpa's for dinner.  The girls were taking turns pushing each other on the lion.

Next year Easter falls after April 15th, so I'm looking forward to having more time and actually being a little coherent!

Fashionista - 3/11/13

After all the falling Rhys had been doing, she actually has been going through a "helmet phase" (Let's hope its a phase?).

One day, she made me put the helmet on her before we left for the park.  I convinced her to take it off when we actually arrived...but boy does she have an opinion about what she wears!  Hats, headbands, shoes, necklaces, you name it.

(trying to ride sister's trike..legs are still a little too short though).

First Owie - 2/16/13

Poor baby; Rhys got her first major owie 2/16/13.

She was out on the back patio playing and tried to go up the stairs by herself.  She missed the first one and fell right into the others.

So painful to hear that cry.  This became a big, black eye within a few hours and was quite puffy for a while.  Her skin is still (after 3+ mo) a little red...We hope it goes away at some point.

Incidentally, this was the first of 3 tough falls.  Hoping all things happen in 3s and she is past this stage.  Learning to walk and run and climb is tough!

Rhys - 18 mo (Jan 2013)

Rhys turned 18 months in January 2013.  Bad mama, I didn't write everything down at the time!

Rhys learned to say "Cheese" (or at least make the face) right at 18 months:

 (wearing Mama's boots)

She is a pretty happy-go-lucky kid, fairly even tempered (at least when compared to big sis).  At 18 months she was still taking 2 naps a day (morning and afternoon), eating most everything we gave her to eat, up around 7am and in bed by 7pm.

She pretty much only has one word: MAMA.  She is a mama's girl; loves to cuddle, always runs to mama first, and is (still) really shy around new people.

She and Natalie really began to play together, and along with the playing comes the sibling fights; never too early, apparently!

Rhys is still small on the scales (at least height-wise).  Mostly wearing 12 month pants and some 12 and 18 month shirts.

I have to go back and pull her paperwork from her 18 month checkup...(these are roughly what I remember):
Height: 30in
Weight: 22lb
Diapers: size 4
Clothes: 12 and 18 mo
Shoes: Size 4

Visit from the Avilas - Jan 19, 2013

Patty & Jake brought Ryan over for the weekend.  She brought Valentine's projects for the kids.

Looking back at these pictures - I can't believe how much Rhys has grown in such a short time!