Look Who's 2!

Our little 2 year old!

Last Sunday night we had Kendall's 2nd Birthday Party. In honor of Kendall's favorite color, we had a PURPLE PARTY here at our house with all of the family. We started off the party with pizza, and Kendall had 2 whole pieces, which is absolutely amazing for her! After dinner, everyone watched as Kendall opened her presents and I tried to keep Avery from doing it all for her. I told Avery she could help, but she got a little carried away a couple of times:) Birthdays are just so exciting! Her gifts included a Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs set, a train set, some furniture for her dollhouse, a wooden dress-up doll, a keyboard (which is a slightly annoying toy that her cousins tortured us with when they were younger) , an OU cheerleading outfit for a build-a-bear, a Build-a Bear gift card, a "Kendall's room" sign, 2 books, a purple outfit and shoes, some clothing gift cards, money, a "Bop it" game, a princess movie, and a new Bible from Scott and I. It's an understatement to say that she really raked it in! I was so proud of her though because instead of being shy or saying "No!" when I asked her to go and thank the gift-giver after she opened each gift, she actually did it very sweetly! After gifts we sang "Happy Birthday", she blew out her candles (with a little help from Mommy and Avery), and we all had cake. It was a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake and Kendall told us how yummy hers was after just about every bite I think. Definitely made the right decision there! Kendall seemed to have a great time at her party and is really enjoying all her wonderful gifts. Thanks family for making it so special for her!

the "purple party" set-up

pics with Mommy before the party

Enjoying her pizza. She refuses to sit in her booster seat anymore, so her chin is always just above the table.

dollhouse furniture

telling Memaw "thank you"

singing on the mic of the slightly annoying keyboard

playing with "Sa-Night" (Snow White)

Kendall, Avery and cousin Bailey playing with all the birthday loot

This was her expression while we sang "Happy Birthday". I think she felt a little unsure about all the attention, but at least she didn't cry this year!

trying to blow out her candles

"It's good Mommy. It's yummy. I like my chocolate ice cream."

A family pic. The ice cream was too good for Kendall to put her spoon down.

Snowstorm 2010!

On Thursday morning, which also happened to be Kendall's birthday,we woke up to snow here in Fort Worth! Avery said it was like a Valentine's present from God (they were having Valentine's parties at school that day). It continued snowing all day for a record total of over 9 inches of snow in one day in the DFW area! After Scott and I picked the girls up from school, I put Kendall down for a nap and Scott, Avery and I headed out back to build a snowman and play in the snow. Scott and Avery had a great time and stayed out over an hour I think.

Then on Friday Scott ended up canceling the handful of patients he had scheduled since the office parking lot was rather treacherous and we enjoyed a fun family day. We took the girls sledding on a hill in the area and then went to do payroll at the office and picked up some lunch. The girls had sooo much fun sledding. Kendall screamed and Avery laughed the whole way down the hill every time. It was definitely the stuff that great family memories are made of!

To Kendall on your 2nd Birthday

Precious Kendall,

It's amazing to think back over the past year at all the things you have learned and accomplished! In many ways you are quite different from that little one year old I wrote about last year. In your second year of life, you have learned to walk, run, climb, and dance, talk in full sentences, feed yourself with silverware, do somersaults, and to color and paint. You know your shapes, colors, ABC's, and you can count to 12 and say your first and last name. You also cut 8 more teeth, got your first haircut, and started going to "school" last fall. Wow-what a change! Shortly after your last birthday, you also became very attached to a purple lovie with a cute little donkey on the end. You call her "ovie"since you can't say your l's yet. She is your best friend besides Avery and she goes everywhere with us. Sometimes you even make her talk to us! "Lovie's" one downfall is that she is your partner in the crime of thumb sucking, which you like to do while you're falling asleep, being read to, riding in the car, or while watching TV. Speaking of me reading to you, you have made leaps and bounds in this area over the past year. At one yr., you would only sit through very short books. Now, you will sit and listen to long books written for older children and we spend literally hours every day reading. I think you would let me read to you nearly all day long if I would! It doesn't help that one of your other favorite things to do is snuggle with me. Some days lately you follow me around almost all day it seems asking, "Pease (please) can I hold you?" or saying, "I want to cuddle wis (with) you." Some of your other favorite things to play and do right now are coloring, singing, playing with the kitchen, play food, and McDonald's stand, playing with the mini Disney princesses, playing dollhouse, listening to me tell stories in the car, going to Petsmart, the park or places with an indoor playground, playing pretend with Avery and I, and watching Barney and other cartoons and movies. You are such a loving little girl, and I can never stay angry with you for long with your hugs, kisses, "I Love you's" and other sweet things you say. Lately when I come get you up in the mornings you have been noticing what color I'm wearing and complimenting my clothes. "You're wearing bue (blue). I like you're pretty bue Mommy!" You also like to rub mine and Daddy's shoulders sometimes while we hold you and you have even rubbed Avery's back a time or two when she was hurt or upset. Although you and your sister have plenty of squabbles, it brings me such joy to see you be affectionate towards each other, play together, and make each other laugh like only sisters can do. I look forward to seeing the two of you play together and develop a special relationship more and more as you grow. You are still a Mommy's girl and you continue to be very emotionally intense just as you have been since birth. You definitely make life more interesting, and you are so fun to be around when you are in a happy or silly mood! You are so precious to Daddy and I and we love you more than words can say. We are truly blessed by God to have such a sweet spirited, loving daughter. Happy 2nd Birthday Kendall!

Kendall's School B-Day Party

Kendall's real birthday is on Thursday, but since they are having Valentine's parties that day at school, her teachers and I decided that today would be the best day to celebrate her birthday up there. Yesterday I made cupcakes, which was a bit of an experiment because I had never made cream cheese icing, and I also had to color it purple. Avery was helping me stir it and no matter how much food coloring I added she just kept saying, "I think it looks kinda grayish." Eventually we let Scott at it, and he was apparently more aggressive with the food coloring and managed to make it a lovely light purple. Here's how they turned out. Definitely not professional or anything, but plenty good for a 2 yr. old.
I meant to take a picture of Kendall this morning in her "Birthday Girl" shirt but I forgot, so I thought, "I'll just take a few when we get home this afternoon." Of course, she was covered in chocolate cake and purple frosting when I picked her up, but I still had to have some pics. So now they just show how much she enjoyed her party and her cupcakes at school! Happy Almost Birthday Kendall!

Teamwork

I realized the other day that it has been awhile since I've posted any silly or funny things that Avery and Kendall have done. The other night after I got them all bathed, Avery started washing Kendall's back with a washcloth while Kendall was playing with toys. I thought she probably didn't even really notice that Avery was doing it, but when I said it was time to get out, Kendall said, "No! Avery's washing my back!" Guess it felt pretty good. They fight and squabble a lot of course, but they also team up and do some funny, cute, and sweet things sometimes.

They both love to play rough with their Daddy. He has several different little games he plays with them, but probably the 2 most requested are "Cobra", where his hand is the cobra's mouth and tries to bite, chase, and attack them, and then the other favorite is "Hot Dog". The child being the hot dog is placed between 2 pillows (the hot dog buns) and then the other child gets to hand Daddy the condiments and toppings to put on, which ends up being like tickling. They also really like when the hot dog gets "eaten" at the end. My favorite is when they make Scott be the hot dog and they hand each other the stuff to put on him. They are quite the little team, those two!

Kendall as the "hot dog"

Daddy's turn!