And She Finally Smiles

This is a picture of our serious girl's first real smile, that was not caused by gas. Abe was playing with her with the horse and she thought it was pretty funny. By the time I snapped the picture it looked a little less like a smile but still cute. And since then she has given us many more. Ethan loves to try to make her smile, usually by making this awful "silly" face that he makes. It never works, cause really its just scary looking, but he still tries.

And though it may not be a smile the pouty lip was still pretty cute. You know it won't be long until she can talk her dad into anything with that look.

And no post would be complete without some pictures of Ethan. These days he loves being a cowboy. He was originally wearing a tupperwear container on his head like a hat while he rode his "horse". But we have since upgraded to a hat of Abe's. And no we will not be adding any Wranglers or boots to the ensemble.

This is a picture of Ethan after he ate his first chocolate chip cookie. I found some chocolate chips that he can have and so I made him some cookies. He was a huge fan of the warm chocolate, which he managed to get everywhere.

Ethan loves to have his picture taken with Taylor. He is adorable with her. Today he was sitting on the toilet and Taylor was downstairs crying. He kept yelling "It's okay pretty girl". He is always very concerned when she cries.

And back by popular demand, I added a video of Ethan singing the beloved classic, well at least at our house, The Ballad of the Green Beret. I'm sure other kids bedtime songs have lines like "fearless men that jump and die" also. And Ethan likes to add in sound effects of guns. He is such a boy.

Taylor's Blessing

Our beautiful little girl was blessed on Sunday. She looked just adorable and was an angel during the blessing.

My dad came into town for the day and Abe's parents were able to visit us for a couple days also. Taylor was sufficiently spoiled for the week and was probably not set down for a more than a few minutes for the last week. She loved it!

Here is the back of Taylor's dress. I had such a fun time making it. It is too sad that they only wear these dresses for 3 hours.

I love this picture of Ethan. He is so sweet with her. He always tells her how cute she is. It's adorable!

We had a great time visiting with Abe's parents. Ethan has loved having his grandparents around. Though he REALLY wants to go and visit their house so he was a little disappointed that we weren't going to stay with them. Ethan loved the constant attention so it has been hard not having them around now. While they were here we went to some caverns near by. Ethan had a good time seeing the caves though that night he had his first nightmare. I think it was all the ghost sounds that the guide was making. It made for a long night. Even the next morning he remembered that he was eating ice and then grandpa was a ghost that was going to get him.

And here are just some more cute pictures of Taylor. She had her first ponytail the other day. She looked so cute. Ethan wasn't a big fan and took it out. I really hope she doesn't lose all her hair in the next couple of months.

She still has her adorable chubby cheeks. They are just so kissable. But she is still loves to scowl, just like her brother.

It's a Snow Day!

We finally got a decent snow storm and school was cancelled for Abe. I love this picture that Abe took of our backyard. We can almost pretend we are really in the mountains. Last year Ethan was not a fan of the snow (ie see last year's post of Ethan being drug around on a sled in Utah while lying down). Even this year he didn't express much interest in the snow other to complain about it being slippery and to whine when it touched his bare skin. But yesterday he had a change of heart. We got him bundled up yesterday afternoon while it was still snowing and he had such a good time. He was so upset when he had to come inside.

It turns out that eating the snow is Ethan's favorite thing to do. I'm sure Abe taught him that. I did just catch him also eating icicles from the car. How disgusting is that!

And of course, red-neck sledding at its finest was back this year. Ever time it snows we say we will get a sled and we don't. Maybe this year? But until then the snow shovel will just have to do.

Abe and Ethan made a great snowman but unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it yesterday and during the night it blew over and just wasn't the same after that.

I think that Abe had to try and redeem himself after I made fun of the snowman with the little head. So here is the new and improved version. I still don't think that it was as good as the first.I hope child services doesn't get a look at these next pictures. It's one thing to make a 2-year old shovel the front porch.

But really Abe, the whole driveway seems a little much. He just loved helping his dad!

And this is how Taylor and I spent the snow day. Okay so maybe just Taylor got to sleep all day. I had to supervise the snow day activities from through the window. I just love how Taylor works so hard to break her little arms out of the blanket.