Christmas at Newman Village

Friday night we went to "It's a Wonderful Life" at Newman Village in Frisco. Our friend Lauren planned the whole event! She did a fabulous job...there were train rides, carriage rides, ice skating, Santa, etc. It was so fun!

Kate, Parker and Jeff waiting in line to ride the train...

Brady and Kate...Charlotte, Stella and Bryn...
being silly...
Pierce and Brady...

Our visit with Santa

We took the girls to see Santa. Historically speaking, this usually does not go that well. Kate has cried/screamed the past 3 years and Bryn was 2 months old last year. Well, this year went better than we expected.

Kate was a little apprehensive and wanted Brynlee to go first. As soon as I put Bryn in Santa's lap, this happened...
SHE WAS NOT A FAN!
MOMMY!!That didn't really help Kate out. So Parker told her that she didn't have to sit in Santa's lap...and to just go tell him what she wanted. She walked up confidently and said, "I want a bicycle."Santa had this fun Christmas tree toy that really intrigued her. And she ended up sitting in his lap...And even smiling a little...One more attempt with Bryn...
Merry Christmas from Kate and Bryn!!!

Stepping

Brynlee is "stepping." She can walk across the room and turn in a circle...but only when she wants to. Her preferred method is still crawling. Most pictures look like she is just standing...but here are a few where you can kind of tell she is walking.

She loves to walk to Kate's mattress and then lay down...Kate loves that she is walking...
and I love that Kate has a new ring around the rosie partner!
Sweet girls!
Bryn showing off for Daddy!

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving at CC and Papa Lon's house in Houston. We had a great week hanging out with family, eating, playing outside in the 70 degree weather, eating, watching football, eating, shopping and eating! Here are a few pics from our week...

CC and Papa Lon have a great park in their neighborhood. Bryn loved this tunnel. She played in here for at least 30 minutes...

While Bryn was in the tunnel, Kate and Quinn were running all over the place...(when Kate is really focusing on something she does this funny thing with her lip...you can see it in this picture...)

Gotcha!!!

Playing is serious...

Quinn found some water left from the splash pad and had a blast playing in it!

all in the wagon...

How we roll at CC's house...everyone has a ride!

Thanksgiving Day. Trying to get pics of the cousins...

Quinn went in for a hug...

Bryn wasn't sure about it...

We bribed Kate to get in the picture with a pumpkin cookie...notice Quinn already has his in his hand and mouth :)...

We never got a great pic...Brynlee was eyeing Quinn's cookie and check out Kate's Texas Hair! Wow!

Quinn finally got his hug!

We love Thanksgiving!

Coming along...

The new house is coming along. We go by about once a week to see the progress. Kate's observations/reactions about what is going on are funny. Here are some of the things she has said, "that house is a mess," "where is the potty?" "does this house have a kitchen?" Now that the cabinets are in it is starting to look more like a house to her. She knows which one her room is and always loves to go see it...
Brynlee's room...
Both girls LOVE the stairs and being upstairs. That is going to be a big adjustment for me.
Today I was talking to Kate about her new room...and about putting her big girl bed, her table and chairs, and her toys in the new room. She looked at me and said, "will there be food in this house?" Oh, Kate!

Sisters!

Having a one and three year old isn't always easy. There is a huge lack of sharing most of the time...but there are some really sweet moments. Kate has started giving Bryn hugs and kisses on her own, out of nowhere. She wants Brynlee to play with her (on her terms of course). She loves when they dress "the same." Kate talks and sings to Brynlee when she cries at night (they are currently sharing a room.)

Today, Kate wanted Bryn to sit in her lap...

sweet sisters...
They definitely have their own look...but you can tell they are sisters!

Bryn update

Brynlee is in such a fun stage right now. She is doing/saying new things every day! So here is a little update on our sweet Bryn...

She is standing by herself all the time...
She is still not walking but she is trying. She takes 4-5 steps and then falls down and crawls.
She can be a little fireball. This sweet girl has some attitude...way more than I remember with Kate at this age. She is also a lap sitter. She loves to play with toys in my lap. She also likes to be carried. Sometimes she cries just to be carried around and held. She can be a little cuddler...moreso than Kate was at this age.

She is also talking more and more. It just started happening in the past few weeks but she is saying a new word almost everyday. Here are some of the things she says...
"mom-mee"...mommy
"da-dee"...daddy
"tate"...Kate
"ank ou"...thank you
bible
"soose"...shoes
"ush"...push
"pass"...paci
bye-bye
"nigh-nigh"...night night
"ook"...book
"ish"...goldfish

She mimics almost all the animal sounds but if you say, "what does the _____ say?" she says "baaa."

And just recently she has started pointing to body parts.
"Where is my belly button?"