Kaley turned Five

Kaley's birthday falls exactly a week after New Years which is a week after Christmas. So we get to party for three weeks straight. Kaley had a family birthday lunch at Grandpa and Grandma Simmons' house on the 1st of January because we were there for the holidays. She requested a blueberry and strawberry cake which made me think cheesecake with strawberry and blueberry topping (not shown).

Kaley with her cousins Savannah and Lizzy.

Here she is blowing out her candles.

On her actual birthday we picked up her friends Madison and McKell and

headed to Carl's Jr-her favorite place to eat- to have lunch with Jed.

Three kid's meals later, Jed was headed back to work and we were headed to the Fun Park- an indoor play park, rolling skating, arcade games, bowling, etc. We had a great time climbing all over the equipment and playing a game of Skee-ball.

Happy Birthday Kaley!

It has been a fun five years filled with princess, Barbie, and dancing fun!

Kids- gotta love 'em!

Kaley, Anna, and I were in the car driving to the Post Office today to pick up our mail when Kaley exclaims, "I know why daddies go to work."

I was thinking to myself how I was going to explain that a lot of mothers go to work as well but I asked, "Oh. Really? Why is that?"

Kaley- "So we can have money."

Me- "Yeah- that is why daddies go to work."

Kaley- "I am a genius."

Me- Laughing a little bit, "You are smart."

Kaley- "But I am a genius."

Me- "Well, not everyone is a genius. Geniuses are really really smart people."

Kaley- "I am a genius. Everyone is a genius."

Me- "Actually not everyone is a genius. I am not a genius."

Kaley- "There is only one person who is not a genius and that is you. Everyone else is a genius."

Okay then- there you have it folks!

Halloween Pictures for the Grandparents

Our Halloween adventure was short- Kaley, Anna, and I headed out about 6:00 to trick-or-treat our street. Jed stayed home to hand out candy. We made it to our immediate neighbors and just down a little side street and Kaley said she was done. It was a little bit cold but much warmer than it had been so I was a bit surprised we were headed home after 30 minutes or so. One unappealing aspect of our neighborhood for Kaley are THE DOGS. She is quite afraid of them so I had to go up with her to every house because I think we are the only ones in the neighborhood without one.

The last few houses we went to- Anna just wanted to stay with the stroller and eat candy. This girl is serious about her candy, she would not let me take her little trick or treat bag to empty out so it wouldn't be too heavy. When I tried, she started crying and pulling on it.

Since it wasn't a big haul this year, I think all their candy was gone by the next day (we helped out a bit too).

Here are some pictures in their Halloween costumes. Kaley said she was Elina (from Barbie Fairytopia- she is a fairy without wings) though her costume didn't look anything like what Elina wears. And Anna was also a little fairy.

Top Ten Things about Our Little Sweetie

In my journal I wrote all sorts of little bits of information about Kaley when she was a baby- Anna not so much. Not because she is not more noteworthy- I am just lazy/busy/more used to babies. However- I just wanted to jot down a few things about Anna.

1. This picture shows Anna in her element. Binki and Blankie- sometimes combined and called Blinkie- is Anna's recipe for happiness. We are still at the stage where we bring them with us where ever we go and look frantically around at naptime and bedtime.

2. Anna's words include: pee (while she grabs her diaper and backs up towards us), baby, more, Ma, Da, Kayie (Kaley), shoes, gum (which means any sort of candy or gum), bye, bum, "come" (which means thank you) and she tries to say dog, up, please but you would not be able to tell what she was saying unless you were with her and knew what the situation was.

3. Anna loves shoes. She has been known to wear her shoes to bed (which I have given to her so she won't cry). She brings us our shoes to put on. Of course- like a lot of babies she takes them off while we are in the car going somewhere so I need to put them back on once we arrive at our destination. But overall- she is a shoe lover (I wonder if this will be a lifelong obsession).

4. Anna also loves milk. It is definitely on her top ten of favorite things. She loves getting a nice full sippy cup of milk in the morning. I think she would rather drink her diet than eat it.

5. Anna loves books. Her favorite ones right now are Baby Einstein Violet's House, Winnie the Pooh Who's Hiding (a lift a flap book), Emily's Valentines Party (also a lift a flap book), and Sandra Boynton's Barnyard Dance. We read these books several times a day. Kaley has a couple of them memorized and "reads" them to Anna.

6. Anna loves to dance and sing with Kaley. She pretends to sing the song as she holds her little fist up to her mouth and lip syncs. See videos below.

7. Anna has Jed wrapped around her cute little finger. He hates to see her sad or in any way distressed and he thinks everything she does is cute- even when she gets mad and hits Kaley. We both love her kissies and beg for them. Most of the time when we ask her for a kiss, she will give us her hand or forehead for us to kiss her. When she was little she would give kissies really well but now it is a rare treat.

8. Anna didn't sleep through the night until she was about a year old and was weaned but she is a good little sleeper now and rarely wakes up during the night. She is a light sleeper compared to Kaley. She used to sleep with her bum up in the air (we catch her every once in a while but not all the time like she used to).

9. At the park Anna prefers the slide. She is not a swinger- she will start to fuss and cry if she is in there for more than a few minutes. But she loves going down the slide.

10. Anna also loves to color. Give this girl a crayon or marker and some paper and away she goes scribbling all over it.

Anna- we sure love you and are so glad you are part of our family.

Happy Halloween to all your little sweeties!