12 and 13 months

randoms

Crawling, walking, gone

Soph is now walking!! She started taking a few hurried steps (as she was falling) at the beginning of October, and just took off during the second week. She would walk back and forth between Drew and I (Marlee too), and she loved all the cheering and clapping she was getting, so she just kept doing it over and over. After every time she would beam with her silly little grin, clap for herself, and get right back up to business. It only took a few days for her to really get the hang of it, and now she is our little Halloween ghost, constantly walking and wandering our halls. (she was almost 13 months by the time she started walking.)

Snuggles

I had a ton of nightmares as a kid. Almost every night. I slept in my sisters bed until who knows what age, and after she moved out I sought refuge in my brothers beds. Patrick would get mad at me if I woke him up,  so I would always attempt Bruce's bed. I would slowly turn the doorknob, and sneakily Tip toe into his room. If he would stir during this sneaking process, I would quickly hide under his bed and curl in a ball. I remember my mom would come to snuggle me in my bed after a bad dream, and I would lock my arms and legs around her body so that she wouldn't leave me after I fell asleep. She somehow always managed to slip away from my death grip...

Now I love snuggling my two girls before they fall asleep. It is one of my favorite moments of the day. Sometimes I feel like I can't squish Sophie enough. To steal a quote from Elder Holland,  I want to squeeze her until her eyes bulge. Her skin feels like velvet and she is just the right amount of squishiness. I love how she immediately get sleepy when I cradle her in my arms. 

I feel the same way about Marlee. I love that he even though she's not my little baby anymore, she still loves to snuggle mommy every night. I always tickle her back and sing her the "bushel and a peck" song my dad used to sing me, and primary songs. Even though she's getting kind of boney, I still love this time I have with her.

Snuggling these two piglets feeds my soul. It is my most cherished time because I feel like I can connect to them on a whole other level. I used to love the "love you forever book" by Robert Munsch, and I think of that sometimes when I snuggle my girls. I hope they will let me sneak into their bedrooms when they're old and cradle them just like the book. :) 

Babysitting

I've been able to babysit for my sister as she has gone back to work during this hard time in her life. I love being able to love on her girls while she is gone :) 

During some of our babysitting adventures we've gone to splash pad, parks, Wheeler Farm, daybreak lake, and have started dance classes! Marlee is obsessed with Hazey and gets so excited when she comes over to play with her. She calls her "my Hazey."  Sophie loves it too, she loves to follow the other girls around, and loves to chug Lola's sippy cup lemonade when she's not looking.

Dance

I started dance classes with Marlee right after Sophie was born. She made it about 15 minutes one time and then wouldn't have anymore of it after that. I just recently started then back up again, but with Hazey this time, and they have been loving it. Hazey helps Marlee concentrate for longer periods of time because she wants to do what Hazey is doing.

I try to do 1 to 2 classes a week, although it doesn't always happen. And sometimes I have to bribe Marlee with marshmallows. Marlee always starts strong, but then some Toy will catch her attention and she will totally fizzle out. We do ballet and jazz combo classes and hip-hop classes. It is so fun being able to dance with my daughter, when she enjoys it too... More pictures and videos to come.