le fevrier

Jon always complains that he's never in any pictures with the kids so for Valentines Day I gave him his wish. It's not that I avoid taking pictures of all of them together, it's just that I am often induced to pull out the camera when they are on their own. They are usually the most funny when they are doing whatever antics they manage to get into without parental guidance... Anywho, here's Jon's picture. They all look quite dapper in red.
Pants loves to make pancakes, almost more than she likes to eat them. Almost. She was learning to flip them recently and actually did a pretty good job.


Little man loves his bouncer and tries to make it fly. He just bounces and yells at the top of his lungs. Best baby purchase for the little!

Kate had her 4th birthday in February. She is all about princesses now, especially Sleeping Beauty. She requested a princess cake and I asked what that meant and showed her pictures of various cakes I found online. She finally decided on a Sleeping Beauty cake (go figure) and because we had so many people over I made a castle cake as well. She had a great birthday and had so many good friends come over to celebrate with her. She woke up to find a little play kitchen in the living room and got a big-kid bike later that night and even a princess crown pinata. It was a great party.

Post-party mayhem and Kate's new play kitchen Kate opening gifts from her friends, Olivia (left) and Melanie (right).

Kate trying out her new bike in our 2-foot kitchen.

Kate's Castle Cake. I was totally dyslexic with the "4" candle and had to reflect the picture to make it look right, by the way. It was a long day.

Kate's Sleeping Beauty Cake. Yay for edible gold!

Kate's favorite family ever (and one that she has often threatened to defect to) of course came over to celebrate. Little man just ADORES Jamie.

Asher tried solids for the first time this month. He hated them. Not that I blame him, that cereal is pretty tasteless I think, but he wouldn't eat the fruits or veggies I gave him later either. He's just addicted to mommy's milk I guess. Kate tried to help get him to eat too but he just sucked in his little lips and pursed them closed as tight as possible and if he accidentally opened his mouth wide enough for us to sneak in a bite he just blew it right back at us. Sigh.

I love the look of distaste on his face.

"Mommy thinks I'm awesome". Very cool bib. Very true.

Messy! Look at those little pursed lips.

Again, you can just see every thought written on his face and for some reason it seems to be in a foreign accent of poshness. "You disgust me, you vile bite of cereal. I don't think so."

asher, kate, and ferb.

So there is a show on Disney Channel called "Phineas and Ferb". In the course of a week I end up watching a respectable amount of kid's shows and definately have my favorites. Now keep in mind, when I say 'favorites' I mean shows that can be on without me having to leave the room because they bother me. For example, I have no complaints about what Dora teaches, but I just HATE the show.
Anyway, one day when we were just sitting around on a Saturday morning eating pancakes, this show "Phineas and Ferb" came on. I didn't really like the animation all that well and (a bit grudgingly) sat down to watch with Kate. As I watched I found myself sort of beginning to enjoy it. It became a favorite of all of us, from the 3-year-old to the 31-year-old.
For Jon's birthday last year Kate got him a Ferb doll. When Asher got big enough to start putting things in his mouth he took quite a liking to the Ferb doll. It had little arms and legs of just the right size to grab and eyes and a nose of the perfect size to suck on. Since then we never leave the house without it.

One of my favorite things is just to play around with my lovelies on the bed after getting dressed in the mornings. Once in awhile I break out the camera and shoot them interacting. I love to watch how my little man adores his big sis. He just stares at her and laughs at her antics.

Kate is such a beautiful girl and so funny. When I take pictures she can't seem to stop striking poses and moves like a model in a shoot. It's nuts. Little man just seems enthralled by the big black thing that shoots little lights at his face all the time.

I have a new little nephew born in January, Darren Lynn Skene. He's quite the cutie! I'm excited to see more of him. Kate asked me when Darren would be her cousin. I said that he was already her cousin. She said, "But he's just a baby, how can he be my cousin? That's nuts!" I'm not sure what qualifies one to be a cousin in her book...

Darren Lynn Skene

Little just chilling in his U of U outfit. He likes this blanket and tries to pick the animals off the print.

Before we left Utah we had a little fake birthday party for Kate. We went to the Olive Garden (Kate's choice, though she just calls it "Olives") with Grandpa, Grandma, Nick, and LaRisse. Nick and LaRisse carried in a big princess bag that contained her present but didn't say anything. She stared at it for about 5 minutes and finally, no longer able to contain herself, asked, "Nick, is that your princess bag?" He burst out laughing and told her it was for her. Her eyes just lit up. After dinner we went back to Grandma and Grandpa's for cake and ice cream. She got to wear a fuzzy princess crown and open a few gifts. Nick and LaRisse gave her a little princess camera and she proceeded to take it around with her all night and take pictures of everybody and everything.

The girls. And little man.

One of the funnier parts of the evening was watching Kate open gifts. She would take a deep breath and say, "It's a ...!" With one gift she took her breath, and said, (totally excited, as usual) "It's a ... (pause, confusion) wait, what is it?" I've never seen Nick laugh so hard.

Kate-isms

So I've been working on the kids' photo/journal books which hasn't left me much time to update the blog, but in reviewing all the notes I've taken over the past few months, I decided there should be a blog with all of the things Kate has said. I was crying because of laughing so hard. Enjoy!

September
* (playing rock band) "I’m a good music-er"
* (singing) "Mom-my smashed my finger-naiiiiilllll" after I hit her finger while playing the drums on rock band after she put her finger on the drum pad.
* Me: "You don’t like my singing?" Kate: "No. but I love you."
* Dad: "Goodnight baby cakes." Kate: "Goodnight daddy cakes."
* Kate: "Asher wasn’t happy in your belly because he couldn’t see me."
* Kate: "What is your doctor's name mommy?" Me: "Dr. Rosser." Kate: "Dr Rhinosser?"
* Asher: "da." Kate: "That means yes in French for babies. We have a French baby."
* Kate: "Daddy woke me from my beauty sleep."
* Kate: "Where are the missionaries going?" Me: "I don’t know sweetie." Kate: “I guess we’ll have to check the missionary map. I think we have one in the basement.”

October
* Me: "Kate, which strawberry shortcake friend are you?" Kate: "I'm not a strawberry shortcake friend, I'm just a princess, a carebear, and a superhero."
* Me: "Kate what do you want to watch?" Kate: "Muffins in space." (muppets in space)
* Kate: "If I marry a man named Beedlecreek then I’ll be Kate Beedlecreek."
* (in the tub with hands behind head) "Ah, this is the life."
* Kate: "Mommy, can I make Greenland in the tub?"
* Daddy: "The shelf is full of crap." Kate: "Mommy, the shelf is made of crap so we have to clean it up."
* Kate:(crying hysterically) "I don’t wanna go upstairs because there’s doors up there." Me: "Doors?" Kate: "The doors are gonna bonk me!"
* "Mommy, can I have a tower of oreos?"

November
* Kate: "I like some Santas, I don’t like other ones though."
* Kate: "Mommy, why do you have to vacuum?" Me: "Because there’s dirt on the floor." Kate: "I don’t see dirt, just black stuff." Me: "Yeah, that’s the dirt." Kate: "That’s not dirt, it’s kitty compost."
* Kate: "I’m a good sneezer."

December
* Kate: "Does this movie have Franken-Einstein?"
* Jon, in response to Kate’s opening a Christmas gift from Janet: “What do you say, sweetie?” Kate: “Hooray!”

February
* Kate: (in awe and surprise after taking her doll's clothes off) "Mommy, Sleeping Beauty has boobs."
* (After counting her $5 birthday money stack) Kate: "We love Ben Franklin, Jesus, and Abraham Lincoln."
* Kate: "Why do I have to get baptized?" Jon: "So we can live with Jesus in heaven." Kate: "Daddy, we aren't in Jesus's world, we're in New York."
* (On a windy day) Kate: “Hurry, we need to get inside before we blow up!”
*Jon: "Your name is Kate Sophia Allan." Kate: "I am NOT Quesadilla Allan!"