Madelyn's Blessing Day

Madelyn was blessed on January 15th and it was such a sweet day. We loved having our families there! Madelyn sure is coming into an incredibly loving and supportive village. She wore the same dress I wore and looked just like a doll. She's so perfect, guys. Robbie gave a beautiful blessing and I so admire his preparation and worthiness. We had family over for brunch afterwards and the day was simply perfect.

I couldn't just pick one picture, so you get to stare at her a little longer. You're welcome.

Kate & Olivia's Birthday

The girls were sick on their actual birthday, so we celebrated a couple weeks later. We invited both set of grandparents over for dinner and had the best time. The girls were on cloud nine with all of their favorite people in one room. They seriously adore their grandparents (so do we!) and it was just a room full of a ton of love for these two girlies. Happy birthday, sweethearts!

Kate & Olivia--2 Years Old!

Oh my. Aren't they adorable?? I love these 2 year-olds with all of my big, fat heart. They turned 2 on January 3rd they're just growing and learning constantly. With that comes a little...experimenting with their emotions, but despite some tantrums and fighting here and there, this stage is still just gold. I love it. Here's a bit about these cute twinners:

Kate:
Oh, Kate. She is the goofiest little girl. She is passionate, determined, and confident. She's an amazing talker and surprises me with full on sentences here and there. The other day she wanted a snack really badly and started listing off ideas..."how about...pretzels?" She often says "It's so silly" or cute, funny, little, adorable, tiny, dark, etc. She called biscuits "spicits" the other day and I died. She can repeat anything and loves, loves to learn. She's such a curious girl. She's a total snuggle bug and gives awesome hugs and kisses. She loves to touch you when she talks to you. She's really good with her hands, but is pretty uncoordinated with her legs. It's the most adorable thing. She loves her polar bear "Penny" and insists on sleeping with her and an elf on the shelf she named "BYU". She's the sweetest natural nurturer. She's all about turns and being fair right now. Her most frequent phrase as of late is "no no mine!!" She takes most things away from Olivia and insists on always being first and always thinks it's her turn. If she sees Olivia doing something cool that I acknowledge, she immediately joins in for the attention too. She eats a ton of food and often cleans up sister's plate as well. When she eats something she likes, she takes a bite and says "good". I love her sign of approval. She loves to watch shows, especially Daniel Tiger, and will sit there from start to finish, hardly moving a muscle. We love our Katers.

Olivia:
Sweet Olivia! She is our little singer and dancer, all day long. She knows lots of songs and is constantly singing to herself. She runs around on her tippy toes and is such a sweet, bubbly girl. She's super coordinated and athletic. She is fearless and will try any trick Robbie suggests...like jumping of the counter or flipping through the air. She is sensitive and thoughtful and kind. She is always thinking of Kate and making sure Kate has what she needs. She gives the sweetest voluntary kisses, especially to Madelyn. She loves her blankie and books more than anything. I'll often find her reading a book while a show is on TV. She's a great talker and I hear most from her, "hi mommy!" or "hi daddy!" When we ask her a question, she often starts her answer with "um..." and it's super cute. When Kate takes things away from Olivia, she used to just give it up without a fight, but has started standing up for herself more and more. Sometimes she just screams or cries out, "Katers!" Man, helping toddlers learn to deal with emotions healthily is no walk in the park! Anyways, Olivia is my little shadow and follows me around everywhere (I think partially because she's afraid of being alone with Kate, haha). She's our little perfectionist and hates messes or disorder. We're trying to help her be okay with dirty hands or food on the floor :) We love this Liv girl!

Random:
I love that their hair is getting longer and I can experiment with it more!
These girls are getting so smart and know their colors, can count to 10, and sing their abcs and a gazillion other songs.
I love that their version of saying "yes" is saying "okay" with a big smile.
They love playing on the cardboard box slide with Robbie.
They love listening to the Frozen soundtrack or nursery rhymes.
They've both started saying "I need..." when they want something. "I need pretzels!"
When they want to be held, they say, "Hold you, mama"