Saturday, July 16, 2011

Hailey and Brynn - 2 1/2 years old

Hailey and Brynn turned 2 1/2 in June. We can hardly believe how fast this year is going. The girls amaze me daily with the things they remember and always bring me laughs with their developing senses of humor. They are SILLY. They get that from their daddy!! A few things about the girls:



  • Hailey loves to sing...doesn't matter what the song is, she is constantly singing. Brynn will chase her around the house shouting, "Hailey, no singing!!!" Brynn loves music too, she just prefers the artist's original version of the song!


  • Favorite movies - Brynn likes any Veggietales and Hailey likes Strawberry Shortcake.


  • They both love to play Ring-around-the-rosie and fall down in a crazy way.


  • The girls like to help in the kitchen - pouring the measuring cups full of ingredients into the "big bowl". Favorite ingredient: CHEESE for a meal or Chocoloate chips for a treat


  • Hailey and Brynn go to bed the same time, but Hailey will just hang out in her bed doing who knows what until late hours in the evening. We always check on all of the kids before we go to bed and she has been up waiting for us some nights. Crazy girl! Then she gives a summary of all the sounds she heard while we thought she was asleep. She is right on most of the time which is amazing to me.


  • They love to wash hands. All.The.Time. The love to sing the ABCs while washing hands to make sure they wash thoroughly. And they like to use a BIG handful of soap. Brynn has been able to turn the water on and off for quite a while now but Hailey is finally tall enough so they can do this whole process independently. I have to make sure to keep the door shut or they would be in the bathroom washing hands all day.


  • Both girls are very good mommies to their baby dolls. They like to strap their babies in Klayton's high chair, car seat, and once in awhile I even find their dolls "napping" in Klayton's crib.


  • They have also developed into great big sisters. They love their little brother and are pretty good helpers. They always make sure he has a toy and if he is crying Hailey says, "What's the matter, buddy?". Brynn will go get a toy for him and say, "It's ok, Klayton. No crying." They always make him giggle and provide a constant source of entertainment.


Here are some much overdue pictures of the girls and our activites this summer.


They love to use their buckets to take water from their water table and give our flowers a drink. Thanks to the girls, our flowers are alive this summer :)




The swimming pool in the back yard is a hit. I haven't taken them to the city pool yet but that is on the agenda for tonight. So, possibly more pictures to come (probably in September at the rate I update this blog!).










Daddy and the Grandpas built the kids a swingset this spring. I don't know what we would do without it! The girls love swinging and playing up in the playhouse and going down the slide. And it is nice for me because it allows Klayton to nap in his crib while we play outside.









Hailey and Brynn took their first carousel ride at the carnival at Summerfest. Hailey chose the horse and Brynn chose the giraffe. They kept saying, "again, again". We tried to use the "it is someone else's turn" card, but there was only one little boy in line so there were lots of animals left just calling their names. They LOVED it to say the least.








I am so excited to report that both girls have long enough hair for pigtails. Yay!! I don't claim to be great at hair but I love being able to pull their hair back for the summer. Oh, and Hailey was sneaking her thumb in the below picture. Both girls have sucked their thumbs since they were about 2 months old. Shortly after they got home from the hospital they found their thumbs and it helped create two great sleepers. But, now we are trying to break this habit and thumbs are only allowed if they are in bed. You can kind of see a smirk on Hailey's face because she knows she is breaking a rule...







The new favorite toy at Grandma and Grandpa's house - a yellow Camaro! The girls LOVE this car and do a pretty good job of taking turns in the driver's seat. At first, Hailey always wanted to drive and Brynn would be in charge of the radio from the passenger's seat.









Oh my...the picture below is the result a few unsupervised minutes while I was changing Klayton's diaper. Diaper cream is the one item the girls are not allowed to play with so Brynn took this opportunity to check it ou. Wow...40% zinc diaper cream does not clean up well... Luckily the cream was relatively confined to the changing pad, jammies, and of course hands/arms/legs. It took me 45 minutes to clean up this one but I couldn't help but laugh and grab the camera. I have a similar picture from my experiments as a child - I had squeezed out a tube of toothpaste. Now I know how my mom felt!



Burley rides are so fun! Daddy usually takes the girls on a bike ride and Klayton goes in the jogger stroller with me so we can all get out of the house for some fresh air.





Brynn on her favorite princess couch.


Hailey on the deck with bubbles.


The girls have a picnic table that they love to eat on. Whenever they drop food, they have learned not to pick up the food because it is "for the birds". Now, even inside when they drop food they say - "it's for the birds"...well...not so much but at least they aren't picking up gross things outside to eat. Now if only Klayton understood :)


Sometimes we take a picnic lunch to a park just a few blocks from our house. Hailey and Brynn love to go to the park and are very daring on the play equipment. Brynn is usually eager to try just about anything and Hailey will wait to see how it goes before she attempts it. The park and our walk there and back usually guarantee a great afternoon nap for all three kids!



We are so blessed to have Hailey and Brynn in our lives - they are two amazing little girls and they bring so much joy to our lives. Happy 2 1/2 girls!!!

Fourth of July

Hailey and Brynn's new favorite thing: Fireworks!! We celebrated our freedom by attending the Yankee Doodle Pops concert on the Capital grounds on Friday, July 2. We brought a picnic supper and spent the evening with Grandpa and Grandma Talma. The kids did great - it was pretty hot that day but we found a shady spot and there was a nice breeze. We brought books and a few of their toys to help the time pass until the fireworks started.





Grandma brought pinwheels too which were a hit, especially with the nice breeze.
Hailey loves her sunglasses!




On Sunday evening, we met up with Jason's sister and family for the WDM parade.

The girls got quite a bit of candy and replenished their treat bags at home. Hailey was excited to go get the candy and she collected for Brynn as well. Brynn was content to just sit and watch the parade.

Klayton was bored at first...but once we took him out of the stroller he was a happy kid.


We watched the fireworks for Ankeny Summerfest last Sunday too. All three kids stayed up until 10PM to watch them again - even Klayton. This past week we have been recovering from all of these late nights!

Many, many thanks to all of those men and women as well as their families who are involved or have been involved in protecting our freedom - you sacrifice a lot both at home and overseas. May God bless all of you!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Father's Day 2011

Happy Father's Day, Daddy (yes, this post is a little late)! Thanks for everything you do - you are a great Daddy and we always look forward to seeing you when you get home!

The kids and I (Kristin) walked up to the store to pick out a Father's Day gift. Hailey and Brynn love to go for walks. It was quite the excursion - it took a lot longer to walk at Hailey and Brynn's pace than I thought. About half way home, I convinced the girls to get in the stroller and I wore Klayton in the carrier to get us home for a nap! The kids are pretty good shoppers and were excited to choose the gift - Daddy got a new pair of shoes!

Every morning we do a run down of where daddy is and how he got there -

Hailey -Daddy took the black car today, Mama?
Me - Yes, Daddy drove the black car today.
Brynn - Daddy at work?
Me - Yes, Daddy is at work.
Hailey - Daddy drove black car to work?
Me - Yes, Love, he drove the black car to work.
Brynn - Daddy be home later?
Me - Yes, Love, Daddy will drive the black car home in time for supper.
Hailey - Okay, that's good Mama!

Jason did take a couple days off work to go golfing so every day the past week they have been asking if Daddy is golfing instead of working. He wishes! After this conversation we can start our day!

As you will notice in the below pictures, the kids don't necessarily smile or look at the camera on command. I eventually just take the picture!










Hailey and Brynn love to climb on Jason's back as he crawls around on the floor!





Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Mother's Day 2011

Hailey, Brynn, and Klayton were so excited to celebrate Mother's day. They love their mommy very much and are so thankful for everthing she does for them. Thank you Mom for being the best mommy we could ever ask for.








Tulip Time

The first weekend in May, we had the opportunity to head down to Pella to enjoy Tulip Time. Kristin's Aunt Patty and Uncle Hank came all the way from New York and it was great to spend time with them. This year we had wonderful weather and it was nice not to have to bundle up just to watch a parade. The girls and adults enjoyed all the great food and Hailey and Brynn even got their donut holes by asking Uncle Hank in their sweetest voice and giving him a little smile.


Two tired girls after a busy weekend.
Klayton in his little Dutch costume


Hailey trying to get Klayton to smile by tickling him.


Two little Dutch girls.



One of many attempts to get everyone to look at the camera.






Got to have a picture in the wooden shoes.


Love this picture of Brynn


Hailey giving the adults a break by pushing Brynn.


Hailey was told she could smell and not pick :-)


Klayton 6 months

Klayton turned 6 months old on May 8. Its hard to imagine that he is 6 months old but it is fun to continue to see him develop and interact with his sisters. He thinks Hailey and Brynn are very funny sisters and loves to watch them be wild and crazy. At his six month checkup, Klayton topped the charts at 17 lbs 5 oz and was 2 feet 2 inches (he was thrilled to hit the 2 foot mark).

Klayton has started out on rice cereal and has been enjoying it. He can roll over and sit up for long periods of time and enjoy all his toys that he got for Christmas.