Chit-Chats

I have always thought that as soon as Katie Wynn and Thomas started talking a lot, I'd start a new series to record the funny things they say.  Cause you know, everyone always says, "You should write that down!" and I have a family blog as a scrapbook so might as well write it there, right?  Anyway, I thought it'd be a while before I started the series but as it turns out, Katie Wynn is already doing a fair amount of talking that I want to remember.  It's not really funny phrases or ideas just yet, more like funny pronunciations of words.  So consider this the first installment in an ongoing series. 

I need a catchy name for this series.  Anyone got a good idea?  Here are some things I've considered:

• Chit-Chats (obviously, since that's what I went with for this post)
• Say What?
• What's that you say?
• Whatchu talkin' bout, Willis?
• Kids say the darnedest things.
• Chatty Cathy (not a good choice since I want to use it for Thomas too)
• Kid Speak

You know, I feel like I always come up with really good, clever ideas when I'm in a group brainstorming situation, but when I'm sitting here by myself I can't ever come up with anything!  Tell me you've got something catchy to call this series...

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At 23 months old, Katie Wynn can say a LOT.  She has been babbling and saying all the normal baby words for a while - mama, dada, ball, no, go, etc - but several months ago she just woke up one morning and started really talking!  Mostly short phrases, but you can still kinda carry on a conversation with her now.  As my nephew Jett said recently, "She's like a real little person now."

There are quite a few words that she says really well and most anyone can understand them.  Things like mama, daddy, baby, eat, more, wet, ball, Mimi, Poppy, Papa, Anna, and on and on.  But there are plenty of other words and phrases that most people might not understand, at least not the first time she says them.  And I really want to remember some of these pronunciations.  I will try to spell them as phonetically as possible.

Tees - This means cheese.  Specifically, string cheese, her favorite snack.

Peace - Please

Tankoo - Thank you

Orn - Orange, a new favorite fruit.  Also, the only color she knows.

Wad-uh - Water

Nana - Banana

Bullies - Blueberries

Yea'mim - Yes ma'am, said to both females and males.

Paw-et - Pocket

Jew - Juice

Yap - Lap

Kit cat! - Kitty cat (and almost always said loudly and excitedly)

Whyyy - Wyatt

Tommy - Thomas (I really think she's trying to say Thomas and just can't get that "s" sound out at the end.  Every now and then she gets it right.)

Holly - Lolli (She used to say this correctly and then we'd always tell her to say, "Hi Lolli!" but she'd say "Eye Holly!" instead and now she always calls her Holly.)

Holla - Lala (her grandmother, pronounced like the la's in fa la la la la) Hilarious to hear her walking around the house yelling "holla!"

Blay-et - Blanket

Thit! - Sit! (Said to people, not dogs.)

Padi or Pally - Paci.  She's getting much better at this; it used to sound more like "body."

Aye ooh - I love you

Now onto some of her phrases...

I beebee bath! - I want a bubble bath.

It ok, Tommy. or You ok, Tommy. or You aw-wight, Tommy.  Probably self explanatory. 

He doan whon it. - He doesn't want it.  She picked this one up from me saying it every time she tries to jam Thomas's paci into his mouth while he was asleep.  Now she picks up his paci and walks around the house saying, "He doan whon it."

Oooh wee, Tommy! - Shoo wee, Thomas!  I say "Shoo wee!" every time I change a stinky diaper on her.  She says this to Thomas every time he gets his diaper changed period.

I open it. - This one's obvious and is said for many things, including taking off Thomas's diaper.

I why. I why. I why. - I want a wipe.  Or I need a wipe.  And usually said on repeat until you give her a baby wipe.

It hot! - Usually said when she doesn't like a food.  Even a cold food.

Git it, Mama! - This is said about anything she wants me to pick up - a toy out of reach, a dropped spoon, a crying Thomas.  Sometimes when she's saying it over and over, I like to pretend in my head that she just has her inflection wrong and that instead of being demanding, she really means it as "Get it, girl!" like I'm really working it.

Hennie, HUH! - Henry, hush!  (Henry is my parents' dog and he barks a lot.  Guess she's heard us all tell him to hush a time or two!)

No no, Holly, no no. - This is an easy one and it's said any time Lolli gets close to her while she has food.

Where go? - Where did he/she/it go?  Said anytime someone leaves, our neighbor's dogs walk past our house, the train goes away, etc. 

Go, Go! (While pointing at TV) - I want to watch Frozen.

Weed it, Mama. - Read it, Mama.  Demanded until she gets aggravated that I actually read all the words on every page, and then it switches to "I weed it." so she can turn the pages faster.

Moan, moan! - One of my favorites.  I spelled it that way because that's how it sounds, but it's her short hand for "Come on!"  It's never said just once, but rather always repeated and it has the cutest little hand gesture that goes with it so that you'll "Moan!" with her wherever she wants to go.

Mere, mere! - Similar to above, except this one is for "Come here!" It has a similar hand motion but is used more to beckon someone to come to her.  I felt really bad for her when she said it over and over to a frog but it just wouldn't "Mere!" like she wanted it to.

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I will probably come back and add to this list as I think of other words and phrases she says, so check back in a couple days!  

And seriously, what should I call these posts?

Patio Projects

This summer we have worked on some temporary projects in our backyard.  I say temporary because we have much bigger long term plans back there, but these smaller projects should satisfy us until we get all of our dollars saved up.  

The biggest project that we knocked out (and by "we" I totally mean "Matt") is a small paver patio that we put in just past our brick patio.  It's relatively small compared to most patios but it didn't feel small when we were manually loading up 80 pavers onto a cart at Home Depot, then into the truck bed, and then unloading them at home (again, that "we" totally means "Matt").  I wasn't able to take in-progress pictures because my job was to keep the two kids happy, so you'll have to talk to him if you want a tutorial.  We did kill the grass and weeds in this corner ahead of time, then he did some leveling out and sand spreading before laying out the pavers.  I really wanted to do a more intricate pattern but it would've required us to cut pavers and that just wasn't going to happen.  He was nice enough to arrange them several different ways until I decided on a pattern I liked.  The black edging helps hold the pavers in tight and the grass has already grown up to it so it's not so noticeable..  Then he used a sand specifically made for this kind of project to fill in the gaps - it hardened and dried after being misted with the water hose.  

So what was the point of adding a patio off of a patio?  Glad you asked.  The sole purpose of this was so that we could finally move Matt's grill around to the backyard.  For almost two years, it's sat in our garage and he's had to pull it out onto the driveway every time he wants to grill - something he loves to do.  Putting it out here gives it a more permanent home and is closer to the kitchen for all his trips back and forth.  As you can see from the picture below, we couldn't put it on the already existing patio because it's covered.

And now that the new (somewhat temporary) patio is done, I'm sure a new grill and grill cover are on Matt's Christmas list.  :)

The next project on the list was one that I really wanted: some proper edging for my flower garden.  The pictures below of Katie Wynn checking the tulips were taken last spring.  You can see how there was no real defining edge between the flower bed and the grass.  Well, unless you call the line of weeds and moss that grew there a defining edge...

So back to the store we went.  We debated building up a wall or making a pathway, but we reminded ourselves that this wasn't a forever project.  We grabbed enough to have two pavers the full length of the bed and arranged them with one standing up and one laying down, kinda creating an L shape.

I love the way it looks.  I also love that the moss and weeds are mostly gone and the grass is growing right up to the edging.  It just looks so much better!

I took all of these pictures a while back - maybe even a whole month ago?  Here is how my zinnias looked then...

...and here are updated pictures that I took last night.  We have so many blooms and they're so big!  Seriously, if anyone local needs an arrangement, bring over a vase and fill it up.  I have more than I can keep up with!

The final project for the patio is one that my mom did for us.  She painted us two canvases to hang on the brick wall - one about Gardens and one that has Porch Rules.  Perfect!  While she did most of the grunt work, it did take us a while to get masonry nails and actually get them hung.  Hammering into mortar is kinda nerve-racking! 

Here's a panned out view of the patio.  I wish I had thought to take an updated picture of this too because our flower pots are looking great!

Here's the current view of our backyard as we see it when we're sitting on the back patio (something we really enjoy doing when it's not miserably hot and the mosquitoes aren't out to get us so, you know, like twenty nights a year).  

And here's the World's Worst Photoshop Rendering of what our backyard would look like in a perfect world if and when we can ever afford to do what we'd like to to it.  We would extend the brick patio out further so that it matches the current one and we could add an outdoor table with the grill.  The tree would have to go because we'd be putting in a custom pool (those blue squiggles are waves).  And contrary to what this picture depicts, it would probably be bigger than the patio.  The green blobs represent the landscaping we'd add around the pool and since we'd have to cut down one tree, we'd plant more along the fence for shade and added privacy.  And yes, that tree on the far left is flipping you off.

Oh, and what's not pictured in the drawing is that the existing covered patio would be screened in.  So long, pesky mosquitoes! 

We have more big plans for the rest of the exterior of our house, but it'll be a while before we can check any of them off our list.  Who knew brick and concrete could be so dang expensive!?  For now, we're just gonna enjoy our nice little paver patio and perfectly edged flower bed.  Nothing like a little sweat equity to make you appreciate it even more, right?

Painting with Marbles

Some people tend to lose their marbles, but not us!  Instead, we use ours to paint with!  :)

My mom kept my nephew Jett and niece Bren today and, as the cool aunt that I am, I whipped up a fun little craft project for them.  I told Bren it might take us six whole hours to complete ("How much is that?" "It's like 4 Frozen movies." "Oh, ok.") but that was a bit of an exaggeration.  I think we were done in under one hour so while it did kill a little bit of time, it didn't completely knock out the whole afternoon.  But it was still fun and both kids enjoyed it so I'm sharing it with you in case you need to entertain some kids too!

You don't need much in terms of supplies.  Just some craft paint, a bag of marbles, pool noodles (we only ended up using one), a canvas of some type, and a drop cloth or something to protect your floors.  We painted out in the woodshop but we still put down a drop cloth to avoid too much of a mess.  Not pictured is the small plastic bowl of water we used to clean our marbles as we went.  You'll want to have that handy too.

While the kids picked out their paint colors - I let them choose three colors each - I cut up the pool noodle.  First I used a knife to slice it into thirds and then I cut those three pieces down the middle lengthwise.  It gave us six "marble slides."

I squirted out a little bit of paint near one end of each marble slide.  I was careful not too squirt out too much because I didn't want it to drip out, but there needed to be enough for the marble to roll through and pick up.

Then came the fun part!  The kids just took marbles, lined up their slides with their canvas, and let them roll through the paint and onto the blank canvas creating colorful streaks.  I think the pictures will explain that better.

We used wood blocks as barricades so the marbles wouldn't roll all the way across the floor.

Action shot!  That blue blur is a marble rolling across.

Jett really wanted to be too cool for this when I first told him we were going to do a craft project, but he probably got into more than Bren did!  He liked to get a handful of marbles and send them down the slide one after the other while he moved the slide back and forth on the canvas.  Bren was much more careful and took her time with each marble.

Another action shot!  Do you see the orange blur right out of the slide?

Once they were satisfied with their paintings, they ran back inside to play and left me with the mess.  So typical, right?

Here are their finished masterpieces!  Their mom has a wall in their house where she displays their artwork.  Wonder if these will make the cut??

You should try it out sometime.  (And if you do, send me a picture!)  Not gonna lie, I kinda wanted to make one of my own today but I only had two canvases.  I do have that extra pool noodle though so maybe I'll make one later in the week...

Sip and See

I'm way behind on this post - like, over a month behind!  Back in June (on the 29th, to be exact), our friends Allison and Emily hosted a Sip and See in honor of Thomas so our friends and family could come meet our newest little guy.  It's sort of a baby viewing, if you will.

The party was held at Allison's house and they had decorated it with lot of chalkboard signs and flower-filled mason jars.  It was all so cute!  Here are some pictures of all the decorations.

Oh, and super special thanks to Allison for all the pictures.  I completely forgot my camera and probably wouldn't have remembered to use it anyway, so I'm so grateful to her for capturing it all.  All photo credits go to her!

Tea kettle shaped signs on the front door.

A chalkboard sign to assure guests they were at the right place! :)

This was the invitation - the hydrangeas in mason jars match it perfectly!

Yummy, yummy drinks.

Some of the food.  I loved the chalkboard runner they used to label everything!

Or some of the jars had labels of their own.

So, I asked if they bought these cookies at a new cookie bakery in town and Emily told me no, that she made them.  I totally didn't believe her at first, but she really did!  I had to believe her when she started talking about royal icing and explaining the process.  I've never been brave enough to try that.  Aren't they so cute?  I hate that so many were already gone when this picture was taken.  They looked great and tasted even better - there weren't any left by the end of the party!  And - get this - she didn't even use a cookie cutter for them.  Y'all, she's got mad skills.  Hit her up if you need some cookies for an event!

Here I am with the wonderful hostesses.  I love these girls.  They went above and beyond for us!

We had a really good turnout at the party.  I got to see so many of my favorite people, which, after being cooped up in the house for three weeks and majorly sleep-deprived, was really good for me!  

Below are my brothers' beautiful wives and my mom with her two granddaughters.

Some of my friends!

The honoree got passed around between everyone but eventually had to stop for a bottle.  Just like a guy to only be thinking about food, right? :)

Thomas had both of his grandmothers there to dote on him, so you know he was a happy camper!

After most of the guests had left and there were just a few of us still chatting, Allison brought me a big pile of gifts to open!  We weren't really expecting gifts so this was a big surprise.  It was a good thing my little girl was there to help me open them all.  

We borrowed a pretty moses basket from a friend for Thomas to lay in during the party.  That never really happened so we finally put him in it at the end so we could at least get some pictures.  Allison got so many sweet ones!  Seriously, I could post about 15 of them.  It's going to be hard to narrow it down, but I'll try...

Pure sweetness, I tell ya.

Katie Wynn LOVED him being in this basket.  He was down on her level and it just made it so much easier for her to make sure he was covered up properly.  She is such a little mama.  :)

She was so funny because she kept stopping mid-blanketing to run to the window and look outside.  We all joked that she looked like she was watching out for the cops.

Eventually Thomas had had enough and was rescued by his Lala.

But Little Mama still made sure he had his "blay-et."

Y'all, this wrinkly forehead.  It gets me every time!  How can you not love this little old man face?

Stop.  Just stop.  I can't handle the cuteness.

Before we left, we took a couple quick pictures outside the front door.  Thomas wasn't super thrilled about this, nor was Katie Wynn.

This last picture does a good job of showing off his coloring.  Doesn't his hair look like it has red in it?  Like maybe it'll be kinda auburn?  Only time will tell, I guess.

Thanks so much, Allison and Emily, for throwing a party for us!  And thanks to everyone who came to Sip and See my sweet little boy!  :)

Fun At The Playground!

We've had some unusually nice weather for this time of year and I absolutely love it!  It really makes having two small children much easier when it's not miserably hot outside while they're playing (or you're holding them).  To celebrate the cooler temps, I started taking Katie Wynn to a playground in the early evenings after picking her up from daycare.  

The playground we visited has LOTS of slides so I thought it would be a big hit!  The first day, she was pretty much scared and too timid to do anything.  I think she went down the slide one time while sitting in my lap.  The next day she was braver and would go down the slides while I held her hand.  By the third day she was a pro and I couldn't keep up with her!  (It probably helped that one of her best buddies was there too.)

I didn't get any pics from the first day since she was glued to my leg and Thomas was with us, so these start with day two.  She would climb up to the top of the slide and then reach out and say, "Hand, hand, hand, hand!" until I held her hand for the slide down.

I had to crawl through this tunnel to show her what to do.  I'm just glad I made it all the way through - it was questionable if I would fit or not.

Here are a few more snapshots from day two at the playground.

On day three, Addi Clare joined in on the fun!

Addi Clare's mom, Michelle, was kind enough to bring drinks for the girls.

The night before this playground date, a mosquito made its way to Katie Wynn's bed and went to town on her face.  I nearly cried when I woke her up and saw all the red whelps.  I think I counted 22 bites just on her face!  Poor thing looked like she had the chicken pox.  :(  (Excuse the bad pics; she wouldn't stay still long enough for me to photograph them well.)

Last week we went back to the playground to slide some more, and we took cousin Ramer with us!

Unfortunately, the temps seem to be creeping back into miserably hot territory, so it may be a few days before we can go slide again.  I'm sure we'll log plenty of hours at the playground over the next few months!