cute things said by the girls

anna was totally trying to talk last night. it was really cute. she was trying to say thank you, which was almost completely unintelligible, but it was always the same two sounds. then when we said nighttime prayers, after we said "amen" she said "men"! go anna! then, when we put her in bed and I was saying "I love you" a million times, she would make the same 3-syllable sounds, that ended with an "ooo". it was so stinkin' cute.

cate was telling us what she learned in church yesterday and mentioned the neefighters. so cute.

we helped deliver christmas gifts to a family in east palo alto before christmas for cate's preschool. that morning I was labeling the gifts. the family had a baby girl names concepcion. cate told me she wanted to write tags for the gifts, so she went in the kitchen and started writing her notes. this is what she said as she scribbled, "consepsia. I love you so much. we're just gonna give you some presents just for you. I don't know why."

A Star is Born!

For our church Christmas party, Cate performed in a "Once there was a snowman" parody - she opened and closed the number and was completely adorable. :) Here she is performing, completely un-phased by the room full of people. Nerves of steel!
You can see the video on YouTube - click here! It's 10 minutes long...it's funny, but if you really just want to see Cate, she's at the very beginning and the very end. :)

new year!

wow, another year. this past year has been a great one for us, but also a little crazy. I'm looking forward to a year with very little change. hopefully that will really happen. :)

so, as usual, I'm way behind putting pictures up here. hopefully soon. but I need to write down a few things I love about the girls before I forget them.
- I love how cate loves to wear headbands, but they don't ever actually hold her hair back. the front of her hair is always in her face, headband or not. it's so cute.
- recently cate has solidified her parental alliance...with me. she ALWAYS comes to my defense or takes my side in situations. it's really funny. poor nate.
- cate is always making up and singing songs to herself. the other day at the grocery store, she basically sang the whole time. it was so cute and made me happy as I heard her little voice.
- anna's security "blanket" is my hair. when she's eating, snuggling, sick, whatever...she cuddles up, sticks her thumb in her mouth and then holds my hair with the other hand. she's even started doing it to nate. it's seriously so sweet.
- anna is a lazybones. we know she can stand on her own....she stood for a LONG time on christmas day night. we couldn't believe it. but now she refuses to do it. she just collapses. little stinker.

Happy 4th Birthday, Cate

Wow! 4 years old! Happy Birthday, Cate! You are a wonderful little lady!

To think she started out so small!!!

Happy 1st Birthday, Anna!

Wow! I can't believe it's been a year since we had this little girl! At the same time, it seems like ages ago.


Happy Birthday, sweet Anna Louisa! We're so happy you are with us!!!

happy day...

we finally have a piano. it's quite old but in great shape. I'm so happy. I have missed having a piano so much.

yes, I have much to post about. still need to do our paris trip, and thanksgiving was SO FUN with our visitors this year (grandma, grandpa hans and anne). more to come, hopefully soon...

anna is getting smarter...

anna is officially growing out of babyhood. this week she:
a) picks up pencils/crayons and tries to color with them
b) held the remote control up to here ear like a phone
c) picked up a brush and started brushing her hair

i love it, it's adorable, but where does the time go?!?!

Real Simple!!!!

Yup, that's right, I'm on Real Simple's website!! WOO-HOO!!!!!!!!!

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHAT MY EXCITEMENT IS ALL ABOUT!

(Thank goodness I had Norman (Hannah's boyfriend) do some head shots this summer. Even though I will never live it down...you know, the closed set photo shoot on the family vacation complete with stylist (Hannah) and professional fashion photographer (Norm)...it's come in handy!)

more cate stuff

the other night at dinner we were talking about my trip to san diego (which is today - woo-hoo!) an cate asked why she doesn't get to go. I told her, it's because you cost too much money now. she looked at us and said, "Hey! I have money!" It was so so funny, but we tried not to laugh. We said, "You do?" "Yeah, in my purse!" If Southwest accepts funny money, then Cate is in business.

Cate gets to recite a scripture at church on Sunday. We were practicing last night. The start of it says (referring to Jesus) "And he took their little children" - so I say that line for her to repeat and she says, "But taking isn't nice!"

cate stuff

okay, gotta type this stuff before I forget what my little notes mean. just a couple funny things cate has said.

first, to set the stage. at school there are two cates/kates - cate with a c (our cate) and kate with a k. okay, now onto the story. the other night when cate was brushing her teeth, I was telling her how if she doesn't brush them she'll get holes in her teeth. nate said, just use the real terms, and then told her that she'll get tooth decay. she said/yelled, "no! I don't have tooth decay, I have tooth d-C." in totally seriousness.

cute pronunciations: amial (animal), matalee (natalee), micole (nicole)

I think I"ve written about this, but maybe not. cate gets anything/nothing, anybody/nobody, anything/nothing mixed up all the time. we pretty much know she means the opposite when she uses words like this. last night was a PERFECT example. nate asked her "who won?" she said "anybody." meaning NOBODY. it's so stinkin' cute and she does it all the time. I'll be sad when she figures it out.

the other morning cate climbed into bed with us. nate and I both rolled over to snuggle with her. she laid there a second, then pushed us away (nicely) and said, "You need to give me some space, guys."

she ALWAYS says, "mom?" "what cate?" "I love you and I like you." or, "I have a secret for you. I love you and I like you." it's really sweet and cute that she's picked up on the fact there's a difference. I'm glad she both likes and loves us! :)

the other day I was watching an interview on tv, so I was paying attention to that. cate was reading books to herself, but I hadn't realized she'd switched to reading to me. next thing I know she says, "Mom, I think the TV is distracting you. Maybe we should turn it off. You need to focus."

I love this girl!