what makes cate angry

yesterday for "communication" at preschool, the topic was anger. they were discussing how to handle angry feelings. the teacher was going around the room asking the children what makes them angry. the responses were all in the ballpark of "when my sister hits me" and "when my brother takes my toy."

when it came to cate, she said, "when I don't get my way." the teachers loved it. and, we all must admit, it's pretty right on for cate. the girl knows what she wants!

morning comments from the girls

this morning nate said to cate, "I like the trains going by." cate responded, "do you like the trains because they make your daughters happy?"

anna, said something equally as cute, but not quite so "awwwwww" inspiring. she received this purple striped sweater for christmas from someone in the family (any takers?).


I think it's adorable and try to dress her in it frequently. since Day 1 she gets mad whenever I put it on. I wasn't entirely sure why. but apparently she now has the words to express herself. today when I pulled it out of the drawer she told me, "sweater not pretty!" I wrestled it on her anyway. what does she know about pretty? she's two.

(post addendum - 5 minutes after I hit publish, guess who came and put a purple striped sweater on my desk?)

We moved!

We've been getting a lot of questions about where/why/when are we moving...so here's the skinny. We have moved across town just one mile from our now-old apartment and, starting tomorrow, will be managing 5 apartment buildings. Free rent plus cash was too hard to pass up...so here we are, Nate and Jane the Landlords. It should prove to be an "interesting" adventure, but we will be able to save a lot of money since we live in such a ridiculously-expensive place.

We moved yesterday and are currently buried in boxes. The girls like the new place - even though it's smaller, they love their room. It's a nice apartment, so we'll be good here (although we have to store about half of what we own to fit!). If our apartment were any closer to the train tracks we would get run over...Anna loves trains, so we thought she'd be in heaven. Turns out Cate is the one who runs to the window every time she hears the bells start ringing.

I need to go unpack so we can live like humans again. If you need our new address, I'll be sending an email out to friends and family, or you can email me. Hope to post some pictures and more fun stuff soon (my age-old, rarely-fulfilled family blog promise!).

the girls yesterday

Hannah gave this outfit to Cate, and she finally wore it WITH the scarf to school yesterday. It was so cute. I told her it was her "New York City" outfit and, to convince her to wear the scarf, I told her that this is just how Tia Hannah wears it. The trick worked. Although, when I picked her up at school the scarf was in her cubby. Nate asked her later why she took it off. She told us that when you leave it on to long it really starts to hurt, and it felt like it was choking her. It was a much more dramatic response than we were expecting. So funny.

(Cate bought the boots herself with a Target gift card she got for Christmas from Linda. She loves these boots. She slept with them for her nap and the first night she had them, since they hadn't been worn outside yet at that point. It was really funny.)

Here is Anna. She's too cool for school.

little things to remember

anna's new line "not it's not!" we don't really know where she got it and she uses it ALL the time. it's really really funny.

anna calls toiletpaper and papertowels "poo poo towels"

this morning cate was eating her breakfast and asked me if she had school today. when I said, "yes you do!" I could see her out the corner of my eye do a quiet little fist pump. it was just so cute and I love that she loves school so much.

cate snores. LOUD. (well, not as loud as, say, a grandpa...but loud for a 5 year old girl!)

Funny stuff

Just a few funny things Cate has said recently that I don't want to forget:

• This week we got together with our friends Aaron and Lindsay. Cate was wearing a black skirt with black knee-highs that had white stripes at the top of the socks. I had told her that Lindsay would like her socks. Sure enough, when Lindsay saw Cate she commented on how she liked her socks. When I was getting Cate in the car a few minutes later I said something like, "See, Lindsay did like your socks. They're so cool!" Then Cate asked me, "Is Lindsay a fan of cool things?"
  
• Last night we went to a New Year's party at Cate's friend Nathan's house (thanks to Rachel and Simon, Nathan's parents, for letting the kids turn their house into what looked like a frat house post-party!). When we got in the car to come home Cate said, "That was a fun party. Nathan always throws such nice parties."
• When Cate was getting ready for bed last night, Anna was making a fuss about her pajamas. I told Anna she couldn't change (I know, I'm so mean). Nate came in a few minutes later and told Anna she could switch PJs. Cate then said, "Mommies are the only ones who make the rules because they're the ones who buy the houses." While I thought that was pretty great, I did clear things up and told her Mommies AND Daddies make the rules together. Nate concluded that she thinks I'm the only one who works and that he's just going to school like her. She's so cute...and apparently a feminist.

Time for a few Anna tidbits.

• I don't let the girls play with my iPhone, but Nate lets them play with his. The other day I discovered that Anna had my phone, so I started to approach her and said, "Anna, that's my phone, please give it to me." She backed away telling me, "No, Daddy's phone! Daddy's phone!" Who knew she was so smart?
• Anna is the most cuddly kid ever. We LOVE it. It's seriously crazy how much she loves to snuggle and has no concept of personal space. It's the best.
• She says "I love you" all the time and loves to give Cate goodnight kisses.
• Anna LOVES the moon and says goodnight to it all the time. It is SO sweet when she's out looking for the moon.
• She is just such a delightful toddler...I think we say "She's so cute" at least 1000 times a day!
• She has the CRAZIEST sense of style. She's always accessorizing and has strong opinions about what she wants to wear. She can most often be found with a cute (normal) outfit buried beneath a skirt or two, a tutu and mardi gras beads.

A Santa Claus Mystery Solved

Ever wonder how Santa has enough time to make all his deliveries in one night?

On Christmas morning, before we let the girls out to the living room, Nate teasingly said to Cate, "I don't know if Santa made it last night. I didn't hear any bells, so maybe he ran out of time."

To which Cate replied (in all seriousness), "That's not true. Santa had enough time because there's lots of bad girls and boys."

Santa Visits the Maynards!

Look who stopped by our house the other day! Santa must have known Mom and Dad didn't want to wait in line at the mall.
The girls were (of course) totally terrified of him. But Cate did get a chance to make her Christmas wish...Barbies.

Later that night I said, "Wow! That was so cool that Santa came to our house today!" Cate replied, "Yes. It was magical."

Happy 5th Birthday to Cate!

Cate's birthday post is overdue! I was going to do this the night of her birthday but ended up crashing on the couch with a major cold as soon as she went to bed that night. Still not over it and Cate is sick as a dog herself. Poor thing. Hopefully we'll all be better by Christmas!

Cate had a GREAT birthday! It was the school holiday party that day, which she loved. And it was Cate's family party year, so we went to a special dinner at Cheesecake Factory.


In addition to the birthday ice cream sundae that the waiter brought out to her, Cate also got to pick her very own giant piece of cheesecake as her birthday cake. She chose Oreo and she still has a little bit left - it's been so cute how she's rationed it out to last so long. When we got home she opened her pile of presents from family members - thanks to everyone who so dutifully mailed presents to the girls! I know Christmastime is crazy, but it means so much to them. THANK YOU!


I can't believe you're FIVE years old, Cate. She can't believe it either...she kept saying that all day. It was adorable. We love you so much, Cate. You are an amazing little girl with such an empathetic heart. We love you!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Anna Louisa!

It's official, Anna is 2! Yesterday she started singing "Happy Birthday"...we didn't even know she knew the song. She just knew her birthday was coming, I suppose!


Anna had a good day. She played all morning, had a nice lunch, took a LONG nap, then woke up to a Spiderman cake in her honor. Yes, she loves Spiderman. You can almost always find her with at least one Spiderman band-aid on an arm or a leg. And, yes I love how her cake came out! Cakes scare me, they're hard...so I was RELIEVED more than anything with how this one came out. Anna really liked it, which is all that matters in the end.


We had only two friends come over to party with us...Jackson and Thomas. They both love Anna (and she loves them)...but Jackson really loves Anna. When they were leaving he just couldn't resist giving her multiple birthday hugs. It was really sweet.


Cate did a good job helping Anna celebrate. In fact, the first thing Cate said this morning when she woke up was, "It's Anna's birthday!" She went to bed tonight very excited about the fact that "on the next daytime" she will be 5. I think Anna's birthday being the day before really helps get Cate revved up for her own birthday.


That shiny pink nightgown that Anna is wearing in all the pictures was her favorite birthday gift. It's a "Mormon Handicraft Classic" that comes complete with a sheer robe. Pretty funny...I had these nightgowns when I was a kid and LOVED them, so my Grandma Blomquist got one each for my girls. Anna opened the gift and immediately started to put it on. She left it on all night and went to bed with it over her pajamas. What can I say, she's a woman of diverse tastes...Spiderman, frilly satin sleepwear...it's all good.

My favorite part of today was when Anna woke up from her nap. All she wanted to do was cuddle. I picked her up and sat in the armchair with her for a little while. It was quiet, the Christmas tree was on and I could hear Cate chattering in the other room. I started to sing Silent Night to Anna and, of course, got choked up. Having our babies at Christmastime has always been really meaningful to me. It's such a crazy time of year I don't get many moments to appreciate it. I'm really glad Anna is such a big cuddler so that I could have one of those moments today. Holding her in my arms this evening I felt an overwhelming feeling of peace and gratitude. Anna, I'm so happy you are part of our family. We love you!