I am MADLY in love....

with these two girls. I yearn to be around them when I am away. I cherish the moments when I do get to be with them.

I love...

• to hear them talk in their sweet little voices (and sometimes LOUD sweet voices)
• to watch them play and get excited about life
• to lay with Harper at night and talk about the things she could dream about. When I say one thing, she looks at me with the sweetest eyes and with excitment and says "and what else mom.."
• that Liv loves me so much and wants to be in my arms when I walk in the door from work. (Last night Lateaf was feeding her dinner. I came home from work and she was so determined to be in my arms that she started melting down and crying. When I didn't instantly get her out of her chair, she gagged hysterically and about threw up her dinner. Of course that got her out of her chair;) Then she was happy as can be:)
• that Harper and Liv are back to sharing a room and Harper will tell her sister "it's ok Liv, go to sleep" when Liv is crying.
• that Liv likes to flip through books and Harper is "trying" to read. She says "how do you read those words mommy."
• that Lateaf was putting Harper to bed and she asked him about his hair or the lack of his hair. Lateaf told her that he lost it. Harper says "its ok daddy, we can go find it."
• that the girls have a stay at home daddy who loves them unconditionally and teaches them daily.
• that Liv is starting to say words and sounds that stand for words. She can makes sounds that represent mom, dad, Shay, Kate, Amy, Harper, i love you, Grandpa, Grandma, sissy, shirt, ball, milk, and bottle are to name a few;) It is so fun to hear her try to talk.
• that EVERYTIME I come home from work (or anyone comes home from somewhere) Harper hides. It's cute because she will hear the door or the garage door at my parents house and she starts to shake with excitement and then takes off to hide. She will even hide when she knows you saw her. TOO CUTE!!
• I love that I am madly in love with these two precious peanuts.
  

BFF

Ryder is Harper's Best Friend. If she could, she would spend every waking hour playing with her friend Ryder. Whenever we are going to do anything, she says "are we doing to Ryder's house" or "is Ryder gonna be there." We try to spend time with Ryder and family weekly as we enjoy hanging with his parents. Ryder will be 4 in November so he is one year older than Harper. We have concentrated on teaching them to share and play nice together. I must say they are doing a lot better these days. When they start to get at each other, a "dance party" is a great way to break the tension. Everyone loves a dance party!

August 11, 2006

This picture was taken August 11, 2006. 4 Years later, to the day, Livia Jade was born. WHOA! Now thats crazy!!! At least it is to me.

I was browsing through my parent's computer and reminicing through their pictures when I came across this picture. It brought up a lot of memories of the times and the feelings that were present. We were living in different states and although we had feelings for each other, it just wasn't the right time to be in a serious relationship. During this particular visit to Colorado, my sister was moving to Boulder to go to dog grooming school. She lived with Lateaf and Scotty P(Amy's brother) while she was there. I flew in from California to meet my sister, Amy, Kate, and my mom to be there for her transition. Feelings and flirtatiousness (sp?) were goin on and it was definately that fun innocent, and exciting time when we were around each other. I remember just being so happy to be around him. I love to look at this picture and remember those times, those feelings of the falling in love phase. It was amazing then and continues to be an amazing journey. T and K forever;)

We do "noses"

We do "noses" in this family. Besides the zillions of hugs and kisses we give to each other dialy...we do noses... I LOVE to see them interact. What an amazing bond between the sisters. Sometimes there needs to be a referee involved to ensure that there are no penalties taking place, but a lot of the time they are lovely to each other. Harper looks out for her "sissy jadey." Liv loves to do whatever Harper is doing and wants to have in her possession whatever Harper has. Harper will equally want to have whatever Liv has. Liv tends to pull Harper's hair when she doesn't get her way which requires the ref to get step in. Harper is mostly gentle with sis even when she is frustrated with her. It is oh so amazing to see these two little girls together.

A shovel & a dog toy....

keeps this little 13 month kiddo happy as can be.

Labor Day weekend....

Labor day weekend was spent at "the lake." (of course) It was rather low key and relaxing. Amy and Jake came out on Saturday-Sunday which was a nice treat. We played darts most nights and attempted a boat ride in the windy weather. The only missing links were Kate and David:(

On Monday we went to the Labor Day parade in Arcadia, Nebraska on Monday. This is the second annual trip with Grandma & Grams (great Grandma Dorsey), the girls', and I. Harper had a blast picking up the candy thrown from the floats and this year she was able to eat some. Liv joined in towards the end picking up candy. When we were heading to the car to leave Harper pet a few of the horses and even sat on top of one. I enjoyed all the fabulous floats that crusied by. The theme this year was "your favorite character." The small communities really go all out with there floats and are so fun to see. Some of my favorite floats were Ghostbusters, Finding nemo, Tow-mater from Cars, the Flinstones, Barbie, and The Christmas Story (which was my mom's cousins family float)... heck come to think of it...they were all great! I am already looking forward to next years parade:)

The littlest girl and her grandparents...

We are lucky enough to hang out with Grandpa & Grandma Dorsey nearly every weekend. Between going to the lake and to Lincoln, we see them often. They ADORE their grandchildren. I love to sit back and watch them interact, it's such a beautiful relationship that has formed. It's also really nice to have them around because they tend to them without hesitation which gives us a break and makes for a rather relaxing environment. Today is Grandparents day and my little peanuts are so lucky to have amazing grandparents in their lives. Thanks to all their grandparents ( & greats) for loving them. (and us too;)

a girl and her momma....

oh how I love this little girl. She keeps me going on those tough days that seem oh so frequent these days. I am usually the one that has my glass half full (or I thought I did) and one who often times was told I lived in "Kandra-land." Lately my days have seemed like the glass is half empty and I struggle at times to live in the moment. It's not a good feeling to be in that place because I really liked that other land of bliss. Although I have SOO much to be grateful for (and I am) it seems that I am having way too many moments of feeling beat down and emotionally tapped out. But.... then I lay down next to this BIG girl at bedtime and it brings it all back in perspective. These moments pass by FAST and I have to (and want to be) "present" and enjoy every second of the madness. I love my girls more than I could ever imagine.

New York...

Aunt Kate & Uncle Davide left for New York last week. They will be there for 9 months or so. David is on sabbatical (he's an art professor and spending his days in New York painting and visiting galleries to carry his work) and Kate is lucky enough to be along for the ride. Although we miss them terribly, we are so excited for them and this amazing opportunity. We are also anxious to hear all about their journies through their newly developed blog:)

Tonight out of no where, Harper was laying in bed and says "I can't wait to see Aunt Kate and Uncle David in the morning." This is when I went over the fact that they moved away for awhile. Even our peanuts miss them already:) A skype date is in our near future!