January 2010

A sweater Great-Grandma Jo made and uncle Roger also wore. Matthew asks, "Can you see my hands?" With a twinkle in his eyes. He loves this game. And I say, "No! Where are they!"
He can now unbutton his own shirts and was so happy to take this off by himself.

Matthew's modern art. He really enjoyed the splattering-the-water part.

Mmmm, Cool Whip!

We have to watch Kaitlyn in this tower. She always sees Matthew hop in and out of it and believes she can too. And she sure is close to being able to! Won't be long. She loves climbing on all the chairs and stools around the house. This is her latest feat she is always practicing.

Starting to think about Valentine's Day with Kaitlyn's little red dress!

She just started walking before Christmas. So now that we are back on a more regular schedule and taking our time doing things around town, she is showing her courage and walking around public places more and more. She is so proud! And she loves to be able to stop and watch the other kids for as long as she likes.

Kaitlyn really likes these shoes. She watches them while she walks and doesn't leave home without them. She will come up to me and ask me to put them on when we're home too.

She is getting so good at saying "bye bye," sounding much like "Buh buh" and waving. She also claps and still likes dancing to music. She is so good at imitating actions and common things we do. So fun to see her!

One night Adam came home from work and we put on a children's music CD. Matthew quickly said, "This is our dancing music!" Adam, surprised, asked, "Really?" "Oh yes," Matthew assured him. Then I heard Adam ask, "Did Mommy teach you how to dance?" So cute! We danced to it one day, so now its the 'dancing music CD." They cheer up whenever we put it on. They both will imitate snapping their fingers on a certain song I did it to one time. Each time that song comes on now, I'll see one of them 'snapping.' Such good memories they have! They are always surprising us.

Our neighbor back in Bryan, Miss Eddie Ruth, gave us this hibiscus. It has been blooming and blooming all winter! Here it finally had two blossoms at once.

Once the holidays were over, Adam continued on building our Gillette Farmers' Market. He's sent out many emails to new vendors all around the area that might be interested in selling their products here this summer. He also has been busy with locating a new site, as the current one will not be able to accommodate the growth. It is really coming along and has a lot of promising things happening. Very fun and rewarding. He also recently sent in an order for seeds and some fertilizer he wants to try out in our own garden this spring.

Work has also been good this month. Kiewit's mining company is getting some new software so Buckskin is gearing up in anticipation for that change. Adam has been asked to go to Omaha on an overnight trip to learn more about it. They also have their district meeting coming up in March, so Adam is also looking forward to attending that in Denver.

The sweet kiddies and I are also doing very well. The holidays were wonderful and yet it is nice to quiet down again and get out and about more. It's nice to get back to the library and park and see all the familiar sights. It's been beautiful here. No snow since Christmas and just melting off more and more. Just last night though, Jan. 31, we received some! So that is very pretty to see.

Matthew and Kaitlyn have both been on growth spurts these last couple of weeks. Always nice to see a good appetite and the clothes getting a little too small. The other night Matthew asked, "can I have some more broccoli?" Adam and I look at each other and say together, "Okay!" Kaitlyn likes almost everything we give her. She especially likes eggs and fish. She also has two more teeth up on top that are getting ready to come through. She and Matthew continue playing together more and more. Just the last few days she started flopping on top of Matthew and taking him up on the challenge of rough housing a little bit. They both like that so much and laugh and laugh. They have always taken naps together and are so cute. And these last few months they also take baths together and have such good times. Looking forward to seeing them continue in their friendship. Lately their favorite thing to do is ride around the house on the scooter and tricycle. We keep hearing Matthew tell us, "Say, ready, set, go!" He waits until one of us do!