2 Years Old

Well, Whippy is 2!

Kason wanted to name her Whippy before she was born and the name has stuck, thanks in large part to Jim and Michelle. :)

This girl keeps us on our toes and we love her to pieces.

This is the face she made every time we told her she was going to get birthday presents.

She also quickly learned to say "Emmy biday" and "2" while holding up all five fingers.

A common face lately

I love this picture.  Look at all those boys surrounding her playing with a doll.  I think she has us wrapped around her finger.

She likes to draw and usually commands me to draw a star and fower (flower) for her on the paper.  So, she got a pretty amazing flower cake (poor girl is always going to have the holiday busyness around her birthday.  We've decided December is not a good month for a birthday).

Love her

About Emry:
-Still sucks her thumb and twirls her hair.
-Major stranger anxiety (or really anyone other than Mom, Dad, Kason, and Asher anxiety)
-Loves flowers, stars, and kitty cats
-She can hold her own against her brothers and has been known to bite
-My favorite thing is she loves to give hugs.  She always gets up early before Kason and Asher.  When she sees them come into the room first thing in the morning she yells their name and opens her arms wide and runs in for a hug.  She also has to give hugs before bed
-She loves playing hide and go seek with her big brothers and can pretty much count to 10
-I remember being worried that she wasn't talking as much as early as the boys did.  My worries weren't necessary.  She talks in sentences now....alot.  And is into the "why mama?"
-Alot of times she not only says no, it's a "no way!"
-On the other side of the spectrum she usually says sure instead of yes.  It's so cute to hear her say "shu, mama".  It sounds so amiable.
-Her latest gem of a saying is, "Gimme dat!"
-She calls herself "Emmy" and I find myself calling her that alot as well.
She sure makes us smile!

Highlights

Here we go as I try to capture some highlights of the November chaos.  

First things first, Kason lost his 3rd tooth!  We were at my parent's house and Kason came into my room in the morning and told me he'd pulled his tooth out.  It'd been loose for about a day and a half.  He has quite the snaggletooth look going on now.

Making designs Shoveling the driveway for Dad

E and A are such good friends.  A is super into coloring right now and they can spend quite a while doing it.  I am grateful for washable markers.  I love this picture, it just looks like a good childhood picture to me.

I came upstairs and found them all like this.  Granted, they were glued to the tv, but it still made me happy.

Another time I came up and found the boys reading and Emry just rubbing their heads while they read.  She just knows she is part of the group.

Emry hasn't seen a ton of snow in her life yet, so she was loving getting out and playing in this.  I think we finally have all the kids' snow gear. We should need it this winter! 

Kason and Asher took swimming lessons, it was Asher's first time.  They actually took them in a chilly lap pool, but it was the cheapest place in this ridiculously expensive town.  That didn't stop the boys from loving it though. 

This is Asher with Kathryn, or so he tells me.  I think she might be his first crush.  Kason gets completely embarrassed about all that kind of stuff, but the first day of lessons Asher told me, "There was a girl who wanted to be my friend, she didn't say she wanted to be my friend, but I know she did because she was smiling at me."

Emry was such a good girl and patiently waited each day.  If only she would do this in the grocery store...or any other store for that matter.

She gave each brother their towel as they got out of the pool.

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Thanksgiving! 

Isaac had a conference in Florida so the kids and I drove the 7.5 hours down to Utah and he met us there a few days later through his airport layover. 

The kids did so well traveling! 

Playing piano 

Wii.  They were both red-faced and going crazy.

I sat in this rocking chair as a little girl

Spoiled by Grandma.  I don't know if my kids would be completely clothed if it weren't for her!

Cool balloon guns and dragons...and a flower

Lots of games and good food

and beautiful -not-freezing-cold- weather

With one of their favorite aunts and soon to be uncle

And a parade of lights to officially welcome in the Christmas season

November was good!  We are so blessed!

A Super Hero Kind of Halloween

When Kason and Asher finally settled on what they wanted to be for Halloween, we saw the Super Hero theme forming.  This is the last time Emry will be young enough that I get to pick what she is, so I kept the super hero theme going. 

They loved it.

We had a Halloween party at Grandma Swensen's house while the guys all went to the BYU-Boise football game.  The kids had a blast, and I did too.

These two just follow each other around and really get along quite well.

Painting pumpkins.

 Emry was super focused on it, and could have kept at it for awhile.

Buddies

Bocce Ball

Lots of yummy food

and delicious honey caramel apples

Back at our house, we carved our pumpkin!  I think this picture captures feelings well.  Kason is all into it, Emry didn't have any problems either, and Asher tries to put on a nonchalant air about it, but still thinks it's kind of disgusting, Isaac handles this part smoothly and I take camera duty so I don't have to gut it.

 Improvising costumes to go out into that cold Montana winter.  And yes, wonder woman has pink eye.  It just gives her more super powers.

 She actually got pretty into it.  She'd run up to the door behind the boys and be all excited.  Then when a person actually opened the door she would just stand there and not say a word or even hold her bucket up, just go into her normal I'm-around-someone-other-than-immediate-family-shut-down-mode. Then as soon as she got her candy, she'd turn around and giggle down the steps.