Bathroom times

Cheese! I took a break from drying my hair to take this. So worth it.

Some days Chelsea will hang out with Mommy no matter what room she is in. Just bring the toys in and we're good to go! She's also discovered her potty chair's double role as a step stool. The potty chair is often in the kitchen or by some light switch instead of the bathroom.0

These little dolls were a great investment. Thanks Grandma!

I realize this is backlit and you can't see it very well, but it's still pretty cute. Chelsea used the potty and was able to wear her panties for awhile. Doesn't she just look cute in panties? She likes to look out the front window and has discovered climbing up the back of the loveseat to see better.

Books and Food

Getting situated in her bristle block box. I remember liking to sit in boxes and things as a kid. Chels is no different.

This is the famous book, "The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and THE BIG HUNGRY BEAR." It is her all time favorite book right now. It must be read about three times before moving on to another book. Then it must be read again a few more times after each other book that we read. Luckily it is a very cute book and I haven't gotten sick of it yet. Memorized, yes. Sick of, no.

Those dimples are still there! She also really likes the elephant on these pajamas. It's "pretty."

Mmmmm...Corn on the cob! Chelsea didn't want to each much else for dinner except her corn! I can't blame her. It was really good.

Additional Randomness

She looks like a Teletubby in this getup. But they are lame. So I will call this one Telecutie instead.

She wanted my shirt on for whatever reason. So I helped her into it. Future Walmart employee? You never know.

Another cute sleeping pose. She loves having a pillow, normally. She sleeps much better nowadays with a pillow than she does without one. Though you wouldn't believe it from this photo.

Peek-a-boo! I see you! She was also waving her little fingers at me.

She's at the stage where she wants to do everything herself, including pouring water over her head to rinse her hair. Her methods leave a little to be desired, since her face gets more water than her hair. She doesn't seem to mind TOO much when she does it to herself.

I was trying to get a picture of her long hair floating around her head before I cut it off. Eventually I'll get around to cutting it. I just can't bring myself to do it! Her hair is so soft. Shaggy, but soft. Anyway, this is the face she made when I asked her to smile. Goofy girl.

I was trying to get her to smile, so I puffed up my cheeks and then let the air escape from my lips. So, of course, instead of smiling or laughing, she does it right back at me.

Randomness

How I found her one morning. Cute.

Fresh out of bed on a different day, she spots this jacket that a friend of mine couldn't resist buying for her. Of course she wanted it on immediately, and she wore it all morning.

She climbed through the top part of the table there, and got hung up for awhile. It was pretty funny.

Taking a snooze break with Auntie Elizabeth.

Darn toenail!

Gotta get a better look/grip on that toenail.

So tall!

Stopping mid-climb to smile at Mommy.

This one is All-gone!

This one is Peek-a-boo!

This is Rick's first ever post on this bloggenoggen.
Erin has been doing such a good job that I didn't want to soil it with my own mundane and trivial
comments.

Well purchasing your dream car that you actually have any hope of realistically purchasing is a pretty significant event.

A few months ago we put $1000 into my old car (which was purchased for $4000) trying to keep it going to avoid having to purchase another vehicle until after Erin's car was paid off.

A few days ago, my car didn't feel right so I took it in for a check up and come to find out that in the near future we may have to replace the clutch. Rather than funnel money into a slowly deteriorating car, we decided that I should update our vehicle stable.

I still wasn't that sure about it until I found a really good deal on my favorite type of car that I've been eyeing maybe purchasing in 5 years. It proved too good to pass up and now I'm living the dream for only $85 a month for 3 years after our trade in + saved money + tax return+ down economy = sweet deal. That's less than we're paying for Erin's car.

The only part that Erin doesn't like is that it's a two door. But until we have 3 kids, that's not too big of a deal for me. In fact it's kind of a benefit. Rather than strap Chelsea into her car seat in the arctic winds, I have to physically climb into the car to strap her in. Thus I am protected from standing out in the wind.

Girls and their clothes

Cheese! Mommy has a camera out. That means smile briefly and then beg to see the camera immediately. Luckily I was prepared and snapped in the nick of time and got a decent expression.

Because immediately after that first shot, she climbed up on the couch and patted the blanket next to her saying, "Sit, Mommy. Sit, Mommy," expecting to look at the pictures with me.

Chelsea was helping Daddy do some chores. (Thank you, Rick! It is MUCH appreciated!) Here she is stopping to explore the vacuum a bit. She has started to try to push it around by herself, which of course doesn't work. Keep up the motivation, Chels! Someday you will be assigned vacuuming, and I hope you still enjoy it!

If you have been wondering about the outfit choice, let me explain. Chelsea picked out her own shirt, pants, and socks in the morning. Later she was helping Daddy "fold" the clothes and decided she wanted to put a couple more shirts on. "On! On! On!" she says.
I say "fold" in quotation marks because Chelsea's version of folding is to roll it up and squeeze it against her body, then throw it on the pile of folded clothes. Very sweet, but not very helpful. I wait till she's not looking to fix it, hehe.

Anybody have any tips on cutting a wiggly toddler's hair? I think she is getting shaggy to the point where it looks more messy than cute. I've cut her bangs since these pics were taken, but I think it's almost time for the whole head. *yipes!*
No buzz cuts, so don't even suggest it. You know who I'm talking to. ;)

Babysitting and playing

I had the chance to babysit for Emma this week. We had lots of fun playing upstairs, downstairs, in Chelsea's room, in the kitchen, all over! It was nice to have a friend of Chelsea's come over. She asks about all the people she knows regularly. I don't know if it is just so that she can stay up later or what (it's usually bedtime when she's the most talkative, hehe.)

Chels is not afraid to let her friends know what she thinks of them. She is giving Emma a kiss on the head. So nice!

Cheese!

Photogenic kids. I'm so jealous of that. I look goofy in most of the pictures taken of me. These girls? Cute as can be!

Going for the gangsta look, Emma?

Sup. *head tilt*

Hat all the way on.

It's not just Chelsea that likes to put hats completely over her face! They both tottered around blind for awhile. Crazy kids.

Kitchen magnets! Woo! They must be tasty.

Even teeny tiny dolls deserve a proper stroller ride.

Peek a boo! I see you!

Kisses! Everything gets a kiss. Occasionally she helps her dollies do the kissing.

The Ensign is always a handy read since it is sitting on the side table all the time. She can identify the prophet and Jesus consistently. If she's not sure, she calls the women Mommy and the men Daddy.

Is this girl camera shy? Uh, no. :)

Chelsea hasn't figured out how to get the tray on the high chair by herself, so she brings it to me saying, "Broke, broke, broke." or else "Fix it, fix it, fix it."

This dolly high chair was a great present. (Thanks Hornbachers!) Chelsea loves to feed her babies regularly.

What kid can resist play food and dishes? Not these girls.

A new favorite place to chill is her Tink chair, along with pink blanket and a phone. I'm raising a girly girl, no doubt about it.

Chelsea was sad about something, I don't remember what, and so she took Tash, and went and curled up in her chair again. Isn't she just precious?

Emma liked the blanket and chair also.

Here is Chelsea's castle and coach. We thought of hanging up the castle so that it looked like you were going into it, but we settled on hanging it on the wall instead. It's easier to see the kids/room that way.

Overall play area. The molding made a nice definite area to put up the castle walls. It's almost as if there used to be a real wall there. Weird... ;)

This corner is for relaxing. Chelsea loves to sit in her Tinkerbell chair and talk on the phone. Funny side note: Chels held the phone up to her ear and said "Talking, talking." insead of actually having a pretend conversation. Funny! She's also been known to lay on the purple pillow and cover up and say shhh shhhh shhh. (snoring, hehe)

The kitchen now has a little work table! Yay for spare coffee tables that don't fit in living rooms!

These bookshelves act as kind of a half-wall. I like that I can sit at this messy work table of mine and see her just fine. Or I can work out on our new elliptical machine (you can see a small part of it at the very top of the picture behind the foosball table) and see her also!