Toddler Hodge Podge

March is oddly low key for us and I'm trying really hard not to complain because I know the months in our very near future are going to be crazy! Since nothing is really happening, we have been trying to fill our time with ordinary every day things. Luckily the weather is allowing us to play outside because otherwise I think I would be going crazy by now. And I still can't believe how much a toddler Kelsey is. I'm mean, its just crazy!

                                                 

My most recent favorite Kelseyism, is her obsession to the word "Gotcha!"Whenever she wants us to chase her she runs up to us and yells "gotcha!" and then runs away. When we chase her and catch her, before we can say anything she yells "Gotcha!"And when she sees anyone chasing anything, she yells "Gotcha!" (She learned it from her monkey book)

I don't know if these videos are loud enough but if you listen hard you can hear her saying it. 

Video 1: She is pulling a spool of ribbon which she did for about an hour and the whole time would yell "gotcha ya!" which was hilarious because SHE was the reason the ribbon was chasing her in the first place    

Video 2: She is chasing the ducks at the duck pond and yelling "gotcha!" so they will run. Its very faint compared to the quacking so maybe just enjoy watching a toddler run.

One of the beautiful mornings we had recently, I decided to run up to the Y and let Kelsey "hike" around a bit. I haven't been up to the Y in many years and forgot how beautiful it really is. (I also forgot how steep all the hills are and had a very VERY hard time catching my breath after we reached the top!)

On Friday March 7th we went to spend the weekend at the Layton's cabin. This is the 6th year in a row that we have done this now and what started out as a bunch of single kids crashing a snowmobile has turned into a very fun family tradition. Slowly but surely everyone has gotten married and has had kids so the dynamics have changed drastically but it is still a very fun weekend full of good food, lots of games, and great friends.

As fun as it was, Kelsey had one of her worst nights EVER. At 1:30 in the morning she woke up asking for breakfast. Not just crying because "I'm tired and I want mom or my blankie", but talking and asking for toast. I tried bringing her into bed with us and she just started jumping and running around. She did this until 5:30!!!  

 

She did take a small nap and fell asleep with her bum in the air

Kelsey loves to "Dance" in the car AKA listen to music. As soon as we get her in her car seat, she asks to dance, which means turn on the music. I have done a few experiments and half way through a trip I will turn off the radio and she will start yelling "Dance?! DANCE!" Super awesome.  

These videos have actually nothing to do with the music but they are pretty hilarious to this mom. 

Still loves to read and I never get tired of it

On Sunday we were playing Yahtzee with Hannah and we started yelling Yahtzee a lot. Well obviously Kelsey picked up on this right way and realized that it was hilarious.She now yells YAHTZEE any time she is proud of herself. It kind of has replaced YAY! Luckily I was able to catch a couple of her proud moments where Yahtzee was used correctly!

 

I got this easel at GOTHE and I finally got some butcher paper for it and it is a huge hit around these parts (Yes. Kelsey wrote her own name. She's brilliant)

 

Kelsey LOVES Ethan. I mean really really loves Ethan. One time I heard them laughing in Kelsey's room and so I walked in to see what was going on. As soon as I walked in, Kelsey ran up to me, pushed my legs and yelled "out!" She really likes Ethan. 

I have tried like 80 times to get her to ride on my back and she refuses. Don't worry I don't get offended but it would be nice if she liked to play with me too sometimes. 

The other day, Kelsey and I decided to go to the bounce house.  I was talking to a mother of twins who were also crazy, and we were talk about how wonderful it is to have a toddler who loves to climb. Then we looked at each other and laughed and she was like " Only at places like this I guess!" It was a cute mommy connection for me.

Climbing up the slide

These videos are REALLY REALLY loud because of all the fans, but they are still fun for us to watch

 

 

Kelsey has started to understand friend. She doesn't know that friends are people we know, but knows that friends are people her size. Right now anyone is a friend. Her BEST friend is Sadie and Sadie  is everything to Kels. We play with Sadie every day and it is the best part of our days.

 The duck pond now has a boardwalk and a railing!! Its AWESOME!!

 Okay so there was this puddle at the duck pond and I don't know what happened, but all of a sudden all the moms were looking for someone, all the singles we concerned, and I couldn't find Kelsey. Well apparently she fell in this nasty mud puddle and although sad because she was cold, she was totally fine. I started laughing and all the singles looked at me like I was the worst person in the world. Maybe I am but it was very funny. Luckily Jamie thinks like me and started snapping pictures so I was able to capture the moment a little bit. It's killing me that I don't know what happened!

 We were able to make a quick wardrobe change and once we did the tears stopped instantly and she started chasing ducks again with Sadie. She was fine.

 "HELLOOOOOOOOOO!"

 Their favorite game is to run up the stairs leading to the Maeser but they hate coming back down. I didn't want to chase them all the way up, so I showed them if they hold hands they could come down the stairs together. Worked like a charm!

 We have been able to have visits from Aunt Hannah and it pretty much rocks. Kels loves her Aunt Hannah!

 

We finally took advantage of the half off yogurt after a BYU win. 

Ethan's Political Journey

As the year has been coming to a close, all the second years are moving on to jobs which means it is time for the first years to run for MBAA officers. Ethan wants to help the program progress as much as the next guy, but running for office is just not his thing. I guess though his sense of duty pushes him more than he would like to admit.
On Thursday evening at 11:00 PM (candidate submissions closed at midnight) he got the following email from the current MBAA president:

Just a heads up that there is less than one hour left to run for MBAA General Council.

Several spots have only one person running and a few are currently vacant (Director of Fine Arts, Historian, Director of Alumni Relations). These are great positions that contribute immensely to the program.

Looking to beef up your resume? Looking to make a difference? Looking to give back? Please strongly consider this.

We have never had Executive or General Council spots gone empty in elections. Please don't let the Class of '15 be the first. You guys are too awesome.

Sign up here: https://byu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_4T12PPqyHT38gW9

Okay so Ethan read this email and was like, well I can't let our class be the class to not have officers so I guess I'll run for Alumni Relations. That way I can say I am helping my class AND I can network with the Alumni. Win Win
He submitted his form, midnight rolled around and by the next morning he had this email in his in box:

Attached is the official ballot for the 2014-2015 MBAA General Council. Please take time to review the candidates running for each position and read their carefully crafted campaign statements. 

Reminder that campaigning begins Monday at 6am. Elections will be held on Tuesday and runoffs will be Wednesday. Winners will be announced at Tanner Thursday on Feb 27th.

Happy Campaigning!

Ethan was curious to see who else decided to run last minute for the other vacant spots and pulled up the ballots.

 Here are two examples of his classmates:

And then here is Ethan's!!!!:

He did not win.




(in his defense,  how did 7 people in 1 hour decide that this was their life dream!!)

We are  proud of your courage and thank you for making me laugh harder and longer than I ever have laughed in my whole life.

Two twos in tutus

Harper turned two recently and had an adorable tutu party! If you haven't been able to go to one of Julie's parties you are really missing out. She has an incredible party throwing talent. Always adorable, always in budget, and always presented in a clean atmosphere. They are so much fun and always have the best food. 

Anyway, Harper's party was no exception and because it was tutu themed everyone was wearing tutus. Naturally we tried all night to get the two girls in one picture with their tutus, but trying to catch one two year old for a picture is impossible let a lone two! Here are my attempts. 

We were able to catch them, and if dad held them we could get them together...

otherwise the pictures all looked like these :)

I mean ADORABLE but you know. These two are actually my favorite.

Not only did Harper turn two, but I feel like Holden and I crossed a huge milestone. For the first time ever he invited me to sit by him at dinner!! I felt like a queen. I know I probably shouldn't be so excited but I was. And as always it was a treat.
Holden and I were talking about Lagoon (his favorite place in the world) and I told him that I would go with him if he bought me a ticket. He didn't like this idea and asked why I couldn't just buy my own. I told him I had no money and so he needed to buy it:

H: "You don't even have 45 dollars?!"
C: "I don't even have 45 dollars."
H: "Well why don't you just pay with a credit card then. That lets you buy anything. "
C: "Thanks for the tip Holden."

It was hilarious but what's new with Holden right?

Jerry

For FHE on the 24th we rented a puppy with Andrea and Jed. I'm not normally a fan of little dogs but I could have taken this dog home. His name was Jerry and he was adorable. Kelsey loved him too, but after a while she got jealous of the attention he was getting and started throwing balls at him. She is in for a rude awakening when siblings start showing up!

Everyone was pretty excited for Jerry. We were all crawling around pretty much the whole time. Kelsey literally went every where the puppy went, hence stuck in the chair.

We thought she was trying to play fetch, but I don't think so. She loved Jerry and kept trying to hold him, and would chase him and yell "gottcha," but after a while she just was straight up jealous.

He was so little he could just walk under the chair like this!

These next three are all blurry but he chased her around trying to get her cookie. She thought it was the funniest thing in the whole world.