greer turns two...

oh my little sister-sue!
today you are two years old... and here i am just celebrating the fact that both of us survived this last year ;) man, it was tough! i never thought i could be so challenged by someone, and i definitely didn't think it would be with a baby. you might be the naughtiest little stinker there ever was, BUT i love you all the same! who wants a boring, obedient child anyways? ;)
you have the funniest little personality which has us laughing our heads off. you are so sassy, but so fearless. you are crazy, but so sweet. you love your big sister and when the time is right, you guys are the best of friends. you give the best squeezes, and they come at times when momma needs them the most! i love those kisses of yours and i could just eat off those big chubby cheeks of yours. you are about to be a big sister in the next few weeks and we can't wait to see how that pans out, ha ha!
you really are such an important part of our family greer-girl. we might have had a challenging year this past year, but we love you so much, our hearts could burst!
happy number two, sister-sue! love you to smithers.
love mom and dad (and rowan!)

{ farm country ... }

last year we got a pass to the aquarium, and we loved it! our pass just expired, so we decided to get a pass to thanksgiving point this year- and it's perfect for us. jord has been traveling a lot since we moved into our house, so it will be a fun activity for the girls and i. while daddy is away, we needed something to do this morning, so i decided to take them to farm country. usually i would have called up a friend to go with us, but it was last minute, so we didn't. and i enjoyed it sooooooo much! maybe i'm hormonal and emotional, (which is a huge possibility), but i needed today. i was able to enjoy and soak up every minute with my girls without being distracted by a conversation with someone else. just the three of us girls. i love them so much, and i'm so lucky they're mine.

riding the ponies was our main goal.. and it was a hit! i was actually surprised how well they both did. greer was giddy and just kept saying "woooooow!" the whole time. and rowan was brave and rode all by herself while i helped our little sister-sue.

the lady gave us a stamp on the way in, and greer was sooo happy and excited. she kept showing it to me the entire time we were there. (and wouldn't let me wash that hand when we came home ;)  oh the simplicity of life when you're little! 

"mom, these horses are fabulous!" - rowan

{ 18 months... }

oh my dearest little greer,

18 months. and might i say, you are a funnnnnny funny little gal! these last six months have been quite different than the first year of your life ;) somehow there was a switch that flipped and you're practically perfect record has turned upside down. don't get me wrong, we love you all the same. but your big personality has been a surprise for us.

what you have been up to :
- you started walking at around 15/16 months. you took your first step around 14 months but decided on taking your time at the walking thing. but i am absolutely in love with your little waddle!
- being a daddy's girl. you were all about momma... but have discovered a new love ;) i'm a little jealous, but he's a good one to lose to.
- being obsessed with your sissy! when you aren't following momma around, you sure love being your sissies shadow.
- teething. yikes! when you turned one, your 5th tooth was coming in. and now you have 14! that was a rough couple of months for sure.
- as of about 2 months ago, you are down to one nap now. but you sure do love your sleep still. you've always been so easy to put down. whether it be for naps, or down for the night, you never put up a fuss and it makes life so much easier!
- learning new words: momma, dadda, "EASE" (please), hi.
- we also found out a couple months ago that you are going to be a big sister in november! ahhhhh. crazy! but so exciting. it's going to be a fun adjustment for all of us.
- you give the best squeezes & kisses. and usually when momma needs them the most, i love it!
- we moved into our new house a few weeks ago and you have taken all the change like a champ!
- last week was your first week and nursery, and much to our surprise, you were AWESOME. didn't shed a tear. i hope you keep that up.

your favorite things: 
-THE TOILET. ahhhhh! it's so gross and so weird. and sometimes your big sis forgets to flush, but you don't mind. i've found you sucking on soaked-with-pee toilet paper. (gag me!) but no matter what, you love to play in the toilet. you'd think that momma would have learned to buy those toilet locks.... but i didn't. you just love to play in there. (and often i find treasures that you've thrown in there too. like, my car keys ;)
- to eat anything and everything off the floor. a couple weeks ago at church we were out in the hall and daddy picked you up and your breath smelled all minty, and somewhere you found some ABC gum that must have had your name on it. and sometimes you don't pick up stuff off the floor, you'll just bend down and grab it with your mouth.
- the garbage. oh man, do you love the garbage. i mean, it makes me feel like i don't feed you! you're always digging through garbages to find a little snack. or just to dump the whole thing over. we were at the hospital the other day (nothing serious) and we were confined to a tiny room, waiting for a phone call from a doctor and i was on the phone for not even 15 seconds and somehow you managed to find the garbage can, dump it over, and take a few swigs of a half-drunk coke you found in there. yuck.
- to take the end of a toilet paper roll and drag it through the house or tear it to shreds.
- to be told no. cause you get the naughty little smirk on your face and do it anyways.

that's just to name a few! ha ha. you're just such a busy little bee. and kind of a naughty one too ;) it's just a little new for me ;) HOWEVER, as hard as the last six months have been... you have also made us laugh SO hard. your personality is so big, and you make us laugh at the funny little things you come up with and do. we just couldn't imagine life without our greer girl. we love you so much greer-bee-doo. your little personality might be a bit of a challenge right now, but we are crazy about you! you are such an important part of our family, and we love you more than words can say.

love you sweet girl,
momma

{ christmas card photo shoot ... }

after we had that amazing photo shoot with my sweet little girlies back in october, i asked the photographers to just snap a few of our family for our christmas card. yikes.. rowan and greer had HAD it! rowan was so over smiling for the camera, so she decided to be angry for 99% of them. and it's really too bad, because the mountains, the colors, the warm and cozy coats, they had potential to be amazing. and after all, i'm still sending one out for the card. but hey, you win some and you lose some. this just happens to be how the girls are right now. a perfect description of us at this time ;)

{ thankful.. }

our thanksgiving 2014 was not as lovely as it has been in years past, but it still was a very sweet day being surrounded by our family near and dear, and remembering all that we have to be thankful for. unfortunately we had a very sick babe on our hands... and so most of our day was spent being worried about/taking care of her.... ( my dinner was cold, sigh). she really was the sickest that she's ever been in her young little life. it worried me all day long. and even though it was sad and a bit of a hard day, i still couldn't help but get emotional when i thought of what a lucky girl i am, for many reasons! holiday's, since jord and i have been married, have gotten so chaotic. it's trying to figure out going here and there, and not missing this family's thing while trying to make it to that family's thing. it sometimes takes away from the spirit of the holidays. and thanksgiving morning, i just thought that it was much better to have too many places to be, than none at all. we're so grateful to be able to be surrounded by soooo many family members that we love sharing the joy and spirit of the holidays with!

i love this time of year.

especially feeling thankful for these little turkey's, who make me feel so complete.

at the staples for dinner..

and how cute are these table decorations made by my cute SIL katelin?

  rowan enjoyed her turkey dinner verrrrrrry much! she ate just as much as i did.

 giving thanks for all of our bounteous blessings!

{ sisters & teething .. }

someone has taken my sweet, angelic & calm-natured baby. i really miss her.
teething has taken over our lives. i never remember rowan having this hard of a time teething. and maybe part of it is just a phase of her personality... but greer is whiney alllllllllll the time. she's so sad. she's so mad. she's so angry. she growls and swats me away. like seriously, what happened? rowan is doing her best to be protective and caring over her little sis. it's actually really sweet to watch! but let's just hope and pray that this is a phase. cause greer's 180* turn of personality is not okay with me. and i'm pretty sure its not okay with her either.

i mean, isn't that the saddest face ever?

good thing big sister comes to the rescue.

{ rub a dub dub }

we have met some of the most amazing friends in the last year or so... mostly through jord's (old) job. but luckily, they still keep us around. well, one of those set of friends is the camerons. you know some people you just really click with? they are those kind of people. i love heidi, and i love every opportunity i get to see her. well, a few weeks or so ago when we were out, heid just pulled out this big present for greer. she had found this darling unicorn towel with greer's name already on it... what are the chances?!? well, heidi just has one of those thoughtful and giving hearts that she bought it and gave it to greer for an early birthday present. love that girl.
.... and now we must get one for rowan cause she just loves it so dang much ;)