Sally and Mary Kate- 18 months

I have been wanting to write a post just on who the girls are and who they are growing in to as 18 month olds. I have to say that watching them grow and develop is fascinating to me. They are learning so much right now. They are learning more words and how to communicate. They still don't necessarily say the words for what they want but if I say the word, like "wa wa", then they say it back to me. They are literally running everywhere. They are learning to play together more. I love it when they randomly start laughing at each other. I have no idea what they think is funny, but something is very funny to both of them. They communicate together the most when it is just the two of them. I hear them laughing together when I leave the room. When I am in the room, they usually want me to play with them. They are growing more independent, wanting to walk a lot on their own and wanting to use utensils when they eat. I do love it when they are walking beside me and they grab my fingers to walk with me. It is just so sweet. Mary Kate is best at walking beside me and holding on to my fingers. They have really begun to love to read. They bring us books and crawl up in our laps and want to read with us. They still like to flip the pages before we are finished with that page, but their attention span is getting longer. They are starting to care for each other more. If one is crying, sometimes, the other one will go get her a paci or her bottle. One time when Morgan was here doing Sal's PT, Sally was crying and Mary Kate came up and put her fingers on Sally's back where Morgan was working on her spine. Mary Kate loved on Sally and even started stroking her hair, trying to comfort her. Both girls love their Dada. They get so excited when he comes home from work. Every picture they see of him, they say his name. They both love the game of chase and of peek  boo/ hide and seek. They also think it is really funny right now to crawl in each others beds and pretend to go night night. They know several body parts- ear, nose, eye, head, hair (where their bow goes), tongue, toes, hand, heart. They are learning to hold hands, and they are learning to fold their hands like they are praying. They both will test the limits. Even if they watch their sister get a spanking for something, they will still do it themselves just to "test". They both love animals right now, and are not really scared of animals. They think Delta is the best! They both like girly things- they like to put on chapstick, wear their bracelets, play with bows and dolls, etc. I think Sal is probably most girly between the two of them, but they are both pretty girly. They both love to follow Ford and me around the house. If I am being honest, 18 months old has been a very busy stage, which in turn makes me pretty tired as their mom. But it is also a very fun stage. Everyday they are changing and developing into who God is creating them to be.

So, individually... who are they?

Sally, your dad and I love you so much. Uncle Clarke described you one time as having a quiet joy and I think that is a great way to describe you. Your smile and your laugh bring us such joy. We have to work a little harder to get you to belly laugh, but when you do, it is contagious. I love to see you let loose and just really belly laugh. You are more verbal of the two. Your daddy figured out that you are very curious and you want to know the reasoning behind things. You make the same noise for lots of different things- things you want/need and things you are trying to communicate about. Daddy realized that sometimes you make that noise just because you are curious about what is going on. He started walking you through what he was doing and you were so interested in everything he was saying. You love your sister very much. You have started to call her Sissy and you love to give her hugs and pat pats. You like to copy what Mary Kate does. You remind me a lot of what my dad always use to say- he always told me "home is where you are safe. Bad things happen in the world, but you will always be loved and always be safe at home". Sally, you exhibit that phrase. You are tentative of new people and new places, but you are so comfortable and so yourself at home. You love to be home. And the people that you feel most comfortable with, you love with all your heart. You love to sleep and you to snuggle down and go night night. I am so glad you love to snuggle with me. I love that you still love to be rocked and held even though you are so busy. Your paci is your lovie, and you also like to sleep with your other two lovies. Sal, we are so proud of you for pressing through your physical therapy even when you don't like it. You have gotten a good report and your curve is at 15 degrees (down from 29 degrees). In some ways, you remind me so much of myself. I see so much of who I am in you. We love you, sweet angel, with all our hearts.

 

Mary Kate, you are hilarious. You are such a funny child, and you constantly keep us laughing. Uncle Doug said it is appropriate that your name is "Mary" because you are so "merry". You laugh and smile all the time. Sometimes, you get so excited that it looks like joy is about to start overflowing out of your body. You definitely smile with your whole body. You are a confident, little girl, but you are also very loving. You are a leader, but you take care of your sister. You do not like it when she is sad. You are generally pretty happy. Your faces are definitely one extreme or the other. You are either really happy and smiling or really sad. You are not as tentative of new people and places, although the last week or two, you have been a little more tentative and not quite as happy ( I am assuming its just a little phase because it is not your natural disposition.) You really are intrigued a lot by new situations. You love a thrill. When we play chase, the part that excites you the most is when I am about to "get you". You are more physical of the two- you like to run and climb on things. You don't need as much sleep as Sal, and you just go, go, go until you quit. I love that you love to cuddle, even though you are so active. When you get tired, you want to be held and you tuck your arms inside your body and move your little bottom back and forth. You are a problem solver, and you are patient. Sometimes I feel like I can almost see your brain working, trying to figure things out. You figure things out mostly on your own. You rub your wubbanubs ears when you get tired, and you also love your angel dear lovie. You entertain yourself really well. You love to move items from one spot to the next. You are one busy girl! You make a mess really quickly, but you also like to help clean things up. You love to chase Delta around the house, and thankfully he lets you. We love you so much, Mary Kate. You bring us such joy! All our love!

From Christmas to New Years

In between Christmas and New Years, we celebrated several birthdays and spent time with friends and family.

Our sweet friend, Maggie, turned 1 and we loved celebrating her.

We had a birthday dinner for my dad! The girls love Kern. They jump up and down when they see him. Sally especially has a crush on Kern right now. Both girls obviously love to snuggle with Sassy.

 

Always love getting to see my high school friends. We went to Interim and then to the Haymonds.

We played with the Taras girls and the Womack triplets.

We celebrated New Years at the Haymonds and had a blast!

and we celebrated the triplets turning 1. I love the last picture- so classic! trying to get a set of twins and a set of triplets to sit still for a 1 year old birthday picture. Genius!

 

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2013

Christmas Eve we went to the Leavells house for lunch and to IPC for the 4 pm service. Then we went to Riveroaks for their 6 pm service. After church, we went back to my parents and ate Seafood gumbo and played bingo, my family's tradition. Ford and I both won at Bingo! Big night for us!I got an amazon gift card and he got a wine holder. Bingo is very exciting. My dad's prizes never disappoint.

Christmas eve pic

playing with Sassy's nativity

The sacks on the mantle are the prizes for bingo.

 

Christmas day we woke up at our house and did our own Christmas with the 4 of us. Ford's parents and Doug came over for a little while to see the girls with their kitchen. We then went to my parents for the day. The girls loved unwrapping their gifts. They especially loved their cozy coupes. They stayed in their cars most of the day. We got to Skype with Clarke and Evan was able to put Clarke on the tv. The girls kept wanting to kiss his face. It was really sweet but I think it made him miss being home. We definitely missed him a lot. Ev was great with the girls. He drove them all over my parents house in their cars. He stayed up until 3 am on Christmas eve putting their cars together. We are definitely blessed with extended family that loves our children. Here are some pictures from Christmas day.

Walking in to their gifts. I love Ford so much for so many reasons. One reason is because he wanted their kitchen wrapped bc he knew how much fun they would have opening it. He worked so hard to get it all wrapped up.

playing with their kitchen.

Mimi showing them how to cook.

loving their cozy coupes.

Smiling at each other in their cars.

Evan, hope Sally's face tells you how much she loves her gift! Thanks for working so hard on them.

Checking out the next gift with Kern.

mary Kate helping Daddy unwrap.

Skyping with Clarke

 

zooming through the den with E

So happy to see Sassy Christmas morning.

giving Sissy a Christmas hug.

 

 

 

 

 

Williams Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with Ford's family the weekend before Christmas because the Hewitts were in town then. We had a great weekend with them celebrating our Savior's birth. The girls had fun with Greer. They loved giving him pat pats and hugs. They also loved seeing Scout, Mac and Tim's dog. Scout is just their size so they had a blast playing with her. We always love getting to see Uncle Doug. He was home for a week so we got some good time with him. Here are some pictures from our Christmas with them.

playing with Doug

loving on Aunt Mac

Mary Kate wanted Doug to read to her.

 

opening gifts

Helping Mimi and Grandaddy open their gifts.

 

Aunt Mac made the girls the sweetest gifts. She made tutus for them. They are so sweet and the girls have already loved wearing them.

Mary Kate trying her tutu on.

Sal playing with her tea set in her tutu.

 

Mary Kate loving Mimi.

Greer trying on his new hat we gave him.

The cousins eating dinner.

 

Christmas activities

I told Ford, several times this Christmas, that I think we will look back and this will always be one of my favorite Christmases (minus the fact that we were missing Uncle Clarke). The girls had a blast this Christmas! They had more fun than I imagined they would have. We were able to do some fun Christmas activities before Christmas was here. We went to pick out at tree at Whole Foods. Not exactly like going into the woods and cutting your own tree down but we are all about convenience right now. :)

 

We decorated the tree with the girls. They LOVED the Christmas tree. Every morning, it was the first thing they wanted to see/do. They wanted to see the lights come on. They took ornaments on and off the tree all month. I found ornaments all over the house. Mary Kate even slept with one of her favorite ornament that Say Say gave her.

our 2013 Christmas card

pajama pictures with Delta and the tree the night we decorated it.

 

running in to see the tree the morning after we put it up.

reading a Christmas picture book with daddy

seeing Santa at Bass Pro

We went to the Enchanted Forest with Brittany and Sara Tyson and our kids.

Mary Kate and Aunt Bitty

Playing with a wooden Christmas tree my grandfather made by hand.

 

The girls love animals and so we went out to the Halford's house and saw their sheep and rode their horses. The girls loved it. They especially loved the horses and Mary Kate liked chasing the chickens. I was so proud of them for riding with Chuck Halford on the horse. It was a really fun afternoon.

Brit and I hosted our annual cookie swap.

The girls were given a wand that turns the Christmas tree lights on by the Leavell's. It was a big hit!

 

Brit and I started a Christmas tradition with our girls of a mother/daughter date. We went downtown to the Peabody to see the ducks and the decorations and then to lunch. Hopefully, one day we can add the Nutcracker into the tradition. It was a special day. I love having girls the same age.

 

lunch at Huey's.