Sydney is Three!!

Sydney turned three on Sunday.  We are pretty sure there is not a more darling little girl alive.  She is so fun and spunky and fearless.  She also loves pretty clothes.  She has never played girl dress-up before and wasn't sure what to think of her fairy costume (she has only dressed up as batman or Buzz Lightyear).  She loved all her presents, especially the Princess Dolls and the Dora Legos from her Grandmas and Grandpas.  (She really is little tomboy....yesterday she asked me to play princess dolls with her and what did she have them act out?  Playing catch.  (Or Fetch as she calls it.) 

Sydney is so funny.  She has a great memory and as we have been getting Austin ready for Kindergarten (teaching letter recognition and sounds, etc.)  Sydney has learned them all too.  She loves to point out letters when she sees them around.  Her favorite is "S" for Sydney! she says. 

Sydney loves pink, to be read to and to be outside.  She LOVES to swim and hike and camp.  She asks all the time when we can camp. 

She recently upgraded from the convertible crib/toddler bed to a twin bed and she thinks it is the coolest think ever, to have a big girl bed like Derek, she says. 

Happy birthday, Syd!!

Sydney's First Haircut

 Before

After

We have a wedding to go to this weekend!  Matt's youngest sister is getting married on Saturday, and so I thought it was time for Sydney to have her first haircut.  She was very excited to get a haircut.  My friend, Crystal, cut her hair and Sydney was very solemn the whole time.  She didn't make a peep.  It is hard to tell in the first picture but her hair was about an inch above her waist.  It never looked that long because I always put it in a ponytail or braid, but it was looong.  Crystal cut off several inches and gave her a few little layers.  She looks so cute!

I hided it!

I have an iPad.  One of the originals.  We have had it almost three years and I am the one who claims it.  (We are a fairly techy family and when I say we, I mean Matt.  There are multiple tablet-type devices in our house, but the kids are only occasionally allowed to use them.  Matt and I use them most of the time.)  It comes in handy since our computer is up in the loft by the bedrooms and I spend 90% of my day in the kitchen/family room/laundry area downstairs.  

Wednesday night of last week, I was in charge of a YW activity at church.  I only plan the Personal Progress activities, so it is not something I do very often.  This was going to be my first one and as I was rushing around the house trying to finish making dinner and gather everything I needed for the activity (so I could leave right when Matt got home from work to set up), I realized I didn't have the full recipe I needed for dinner.  I grabbed the trusty iPad and looked up the recipe, found the info I was looking for and then quickly tucked it under the couch.  The iPad usually resides on my nightstand, but if I have it out in the family room, I tuck it out of sight under the couch, so it doesn't get knocked off the counter or something.  I finished up dinner and then raced out the door. 

Later that night I got home and after the kids were all in bed I reached for the iPad because I had a few emails to send about some of the things we needed to do about Personal Progress.  I reached under the couch and was surprised that it wasn't there.  I got down on my hands and knees and peered underneath and couldn't see anything.  I looked on my nightstand and it wasn't there either.  Since those are about the only two places I ever leave it, I was baffled.  I asked Matt if he had let the kids use the iPad to play a game while I was gone and he said he had not seen it.  I looked around for a minute, but I had been a little frazzled as I left earlier, so I figured I must have just stuck it somewhere unusual and I would look for it in the morning. 

Matt can not stand when something is lost.  It doesn't matter what it is, it drives him CRAZY until it is found.  He grabbed a flashlight and starting looking around as  I got ready for bed.  I had actually gotten into bed and started to relax when I realized that Matt was still searching full steam.  I realized he was never going to come to bed until it was found and so I got up to help.  I told him to keep looking in the bedroom and I went out to the family room.  I stood there for a minute thinking hard.  I decided that I really had put it under the couch and that one of the kids (ahem, Sydney) must have taken it.  She really likes to hide things right now.  Legos, Matt's blue tooth headset, shoes, my purse.  Eeek. 

I looked around the room trying to think what she could reach and where she could have put it without anyone really noticing.  My eyes went to the blinds.  I walked over and pulled the blinds away from the window and there was the iPad sitting on the window sill. 

Matt was greatly relieved and we went to sleep. 

The next morning, I asked Sydney if she knew where the I iPad was.  She said, "I hided it!"  She walked right to blinds and pulled them out and yelled, "It's gone!"  She is a character.  We talked about taking stuff and hiding it and why that is not nice.  She didn't quite get it.  I should probably keep it up high from now on. 

Little Sister to Many Brothers

As I am working on the computer, I can hear my darling little girl (almost 22 months) in her room.  She is supposed to be napping, but she is not.  What do you think a sweet, angelic baby girl would be doing in her bed when she is supposed to be napping?  Talking to herself?  Singing to herself?  Playing with her dolls?  These are some of her usual activities.  Weird noises were coming from her room and when I stopped to listen more closely, I realized that my sweetheart little girl was FAKE BURPING and then saying excuse me, then laughing hysterically.  Ummmmmm....at least she said excuse me, right?

Austin

Austin is too funny....he is having a little Valentine's party tomorrow for some of the kids in his Primary class....he is so excited.  He has never had a party before.  He is turning in to a little joker.  Funny story:  A few nights ago, during dinner....Austin jumped up from his seat and started running to the bathroom pulling his pants down as he ran.  Knowing him, I called out, "Austin, lift up the lid and WASH YOUR HANDS!!"  With a background of waterfall music, I hear him call back, "I will, Mother!!!" 

Sydney at 20 months

Little Miss Syd is getting too big.  Here are some things about her:
She talks!  She is starting to string a few words together at a time.  Yesterday, she and Austin had done something I asked them and I said, "Good girl, Sydney!"  She turned to Austin and said, "Good girl, Ah-tee!" 
She is girly....all of the sudden she loves to carry around my purse and I caught her trying to use one of Zack's old sports medals as an earring.  She tells everyone they are cooot (cute) and calls all shirts dresses. 
She is not afraid to play rough.  She loves to be a monster and chase her brothers. 
She is independent, she really likes to do things for herself.
She is cuddly.  Actually, if I am in the room, she always is hanging on my legs. But she likes getting babysat and never has a problem when I leave her. 
She loves nursery and asks to sing "Sunbeam" every day. 
She loves to run errands.
She is mostly sweet....over the weekend she started throwing fits!  Agghhh...
And that is Miss Sydney.

Buddies

Austin insisted this morning that Sydney dress up like Buzz so Woody would have a sidekick.  She didn't mind at all.  She keeps running around the house saying, "Bzz, Bzz."

That little Austin

Four-year olds are funny.  They are old enough to really communicate and their little personalities are very apparent.  They don't throw as many fits and are really starting to figure things out.  Austin says such funny things.  They other day we were in the car and Austin had dropped his Jessie toy.  He kept saying, "Mom, mom, he is only the ground, get him!"  I said, "Austin, Jessie is a she."    In utter disbelief Austin yelped, really he yelped,  "Jessie is a sheep?!?!?!" 

Yesterday before church, I put Sydney's hair in sponge curlers.  The result was very Shirley Temple ringlet-like...in fact, it was waaaay curlier than I thought it would be.  It was cute, but a little crazy.  No time to try an change it, so I put a little clip in her hair and started herding children to the car.  Matt had just fixed Austin's hair and he caught Austin messing it up.  "Austin!  Why are you messing up your hair?"  "I am not messing it up, I am making it look ugly!"  "You don't want it to look ugly, you want to look nice for church."  Austin replied, "But Sydney's hair looks ugly!"

We laughed and laughed and laughed and we were glad that Sydney didn't know what we were laughing at.  He is at such a fun age.  He and Derek are playing nicely together....instead of terrorizing each other for a change.  I don't dare disturb them....

18 months

Little Syd is 18 months old!  I took her for a checkup yesterday and she is doing great.  Last checkup the doc told me she was too skinny and to fatten her up.  She wasn't even on the growth chart she was so little.  Now, at 18 months, she weighs 19 lbs. 7 oz and is in the 3rd percentile.  At least I know all that Halloween candy I fed her is paying off.  Kidding.  Kind of.  She is the 50th percentile for height, so she really is a skinny minny.  The doc asked if she said some words.  I said yes.  He asked about how many words she regularly uses.  I had to think for a minute.  I said forty.  He didn't believe me.  But when I came home, the kids and I wrote down all the words Sydney says on a regular basis and we came up with 56.  Here is our list:
(keep in mind, she does not say all these words perfectly, of course, but well enough that we definitely understand her)
popsicle, mom, dad, please, Zack, Derek, Austin, Tara, Rella (Cinderella), dog, woof woof, baba (bottle), milk, more, baby, eyes, ears, nose, no, pretty, bow, this, that, kiss, sorry, Grandma, Papa, ball, ta-da, shoes, night-night, bye-bye, good, good girl, some, uh-uh, ketchup, juice, treat, church, shh (notice how church and shhh go together!) go, cocoa, diaper, poo poo, bath, ouch, thank you, welcome, cracker, cold, boo, oops, uh-oh, oh, okay, amen, again, phone. 

She is such a delightful little gal and is loves to hug on her family.  She loves to play pretend cooking and she loves to unload the dishwasher and move laundry around.  Syd, we love you!

Carseat

I took Sydney's car seat out last night to change the straps.  When I pulled the cover off to wash it, I found all these hair clips under her seat cover.  They were always magically disappearing, now I know where they go. You think you are so tricky, Miss Syd, but I am on to you. 

She found my makeup drawer......

While I was cleaning up my room, Sydney found my makeup.  She had some serious fun with the lipstick before I found her.  All over her and the floor.  Today she dumped a cup of hot chocolate one of the boys had left on a small table all over the family room carpet.  Ahhh.....toddlers. 

Cinderelly

We surely don't have many girl toys around our house.  Sydney is pretty content to play with anything, but in the last month, she has taken notice of "pretty"things.  She notices pretty clothes, bows, my earrings, wedding rings, toys, etc. and reaches out to touch them and says,"oooooooo."  I have a glass Cinderella figurine from Disneyland that I have had for 25+ years.  It sits on a high shelf in Sydney's room, never to be touched.  :0  They last few nights as I rock Sydney before bed, she has pointed up at the shelf and said, "oooooooo."  I was hoping she was pointing to the stuffed Minnie Mouse up there, but no such luck.  She noticed Cinderella and wanted to hold her.  I place it in her hands and she was so excited!  I said, "This is Cinderella."  She kept saying, "Rella, Rella."  It was pretty cute.  Last night she wanted to see it again.  Today when we ran to Target in search of vampire teeth for Halloween, we passed at little plastic Cinderella about the same size as mine.  Sydney recognized her and said, "Rella!"  In the hope of preserving my Cinderella for a few more years I bought the plastic one for Sydney.  She loved it!!!!  She carried it all through the store, saying her name and hugging it to her chest.  When we got home, Sydney carried it around for a while and then dropped it somewhere.  After a few minutes she was fussing about something and I said, "Where is Cinderella?"  She immediately started walking around the house, calling," Rel-la, REL-la."  She is so aware of everything now, it is fun.  She also says a lot of words.  I don't remember my boys talking much at this age.  She nods her head emphatically for yes, says no or uh-uh.  She also says, milk, more, ba-ba (sippy cup), mom, dad, papa, mama (Grandma) Der, Ack, Aust (all of our names in case you didn't quite catch that).  Dog, kanyoo (thank you), snack, roll, night-night, bye bye, soft, shoes, socks, diaper, book, baby, nose, and some I am forgetting.  She is a sweetheart. 

Sydney the Sheepdog

Sydney's hair is out of control.  She won't leave a clip or an elastic in it very long, so when we are just chillin' around the house, I let it be.  Matt thinks she looks like a little sheepdog.  The cutest sheepdog ever!

Sydney is 16 months

Sydney, Sydney, Sydney.  This little girl is full of it.  She is so sweet and loving and will cuddle up to just about anyone.  She also has some spunk.  How could we expect anything less with three older brothers?  She wants to do whatever they are doing and is a pretty calm, happy girl.  She didn't start walking until around 13 months and when she did, she never looked back.  She runs and climbs and laughs all day long.  She loves to have "pretty toes" (toenails painted) and her hair fixed with a bow.  She is phasing into one nap which is a little rough (on me), but has slept through the night since about seven months old.  She is a bundle of energy and we love her to pieces.  She i adored by her brothers, and her mother and father.  She says about 10-15 words spontaneously, but will repeat anything you ask her to, which we all think is really funny.  She likes to dance around with her brothers and sing!  If you ask her to sing a song she goes," ahhhhh, laaaaa"  it is so funny.  We love you Syddie and are so happy to have you in our family!! 

Bedhead and My Baby has a black eye

 Sydney has craaaazy morning hair. 

And a black eye.  She fell off a bench.  Derek also currently has a black eye.  He collided with my ankle while we were playing a game of keep away for FHE.  Then Austin ran into a brick pillar and has a bruise on his forehead.  No one tell DCFS, please. 

Little Miss Sydney Kay is # months old!

Sweet Baby Sydney is such a delightful, sweet girl. We are so happy to have her in our family. She has had a crazy busy three months. Here are some of the things she has done:
Gone camping, Seen two uncles get married, multiple parades, a six mile hike, sleepover at aunt Tara's house-with me of course, been to Hogle Zoo three times, This is the Place monument, museums, been to blessings, baptisms, homecomings and engagement parties, rolled over, laughed, gone swimming, gotten a sunburn, refereed many fights between her brothers, bridal showers and baby showers, baseball games, soccer games and who knows what else. She is a trooper and is really good wherever we take her. Whew, I am tired just thinking about it.


...

Love for Sister

Austin takes his role as big brother serioously.

The boys all fight to kiss and cuddled her.
Did I mention how much we love having a sweet little girl in our family? We all adore her.

Four Generations

Here we are: Grandma B., Sydney, my Mom and me. July 2010.

2 Months Old

She does push ups.




Wow, has it really been two months? In some ways it feels like Sydney has always been here and at the same time I think, wait, it has only been two months since I had a baby? We have packed a lot into those two months. I have been having some issues with blogger and I have tried to post a few times in the last two weeks, but it hasn't worked out. Whatever. Sydney went for her two month check up yesterday and she is 23 1/2 inches long and weighed 11 lbs. 12 oz. She is a great baby, really truly. She does love to be held-ALL THE TIME- but she she sleeps from about 8:30 to 3:30, eats and goes back to sleep until around 7am. I've never had it so good. Her brothers adore her and I am surprised to admit, but I really get a kick out of getting her all prettied up. She is the best cuddler and she is very smiley, however, I can never seem to capture that on camera. Truthfully, I haven't even taken any photos in over a week, gasp! Hence the photo above is from when she was four weeks old. I am not quite sure where my camera is. Anywho, we love our baby Simmie and can't imagine life without her.

Blessed on the Fourth of July

Our lovely little Sydney Kay was blessed on the Fourth of July. We had a great big BBQ after church and it was so fun. We had a big crowd, although I know that at least 75% of them came to see my parents and not Sydney, but we had a great time. The party continued late into the night, since my parents, some brothers and Tara and her kids all spent the night. We woke up early to head to the Freedom Festival in Provo and to check out the parade.
This photo is for my father-in-law who is borderline obsessed with Scouting gear/memorabilia.
Here is the reason we trekked to Provo for the parade. See the guy on the back of the float? That is my brother Chris. We had a great time! We were also spoiled and got to have my parents and Michael stay with us for a few days. So fun.