twins!

And Kelley thinks Sydney looks more like me?? Love it!

[Point for Joo Lin!]

{picture from Curious George party - May 2012}

Happy Birthday Padre!

We went down to Eugene and spent some time with my dad and his wife for his birthday / Memorial Day. It was a great trip, and the girls love their Grandpa! We had a yummy BBQ chicken lunch at their house. Then we headed to a park to feed the ducks. The girls didn't love that so much because the ducks came right up to us ready for the bread. There was a playground so the girls played for a bit. Back at the house we had some yummy chocolate cake that Debbie made. It was great to see my dad - love you!!

fun stuff!

keeping it simple...

* seoul reading a book to daddy * the girls and kelley planting seeds in the garden * seoul insisted on making an apple pie, although she enjoyed eating the apples more than peeling the apples. she helped roll it out. we took one to her cousins * sydney loves to wear her hat, and is constantly trying to get into bags * seoul and sydney play in the crib in the morning * the girls reading scriptures during our night time routine * a thoughtful sydney *

* seoul and sydney love the cart attached to the shopping cart at thriftway * the girls love balloons at Red Robin * seoul loves to pick flowers * sydney had her first popsicle * daddy and sydney hanging out * the girls playing in the water * sydney plays with baby toot-toot [she calls her "toot-toot"] * first time sydney has her very own sucker *

{pictures from May 2012}

Diva Seoul Sings

Seoul loves the movie Tangled.
Seoul loves to sing.
This clip makes me laugh every time I watch it.

Seoul Singing - May 2012 from JooLin Rice on Vimeo.

We {heart} our Library!

We go to the library often! The Children's Librarian, Peggy, is the sweetest lady. This year they had a Curious George party, and these activities are a family affair for us. I was surprised by the small turnout. The girls loved it, though! A story, lots of activities, and snacks -a kids dream!

We started the festivities with Peggy reading an alphabet Curious George book.

Each child got a bag with some coloring & activity sheets, a banana pen, and a Curious George book!

Daddy loves being with his girls - he misses the weekly activities so this is fun for him to be involved.

Sydney loves doing craft projects already!

Seoul loves using a glue stick!

Sydney loves doing whatever Seoul is doing!

Of course snacks are a favorite....

... especially when they're donut holes! (Yep, that is Sydney shoving a whole one into her mouth.... we have a lady on our hands here!)

We would definitely encourage everyone to check out their local library and the many activities that are offered! The girls love it, they are usually free, and it helps them learn. Seoul has her own library card and we always have stacks of books around.

{May 2012}

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is always just lovely. I'm spoiled on more than just this day each year, but I appreciate the extra from my sweet husband and girls on a special day. I am in awe as to how much I intensely love my children. How much I learn from them. To be privileged to be entrusted with these innocent little beings from my Heavenly Father brings tears to my eyes when I think about it too much. My heart fills with joy as well as a tiny bit of sorrow that I can't protect them from every evil they may encounter in their lives. Every day I learn, and want to do more for them. I can't forget a shout out to my amazing husband for being my trusted companion in this adventure of parenthood. He treats me like a queen, and I'm the luckiest girl ever to share my life with him. Happy Mother's Day to me!

We went to church, where I survived the first "performance" by my cute little primary kids. Whew! Then I got a "burrito" as the little token from the ward. Ok, so it wasn't a burrito really, but it reminded me of one - a peanut butter cup candy bar wrapped in tissue paper. Good times!

Dinner was going to breakfast for dinner - one of my favorites - but I had broken the waffle maker the night before. Oops! Turned out OK because we went to my brother's house and had a nice salmon & chicken dinner with most of my family.

A few days later Kelley and Seoul started work on my gift - a planter box for the front window. I'm excited! Seoul enjoyed working with Kelley and making her own project!

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom, my Grandma, my friends, and other family. I hope it was special and you feel loved. You are. You are all examples to me, and I commit myself to being a better mom for all the things I see and learn from you.

PLaY GrOUpS in May

We have a great play group, and we have so much fun in our various activities! 

We went to a bouncy place in North Wilsonville. Seoul's favorite thing was the big slide and she went down over and over all by herself. Sydney tried to do things, but it really isn't meant for little toddlers. I actually got in trouble for trying to take her in the little obstacle course thing. Oops! Then Sydney discovered the kid water fountain, and that became her favorite feature.

The End of the Oregon Trail Museum in Oregon City has some neat activities for kids. The girls "cleaned up" camp by the wagon, made butter, made a candle, and played some pioneer games. If you look at the bottom left corner picture Seoul is holding a brick of cocaine - toothache drops. I thought it was funny.

Seoul Swims Again

Here are the pictures of Seoul's second swim session this summer. [May-June] She decided she didn't want to do any more this year. I want her to remember it as fun so I agreed. We'll go again next year. I think she is more comfortable in the water, which was the goal.

The final little collage is Sydney's cute little face as she plays while watching Seoul.

Sydney's half-birthday!

18 months old and conquering the world one milestone at a time!

I've been intending to do a big post about Sydney for months now but she is doing new things every day and I didn't know where to begin.
(Yes, poor second child gets far less blog-accolades for each new thing she accomplishes - oops!)

So to begin...

Sydney loves to be involved, included, recognized. She adores her big sister, and tries to do everything she does. Don't ever question that she understands. She knows. I'm pretty sure she knows what I want and already makes the mental decision to obey or disobey. And no question, sometimes she chooses to disobey. She is a vocal little child - happy or upset she is emitting some kind of scream. Her laugh is joyful and infectious. She is a good balance of girly and tomboy - she loves barrettes and dresses but also doesn't hesitate to get down and dirty in the garden. When we say prayers, she folds her arms and murmurs like she is saying the prayer, and then ends with a big 'amen'! She loves to sing and dance! She replies with "Love you!" [vove you] when you say it most of the time.


{These are 100% current pictures - the best I could get of a child that is constantly moving.}

Sydney talks non-stop. Here is a sampling of her "first" words:
banana (bana)
ball
bye
dada
mommy
Jesus
sissy
water (wawa)
milk
bird
up
Belle
snack
cookie
milk
stuck
help
Seoul
love you
candy
bread
bubble
puppy
cat
helmet
bike
pink
purple
amen
cracker
cheese
hat
goggles
book
She literally picks up & tries new words every day. Today's cutest new word is 'monkey.'

She still does a few signs but as she speaks more she signs less. To note, she knows the signs for:
more
food
please
thank you
banana
book
all done
help
dog
cat
milk
drink
potty

Whenever she sees a dog, she pants (the baby sign). She now says 'cat' when we see those. She recognizes half of the basic colors. She can identify most animals in books, and has started verbally identifying them (although some aren't quite discernible but she makes the same sound every time for each animal). She is learning the sounds that go with each animal, and does some of them. She enjoys coloring, especially on the easel (or her body).

Favorites right now:
sitting on Seoul's bed to read books
Belle
cheese
her blanket
her helmet
strawberries
playing in water (pool or kidwash)
going for walks
dolls
rolling her arms for "The Wheels on the Bus"
song: Itsy Bitsy Spider
walking on her tiptoes

This is what I can think of to write about our little princess. She is a gem, and such a joy to have in our family. We are so blessed to know her. Love that girl that is not so much our baby anymore!

{Disclaimer: I try and note things every day in my journal but I very well could have missed many things.}

April photo dump

So I'm running out of ideas for post titles... and I'm still only finishing April pictures! Argh! Anyway, here it is - the last of April photos from Kelley's phone and my phone. Let me guess, you'd like to see current pictures of the girls, right? Well, stay tuned and hopefully you will soon - haha! 

Seoul loves her dad and wants to be like him... wearing his hat and everything!

Sydney loved having her teeth brushed. The sign she made up is to stick her finger in her mouth and move it around. Whenever she hears me call Seoul to the bathroom or if she sees me, she comes running.

Say it again: Seoul loves her dad! They are so cute together and have so much fun!

This little brown baby is a game for Seoul and Kelley - they hide it so the other can find it. One time Seoul put it in his work backpack and he found it at work. So here's the brown baby on Kelley's desk.

When did our baby get so big? Look at her little feet all the way down to the footrest!

We went to a Young Women's fundraiser, bought a cupcake and Sydney DEVOURED it!

Bubbles is our "pet" giraffe and the girls love to play. Takin' a little rest from play with their friend :)

A little merry-go-round at the mall. Sydney's tagging along because all the cars were taken.

Still a super helper! On Mondays when the garbage gets picked up she always runs to the window. One morning she waved and the garbage man waved back. She calls all drivers "Mr. Gilly" from the book/movie Trashy Town. Afterward she loves to bring in the garbage can all by herself.

Sydney also adores her daddy! We went to visit him at work, when he was on the Randall Children's Hospital campus.

Sweet face.

Seoul helped Grandma pick, wash, and eat carrots from the garden. Yum!

Sydney and her friend playing on the wobbly bridge.

Gettin' a little sun!

We walk to the library for story time. One day we got home and this is what I saw. Sleeping yet hanging onto that book!

Sydney loves to help unload the dishwasher. She hands me all the silverware since she can't quite reach into the drawer to put it in the right spot. I do have to say that for all the help she provides, she also tears apart the kid drawer that has all the plastic spoons and plates.

This is such a common pose these days. She also evolved into sticking up one of her legs so she is balancing.

PARK PICTURES

This is my dear friend Jennie and her cutie, Caitlyn. We had a nice walk to the park, visit, and play time.