Friday, November 23, 2012

pink.

LilliAnn LOVES all things pink. She says her favorite color is pink, she always wants "the pink one," and pink Starbursts make her one happy girl. Her room is decorated in shades of pink....she has a pink my little pony...a pink Pottery Barn Kitchen....a pink tea set...a pink princess castle...a pink baby doll wagon...pink cowgirl boots...and when I let her choose, she always picks the pink hair bow.

But I must admit, I was surprised when she walked up to me with the plate of food I had just made for her during Thanksgiving dinner and said, "I want some pink turkey!" 

I'm sure I had the most confused look on my face and I initially thought, "hmmm...pink turkey? How am I going to pull this off?" And then it came to me.

"Oh! You want some ham?!"

I put several pieces of ham on her plate and she said, "Oh, I wuv pink turkey!"

She hasn't been eating very well the past week, but she ate her entire plate of "pink turkey." She is such a girly girl...and I absolutely LOVE it!

Monday, November 12, 2012

scared of the dark.

After turning off the T.V. to go to sleep last night...

"Turn the dark off!"

Me: "But it's time to go night night."

"But I don't like the dark. Turn it off!"

Love this little girl!

Soccer Star!

This fall was Reid's first season of soccer. We played with the YMCA 3 & 4 year old league and it could not have been more fun! Our friends, Josh & Kendall Rogers, coached the team and so Reid knew several of his teammates. Extracurricular activities are always more fun when you know some of the parents, right? Jeb, nor I, knew anything about soccer, but thankfully Josh & Kendall did! I was so impressed at how well they coached our little team. I thought no one would be able to teach 3 & 4 year olds to kick the ball in the right direction, not to mention getting them to control the ball and pass it to other players. But by the end of the season, our team was doing all of the above...and doing it well! I think we won every game except one (but we're not supposed to be keeping score, you know). 
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Reid REALLY surprised me! Well, I really shouldn't say surprised because I've always know he was athletic since he was making the ball in the Fisher Price basketball goal at 9 months old, and hitting a baseball when it was thrown to him at age 2. I just never thought about him being good at soccer because I'm not familiar with that sport. After the first practice, he was in love. Soccer was high energy, challenging, and competitive. Just. like. Reid.
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 In his very first soccer game ever, Reid scored 7 goals. I was so excited!! I was thinking in my head, "great...I'm going to be that mom because I'm really getting into this!" He was so good at controlling the ball, stopping the ball, turning the ball, and kicking the ball into the goal. And we hadn't even worked with him on soccer skills. 
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 He would get so proud of himself. Every time he would make a goal he would look at us and give us a thumbs up with a huge grin on his face.
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He loves scoring. Can you tell?!
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 This age isn't supposed to keep score, but if you know Reid you know that he's going to be keeping score in his head. After the first game, Kendall told me that Reid kept telling her if they were winning or not and checking the score with her. But to Reid, they never lost a game. When my dad asked him the score of the game (the one that they probably really lost) he said, "It was a tied up game." It's always either that he won, or it was a "tied up game." 
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Sissy enjoyed bubba's soccer games too! She really liked eating the snacks and running around outside. 
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He told us that he likes his soccer shirt to be tucked in "so the other team doesn't grab it." 
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 Reid always had lots of fans at the games! Gam-Ma Missy, Papa Jeff, Nana Karen, Papa Kelbo, Mimi, Papa Glenn, Granny Carol, & Pop Buzz all came to watch him play this season.
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 #7 is Reid's friend Carson. He is also very good at soccer. Reid and Carson are both really competitive and little "ball hogs," so were tried to teach them to work together and learn to pass the ball to work for the good of the team. By the last game, they were discussing this all by themselves and were even planning out who was going to score next. We were so proud of them!
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 What a great season! 
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 I see many more soccer seasons in our feature! Guess I better brush up on my soccer skills :)
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Reid Rollins & Carson Rogers - 4 years old

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Trick-or-Treat!

This Halloween the kids had a BLAST trick-or-treating! 2 1/2 and 4 1/2 are definitely great ages to really get into the whole "trick-or-treat smell my feet" thing. LilliAnn couldn't wait for all of the candy and Reid was excited about seeing everyone's costumes. My best friend Kari is on the Main Street Seminole committee and wanted us to come trick-or-treat in Seminole this year. All of the businesses on and around Main Street passed out candy and decorated for Halloween. I was very impressed. Downtown was decorated with hay bales and scarecrows, and TONS of people and businesses participated. Main Street looked gorgeous and it was the perfect fall atmosphere. Aunt Johnna, Grayson, Mica, and Baby Pierce met us there and we headed down the street to trick-or-treat!
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Here is my Spiderman!
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And my "mermaid princess with sparkle-wee boobies." She DID NOT want to wear the red Ariel wig, as it was "so very itchy mom." I begged and begged, but obviously did not win this fight. 
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Grayson was Joe Dirt, which I thought was the best costume EVER!
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She wasn't sure about all of the different costumes at first. 
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Baby Pierce was a little football and he looked so adorable!
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LilliAnn didn't have much in her bucket because every time she would get a piece of candy she would eat it right then!
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Reid was in character and was so serious about his trick-or-treating.
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"Keep on keepin' on"
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One lady had dressed as a witch and was passing out candy from the back of her truck. She had the bed of the truck decorated like a haunted house and had even made a little photo booth for the kids to take a picture in.
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LilliAnn thought the witch was a bit scary and just stood outside of the photo booth for a picture.
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I tried to get a picture of all five great-grandchildren for my Granny Carol. As you can tell, it only kind of worked.
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Sweet Emma. She didn't want to wear her "Merida" Brave wig either.
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The best part about the day...a Tootsie Pop!
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After we left Seminole, we headed back to our house. Some of my mom's family was going to stop by for chili, hotdogs, popcorn balls, hot caramel apple cider, and chicken & dumplings. LilliAnn was really excited to get into her Batgirl costume that went with our family superhero theme. She said this was her "best costume ever." 
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My camera battery went dead so I didn't get many pictures of trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. Thankfully, we already had a Halloween session and got pictures in our superhero attire. 
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We put LilliAnn in the wagon and the four of us headed down the streets of Windmill Ridge to "Save the Day!" We got so many compliments on our family costumes. Jeb was extremely popular in his Captain America costume and one house made us come up to the porch so Jeb, A.K.A. the real Captain America, could take pictures with their sons. He said I should rent him out for birthday parties to pay for the costumes. Ha! Our neighborhood has a lot of families with young children so everyone really got into Halloween this year. A lot of the houses went all out with decorating and there was even an inflatable haunted house tunnel at one house that you had to walk through to get candy. The kids LOVED it! One house had fog/dry ice coming out from under the garage door with a black light. When you walked by a werewolf would pop out and try and grab your feet. Reid thought this was super cool...Lil? Not so much. They both are still talking about the werewolf house. Before heading back to our street, we stopped by my friend Amanda's house for some cookies and a drink. They all went on and on about our costumes, and Amanda's mom was calling Jeb "husband of the year" for always dressing up in crazy costumes. 
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But what was their favorite part of the night? ...passing out candy. Reid said, "why do we have to trick-or-treat more when we have all of this candy." Excellent point. 
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Until next year...The Rollins Ruckus to the rescue!

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Kindermusik Kutie.

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I took these pictures a couple of month ago before LilliAnn's first day of Kindermusik. I just recently uploaded them from my camera card, and they were all so adorable I had to share a few! 
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Kindermusik is a music class for children that we go to one day a week at OBU. Reid started Kindermusik when he was a year old and I decided this year that it was time for LilliAnn to go too! She absolutely LOVES it! She seems a little more into it than Reid was and sings/interacts more. I think it may be a boy/girl thing. The two year-old class is parent and child so it is a great way for LilliAnn and I to spend one-on-one time together. Their current curriculum is called "Milk & Cookies," and LilliAnn loves listening to our home material CD in the car. Her favorite song is called Barnyard Lullaby and during class Ms. Conchita has us rock our child in our arms or sway back and forth. During this song, LilliAnn always tells me to hold her "wike a baby" and I rock her and sing to her. She squeezes her eyes shut and acts like she's asleep for the entire song. When I play this song in the car she usually will go to sleep, so we've started singing it at night as she's going to sleep. She'll say to me, "Mommy, sing the baby song." Just in the last few weeks she's gotten to where she can sing the entire song with me. 
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This is a few of the lyrics from the song so I will never forget them:
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Now my child is sleeping, all is quiet here.
Happy birds are singing a lullaby so dear.
Dream of woodland animals, and birds upon the wing.
Dream of summer and fairytales and I will softly sing.
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2 1/2 years old...
LilliAnn Loves:

-Caillou (on NickJr.)
-candy, especially chocolate!
-"pink" icecream (strawberry)
-spaghetti and meatballs
-taking baths
-baby dolls
-ANYTHING that has to do with princesses...especially Cinderella!
-anything "sparkle-wee"
-getting her nails/toenails painted
-themed clothing (Tinkerbell shirt, Minnie Mouse shirt)
-picking out her own clothes
-dance class
-cheese goldfish
-anything tiny, miniature, small, or "a baby one"
-her Little People Disney Princess Castle
-her gray ballet flats with the shiny hearts that Aspyn gave to her
-picking out a movie from the movie case in the car
-the alphabet, especially telling us what sound EVERY letter makes
-make-up...especially lip gloss
-brushing her teeth
(Conversation the other morning: 
Lil: "Reidy are you not going to brush your teeth?"
Reid: "No"
Lil: "Yes, bubba. It's fun!"
Reid: "I don't want to."
Lil: "Well you have to....because I'm the boss.")
-being bossy (see above conversation)
-horses
-working puzzles
-brushing her hair...what little she has!
-pushing Reid's buttons (and boy, has she gotten good at it!)
-flushing the toilet...especially in public restrooms. Ick!
-washing her hands (thank goodness!)
-Nodic Naturals orange, omega-3 gummies
-hot chocolate
-cherries...especially at Sonic
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LilliAnn McKenzie, you are quite the mess. I am being completely honest when I say you are absolutely EVERYTHING that I ever wanted in a little girl. There is at least one moment every single day when I look at you and think, "Your great-great grandma McKenzie would have thought you were the bees knees." I am so proud of you that every day I feel like my heart is going to explode with pride. I love how dramatic you are...I love how you hold my face and rub my cheeks, looking at me with those sweet little eyes and that little scowl saying, "I wuv you so much, mommy." "I wuv you to the moon and back." "I wuv you to the tallest of everything." I love how smart you are. You know every letter of the alphabet and you know what sound EVERY SINGLE letter makes. My favorite is when you tell me what a "H" says and your little tongue hangs out of your mouth as you say, "ha ha ha ha" or when you make the "L" sound. LilliAnn you are like your mommy and are going to have a great memory...kind of a photographic memory I think. You remember everything...even things that I would think you were too little to remember. I love how tough you are. You rarely cry when you get hurt. You run fast...really fast. Your daddy calls you his little nose guard. I love how much you love your big brother. And how even though he's older than you, you still try and keep him in line. You call him "bubbles" like mommy does sometimes and it cracks me up. I love how you randomly bust out in song and how you will start doing your "beautiful" dance while we're out and about. You wave your arms around and do twirls while singing your own little songs. I love how you're a good eater and how you like broccoli, salad (especially caesar), and every kind of fruit. I love how independent you are...how you walk right into your Sunday school class, how you were hiding behind the chair with a wet paper towel putting on glitter tattoos all by yourself, and how you dress yourself and try to "yip" up your jackets on your own. I love your blonde, fine, short hair and how it's a crazy, beautiful mess...just like you. When it comes to little girls...your daddy and I hit the jackpot. You got the best of both of us...you and Reid both did. I feel BEYOND blessed to have two amazing, wonderful children. 
LilliAnn...Lil...Buttons...Lil Bil...Sissy...LaLa, you are the entire package. And you melt. my. heart.
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