Halloween and Thanksgiving

Remember how I'm awesome at keeping up on my blog? Here are some holiday pictures from forever ago. We'll start with Halloween:

Ada as a witch, Lyla as Pebbles, and Kate as Snow White

I bit the bullet and dressed up as a Utah cheerleader for the Squire party. Tyler was a Utah football player...sort of

Whitesides family

Bischoff family

Steed family

The "other" Squires

Nancy and Kim. Hunger Games, anyone?

The whole gang



Now let's move on to Thanksgiving, shall we?

Grandpa Squire and Lyla

Tyler and me, probably watching football

The obligatory game of Pit

The kids were sent to watch Brave on the laptop so we could watch football in peace ;)

Lovely Ly

Lyla is growing too fast and I've been terrible at documenting her progress. She is 16 months old! She still hasn't taken a step, but she will stand by herself if she really wants to. :)

Lyla is a little chatterbox. She speaks plenty of baby talk with a little bit of English thrown in there. Some words she says that I can think of off the top of my head: baby, ball, Mommy, Daddy, Ada, Kate, Elmo, Abby, more, I want (fill in the blank), nigh-night, poo-poo, hi, eye, nose, ear, blanky, bye-bye, hi, drink, milk, shoes, pizza, and cracker. She recently learned the names of her cousins Ellie, Reese, and Izzy. She can tell you what a cow, monkey, kitty, snake, chicken, fish, and dog say.

Lyla is a smart little thing. At eight months old she somehow figured out how to unlock my phone by pushing a button, putting her finger on the lock, and sliding it across the screen. She understands way more than she can communicate. A few weeks ago she was looking through a magazine and found a song, complete with accompaniment. She started waving her arms around like she was leading music. The other day she brought me to her room and got the wipes to let me know she had to poop. Later that night, she got her blanket and said, "Nigh-night!" to let me know she wanted to go to bed. That was great because she has been a pill to put to bed the last couple of months!

Lyla has four favorite things that could keep her busy for hours if I let her: playing in the dishwasher, sitting on the piano bench to play the piano, coloring, and playing with her sisters' Leapsters.

Lyla is a happy, funny child. We are constantly getting comments about how she's always smiling. She loves to laugh. One of her new favorite things is to crawl up to an unsuspecting person and tickle their feet while saying, "Ticka-ticka-ticka!" It is the cutest thing ever. I can't describe the joy she brings me. She is completely a mommy's girl and is a little too clingy at times, but I love that she loves me and wants to be with me most. It's nice to feel loved and needed. :)  I've made sure to cherish her babyhood more than I did her sisters' and I have no regrets when it comes to time spent with her. She's just too much fun to be with.

Lyla recently learned to crawl up and down the stairs. It's nice to not have to worry about her falling down anymore, especially since a few weeks ago I found her holding onto the railing and trying to WALK down the stairs (have I mentioned she can't walk?).

Lyla is a tiny thing. At her 15-month check-up she was in the 1st percentile for her weight. A few days ago a woman guessed that she was nine months old. She probably weighs the same as or less than most 9-month-olds. Kate was pretty tiny as a baby but is now closer to average for her age, so I'm not worried (despite the concerns our new doctor had about her).

I can't say enough about Lyla! She definitely has her moments of being mad, sad, grumpy, etc., but I just love her more than words can say.

Bucket List

I've been pondering this post for a while because Tyler and I recently crossed something off our respective bucket lists and I am about to cross off another. I'm sure I'll add more things as time goes on, but the following are what are currently on my mind:

-Attend an NFL game -- check! Tyler and I went to a Cowboys game in October and it was a pretty amazing place to go for a first game.

-Go to Hawaii (this is the one I'm about to check off! We found $99/each way tickets from Vegas to Honolulu and Ada is off track in February, so the whole family is road tripping it to Vegas and flying out from there. I've heard that Oahu is the crappiest island to visit, but at least I'll be realizing a childhood dream. I look forward to visiting other parts with just Tyler in the future :) )

-Travel to lots of other locations, including but not limited to New Zealand, Fiji, Great Britain (London, Scotland, etc.), Maldives, South Africa, Paris, etc. etc.

-Go skydiving

-Go to games at every MLB ballpark. So far I've been to 10 and I think Tyler's been to 16. We had tickets to a Rangers game but it got rained out :(

-Take an art class

-Attend an opera

-Read the complete works of Charles Dickens, George Eliot, and Jane Austen, as well as the unabridged Les Miserables

-Learn how to sing

-Start a blog that I can make money off of

-Grow my hair long enough to donate it

-Run a half marathon (starting small here)

-Do volunteer work in Africa


Hmm...kind of a small list. I'm sure I'll add to it as I think more. For now, this will have to do!

Lyla's apple party

Lyla's birthday was in October and we celebrated with an 'Apple of My Eye' party, including apple cupcakes (apple spice with cream cheese frosting), apple juice, caramel apples for each family to take home (made by yours truly), and caramel apple suckers for the kids. Everything turned out great and I think Lyla had a good time with all her family members around. This was three months ago, but I still can't believe she's a year old!

The set-up

Party favors

Apple cupcakes that look like apples

I was going to make soup but got lazy so we ordered pizza

Lyla's apple slice cake

The apple of our eye in her apple shirt

Opening presents

A little unsure

Glad she finally learned to enjoy it!

Les Miserables

I have been completely smitten with Les Mis lately. Between seeing the show in Fort Worth in September, watching the 25th Anniversary Concert on PBS, viewing the 1998 (non-musical) movie with Tyler, and crying over the movie trailer time and time again, I was anxiously awaiting the release of the movie on Christmas day.

My history with Les Mis: my first viewing of the musical was at Capitol Theater my sophomore year in high school. My parents bought tickets for the entire family to attend, including Grandma Bateman. Sadly, I really only remember the song 'Master of the House' because my grandma was laughing so hard during it. I neither understood nor appreciated it.

Fast forward to probably our second year of marriage. Tyler's former high school performed Les Mis and his brother Jordan played Marius. I think we saw it twice and I became more familiar with the story. It certainly wasn't Broadway quality, but they did a great job for a high school. Then maybe a year later, Tyler and I saw it performed at Pioneer Theatre Company. We were able to score 2nd row seats for really cheap since Tyler was a student. This was a first time I really appreciated it and I bawled like a baby. It was amazing. I have had a deep love for it ever since.

As previously mentioned, we were able to see it in Fort Worth with Angie and Hyrum a few months ago at an incredible performance hall. Once again, amazing. Later, we watched the 1998 movie version. It shed a new light since it was straight acting with no singing. We enjoyed it, though it really can't compare to the musical. A few weeks after that, we happened upon the 25th Anniversary Concert on PBS. I was enthralled and stayed up late watching the whole thing, including the encore. Tyler walked in during the part when Eponine dies and started laughing at me because I was sobbing uncontrollably. That part gets me more than any other. I love Eponine. I feel a kinship toward her. I wish I were as noble as she! Anyway, Tyler felt bad that he was laughing at me, so this is what he said in consolation: "I'm sorry! I've just never seen you look so devastated!" Thanks, hon. Ha ha!

Finally, at the end of December, the long-awaited film version was released in theaters. I really wanted to see it on the 26th since we had plans all day on Christmas, but, alas, it didn't work out. Tyler and I ended up being invited to a free showing on the 28th, though, so we couldn't complain about that. My review? I loved it. Again, the singing wasn't Broadway quality, but where it lacked in singing it made up for in acting. It was so much more emotional (if that's even possible!) and real to me. I was very impressed and I think Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway deserve Oscars for it. I also thought Eponine was fantastic. I read that Samantha Barks beat out Taylor Swift for the role, and let me just say that I am SO glad she did! Taylor might have ruined her for me. I've already seen it a second time and I think I cried even harder then. I can't wait for it to come out on video. It is by far my favorite play/musical. Nothing else even comes close. I am committed now to read the book. I was thinking about finding a good abridged version since so many people I know haven't been able to set through the unabridged, but I've changed my mind. I'm no stranger to 1,000 pagers, so I'm pretty sure I can handle it. I just can't believe I've waited so long to pick it up!

Girlies

It has been far too long since I did an update on the girls. Here goes nuthin...

Lyla...

...is already 13 months old. I'm in denial about it
...learned to crawl about two weeks before her birthday. She is showing no signs of walking yet. I'm totally okay with that
...is a tiny little thing. At her 12-month check-up her weight was only in the 2nd percentile and her length was in the 16th.
...can say 'hi', 'Mama', 'Dada', 'Lyla', 'baby', 'bah' (ball), and 'nu-nu' (num-num [food]). She can do the signs for more (though to her it pretty much means 'Feed me!'), please, all done, and milk
...can tell you what a monkey, a fish, and a chicken say. She's pretty good at imitating the sounds for cow and bear
...points to your nose when you ask her to and holds up a finger when asked how old she is
...loves to eat Frosted Mini Wheats (dry) probably more than anything else. She gets so excited when I pull them out of the cupboard. She also loves pizza, oatmeal, applesauce, and anything sweet
...was sleeping pretty well until Daylight Savings. She now struggles going to bed at night, wakes up early, and usually naps only once instead of twice a day. She also wakes up in the night on occasion. Cursed time change!
...was much easier to wean than her sisters were. She took to cow's milk immediately, which made things much easier for me
...loves her family so much. She follows me around wanting to be held, she follows her sisters around, and she gets so excited when Tyler comes home
...gets a ton of attention wherever we go. People everywhere comment on her red hair, blue eyes, and big smile and say that she is the cutest baby ever. I get a lot of stories from random people about every red-headed person they've ever known, and everyone asks where her red hair comes from
...likes to try and feed herself. About halfway through her feedings, she refuses to open her mouth until I let her hold the bowl or jar. Feeding is now much more messy
...loves to open the cupboards in both bathrooms and take everything out
...is just so pleasant and delightful

Kate...

...is the messiest person I've ever known. She always manages to get food all over her face and clothes (and on the counter and floor). The other day she was eating a Gogurt and got it all over her face and shirt. Before I could clean her off, she plopped stomach-down onto a couch pillow, getting yogurt all over it. She then asked for applesauce and as soon as I gave her some she stuck her hand in it
...doesn't know how to sit still. She can't finish a meal without getting off her stool several times. She is constantly climbing onto and jumping off of things. Consequently, she's always hurting herself
...has been cursed with cold sores. She is on her third one. They are totally foreign to me, though Tyler gets them when he's stressed. Today she was late for preschool because her cold sore inexplicably started gushing blood and I couldn't get it to stop. Poor girl

...still wakes up in the night most nights. Between Kate and Lyla, I never get enough sleep. It seems like on the rare occasion that they both sleep through the night, Ada will wake me up. Kate usually wakes up asking me to put her covers back on her. She occasionally climbs in bed with us
...had a big problem wetting her pants for the longest time. I was finally at a loss and called the doctor, thinking that maybe she had a physical problem (perhaps related to this) but the doctor said that since she doesn't wet the bed then it's probably psychological. Tyler had been out of town for almost a week at the time, so that's what I attributed it to (even though she'd had problems off and on for about a year). I don't know what happened, but since then she has been so much better! Knock on wood!
...freaks out every time I try to comb or fix her hair
...played soccer for the first time this Fall. Her team was (and will be in the Spring) the Pink Panthers. Most games she would dance around distractedly on the field, but during a few games in the middle she played really well. Our favorite was when her team had a scrimmage against the "stinky boys", the 4-year-old boys in the neighborhood. It was so fun to watch and Kate had a lot of fun playing
...can't keep her pants to stay up. Her little bum is always hanging out. Her belly is so big and low that it forces her pants down in the front and, therefore, the back
...is constantly spouting out or writing down random letters and asking me what they spell. She will not take "Nothing" for an answer
...loves to help me bake. As soon as I start something Kate pulls her stool over and asks to help pour everything in
...loves to feed Lyla
...still loves to snuggle and hug, which I absolutely love
...is a lot better at sharing things with Ada than Ada is with her
...always smiles and always makes us laugh

Ada...

...loves healthy food (except when we're eating dinner). She says that her favorite food is spinach, just raw and plain. She loves to pull a bag out of the fridge and eat it by the handful
...has been sick a lot lately. We all got sick the weekend before Thanksgiving but poor Ada had it the worst. She puked all day Saturday and had a fever. She is currently sick again, but with a sore throat, fever, and cough this time. She is on her third day missing school
...is constantly improving on her reading. She loves to sit and read books to herself or to Kate. She also loves to be read to. Tyler is reading Janitors to her. I have read her most of the Ramona books and we're currently reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
...is also improving in French. It's so fun to see how much she's learning and how well she can speak
...also played soccer this Fall after deciding that ballet wasn't for her. Her team was the Green Dragons and her best friend Quinn was on her team. She can certainly work on her running and aggression but she did really well for her first season ever (I think everyone else had played before)
...likes to hoard stuffed animals and other objects (money, etc.) on her bed
...has a difficult time falling asleep at night. Kate can fall asleep in 5 seconds flat but Ada lays awake for long periods of time. I feel bad for her and can definitely relate
...had two potty accidents within a week of each other at school. I was completely baffled and embarrassed (as I'm sure she was). I was starting to think that she and Kate both had problems. I'm not sure what the deal was, but luckily it hasn't happened since
...is great at helping with Lyla and with aggravating Kate
...doesn't like taking baths (and won't take showers). Don't worry; I make sure it still happens!

I love my little sweeties! They sure make life interesting and I'm lucky to be their mom!