And so it begins...the first thing W said this morning when she got up was "I need my phone!"

This morning when I got W up, she said, "I'm ready for some breakfast - and some blueberries! Blueberries are my best friend!" I'm a little bummed, yesterday I was her best friend...

W and her bandaids - when she saw this picture she said breathlessly, "Look!! That's me and my bandaids!"

I am a terrible mommy...A kept sneaking out of her room to play tonight, so I hid behind the wall at the end of the hallway. I jumped out at her the next time she came out and she screamed soooooo loud and jumped about 3 feet high and halfway down the hallway, and then broke a speed record getting back into bed.

A has a new catch phrase - if you do something she doesn't like, she says "Hey! Get on your brakes!"

W loves her big girl bed!

A beat her cousin I (11) at Dance Central on Kinnect...I swears he was being silly on purpose. Suuuurrrree, I.

W was pretending to take pictures of me. I said "cheese!" She looked startled and then very kindly handed me a piece of her cheese.

It cracks me up that as soon as the boys are around, A starts calling her Daddy "Uncle S-"

A farted this morning and I said "What do you say?" She replied "Hello, Mr. Honky!"

When I went to wake W up this morning, I found her curled up on her bed, with her fancy dress up shoes on her feet.

Took apart the crib apart and moved my baby to her big girl bed today. *sniff*

While praying over A last night, she kept blowing air in my face. After I said Amen, she said "I was blowing in your face to make sure you had enough air to breathe for tomorrow. I'm so sweet."

W just scared the living daylights out of us. I was getting some stuff out of storage and when I came out we looked and looked but couldn't find her, Daddy finally ran outside to start asking neighbors to help because we thought she must be outside. I did another check of the rooms, screaming her name and she popped out from a corner of A's room.

I asked if she heard us calling her, she said "Yes, but I was hidin'!" I told her you NEVER play hide and seek without letting someone know what you're doing! I'm still shaking!

A really enjoyed the Hanukkah puppet show last night...she emphatically explained to me that she learned all about the Juice fighting to be able to follow God.

A just started crying and yelling "help me! help me!" I ran into the bathroom and she looks up with tears and says "This is the worst smell I've ever made in the bathroom!"

A seems to be learning from the Nutrition game they play at CrossFit Kids - she's telling W right now that if she's hungry, she should go to the Food Chain and get some protein and carbohydrates.

A's 4 year old checkup - she's finally over 30lbs, and finally on the charts for height and weight. She decided to be "braver than W" and remained perfectly composed during 3 shots. She also demonstrated a text-book perfect burpee for her doctor when asked if she was able to run and jump and play games. In her underwear.

I asked A about CrossFit tomorrow. She said, "I'm not sure I have the energy. I think I should have had more peppers on my taco tonight."

W thinks it's such a treat to have "purple ice cream" for breakfast...kale/spinach/wheat grass/carrots/blueberries, strawberries/banana

Either W's contracted a zombie virus or I've really got to work on her sandwich eating skillz...

A just brought this drawing to me and asked me to hold on to it for Grandpa. I asked her what it showed. "This is a snowball with legs, this is W and she's mad, these are some nice flips."

W: Look, my owie is gone! A: Yes, that's because God made your body so amazing that it heals owies!

W says "I appreciate Mama for lettin' me take a nap and be quiet and by myself." You're welcome, baby. You're welcome.

A just drew a picture of a cow...by drawing his spots first...

A just tied me playing Memory (and I wasn't holding back). Uh oh. I think I may be in trouble here...

Help! I'm stuck, I'm stuck!

A just told W it was time to go to college. W replied "Oh no! I'm not ready!"

Some kids break in into spontaneous songs, A breaks into spontaneous CrossFit WODs. She just suddenly picked up a dumbbell, did some kb swings, burpees, pushups, jumping jacks, squats and overhead lunges for about 5 min. Then said: "I hadn't gotten a CrossFit in today yet, so I thought I would.

W has her Buzz Lightyear and is yelling downstairs "He's saying to infinity and beyond, S-!"

So excited for A's birthday party at CrossFit today...although she did just ask "Is W coming to my party? Why?"

So great to hear my brother's voice (even if I didn't recognize it at first). Aa was so excited that Uncle J called all the way from Afghanistan to wish her a happy birthday!

A just opened her presents from us - Cars on blueray, a Cars snuggie, and the Cars game for Nintendo DS. I said jokingly "now you can play your Cars on your DS, while watching Cars, while wearing your new snuggie." She looked at me with shining eyes and with an awed tone said "I can DO that?!"

A asks "is tomorrow my birthday?" I said, "yes, when you wake up you will be 4 years old!" She replied thoughtfully "ok, I will make sure to check my legs to see if they are longer"

I think A is a little bit excited about her birthday coming up on Thursday...she's in the living room singing Happy Birthday to herself...

"Mama, take a picture of this face!"

At music class, while singing a song about doing various things in the kitchen, the teacher asked "ok, now who can stir a pot?" A yelled back "only an adult!"

I was informed that Buzz Lightyear is having a tea party and then getting his nails done.

I put W in a onesie with flamingos on it for nap time. She looked at and then very seriously informed me that "flamingos eat tomatoes", and was still chanting that when I left the room.

We were out dancing out at the Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) last night, and A was really getting into it. A lady asked her how she had so much energy and A hollered back "CrossFit!"

W dresses up like her Nana - you probably notice the glasses and socks, but she also apparently raided Nana's dresser for the earplugs she's holding too.

I love A's Forest Foxes class - she came running up to me today when I picked her up, holding out a handful of leaves and yelled "Look, Mama! It's nature's toliet paper!"

We got in the car this morning, and W asked, "Where we goin', Mama?" I said, "CrossFit." She replied very seriously, "Good. I rreeeallly need to workout."

Ok, so my girls are arguing over an imaginary pool. I told them to each find a different pool, and but A is protesting that she wants THIS imaginary pool and W won't get out of it.

I just witnessed this conversation between the girls -

A: W, a you not feelin' good today?

W: (silence)

A (annoyed, waving finger, other hand on hip): W! Tell me honestly, are you sick today?

W (whispering): yyyyeeessss...

I asked Daddy to put the girls to bed tonight so I could wrap up some dishes after a highly contested game of Settlers of Catan (which I won, btw). A started fretting and said "But I want Mama. Mama and I are best friends." Moments that melt a mother's heart.

Both girls screaming and crying, then A says "Mama! We were having biting fight and then W bit me!!"

Me: sigh.

Our science project today was to sort and classify a bowl of shells we got at the beach. I started explaining to A what we were going to do, and before I could finish, she had all of them sorted out. I asked her if she learned that from watching Sid the Science Kid, and she shrugged and said "no, I just like things to be sorted". Well, I guess we can check that off the list.

A ran up to tell me excitedly when I picked her up from her first day at Forest Foxes (outdoor preschool) - "Mama, this is a really cool school!"

What a great day at the fair! A little bit of rain, but once it was passed the weather was wonderful. A was like a kid in a candy shop with her unlimited ride bracelet (apparently she's exactly 36" this year!). W loved the pony ride and talked about it all the way home - "I'm ridin' a horse! I LOOOOVEEE ponies!"

I just read A "Puff the Magic Dragon", and it made me tear up. She asked me why I was crying, because Puff has a new friend at the end so it's ok.

I told her that sometimes mamas get silly and cry when when they think about their babies growing up. She said "It's ok, Mama. Even when I am a grown-up big girl I will still sit in your lap."

A is getting over being sick. She announces in a very sad voice "I'm feeling sick. And when I'm feeling sick, I talk like this."

The girls were wrestling on the front lawn. I was informed that they were playing the "hug-fall-down game".

A: 1+2 is 3! 3+1 is 4! 1+1 is 2!

Me: That's right.

A: Mama, I'm equalling, I'm equalling!

A just said "I wish it could be snowing, Mama"

At ballet today, A says she has "sun-sky-rainbow-sun magic" in her magic wand

A Halloween costume catalog came today, and Willow stated she wants to be "Bugs Light-ear"

I am wearing one of my dad's old workshirts since it's a bit chilly. A said "please take that shirt off, it's making me nervous."

A is swimming while hanging onto a noodle. Cousin E was trying to knock her off - she yelled/growled at him "Stop that and BACK AWAY!" It was pretty funny!

Now A just declared "I'm going to shoot everything and take over the WORLD!" Looks like W has a competitor in the "ruling the world" sweepstakes.

A just watched Nana pull one of E's teeth in open-mouthed amazement. The look on her face was priceless. She says she's going to wait until she's 9 to lose any teeth.

A is watching "Math Adventure to the Moon" and must wear her "astronaut backpack" while doing so.

I asked W at bedtime if she wanted to start learning verses like A. She said yes, so I gave her a very shortened version of Colossians 3:20 "Children, obey your parents." She repeated it back once, then said "no, children obey W!" and laughed manically. I'm a little concerned that this one may try to take over the world someday...

Daddy and W were having a discussion about various things at bed time, when she said cheerfully "Jesus bit me!"...

I'm not familiar with that part in the Bible...

W made quite the scene at the Farmer's Market today. Due to car sickness earlier in the day, she was wearing shorts that are a bit too big for her. As we got ready to cross the street, I told them "Ok girls, when the light changes color we need to go fast, no jumping or dragging our feet."

They both agreed, but just before we got across W started yelling "My pants! My pants! Pants!" I heard lots of laughing from the people around us and looked down to see her waddling quickly along with her shorts around her ankles. The three of us started laughing, and one older lady paused to comment to W, "Yeah, I hate it when that happens to me, too". We couldn't stop giggling all the way home!

W just found the old See N Say, pulled the lever, then promptly exclaimed, "Oh no, there's a turkey stuck in this toy!"

A put on sunglasses and exclaimed, "oooohhhh, the world is so purple!"

A and I were just looking at some photos to get ideas for poses. One is a photo of a girl with an apple balanced on her head. A said nonchalantly "Oh yeah, sometimes girls can do that with apples when they are big girls. Like, I dunno, when they are 6 or so, I think"

So there's just one problem with my plan to let the girls start having a bit of independence by choosing what to wear...

A just told me "I don't care for fresh blueberries. I prefer frozen. You can have these, would you get me some frozen ones, please?"

A just informed me that her pink puppy is named "Pony"

Daddy took the plunge and shaved his head. W said nervously "what happened, daddy?!!" A, who was very enthusiastic about the plan said cheerfully "that's nice, but can you put your hair back on now?" Me? I like it!

A's entry in the "creepy drawings by kids" category

A says "my giraffe is peeing on my cup!"

W came up to me and said "Mama! I wearin' underwear!" Gotta give her props for the attempt...

A came into our room this morning and was bouncing on our bed. Daddy said "In the morning, you should be sleepy and kind of quiet". A replied "No, I should be singing and playing, does that make sense?"

W is creating her own slang terms. If I say "boo" to her, she says "that's scare, mom. That's scare."

A after playing on the piano: Mama, I just sang a song to Jesus all by myself. He likes that.

A came into my room crying this morning "Mama, it's so BRIGHT!". I said "It's ok, sweetie, it's just the sun"

A just asked me "Why is my sister always doing something bad" - ah, sibling rivalry.

Both of my girls just asked to take a nap, claiming they are "so tired". Thank you Lord for small miracles.

A talking to Aunt N on the phone: My sister W is right over there - see? Right there, with the brown eyes. (Holds up phone).

A: I was in your tummy, Mama. And W was in your tummy too. Was Sorka (our beagle) in your tummy?

W just requested pepper on her banana.

During devotions last night, the subject of being a mama came up. A thought for a moment and said "When I have babies, I will feed them. I will pray with them. And I will buy them a toothbrush and brush their teeth."

At ballet today, the teacher asked if anyone knew what hot lava was. A's hand shot up and she said "Yes! There's this one level where if he falls in it burns his bottom!!" The teacher looked at me quizzically and I said "she plays Super Mario Bros with her daddy..."

A is playing CrossFit with her imaginary friends. She is leading them through a WOD around our living room and kitchen.

A's prayer tonight: Thank you for your heart of love, so I can love my mama. I love my daddy. I love my sister. And I love Sorka and Belle.

A has managed to accidentally lock herself in the bathroom twice today.

W put her pants on herself - sure they're inside out and backwards, but hey, who cares?

Poor A - she's old enough to articulate her nightmares now. She came upstairs at 3:00am crying "Mama, I don't want our house to get knocked over!"

The girls are wearing tutus and having an imaginary picnic at their imaginary tent.

Yesterday at ballet A said: I'm not very big, but I am growing!

My two year old just whacked me in the face with a vtech game console. The stabbing pain in my temple and swollen eye attest to the fact that we should perhaps be looking into baseball for her. Maybe hockey would be a better fit. Or professional wrestling.

W just looked at her red painted toes and said "I have such cuuuuutttee nails!"

So tired. Up most of the night with a sick little girl. Good thing she finally fell asleep, we were running out of clean bedding options. It hurts my heart to hear a sad little voice say over and over "Mama, help me, I threw up"

Woah. Looks like this is going to be an interesting day, now W has the stomach flu too. A finally fell asleep, I don't think she's slept this late since she was a newborn.

I get asked on almost a daily basis now if the girls are twins. Weird.

A just sang me "Happy Mother's Day" to the tune of Happy Birthday! Then W sang me Happy Birthday. I am so blessed to be the mama of two sweet little girls!

I get asked on almost a daily basis now if the girls are twins. Weird.

Random facts A shared with her ballet class today: "I have a dog named Sorka who is mostly white", "My Mama can make pizza", "Teacher Annie, Teacher Annie, I have something to tell you: two fives make ten", "It's getting dark in here, because the clouds are in front of the sun." It's like she is truly unable to refrain from talking for 30 minutes...

I think W missed me - she wants me to hold her like a baby and feed her the sippy cup like a bottle.

Why is it that when my kids are playing together nicely and laughing their butts off, I know it's because they are doing something like spraying their milk out of their mouths all over the living room?

Apparently A should be in rugby rather than ballet - she headbutted her teacher for no apparent reason today.

A is now striking up conversations with people in grocery stores whenever I slow the cart down. She explained to J & D (who we ran into at Costco) that she was singing London Bridge with numbers, and later at Fred Meyer had an in-depth discussion on the letters in her name with a nice older lady. W just pipes in with "I lika da raisins" whenever she can get a word in edgewise.

I swear I gave no direction on this - A spontaneously cut her drawing paper to look like it came from the Battlestar Galactica universe...be still my geeky heart. So say we all.

Cleaning house, baking cookies, making birthday decorations all while watching Star Wars: ANH with my little Darth Vader fanatic. Could there be a more perfect Saturday afternoon?

Ha ha ha - I just said to A "don't worry, the Jawas aren't hurting R2D2, he's just sleeping." She said "Chihuahuas? Woof! Woof!"

A just sang me her cookie song "Cookies, cookies, Daddy likes to eat cookies every time. Mama says no"

I have a very large printer that sits on the floor. W just climbed up on it, sat down and said "I goin' potty!"

I got some foam beads with a blunted needle and string for A to play with. I showed her how to do it, she took the needle, looked up at me and said "Wow! Thanks, Mama! Can you leave me alone now?"

I told A to call Daddy for lunch - she yells down "Lunch is ready, Stinkey Feet!" and then laughed manically at her joke.

One of my cousins waked into our hotel room and said "Hi, how are you?" to A. She replied "I'm 3, because I can use the potty!"

We watched the first part of The 10 Commandents today. A didn't seem upset at all, but then she started crying when the princess pulled baby Moses from the basket. I asked her why she was crying, because the baby would be safe now and she sobbed "But what about his old mommy?". This sweet kid melts my heart.

A has a stuffed caterpillar.

A: What is my caterpillar's name?

Me: I don't know, he's your caterpillar, what would you like to name him?

A: I will name him "Nut"

Me: alrighty, then.

This morning W said "A's gone? It's so quiet!"

I think W's been watching too much Mario Bros with Daddy - she's developing an Italian accent. Today: "I not lika getta shots". Yesterday: "I lika da shoes".

Well, modesty is certainly taught, not automatic. A just came running up to me and asked for a snack.

Me: Okay, but why are you naked?

A: I dunno.

Me: Where are your underwear?

A: I dunno.

Me: Well, you have to at least wear underwear.

A: Why?

Me: Sigh.

A just came into the family room with a head of wet hair. I asked her what she did - she finally quietly admitted it was potty water! She stuck her head in the toliet!

A's prayers tonight: "Thank you for all the good stuff today and for all the learning at SCHOOL!" She begged me all day to do school - I don't want to burn her out but she would be happy if we did it twice a day every day! :)

A just started crying and ran away from Daddy after he returned from a run because "he was wet" (sweaty). She is now walking around with a grossed out look on her face and wiping her hands off.

W just held up her baby doll and said "Uh oh, baby is poopy".

The song Rock a Bye Baby is now banned in our house. A has been crying off and on for the last hour "but the baby fell down!". She is finally in her room, after tearfully admonishing Daddy, "Daddy, you sang a bad song".

A and I were discussing who in our family is a girl, and who is a boy. She concluded with "I love my Daddy Boy!"

A: "can you say hello, W?"

W: "Hello, W."

Not even 2 and such a comedian already.

A at 11 pm last night, hysterical: I need to put pajamas on!!!

Daddy: but you have a nightshirt on.

A: but I need PAJAMAS!

Daddy: Ok fine (goes to get pajama pants and bottoms).

A: (takes off nightgown, looks at it, still hysterically crying) But these ARE pajamas! (Puts nightgown back on, stops crying, goes back to bed quietly.)

Seriously, what goes through this kid's head sometimes?

Daddy asked A what his name is. She replied "Uncle S-"

I told A that we could either go to CrossFit or to see the Reptile Man tomorrow. No contest. 3-2-1 Go!

The things grandpas and granddaughters share...

A requests that W tuck her in, then provides the following instructions: Give me a hug. Now give me a kiss. Now say night night and I love you. Give me another hug. Now get out of my room.

A farted REALLY loudly and with startled look exclaimed "My butt just went boom!"

Heading outside to spend the morning on the deck. The sun, the sound of running water, and the sound of kids screaming in excitement...

Starting to read "The Highly Sensitive Child: Helping Our Children Thrive When the World Overwhelms Them". Got some tips from the website that are already helping A, looking forward to seeing what other insights the book provides.

Please pray - W had a breath holding spell (just like A - so it must be genetic) while sitting on a kitchen stool and fell limp onto the hardwood floor. Knot on her head, black eye, red side of her face/ear. Seems to be ok, but watching her closely for signs of head injury.

W just farted and then said to herself "oh! bless you!"

I just asked W if she was lying to me. She growled at me. I said no, "lying", not "lion"

A told me she wants to be a motorcycle when she grows up.

W's impeccable fashion sense

A is really taking homeschooling to heart. She is demonstrating how to wear jewelry to W, and when she tries to walk away she yells "come back here, W! Your class isn't finished yet! Wait, right here, your class is almost finished."

Me: A, did you take Mama's purple pen?

A: No.

Me: You know how I can tell when you're lying?

Our evil genius in training. Gotta get the evil mustache thing down early.

Well, she's got the attitude to go with the tat...

We have a pack of flash cards, and whenever W gets to this shirt card, she says emphatically "Grandpa!". Nice to know your style is recognizable anywhere, Dad.

A's first day of homeschooling - she's so excited that we're starting a half hour early!

A and Daddy are comparing watches.

Daddy: Mine is an Ironman.

A: Mine is a Potty Watch!

A is miffed at me that I already went to CrossFit this morning without her...

Who hoo! I think it's official that A is daytime potty-trained. No accidents in 5 days and we've even been out and about!

As I'm on the phone with mom, W says in a very distressed voice "I NEEEEED to talk!!!"

A: Dear Jesus, thank you for those Chaney boys.

Yay! W's fever is gone and she's back to our happy little baby. Oh, and did I mention that A's been using the potty for the last two days?!

A's ballet teacher asked the class if they knew what a "chasse" was. A raised her hand and said "umm...I think it's a kind of hamburger."

The girls are pointing their fingers and saying "pew! pew!".

Me: Oh, are you shooting guns?

A (with an eye roll): No Mama, we're just using our fingers. They're not real guns.

A (praying): Thank you for the best day I ever saw!

Me: What made it the best?

A: Going to Molalla and walking around with the boys and with sticks!

Uncle J has A convinced that buffalos have wings.

Spent a miserable night with a sick little girl calling for me, for her juice and for grandpa to come play with her. She is so unhappy and achy. Fever got up to 102 last night, down to 100 this morning.

A: I'm feeling sick.

Me (thinking she's jealous of the attention a sick W got the last few days): Nah, I think you're fine.

A: Can you take my temperature?

Me: Alright, I'll take your temperature and prove to you that you're perfectly...oops 100.4, ok maybe you are actually sick.

A is on a baby animal kick. She just informed me that "When a baby seal comes to visit my house, we will play ring-around-the-rosie. And Blokus."

In addition to her usual prayers, A thanked Jesus for CrossFit and jump boxes tonight.

W is attempting to take Sorka's temperature with the thermoscan thermometer. I supposed I should be glad it's not the old kind...

Me to a very cranky A: "Don't laugh, A. A, don't laugh"

A: "Stop irritating me like Grandpa does!"

W has a croupy cough. I said "wow, I can hear our little seal".

A said "that's not a seal, it's our baby! Baby seals live in oceans."

We are learning about zebras today. Both girls cooed over the photos of the newborn foals. A said "When a baby zebra comes to visit my house, I will pet him very, very gently. He is going to like meeting me!"

Uh oh. I think little sister is even more stubborn than big sister. Just spent a good 5 min arguing with W that ferrets are not cats.

Me: "A, hurry up and get in the car, I'm starving!"

A: "You're not starving, Mama, you're just hungry"

Don't leave a baby alone with yogurt...you may come back to find it on your walls, windows and dogs.

Well, A's hair should be silky and smooth. She just put an entire 5 oz tube of detangler on it.

A and W are playing the piano right now. A says they are playing the grape song, which involves her singing the word grape and a bunch of colors, while W mashes as many keys as possible as loudly as possible.

A woke up crying this morning. I ran downstairs to make out that she was saying in a heartbroken voice "I lost my leopard, Mama. Mama, where is my leopard?". I start to go through her blankets when suddenly she says cheerfully "Oh! It's under my bottom! Sorry, Mama!"

Yesterday morning A woke up while I was still at CrossFit. When I got home, she enthusiastically told me "Daddy took good care of me. He got me yogurt and turned on the feevee!"

I asked A if she wanted to watch Sesame Street or Discovery Channel's "How It's Made". She's currently watching how contacts are made.

W just came into my office and said "Hey, good job, Mama!"

Me: Wow, I really seem to have a frog in my throat today.

A (crying): Where is it?!!

Me: A, what did you learn in Sunday school today?

A: Lots of things.

Me: Like what?

A: Like I want a snack, Mama.

A: Mama, W is trying to play with my puzzle, so I'm going to elevate it (as she places it on the table).

A just locked me out of the house when I went to get the mail. Luckily, she decided to let me back in.

A prays: "Dear Jesus, thank you for Mama and Daddy and W and Uncle M and Uncle B and Uncle J and Super Mario Brothers. Amen."