February 28th Tatum Turned 2

I can't believe our sweet Tatum just turned 2. She is such a blessing in our lives. She is a ham and is full of personality. Here is a "little" about our sweet Tatum:

Tatum can count to 13 all by herself. I don't know why 13, but that is what she is up to.

Tatum can sing the ABC's and has quite the repertoire of songs memorized. We sing 5 songs before nap time and 5 before bedtime pretty much everyday (we would sing more but I had to set a limit) and that doesn't include songs sung throughout the day as well.

Tatum's favorite songs to listen/sing to in the car are: Castle on a Cloud (Les Miserables) and Calling You (by Blue October).

Tatum loves books and she is actually excited for nap time most of the time because she looks forward to reading a book. In her high chair, after lunch, she says, "I need to go nappy, nappy" so she can go pick a book.

She is a girly-girl through and through. Her favorite color is most definitely pink. She loves anything pretty and is very complimentary if she think what I'm wearing is pretty. She loves to play dress-up, barbies, ponies, house. She's a great little mom to her baby dolls as well. She loves makeup and applies her "lipstick"(chapstick) several times a day. When she likes something she states that it is: cute, darling or beautiful. She loves having her picture taken and lets us know after each shot, "That was so cute!" She is such a cuddler and loves kisses.

Tatum is such a little talker and has quite the vocabulary. Her new favorite topic to share with everyone is about our new pet tortoise, Nemo. She loves to tell people how funny Nemo is and how she likes to read books to her and that Nemo is funny when she eats and you can see her cute little tongue. People get confused because she never tells them it's her pet, so they think she is talking about the movie.

Tatum's favorite movie is Spongebob and she likes to tell us she's a goofy goober. If you have ever seen Spongebob the Movie you will understand when she occasionally asks if she can brush her eyes with her toothbrush. This used to be a serious question several months ago because she really wanted to brush her eyes; it has now turned into a funny joke.

Tatum loves puzzles and is getting good at them.

Tatum loves her best friend, Kathryn, and talks about her all the time. When family is talking on the phone with her, she usually mentions Kathryn's house at some point in the conversation.

Tatum is such a wonderful girl and brightens up everyone's day!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

This is pin the crown on the princess

On February 28th our sweet, angel Tatum turned 2. We had a party for her on Friday evening because Jay was going to be leaving for a while. She asked for a "princess party".

Blessed

This weekend has been kind of crazy. Saturday at 5:30, an earthquake woke me up. My bed was shaking intensely and it took a second to register what was even going on. I then stood up trying to figure out what to do next and the house was swaying back and forth. By the time I was headed to the kid's rooms it was over. So many things went through my mind afterward. I was thinking that I don't have enough water in our storage. I was thinking I really need to be faster at getting my kids to safety and maybe having a family home evening on what to do during an earthquake. I was also thinking how thankful I was that we were all safe and life could go on as usual. I couldn't believe that it was a 7.0 earthquake about 30-40 miles from here. We've also had a couple of tsunami warning because of the earthquake here and the one in Chile. I had called Jay at work to see how he was doing and we were both amazed that, that had just happened. It was disconcerting to feel so out of control. I don't think I need to go through one of those again but if I have to I'll be better prepared. Tayson said it was fun and went right back to sleep. I heard Tatum rustling around in the other room and she also went right back to sleep. I keep thinking about the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile and how blessed we have been to be safe. It definitely gave me a drive to get better prepared. Not only physically but spiritually as well. The people in these other countries lost almost everything. On Saturday morning I went to a Relief Society training and they showed a video of the Latter Day Saints in Haiti and how their testimonies and faith have given them strength to move forward. They were in church on Sunday with clean clothes and smiles on their faces and most of them live on the streets but they knew where they needed to be and they had faith that the Lord was going to help them through. Would I have the same countenance of faith and hope if our outcomes had been similar? I know I will have a different attitude when it comes to being prepared and realizing that I've been given a chance to be better and do more of what the Lord has asked of me and my family with a brightness of hope and faith that he knows what is best for us.

Kara's 29th Birthday

I had a great birthday and Valentines. Friday (my birthday) we went to Cocoks with Bill and Lisa Cox (are wonderful friends). Cocoks is a nail salon. The boys joined Lisa and me. For great laughs the boys got their toes done as well. We had a really fun time and enjoyed our excellent pedicures. We went to dinner at CocoIchibanya afterward (because the Cox's hadn't been there before). It was delicious as always. We all ordered pretty much the same thing. Chicken cutlet curry. Jay level 4 spicy, Bill level 2 and Lisa and I got level 1 (we like to be able to have taste buds after we eat. We got the all-famous naan bread and mango lassi (mango milk). We then headed back to the house to open presents and have cake and ice cream. I got to open one present right before we went to Cocoks, my new camera. It's a really nice Nikon D5000 camera and opening it was bittersweet. It was like, "Whoa! This is way too expensive" and "Wow! What a sweet camera." I definitely need to study the manual that came with it to figure out how to take great pictures. The next gift was a really cute birthday kokeshi doll. It is so beautiful and fits in perfectly with my Japanese/Okinawan souvenir collection. Then I opened my Cricut Expressions. I'm excited to use it. It is a cutting machine that does pictures and letters. I'm especially excited to cutout vinyl lettering. I forgot to mention that Jay gave me a gorgeous orchid plant earlier in the day. It is so beautiful. I don't have much of a green thumb and I know that they are sensitive so I'm hoping I can keep it alive. Hopefully my online research helps. This birthday I was way too spoiled. We may need to make next year's a little less extravagant or the next many years to come. Next everyone sang to me and my cake looked like it was on fire. Lisa made a delicious red velvet cake. You can tell Tatum enjoyed it. We then played Settlers of Catan. We love games and this is probably our favorite. We love playing it with Bill and Lisa. It's a great time. Thanks to my sweet honey for the fun birthday and my kiddos for celebrating with me. Thanks to the Cox family for sharing this special day. (The Cox's have 4 kids. Their 2 boys somehow eluded any pictures that were taken.)