Who they are...

MIRANDA

Miranda is that girl who likes to watch football on TV with dad.  She is the girl who hides when she is doing something she knows she shoudn't do.  She is the girl who likes to wear hats, sometimes two at a time.

She is the girl with the crazy, curly, unruly, beautiful hair.. and sometimes she even asks for a bow to get it out of her eyes!  She is the girl who learned how to go down a slide all by herself and would stay at the park all day sliding!

She is the girl who climbs up and sits in my sink to bruch her teeth ALL DAY LONG!  If she is really quiet or has been missing for a while that is where I find her.   (Nik is so proud!)

Miranda is the girl who is usually wearing boy clothes (unless we are going somewhere) because I just don't have enough girl clothes that fit her! =)  She actually prefers Ian's clothes over hers.. especially the clothes that have footballs or race cars or lions on them!  She is that girl who carries around stuffed animals everywhere she goes.  (Notice the monkey hitching a ride on her back!)

She is the girl who melts my heart every day!!  I put her hair in pigtails for the first time the other day and I just couldn't get enough!!  She looked so cute I could hardly stand it!  She is the girl that is always willing to hug Ian (even when he pushes her away).  She is the girl who is so good at sharing (most of the time) and doesn't like it when Ian (or any other baby for that matter) is sad.  At church when she hears a baby crying she will say "baby, sa, blae blae."  Which translates to baby, sad, needs a blankie.  If Ian is in timeout and crying it makes her sad too and she wants to go be with him to help him be happy.

Miranda is also that girl who can scream the loudest and cry the hardest at the drop of a hat.  She is so girly and emotional and dramatic!!  She is the girl who likes to unload all the movies from under the TV and then put them back.  She is the girl who is so good at playing and entertaining herself if she is in the right mood!  She is also the girl who will hang on my legs and cry until I pick her up and get her what she wants.

Miranda is the girl who usually has daddy's socks on.  She is the girl who loves to wear necklaces and backpacks.  She is the girl that gets really sad if she doesn't get to say goodbye to dad in the mornings.  She loves her dad and loves picking him up from school!

She is the girl who has more attitude than my 17-year-old sister and a bigger heart than most people I know.  She is so loving and caring and sweet and I just can't get enough lately!!  I love her so much and love this stage that we are in!  I can understand a lot of what she says (most people probably wouldn't be able to understand a word) and she is learning more every day!

IAN 

Ian is that kid who likes deviled eggs, but hates getting his picture taken.  He is the kid that likes to play with cars and trucks and anything really!!  He just likes to play.  He is the kid who will choose the orange bowl and then after I get his cereal and pour the milk and hand it to him will decide he wants a different bowl and when I tell him "you chose orange so that is what you get, I'm not going to switch the bowls" will just start crying and say "you scared me." (He says that alot for different reasons, but that was just a good example.) 

Ian is the kid who likes to do projects (coloring, paints, playdough, cut paper, stickers) and would do them all day if he could!  He is the kid who wants to play with whatever Miranda is playing with.  He doesn't like sharing with Miranda, but expects Miranda to always share with him (and she does.)  He is that kid who, when he decides it's ok, is so nice to hug and kiss Miranda and help her get her blankie and play with her. He is the kid who likes to call Grandma on the phone, but will only say hi and then he is done talking and wants to do something else.

He is the kid who is very picky about the clothes he wears and won't wear any shorts that aren't basketball shorts and won't wear shirts that "hang down" or "make bumps" (whatever that means).  I even took him to the store and let him pick out some shirts so he would wear them... ya didn't work.  He chose some great shirts and now won't wear them.  Most of the time he just doesn't wear a shirt!!  We usually have to bribe him or get mad at him before he will get dressed in nice clothes for church!

He is the kid who likes to climb on everything and I tell him at least 10 times a day to please get off the cupboards!! =)  He is the kid who has to have a bowl of cereal in his bed at night and loves to cuddle with us in our bed in the mornings!!  He is the kid who loves to read books.  He is the one that will say what he is thinking... for example... this morning he tells Nik "I don't like you.  You always do wrong things I don't want you to do like clean and I just want you to do right things like play."  Nik tried to explain that we can't always do things we want to do and that if we don't clean our house it would get really messy and it wouldn't be fun to live in.  Ian replied "I just like it messy because I like to play, play, play a lot." 

Ian is the kid who is always giving me hugs and kisses and pushing daddo away, until he is about to give up and then he wants kisses and hugs from him too.  He is the kid who likes to play with friends and gets so excited when we are going to a friends house or they are coming over... I usually try to wait to tell him they are coming or else he wants them right then!!  He is the kid that would take one marshmallow NOW over a whole bag of marshmallows in 10 minutes!!!  He too is so sweet and loving and is always telling me he loves me or he likes me.  He is also the one who gives me the most compliments and disagreements with the clothes I wear and the way I look.  He is very opinionated about what I should wear and what he thinks looks good! =)

These kids are my life and I love them so much!  I love seeing their different personalities and the different stages we are in.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE when they play and laugh together!  At those moments our home is truly heaven on earth!  I pray every day that I can be a better mother and that I can teach them the things that will guide them through their lives and bring them happiness!!  It is scary to me how impressionable they are at this age and I have really tried to be careful of the things we watch on tv or the things they hear because they will repeat things I don't want them to know about!  They are such sweet little spirits right now and I can see how important it is that they have a good home where they can feel safe and learn the gospel and feel the spirit!  What a job we mothers have!!!  Wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!