Besties

I absolutely love that Minnette and Aurelle are so close in age. Most people are in a state of shock when they find out that they are only 14 months apart, and then look at me like I am a crazy person when they find out that we PLANNED it that way... The most common response I get, being, "But wasn't that hard?!" Well, honestly, no. At least not any harder than it seems to be for anyone else having a second child, no matter the age difference bewteen the two.

One of the things that I love most about Minnette and Aurelle being so close in age is that they are already best friends. They play with the same toys, think the same silly things are absolutely hilarious, and since Minnette can't even remember what it was like not having Aurelle around, we don't face many of the common challenges involving jealousy, posessiveness or aggression with Minnette towards Aurelle. Minnette is always so patient and kind with Aurelle- even when Aurelle is hitting Minnette in the face with legos, she never gets upset. They are constantly giving each other hugs and kisses, usually without Kyle or I ever saying anything. They love each other!

It was love at first sight... well, actually, Minnette didn't really notice that there was even a baby around for a while... but she already loved her and knew they were always going to be best friends!

They are matching band-aid buddies:
Minnette has always loved giving Aurelle hugs:

Did I mention that Aurelle is also so very patient with Minnette and all of her big-sister-ness? She almost never gets upset, even when Minnette is trying to sit on her head!

They are always so willing to share with each other... even MOMMY!

They both have the cutest chubby cheeks:

They enjoy sharing meals together (though at this time, they definitely weren't eating the same things... considering Aurelle's face is covered in prunes!):

They are always playing together! Minnette is so kind and soft (usually) when she is playing with Aurelle, and Aurelle thinks pretty much anything Minnette does is absolutely hilarious:

They even share in mischief together (playing in Mommy's jewelry):

Giving loves!

They love to just hang out together. 90% of the time, they just want to be doing the same thing as the other one is doing, which goes both ways!):

They act silly together. Every night before bedtime, Kyle and I have started calling "The Minnette and Aurelle Show" because we get at least 15 minutes of the two of them playing and running around our living room together, which usually involves some sort of "nastics" (Minnette's word for doing gymnastics... like Aunt Raquel) dancing, singing, spinning or playing their own versions of tag. Here Kyle thought it was funny to pull their pants up high like little old ladies... and they both thought it was pretty hilarious!They read together:

They love to hold hands. This is also a new common practice for Minnette while walking... whether it is at the library, out to the car or just to their room for bedtime, Minnette always wants to be holding Aurelle's hand!

They are always finding ways to play together, even (especially) during naptime:

They even occasionally coordinate their outfits and pose the same for pictures :

I am so glad that these two have eachother...

... and I am so excited to be adding a third little amigo to the Willman girl clan! Minnette and Aurelle are both so excited to finally meet baby Jovi in a couple of months!

Valentine's Day 2011

I made a goal many years ago, that when I had my own family, that I wanted to celebrate ALL of the holidays with hem... even the small ones. Go all out and make them really special for our kids. It has been so fun over the last year or so to find ways to make holidays like Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day and Halloween really fun for Minnette (and now Aurelle). Last year was my first attempt, and we had a successful St. Patrick's Day, and so this year I added to our tradition, and we decided to go all out for Valentine's Day!

The night before, Kyle and I decorated our apartment to make it a little more festive:

And blew up balloons for the girls. Balloons are always a big hit:

Kyle got me a set of cookie cutters for my Valentine's Day present (since I don't have ANY), which also ended up being a huge hit with the girls (Don't worry, I washed them before I used any of them!):

...And were immediately used for our festive heart-shaped french toast with strawberries and whipped cream breakfast!

We all wore varying shades of pink and red (which I didn't get a picture of) and Minnette even got a Valentine's Day hairdo:

In case you didn't know, it gets pretty frigid during the winters in Provo, but we were fortunate to have a beautiful 43 degree day with sunshine on Valentine's Day, so we took the girls to one of the ponds on campus to feed the ducks. (And no, you didn't read that wrong... I did, in fact, say that it was 43 degrees and beautiful... only after so many below freezing and cloudy days, could I truly appreciate the sun the way I do now!)

There was a fair amount of this going on (Minnette chasing the ducks in circles):

Just see for yourself, it is hilarious (but please ignore my super-awesome laughing in the backround!):

Minnette has gotten quite a throwing arm:

And this is what Aurelle did the entire time we were there. You might say she was a little hesitant of the ducks, and would not leave that little bench!

We then went home and enjoyed a heart-shaped pizza and pink juice for lunch!

I had a special fancy dinner planned with Martinelli's and everything, but simply ran out of time to prepare it (we had it the next night for dinner, instead). But after dinner we had our neighbors, the Mitchells over for FHE. Kyle gave a lesson on love, and we decorated Valentine's cookies together! (And my new cookie cutters were put to use for the the second time in ONE DAY!)

Here are the Mitchell girls and Minnette and Aurelle eating the cookies they decorated:

And that night we gave the girls their Valentines from Mommy and Daddy, which they are (obviously) super excited about:

Happy Valentine's Day!

Family pictures, December 2010

While we were down in Phoenix for Christmas break, my entire family was actually in town at the same time, so my parents scheduled some family pictures.

Here are several shots of the "big family":

The original Murphy family (oh my, how we have expanded in the last 7 years!):

Murphy girls (now Denny/Tieman/Willman girls):

Grandma and Grandpa Murphy with all of the grandbabies (there are currently 2 on the way!):

The girls:

The boys (this picture is funny to me because since Kyle and I don't have any boys, and Gina and JD have a plethora of them, little boys were dispersed amongst adult boys, and this picture makes it look like Hunter is supposed to be ours!):

Our little family:

I didn't realize until just now, that I uploaded all black and white pictures of our little family... apparently I think I look better in black and white! :) When we were taking this picture, the photographer kept telling Kyle and I to "try and look like we actually like each other"... I didn't think that was something that we had to "try" to do, but I guess it is harder than you'd think!

Minnette, who was being a little camera shy:

Little Aurelle -who had an unfortunate spill on Grandma and Grandpa Willman's tile just that morning, which is why she has a giant red scrape on her poor little chin :(

And I saved the best picture for last... how is that for cutest kids imaginable?