Kanyin is THREE!!!

2-25-2015

Dear Kanyin,

Today you turn three years old! You are currently taking a nap along with your baby sister, so I a want to write you a letter. You have been so excited for your birthday. You will tell strangers in the store that your birthday is “next week” even if it was a month away. There is a heart drawn on the calendar on the 25^th so you know which day it is. It is very common for you to drag us to that calendar and say “See!! My birthday!” and point to that day. We are now living in Delta, CO and living with Jaca, Bepa and Meysa, while we try and find a house. Your baby sister Maren was born one week ago, so we are going to have a small little birthday party for you tonight when everyone gets home.

You continue to be a spunky, fun, energetic and sometimes a stubborn little girl. Your Dad and I often talk about how you like to disagree with us. For example, going to bed is something you do not like to do and it has been a fight lately to get you to lie down without you being really upset. Something else you have been very stubborn about is potty training. Pooping in the potty is just not an option for you right now. You really want nothing to do with it! You will hold it for days, and then poop in your diaper in the middle of the night and we have to go in and change you. Hopefully one of these days, you will have a desire to poop in the potty, hopefully before kindergarten J. Even though you can be stubborn, you have a very soft loving heart. Since baby sister has been home, you have been very concerned about her when she cries. You don’t like me to change her diaper because you know it will make her cry. Sometimes out of nowhere, you will come up to me, give me a hug and say “ love you Mom.”  

You have a great imagination, which usually involves tigers somehow. You love to play as long as someone will play with you. Hide and go seek is a favorite, along with wrestling and dancing with Dad. You are always up for watching a show. Dora is STILL the favorite, along with Disney princess movies. You are very much a girly girl. If I let you, you would wear a dress every day, and you always notice other peoples nails if they are painted. You usually grab their hand and say “Wow! Pretty!” 

You have become a brave girl lately. Up till now, you have not been much of a dare devil. Lately you love to climb. If there is a climbing wall at a park, you are determined to make it to the top on your own. We went sledding and you loved it! You also recently with cross country skiing with Jaca and Meysa. Jaca pulled you on the sled, and wanted her to go faster. I think she got a pretty good workout that day. 

It is hard to believe it has already been three years since you were born. I can’t imagine life without you and I hope you know that your Dad and I love you very much and always will. You are our little Kan Kan) and bring so much life and excitement into our home.

Love, Your Mom

Kanyin got her "Let it Go" dress

Jaca "grandma" got her some cross country skis! Guess what they are doing on Saturday??

This girl has been SOOOOO excited for her birthday

Belly Pictures

Like most first time mom's I have quite a few pictures of my belly when I was pregnant with Kanyin. Not so much with #2 and I feel bad already. My mom was kind enough to take a few pictures for us, so we have proof to show this little girl down the road that I really was pregnant with her. I was about 37 weeks along when we took these.

Life is about to Change...

"Patience is a virtue" has been my modo for the last while. My due date is in two days, but I have been very ready for this baby to arrive!  I am trying to be patient and enjoy this time growing a little one and feeling her kick and move. What a miracle it is and a huge blessing to be able to bring her into this world.

 We have been trying to buy a house for months and finally, we just bought a house last week!!! YAy!! It has been a long process of looking and looking and we finally found one that will work after five months of looking and trying to get a house. It is a smaller 50's home, so there will be much work to be done, but we are excited to do that work and learn how to be handy haha...maybe.  Shawn has been reading his "Do it Yourself" book, so I have full confidence in him :) We still have to get an inspection done etc, but hopefully by the end of March, we will move in.  I am so grateful to my parents for letting us stay with them for so long.  I have been blessed with a great family that is patient with us and helpful. I am excited to move all of our stuff in and get unpacked. When we moved all our stuff into my parents shop, I put all the baby boxes at the bottom of the piles of boxes and in the back, cause I thought for sure we would be in a house by the time baby arrived. Alas, it was fun watching Shawn digging through the piles of boxes, trying to find all those necessities that come with a baby.

I have been really trying to enjoy my last few days with just Kanyin. We have had three years with just her and so it is weird to think that there will be another little girl that I will love just as much as her. Kanyin knows it's coming and is very excited for baby sister to come. She always sings to her, plays peek a boo with my belly and gives my belly hugs. I know it is going to be an adjustment at the same time, but she will be a great little helper.

Here are some recent pictures of what we have been up to

We love taking walks at the near by park

These two could throw rocks in the river and look for ducks all day! Whenever we go for walks, Kanyin wears her "hiking hat"

Meysa got her ears pierced over Christmas break! She is going to look good with those earrings. 

It has been such a warm winter, but the few times it has snowed, Kanyin is out the door playing. 

Kanyin's new favorite thing, is a ham and cheese sandwich. If I let her she would eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

Kanyin is into getting dressed herself these days

Picking up our bountiful baskets

The end of 2014

2014 is almost over!! Here are a few random pictures of our adventures lately. We are still waiting on finding a house to buy here in Delta, and are so grateful to my parents for letting us stay with them. Hopefully soon, we will be home owners, but until then we will enjoy being here. Kanyin loves the attention and just wants to play all the time. She really is such a cute but spunky girl. She has to wear a dress everyday, potty training is not her thing, she loves the cats, snow and fruit snacks. Shawn is loving his job as a Physician Assistant. He works with great people, which always makes things much better. I am just getting ready to be done with being pregnant. Only five more weeks till this new little girl joins our family. We are super excited, nervous etc etc.

Kanyin loves doing "Jaca's" nails

In celebration of Shawn passing his boards, we took a little day trip to Colorado National Monument. So so pretty

For awhile, Kanyin loved to set up her train and read books while the train went around and around and around etc etc.

We went to Laramie WY for Thanksgiving this year, where Shawn's sister and her family live. Another one of his brothers came with his family as well. This is a picture of Stillman and Shawn 

The morning after the big feast

We even got to go to a basketball game with Kristin and Travis. We had a blast!

We attempted to go to Aunt Meysa's Christmas concert. A certain two year old didn't want to be very quiet though. 

Christmas sugar cookies is serious business around here

The Delta, CO parade of lights. 

The BIG move!

These are our last couple of days in Philly, and the end of our favorite chapter so far in life!  We had so much fun exploring the East coast the last two years, and there is still so much more that we didn't get to see.  Maybe we get excited too easily over simple things, but every little turn, town, festival, or park had something new and fun to do.  The old homes, Amish farms, and fall festivals always have a nostalgic feel of the old days... (but then we would drive into the city with traffic lights and tolls and the nostalgia was gone). Here are some pictures of our move from Pennsylvania to Colorado. Kanyin did so well in car, which was such a blessing. We would play for a couple hours, sleep for two and then let her watch a movie. It took us about four days to make it, but we saw some pretty neat things along the way. We have decided we love driving across the country. Such an adventure!

Shawn's mom and and step-dad came for graduation so we were able to show them around Philly a little bit.  Reading Terminal Market is one of Torrey's favorites... so much food in such a small space.

Hand drawn noodles in China town. This bowl supposedly has only one really extra long noodle but its a little hard to prove.

Independence Hall

This girl knows what she wants in life!

Drive

study

watch movies
We each had a job on this trip, which we all performed pretty well I might say.  Kanyin watched movies with incredible focus and attention to detail.  Shawn studied, perhaps with a little less focus than Kanyin, but studied well nonetheless.  Torrey (the primary driver on this trek performed beautifully, navigating her way through thick forests,  statewide corn mazes, endless plains, and towering mountains...always with grace and beauty

the fall colors of Western Pennsylvania

This is the childhood home of John Glenn.... basically if there was a sight to see that was close to the I-70 we tried to see it.  

Just to prove my point made int the last caption, we drove through about 10 miles of cornfields off the freeway in Indiana to see Wilbur Wrights birthplace (we wouldn't have gone if we had known it was that far... the signs just kept pointing and we followed)

This is the house... the airplane was not his birthplace, its just there (:

This stop was a must for Shawn and probably his favorite part of the trip.  He was absolutely giddy to walk into this legendary gym.  For those of you that are not up on your classic sports movies, this is from Hoosiers.  Probably the best sports movie, or close to it, according to Shawn!  It really was a cool step back in time.

He had to re-enact all of the shots he could think of (:

St Louis was so fun to see! Kanyin is sitting in one of the cars that takes you up to the top of the arch. It was a pretty fun ride to the top.

Everyone needs to experience the St. Louis Arch if you haven't. It really is an amazing structure.

View from the top

at the top of the arch

Independence, Missouri 

Liberty Jail Visitors Center

Every gas station should have a playground!

Aibilene Kansas is where President Eisenhower's boyhood home is 

Another break from the car

Somewhere in Kansas..."There's no place like home!"

We got to see some friends in Denver that we haven't seen for a long time.

Kanyin got to meet her second cousin

The drive from Denver, Colorado to Delta, Colorado is always to breath taking. 

We finally made it to Delta where Kanyin was reunited with Aunt Meysa. They were both in Heaven and just played and played. We are grateful to be here and we are excited to start our lives in Colorado.