One of Calder’s favorite toys is our little barn. He loves shoving the animals in to all the different stalls and he dances when it plays “Old McDonald Had a Farm.” Lately, he’s been saying “this” and “that” when he wants to show me something. I can’t believe he will be 1 next month!

Setting his farm in order. Which, of course, includes chewing on all the animals.

In a little over a week, Amelie starts preschool and dance classes. She is quite excited about both, but I think she understands what a dance class will be and so she is even more excited about that. We went out the other day and bought her some cute dance clothes. She had a blast trying on different skirts and leotards at the store. She preened and twirled in front of the mirror and then helped me choose this lavender outfit. For the next few days, this was all she wanted to wear and I tried to let her prance around in her “dance dress” whenever we were at home. Am I really the mother of an almost 3 year-old? Wasn’t it just yesterday that she was taking her first cautious steps and learning how to say “Mommy”?

She loves making up new dance moves and showing them off to us.

Since Calder was constantly trying to climb in to the bath tub when I was giving Amelie baths, I just gave up and started bathing them together. They both love it and bath time is full of splashes and giggles.

Now the trick is trying to keep Calder from climbing out of the tub! I have to keep the water level pretty low because he is a big splasher.

Amelie teaches Calder lots of things. Shown in this picture, the fine art of pouring water.

Beautiful flowers and my beautiful girl.

In the car on our way home after a fun evening with Uncle Brad and Aunt Michelle (and Hayley, of course!).

Amelie: “Sunshine make me feel good!”

Raven: “Yes, it makes you feel warm, huh?”

Amelie: “And sun make me feel warm!”

Raven: “Heavenly Father made the sun. And flowers, and trees, and animals. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Amelie: “Heavenly Father make the sun. And Heavenly Father love me very much.”

Raven: “That’s true, Amelie, He does love you very much.”

Amelie: “I love Heavenly Father very much. And Mommy love him very much, too!”

Raven: “You’re right, Sweetheart.”

Amelie: “Heavenly Father has toes?”

Raven: “Yep, Heavenly Father has toes, just like you!”

Amelie: “And Baby Jesus?”

Raven: “Yep, Baby Jesus had toes, too.”

Amelie: “Heavenly Father make flowers.”

Raven: “Yep. And you know what? Heavenly Father gave me you, too!”

At this point, I was almost in tears. The dialogue I tried to recreate doesn’t do the conversation justice. Just a precious precious moment for me as a mother. I love my children so very much and hope that they always know that Heavenly Father loves them and designed this beautiful world for them. May my sweet Amelie Pearl always have the same confidence in this knowledge that she does as a toddler.

The other day, Amelie was helping me fold some laundry when she took one of the towels, threw it around her shoulders, and declared, “Look, Mom, I being Super!” She even jumped up and down and explained how she was “flying up in the sky”. She’s really starting to enjoy imaginative play and it’s always fun to see what her sweet mind comes up with!

I guess this is the kind of face you make when you're Super.

Amelie has also been interested in Bryce's running program. She always asks me where he is running and if he's running with Uncle Brad (they usually run together on Saturdays). This is how she decided to help Daddy stretch the other day.

Proudly showing off the necklace she made out of her wood beads.

Since she is so into imagining things these days, I thought this whimsical canopy would be the perfect addition to her bedroom.Â

One things for sure, I definitely think Amelie is pretty Super in every way!

This summer, Calder has discovered two new joys: swimming and playing our keyboard.

Splashing is practically a hobby for him. His favorite splashing spot? The bath tub. If Amelie is taking a bath, Calder scrambles to climb in (fully clothed), so they’ve been taking lots of baths together recently.

I didn't realize that their suits matched until they wore them to the pool the other day. Pretty cute!

He’s also enjoying our electric keyboard. Amelie often pulls a chair up to the keyboard so they can compose together.

Keyboards are great for babies because they make so many fun sounds like drums, whistles, and clapping!

This is such a precious age. This past month, Calder has learned to wave and clap. His favorite thing to say is, “Daddy!” He pretty much says that word all the time, but I think he really means it when he sees Bryce 😉

Playing trains with Daddy.