Jumping back in! Happy 4th birthday to my baby!

Wow! I'm feeling a bit guilty for not keeping this up for the past few years.  I was just thinking the other day that I really really REALLY need to get back into this.  Last month Althea turned 4 and she was as cute as can be and I'm already starting to forget some of the cute things she did.  It makes me sad.  So here we go!
Happy 4th to my baby love!
The night before her birthday we tied a balloon with a happy face on it to her crib.  When she woke up she was so happy.  All morning long she skipped around the house chanting that it was her birthday.  We had some workmen here finishing up some stuff on the house and that didn't stop her.  She was just so happy.  Smiling from ear to ear.  Skipping everywhere she went.  What a happy day!

She got a crown at her preschool class.  She was very proud of it.  In the evening we had chocolate cake and ice cream (oh and pizza for dinner....her request was that it be pepperoni, not the vegetable kind I made a few days prior...lol!)  For gifts we got her the little pink kitchen that the older girls had when they were little.  I got her all new play dishes and some play food to go with it.  She got play-doh which she loves of course.  Her favorite gift though I'd have to say was her Dumbo and Mrs. Jumbo plush toys.  Althea loves the movie and has been pretending to be Dumbo and wants me to pretend to be the mother and gets mad at me because I sing "Baby Mine" all wrong.  (I'm singing it right but to her I'm doing something wrong?)  She adores these and has been sleeping with them every night. 

One thing is certain...this girl is loved!  She's got us all wrapped around her little finger!  Happy birthday sweet four year old.

what the heck?!

Can't believe she's a one year old for only another month.  Wow how time flies!

Just a little cute story about my little Althea.  On Sunday we were out at Princeton and trying to get her in her little baby carrier back pack so that we could take a walk in the woods.  We were struggling to get her in right.  Her clothes would get all crunched up or her shoes would get stuck, etc..  Out of nowhere, Althea said, "what the heck?!"  Kermit and I looked at each other and just started laughing.  She's never said that before!  She is a little sponge!

Other cute stories from lately...
She loves to do everything "all by yeself." 

Goes to bed without any trouble.  Does not nap!  If she does go to sleep in the day its in the car.  If we are out at Princeton I'll just leave her in the car with the AC running and let her nap in the car and just check on her every 15 minutes.

Whenever we pull up to the house she always says "We home!"

Loves her chickens. Perfectly content to just go out and play around the coop.

Likes going to nursery at church.  My other kids did not so this is good.  The big girls take her in and drop her off.  I think that helps.

She talks soooo well.  Perfect sentences regularly.  She is amazing.  She gets life too.  It must help to have 3 big sisters that literally love to teach her new things.

When she prays she listens to what I say but then just repeats the last syllable of what ever I said.  I say "Thank you for Mommy and Daddy"  She says, "ddy"  She'll get it.  One day I said "please bless erin and romney and bless their new baby"  Althea said "What about Miles?" 

Says her name "a-tea-ah"

Such a goof ball.  Likes to make silly faces to get a reaction from us.

My baby is a toddler

I cannot believe how quickly this girl is growing.  By far she has grown up faster than the others.  Why is that? Time is just racing. I feel like she should barely be turning one and here we are at almost 19 months next week. 

This girl knows how to talk.  It seems so strange.  Here is this little baby that has figured out how to let the world know exactly what she wants or needs.  I stopped keeping track of her words a couple of months ago but my guess is that she uses 300 words or more.  She is also starting to make sentences.  Yesterday at the store I asked her if she liked some PJ's that were her size and she said clear as day, "I like it."  My jaw dropped!  She sings songs with sentences but I figure she doesn't really know what she is saying but maybe she does!  She sings Twinkle Twinkle, ABC and Baa Baa Black Sheep.  She recently learned Popcorn Popping and The Wise Man Built His House and other songs for nursery.  She also cracks me up when she gets something taken away from her.  She says "HEY!" In fact she uses Hey and No interchangeably I think.  It's pretty cute.

I still have her in her infant car seat.  She really needs to be in a regular car seat but I love the convenience of being able to  move her when she falls asleep.  Often she thinks she doesn't need a nap and will just cry in bed or play at nap time.  I know she is tired so I put her in the car and she falls asleep instantly. At least she is really good at going to bed at night.  Every night she is in bed by 8:15 with lights out. Our routine is to read stories, brush teeth and say prayers then another quick story before lights out.  I hug all of he little bears in bed and turn on her little musical sea horse.  Almost always she gives me the sweetest smile then rolls on her side and drifts off to sleep. She is such a dear.  She sleeps through the night most nights but about twice a week she cries and I just go in and tell her she is okay and I'll lay down and end up spending the rest of the night in her room.

She has also become a climber.  She loves to switch the lights on and off and climbs up on furniture to get to the switches.  This week I had to pull her down off the computer desk.  Gotta watch this girl! 

She also LOVES being outside.  That is all she wants to do.  As soon as the door opens she wants out.  This summer I think it will a challenge because I know she will want to be outdoors most of the time.   My work right now is mostly indoors so I'm sure I'll be getting creative and will do more cooking outside.  She also loves her baths.  She likes playing in the running water.  I see many hours of play with the garden hose this summer!

I have never seen a more happy and easy going baby.  Sure she has her moments, especially when she is overtired, but her personality is just happy.  She loves to hug.  She can bring a smile to my face no matter what my mood.  She is truly a blessing and I am so grateful she came along.

Birthdays!

So I have failed!  Birthdays have come and gone and so I will post pictures and that will have to do.  But I will say this….the birthdays were happy and that is true success.

Addie and Avrei turned 9.  They had a party at the house.  A puppy party!  The kids came over right after school and they had "puppy snacks" then they got to pick a puppy dog out and decorate a little dog house.  I think everyone had a great time.  It was simple and so much fun.

For Annaliese's birthday we were in Massachusetts.  It was her 11th.  Eleventh!  She wanted to shop at her favorite antique shop which we did.  We also took her out to Klem's to pick out some Bryer Horses.  I think she was in heaven.  We ended the day at Friendly's for dinner and ice cream.  Now that is my kind of birthday!

Thanksgiving 2014

We made a trip out to Texas for Thanksgiving this year.  It had been over 2 years since we have seen Byron and his family! Usually we see each other every summer but for some reason schedules weren't aligning and we kept missing each other.  So finally we decided to end it and get out there.  A fun time was had by all.  It was a quick weekend but we were able to hang out and just have fun being together and that was the point.  Here are some pictures.  I'm missing a lot of them…where did they go?  Here is what I have.

Our kids had never been fishing before so that was a highlight.  We also got to go to the zoo.  Althea loved the giraffes and has been in love with giraffes ever since.  Also another fun memory is the protest that the girls put on.  They watched a show called "Hogzilla" about a huge hog that was killed because he was a nuisance to landowners.  The posters and the speeches that the girls put together were adorable.  They were very persuasive!  Too bad our family was their only audience. =)  Another fun memory was playing on the pipe chimes that my mom brought with her.  We got to play different Christmas songs and was quite fun.

THANK YOU BYRON AND TAMMY! We love you!  Let's do it again real soon! xo

16 months

I can't believe how hard it is to take 5 minutes to write a quick post.  Time keeps slipping away so here I go.

At 15 months Althea was finally weaned.  Kind of sad but very good.  All it took was getting her to like regular milk from a sippy cup.  It took some encouragement but we got there.  Amazingly she started sleeping through the night shortly after that.  No coincidence there!  It has been life changing for me.  I feel like a new person! Sleep is good.

She is a talking machine! I took her in for her 15 month check up last month and the doctor asked if she knew about 10 words or so. Um, yes...more like 50! The doctor said that said she should be connecting words together soon.  Yes, she was doing that too.  Now a month later I don't have a count of her words but I'm sure it's well over 100 and she is very good at communicating what she wants.  I love it when she says "pease, pease, pease!"   Good mannered little one!

When she needs help she does the sign for help.  But she also is starting to say it as well.  She loves climbing up on the homework table and pulling out the markers and coloring on stuff.  Watch out. I know we are going to have a colorful couch one of these days. 

The little thing doesn't think she needs to nap anymore. I put her down everyday but it hasn't been working.  She ends up throwing all her blankets and stuffed animals out of her bed and screaming for me to come get her.  She's clearly super tired so I put her in the car and off we drive around the block a few times and she's alseep in an instant.  She can still fit in her infant car seat so I just leave her in her car seat and take her upstairs to her room where she'll sleep until the girls are home from school.

She loves to sing.  She's doing pretty good with Twinkle Twinkle.  She says "kookle, kwookle."  Pretty cute.  She loves "itsty bitsy spider", "here is the beehive", "If you're happy and you know it" and never tires of "Ring around the Rosie."  She calls it "Asses, Asses" for Ashes, Ashes.  She likes to spread out a blanket and spin around in circles by herself and then fall down.  She's great at pointing to (and saying) all her body parts when asked. 

She loves food generally.  She'll eat about anything, thankfully.  She is a wiggler though.  From the moment she wakes in the morning until she goes down and night she is constantly moving.  She does pause now and then to read a book but 90% of the day she is moving all over the place.  We just got back from Princeton and she loved it there. We were there for a week and she just loved exploring all over the place.  There was nothing really that she she couldn't/shouldn't get into so she was in heaven.  Now that we are back home there is a lot more that she can't get into and it frustrates her. 

She loves to buckle things.  When I put her in her high chair she must be strapped in or she will stand.  Not to worry.  She likes to buckle herself now. Over and over.  I just have to help her unbuckle.

She also likes to climb lately.  She has a number of bruises on her face from the tumbles she has taken.  Stressing me out.  I have the stairs blocked but she constantly climbing up on speakers and stools and sometimes falls.  She's learning the laws of gravity.

Also she has been teething like crazy the last month or so.  Like 5 new teeth in the last month.  She's handled it well.  She likes to chew on her coat.  Every time I take it off her it is soaked.  Must feel good on those gums.

Our whole family is nuts about this girl.  I love it when calls to the girls by name.  "Anna, Addie (or Abby) and Avie".  She likes to point to their pictures and say their names.  She loves calling for mom or dad too.  (That's how we usually wake up each morning...and I love it!)  It's fun to have this wonderful girl around.  She is a keeper for sure!

call me crazy

"Mama said there would be days like this".....that song brings back fun memories.  I came to know it when I was living in DC and a  movie that my roommates and I liked had it on it's soundtrack.   This week that song keeps going through my head not because I've been thinking about DC or that movie.  It's just been a crazy, crazy day.  What a day. What a week. I feel completely exhausted.  I love my sweet girls....I'm just tired, and that is allowed after all.  That song going through my head has helped me keep things light  and in a proper perspective.  So really I'm not going crazy.

I don't expect anybody to read this but somehow it feels good to just put it out there.  I'm really not griping even if it sounds like I am.  I'm just documenting what happened on this crazy week so maybe someday I'll look back and laugh.  Maybe life will get crazier and I'll laugh at how easy this week was in retrospect?!  Maybe life will get easier and I'll wonder how I managed.  Here we go:


So last week our 25+ year old washing machine died.....for the 8th time over the years.  I think it has nine lives so we opted to have Kermit try to fix it.  All he needed was a $125 part that would be to our home in just a few days.  Long story short, the part came but we need another little part  that we didn't anticipate and now we are going on week two with no washer.  Many a trips to the coin op laundry mat this week.   Bleh.   Also did you know that the guts of a 25 year old washing machine get pretty filthy gross?  Ours is gleaming though thanks to dish soap and a few hours of elbow grease.  I can't wait for my clean washer to work again soon!

The dishwasher broke.  But the good news is, Kermit fixed it and it works better than it has in years.  Like the dishes really are clean. It needed to be fixed for awhile and I was just in denial about it and kept putting away dirty dishes. Gross huh. Now our dishes sparkle and it is awesome.  I'll never let my dishwasher do that again.

These things happen in 3's so naturally, the car battery died.  I was in Costco parking lot and the car wouldn't start after I loaded up my goods. Fortunately a nice man that worked there helped get me jumped and recommended Autozone to get it checked out.  I had to go to two different locations but we got a new battery installed.  While that was going on, Althea was busy with this.

Yup. She had been fussy earlier and all of a sudden she started being quiet and content. What a good baby.  Oh, I see why now.  Those are blueberries.  I forgot to move the Costco sized jumbo container of blueberries away from her after buckling her in.  The nice worker at Autozone had a roll of paper towels and I was able to get her cleaned up, sort of.  We'll find out next week when the washer gets fixed if her clothes come clean or not.

We had the annual work holiday party on Saturday.  Now you think that dressing up and going to a fancy party would be something to look forward to.  I don't.  I used to but now I dread it.  But we went.  Being social with people I don't know very well has become extremely taxing for me. Check that box until next year.

Althea has not been napping.  She has been grumpy.  Only wants to be held.  Cries a lot.  I blame her shots she had last week.  They said she could be out of sorts for two weeks.  Let's get it over with.  I want my good napper and happy baby back.

The big girls have taken an interest in sewing little stuffed animals.  It's adorable.  They cut out felt and hand sew cute little animals.  I love it.  They love it. It's hard tho when a certain baby only wants to be held and you're trying to make dinner and all three girls want your help all at the same time.  (Exhale.)

I just found out that one of my Young Women from many moons ago died.  She died 2 years ago and I just found out.  I am so sad.  She was 27.  She left behind a 3 year old daughter and premie baby boy twins.  My heart is aching for her children.  I'm sad also because I don't think any of the people that knew her here in the ward knew about her passing.  I think she kind of cut herself off from the church when she moved away to Florida. I'm just so bummed out.  I don't know who to tell or how to tell or if I should even worry about it.  But I do.

Kermit has been traveling a lot lately and when he is in town he's had to be in early and stay late.  It ebbs and flows. Generally speaking though I can't complain.  His work the last year has been such that he's been able to do a lot from home which has helped with the everyday routines.  Hopefully soon we'll be able to have him back home more.

I've started back to the gym again.  I've only been like 4 times but it's been pretty much every other day.  I have a sitter every MWF morning for Althea so she doesn't have to go to scary childcare at the gym.  So working out should make me feel great and it does but my muscles are super sore and I'm not getting enough sleep.  Enough said.

All that stuff above rolled up are all good problems to have (except finding out about my YW).  I am very blessed.  But also very tired.  Good night.