Happy Birthday Callie & second grade

After all our traveling and surgery we only had a week left at home and that week turned out to be rainy.  We filled it with friends and play dates.  Kenna found out she got the teacher she had been hoping for all summer, Mrs. Brown and instantly became excited about school.  She was very nice at back to school night and Kenna was happy to find out she likes to give hugs.  She had two friends at her desk with her and wasn't even nervous for school on Monday morning.  For the first time ever she told me she was excited to go to school.  She got her outfit all picked out the night before, got up and ready bright and early and didn't even miss me when I said goodbye to her at her classroom.  She said she had a great day and came home happy.

Little Miss Callie had her fourth birthday.  She told me she wanted a party exactly like Kenna had, so we planned a great outside, water themed birthday.  Thanks to the weather we ended up changing it at the last minute and it turned out to be one big giant play date but the kids had a great time.  All the girls painted a canvas and a wooden letter of their first name.  We had pizza and cake, but the highlight of the party was definitely the human piñata.  We glued a bunch of candy on an old shirt and Kenna ran around the house while a bunch of 4 year old chased her and tried to rip the candy off.  Kenna was pretty quick and lasted for a lot of laps around the house before she ran out of batteries. 

I can't believe Callie is 4.  I saw some pictures of her when she was a little tiny baby in the NICU and it seems like a lifetime ago.  We had a family dinner at Torchy's and sent her to bed a year older and with only one year left before she starts Kindergarten.  It's crazy how time flies.

Mmmbob and NuhNuhnette

Caleb and Nannette decided to tie the knot this summer, to add to our summer of traveling we packed up the car and road tripped to SLC.  We did this while Callie was still recovering from having her tonsils out, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  Luckily we had a hot spot and two devices so both the big girls were happily entertained.  Vivi was happy to have her two favorite people giving her constant attention, so the entire trip went surprisingly well.  Vivi did blow out of her diaper three times while sitting in her car seat, but when you put a baby in the car for 12 hours a day what do you expect?

We got up super early Friday morning and Nate got a few hours driving in while everyone else went back to sleep.  When we woke up we were still in Texas.  This is a big state.  We did 12 hours that day and only made 3 stops before we finally made it to Denver.  The kids were overjoyed to see Jarom, Lixi and crew.  The kids didn't know we were coming so they were very surprised when we showed up at Chipotle to eat with them.  We got to go see their new house and then spend a lovely evening sitting on the grass at the park.  It was the coldest day Denver had had all summer and it was perfect.  We had breakfast and did some more park time Saturday before heading to Utah.  The girls were unbelievably good again and we pulled in right about dinner time.  Callie was still recovering and was a good 5 lbs under weight and looking a little yellow when we got there, though I'm happy to say she looked back to her normal self by the time we left.

We spent three days hanging out with Matt and Sierra and their kiddos.  The weather was nice and cool in the mornings and running with Nate each morning and a kid free lunch at Cafe Rio each afternoon was definitely the best part of the trip!  We hit up This is the Place Park and played water games in the backyard.  Wednesday morning we celebrated Callie's birthday a little early with a trip to Chuck E Cheese.  Kenna's favorite thing there has always been the rides.  Callie was all about the tickets.  She found one video game she loved where your joystick is a giant ball and you roll it around to move a mouse through a maze.  I think she played it 40 times.  We were the only people there for most of the time and it was fun to let the kids run crazy.  Anna and Andrew made the trip up and we met up with Will and Cristen.  Back at home we did presents and cupcakes followed up by naps.  Poor Callie was not 100% for the trip and needed a nap every day.

Thursday we went to an awesome Bridal shower where I got to ditch my kids and get a pedicure.  We met up for a double family dinner and then headed to a hotel closer to the wedding.  Friday morning before the wedding we got to have a quick breakfast with our Baileysitter who is now out in Provo for college.  The girls were happy to see her even if it was really quick.

The Provo City Center tempel was gorgeous and it was a nice wedding.  The girls looked super cute and we followed the wedding up with lunch at Rodezios.  Poor Vivi was a trooper through the whole week but I took her back for a nap after lunch while Nate, Brigham and the girls went to the dinosaur museum before the reception.

The reception was cute and fun and we got some good hang out time with Brigham, Anna, Andrew, Will and Cristen.  The little girls went wild taking selfies on Cristen's phone and she probably had 100 on there by the end of the night.  They also made friends with one of the bridesmaids and she was nice enough to entertain them the whole night.

After the reception everyone crashed early so we could get an early start on driving the next day.  We slept while Nate drove again and stopped in Albuquerque  for lunch with Tyler and Amy.  We didn't make it all the way home but decided to stop in a hotel.  I don't know if it was being in the car all day or if it was just a great hotel but it was the best night of sleep I had the whole vacation.  The last day was definitely the longest in the car but we made it home in time to run, take the girls to the park and go the the grocery store.  Boy was I tired after that day but it was great to be home!

It was a very busy summer but the girls were happy and we had a good time.

6 months

The little Miss is 6 months old today.  Time has flown by these last few month and that baby is such a happy addition to our family.  She is almost never sad and all you have to do it look at her and smile to get a huge open mouthed smile back.

She adores her sisters.  She gets excited when she sees them and strains to look at them and smile at them.  Kenna loves her so much it borders on smothering.  She will always sit with Vivi and talk to her, snap in her face and 'rawr' at her to get a reaction.  Sometimes I think she's torturing the poor baby but Vivi always smiles back.  Callie loves to sing to the baby and will sing her every song she knows.  She always talks to her in a sweet, calm voice and has a sweet smile for her.

Vivi is sitting like a champ.  She will sit and play with her toys on the floor for an hour without fussing at all.  Her favorite toy is sofie the giraffe.  It's a squeaky chew toy and sometimes if she drops it she gets frustrated and screams.  She really loves it.

She can get her toes into her mouth really well.  Sometimes she forgets her toes and hands are there and she finds them and stares at them for a really long time, watching them move.  It's really cute.

She is a little rolly polly baby.  She's almost too big for her infant carseat and is getting really heavy to carry around.  She weigh 18.9 lbs (90 percentile) and is 27.75 in (98 percentile).  She's definitely the biggest baby we've ever had and she is wearing clothes Kenna wore when she was walking.  Ironically, she's not a big fan of the baby oatmeal.  There has been one time that she really sucked it down, but that was it.  She mostly just tolerates it.  We're going to start trying actual food soon so we will see how that goes.

She still hates tummy time and is no closer to rolling than she was when she was 2 months old.  Maybe its because she's so rolly.  It takes a lot of muscle to move all that cute chunk around.

Lastly, she love to be held.  I still hold her to get her drowsy and she can be wide awake and talking in her crib but as soon as I pick her up she closes her eyes and goes to sleep.  She's my little snuggle bug.

2 Months

Well, little Vivi is now 2 months old.  She's weighing in at 12.9 lbs and 22.5 in.  Right now she loves to be held, sit in her swing and stare at the mirror/mobil and eating.  She doesn't like it when you try to put her pacifier in her mouth if she's hungry.  It makes her scream...not cry...scream at you.  She also doesn't like it when you get her dressed.  She only cries if she's hungry and fusses if she's tired.  Other than that she is a very happy baby.  

She is, however, a very noisy baby...and they are the cutest little noises.  She has this content little coo that she makes when you're holding her.  Every time she exhales she makes a "hmmm" noise that sounds so peaceful and content that you can't help but smile. She makes a lot of little puppy dog noises when she is not happy.  It almost sound like a whimper and is very cute.  She is a noisy eater and pooper.  When she's eating she sucks, then swallows as she makes a 'haumpf' noise, then breathes.  She's a fast eater so you basically hear "haumpf, haumpf, haumpf" all in  the back of her throat.  She usually poops while she's eating so in the middle of her meal her face turns bright red and she makes a screaming/grunting noise noise in the back of her throat.  It is very dramatic and also hilarious.

She's started cooing and gooing and she is super smiley, especially first thing in the morning.  She sleeps anywhere from 2-5 hours at night and goes right back to sleep after eating.

We've had a blur of visitors and help.  They were invaluable and we appreciate everyone who has pitched in.  Nate and I have had split parenting duties.  He's been in charge of the older girls and I've been in charge of the baby.  Thing have started feeling more normal in the last couple weeks and I think we're getting the hang of three kids.  

Vivi had her first Valentine's day...she spent it sleeping and having a bath.

She also had her first Easter...which she also spent sleeping.  The Easter Bunny did bring her an Easter basket filled with some cute little outfits and she was awake long enough to smile and appreciate them.

The girls had fun hunting around the house for their baskets and easter eggs.  Callie was not impressed with the selection of candy the Easter Bunny brought.  The only thing she liked were the tic tacs.  Luckily she also got some little lalaloopsies, which she wasn't thrilled with but that she traded with Kenna and ended up happy.  I think we had too many late nights the week before and she was a bit grumpy.  We had friends over for dinner and the kids had a great time playing outside together.  It was a fabulous Easter.

In sad news, we lost Jarom and Alixa to Denver.  The kids know that their cousins moved, but I'm not sure they get it yet.  Callie still keeps asking if Emmy can come over and play and when Nate told the girls he had a surprise for them this weekend, Kenna told me she was convinced that he was taking her to see Jenna in Colorado.  I still don't really feel like they're gone either.  I did realize that I have had Alixa as a close neighbor for my entire parenting life.  That was a real shock when I realized that, kind of like the end of an era.  I'm not sure when it will sink in, but every time I think about not living hear her it feels strange.

Other than that, we have been trying to keep the girls busy.  Nate has been taking them for long bike rides.  He uses the pull along and they both know to call it the rickshaw.  The love to be pulled around on that!

They are both sill in ballet and getting ready for their recitals.  They love it and it's funny to watch Callie because she is so very into it and actually pretty good at doing all the moves.  This is the pose she strikes when she's trying to decide if she looks fancy puts her hand on her hip, pops her hip out and then looks down to check herself out.  I finally figured out where I think she got it from.  I was watching her ballet class the other day and there is a part in the dance where they bend their knees and pop their hip to one side then the other.  It was hilarious to watch because she was so into it and checking herself out in the mirror!  

They both also started up with gymnastics.  Callie is one brave little girl.  All the 4 o'clock classes do their warm up together and on the first day before she could even meet her coach they just threw her in there with a bunch of 6-10 year olds.  I could tell she was nervous and close to tears a couple times, she just kept right on going through the whole warm up - crab walking and bear crawling her little heart out.  I was very proud of her and told her that over and over again.  

We were also able to go ice skating while all our help was here.  The girls had been begging for a long time and were thrilled to go.  Callie kept saying she was nervous but she was a natural when we got there.  We ended up only having 30 minutes, but that was plenty.  I don't think Nate or I could have lasted any longer.

That pretty much sums up our life since Vivi was born.  She has doubled in size in two months and she is a happy, sweet addition to our family.  Both girls love her and can't get enough of her.  They play with her and ask to hold all the time.  I told Kenna that she would have plenty of time to play with Vivi once when she asked to hold her.  Kenna looked at me, put her hands on her hips and said, "Well she won't be little forever!"  Very true.  We are trying to get the most out of our time with sweet little Vivi.

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year.  It was so nice to have Kenna and Nate home more than usual.  Kenna and Callie played great together and Callie loved having her sister home!

We started the vacation off right by getting Kenna's cast off.  She was excited and counted down the days until it could be gone.  She was getting really tired of not being able to participate in PE at school and it led to tears a few times.  We talked to her about it but I don't think she realized how much trouble she was going to have bending and straightening her arm.  She spent most of the first day crying because it hurt and she couldn't move it and because she was afraid Callie was going to hurt her arm (Callie is a little more rough and tumble love than Kenna).  She came right home and had a bath to wash off dead, stinky skin and to finally get those tattoos from the Disney Cruise off her arm.  Luckily we survived the day and she is almost fully recovered and happy now.  She even got to play the games in PE yesterday, but did tell me she was disappointed because after two week off it took her friends at school half the day to notice she got her cast off.

We spent some time doing Christmas activities while Nate finished up his work week.  We went to the Gaylord hotel to see the ice sculptures and the did not disappoint.  Callie didn't want to try the ice slide, but she really loved walking around and seeing all the ice people.

The girls really wanted to go caroling too.  I'd spent some time teaching Callie christmas carols (the girl has an amazing memory for songs and learned so many very quickly).  She decided she wanted to sing "Bells on 'bobtails'", the longest christmas carol possible.  I asked her if we could just sing the jingle bells part but she really wanted the 'bobtails.'  So, one night while Nate had to work late I let them each pick a house and we went caroling.  Jenna and Emmy were already gone so we picked a school friend and Callie's preschool teacher Miss Bethanne.  Boy was it a long song to get through, but the girls knew almost all the words and did a great job singing.

We also went to see the Nutcracker.  This year I decided Callie was old enough to go (mostly because I knew she'd be crushed if she didn't get to go).  She was excited to see the ballerinas.  Right before break she had a little performance for Christmas with her ballet class and she was darling!  She knew almost all of the steps and performed like a champ.  She did like the Nutcracker, but her attention lasted as long as her bag of snacks the I packed for her.  After that she climbed around in her seat for an hour, but when Nate asked her about it she told him how much she loved it.

We woke up a couple days before Christmas to a nice little surprise.  It had snowed a sixteenth of an inch.  The girls were thrilled!  At one point one of them (I can't remember which one) said, "Wow! Look at all that snow!".  Poor deprived children.  The touched it, stomped in it and ate it.  All before it was melted at 10am.  We're thinking next Christmas we need to take them somewhere with real snow.

Nate and I got to go out for lunch and see Star Wars.  It was awesome!

Jarom and Alixa went out of town for Christmas so we spent Christmas eve afternoon launching the stomp rocket in the front yard.  The girls spent forever out there and the funnest part was having everyone take turns sitting on the steps while one person tried to launch the stomp rocket into the others.  There were a couple direct hits and a lot of laughing.  At one point Callie got Kenna right in the face while she wasn't looking.  Luckily Callie didn't have a lot of force behind her stomps.  Callie loved having everyone together and insisted that we all stay outside together.  We spent that night with some friends.  The kids had a great time eating too many cookies and playing with their friends outside.  We left cookies for Santa and cucumbers for his reindeer (per Kenna's request) and sent the kiddos off to bed.

Kenna was up bright and early, but since they'd gone to bed so late I wanted Callie to sleep in.  Kenna woke up coughing and I could tell the point at which the real cough died and the fake cough kept going in an attempt to wake her sister up.  Then I hear a couple very quiet renditions of 'Caaaaallllliiieeee' before I went up to get her.  She and I snuggled in grandma's bed and watched a Christmas movie until Callie woke up.

I just love how excited the kids are for Christmas morning.  It was funny to see how the girls reacted differently to presents.  Kenna unwrapped and opened each present separately.  Callie unwrapped every present she had then announced she was going upstairs to get dressed.  Once business was taken care of she came back down to open and play with her presents.

I decided a few months ago that I wanted the girls to have a barbie house for Christmas and that I wanted to build one like my parents made for me.  Unfortunately because I'm pregnant and lacking motivation to do anything I didn't actually start until a few days before Christmas.  I made 2 beds, quilts and pillows as well as a chair, couch and table.  We partly finished the house which still needs some painting and decorating, but that is a problem for another day.  It was done enough for Christmas morning and it was a HUGE hit!  The girls have been playing with it nonstop since then.

My favorite present to see opened came from Grandma Nancy.  Since Nate loves Star Wars, she sent the three of them the Star Wars build-a-bears.  Their individual reactions were amazing!  Callie looked at it like it was the weirdest bear she'd ever seen.  It took Kenna a good 20 seconds for recognition to set in before she said, "Darth Vader? Yeah! Darth Vader. Callie, yours is a storm trooper it matches mine!".  Nate's eyes got really big when he saw Chewbacca and he immediately made the Chewbacca noise, then got even more excited when he found out the bear made the noise for him when he pushed his hand.  He spent the rest of the day making the Chewbacca sound.  There was even a bear for Bonquiqui (which is what Nate has been telling the girls we are naming the baby).  As a side note, Nate has now moved on from telling them this lie to telling them that the baby is going to be a boy.  It makes Kenna really mad every time.

We ate coffee cake and did a couple 100 piece puzzles (which Callie is very good at) and lounged in our pjs until the afternoon.  We went for a delicious lunch of tamales at a friend's house then came home and played with our new croquet set from Jolie.  Kenna loved it, Callie had a short attention span, but enjoyed it for 10 minutes.  It was a wonderful, relaxing, fun-filled day.  I love Christmas!

The best part about Christmas break is that you get a second week off for more relaxing.  Somehow we forgot about the relaxing and lost our minds a little bit.  We have a friend in construction who had some time off so we decided it would be a good time to put wood floors in.  I love the wood floors and I'm really glad we have them but it was a really, really long week and I'm surprised the stress didn't bring the baby early.  We had to start by ripping up all the tile which is a filthy, dusty job.  We moved everything in the garage and our bedroom, so the girls spent 3 days quarantined playing in there.  Luckily the dollhouse kept them entertained and they were so good!

Anyone who has every ripped up tile can tell you how disgusting is it.  It is like really, really fine grained sand that gets everywhere.  We had a layer half an inch thick on anything that was uncovered and almost as much on everything else, including inside cabinets and inside rooms where the doors had been closed.  It was disgusting and we were so displaced that we ate out 3 meals a day for 2 days.  It was so nice to finally get some semblance of order back and while Nate helped lay the floor I spent 3 days cleaning every cabinet, cupboard and dish we own.  My face and hands were so dry and there is still dust on the floor and it has settled again on some things, but we have our house mostly back.

Now that it is finished we are loving it!  The girls were so good the whole time and once we were stable they had fun following Rob and his boys around while they worked.  Callie followed Rob around and talked to him for two days straight.  He is so nice and took the time to talk back to her which made her so happy.  The floors look great and hopefully the house will be completely dust free before too long.

We celebrated the new year by eating some delicious tacos and ringing in the countdown at 8:45 with marintellis, cake, noise makes, glasses and some friends.  The girls thought it was great and we didn't bother telling them it wasn't midnight.


With the new year Callie got to move up from the nursery at church.   She now gets to come to primary as a Sunbeam.  She thinks its great because Kenna and I are in there with her and it was fun to have her catch my eye and wave to me every time she saw me.

School started again and we are back in the swing of things.  Kenna cried on Monday morning because she just wanted to stay home with mom and not go to school.  It broke my heart and I was ready to pull her out of school and home school her then and there.  She is adjusting again though so we will save that for a last resort.

She did finally get to start ballet and jazz which she is thrilled about!  She goes at the same time as Callie so it is fun to watch them both.  She picked it up really quickly and is happy that her arm is better.  Once she has her follow up in another 10 days we're hoping she can start gymnastics again too.