Kids are Funny People

I have thousands of pictures I could share, and millions of stories bouncing around in my head. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I'm spending most of my time these days just living life and running out of time to talk about it!

This, gem, however, needed a quick share.

Alyssa, fresh from the bath and resembling a cute little girl instead of an straggly orphan child, is jumping on her bed.

Me: "Alyssa, your bed is not for jumping on."

Alyssa: "I wasn't jumping!"

Me: "I can see you jumping!"

Alyssa: "Ok, I'll close the door."

Eric and I just looked at each other, stunned. Alyssa: 1 Parents: 0. It's hard to consistently enforce the rules when you are surrounded by little lawyers with the gift of gab.

And now, 11 reasons why my kids can always make me smile:

Rachel is 1-derful!

Teeth: 2 bottom, the edges of the 2 top in the past week

New tricks: pulling up, cruising, giving kisses, pointing, nodding, shaking her head

Signs: more, occasionally she signs thank you, please, and banana

Words: nothing consistently real! She says "eh" to mean yes, "uh uh" if she's in trouble, and babbles mama, dada, and nana sounds

Favorites: food! Especially graham crackers and sweet potatoes. She can gum down just about anything, even small pieces of chicken. Dolls. She screams if Alyssa has a doll and she doesn't. She cradles her dolls, pats their backs, smoothes their hair, and sings at them. It's adorable, except for the screaming part ;) she also loves her siblings, the bath, swimming, and my parents' dog Timbre. 

Dislikes: people taking her toys or not sharing food! Sleeping at my moms house. Getting woken up from naps to pick Scotty up from school. When she's upset, she screams like demons are ripping her arms off. Repeatedly. 

My favorite things: she snuggles and pats my back when I hug her. She is curious and explores, but actually stops and listens when I try to keep her away from something! She is so emotive and conversational, nodding and shaking her head, singing along with me. Just when she's starting to seem big, she snuggles up and nurses (at least 4 times a day still) and I get to keep her as my sweet baby :)

St Malo California

Well, school has started here and getting back to life as normal reminds me that, once upon a time, I used to be good at blogging!

At what point do you give up on catching up and just decide to plow ahead? I suppose now is as good a day as any!

A few weeks back we got to spend a week in St Malo Beach in California. This year my brother and his kids were able to come from Iowa! It made for good conversations and game nights, but also added the noise and chaos of three more small kids. 

The only downside to the trip was a ridiculous allergic reaction to mosquito bites. I got three on the same foot and it swelled so much I could hardly walk for several days. It was a week before I could move my toes!

It's hard to see in a picture, until you realize that my toes are closer together because of the swelling and all of the wrinkles and veins are hidden...

Stephen and Emily in AZ!

Ok, my blogging has been ridiculous. It's hard to get motivated to sit down at the computer, transfer pictures from the hodge podge of phones they were taken with (my "regular" camera hasn't had batteries for a year now), and actually get words down. I plan to go back and blog about lots of highlights from the past 6 months, but for now, I'll start here.

Eric's younger brother Stephen and his beautiful wife Emily and their son Daniel (who is a total charmer, by the way) came down for a long memorial weekend-o-fun! For those of you contemplating trips filled with sunshine, we sure know how to party!

In four and a half days we fit in swimming, a trip to the zoo and the splash pads, a drive down to Tucson to the Titan Missile Museum, a quick stop by the Gilbert Temple, paint balling, shopping, a surprise birthday party (for me!) and lots of good food. The best part was that I had essentially no part in making any of that food! Thank you husbands who like to cook in their spare time, a nice date night out at My Big Fat Greek Restaurant, and Joe's Farm Grill.

Here are a ton of pictures, most thanks to Emily :)

the moon was huge. and apparently worth a short hill hike for better viewing :)

the zoo splash pads are AWESOME.

water babies!

Aunt Emily was a HUGE hit with my kids. Alyssa in particular wanted NOTHING to do with me if she could have Emily!

Titan Missile Museum

Date night: hooray for awesome friends (thanks, Linds!) who volunteered to babysit all our munchkins

Sneaking some piano time with Rachel

She's getting pretty brave

Happy Birthday to me!

Scotty was a great helped with Daniel

Our new temple! Coming sometime Fall 2013 (hopefully)

I so wish my kids got to live near their cousins! Someday...someday.

Rachel: 9 months

Height: 27 in (25%)

Weight: 15 lb 13.5 oz (5%)

Head: 44 cm (50%)

this is as pudgy as she gets

Teeth: zero! maybe a slight ridge, but nothing convincing. She still tries to gnaw on me though...
Hair: lots! it's a light brown with a bit of texture and curl, especially around her ears
Eyes: blue, though they are starting to have a green/brown tint in some lights? it seems late for them to be changing but it's possible
Birth mark: the inside of her belly button has a dark red birthmark. I spent the first month or so thinking it was a scab from the umbilical cord but I'm pretty sure it's just a regular birthmark

in a hand-smocked dress from Cousin Janet in England!

Likes: food! She nurses frequently, downs any solid as fast as you can spoon it in, and will squawk at you whenever she sees you holding something edible. She has great finger dexterity so she will pick up tiny specks but can't manage to gum much down yet. She loves to bang things together, especially pots from the toy kitchen. She loves to make sound, often picking up a plastic cup and singing into it and laughing at the echo. She LOVES her brother and sister and looks around expectantly whenever she hears them making sound in another room. I often have to find a quiet room and shut the door in order to nurse her because she is constantly looking for them. She still LOVES the water, whether it's a bath or a swimming pool, even if she's getting splashed in the face. She also likes to be snuggled up in a wrap so she can stay by me when I'm trying to get things done around the house

a typical Rachel pose

she LOVES faces!

Dislikes: waiting too long for things, not being able to see people she loves, getting stuck under furniture. Occasionally she freaks out about going to bed but most of the time our sweet, chill baby is still that--sweet, and chill. She will occupy herself for long stretches of time with basic toys and will follow me down the hall on her tummy if I walk away to get something. She is especially patient with her siblings, who still think she is the best toy ever and love to get right in her face.

New tricks: crawling. And by crawling, I mean this:

AWESOME. She started with baby pushups and graduated to serious planking. She often pauses on her hands and knees but continues to get mobile through fish flops and the animated worm. I hope she keeps it up! She has started giggling spontaneously when she finds something funny or makes a funny sound, though her giggle still sounds like a forced laugh and/or machine gun. She still sings and chatters all day long, and has added a new sound to her repertoire that Scotty aptly named the "Eagle Screech." She has also started signing "more", clapping, and waving.