Let's do a catch-up of my little bean. She's 3 years old, so she's testing all the limits and pushing all the boundaries. Plus, she's a big sass. But despite this not-so-fun phase, I still have a really soft spot in my heart for Camille. I don't know why, but it's a little different than my love for Brooke and Jack. From the moment Camille was born, I felt this immediate connection with her. And up until about a year ago, she was kind of a mamma's girl. She's pretty solidly Daddy's girl, now. But ... phases, and all of that. I'm sure she'll come back around to me eventually, and then round back out to Dad again. Such is life.
But I digress. Camille is still a little petite thing. But she's talking a lot and certainly has opinions about things. She and Brooke are almost constant playmates, and they really love each other and hanging out together. Camille loves to build things with our big blocks, either the wooden ones or the connecting ones. She likes to read with Mamma, but isn't quite as into books as Brooke always was. She loves making messes right now, particularly with foodstuffs. Honey. Peanut butter. Flour. Cheese. Crackers. Tortillas. Tortilla chips. RAISINS. Really, anything she can get at, she'll get out and eat/leave it laying around the house everywhere. Today, for example, she got down the containers of flour and brown sugar. I came downstairs to find the house dusted with flour, and there was a fun little mixture on the floor of brown sugar and flour. Also, there was about 2 inches of flour in the top of the brown sugar container (*face palm*).
Camille loves to be in the kitchen with me, especially when Brooke is in there with me (like I said, they follow each other around). But she doesn't necessarily like to help with cooking and baking. Mainly, she likes to play in the sink with the water and dirty dishes. She likes pouring water into different containers and using up ALL the dish soap to "clean" things up. She's in a real messy stage of life (I wonder if this is a hint of things to come): making messes with food, water, herself. She's the messiest eater I've ever experienced. And she doesn't have any interest in doing her chores or helping to clean up the messes that she makes. Unless, of course, I'm helping her and prompting and prodding her every step of the way.
She and Brooke have really loved playing outside in the last few months, since it's started cooling down. They love to go "exploring" around the house and in the bushes behind our house. They also both love to ride their bikes. Camille has been using the little yellow strider that used to be Brooke's. And she's getting pretty fast on that thing, kinda like how Brooke did.
I love how Camille calls me "Mommy"; not "Mom", or "Momma". Mommy. I love how she calls Elephants "braloos" ... not as much anymore, at this point. But that's all she'd call them. It killed me. I love how she's such a snuggler, but only on her terms. She's like a cat. She totally does her own thing all the time, but she still needs attention now and then, so she'll come when she needs attention and snuggle and play. I love how she's spunky and sassy. She doesn't seem to care what anyone thinks. So, if I ask her to do something, and she doesn't want to do it, she usually won't. Whereas, Brooke is like a dog, always in your face, wanting attention, wanting to please and doing most things that I ask.
I love how Camille loves her little friend, Jonesy. He's a little boy in nursery with her, and he's about 4 months older than her, and she just LOVES him! She's always talking about hanging out with Jonesy, playing with Jonesy, what Jonesy is up to... It's seriously adorable. She also has this thing with her cousin Brixton. She sort of obsesses over him too.
Camille has also been obsessing over all things the Lion King. We listen to that (and Moana) nonstop at our house, it seems. Ever since we got the Amazon Echo, the girls have been bossing Alexa around and telling her to play music, mostly these two. But they, and especially Camille, loves to play Lion King, too.
Now that Camille's talking so much better, she talks a whole lot! She and Brooke always seem to be competing for listening ears, although since Brooke is older and more articulate, she tends to overpower Camille. I've been trying to be better about shushing Brooke when Camille is trying to talk.
I love my little petite princess! I love being with her, and observing how cute she is, and I have a hard time not kissing her sweet little dimples right off of her face.
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Monday, December 11, 2017
Mondays
Last week was awesome. I was highly motivated and fairly energetic, despite weird sleeping issues (both mine and the kids). I had planned out my December and my week, I had clearly defined goals and to-do lists, and I was positive and cheerful.
We had a bunch of appointments last week. The girls had a doctors appointment Monday evening, after FHE (yes, at night *rolls eyes*), and they both did so well. My heart was just overflowing as I watched them. Not having to take care of Jack was a real blessing for this appointment. We stopped by the library for a couple of minutes to pick up a couple of books, and read part of one while we waited to see the doctor. Camille seemed really tired, so she sat quietly in my lap while I read to her, and I couldn't get enough of that. We were called in, and the nurse's assistant did their measurements (weight, height, bp, temp, etc.), and checked Brooke's eyesight. They were both very good at following directions, they were calm and obedient, they really did me proud! The girls had to have a finger prick for a little hemoglobin test, and Brooke went first and cried a little bit. And I was afraid that since Brooke went first and was fussy, Camille would make a fuss and resist and cry. But I sat down with her on my lap, and she just watched the phlebotomist as she pricked Camille's finger and squeezed out some blood. She didn't cry or anything, it was amazing and I was quite shocked! My brave little girl!
After going to the room, we had to wait a little while for the doctor. The girls had to put on these little paper robes and sit quietly and still while we waited. We played a little game while we waited, finding shapes and colors in the office. We noticed that there were a lot of squares and rectangles, but not as many circles, and hardly any triangles or ovals. :) But, again, the girls were so good while waiting. The doctor came in a did her whole thing, and the girls were cooperative and inquisitive and so so good. My heart just burst! Sweet little things, I love them so much, and it was such a good reminder that even though they pull of some gnarly shenanigans at home, they really are very good girls.
We also had appointments to see our friends, play at the park, and Morgan and her kids came to play and have lunch on Friday. I had a dentist appointment on Thursday -- no cavities, woohoo! One evening while Daniel was working, I went shopping for groceries and to finish up our Christmas shopping, which is DONE! And thankfully so. I like to get it done early so I don't have to stress about it. It's all done, all of the books I ordered have arrived, it's all piled up in my closet, just waiting to be wrapped for Christmas! And our friend, Matt Erdmann, found a nice used road bike for Daniel, so Daniel's Christmas is done, too. I'm still thinking of getting a couple of things for my parents, who are going to be with us for Christmas. I really probably should, even though they say they don't want anything, they just want to be with us. I'm sure that's true, but I still feel like they need some things to open on Christmas.
Saturday was our ward's Breakfast with Santa. The girls were so excited to see Santa. They're both at an age where it's exciting and fun, instead of terrifying. Like, last year, I think Camille was a little less than thrilled about sitting with Santa.
The rest of Saturday and Sunday, we hung out together as a family. Daniel didn't work at all on Saturday which was a nice change. We got some things done around the house and did some fun activities together. Then we had Ella Delhoyo come babysit for an hour while Daniel and I went and hung out in the hot tub. It was an awesome little mini date.
ANYWAY. So, last week, I was getting so much accomplished! I got almost everything on my to-do list done. Almost EVERYTHING!! That's just unthinkable. It was great! And we did some fun Christmas things and spent some time together as a family.
And then, ... today happened. Last night, Jack must've been teething, because he woke up a bunch, and I didn't get much sleep. Plus, Camille woke up super early, which interrupted sleep as well. So, when I finally woke up this morning, I was really tired and quite grumpy, and not at all prepared to be me. I just wanted to stay in bed and read and sleep all day. Which, of course, I didn't do. But I didn't do much of anything else either. I was highly irritable, and since Jack was teething, he's had a really runny and stuffy nose and hasn't been sleeping at all today. He's had a couple of 20 minute naps. Poor baby. The girls made some pretty big messes, we made a few batches of Christmas treats, played in the loft a lot, had quiet time, did our chores and cleaned up, had dinner, and Camille and Jack went to bed (actually, if you want to be technical, Jack went down for a nap around 4 pm, and still hasn't woken up from it. I wonder if he'll just sleep through the rest of the night. He really wasn't feeling good today. And Brooke is up doing the dishes, haha!). And I never got dressed.
Some weeks you're on, and some weeks, you're just way, way off. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
We had a bunch of appointments last week. The girls had a doctors appointment Monday evening, after FHE (yes, at night *rolls eyes*), and they both did so well. My heart was just overflowing as I watched them. Not having to take care of Jack was a real blessing for this appointment. We stopped by the library for a couple of minutes to pick up a couple of books, and read part of one while we waited to see the doctor. Camille seemed really tired, so she sat quietly in my lap while I read to her, and I couldn't get enough of that. We were called in, and the nurse's assistant did their measurements (weight, height, bp, temp, etc.), and checked Brooke's eyesight. They were both very good at following directions, they were calm and obedient, they really did me proud! The girls had to have a finger prick for a little hemoglobin test, and Brooke went first and cried a little bit. And I was afraid that since Brooke went first and was fussy, Camille would make a fuss and resist and cry. But I sat down with her on my lap, and she just watched the phlebotomist as she pricked Camille's finger and squeezed out some blood. She didn't cry or anything, it was amazing and I was quite shocked! My brave little girl!
After going to the room, we had to wait a little while for the doctor. The girls had to put on these little paper robes and sit quietly and still while we waited. We played a little game while we waited, finding shapes and colors in the office. We noticed that there were a lot of squares and rectangles, but not as many circles, and hardly any triangles or ovals. :) But, again, the girls were so good while waiting. The doctor came in a did her whole thing, and the girls were cooperative and inquisitive and so so good. My heart just burst! Sweet little things, I love them so much, and it was such a good reminder that even though they pull of some gnarly shenanigans at home, they really are very good girls.
We also had appointments to see our friends, play at the park, and Morgan and her kids came to play and have lunch on Friday. I had a dentist appointment on Thursday -- no cavities, woohoo! One evening while Daniel was working, I went shopping for groceries and to finish up our Christmas shopping, which is DONE! And thankfully so. I like to get it done early so I don't have to stress about it. It's all done, all of the books I ordered have arrived, it's all piled up in my closet, just waiting to be wrapped for Christmas! And our friend, Matt Erdmann, found a nice used road bike for Daniel, so Daniel's Christmas is done, too. I'm still thinking of getting a couple of things for my parents, who are going to be with us for Christmas. I really probably should, even though they say they don't want anything, they just want to be with us. I'm sure that's true, but I still feel like they need some things to open on Christmas.
Saturday was our ward's Breakfast with Santa. The girls were so excited to see Santa. They're both at an age where it's exciting and fun, instead of terrifying. Like, last year, I think Camille was a little less than thrilled about sitting with Santa.
The rest of Saturday and Sunday, we hung out together as a family. Daniel didn't work at all on Saturday which was a nice change. We got some things done around the house and did some fun activities together. Then we had Ella Delhoyo come babysit for an hour while Daniel and I went and hung out in the hot tub. It was an awesome little mini date.
ANYWAY. So, last week, I was getting so much accomplished! I got almost everything on my to-do list done. Almost EVERYTHING!! That's just unthinkable. It was great! And we did some fun Christmas things and spent some time together as a family.
And then, ... today happened. Last night, Jack must've been teething, because he woke up a bunch, and I didn't get much sleep. Plus, Camille woke up super early, which interrupted sleep as well. So, when I finally woke up this morning, I was really tired and quite grumpy, and not at all prepared to be me. I just wanted to stay in bed and read and sleep all day. Which, of course, I didn't do. But I didn't do much of anything else either. I was highly irritable, and since Jack was teething, he's had a really runny and stuffy nose and hasn't been sleeping at all today. He's had a couple of 20 minute naps. Poor baby. The girls made some pretty big messes, we made a few batches of Christmas treats, played in the loft a lot, had quiet time, did our chores and cleaned up, had dinner, and Camille and Jack went to bed (actually, if you want to be technical, Jack went down for a nap around 4 pm, and still hasn't woken up from it. I wonder if he'll just sleep through the rest of the night. He really wasn't feeling good today. And Brooke is up doing the dishes, haha!). And I never got dressed.
Some weeks you're on, and some weeks, you're just way, way off. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Friday, December 8, 2017
Jacky Boy
Am I pretty much all caught up?! Why, yes. I think I am. It's like a Christmas Miracle!
But I haven't done much writing on the kids and what they've been up to. So, I think for the next few entries, I'll focus on each of my wonderful kids and the things I'm loving (and maybe not loving as much) about them right now.
Jack first. He's the newest one. And he's often the favorite one, too, at this point. Ever since just a few weeks after he was born, he's been the happiest, most smiley baby. His face just lights up when he looks at someone. And as he's been getting a little older, he's started getting excited about things, just little things. Often, after we're done nursing, and I carry him out of my room to be with the family, he starts breathing really hard and kicking his legs, like he's just so excited to be going out to hang out with his family. He seems to really love it when we're all together in the same area; like when we're all downstairs getting ready for dinner, or just hanging out in the kitchen. I love his enthusiasm and his obvious love of life. It's just such a wonderful thing about him.
At the same time, though, he hates being left alone, and he hates when I put him down. Probably 75% of the time, when I put him down, he cries. He loves being held, and he hates when I put him down and walk away. If I put him down, and then sit next to him while he plays, he's fine. Or if I put him down next to Brooke and Camille, he's usually fine. But if I put him down and no one's around, he doesn't like that. He loves Brooke! His face just lights up whenever she's around. She's so good about playing with him and trying to make him smile. It really warms my heart to watch them. She does everything she can to make him happy, and he so obviously loves her for that. They're buddies.
In the last month or so, Jack has started doing an army crawl. He's getting pretty good at it, too. If he sees something he wants, he can get to it. He's also started doing these funny baby planks, where he's up on his hands, and he'll push his whole body up, so he's just on hands and feet. He's a strong one, that baby.
He's a pretty good sleeper. When he was only a few months old, he was sleeping a ton. Daniel kept saying that he thought Jack slept more than the girls at that age, which may be true. But he, more than the girls, wakes up frequently in the middle of the night. Still. At around this age, Brooke and Camille had both stopped waking up to feed in the middle of the night. Jack still wakes up usually 2 times a night, even after we moved him into his own room. So, in one way he's a better sleeper -- he is easier to get to sleep than either of the girls; and when we started letting him cry to sleep, it wasn't as painful, and he learned a lot faster (of course, he was older than the girls were). But in another way, he's not as good a sleeper -- he keeps waking up a few times at night. Which means I'm always tired. All the time. Usually at around this time, after the girls were born, I felt like I could get back into an exercise routine. And I did. But this time, it's been a lot more difficult. I don't have the energy to workout, I'm tired all the time, and because Jack wakes up so much at night, I have the hardest time getting out of bed. I know it'll come back in time, but it's taking me a lot longer this time around.
Jack is such a sweet little boy. I love him so much. He's ticklish, but doesn't seem to love being tickled. Whereas Camille is super ticklish and loved being tickled, even as a baby (she'd just squeal and laugh and love it), Jack will laugh and tense up while being tickled, but only reluctantly, like he's being forced to. And if you look at his face, he's not really smiling when I tickle him. So, he's ticklish, but he doesn't like being tickled. It's so funny.
We started Jack on solids just before he was 6 months, and he took to it way better than either of the girls. He didn't seem as averse to it, and he learned a lot faster than they did, how to eat food without spitting it out. He's eating a lot of things now, although I held off on fruits a lot more with him. I wanted him to get a solid base with veggies and beans first. He really seems to like avocado and his baby cereal. He likes refried beans and peas. But he'll usually eat whatever I give him without a fuss. Except egg yolk. It's been hard to get him to eat that happily. He'll usually turn away after a handful of bites. I just gave him banana the other day for the first time, and he loves that, of course.
I'm so lucky to have Jack. Both Daniel and I, though neither of us really talked about it, were nervous about having a boy. We've both been so enamored of our girls, we love them and we love having girls, that we didn't think it'd be as good with a boy. But boy! Were we wrong! Jack is so happy, so sweet and such a joy to have. We are so lucky!
But I haven't done much writing on the kids and what they've been up to. So, I think for the next few entries, I'll focus on each of my wonderful kids and the things I'm loving (and maybe not loving as much) about them right now.
Jack first. He's the newest one. And he's often the favorite one, too, at this point. Ever since just a few weeks after he was born, he's been the happiest, most smiley baby. His face just lights up when he looks at someone. And as he's been getting a little older, he's started getting excited about things, just little things. Often, after we're done nursing, and I carry him out of my room to be with the family, he starts breathing really hard and kicking his legs, like he's just so excited to be going out to hang out with his family. He seems to really love it when we're all together in the same area; like when we're all downstairs getting ready for dinner, or just hanging out in the kitchen. I love his enthusiasm and his obvious love of life. It's just such a wonderful thing about him.
At the same time, though, he hates being left alone, and he hates when I put him down. Probably 75% of the time, when I put him down, he cries. He loves being held, and he hates when I put him down and walk away. If I put him down, and then sit next to him while he plays, he's fine. Or if I put him down next to Brooke and Camille, he's usually fine. But if I put him down and no one's around, he doesn't like that. He loves Brooke! His face just lights up whenever she's around. She's so good about playing with him and trying to make him smile. It really warms my heart to watch them. She does everything she can to make him happy, and he so obviously loves her for that. They're buddies.
In the last month or so, Jack has started doing an army crawl. He's getting pretty good at it, too. If he sees something he wants, he can get to it. He's also started doing these funny baby planks, where he's up on his hands, and he'll push his whole body up, so he's just on hands and feet. He's a strong one, that baby.
He's a pretty good sleeper. When he was only a few months old, he was sleeping a ton. Daniel kept saying that he thought Jack slept more than the girls at that age, which may be true. But he, more than the girls, wakes up frequently in the middle of the night. Still. At around this age, Brooke and Camille had both stopped waking up to feed in the middle of the night. Jack still wakes up usually 2 times a night, even after we moved him into his own room. So, in one way he's a better sleeper -- he is easier to get to sleep than either of the girls; and when we started letting him cry to sleep, it wasn't as painful, and he learned a lot faster (of course, he was older than the girls were). But in another way, he's not as good a sleeper -- he keeps waking up a few times at night. Which means I'm always tired. All the time. Usually at around this time, after the girls were born, I felt like I could get back into an exercise routine. And I did. But this time, it's been a lot more difficult. I don't have the energy to workout, I'm tired all the time, and because Jack wakes up so much at night, I have the hardest time getting out of bed. I know it'll come back in time, but it's taking me a lot longer this time around.
Jack is such a sweet little boy. I love him so much. He's ticklish, but doesn't seem to love being tickled. Whereas Camille is super ticklish and loved being tickled, even as a baby (she'd just squeal and laugh and love it), Jack will laugh and tense up while being tickled, but only reluctantly, like he's being forced to. And if you look at his face, he's not really smiling when I tickle him. So, he's ticklish, but he doesn't like being tickled. It's so funny.
We started Jack on solids just before he was 6 months, and he took to it way better than either of the girls. He didn't seem as averse to it, and he learned a lot faster than they did, how to eat food without spitting it out. He's eating a lot of things now, although I held off on fruits a lot more with him. I wanted him to get a solid base with veggies and beans first. He really seems to like avocado and his baby cereal. He likes refried beans and peas. But he'll usually eat whatever I give him without a fuss. Except egg yolk. It's been hard to get him to eat that happily. He'll usually turn away after a handful of bites. I just gave him banana the other day for the first time, and he loves that, of course.
I'm so lucky to have Jack. Both Daniel and I, though neither of us really talked about it, were nervous about having a boy. We've both been so enamored of our girls, we love them and we love having girls, that we didn't think it'd be as good with a boy. But boy! Were we wrong! Jack is so happy, so sweet and such a joy to have. We are so lucky!
Thursday, December 7, 2017
Aaaaannddd... On To November
Just a couple of days after Halloween, Jack and I hopped on a plane, ditched the rest of the family, and went to Medford. We left Brooke and Camille with my friend Hillary Erdmann for a day, and Daniel took a day off to take care of them while I was gone. My sisters had planned a fun birthday weekend for my mom that first weekend in November, and Jack and my coming was a big part of the surprise. It was THE BEST surprise ever!! We flew in really early to Medford, so when we got home, Mom was still in bed. Dad had this fun way of surprising her; he was all excited about his plan: Julie went in with Jack, saying, "Here, Mom. I need you to take this baby, cuz Arro's stinky and I need to change him." Mom started getting out of bed, "I'm up, I'm up, I'll get out of bed right now." and goes to take the baby. And when she gets a good look at him, she does a couple of double takes (what is that, a quadruple take?) and starts looking around, so confused. It was a super fun surprise. I think she didn't know what to think about it for a few minutes. She had NO IDEA. My sisters and dad were super good about keeping the secret.
Jack and I were there Thursday, November 2 through Sunday afternoon, and we had a wonderful weekend. I was quite a zombie the day we flew in. I only got 3 hours of sleep the night before. So we hung out at home all day, I rested a bit, we watched a movie that night. The next day, Mom took us girls out to lunch, and we went to do a little window shopping. Holiday window shopping, at this fun boutique in Medford, some place that Mom and Sisters love. And then that night, we all went to McGrath's fishhouse for dinner with Dad and Hou. And we brought home pie from Sherri's to cap it all off.
The grand finale of the weekend was on Saturday. Diane and Julie had booked a High Tea at the Teapot on Wheels (just north of Medford), and Mary drove down for it. We dressed in our Sunday finest and wore these huge ridiculous hats and black lace gloves. It was SO FUN! Mom was in heaven. She just kept saying how amazing it was and how awesome we were to plan it all, and how fun a surprise it was. The Teapot on Wheels was this fun little diner, with a back room dedicated to High Teas. It was all decked out in different teapots and tea cups. They gave us a couple of different teas at a time, and brought out some really delicious finger foods: scones with cream and custard first; finger sandwiches and chocolate mouse and Victoria Sponge cake next; and fettucine alfredo as a last course. It was all good, but the scones with lemon custard, the chocolate mousse, and the sponge cake were super delish! We had a grand old time. As we were walking out, Mom said, "This was so fun girls, the best birthday ever! I don't know how you're ever going to top it!" SUCCESS!!
The rest of Saturday, we hung out, we watched tv and played with the kids and had dinner. And Sunday, Mom, Jack and I stayed home because I was supposed to leave halfway through church (it was stake conference there anyway). And then my flight was delayed 3 hours. Of course. It was alright. We got more time with the family. But I was a little anxious to get home to my girls and Daniel. It was a really wonderful weekend.
November is a nice little break in between two major holidays. I mean, Thanksgiving is awesome. But it doesn't require as much time and energy and creativity, in my estimation, as Halloween and Christmas. Usually, when November rolls around, I'm either missing Halloween and wishing there was a little more of that, or I'm anxious for Christmas to get here already so I can bust out my decorations and listen to Christmas music. But this year was a nice change. When Halloween was over, I felt we'd had plenty of it and was ready to move on. At the same time, I wasn't quite ready for the craziness of Christmas. I was just content to enjoy November and Thanksgiving. It was truly lovely. I put up a fun mantel of Thanksgiving/Cinderella decorations (pumpkins, Cinderella sign, turkey ... sounds like a weird combination, but I LOVED it) and started planning Christmas. It's always good to get a head start on that.
We had the ward Thanksgiving dinner, as per usual, on Saturday Nov. 11th. And for the actual day, we drove up to Michael and Michelle's house for Thanksgiving weekend. They'd invited us up, and also some local friends, to join in their dinner. And it was perfect. I did what I could to help when we got there in mid-afternoon, we ate a lovely feast, their friends left, we put our kids to bed, and just hung out. We didn't do a whole lot that weekend. We went to a park on Friday morning, and to chic-fil-a for lunch (Damon really REALLY wanted to go, and convinced us all to do it). Daniel went biking with Michael and Damon Saturday morning, and when they cleaned up and we'd packed, Michael and Michelle took us all out to a late lunch at a Peruvian chicken place. It was delicious! Which reminds me, I need to look up a recipe for the sauce they served. It was to die for! Like dip-rocks-in-it kind of to-die-for. We drove home that evening, later than I'd hoped for. The kids did awesome on the way up, and slightly less awesome on the way back. They all did end up crashing eventually on the way home. But it took a while. I don't know what it is about our kids that they just don't like to sleep. Weird.
And after Thanksgiving, we were all ready to jump into Christmas, which we've done wholeheartedly.
Jack and I were there Thursday, November 2 through Sunday afternoon, and we had a wonderful weekend. I was quite a zombie the day we flew in. I only got 3 hours of sleep the night before. So we hung out at home all day, I rested a bit, we watched a movie that night. The next day, Mom took us girls out to lunch, and we went to do a little window shopping. Holiday window shopping, at this fun boutique in Medford, some place that Mom and Sisters love. And then that night, we all went to McGrath's fishhouse for dinner with Dad and Hou. And we brought home pie from Sherri's to cap it all off.
The grand finale of the weekend was on Saturday. Diane and Julie had booked a High Tea at the Teapot on Wheels (just north of Medford), and Mary drove down for it. We dressed in our Sunday finest and wore these huge ridiculous hats and black lace gloves. It was SO FUN! Mom was in heaven. She just kept saying how amazing it was and how awesome we were to plan it all, and how fun a surprise it was. The Teapot on Wheels was this fun little diner, with a back room dedicated to High Teas. It was all decked out in different teapots and tea cups. They gave us a couple of different teas at a time, and brought out some really delicious finger foods: scones with cream and custard first; finger sandwiches and chocolate mouse and Victoria Sponge cake next; and fettucine alfredo as a last course. It was all good, but the scones with lemon custard, the chocolate mousse, and the sponge cake were super delish! We had a grand old time. As we were walking out, Mom said, "This was so fun girls, the best birthday ever! I don't know how you're ever going to top it!" SUCCESS!!
The rest of Saturday, we hung out, we watched tv and played with the kids and had dinner. And Sunday, Mom, Jack and I stayed home because I was supposed to leave halfway through church (it was stake conference there anyway). And then my flight was delayed 3 hours. Of course. It was alright. We got more time with the family. But I was a little anxious to get home to my girls and Daniel. It was a really wonderful weekend.
November is a nice little break in between two major holidays. I mean, Thanksgiving is awesome. But it doesn't require as much time and energy and creativity, in my estimation, as Halloween and Christmas. Usually, when November rolls around, I'm either missing Halloween and wishing there was a little more of that, or I'm anxious for Christmas to get here already so I can bust out my decorations and listen to Christmas music. But this year was a nice change. When Halloween was over, I felt we'd had plenty of it and was ready to move on. At the same time, I wasn't quite ready for the craziness of Christmas. I was just content to enjoy November and Thanksgiving. It was truly lovely. I put up a fun mantel of Thanksgiving/Cinderella decorations (pumpkins, Cinderella sign, turkey ... sounds like a weird combination, but I LOVED it) and started planning Christmas. It's always good to get a head start on that.
We had the ward Thanksgiving dinner, as per usual, on Saturday Nov. 11th. And for the actual day, we drove up to Michael and Michelle's house for Thanksgiving weekend. They'd invited us up, and also some local friends, to join in their dinner. And it was perfect. I did what I could to help when we got there in mid-afternoon, we ate a lovely feast, their friends left, we put our kids to bed, and just hung out. We didn't do a whole lot that weekend. We went to a park on Friday morning, and to chic-fil-a for lunch (Damon really REALLY wanted to go, and convinced us all to do it). Daniel went biking with Michael and Damon Saturday morning, and when they cleaned up and we'd packed, Michael and Michelle took us all out to a late lunch at a Peruvian chicken place. It was delicious! Which reminds me, I need to look up a recipe for the sauce they served. It was to die for! Like dip-rocks-in-it kind of to-die-for. We drove home that evening, later than I'd hoped for. The kids did awesome on the way up, and slightly less awesome on the way back. They all did end up crashing eventually on the way home. But it took a while. I don't know what it is about our kids that they just don't like to sleep. Weird.
And after Thanksgiving, we were all ready to jump into Christmas, which we've done wholeheartedly.
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
Continued ... Again
So, we're into October now in my catch-up game. My favorite time of the year!! I guess Christmas and Halloween tie in my favorite time of the year. But I really super love Halloween, mostly because we have the most awesome family traditions in October: visiting a pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins; picking out our Halloween costumes; Halloween Feast; ward Halloween party; and, of course, trick-or-treating. The past couple of years, we've gone to the Delhoyos on Halloween, for dinner and trick-or-treating, and it's always been so much fun! We have chili and cornbread, and then walk around in groups around her neighborhood. And the people in that neighborhood give out the best candy! The girls came back from trick-or-treating this year with full-sized candy bars!
Plus, aside from all our favorite traditions, we have a couple of VERY important birthdays in October. This year, my little Millie turned 3 years old. And because it's an odd year for her, we did a little birthday party. It was super simple; I'm not one to go overboard, especially for a 3-year-old, who only cares about playing with her friends and eating cake. So we had her party at our park. I brought a bunch of snacks and water, some cupcakes and Halloween decorating supplies, and bubbles. Everyone came and we just let the little kids play and eat for a little bit, and then I gathered everyone in and they all decorated their own cupcake. It was quite a mess, but so fun! I think the kids loved it. Some of them even wanted to decorate more. Then the kids went back to the playground for some more playtime, and I handed out bubbles towards the end. It was quite a time. Unfortunately, I did not snag any pictures of the blessed event. But when we got home after the party, we picked up pizza for dinner and had a pizza picnic in the living room while we watched Cinderella (one of her birthday presents). It was epic!
I think my Camille was satisfied. I'm not even sure she wanted a birthday party, to be honest. She's kind of quiet sometimes about the things she wants and doesn't want. I asked her about a birthday party beforehand; we talked about it quite a bit, actually, in the wake of Brooke's birthday party. And she seemed excited about it, but I wonder how much of that was her and how much of it was Brooke's excitement. Brooke just loved her party and was really in a bit of a party-planning phase (in fact, she planned her own party some time in the middle of September and we had a bunch of friends over to play and party with us one afternoon. She obsessed about having a party for weeks before we actually sat down to plan and execute said party). So she was quite thrilled about Camille's party. But I don't know how much Camille realized what was going on.
Speaking of my Camille, she's such a treasure, that little girl. She's still pretty petite. We went to a doctor's appointment for her and Brooke last night (yes, last NIGHT. That's a whole other story), and they said she's pretty short. And I was all, "well, I'm no giant myself." (no, I didn't actually say that) I digress. Camille is little, and so pretty. She has the hugest bright brown eyes I've ever seen, and these delicious chubby cheeks and the cutest little lips. I think she's gorgeous, and she's got the sweetest tiny voice. I just can't seem to get enough of her cuteness. She's also entering the TERRIFIC 3YO stage: getting into stuff; making big messy messes (especially with food -- she's always getting into food, particularly peanut butter and raisins and yogurt, among other things); throwing some gnarly tantrums; sassing; being mightily uncooperative; and the whole gamut. It's been trying the last few months, really. Well, since before Jack was born. We always new the spunk was strong in this one.
Camille loves to play with blocks and build things. She's getting into books more and more, and has started "reading" to her "kids". She loves to play with Brooke, and they play pretty well together most of the time. She is going through a picky eating phase, but loves to eat rice and beans, taco soups and chilis, oatmeal... She asks for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every single day, either for breakfast or for lunch. Sometimes for both. Her favorite color is orange, and she's going through a serious obsession with Lion King. She wants to listen to the soundtrack non-stop, and she and Brooke often play Lion King pretending games. It's actually quite impressive -- she knows the part of the movie based just on the music. We'll be listening to it in the car, and she'll be rattling off in great detail and description about the part of the movie that the music goes to. She's been riding the little yellow strider bike that used to be Brooke's and she's making really great progress on it. When she first started riding at the beginning of the year, after Brooke got her pedal bike, she seemed to small for it, and she was pretty slow. But she really wanted to ride like Brooke, so she just did it. And now, she's definitely grown into it and she's getting pretty fast with it. She is even starting to balance on the thing, with out using her legs. She and Brooke love to go outside and ride their bikes together. In fact, those girls love to do everything together. It's a rare occasion when one or the other of them wants to be alone. Well, Camille is better at playing alone than Brooke; but I think they'd both prefer to be together. I love it! That's what I always hoped for my girls -- to be friends. Hopefully best friends!
THAT was a long tangent. But a good one. I could talk about how cool my kids are all day long!
So, needless to say, our October was epic. For our Halloween Feast movie, we watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" (which, admittedly, isn't as cool as I remembered it. You know how some movies get better the older you get, because you start to understand more of the humor? Ya, not so much with this one. In fact, it was slightly painful making it through that movie. Never again.) and had a great feast. We took the girls to a pumpkin patch and were there for approximately 10 minutes total. They were so fast picking out their pumpkins, and I figured they'd take a long time. Camille was super fast. She walked up to a pumpkin, said, "This is the one I want." and stuck to that decision, even though I tried to convince her to look at some more pumpkins. She was solid in her decision. Haha!
Both girls were black cats this year for Halloween. The stars aligned perfectly for me not to have to make any costumes! Brooke from the very beginning wanted to be a black cat for Halloween, which was so convenient, since I knew I had a black cat costume that my mom had made and given to us (one from my childhood). And it fit her perfectly, and she looked so cute in it. Then, because Brooke was being a cat, Camille wanted to be a cat. At first she said she wanted to be an orange kitty, and I thought, "Okay, gear up, sister, cuz you're going to have to make this kid an orange kitty costume." But then, as I was going through our costume box, I found a little black kitty jumpsuit costume that I totally forgot we had. And I don't even remember where it came from, although I'm thinking my mother-in-law must've given it to us back in the day. So, I pulled out both black cat costumes and played up how fun it would be if they were both black cats for Halloween, and they just ate that right up. I had them convinced. Then, I had a perfect little skeleton costume that my friend, Nicole Faucette, gave to us for Jack. And he was ... so delicious in that costume!! So we had 2 black cats and a skeleton, and I wore my witches hat, at least to the trunk-or-treat.
My birthday was kinda low-key. We did go to the zoo for a few hours, which was fun. And Daniel paid for Brooke and I to feed the giraffes, which was so cool! He made navajo tacos for dinner, while I went shopping to use some birthday giftcards and pick up some cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory. It was a nice birthday.
Plus, aside from all our favorite traditions, we have a couple of VERY important birthdays in October. This year, my little Millie turned 3 years old. And because it's an odd year for her, we did a little birthday party. It was super simple; I'm not one to go overboard, especially for a 3-year-old, who only cares about playing with her friends and eating cake. So we had her party at our park. I brought a bunch of snacks and water, some cupcakes and Halloween decorating supplies, and bubbles. Everyone came and we just let the little kids play and eat for a little bit, and then I gathered everyone in and they all decorated their own cupcake. It was quite a mess, but so fun! I think the kids loved it. Some of them even wanted to decorate more. Then the kids went back to the playground for some more playtime, and I handed out bubbles towards the end. It was quite a time. Unfortunately, I did not snag any pictures of the blessed event. But when we got home after the party, we picked up pizza for dinner and had a pizza picnic in the living room while we watched Cinderella (one of her birthday presents). It was epic!
I think my Camille was satisfied. I'm not even sure she wanted a birthday party, to be honest. She's kind of quiet sometimes about the things she wants and doesn't want. I asked her about a birthday party beforehand; we talked about it quite a bit, actually, in the wake of Brooke's birthday party. And she seemed excited about it, but I wonder how much of that was her and how much of it was Brooke's excitement. Brooke just loved her party and was really in a bit of a party-planning phase (in fact, she planned her own party some time in the middle of September and we had a bunch of friends over to play and party with us one afternoon. She obsessed about having a party for weeks before we actually sat down to plan and execute said party). So she was quite thrilled about Camille's party. But I don't know how much Camille realized what was going on.
Speaking of my Camille, she's such a treasure, that little girl. She's still pretty petite. We went to a doctor's appointment for her and Brooke last night (yes, last NIGHT. That's a whole other story), and they said she's pretty short. And I was all, "well, I'm no giant myself." (no, I didn't actually say that) I digress. Camille is little, and so pretty. She has the hugest bright brown eyes I've ever seen, and these delicious chubby cheeks and the cutest little lips. I think she's gorgeous, and she's got the sweetest tiny voice. I just can't seem to get enough of her cuteness. She's also entering the TERRIFIC 3YO stage: getting into stuff; making big messy messes (especially with food -- she's always getting into food, particularly peanut butter and raisins and yogurt, among other things); throwing some gnarly tantrums; sassing; being mightily uncooperative; and the whole gamut. It's been trying the last few months, really. Well, since before Jack was born. We always new the spunk was strong in this one.
Camille loves to play with blocks and build things. She's getting into books more and more, and has started "reading" to her "kids". She loves to play with Brooke, and they play pretty well together most of the time. She is going through a picky eating phase, but loves to eat rice and beans, taco soups and chilis, oatmeal... She asks for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every single day, either for breakfast or for lunch. Sometimes for both. Her favorite color is orange, and she's going through a serious obsession with Lion King. She wants to listen to the soundtrack non-stop, and she and Brooke often play Lion King pretending games. It's actually quite impressive -- she knows the part of the movie based just on the music. We'll be listening to it in the car, and she'll be rattling off in great detail and description about the part of the movie that the music goes to. She's been riding the little yellow strider bike that used to be Brooke's and she's making really great progress on it. When she first started riding at the beginning of the year, after Brooke got her pedal bike, she seemed to small for it, and she was pretty slow. But she really wanted to ride like Brooke, so she just did it. And now, she's definitely grown into it and she's getting pretty fast with it. She is even starting to balance on the thing, with out using her legs. She and Brooke love to go outside and ride their bikes together. In fact, those girls love to do everything together. It's a rare occasion when one or the other of them wants to be alone. Well, Camille is better at playing alone than Brooke; but I think they'd both prefer to be together. I love it! That's what I always hoped for my girls -- to be friends. Hopefully best friends!
THAT was a long tangent. But a good one. I could talk about how cool my kids are all day long!
So, needless to say, our October was epic. For our Halloween Feast movie, we watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" (which, admittedly, isn't as cool as I remembered it. You know how some movies get better the older you get, because you start to understand more of the humor? Ya, not so much with this one. In fact, it was slightly painful making it through that movie. Never again.) and had a great feast. We took the girls to a pumpkin patch and were there for approximately 10 minutes total. They were so fast picking out their pumpkins, and I figured they'd take a long time. Camille was super fast. She walked up to a pumpkin, said, "This is the one I want." and stuck to that decision, even though I tried to convince her to look at some more pumpkins. She was solid in her decision. Haha!
Both girls were black cats this year for Halloween. The stars aligned perfectly for me not to have to make any costumes! Brooke from the very beginning wanted to be a black cat for Halloween, which was so convenient, since I knew I had a black cat costume that my mom had made and given to us (one from my childhood). And it fit her perfectly, and she looked so cute in it. Then, because Brooke was being a cat, Camille wanted to be a cat. At first she said she wanted to be an orange kitty, and I thought, "Okay, gear up, sister, cuz you're going to have to make this kid an orange kitty costume." But then, as I was going through our costume box, I found a little black kitty jumpsuit costume that I totally forgot we had. And I don't even remember where it came from, although I'm thinking my mother-in-law must've given it to us back in the day. So, I pulled out both black cat costumes and played up how fun it would be if they were both black cats for Halloween, and they just ate that right up. I had them convinced. Then, I had a perfect little skeleton costume that my friend, Nicole Faucette, gave to us for Jack. And he was ... so delicious in that costume!! So we had 2 black cats and a skeleton, and I wore my witches hat, at least to the trunk-or-treat.
My birthday was kinda low-key. We did go to the zoo for a few hours, which was fun. And Daniel paid for Brooke and I to feed the giraffes, which was so cool! He made navajo tacos for dinner, while I went shopping to use some birthday giftcards and pick up some cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory. It was a nice birthday.
Friday, December 1, 2017
Continued
Goodness. I'm exhausted. All. The. Time.
When we got back from our trip to Utah, I frantically got to work on our house. I read this book about the Japanese method of tidying up and owning less, and also read a book about minimalism, and suddenly, immediately upon reading those books, felt overwhelmed by the state of my house. Now, granted, having a new baby turns a house completely inside out. All this stuff comes out of the woodwork, clutter is strewn about always, and I have no energy to clean. But this time around, I had the hardest time handling it all, mentally. So, in August and September, I tackled the house and got rid of a bunch of stuff: clothes that I don't love, books I'll never read again, toys, stuff, stuff, stuff. It felt so good to purge! And I'm trying to be conscious of not buying stuff I know we don't need. A lot of it comes from other people, though. Mom will donate to me all of her old stuff, people give the girls little toys and things, clothes, etc. But I've decided that I don't have to feel obligated to keep something just because someone gave it to us.
Aaaaanyway... I reorganized what was leftover, and there is a lot less around. Although I'm currently feeling another purging is needed. But I'm sure I won't tackle another purging for at least a year.
So, Brooke turned 5 years old in August. She was so excited to be having a birthday. And since it was an odd year, we did a little birthday party for her. She requested a pool party (which is what we've done for her parties every time we've had one, haha!), and we invited a whole bunch of people. All of her friends, and their whole families. Almost everyone came, which made for a really big party. We got pizza from Little Caesars, drinks, veggie trays and fruit. Daniel was fairly shocked when he saw how many pizzas I bought. But, it's a good thing I did. We didn't end up taking any home! We had a lot of fun for her 5th birthday.
Brooke could've gone to kindergarten this year, but I felt pretty strongly about keeping her at home one more year. At the start of school, she would've been 4 years old, turning 5 a couple of weeks after school started. I just felt kind of uncomfortable with that. I'm sure she would've loved going to school, and I think she's a smart girl, so she would've been fine. But in my opinion, another year at home, another year to get older, another year to mature wouldn't hurt. It could only help.
And I'm so glad we didn't send her to school this year. Just thinking about having to send her to school next August makes me so sad. Our relationship turned a corner about a year ago. She's just such a delightful little creature! She's so much more helpful; she's always wanting to help me do work around the house, especially the things she can't really do well at her age. She asks questions and shows great interest in things and gets excited about even the smallest things. And, like I said before, she's super helpful with Jack. She's my little buddy, and I'm really going to miss her when she has to go to school every day.
Right after Brooke's birthday (as it seems to me every single year), Daniel's birthday was upon us. He's fast approaching his mid-30s, which is just really scary. His birthday was pretty low-key this year because it was on a Sunday. But I did go slightly overboard with presents. I bought presents, and then forgot about them, so bought some more, so by the time I was done, he had like a ton of awesome presents!
September flew by, like all other months. We started up a preschool group with Turner Hebdon and Elliot Erdmann. 3 days a week. It felt like a lot. We'd each take a day of the week. And it was kinda nice to have 2 mornings a week with just the baby. I felt like I could get a lot done. But then I had to plan something every week. We were pretty relaxed about it, though. Megan and Hillary often just cancelled, and I would often not plan anything, resulting in just a play day at my house. But it worked out for us. For a while, at least. Both Megan and Hillary put Turner and Elliot in real preschools in mid-October, which was fine with me. I regret the playtime that the girls got every week, and also the semblance of structure. And the free time for me. But I really don't care that much. I don't mind not having to plan a preschool lesson. And I really just like having my kids home with me and hanging around the house with them.
We hit the LA County Fair this year. It's one of the things Daniel and I have wanted to do since we moved here. And we finally did it this year, and had a great time! The girls (especially Brooke) were thrilled to be at the fair. They really wanted to try some rides and Brooke asked for Cotton Candy over and over the whole day until we finally got some. We saw a bunch of fun animals, witnessed a lamb being born, watched people eat bugs (gross), tried different flavors of honey, ate cotton candy and corndogs, saw some really cool exhibits and went on a couple of rides. It was kind of sad -- Camille wasn't tall enough to ride ANY of the rides. So we took Brooke to do some rides. She and I did the Farris Wheel together, which was fun. But as we were leaving the fair, Camille kept saying, "I didn't get to do any rides." She wasn't fussing or crying about it; just stating it sadly. And it fairly broke my heart. I felt so bad that we didn't do something fun just for her. Cute little princess.
When we got back from our trip to Utah, I frantically got to work on our house. I read this book about the Japanese method of tidying up and owning less, and also read a book about minimalism, and suddenly, immediately upon reading those books, felt overwhelmed by the state of my house. Now, granted, having a new baby turns a house completely inside out. All this stuff comes out of the woodwork, clutter is strewn about always, and I have no energy to clean. But this time around, I had the hardest time handling it all, mentally. So, in August and September, I tackled the house and got rid of a bunch of stuff: clothes that I don't love, books I'll never read again, toys, stuff, stuff, stuff. It felt so good to purge! And I'm trying to be conscious of not buying stuff I know we don't need. A lot of it comes from other people, though. Mom will donate to me all of her old stuff, people give the girls little toys and things, clothes, etc. But I've decided that I don't have to feel obligated to keep something just because someone gave it to us.
Aaaaanyway... I reorganized what was leftover, and there is a lot less around. Although I'm currently feeling another purging is needed. But I'm sure I won't tackle another purging for at least a year.
So, Brooke turned 5 years old in August. She was so excited to be having a birthday. And since it was an odd year, we did a little birthday party for her. She requested a pool party (which is what we've done for her parties every time we've had one, haha!), and we invited a whole bunch of people. All of her friends, and their whole families. Almost everyone came, which made for a really big party. We got pizza from Little Caesars, drinks, veggie trays and fruit. Daniel was fairly shocked when he saw how many pizzas I bought. But, it's a good thing I did. We didn't end up taking any home! We had a lot of fun for her 5th birthday.
Brooke could've gone to kindergarten this year, but I felt pretty strongly about keeping her at home one more year. At the start of school, she would've been 4 years old, turning 5 a couple of weeks after school started. I just felt kind of uncomfortable with that. I'm sure she would've loved going to school, and I think she's a smart girl, so she would've been fine. But in my opinion, another year at home, another year to get older, another year to mature wouldn't hurt. It could only help.
And I'm so glad we didn't send her to school this year. Just thinking about having to send her to school next August makes me so sad. Our relationship turned a corner about a year ago. She's just such a delightful little creature! She's so much more helpful; she's always wanting to help me do work around the house, especially the things she can't really do well at her age. She asks questions and shows great interest in things and gets excited about even the smallest things. And, like I said before, she's super helpful with Jack. She's my little buddy, and I'm really going to miss her when she has to go to school every day.
Right after Brooke's birthday (as it seems to me every single year), Daniel's birthday was upon us. He's fast approaching his mid-30s, which is just really scary. His birthday was pretty low-key this year because it was on a Sunday. But I did go slightly overboard with presents. I bought presents, and then forgot about them, so bought some more, so by the time I was done, he had like a ton of awesome presents!
September flew by, like all other months. We started up a preschool group with Turner Hebdon and Elliot Erdmann. 3 days a week. It felt like a lot. We'd each take a day of the week. And it was kinda nice to have 2 mornings a week with just the baby. I felt like I could get a lot done. But then I had to plan something every week. We were pretty relaxed about it, though. Megan and Hillary often just cancelled, and I would often not plan anything, resulting in just a play day at my house. But it worked out for us. For a while, at least. Both Megan and Hillary put Turner and Elliot in real preschools in mid-October, which was fine with me. I regret the playtime that the girls got every week, and also the semblance of structure. And the free time for me. But I really don't care that much. I don't mind not having to plan a preschool lesson. And I really just like having my kids home with me and hanging around the house with them.
We hit the LA County Fair this year. It's one of the things Daniel and I have wanted to do since we moved here. And we finally did it this year, and had a great time! The girls (especially Brooke) were thrilled to be at the fair. They really wanted to try some rides and Brooke asked for Cotton Candy over and over the whole day until we finally got some. We saw a bunch of fun animals, witnessed a lamb being born, watched people eat bugs (gross), tried different flavors of honey, ate cotton candy and corndogs, saw some really cool exhibits and went on a couple of rides. It was kind of sad -- Camille wasn't tall enough to ride ANY of the rides. So we took Brooke to do some rides. She and I did the Farris Wheel together, which was fun. But as we were leaving the fair, Camille kept saying, "I didn't get to do any rides." She wasn't fussing or crying about it; just stating it sadly. And it fairly broke my heart. I felt so bad that we didn't do something fun just for her. Cute little princess.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)