a few things from the summer

We went to Mount Vernon several times this summer, it turned out to be my favorite place to visit, here is a family picture of us when we went and had a picnic there. Also, Mae had her first haircut this summer, and I did not do a very good job.

purple

Mae was pouting and hit her eye on the corner of the table, ouch.

Sisters!

I am so glad that these two have each other. I can't think of anything better than growing up with sisters! I have been spending a little time planning out the "girls" room in the house and it makes me excited to watch them grow closer as Vera gets older.

Buddies

Grace and Mae have become little buddies, they can play house or boat or make anything fun with their imaginations. They love to empty closets and shoe boxes and change their outfits a dozen times . . . that's what cousins are for right?

My Mae

Mae is my little buddy, especially my hair buddy. I straightened her hair the other day so that I could trim it and see what I was doing. It never got trimmed but she did run around the house thinking that she was rapunzel. Doesn't she look like a different girl? I have been doing my hair curly lately too, I have been straightening it for the last 8 years? But I like doing it curly because I feel more like I am Mae's mommy and I feel back to my roots. I wonder if Vera will be curly. Anyway, here are some pictures of the curly hairs around here.

Mae Mae

Usually the kids wake up before us, they make great alarm clocks, but Mae slept in one morning last week so I snuck upstairs and took a few pictures of her. She always sleeps with her thumb in her mouth and her "soft blankie". She's a beauty.

I'm Spoiled

I have the best family and husband. The week before I had Vera John' parents took Wes and Mae for the week and let me just say that it was the best week I have had in a long time. So relaxing and stress free and I took a photography class, it was the best. Then after we got back from the hospital my Mom and Melody came for the week and spent the whole time in the kitchen making frozen meals and being the best Grandma and Aunt for Wes and Mae, it was heavenly. Then Anne and Rick came and spent some time playing with Wes and Mae, making meals and helping us out! John has let me sleep in every morning for the last three weeks and run errands while he has bathed the kids and put them to bed every night. So three kids has been pretty easy so far!

These are the only pictures I have of the last three weeks, we celebrated Mae's second birthday and had a fun Halloween party at Rose's house. I don't know how Mae turned two all of a sudden and got so big and mature but I sure love her.

Back it up

I finally have a chance to hijack John's computer and finish my posts from this summer

My Mom and Beth came to visit us and play in Chicago, it was one of my favorite parts of the summer. We also happened to straighten Mae's hair while they were here, she looks like a different person!

Mae is such a character, it has been so fun to watch her personality develop. Sometimes I wonder if I will be able to control her, she has gotten pretty crazy lately. I always hear her whispering to Wes:

Lets sneak into Mommy's stuff
Lets dump water on the floor
Lets make a mess

That little rascal is trouble and I'm afraid we are coming upon the terrible two's pretty quickly



John and I laughed out loud when we saw this picture of Mae

At the park

Rose took these pictures of Mae the other day, they turned out so cute. I love the one where she is singing Patty Cake and "rolling" the dough.

About Mae

More info on my kids that only a few people probably care to read:

So when we first moved to Chicago Mae could only say one word at a time, then a few weeks after she started putting two words together. Now she speaks in full sentences, and has a pretty big vocabulary. You know in the movie Sandlot where there are two brothers and they copy each other? Mae copies Wes, everything he says she repeats right back.

Also a month or so ago Mae just started pointing to things and telling me what color they were. I have never taught her any colors but she knows all her colors and is particular about which color bowl and spoon she gets for her meals. Maybe a future designer?

I'm so proud of her, she is such a darling. Also, her hair has been growing like a weed, you would never guess it but her hair is about half way down her back now but just curls right up.

Fancy Nancy

The kids were invited to Taya and Siennas Fancy Nancy Birthday Party! I think this was the first time the kids really ever dressed up and they loved it. I really want to start getting them some really good dress ups. I love this first picture, I could not get them to smile, so it looks like one of those old fashioned serious photos. Wes loved his moustache and really wanted to wear Mae's boa, which she was scared of. The kids had cupcakes and got to read Fancy Nancy and watched a crazy thunder and lightning storm out the window with trees falling and crazy winds blowing.

The Best

This year my goals started out being about temporal things, like food storage etc, then we decided to move every few months and live out of boxes. Not going to work for gathering and saving food storage or planting a garden. So my goals have changed and I have been really focused on finding the best for my family. I want us to always be surrounded by the best ideas, things, and habits. I want my children to learn to be discerning when they make choices and know why they chose them.

I started by eliminating tv and movies for the kids, they really are not the best activities for the kids to be spending their time on. And guess what, it makes a big difference in their mood, obedience, and their thought processes. It really wasn't that hard either. It is so fun to see what the kids come up with together when they have to be creative and find something fun to do. I also organized two bins in the hall closet full of activities like play doh, moon sand, coloring, painting, magnets etc. They love being able to pick an activity out of the bin and it is so much better for their brains. We have also been spending a lot more time outside, granted it is summer now but I try to make an effort to let them play outside for a good amount of time everyday. Having a playground right outside the door really helps. (I should say that the kids still sometimes watch movies when friends come over or when I'm gone and John lets them watch one.)

I read Simplicity Parenting over the last couple weeks, by far my favorite parenting/child raising book I have read, I really recommend it. Almost every concept in the book I had been contemplating before reading it and now I am so glad to have reason and research to back up my previous thoughts. It really helps you remove all the excess things in your children's lives so that they are left with the opportunities to really learn and grow like children should. We went through our toys and got rid of a bunch of them, keeping only the things that stimulate and encourage imagination. It is so nice to have only a handful of toys for them to clean up and they have an easier time choosing and sharing what they have. They also seem to get involved in deeper play with fewer toys, I love it.

It is so liberating to simplify possessions and habits and to learn to live with less. It really feels good. I cant wait to get home to all of our things in storage the get rid of most of it . . . not really but probably a lot of toys, books, and clothes will go, and all those things we have been saving because someday we might possibly use them. I don't want to think about, spend time on, or spend money to store those things.

Also, Im pretty sure the longer Mae's hair gets the curlier it gets. Check out these ringlets, my goodness.

Funny Girl

I couldn't have laughed harder at these pictures of Mae. We told the kids they could have a vitamin if they sat on the blanket for a picture, Mae was so excited, the kids seriously love vitamins.

Spring Jams

I have been waiting all winter to get out the kids' spring pajamas, they are my favorite.

Mae answers "I do" to every question you ask her, it is so darling.

Wes is constantly talking all the time, especially asking me questions. It is fun to listen to him try and use new or big words that he doesn't quite understand, here are a few things he has been saying lately that make me laugh

Mom I'm trying to starve.

Hey Mom, I have a great idea, lets choke on vitamins!

Something is happening to me...

I'm an adult now! (after washing himself in the bathtub)

The kids have been doing really well lately and I love to watch them play together. If Mae is asleep Wes is always asking if he can wake her up and if Wes is at a friends house Mae is always asking "a We, a We?" They love to be together.

My pregnancy has been going really well, I have just been trying to avoid any unnecessary weight and the foods that cause it, but not doing a very good job. I have been reading a lot on parenting and have been having quite a few days that make me think that I need some help, or maybe it's just the pregnancy hormones, either way I'm exhausted by the end of everyday. I am really starting to get excited to have a little tiny, soft and fuzzy, body around here again, being pregnant is pretty exciting.

Ouch!

Mae's scrape, Im hoping it doesn't scar. Plus, how cute is her face?

Pudding Paint

Mae ate hers while everyone else painted.

Time Out

I got myself a babysitter and got out of the house alone today! Our stake had a women's conference and while I was sitting in the opening session I thought I felt my baby move, it was probably nothing I thought, but I felt it again and again throughout the talk. And then through the next class and then when I got home I felt him more and more! What a great mother's day gift! But what am I going to do with three kids! We have an appointment to find out what we are having next week and I am starting to get excited about this pregnancy. Feeling this baby move for the first time just made everything feel very real, its really happening. So sometime near the end of October I am expecting a round little baby boy to pop out, although we will know for sure next week.

When the conference was wrapping up the baby sitter called to say that the computer fell on Mae and she was bleeding and crying and whimpering, so I rushed home. When I walked in the door Mae said "Mommy!" and then went on playing. I guess she got over it pretty quick but she does have a pretty big gash on her nose.

I found this picture of Mae when she was two weeks old, she has changed so much! The second picture is the face Mae makes when you tell her to smile. The third picture is evidence of her hearty appetite, she usually eats much more than Wes and is constantly hungry. I love this girl, she is just getting much too big, I guess it's a good thing we are having another baby soon.