5 months

Macie is the cutest. I love her cheeks the most and she is now 5 months. She still sleeps through the night. She eat rice cereal and breast milk still. 

 This month she has discovered her hands and toes. She grasps toys and holds them in her hand.

 She takes 3 naps, but her awake time is definitely getting longer. She likes playing in her bouncer/activity center thing.

 Love her chunky thighs, giggles, small fingers, when her hand holds my finger, when I feed her and she strokes her face, seeing her smile at me when I pick her up from her crib.

 She more engaged with toys now. This one, Aunt Luisa made for her.

 Such a sweet girl, chill, happy, content (unless she's tired or hungry). So glad she joined our family.

Oh yeah, and everything goes into her mouth now so I've reminded the kids not to give her anything she can choke on.

fhe

Our church starts at 8am, which I love! We are morning people and so I'm okay with 8am and I love having so much time the rest of the day to relax, have family time, nap, prepare dinner, and have family home evening. Tonight was a much needed and inspired lesson on honoring mothers and fathers. Many times throughout the week I get very frustrated asking my kids to do something over and over and over, etc. Sometimes I want to cry because I'm tired and feel like a slave. I know they're young and don't understand that I do so much for them and it's frustrating when I ask them to do something little and they forget, don't do it, complain or whatever. I do so much in their behalf every. single. day. almost 24 hours a day. I guess it's just been one of those weekends. I can't even keep the house clean for more than 2 minutes before the kiddos destroy everything we all just cleaned up together. I also love pinterest and typed in "obey parents FHE" in the search box and boom found a great lesson. We watched a 5 min clip of Esther and how she obeyed her dad. I love it because I learn too. Of course I didn't know the story so I'm right there with the kids learning Bible stories I should probably know this story but I didn't. It's kinda sad, totally my fault, that I went to seminary and BYU and I can't recall many scripture stories. With the lesson we talked about what "honor" means. Read scriptures about parents obligations to teach their kids and kids obligations to their parents. It went over well with the kids that Jeff and I have work to do too. We weren't just telling them what to do but rather telling them what we need to do too: teaching them how to pray, walk uprightly before the Lord, feeding and clothing them,etc and they are to obey and honor us and not to fight with their siblings. We sang some songs, read a story, and played a memory game (thanks to this website with pictures and sentences about how to honor parents). It was one of those lessons that everyone participated, listened, and hopefully will retain the principles taught. Although sometimes difficult to be a parent I'm learning that it's definitely a marathon and not a race. It's something I can't give up on. With consistency, prayer, love, determination, and lots of patience, I hope my kids will grow up to have a strong testimony and a wonderful relationship with Jeff and I, each other, and the Savior.

recent quotes

Levi--Monday: "I don't like Ms Tanya."
  Me: "Why?"
  Levi: "She tells me to play in the kitchen all the time."
  Me: "You'll get use to her. Let's get in the car."
Tuesday: "I don't like Ms Tanya."
Me: "Why?"
Levi: "She always tells me to sit down."
Me: "You'll get use to her. Let's get in the car."
Wednesday: "I don't like Ms Tanya?"
Me: "Why?"
Levi: "She doesn't give me candy."
Me: You'll get use to her. Let's get in the car."
Every day he says he doesn't like his teacher. I stopped asking why and just tell him he's a good student and she is a good teacher and that he'll get use to her. Everyday he comes home with 4 stars, the most you can get. The school has a web cam so I frequently check on him from our computer.

Levi: "Is Jesus 14 years old?"

Levi: "Mom, come here. I wanna show you something in the diamond room."
Me: "The diamond room?????"
Sydney: "He means the dining room."
Me: "Thanks for translating Sydney!"

Jordyn: "MOM! I danced with a boy today?
Me: "really? in PE?
Jordyn: "no. in music"
Jordyn: "I think Dillon likes me."
Me: "why do you think that?"
Jordyn: "he has a sparkle in his eye when he stares at me. He always stares at me."

I can't remember where we were but Jordyn said to me, "ewww. Mom, that girl had BOOB CRACK. Did you see?"

Sydney (brushing her teeth at night): "I think Colin has a crush on me."
Me: "What makes you say that?"
Sydney: "He picked me first in Heads up 7-up."

back to school

Last night we had a special dinner as you can see. I decorated their plate with a Pencil treat cheap school supplies I bought at Walmart. For dinner we had homemade mac-n-cheese, veggies, and fruit.

The kids enjoyed checking out their new school supplies. Levi said, "you bought me a blue phone!" Sydney quickly learned how to use and calculator and the other two just pushed buttons around for a good 10 minutes before eating some cold mac-n-cheese, by the time the finally got to it.

Levi of course wanted to eat this cute sugar cookie our friend Jen gave to each of the kids.

Can't believe she's ready to go to school all day. This big girl starts Kindergarten. I have so many hopes and dreams for her. I'm excited to see who she'll be and where she'll be 13 years from now.

 Sydney is a rock star in school. It comes easy for her, but she does put a lot of time into it too. 2nd grade seems much bigger than Kinder and 1st. We know she will do well because she has so much drive and ambition with everything she does.

 LOVE these two girlies. Love them separately and together (when they're playing well together). Both are going to Benjamin Franklin. They built a new campus in a different location and have a new principal too. Lots of change, but excited for new teachers, friends, and personal growth.

 Jordyn is in Room 3 with Mrs. Andersen. Right now she sits in front on the far left. She was surprised to find this little pillow with her name on it and box of school supplies in her desk that the teacher gave her.

 Jordyn sits by her friend from church and preschool, Josh P. I'm sure it won't be for long. It's just how it is in alphabetical order. But I'm glad she has someone she recognizes the first day. She was already schmoozing it up with 2 other girls she's never met in her class. She was doing the talking and they were laughing. Glad she makes friends easily! She's not shy like I was.

 Sydney so excited for school. She was annoyed and said under her breath, "ugh. Tess is in my class." Tess is a sweet kid and is Sydney's biggest competitor in class. Sydney wants to be hands down the smartest and well-behaved kid in class and well, Tess, makes that difficult since she is just as smart and well-behaved as Sydney. awww, to have a competitive squirt has it's ups and downs :) Sydney is in Room 9 and her teacher is Mrs. Fonseth. Both of their teachers look and seem so nice and loving.

 I love this last picture of Jordyn and a couple of her classmates. It looks like she's the tallest girl in her class. Jeff and I stayed until flag ceremony where all the kids in the school gather in the gym

11 year anniv

Jeff and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary last night. We got a babysitter and went out to dinner in Scottsdale at a place called Eddie V's. I ate swordfish and Jeff had ahi tuna. It was a great dinner and even greater company. 

 Our crazy kids and our crazy, fun life. I wouldn't want it any different. Okay, maybe less whining would be great.

 At the restaurant.

 Walking around after eating. We loved window shopping and getting lost in the abyss of misters.

 Jeff "wore" Macie around. Yes, she tagged along. It was Jeff's first time going out with her awake and wearing her and hearing from strangers so many comments about how cute she is. I forgot because I'm use to it, but he was like, "is this normal?"

Jeff wrote me such a sweet and well-written love letter that I will treasure. Most days I reflect how blessed I am with an amazing husband, kids, all of us being healthy, happy, and so much more.

Levi's 1st day

On Monday August 5th, Levi started Preschool at Kinderbugs. He was definitely excited about going.

 His teacher is Ms. Tanya. He goes in the afternoon on MWF. We car pool with his friend, Jacob.

 Levi and Jacob waiting until their teacher is ready to have them come in class.

 When Levi walks in the classroom, he puts his folder in a cubby, hangs up his backpack, and then put his water bottle on a table

 He finds his seat and practices tracing his name on a piece of paper. His school has a web cam and the first day I watched him from home on the computer. He is the student I suspected he'd be: well behaved, attentive, obedient, and follows direction. He is such a good boy in every way.

 Very focused and determined. Before going to school he was so cute telling Jeff and I, "I'm gonna learn to write my letters all by myself."

I asked Levi what his favorite thing to do at school is and he said, "coloring and penciling."

I mentioned what a good boy Levi is. Here is a good example. One afternoon I was getting dinner ready and spilled about 250 toothpicks. I didn't pick it up because I didn't feel like it and I was dealing with dinner and running up and down stairs trying to get Macie to take her nap. I was finishing up dinner when Levi handed me all the toothpicks in the box and said, "here mom. I picked these up for you." I was so impressed and taken back. I know the girls had walked by these toothpicks and didn't pick them up and now Levi saw them and picked them up without even asking. I praised him being thoughtful and serving me. 

first food

Macie had her first taste of food. On Wednesday, August 7th, Macie ate rice cereal in her new high chair. She didn't like it. At one point she did the whole shiver thing like it was way to gross to comprehend. She managed to take some bites and spit most of it out on her bib. She made some funny faces. The kids loved watching her eat and making her laugh. Now after 5 days of rice cereal she eats it without making crazy faces. Her pooh is now super pasty and more thick. 

4 months

Macie turned 4 months last Saturday in Big Bear. This morning she had her 4 month visit at her dr. She weighs 15.4 lbs. (82%) and she is 26.4 inches long (98%). She weighs the same as Levi at this age and is my tallest at this age. This past month Macie went to another state: California. She discovered her toes and holds her feet often. She is done with her swing and sits in an exersaucer for a small amount of time. She sleeps in her crib for both naps and sleeping at night. She's in a size 2 diaper. She goes in the pool more but only in the early morning or evening. She still has cradle cap but it gradually comes off. Macie has another new cousin, Brinley, and another one is coming in just days. This next month we'll start on some cereal. She usually takes 3 naps and we always get comments about how cute she is when we go out. We love her!

at Macie's 4 month dr. visit