May 2015

I've resigned myself to the fact that I can only make the time to write on my blog once a month. So here is my post for the month of May. :)

Of course the most important thing in May is ... Marcus's birthday! He turned two this month!  Oh my gosh, I love his guts! He is such a ray of sunshine and brings an incredible amount of happiness and laughter into our home. He's such a happy little guy!
 
We celebrated his birthday the day before with our families. We had a nice dinner and opened presents. He loved all his gifts and he really loves his family!

On his actual birthday he woke up early with a nasty cough, poor guy! We had put a dozen blue balloons in his room while he was sleeping, but since he woke up early, he didn't even notice them. Sad. I brought him in bed with me and we snuggled for an hour while he slept a little longer. That was my favorite part of the whole day. :) We got a phone call that morning that Mitch's Grandpa Jory had passed away. While it is always sad to lose a loved one, he was in a lot of pain and it was comforting to know that he was no longer suffering here on earth.

We turned his car seat around now that he's two.

Our day was spent at the park, opening more birthday presents, and taking the kids out to dinner at one of Marcus's favorite places, Chick-fil-a. He had a great birthday! He said, "Thank you" which he says as, "Ummm!" every time we told him Happy Birthday. We sang happy birthday songs to him several times throughout the day (the regular version and the version from the Primary book/CD). I don't think he completely understood what was going on, but he seemed to enjoy it!

He seems to be talking more and more. It seems like he surprises us with a new word or two every day. He is still telling knock knock jokes. This may or may not be driving us crazy. ;) He likes to sing and especially loves to listen to Taylor Swift in the car. Ha, ha! He is still a mamma's boy and in the morning will tell Mitch to go out of the room while he snuggles with Mamma. Poor daddy, sometimes I think he feels bad that Marcus doesn't like him in the morning. But he does love his daddy!

This is his genuine smile. I love his huge grin!

Layla had her 5 year old check up recently. She weighs 42 lbs and is 43.5 inches tall. She is 75th percentile for height and about 60th percentile for weight. Healthy and happy!

Before preschool ended, I went on a field trip with Layla and her class to Great Harvest Bread Company. It was fun, delicious, and educational. I am so thankful that I can have those experiences with her. Of course, her boyfriend, Logan, was there too. They were "field trip buddies" which means they had to stay by each other during our outing. They were the only buddies holding hands, and when another little girl said, "Hi, Logan!" Layla immediately replied with, "He's here with me!" Oh.my.goodness are we in trouble!?!

The day she invited two friends over after preschool (without asking me first).
My social butterfly!

Preschool graduation was last week. Mitch was able to come home from work and go with us. I love her teacher, Tiffany McMinn, and I really love that she literally lives around the corner from us. It was so convenient! I hope she is still teaching when Marcus goes to preschool!


Tiffany gave each student a DVD of pictures from their field trips and parties set to music. The last song on the DVD is "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." As we were watching it at home, I teared up because I was noticing how much Layla had grown up over the course of the school year. She lost her round face and grew taller and slimmer. As the video ended, Layla walked over to me with tears in her eyes and said, "I don't want preschool to end!" then she just lost it and started sobbing. It was so sad! And it made me cry harder. I explained to her that change can be hard, but it can be exciting too, and she will see all of her friends in Kindergarten, even if they're not in the same class, etc. She just kept saying, "I don't want to go to Kindergarten. I want to stay with Momma forever! I don't want to grow up. I love preschool! We have so much fun together in preschool! I don't want it to end! etc," all while sobbing uncontrollably. I felt bad for her and also caught a glimpse of her future, dramatic, teenage years. ;) She is such a sweet, social, tender-hearted girl and I love her!

First day of preschool.

Last day of preschool.

A neat experience I had with her recently was when I asked her to help me put away some laundry and as she ran back into the room, she told me that she felt the Holy Ghost tell her that she "should always help her mom." It made me happy to know that she is learning to feel the promptings of the Spirit, as that will be such a guide and director for good in her life if she will listen. I know it has been for me.

She wrote this all by herself. I helped her spell green and queen. 

Layla is still rockin' the piano! I am impressed with her talent and my dedication to making her practice. ;) She had her first group recital recently. I dropped her off at her piano teacher's house and she played "Mary Had a Little Lamb" (right hand only) in front of a dozen other students. I was proud of her for going all by herself (she was the youngest and newest student, by far) and I was thankful that she was impressed and motivated by the older students.

Helping Marcus play basketball.

Mitch had kind of a bummer delay with his school recently. He wrote a proposal for his dissertation about a year ago, and is just now learning that he has to re-write it (more or less). The professor who was originally supposed to review it didn't get around to reading it for, oh, about a year. No big deal. In the mean time, Mitch was constantly asking and reminding him to read it. When he finally did, he realized that he wasn't the right professor and Mitch had to switch mentors! The new professor understands the subject better, and told Mitch he needs to "make a few changes" which in the end is basically starting over. Geez, would have been nice to know this a year ago instead of wasting all this time, huh?!? Anyways, I feel bad that happened and am trying to make sure we set aside time for him to work on it each day = single mom life for me. And might I say, props to all the real single mom out there! I really can't complain, it's not that bad at all, but I am definitely excited for him to finish!

At Chuck E. Cheese's for Marissa's birthday party.
Layla has ALWAYS wanted to go there!
I went on a ride just like this as a kid and for years had reoccurring dreams about it.
Weird, huh?
I was excited when Layla rode it and liked it.

I love my little family and I am grateful every day that I get to be home with them!

5 Years Old!

Layla turned 5! It's weird to think that we now have a "kid" as opposed to a toddler or a preschooler.  It was so fun to spoil her all weekend and see her face light up with each surprise! She is such a sweet girl (with a side dose of sassy/moody), and we love her more than we can say.

On her birthday she woke up to 15 pink balloons in her bedroom. Mitch and I almost passed out the night before blowing them up since we were still getting over some nasty sinus infections! That day she took cookies to her preschool class and they sang to her. She got phone calls from grandparents and aunt and uncles all day long. That evening Mitch came home and we went to the mall where we waited to get her ears pierced. There was a girl who was getting hers pierced before us, and she had to be at least 12 years old, and she took a solid 20 minutes of crying, "I can't do it," before they finally did it, at which point she cried, "It hurts! It hurts" while I tried desperately to distract Layla so she wouldn't chicken out. I was pretty annoyed by this point because we had been waiting so long and Layla was getting less excited by the moment. (We had already gone to the mall earlier that week to show Layla where she would get her ears done, etc. since she was nervous. So this was not at all what we needed.)

Then it was Layla's turn and she willingly climbed in the chair, but I could tell she was fighting back the tears. I promised to buy her a giant sucker when it was over, and that seemed to do the trick. She did cry right after they did it and said it hurt, but she only cried for less than 2 minutes. She got her sucker, chose to eat dinner at the food court (Hot Dog on a Stick, a kid's dream), and played at the play place. Kinda ghetto, but hey, you're only five once, right?

On the car ride home she started whining, saying her ears hurt. I took her in the bathroom to clean them, and when she caught sight of herself in the mirror she immediately stopped crying and said, in a very dramatic voice, "Oh, I look soooo pretty, Mom!" Ha, ha! So I guess it was all worth it! She hasn't complained about her ears since that first night, and she does look so pretty. ;) Mitch had a hard time with it because it made him realize how much his little girl is growing up, getting her ears pierced and all. He's a sweet Daddy.

The next day was Layla's party with her friends. She invited nine total: seven girls and two boys.She wanted to invite several more, but I had to draw the line somewhere! I thought it would be complete chaos, but they were actually very well behaved. We colored a picture, played duck,duck,goose, and pin the candle on the birthday cake. Then Cinderella came! ;) She was legit. Her costume was perfect and the real deal. She did a couple silly magic tricks, read a story, and sang a song. My favorite part was seeing Layla's face when she answered the door and Cinderella was standing there. She couldn't even talk and her mouth just hung open for several seconds. It was awesome. She told me later that when the doorbell rang, she couldn't figure out who it could be because everyone she had invited was already there. Lol. Layla has some great friends and I hope she continues to have great friends as she grows up. She had a great time and the party was a success. Oh, and the little boy next to Layla, dressed as Batman, is her "boyfriend" from preschool. His name is Logan. When he walked in for the party Layla yelled, "Look! My boyfriend's here!" as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Mitch and I definitely shared a look across the room. It was one of those weird moments where you can totally see the future. Ha, ha!

Top Row: Rylee Hagberg, Lily Leasure, Elsie Edwards, Amelia Lifferth.
Bottom Row: Landon Packard, Cambria Vickers, Oakley Cragun, Layla Bott, Logan Wykstra.

That night she had a sleepover at my mom's to celebrate her birthday and she had a blast, as always. They also went and visited Baby Evelyn. Layla loves her so much! When she got home she told me repeatedly how cute Evie looked and how she loves to hold her. So sweet.


We had our families over Sunday night for Layla's birthday. They spoil her and she is lucky to have such a great family! So, we officially started the Barbie phase. Not my idea. I'm kind of against Barbies; I don't like how they make young girls focus on unattainable physical beauty, appearance, material possessions, etc. But, she loves them, and I can help her understand what is and isn't important in life, so whatever. She got some other great gifts too. Most importantly, she felt so loved by so many.

After all that, I was tired! Whew! It takes a lot of work to pull of a birthday weekend like that. And it was so worth it. I love my little buggy, and I am so proud of the person she is becoming!

Other news: Layla was accepted into the Chinese immersion program! Yay! She'll start in Kindergarten, so she'll go for five hours a day instead of three. The program goes through high school and we're super excited about it.

Layla is also starting Suzuki piano lessons this week! This is something that I've felt strongly about and want her to do. Mitch and I talked a lot, a lot, a lot about this and decided that this is something that Layla will do as she grows up (as in through junior high school) and there will be no if's, and's, or but's about it. It will just be something she has to do, and hopefully she will love it. But it is a skill that she can use frequently, and it is something that is so beneficial for her growing brain and confidence. I'm excited for her! I'm nervous for me. Suzuki method requires a lot of work on the parent that is the coach, which is me, but I'm up for the challenge!

Marcus. Oh, that boy. I love his guts! He is attached to one of Layla's baby dolls lately. Sleeps with it every night. So cute. He loves to help me with the laundry and will push or help me carry the laundry basket around. He likes to put the clothes in the washer too. Such a little helper and sweet boy. He told his first knock, knock joke! It went like this:
Marcus: noh, noh.
Me: Who's there?
Marcus: Nana (banana)
Me: Banana who?
Marcus: Poo poo!
Okay, so it included some potty language, but it was hilarious! "Nana poo poo" is a phrase that Layla says a lot, because she thinks it's hilarious, so I thought it smart that he used it as his joke. He seriously cracks me up every day.

He is getting better at talking lately. He can definitely communicate, and he is definitely a funny person. He has a great sense of humor! He is also telling me when he needs to go #2, and he has sat on the toilet for the last three days in a row, but hasn't had any luck actually going on the toilet yet. But, hey, it's a start!

Mitch is traveling again and we miss him when he's gone! But he is loving his work, he's almost done with his last class EVER, and I am just so proud of him and his hard work. We are very blessed!

I've loved meeting and holding my new niece, Evelyn! She is so beautiful and perfect and I am excited to watch her grow up!

 Layla's first time meeting her cousin.

 Easter!

Oh, and it snowed today. April 15th. Not too weird for Utah, but good because we needed it this year!

March: Births and Birthdays

I am way too lazy to fix the spacing and design on this blog post. Deal with it. ;)

Our second niece, Evelyn, will be born this month! I cannot wait to meet her and kiss her soft, fluffy cheeks! For a little bit we thought she might be born on Mitch's birthday. Natalie joked that they'd have to name her Michelle after Mitch, but no such luck, his birthday came and went without her. That's okay; they can still share a birthday month!

Layla and our first niece, Tennesey.

Mitch had a great birthday! He was spoiled by both our families with a tactical pen (it has a rape whistle and a fire starter! Ha ha!), a bench grinder, and money and gift cards. The kids and I spoiled him too: Layla gave him new jammies, Marcus gave him two sets of matching father and son neck ties for church, I gave him a new jacket, and we all gave him a remote control airplane. He loved all of his gifts, but the airplane trumps all. He really won't stop playing with it. In the house. It makes the kids run around and scream out of excitement. But no regrets, I'm glad he loves it. I'll have to buy him a nicer one soon since this one is just a beginner one.

Family pic before church with the self timer = not the best pic ever.

Back to February: my grandma Ruth had us over for a Valentine's dinner and announced that she is taking us all on an Alaskan cruise next year! Wahoo! It will be a trip to remember! So nice of her to do that and we're really looking forward to it!

He must need a brother because he was more
than happy to wear this princess dress.

Marcus learned to ride the balance bike all by himself! He just walks with it for now, but man, it's crazy how little boys pick up on stuff like that faster than little girls (at least that's true for my kids). I'm glad he loves it. I took pics of him riding it, but I'm sad that they must have somehow been deleted. I will have to take some more.

These two get in a lot of trouble together...

Actually, he just gets in trouble in general.
But we love his guts!

Layla is doing great at preschool. Her teacher approached me recently and said, "Now I don't want you to be surprised when they ask you about having Layla skip to first grade." Made me so proud! She is a little smarty pants. We should find out if she got into Chinese Immersion this week or the beginning of next.

Layla made this play-doh bowl of fruit.
She was very proud of it.

We had our lawn aerated recently so there were those little bits of grass and dirt clods all over the lawn. The kids, the cat, and I were all outside and after about twenty minutes of being out there Layla said, "Man, Harvey! You pooped EVERYwhere!!!" Ha, ha, HA! I died laughing. In Layla's defense, they really do look like animal poop, but it was just the way she said it. I love her.





















Marcus learned a new word this week. He woke up from his nap one day saying, "Ernie" over and over again. It felt like a repeat of when Layla learned to say that word, only not quite as persistent. It amazes me how kids go to sleep and wake up doing a new skill. It's pretty cool if you think about it!

Crawling around, panting like a dog.

Chillaxin' at mammey and bopa's house.

Short update, but we are going to go play outside. I can't get enough of this fabulous spring weather we're having so early in the year! (Though it does make me nervous for this summer ... ) Also, have I mentioned how much I love that my kids are friends and (for the most part) get along with each other?!? I love them!!!

 

I often find them laying side by side, reading together. It melts my heart!!!

 

 The one true snow day we had this winter.