Sisters are forever!

The other day while Micah was at school the girls and I were playing on my bed. I hadn't slept well the night before so I was exhausted and, of course, just irritated that I couldn't take a nap. Olivia was all over the place, as usual, and Hailey just had to be in the mix. I turned on Sesame Street which kept Livvy still for maybe 5 minutes. It was one of those days that I looked at the clock and thought, "you've got to be kidding me it's only 10:00 am!?" The day had barely begun and I was already counting the minutes until Eric came home so I could pass the kids onto him. In the midst of me thinking all these (and more) grumpy, unmotherly thoughts my sweet Olivia, whose funny little personality comes out more each day, changed it all! She sat down in-between me and Hailey and started giving us kisses. Hailey, of course, thought this was great fun and they would giggle and do it over and over again. I quickly grabbed my phone to capture the moment and it took several attempts but I finally got a perfect picture! Hailey adores Olivia (which is putting it lightly) and its been so fun to have little Livvy finally start interacting with her sister. There is nothing quite like the bond between sisters, I know, I have 3 of my own, and I can't wait to see them grow up together. This small moment suddenly made me remember that it is moments like these that make it all worth it. Being a stay at home mom is hard and exhausting and even lonely at times but it's also wonderful and fulfilling and exciting. I have now put this picture as the screensaver on my phone so every time I turn it on I will see it and smile and cherish that one moment.

Toys?

All the toys we have and what's my child's favorite thing to play with? The tin of paper clips. I'm not kidding. She plays with these longer than just about anything else! My sweet Olive cracks me up.

Been a long time...

What a total slacker I've been!...and I'm going to slack once again and quickly give a brief update all the going ons of the last several weeks. I keep telling myself one day life will slow down...ha ha ha.

What started out as a "Boys Only" weekend ended up with me in it. But I was extremely grateful and excited to be able to go to the great state of Texas for the BYU game! (Even though we lost) It was a wonderful little getaway...conveniently located right by my birthday! We had a fabulous time! And all I have to say is Texas knows how to tailgate!

Never mind the obnoxious father-in-law doing the bunny ears in the background...it was a "boys weekend" after all!

We toured around the Texas campus that afternoon before the game. It was HOT! But fun to see this campus!

Next was Hailey's first day of preschool. She didn't start for over 2 weeks after Micah did and had a hard time waiting patiently! She was so excited to be able to go to school too and couldn't wait to get out the door!

She has a hard time understanding why she doesn't go every day like Micah does. She talks about all her new friends and goes on and on about what they did that day. She gives much better details than her brother ever has! When Micah started preschool I thought it was the longest 2 1/2 hours! Hailey goes for 2 hours, twice a week and it goes by entirely too quickly!

Last but not least is Micah's birthday this past Saturday. My little boy is 6 and growing up so fast! For months he talked about wanting a football field cake with "guys". He was very specific how the cake should look. I'm no Martha Stuart but I think it turned out alright!

What a kid we've raised to want a BYU football cake!

Micah was also very insistent on a friend birthday party. So he invited a few friends and all his cousins that are his age to Jungle Jim's. He and Hailey have talked about it non-stop so I would say it was successful!

First Day Of Kindergarten!

This past week Micah started kindergarten. I can't believe my sweet, little boy is so grown up! He rides the bus and I was a little apprehensive about it but Micah was so excited and LOVES it! There are several kids in our ward that he rides the bus with and that are in his class so it's nice that he knows a lot of the kids around him. Hailey has been dying to ride the bus and go with him...hard to explain timing to a 3 year old! But we've had some good girl bonding while Micah is gone. This is an exciting time filled with a lot of change in our family!

I never could get a good smile out of him. He was too worried we were going to miss the bus and kept rolling his eyes at me!

Waiting for the bus!

Micah and his bus buddy Hayden!

And off he went...to kindergarten...without me! It is still a weird adjustment!

"Stuff-es"

One of those things that is adorable about a 3 year old is how they say things. One of my favorites of Hailey's is "stuffes". As in, "Mom, where did you put my stuffes?" I didn't know what to title this post since it's pictures are from a several different things so I settled on STUFFES! In no particular order this is what we've been up to the past month or so...

Brighton Barlow Bash!

We are greatly growing in numbers! 17 1/2 grandchildren in all were in attendance and that's not counting 11 adults (my bro-in-law, Jon, was not there because he's 'Mr. Cool Air Force off to awesome places' guy). It was fun to have my sister, Emily, and niece, Ellie, arrive last minute! You wouldn't think a trip from Japan would be last minute but it was! My kids had a blast and did not want to go home when the weekend was over! Hailey keeps asking when we get to go back to the forest with our friends.

Eating donuts at Donut Falls! Thanks Uncle John!

Some canoeing...

What could be better than s'mores?

(Although, they always like making them more than eating them!)

Swinging on a ski lift!

California here I come!

The end of July we spent a week in beautiful San Diego with Eric's family. We were right on the bay and the kids loved walking right out on to the beach in the morning! I think I am still getting sand out of things...

Didn't bother this girl one bit to eat sand! Vegetables? Nah...but sand? No problem!

We visited both Sea World and Legoland! It was great fun!

Gateway

I met my sisters, Becky and Emily, at the Gateway Mall to let the kids play in the water. We haven't been since Hailey was a baby because I always figured it wasn't worth the drive when we had splash parks closer. But as a mother I can sometimes be wrong. LOVED IT!

I didn't even get Olivia's swimming suit on yet before she was in the water. She likes to be a part of everything! It would stun her as the water would spray her in the face but then she'd giggle and clap!

This was my favorite...Hailey laid out her towel, told me it was too bright and promptly asked for my sunglasses!

Eating some snacks!

Soccer

Micah started soccer this past week. I wasn't sure about signing him up at first because he is so timid but my cute boy hung in there! He ran like crazy and now proclaims that soccer is his favorite sport! I am officially a Soccer Mom!

Olive

I didn't think life had changed much or was too complicated adding a third child...that is until she became mobile! It might have taken her awhile but now there is no stopping my sweet Olive! She learned stairs in a matter of minutes and climbs in, on, up...everything! She is taking 4-5 steps on her own but gets too excited and then falls. She has constant bruises on her forehead! It's fun to see how Micah and Hailey react. They will cheer for her and it always makes Olivia smile and clap for herself! I think they are more excited about her learning to walk than I am. Showers have become somewhat of a luxury these days! Her hair has also become long enough for me to put a ponytail or two in...when she leaves them alone! Makes her look so grown up!

Dead end

Of course she was done sitting in her saucer when it was up but as soon as we took it apart it became a whole new toy!

Gymnastics

Hailey recently completed her first round of gymnastics! She was so excited to finally be able to do something for her and loved going every week.

Future gold medalist!

The "Toddler" Years

Being a parent of more than one child the toddler years never seem to end. Once one grows out of it the next one is in it. I have been known to say that I "hate" this stage and I wish I could skip it all together. I don't like the potty training, the tantrums, falling/bruises/cuts, the fighting, the picky eating, time outs, what sometimes seems like constant sickness...need I go on? Ironically, this is when Eric starts to really enjoy our kids. He says they are "finally fun to play with!" I guess it's no surprise Daddy is the favorite around here. I also have not been shy in the fact that from the womb Hailey has been a more challenging child. When she was a baby I wondered what the toddler years had in store for us. Surprisingly...The Toddler Years are also very much The Wonder Years. I've been trying to make a greater effort in recognizing the things I love about this age and how cute and fun it can all be. The wonderment and excitement is like nothing else! I know that even though there are days I am literally pulling out my hair and want to put myself in time-out that my kids will be grown before I know it and then I will be sad! At 3 1/2 years old Hailey seems to be in the "prime" toddler years. Oddly, I think she's only gotten easier to handle. I've learned she needs different parenting techniques and attention and her ability to reason and understand is getting better. Not to say she isn't still difficult. We have tears daily...if not more. But I have started to try and make notes of the funny things she says and does. I honestly don't know where she comes up with most of it. She is hilarious! (Probably more to her parents than anyone else!) I want to keep track of these things so when she is a teenager and slamming doors and telling me life's not fair I'll have something to look back on and smile!

Hailyisms

*I'm a superhero princess!

*The baby in my tummy is crying

*When asked to brush her teeth she simply replied,

"but my tongue can clean my teeth!"

*Hailey has started taking gymnastics. She loves it! Most of all she loves to wear her leotards and does so several days out of the week. However, when she says it, it comes out "reatard"!

*I don't like that because I'm a girl

*Micah's going to punch my eyeballs!

(The best part of this one was Micah's mischievous smile!)

*It had been a few days since Eric had shaved. Hailey reached over, touched his face and said,

"Daddy you have porcupines on your chin!"

*Mom, my head and eyes are trying to go to sleep!

*When Cinderella and Prince Charming kiss that means they are married

(Yes, and just keep thinking that!)

And what post would be complete without a picture (albeit a fuzzy one)? I asked them to stop Olivia from going down the stairs and they threw themselves down as a barricade! I guess I should also mention there are only 2 stairs in the particular spot!

Olivia's birthday

So with a birthday on a national holiday how can you not have more than one party?! We had some of Eric's family over the day before and then were with most of my family the day of to celebrate all the many celebrations! This use to be an incredibly busy time of year for my family (well I guess it still is), but we've scaled things down quite a bit which I guess is good considering there are now birthdays on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of July...not to mention 2 on the 28th of June! So we've managed lots of partying! Livvy was such a good sport! She didn't mind having lots of help opening her presents and she dove into her cakes like a champ! When Micah turned 1 my very clean little boy would only lick the frosting off one finger at a time. Hailey wouldn't even touch her cake! But Olivia required baths after both parties!

Party #1

It doesn't take long to go from this...

...to THIS!

For Valentine's Day Eric bought me this cake pan I'd had my eye on. (He was actually listening when I went on and on about cake pans!) They made PERFECT little cakes for a first birthday!

Party #2

I love this picture! It's like she's thinking,

"should I or shouldn't I?"

I SHOULD!

2 of my 10 year old nieces took turns taking pictures for me. I love that they caught her hugging her new baby!

And like any good mom I completely forgot to take our present for Olivia to the party. (You know you're a third child when you only get 1 present for your birthday (we have too many toys from the first 2) and your mom can't even remember to bring it to your party!) I know it made no difference to her but I actually bought the present over 2 months in advance because I loved it so much! It's an Olivia jack-in-the-box and the music is the theme song. My mom makes jokes about how I named my child after a pig...I didn't, but I think the show is adorable and I think it's fun to be able to buy stuff with her name on it!