Happy 7th Birthday, Adam!

We had a WONDERFUL time celebrating Adam's 7th birthday! I can NOT believe he is 7. It goes too fast. We had a great day, and my parents were able to come up and celebrate with us, which made it even more special!

He wanted a "science" themed birthday party this year, which is such a fun theme, I think. There's so much you can do with that!

We decorated with some science posters from the learning store, and green/white streamers. When he woke up that morning, Mike took him out for a breakfast doughnut before he had to go to work.

For lunch, Adam wanted "macaroni and cheese, with no vegetables in it." I always dump in a bag of frozen veggies, so that there's a little nutrition in the mac 'n cheese. Today, we let the veggies slide. After lunch, Grammy and Papa arrived!

We had a fun afternoon playing outside and visiting. Adam requested crab puffs (w/out crab), sweet and sour chicken, rice, and "Mom's special broccoli" for dinner. Yum!

By the way, my broccoli is nothing special.

But, what a great self-esteem builder, right?

After dinner we opened presents!

He got Legos and some science stuff from Dad, Mom, Grace and Josh.

A science experiment book from Grandma and Grandpa W*.


Money from Great-Granny and Nano and Uncle Ethan and Aunt Cameo.

And a bike from Grammy and Papa! His bike was stolen a few months ago, and he was so happy to have a bike again!


We played with the toys and rode bikes, then came back in for cake and ice cream.


The volcano cake was a little harder to make then I thought it would be. But, it turned out okay. He requested red velvet cake with cream cheese icing. Good move, because it made the inside of the volcano look like lava (magma?), too.



I didn't want to blow it up (like Adam suggested), so we did some dry ice and sparklers. It was fun to make!

I had planned on doing a few fun science experiments during his party, but we ended up doing them the next day.

We learned about poymers by making slime:



And tried to do the pressure experiment with the egg being sucked into the bottle.


It didn't work. I needed a glass bottle, not plastic.

It was a great birthday! I am so blessed and privileged to be Adam's mom. He is so funny and fun and smart. He helps me so much with Josh! And he's pretty patient with Grace. Which is saying a lot. ;) We are so happy to have him in our family!

Happy 7th, Adam! Love you!

Grace's New Bike

Grace received a tricycle from Santa two years ago, but has refused to ride it the past few months.

Because she is just wwwaaayyyy too mature for it now.

I mentioned it to my Dad, and they surprised her with a "big girl" bike they found at a yard sale when they came up to visit!

She LOVES it!!!


It took a little bit to get the hang of it, but I have one determined girl, and she got it down in no time!

We've had sooo much fun going on bike rides every day!

Thanks Grammy and Papa!

The Interview: 6 Years

I WANT: to know everything.
I HAVE: a great love of science.
I WISH: I had a bike!
I HATE: when I can't play Wii.
I MISS: my pet mouse, JoJo.
I HEAR: music.
I WONDER: who the best basketball player is. I think it's Kobe {Byrant}
I REGRET: that I didn't buy more Hot Wheels cars when I was younger.
I AM NOT: a scuba diver.
I DANCE: when I get a package in the mail.
I SING: rock music!
I CRY: when I get hurt.
I AM NOT ALWAYS: happy.
I MAKE WITH MY HANDS: sounds.
I WRITE: poems. Sometimes.
I CONFUSE: the number of volcanoes that erupt around the world each year.
I NEED: food. And I need a few more Hot Wheels to finish my army.
I SHOULD: be nice to my Mom. And Grace.
I START: second grade in a few months!

How old are you? Six! Almost seven!
Nicknames: Adders, Ad,
Are you taller than your mother? Almost!
Do you cry often during movies? No
What is your biggest pet peeve? When Grace gets into my stuff.
Favorite color: Red
Favorite foods: Pizza, Mexican haystacks, Hawaiian haystacks
Favorite beverage: Soda
Favorite cold cereal: Lucky Charms
Favorite Smells: Pie, pizza, rain, chlorine
Favorite time of day: Afternoon, because I get to play with my friends
What is your favorite game? Sorry!
How many pillows do you sleep with? 2
Do you play an instrument? Yeah, the piano
What was the last movie you saw? Bedtime Stories
What is your favorite article of clothing? My lucky red shirt with the football.
What is your dream vacation? A trip around the world. Or a visit to Phoenix.
What do you love most about Dad? He watches me play outside. He plays with me and we wrestle.
What do you love most about Mom? You love me and care for me and play with me.
What is your favorite "me- time" activity? Play Hot Wheels. I'm making a Hot Wheels army.
What is one of your weaknesses? My handwriting... starting my 'Os' on the top. Oh, and not hurting my sisters.
What is the emotion you feel the most? Happy. And guilty. Because once I was talking and my friend got into trouble for it.
Do you consider yourself outgoing? Yes
What are some of your talents? Singing, drawing, playing basketball.
What is a word or phrase you overuse? 'Antidisestablishmentarianism'
What was the hardest thing that happened to you this past year? When the boys were being mean and wouldn't let me play basketball at lunch.
What is the best thing that happened to you this year? Being a basketball champion! And Josh being born. We are best buds!
The best thing learned this past year? The longest word
What was your favorite thing about being six years old? Getting better at basketball and playing it everyday.
What are you most excited about being seven years old? Playing more basketball and getting even better so I can be the MVP in the NBA someday!

These interviews always crack me up.

School's Out For Summer!!!

We had our annual Congratulations on a Great School Year/Summer Party on Adam's last day of school! He had forgotten that we had done one last year, and was SO suprised!

Grace and I got some dollar store balloons, made a banner, and made an ice cream cake together. We had so much fun planning and decorating together!

I put together some "summer gifts" for the kids, too. Pretty much stuff that I needed to replace anyways, but it's more fun to receive it in gift form: sidewalk chalk, bubbles, water bottles, some water balls, a marshmallow skewer, some healthy-ish snacks, pails/buckets, and sunglasses. There was some fun school-ish stuff to kick off our summer learning time, too.

We are so happy to have our Adder's home with us all summer!

I LOVE having my kiddos home! Bring on the summer fun!

At the End of First Grade...

Adam with his teacher, Ms. T.

What a year!

It's hard to imagine that at the beginning of this school year, that Adam struggled so much. He hated the long school days, was exhausted, overwhelmed with the more "grown-up work," and frustrated with his teachers and the rules.

He has grown SO much!

His handwriting has improved, he is excelling in reading and spelling, and LOVES math! His absolute favorite subject is still science. Of course.

I've loved getting to watch him work on his projects and present them, as he gained more and more confidence. I am so proud of him for working hard and passing off all of his addition/subtraction facts. I love watching him have fun with his friends. I've loved hearing about him striving to follow the classroom rules (and even breaking them-for talking-once in a while).

Grace, Josh, and I got to go down during the last week of school for the end-of-the-year ice cream party. We had so much fun! Grace was even invited to have a bowl of ice cream, along with Adam, and play in the class games. She loves his school and is SO sad she has to wait another year to go there!


I am so pleased with how well Adam's done: how he didn't give up, even when things got hard, and that instead of getting upset when he got marks taken off for his handwriting, that he rose to the challenge and improved.

First grade went by soooo fast! I hope second grade slows down just a little for me. ;)

6 Months

Weight: 15 lbs 12 oz

Height: 25.5"

He didn't grow very much from his 4 month appointment (1/2 pound an 1/2 an inch). He is now in the 25th percentile for both height and weight. I was worried, but his doctor isn't. She thinks he is just going to be a short guy (his feet still easily fit in size 1 shoes). He has been really, really distracted when I try to feed him, too. I'm hoping he gains more by his next appointment.

A little about Josh at 6 months:

He is a total Mama's boy. Can't leave him.

He is still nursing exclusively. Yay! It's been a struggle, but we're still trying.

He is practically crawling. More like creeping, I guess.

He rolls everywhere he needs to go. With that and the creeping, he gets across a room fast!

He still prefers standing to sitting. If you try to sit him down, he straightens his legs, so he stands.

He loves when we sing, and is starting to "sing" along with us.

He doesn't laugh at everything. But, if something does strike him as funny he will give the biggest laugh!

He is so sweet. Loves to cuddle with me. Loves to be held.

We all just adore him!

Mike's Birthday!

We had a fun day celebrating Mike's 32nd birthday yesterday!

In the morning, he and Adam went to help someone in our ward move. They were gone for a couple of hours. When they got back he opened his present from us: a grilling cookbook. He really likes to barbecue, and is always looking for grilling cookbooks at the library. We thought we'd make it official and let him have his own. ;)


That night we had the missionaries over for dinner. We love having the missionaries to dinner, and we all had a great time! After FHE, we sang/blew out candles. I made strawberry sheet cake (per Mike's request). It was yu-mmy!


It was a great day!

Scroll Down!

I'm actually pretty good about starting to write blog posts on the day (or day after) they happen.

I will usually start to type them with one hand in the middle of night while I nurse Josh. Then work on them a bit more the next day, until I am called away to wipe a bum or stop or fight.

Or to tell Grace that a plate of pickles and a cup of hot chocolate with extra whipped cream do not a lunch make.

And then I forget about them, never add the pictures, and never post them.

But, I've had some time today (and the past few days) to finish! However, since they were posted around the date that they happened, you may need to scroll down to read them.

Enjoy!

Issues

Between me making him wear dresses to tea parties, and Grace making him play dolls with her, he might just have some issues when he's older.

Seriously Ugly

Mike brought this home from work on Saturday, proud that he had found such a "cool" chair at D.I. for only $5.

Wow. It's even uglier in person, if you can imagine.

He seriously doesn't get why I don't like it.

And why I asked him to leave any future furniture shopping up to me.

It'll give me a good opportunity to learn the art of reupholstering, however, so it's not a total loss. ;)

An Emotional Yesterday

Yesterday Grace and I made strawberry cupcakes, pink frosting, and sandwich filling for our Pinkalicious tea party that we were going to have last night, while the boys went camping.

I heard a lot of sirens outside and helicopters flying around as we worked, but we live in the ghetto and (sadly) it doesn't phase me anymore.

I also heard a lot of "humming" noises, which again, didn't really make me think anything was out of the ordinary. Just thought it was from construction or someone was getting their carpets done.

We left to go pick up Adam a few hours later, and I was shocked when I opened my door. There were 7 cameras in front of our house. The parking spaces in front of our house were filled with news vans (who were the source of the humming), and the roads were taped off with police tape.

The buildings in our apartment complex have been burglarized for over a year, by the same group of men. Night or day, home or not. It's terrible. Yesterday, they got another apartment. It was called into the police. While the police were en route, another apartment was burglarized by the same group of guys. The sweet maintenance workers told them to stop. Both were shot, one killed. At noon. Just a few apartments down from us.

These two men had just been in our apartment two days ago fixing our bathtub. The man that died was so kind. Always joking with Adam and Grace, and telling me how cute Josh was. He always waved as we passed each other and said, "hello."

It's tragic what happened. Simply tragic.

After we came home from school, we stayed on our porch to watch the reporters. Adam had a lot of fun watching the reporters do their live 4:00 news story: he would stand on our porch and watch them talk (they were just broadcasting a few yards from our porch), then he would run inside and watch it on the news.

Later, most of the reporters had gone. We went back outside so the kids could play. One reporter straggled. Adam (and his friends) have garage sales everyday, pretty much just selling each other their junk. The reporter who had stayed walked to their sale, and gave them $5 for a marble (instead of the 10 cents they had asked... so sweet!). While they were splitting the money up, she came over and asked me my reaction to the crime as a young mother.

It had been a really busy, crazy day, in which Josh hadn't napped yet. So, I hadn't showered. My hair was in a messy bun. Grace had just wiped yogurt on me. I said something dumb about the crime in the hood and how it worried me, while Josh grabbed at her microphone.

Unfortunately, they like to put pictures of gross moms who only get 4 hours of sleep a night and mutter un-intelligible responses on the news, for the human-interest factor. So, Josh and I made the 11:00 news.

There will not be a link given here.

Because I look that bad.

But, Josh was on tv! Fun for him!

Mike and Adam were supposed to go on the Father and Son's campout. I asked them not to, because I was feeling a bit scared. ;) So, we all watched a Tinkerbell movie and had a Pinkalicious tea party together.

Adam didn't (apparently) get that "dress up" didn't mean Star Wars gear:

Josh, however, knows that sometimes getting a lick of frosting is worth wearing a dress for a few minutes:


Sigh... he would've been a cute girl. ;)



Yesterday was filled with so many emotions: sadness, fear, anger, happiness, embarrassment, joy, contentment.

Quite the rollercoaster.

Life is so fragile.

But, life is also so good.

Brave Girl!

Yesterday, the apartment complex refinished our bathtub. Because of the fumes, they told us we couldn't be in our apartment for 6-8 hours.

And then I cried.

Seriously... nursing baby + a 3-year-old who loves public restrooms + not being able to be home all day and do everything I needed to?

They also told us that we couldn't use it for 2 days prior to the refinishing and for one day after.

But, our stinkiness issues are a different story.

I decided we would go to the mall. There's TONS to looks at there. It's air conditioned. They have a play area. I could bring snacks and we could eat them anywhere. I could bring my Moby and nurse him in it while we walked.

So we did.

Grace has been asking for a few months to get her ears pierced, and I had put it off. Yesterday when she saw a girl getting her ear's pierced, she asked again. I warned her (again) that it was going to hurt a little, and she said it was fine. So, we went for it.

My earliest memory is me at 4 years old getting my ears pierced. I remember sitting in the chair, the pinch, the smell, and walking out of Metrocenter in Phoenix cupping my hands under my ears, sure the earrings were going to fall out.

I remember trying so hard not to cry or yell. And I didn't.

Yesterday I watched Grace do the exact same thing. As they brought the guns to her ears, she pushed her lips together and looked straight forward. As it happened, a little tear started to make its way down her cheek, but she never cried or screamed or made a sound.

Brave girl!

The earrings look darling on her! She looks so grown up to me now!

And, no one will ever call her a boy again.

Well, hopefully. ;)