Sunday, November 18, 2012
Last Couple of Months
As usual, I don't even know where to begin. This fall has gone by even faster than the rest of the year seemed to, if that's possible. I think it's because we (Mary) has been so much more busy. It's been great for her...and me. She is doing so much better going to school. She wants to go and is happy there. She has been doing her singing and dancing class and her dress rehearsal for the Christmas performances is this week. She has been taking tumbling again with a friend from preschool, Elle, and still really enjoys it. I've noticed though that she is a bit of perfectionist. She's taken tumbling a few times before this and was able to do most of the tricks and exercises fairly well. But for some reason she is having a little more trouble this time around. Doing somersaults and such have been tricky for her. I was wondering what could have happened and I think I've figured it out. The instructor is new and does things differently than the previous ones. She also explains how to do things differently. Mary is trying to do exactly what she says and it's throwing her off and making the exercises more difficult to perform. She's thinking about it too much. Anyway, she still loves it and is excited to do it with a friend. We took Elle with us to tumbling this week in our car and it was so fun and interesting to hear Mary talk with her. She said such grown up things like, "I couldn't believe my eyes!"
Mary also had her school Halloween program. I was so excited to finally see her perform. She is such a little actress and singer all the time at home. She wanted to dress up as a witch for the performance. Unfortunately I didn't think through the possible problems with having to wear a hat. From the get go it wasn't staying on. She kept messing with it. And then it happened. The hat fell off and landed on the floor under the bleachers. Unreachable. No big deal you might think. To a 4-year-old girl with Mary's personality and sensitivity it was disastrous. She was devastated. At first I thought she would burst in to tears and wail and it was obvious that was how she felt. But she held it in. For the next 20 minutes or so she tried to sing, but kept looking behind her down at that hat. Her face would crumple like she would cry and she would try so hard to hold it in and keep singing. It was gut wrenching as her mom. I wanted to cry. I wish I would have stopped the show and climbed under the bleachers to get it back. We made it through and after a good long hug at the end she seemed fine. It was just too bad. Her teacher said she knew every word and action and was one of the best singers. Next time we'll use bobby pins and/or glue.
Anna loved the performance. She gave a pretty impressive performance of her own singing, dancing and clapping on the second row. Poor little girl just gets dragged around to all of Mary's activities, unable to participate. But she sure wants to. She has become so vocal it's crazy. She can convey anything and everything she wants with words. In fact, just a little bit ago she was playing and said to me, "back minute." Meaning I'll be back in a minute. Some of her favorite phrases are, Mary where are you, nope, NO!!!, go outside, and ummm. She's gotten pretty clingy lately and when she's feeling anxious or tired has to have both binkies (one in her mouth and one in her hand), a blanket, her stuffed doggie and her chocolate milk. It's pretty awkward to hold all of those things but she does it. She's often telling me to watch this or look and then does something silly. The other day she pooped in the toilet. That was exciting, but hasn't happened since. One day I asked her if she was ready to do her hair and she said no, and I asked why and she said BEcause. Nursery is not going well, but I don't know why I thought she would be any different than Mary. She wants to be like Mary and does just about everything that Mary does so go figure.
I did run my marathon...and then some. I took a couple of wrong turns and ended up going about 2 miles further than the 26.2. So, my time wasn't that great. 4:38. But considering it was my first and the extra mileage I think it wasn't too bad. I loved it though. I had a really good running day and mentally was totally fine. I did a half 2 weeks after and it was a real mental battle. I don't think I was quite ready to run that distance after the marathon, but ended up finishing in 1:56 which is fairly respectable. Since then the weather has turned and I haven't been running hardly at all. I have a new hobby though. Finding deals at DI and on KSL.com for Christmas presents for the kids and needed clothing items and shoes. It's almost as addicting as running.
John continues to trudge through school. He is still enjoying it. He has made more of an effort this semester to spend time with me and the girls. They just love to play with him and I love having him with us so it's been nice. Finals are coming up though so we might have a few weeks of not much daddy. It'll be ok though. We'll have lots to do to get ready for Christmas!
Mary also had her school Halloween program. I was so excited to finally see her perform. She is such a little actress and singer all the time at home. She wanted to dress up as a witch for the performance. Unfortunately I didn't think through the possible problems with having to wear a hat. From the get go it wasn't staying on. She kept messing with it. And then it happened. The hat fell off and landed on the floor under the bleachers. Unreachable. No big deal you might think. To a 4-year-old girl with Mary's personality and sensitivity it was disastrous. She was devastated. At first I thought she would burst in to tears and wail and it was obvious that was how she felt. But she held it in. For the next 20 minutes or so she tried to sing, but kept looking behind her down at that hat. Her face would crumple like she would cry and she would try so hard to hold it in and keep singing. It was gut wrenching as her mom. I wanted to cry. I wish I would have stopped the show and climbed under the bleachers to get it back. We made it through and after a good long hug at the end she seemed fine. It was just too bad. Her teacher said she knew every word and action and was one of the best singers. Next time we'll use bobby pins and/or glue.
Anna loved the performance. She gave a pretty impressive performance of her own singing, dancing and clapping on the second row. Poor little girl just gets dragged around to all of Mary's activities, unable to participate. But she sure wants to. She has become so vocal it's crazy. She can convey anything and everything she wants with words. In fact, just a little bit ago she was playing and said to me, "back minute." Meaning I'll be back in a minute. Some of her favorite phrases are, Mary where are you, nope, NO!!!, go outside, and ummm. She's gotten pretty clingy lately and when she's feeling anxious or tired has to have both binkies (one in her mouth and one in her hand), a blanket, her stuffed doggie and her chocolate milk. It's pretty awkward to hold all of those things but she does it. She's often telling me to watch this or look and then does something silly. The other day she pooped in the toilet. That was exciting, but hasn't happened since. One day I asked her if she was ready to do her hair and she said no, and I asked why and she said BEcause. Nursery is not going well, but I don't know why I thought she would be any different than Mary. She wants to be like Mary and does just about everything that Mary does so go figure.
I did run my marathon...and then some. I took a couple of wrong turns and ended up going about 2 miles further than the 26.2. So, my time wasn't that great. 4:38. But considering it was my first and the extra mileage I think it wasn't too bad. I loved it though. I had a really good running day and mentally was totally fine. I did a half 2 weeks after and it was a real mental battle. I don't think I was quite ready to run that distance after the marathon, but ended up finishing in 1:56 which is fairly respectable. Since then the weather has turned and I haven't been running hardly at all. I have a new hobby though. Finding deals at DI and on KSL.com for Christmas presents for the kids and needed clothing items and shoes. It's almost as addicting as running.
John continues to trudge through school. He is still enjoying it. He has made more of an effort this semester to spend time with me and the girls. They just love to play with him and I love having him with us so it's been nice. Finals are coming up though so we might have a few weeks of not much daddy. It'll be ok though. We'll have lots to do to get ready for Christmas!
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
It's Been Way Too Long
Of course I've been meaning to update this for months, but I think I feel like I need a certain amount of time to do it and that never happens. So even though Anna will probably wake up soon I'm going to get started anyway. We seemed to have had a busy summer. It was pretty uneventful, but it went quick enough and it felt like we were busy. Mary took swimming lessons and did a 3 week preschool summer camp. John did a couple of externships and took some classes. I started training for a marathon. And Anna pretty much tagged along. There were many more details to the summer, but my memory and time allotment won't allow much more than that unfortunately. I'll post pictures though.
Fall is here! It is definitely my favorite time of year. The leaves, the excitement of a new school year, the cooling air, I love it all. Mary, who turns 4 1/2 today, is very busy for a preschooler. She started preschool, and while she does love it and her teachers, she is still very anxious about leaving her mom. She's learning a lot already and loves to tell me about what she learned that day and who got into trouble. It seems that she is perfectly well-behaved when she's at school and primary. I guess that's why she goes crazy at home. Her anxiousness to go to school has been wearing on us a little so last night for family home evening we went on a walk to feed the ducks and then came home and talked about Priesthood blessings and then John gave her a blessing. Amazingly she sat very still through the blessing. She doesn't have school today so we'll have to see how she does tomorrow.
Mary has also started a singing/dancing performing group class. She absolutely loves it. Her class is called Kiddin' Around. They started the first day learning Christmas songs for their Christmas concert. We are so excited to see her perform. If I had to pick one thing that I think she will be good at and really enjoy it is this. She's constantly singing and acting so this class is perfect for her. I hope she continues to enjoy it. She also started soccer again. Now you may remember the horrors of last year's soccer experience. I did and was reluctant to sign her up again. But I'm so glad we did. She is doing terrific and seems to have fun. In last Saturday's game she actually scored 2 goals! They were in the other team's goal, but fortunately it's not a big deal at this age. Interestingly enough both goals were in the wrong goal, not just one. I guess she is more comfortable with that direction. Her coach was very nice and said great job Mary, just try to remember we are going the other way.
Anna is just about as busy as an 18-month old can be. She climbs into and on top of everything you can imagine. She knows where all the snacks are and can pretty much take care of herself. She has the sweetest personality, yet she knows what she wants and will be danged if she doesn't get it. She wants to do anything and everything her big sister does and Mary is really great about letting her play with her...most of the time. The other day Mary had a cape on and it looked like Anna was trying to put on a blanket like a cape so I said, Anna do you want a cape like Mary. Anna looked at me and took off down the hall toward the kitchen screaming, cake cake cake. She proceeded to cry about eating cake for the next 15 minutes. She's learned no pretty well. She loves to go outside and will tell you she wants to swing and slide and play in the gangox (sandbox).
John has started his second year of law school. He has definitely relaxed a bit so we see him a bit more than we did last year. The girls just love their daddy and want to play the second he walks through the door. He is doing an internship at Hill Air Force Base and really enjoys it. He is very interested in doing JAG.
I've been training for a full marathon. It's been a good experience. Since I have to bring the girls with me I've gotten much stronger pushing the double jogging stroller between 4 and 7 miles every day. I've been having some knee pain lately so hopefully I can push through for 3 more weeks. The race is October 13th.
Fall is here! It is definitely my favorite time of year. The leaves, the excitement of a new school year, the cooling air, I love it all. Mary, who turns 4 1/2 today, is very busy for a preschooler. She started preschool, and while she does love it and her teachers, she is still very anxious about leaving her mom. She's learning a lot already and loves to tell me about what she learned that day and who got into trouble. It seems that she is perfectly well-behaved when she's at school and primary. I guess that's why she goes crazy at home. Her anxiousness to go to school has been wearing on us a little so last night for family home evening we went on a walk to feed the ducks and then came home and talked about Priesthood blessings and then John gave her a blessing. Amazingly she sat very still through the blessing. She doesn't have school today so we'll have to see how she does tomorrow.
Mary has also started a singing/dancing performing group class. She absolutely loves it. Her class is called Kiddin' Around. They started the first day learning Christmas songs for their Christmas concert. We are so excited to see her perform. If I had to pick one thing that I think she will be good at and really enjoy it is this. She's constantly singing and acting so this class is perfect for her. I hope she continues to enjoy it. She also started soccer again. Now you may remember the horrors of last year's soccer experience. I did and was reluctant to sign her up again. But I'm so glad we did. She is doing terrific and seems to have fun. In last Saturday's game she actually scored 2 goals! They were in the other team's goal, but fortunately it's not a big deal at this age. Interestingly enough both goals were in the wrong goal, not just one. I guess she is more comfortable with that direction. Her coach was very nice and said great job Mary, just try to remember we are going the other way.
Anna is just about as busy as an 18-month old can be. She climbs into and on top of everything you can imagine. She knows where all the snacks are and can pretty much take care of herself. She has the sweetest personality, yet she knows what she wants and will be danged if she doesn't get it. She wants to do anything and everything her big sister does and Mary is really great about letting her play with her...most of the time. The other day Mary had a cape on and it looked like Anna was trying to put on a blanket like a cape so I said, Anna do you want a cape like Mary. Anna looked at me and took off down the hall toward the kitchen screaming, cake cake cake. She proceeded to cry about eating cake for the next 15 minutes. She's learned no pretty well. She loves to go outside and will tell you she wants to swing and slide and play in the gangox (sandbox).
John has started his second year of law school. He has definitely relaxed a bit so we see him a bit more than we did last year. The girls just love their daddy and want to play the second he walks through the door. He is doing an internship at Hill Air Force Base and really enjoys it. He is very interested in doing JAG.
I've been training for a full marathon. It's been a good experience. Since I have to bring the girls with me I've gotten much stronger pushing the double jogging stroller between 4 and 7 miles every day. I've been having some knee pain lately so hopefully I can push through for 3 more weeks. The race is October 13th.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Funny Mary
I just thought of this and wanted to put it in before I forget. Mary has a hard time sleeping in in the mornings. And when I say sleep in I mean sleep until 7. She's been waking up around 6:15 or 6:30 and then she ends up tired and irritable. So we tried putting some dark curtains up in the girl's room so it's not so light early in the morning. First day she slept until 7:15. Then there was another early day and then another after 7:00. But the last after 7:00 I asked her about it and she said that she was just really tired from playing in the night. Evidently if she wakes up in the night she plays with her stuffed animals until she is tired again. Silly girl.
This morning it was Anna that woke up at 6:30. She then woke up Mary. What do you do.
This morning it was Anna that woke up at 6:30. She then woke up Mary. What do you do.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Long Update
Wow, it's been a long time. We've gotten a little busier over the past few weeks. Mary has been taking tumbling one night a week and swimming lessons two nights. She loves both. Well, she did until last night. Something in her swim lesson scared her and she says she doesn't want to go anymore. Hopefully that will pass. She really loves tumbling--cried the first day when it was over. I guess it went to fast. She has been so good at tumbling class though. Sometimes I can't believe it's her. When they have to wait their turn to do a trick she always sits completely still and quiet and waits without moving or talking. She is the only child that does this. The first couple of times she didn't get picked to go until the very last because all the other kids were loud and running up to the teacher and I think she just wanted to be done with them. But thankfully the last couple of times Mary has been picked first because she is sitting so quietly. I was very glad that she got to see that something good does come from doing what you are supposed to do. It is almost summer though, and Mary has known for a long time now that she is going to school in the summer (just a 3 week class). So far she's still ok with it. We'll keep our fingers crossed.
Anna is just a little cutie. The older she gets the more personality she gets. I thought Mary was defiant. She will sit in her high chair, take two bites of something and then scream (not cry--high pitch scream) until you get her something else. She throws everything onto the floor. She thinks it's some kind of a game to get every piece of food through the little hole in her tray. She says "nana" for banana, but also for all other kinds of food. If she's hungry she says "nana." I've found it interesting how she plays with all of Mary's toys...play food and dishes, babies, dolls, etc. She plays pretend very well--mixing food in a bowl and then taking a bite or feeding it to a doll. Since Mary was the first one and we didn't have those toys when she was Anna's age I didn't realize Anna would know how to play like that.
John finished his first year of law school. I thought it would ease up a bit and I guess it has a little, but he's still super busy. He goes to class for half the day then goes to his externship at the Federal Defender's office for the rest of the day. He's also been applying for some part time jobs and trying to write an article for the law review. He got a new bike and has started riding it to school. He's pretty tired--it takes a good hour there and back, but once he gets used to it I'm pretty sure he'll really enjoy it.
We had our 8th wedding anniversary on May 14th. My grandma had my cousin Grace come over and they watched the girls so we could go out to dinner at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It was nice. I just try to keep up with everything. I know it'll get much busier as the girls get older, but maybe I won't have to pick up as much after them...
I had a very nice Mother's Day though. John made me strawberry and cream cheese crepes for breakfast, a fancy sandwich for lunch and a lovely steak dinner. He also got me (with Mary) new sunglasses and a new bag/purse. Lucky for me he has pretty good taste. Mary seemed to enjoy Mother's Day...was excited and happy and said, Happy Mother's Day Mother, several times. But at the end of the day she quite seriously asked when kids day is. She's quite a thinker.
We went to Burley a few weeks ago for my moms birthday and are going again this weekend for John's parents 35th anniversary party. Should be a good time!
Anna is just a little cutie. The older she gets the more personality she gets. I thought Mary was defiant. She will sit in her high chair, take two bites of something and then scream (not cry--high pitch scream) until you get her something else. She throws everything onto the floor. She thinks it's some kind of a game to get every piece of food through the little hole in her tray. She says "nana" for banana, but also for all other kinds of food. If she's hungry she says "nana." I've found it interesting how she plays with all of Mary's toys...play food and dishes, babies, dolls, etc. She plays pretend very well--mixing food in a bowl and then taking a bite or feeding it to a doll. Since Mary was the first one and we didn't have those toys when she was Anna's age I didn't realize Anna would know how to play like that.
John finished his first year of law school. I thought it would ease up a bit and I guess it has a little, but he's still super busy. He goes to class for half the day then goes to his externship at the Federal Defender's office for the rest of the day. He's also been applying for some part time jobs and trying to write an article for the law review. He got a new bike and has started riding it to school. He's pretty tired--it takes a good hour there and back, but once he gets used to it I'm pretty sure he'll really enjoy it.
We had our 8th wedding anniversary on May 14th. My grandma had my cousin Grace come over and they watched the girls so we could go out to dinner at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It was nice. I just try to keep up with everything. I know it'll get much busier as the girls get older, but maybe I won't have to pick up as much after them...
I had a very nice Mother's Day though. John made me strawberry and cream cheese crepes for breakfast, a fancy sandwich for lunch and a lovely steak dinner. He also got me (with Mary) new sunglasses and a new bag/purse. Lucky for me he has pretty good taste. Mary seemed to enjoy Mother's Day...was excited and happy and said, Happy Mother's Day Mother, several times. But at the end of the day she quite seriously asked when kids day is. She's quite a thinker.
We went to Burley a few weeks ago for my moms birthday and are going again this weekend for John's parents 35th anniversary party. Should be a good time!
Saturday, April 14, 2012
We've Had a Busy Few Weeks...
We have been so busy lately there has hardly been time to do anything! We went to St. George last week and when we got back it was time to get ready for Easter. My choir sang on Easter and Mary had her first Primary talk so it was quite a day.
Backing up a little, we went to St. George with my parents and two of my brothers and their families. We were able to stay at my grandma's condo, so that worked out really well. It was very nice. We were pretty busy the whole time, going to a dinosaur museum, swimming at my brother's hotel, climbing on the red rocks, more swimming and going to the park. At the park there was a splash pad and a kiddie river and a carousel. I don't think the girls could have handled any more fun. John wasn't able to come because of school so I was ready to come home!
The day before we left, John's parents came to help John build a sandbox and set up the new swing set they got for the girls for their birthdays. It was so great and now Mary has her own park in her backyard. She's is always asking people to come and play in her park. There is a goose sitting on her eggs on the other side of the fence next to the sandbox though and if you look at it it hisses at you. So Mary won't go in the sandbox unless John is with her. Hopefully the eggs will hatch soon!
I took the girls to an Easter egg hunt on Saturday morning where Mary got a ton of candy and eggs. Anna just picked up one and sat down to play with it. Then we went home and dyed eggs. Later that night we did our trade a date night with my brother Jake's family. It was their turn to go out so we stayed with all the kids at my Grandma Shirley's where the kids had another Easter egg hunt and played and played. Sweet Mary found a green egg and after it was all finished offered it to Daxton because green is his favorite color.
Easter Sunday was fun. The girls woke up and found their Easter baskets. John, of course, made a huge breakfast--well he made huge omelets. They were good. The girls looked absolutely darling in their yellow, daisy dresses. Mary was so excited for her talk. All the way through sacrament meeting she kept asking if it was time. Once we got to Primary she got to sit up front. She was so good. When it was finally time for her talk she climbed up onto the stool. She got shy for about 10 seconds--smiling and ducking her head. Then she started talking very quietly. But by the third line she had all the confidence in the world and stood up straight and spoke loudly right into the microphone. We were pretty proud of her.
Speaking of being proud of Mary, last week we went to a friend of John's from his old job for a BBQ. Mary immediately started telling the other moms everything that had happened the previous week. Then she played very well with the other kids whom we've never met. When it was time for dinner she offered to say the blessing and blessed the food and the other kids by name. All of this made me realize how she is not like me at all when it comes to socializing. Again, we were proud of her. We, of course, are proud of Anna too. She is just so darn cute and sweet. Every time I open the card door to get her out she has the biggest smile and says, "Hhiiii." Not so cute the other night though. She was being a stinker and not wanting to go to bed so we let her cry for a few minutes. But when I say cry I really mean scream bloody murder. But it was only about 45 seconds of it when I realized she had made herself throw up all over. I knew it would happen. She throws up really easy. Anyway, now I'm not sure what to do with her. She is the worst sleeper ever. And I used to think Mary was bad...
This post was probably all over the place--I started it a few days ago and got interrupted when Anna woke up early from her nap so I kind of lost my train of thought. Oh well. I'll have to add more when I think of things.
Backing up a little, we went to St. George with my parents and two of my brothers and their families. We were able to stay at my grandma's condo, so that worked out really well. It was very nice. We were pretty busy the whole time, going to a dinosaur museum, swimming at my brother's hotel, climbing on the red rocks, more swimming and going to the park. At the park there was a splash pad and a kiddie river and a carousel. I don't think the girls could have handled any more fun. John wasn't able to come because of school so I was ready to come home!
The day before we left, John's parents came to help John build a sandbox and set up the new swing set they got for the girls for their birthdays. It was so great and now Mary has her own park in her backyard. She's is always asking people to come and play in her park. There is a goose sitting on her eggs on the other side of the fence next to the sandbox though and if you look at it it hisses at you. So Mary won't go in the sandbox unless John is with her. Hopefully the eggs will hatch soon!
I took the girls to an Easter egg hunt on Saturday morning where Mary got a ton of candy and eggs. Anna just picked up one and sat down to play with it. Then we went home and dyed eggs. Later that night we did our trade a date night with my brother Jake's family. It was their turn to go out so we stayed with all the kids at my Grandma Shirley's where the kids had another Easter egg hunt and played and played. Sweet Mary found a green egg and after it was all finished offered it to Daxton because green is his favorite color.
Easter Sunday was fun. The girls woke up and found their Easter baskets. John, of course, made a huge breakfast--well he made huge omelets. They were good. The girls looked absolutely darling in their yellow, daisy dresses. Mary was so excited for her talk. All the way through sacrament meeting she kept asking if it was time. Once we got to Primary she got to sit up front. She was so good. When it was finally time for her talk she climbed up onto the stool. She got shy for about 10 seconds--smiling and ducking her head. Then she started talking very quietly. But by the third line she had all the confidence in the world and stood up straight and spoke loudly right into the microphone. We were pretty proud of her.
Speaking of being proud of Mary, last week we went to a friend of John's from his old job for a BBQ. Mary immediately started telling the other moms everything that had happened the previous week. Then she played very well with the other kids whom we've never met. When it was time for dinner she offered to say the blessing and blessed the food and the other kids by name. All of this made me realize how she is not like me at all when it comes to socializing. Again, we were proud of her. We, of course, are proud of Anna too. She is just so darn cute and sweet. Every time I open the card door to get her out she has the biggest smile and says, "Hhiiii." Not so cute the other night though. She was being a stinker and not wanting to go to bed so we let her cry for a few minutes. But when I say cry I really mean scream bloody murder. But it was only about 45 seconds of it when I realized she had made herself throw up all over. I knew it would happen. She throws up really easy. Anyway, now I'm not sure what to do with her. She is the worst sleeper ever. And I used to think Mary was bad...
This post was probably all over the place--I started it a few days ago and got interrupted when Anna woke up early from her nap so I kind of lost my train of thought. Oh well. I'll have to add more when I think of things.
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