Is this not adorable!

Emma is becoming such a great helper to me. I can't remember why, but for some reason I had to leave Grant in the middle of his dinner to take care of something. Grant, was not pleased with the arrangement and was chomping at the bit for more food. Emma hopped right up there without even being asked and started to feed him. He was so happy that SOMEBODY could take care of him. Emma had a few samples of the rice cereal and pears for herself in the process!



I love Grant't little "mmmm's" when he likes his food. Too bad he gags when I try to feed him any sort of vegetable. He'll grow out of it, I hope.

You have GOT to be kidding me!

Here are some of my recent "you have got to be kidding me" moments around here:

1. An English cucumber + a 2 year old + a 3 year old + a baby in an exersaucer= bad combination.

So, we all happened to be in the kitchen one day while I was preparing lunch. I had an English cucumber out and was going to give some to the girls with their lunch. You know, the long ones that come wrapped in plastic. Anyway, Emma saw it and wanted to hold it and I thought, whatever will keep her happy until I get lunch ready. Then Arianna saw it and wanted it too. So, of course they start fighting over it; one on either end like they are playing tug-of-war or something. One or the other of them eventually lost their grip and it slammed right into the unsuspecting Grant's face: whammo! Poor little guy!

2. We put the girls to bed the other night at 7:30 pm and they did not fall asleep until 10:30 pm! I am all for them bonding as sisters and all, but come on!! They were doing everything from singing to talking to playing with their animals, you name it! They were having the time of their lives in their room! Too bad Emma won't ever sleep in!

3. As you all know if you keep up with my blog, Emma is a good little mother to all of her animals and dolls. For a while, she was on a kick where she would put a stuffed animal 'to bed' in Grant's crib during the time when he was awake in the morning. Normally, when I go to put him down for his morning nap I just take the animal out and put him in. On this particular morning, however, Emma was aware that I was about to remove her animal from the crib and she had a fit! She insisted that the animal (Nakey- Snakey Baby Lamb, in this case) (Yes, folks, that is his name) was still asleep and that I must NOT take him out. She had a full blown melt down before I got Grant down for his nap.

4. We were driving in the car today and I heard Emma in the back seat trying to teach Arianna to say the Alphabet backwards! She said the whole things backwards without missing a single letter! The next morning I was telling Kenneth about it and had Emma say it for Kenneth and she did it again! I couldn't believe it!

Welcome Spring!

We went to the Park today and enjoyed the beautiful sunny weather! It was in the mid 60s and just lovely. We brought a picnic lunch and just enjoyed the sunshine. Emma is so funny. She doesn't quite get that a picnic IS lunch. We ate sandwiches, cucumber, apple, pretzels and fruit snacks at the park. On the way back home in the van Emma said she wanted to eat lunch when we got home. I tried to explain that we already ate lunch. She insisted that a picnic is just a snack. (She even told me exactly what she wanted to eat when we got home: noodles with sauce, green beans, and orange.) What a funny girl. She ended up forgetting about it when we got home (must be her belly really was full!) And, bonus for our day in the sun: all three of them are napping right now! (Emma usually doesn't)

Emma insisted on helping make the sandwiches for the picnic. I should encourage her- just think about how wonderful her help will be when she is a little older and so capable!
Grant's first time in a swing.
The girls loving life!

You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have. . .

The facts of life!!!

I originally started this post 2 weeks ago- my heavens where does the time fly!!! I have noticed lately that I have become quite negative and I decided I needed to start combating my negativity by speaking positive words. So, here is one of my new strategies: when I start to feel like I want to rip my hair out and say "I can't handle this!!" I am going to remember what Paul said, "I can do all things in Christ which strengtheneth me." Here are some of the things happening in our lives, both the good and the bad. And really, most of the things on the bad list I will look back on and either laugh at or long for when I am old and gray. My life would be so empty without these little ones. Oh, how I love them!

Good:

• My 3 year old used the word 'similar' yesterday- I don't even know where she learned it!

• Grant saw me put a grape in my mouth and tried to follow it in and gave me a big slobbery kiss in the process!

• Grant has been taking wonderful naps. (Amazing for this little guy!)

• Thanks to my Tae Bo workouts, I am fitting in my normal size pants again!!! (I still have a long way to go to be back to how I was B.G. (before Grant), but I can definitely tell a difference.)

• Seeing Emma help her little sister. This warmed my heart. I was feeding Grant and Arianna would not finish her dinner on her own. Emma did this all by herself. (I know I know, she shouldn't be on the table, but it was so sweet!):

• A rare moment with Kenneth (they sure love spending time with their Dad!)

• Studying about the Passover and the relations to the life and mission of Jesus Christ- fascinating! Our Relief Society held a Seder Dinner and I gave a talk on this and really enjoyed preparing for it.

• Being able to spend time outside in this Spring weather! The kids are loving going on walks. Emma pushes Grant around in the stroller. So cute:

• The children have been doing so much better sleeping at night- I am so thankful!

• I have been really enjoying reading The Work and the Glory

• Grant is starting to babble and sit up and SNUGGLE! What a little love bug!

(Thanks for the adorable p.j.'s, Estelle, I love them!!!)

Bad:

• 3 year-old melt-downs are not pretty. I guess one good thing came out of a recent major meltdown. . .she was in bed by 6 pm.

• 2 year-old melt-downs are not pretty either. Luckily she snaps out of them pretty fast.

• Grant screamed for almost an hour a couple of nights ago- right when I wanted to go to bed. I think they have a special sense for that.

• Wiping Arianna's nose has been a full-time job these last few weeks. I don't know if it is teething or allergies. Whatever it is it is driving me NUTS!
  

• Going to church with 3 children alone 2 weeks in a row. (Kenneth has been traveling quite a bit for work) It really hasn't been all that bad- mostly because all the kind souls at church who have mercy on me and help me out. (The front carrier helps out, too!) Arianna did decide she needed to try to nurse during Sacrament Meeting (which she hasn't done in 14 months, mind you!) Out loud during the meeting she says, "I need to feed, Mom. Lift up your shirt." "I need to feed now". I was so mortified. All the while she was tugging on my shirt while I was holding Grant trying to keep him happy. Crazy lady!
  

• Trying to get a picture of a 2 year old after church is no fun. We have 8:30 am Church, so there is no way that I could have taken he picture before hand and been on time. So, I thought I will snap a quick picture of this adorable girl before I change her clothes so she can eat lunch. Not so much. She wouldn't have anything to do with it. I was so frustrated. So, you can see that behind the tears, snot and screams, she really is a very cute girl. She is wearing the dress our friends in Austria sent for Emma. (D & M- if you are reading this- thanks again!)

• Finding your child covered with throw-up= bad thing. I went to get Grant this morning and he was fussy more than he usually does when he wakes up in the morning, but I just thought he was extra hungry. I go in to get him and I immediately smell throw up. Yuck! He was covered. Luckily, I think he had just done it because he was still all wet and all the blankets and pajamas were still wet and I never heard him cry in the night. Needless to say, we took and early bath today!

• $75 ticket for running a red light! Stinking cameras. I really didn't mean to. It was one of those times where I thought if I stopped it would be slamming on my brakes and wouldn't be good for the children. Why I didn't notice the yellow light sooner?, I don't know.

• Poop outs. Three in one day- 2 for the little one, one for the middle one. I feel like I run a production line when it comes to the diaper changes. It cracks me up when I have them both lined up on the floor next to each other.
  

All in all- life is great. We have so much to be thankful for. Here are a couple more pictures from the past couple of weeks just for fun!

Emma "reading" to Arianna. She is such a good big sister!

Playing with Grant, Emma's favorite pass-time.

Good times!
Adorable baby! By the way, Joan, if you are reading this, he loves the toy you gave him!

A House of Order

I really try to have a routine in place around here. We do pretty well most of the time through afternoon naps. Then it kind of falls apart in the afternoon and we get ourselves back together in the evening. Routine and order help me to be able to handle life with these 3 wee ones and I notice helps my children, as well. They seem to thrive on routine.
For example, Emma knows that Sunday is the day we go to Church and we don't watch regular DVDs, only Church ones. Monday is Family Home Evening; Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays are the days we have baths; Fridays we have playgroup.

Every morning, after breakfast, I put Grant down for his morning nap and I straightway change into my workout clothes and do my Tae Bo video. Immediately after that I turn on the girls' one DVD for the day and hop into the shower before Grant wakes up again. Emma has begun to say the same thing to me every day before I get in the shower:
"Mom, if someone knocks on the door I will come get you. Is the door locked?"
"Yes" I answer. (It always is)

So, the other morning I got them set up with Sesame Street and Emma must have been so into it that she forgot to say her 'lines'. A minute or so after I started my shower I hear a scream of sorts coming from the family room. They usually do so well during this time, so I was surprised and before I could formulate thoughts as to what the matter could be, Emma runs into my bathroom and asks if the door was locked. She realized she had not kept with the routine and had to make it right! Of course, on her heels was sweet Arianna who has to repeat everything Emma says and came into the bathroom also to ask the same question.

Another funny things Emma does in relation to a routine is at bedtime. She first goes to the bathroom, then brushes her teeth, then gets her pajamas on. Then we read Book of Mormon stories, then another book, then pray, then snuggle, then it's into bed. If you try to change the order at all, she is quite upset. And the last words out of her mouth as you leave her room are, "When I'm done sleeping I want you to come get me". This is so strange because, we never come get her, she always comes into our room and gets US up. (She is my alarm clock) Now, of course, it's not just Emma who says this to us, Arianna joins right in. (At least for her it is appropriate- she is still in her crib and actually needs me to get her.)
Emma even says this to me when I leave the room during her afternoon resting time. She doesn't even nap!! What a silly girl!
Anyway, I think order is a great thing.

We love you, Grandma and Grandpa!

Now, if this isn't a classic shot of Dad, I don't know what is!





We had very nice visit from Grandma and Grandpa this past weekend. They got plenty of reading done while they were here. (Mostly children's Lit. wink, wink) The kids just loved having them! It was funny how well Emma took to Grandpa this visit; From the time she was 6 months old to probably about 2 years old she screamed everytime she even saw him! Glad she is over that! Thanks for coming, Grandma and Grandpa!!!

Six months old!

Grant is 6 months old! I can hardly believe it has been that long. Grant is quite the chunk! At his 6 month check up on Monday he weighed:

18 lbs. 2 oz.

27 inches long

We are just glad he is healthy, albeit LARGE! He is sitting up pretty well for a couple of minutes, but we can't leave him because he will fall over. We have started him on some solids. He'll like it one day, but the next doesn't want much to do with it. He's had rice cereal, pears and peaches.
Mostly he is a smiley, happy boy.