Family Photos

Christmas Cards

We got a jump start this year and had our Christmas Cards ready before Thanksgiving. This is not typical, but since we had our pictures from this fall, we were ready to go! I totally get how stores, radio stations, etc. are ready for Christmas when Halloween is over. I LOVE Christmas. I love Thanksgiving too, but I'm fine with doing Christmas stuff pre-Thanksgiving. Our decorations have been up for a couple weeks now!

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One diaper kid

Jack is potty trained!! Actually, he's been potty trained since the middle of August, just before his birthday. It was the easiest thing ever as my dad basically did it. Jack was sitting on the potty in the morning for a couple months, but still wore diapers and didn't do anything during the day. One day, my dad took Ellie and Jack swimming at a lake. When they were done and getting dressed, my dad didn't put a diaper on him and Jack actually wore Ellie's undies. That afternoon he did a #2 and saved it for Nick and I to see it. From that day on, he didn't wear diapers. No accidents at night, no pull ups, just new Thomas the Train undies! He's just learned to go standing up (this is good and bad). He tells me he won't 'spill'. It's so nice to have one kid in diapers and not have to change a boy's diaper (especially #2's!).

Maya

Getting ready to leave the house most mornings is a little hectic, but getting Maya ready is easy. She just patiently waits while I put her boots, jacket and hat on. She's the sweetest.

 

Maya's demands

"Mama, I'm not going to walk anytime soon. I want you to carry me everywhere, even if you have to go to the bathroom so bad you might go in your pants. You'll just have to take me with you and figure out how to do your business while holding me. I also would like you to carry me in the grocery store, I don't want to sit in the cart and I don't want to be strapped in. I don't think it's a big deal to have to shop, push a cart and carry me the whole time. Just think, you're arms will be super strong. At night time, I want you to rock me to sleep and then hold me the whole night and do not put me in my crib or I will scream so loud that the neighbors will call the cops. If I should happen to sleep in my crib, do not even think about sending Daddy in to change me or get me up in the morning. I will find you. Closing the bedroom door doesn't work either, because then I know you're in there for sure. Now there might be a few times when I will crawl around the house - only if I feel like unrolling the whole toilet paper roll, tasting Meeko's dog food or digging through the kitchen garbage."

Happy FIRST Birthday to Maya!

My little Maya Papaya turns 1 today. I can't believe it, it truly goes so fast. I can totally see how people just keep having babies. Good thing Wendi is having another one, because this mama is maxed out at 3 :) We already celebrated Maya's birthday and baptism a couple weeks ago and I will post those pictures soon. Having 4 birthdays (Ellie 7/20, Silas 8/21, Jack 8/23 and Maya 8/27) is crazy!! The birthday parties have been fun, but so much work. I know the kids love them. They all received too many presents. I've also been looking for ideas of how or what to do with so many gifts. For Ellie, I kept her presents in our bedroom for several weeks and let her play with a toy every couple days. This was fun, but she still has too many! Opening presents for Jack and Silas was overwhelming, even for them. Jack tried to escape in the middle of opening his presents. It was pretty funny. I will post pictures from that party too! Stay tuned :)

 

 

Maya:

loves tofu

screams for ice cream

giggles uncontrollably on the swing

has 7 teeth and more rumbling under those sensitive gums

spends her days in pajamas

has crazy hair

longest eyelashes and

the bluest eyes

likes to eat on her own

crawls so fast

and is a snuggler

Ellie turns 5!

I can't believe my little Ellie is 5 years old already! We celebrated her birthday on July 19th, the day before her real birth - day. Lots of family and friend and lots of fun. This year, I wasn't pregnant, so I was able to host and plan all of the festivities. I think Ellie had a lot of fun and loved being center of attention. She got WAY too many gifts. We are still going through and opening them - a month later. It's kinda cool to enjoy them slowly rather than use them all at once. Lots of Frozen and Hello Kitty stuff. Of course she wanted a "Frozen" birthday party, so that is what we did! It's actually pretty hard to find Frozen decorations. It's so popular now and will probably be again during winter and come Christmas.

 

6 teeth!

growing too fast

 

Crazy pictures

I post a lot of pictures on Facebook, just because it's easy. Here are some funny ones from lately.

 

 

 Jack is saying "CHEEEEESE" and trying to smile at me, while Nick pushes them. Ellie of course is wearing her headband and necklace. This by the way is after their bath and they have their pj's one. Ellie likes to look fashionable on our walks. I learned another thing last night from Ellie. Her favorite color is now purple and pink, because blue is a boy color. I was kinda sad to hear this :(

Here are some pictures from my parents house. In the picture below, I was trying to take a picture of me and Maya. I knew Ellie was trying to squeeze in, but I had no idea Jack was in it, until after I looked. Too funny!

 

Ellie driving the lawn mower with my dad. So fun!

 

Jack sitting on a 3 wheeler - it belongs to a neighbor kid.

My Maya Papaya

This is my Maya Papaya. She is sweet, giggly, cuddley, smiley, squishy and fiesty. I'm not sure if fiesty does justice, especially at 12 and 4am. She might be a night owl. Now, we've had conversations about this, but I think I still need to sway her. I'm not sure if she just wants to hang out in the middle of the night or if she is growing and really needs 2 additional bottles in the middle of the night. This mama is tired. Starbucks has been working thus far, but it's getting expensive and the bags under my eyes are getting bigger. But it's all worth it, because she is the sweetest baby ever. I LOVE LOVE LOVE her. I want more like her. Isn't her tongue silly?

 

 

Easter is coming!

We've already celebrated with an Easter Egg Hunt at Rani's, but we are doing another egg hunt at our house this weekend. I'm super excited. We are also taking the kids (minus Maya) to an indoor waterpark for the night. They are super excited and Ellie has already packed her bags.