Baby's Birthday

Dear Baby,

We tried to go outside and take a few pictures for your birthday photo shoot. We tried some with a party hat, some just in a diaper and some with a cupcake.  Check it out:

You were not a fan of the cupcake! You refused to pick it up and taste it, and really got mad when the frosting got all over your foot.  I tried to force a little cupcake into your mouth since I knew you would really like it, and you just got more mad, and messy.
Then we got a few more pictures with the frosting face, and they were my favorite ones:

Later in the day we took a few more cute pictures when I had finished decorating your cake.  You loved the balloons:

Then it was time for your little party with Grammie and Grandma and Grandpa. We sang Happy Birthday and you were pretty fascinated by the fire. You tried to grab it a few times. You smiled as everyone sang to you.

And then it was time for you to taste your cake. You kinda freaked out again:

It was funny that you wouldn't touch it and got so mad if anyone tried to get it near your mouth! Finally you let us feed you a little on a spoon:

We opened presents too, and you got lots of fun toys and some cute clothes:

Your siblings are loving your new toys! You seem to enjoy them too, if you can get your turn with them.
I can't believe you're already 1. I know the time always goes fast and since I know that you are my last one I have really tried to enjoy this past year. There's nothing like snuggling a little baby all day.
It's also exciting to watch you learn and grow though. You have started pointing at everything with your little pointer finger. It's so cute.  If you hear an airplane outside you search the sky until you spot it, and then out comes the little finger and you let me know that you can see it.
You also point when you want food. You are becoming a good eater and can eat most anything, even though you only have 8 teeth right in the front. You love croutons and chips and popcorn and yogurt bites. You are not super excited about cow's milk yet.
You are getting shy and nervous about strangers. You turn your head and bury your face in my shoulder if someone you don't know talks to you.
You are sleeping better at night finally too. We've figured out a sleep schedule that seems to work pretty well for you. You go to bed close to 7:30, and then wake up about 6. You go back to bed soon after your breakfast and get back up about 9:30. Then you're up til your second nap at 1. It seems to be working out well. Now I just need to go to bed earlier so I'm not so tired, since I don't usually make it back to bed for long in the morning before Mr T is up at 7. You cry a little in the night sometimes, but I don't get you up and you put yourself back to sleep.
You are starting to dance to music too. It always puts a smile on your face when you hear it, and your little hip bounces make me smile too.
I love your sweet personality. You are still usually a quiet content baby. You will let me put you down to explore the living room or kitchen while I get stuff done for a half hour or so. You will let me put you in your highchair for the same amount of time while you feed yourself little snacks from your tray.
You giggle when we play peek a boo and you love patt a cake still. You lift your hands over your head when I say "So Big," and you wave your hand in front of your nose when we change your diaper and say "pyoo pyoo."
You love being outside. Sometimes I put you in the grass and watch what you do. I guess you don't love the grass since you hardly move once I set you down. You don't really cry though either, you just sit there for a little bit and watch the kids and the dog running around.
You are crawling everywhere inside though, and even had your first tumble down the stairs. I'm sorry about that Buddy. I will try harder to keep the gates closed tight! You are not pulling up on furniture at all, so it will still be a while before you walk.  And I'm ok with that. The longer you are my baby the better for me!
I love you my sweet little one,
Mom

Kindergarten!

Dear Hammer,

As I combed your hair yesterday morning you smiled at yourself in the mirror and then looked up at me and said "I'm so big now, huh?"

Yes Hammer, you are a big boy now! You get to go to school every day, and you get to ride the bus to school! You are super excited about all of it.

You picked out two new shirts for back to school, an Angry Birds one and a Ninja Turtles one. You also chose a backpack way at the beginning of summer when we saw them at Costco. You wanted the really cool shiny Spiderman backpack.

You didn't even complain when I made you pose for pictures. In fact, you insisted on a backpack picture since we did one with Lulu too.  I'm glad you reminded me, just in case I forgot. You looked so handsome, waiting at the bus stop in your new Angry Birds shirt. I asked you if you wanted me to drive over to the school and meet you as you got off the bus so I could show you where to get in your class line before the bell rings. You said that you would rather just have Lulu show you.  I was ok with that, since Baby needed to down for his nap ASAP anyway. I loved seeing your face light up as the bus pulled up to the stop. I snapped a picture and capture part of that excitement!

I'm sorry though that we didn't know there is no bus home after school.  There are not enough kids to warrant a bus, so I will be picking you up. Of course I didn't know this until you had been sitting in the office for 30 minutes! You said you weren't scared though.  Phew! I didn't want you to be nervous about school at all.

You didn't say much about school when we got home. I asked you if your teacher had asked what your name was as you walked into class.  "No," you said. "Oh, she remembered you?" I asked surprised, since she hadn't seen you for more than 3 seconds at back to school. "No," you said again. "Oh, so you just sat at the desk that said Hammer?" "No mom," you said getting a little frustrated. "She said REMIND me of your name, and so I told her and then she wrote it on a sticker and put it on my shirt." Oh, ok. I got it now. You didn't say much more until it was bath time, and then you told me that your teacher has reading games that you will get to play, and that she had taught you had to write a little "a", and that you get to go to recess at school, and sometimes you get inside recess too. "Kindergarten will be a little fun, I guess," you told me. I hope it's a lot of fun buddy, and that you learn to love school.

You have one of the best teachers in the school, according to some of our friends. I'm just as excited as you are about school starting. I can't wait to watch you learn to read. You are so smart and you will do amazingly well.  I just know it.

I love you Hammer man,
Mom

2nd Grade!

Dear Lulu

You are in 2nd grade now! You were very excited to start school again. You like routine and structure, especially after 3 months of summer break. You love making friends and you also love learning.
We don't know anything about your teacher, but when we met her at back to school night she seemed like she'll do a good job, right?
We had picked out a backpack a long time ago, and then changed it for a sparkly Tinkerbell one with a matching lunchbox. I let you pick out 3 new shirts at Kohls, since they were clearanced super cheap. Luckily for me you still fit in size 7 and they had a few left in the little girls' section. You begged me for the last few weeks of summer to wear your new shirts. I denied your requests every time, until yesterday! It was finally time to wear your new clothes! You chose to wear the pink shirt with cupcakes that says "Sweet Like Mommy."
The night before school started we laid out your outfit and made sure your backpack was all ready to go. It was super exciting. Luckily you slept all night and didn't wake up too early, things that sometimes happen when you get excited. We had yummy eggs for breakfast, got dressed, did your hair and brushed your teeth, packed your lunch, then headed outside with Hammer before the bus came to of course take some pictures.
Thanks for letting Hammer sit by you on the bus, and for helping him find where to line-up. I knew I could count on you to help him, and me, out. When you got home you were really worried that Hammer hadn't rode the bus home with you! You worried all the way home. Today I think you'll relax more since you now know that I pick Hammer up before lunch.
I loved that when you came home yesterday you came right into the kitchen to tell me some story about people on the bus wanting a cupcake and not sharing until someone took a bite, then they didn't want it anymore. I actually was really confused by the whole story, but I'm glad you wanted to talk to me about it. Please keep this up. I want to know what goes on: who is mean to you, who you are friends with, where you are struggling, and where you are excelling, and then help you brainstorm how to make everything better. I want to reassure you that you are special and smart and beautiful.
Lulu, Dad gave you a Father's Blessing Sunday night. You were a little nervous about it since it was the first time Dad's done this. It was really special though. You were glad to have a little extra strength to start school. I wrote down Dad's words as he prayed so we can review them every so often during the year. I think it will be really neat.
Well, it's strange not having you home. I depend on you to be my big helped when you are home, and your brothers just love playing house with you. But I love sending you to school. I love watching you learn and mature in every aspect of life. You are such a sweetie. I think I need a shirt that says "Sweet like Lulu.".
Love you my big girl,
Mom

Time

Dear Baby,

I kept my promise and nursed you to sleep every night until you started crawling. Yesterday you were really getting the hang of crawling. I was proud of you, even if I knew what it meant. I loved seeing how excited you were that you could actually move and get to things that were out of your reach!
And so when it was time for bed, I snuggled you and gave you a bottle of cow's milk. You were really tired, and that helped both of us since you went to bed without even a little cry. You slept until 6 this morning, which is still way too early for me, but I will take it since you went to bed so easily.
It's strange knowing that I will never nurse another baby. How I treasured that time with each of my babies. Does it make me sad because I will miss the bonding time, or is it because it makes me feel old? Probably both! I feel like weaning you, my last baby, is the ending of a chapter in my life. You were the last page in the chapter entitled "Young Mom." Ready or not, yesterday I turned the page and read the title of the next chapter. It said "The Little Ones." It made me feel better, when I really stopped to think about what the next phase means. Sure we don't have nursing babies at home, but you and your siblings are all still so little. Lulu still wants to play Barbies with me, and go anywhere with me, and needs me to put her hair in a ponytail. Hammer still loves to have me ooh and aaah over his lego creations, and he needs me to make his lunch, and to wash his hair in the tubby. Mr T still needs me to hold him, and help him get his shoes on the right feet, and wipe him after he goes potty. You, Baby, still need me more than anyone! You need me for every little thing, except maybe reaching a toy across the room. I still have years of Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny and magic at Disneyland.
Baby, in 5 years you will go to school and leave me home alone during the day. I assume that's when the next chapter "Middle Age Mom" will begin. Maybe I'll be surprised though to turn the page and find the next chapter's title is not what I expected.
Love you my sweet baby boy,
Mom

11 years

(I wrote most of this post last night, but didn't post it until the 5th, our anniversary date)
Dear Kids,

11 years ago today was a pretty exciting night. Not as exciting as 11 years ago tomorrow, but still. All the planning was done. I set my alarm so I could get up early and have my hair done. I had already picked out clothes I would wear on my honeymoon, and packed my suitcase. I wasn't sure how my last night being single would feel. Would I be nervous thinking about the big day ahead? Would I be too excited to sleep? Would I worry about the details of the day, hoping everything worked out? Would I be too giddy to sleep?
As I crawled into bed I remember feeling peace. I wasn't anxious. I wasn't worried. I was excited, but not so much that I couldn't fall asleep. I fell asleep just like any other night and slept all night. It kind of surprised me actually. The next morning as I dressed I wondered why the most important day of my life wasn't conjuring up ridiculously heightened emotions. Why was I so calm? I only thought about it briefly, and I didn't let it bother me. Everything felt so natural and I was so happy. The day went perfectly. The calm and peace lasted throughout the entire day.
When I prayed to have my decision of marrying Dad confirmed, I never received a great revelation. I didn't hear a voice telling me he was "the one." I didn't have any dreams where I saw us kneeling across the altar in the temple. I didn't even feel a burning in my bosom. But I never felt fear either. It was just kind of a blank quiet feeling.  I prayed a few times, with the same results. Surely I deserved some kind of answer of confirmation! I knew that the Lord would approve, but I just wanted to hear it. Finally I decided that maybe the Lord wasn't answering because He wanted me to make the choice, and I wanted to marry Dad more than anything! I married Dad of my own free will, not because I was supposed to. What a great decision that turned out to be. I am continually impressed with Dad's dedication to the Lord and to our family, his values, and with his hard work ethic. Sometimes when I look at Dad I'm surprised all over again that such a good and handsome man chose me. It makes me feel lucky.
Let me tell you guys, I always assumed that the Lord didn't answer my prayer about marriage. I mean, I never doubted He was there, but I thought for my own good He was just keeping distant. Just today as I wrote this post, I realized that He had answered my prayers through the peace I felt the night before my marriage and on my wedding day. I was so stuck on feeling a strong burning or a strong fear while I prayed that I didn't see the calm, months later, as my answer. I thought that me being calm was just my personality, but now I see it was his confirmation that I had made a good decision. Remember that sometimes the answer doesn't come until after you have made the decision and gone through with your part. That way the choice really is your own, all the way!
I'm grateful that you kids get to be a part of such a loving relationship and home. I know it will impact your relationships in the future, as you will settle for nothing less than what you've seen in your own home.  I know marriage is far away for you guys, but when it gets here, you're in for a treat.
Love you guys,
Mom

Life Lately - July Edition

Dear Kiddos,

Here are the pictures from my phone for July:

 Here you are Baby, finally eating solid food after being so sick with the flu

 This was our 4th of July. Baby, we were pretty boring, laying around and snuggling all day while we were getting our energy back. My goodness I look tired.

 Remember when we had our neighbor's over for a barbecue? He bought the meat and Dad smoked it all day. We had a nice dinner and a nice visit.

 Mr T, you got this shirt and hat from Great Grandma so we sent her a thank you picture of you looking so cute in your new outfit.

 I took a bunch of pictures of you, Hammer and Mr T, playing in the creek next to the house we stayed at in Idaho. You two were kind of obsessed with throwing things in and watching them float down to the tunnel. I had to keep my eye on you, and keep reminding you not to get in. You all took your socks and shoes off since I kept trying to remind you not to get those wet too!

 Before we went to Bear World on the way home from our trip, we stopped at Burger King. Mmmm.

 Mr T, I got pretty mad at your for this disaster. You dumped red glitter all over your little brother. It was in his ears, stuck to his neck, in his hair, and even going down his diaper. It was hard to wash it off of him! And it wasted some good red glitter since the only way to get it out of the carpet was to vacuum it up.

 Little tear under your eye Baby. 

 And crying again. Though honestly I don't remember why!

 This is when Mr T decided to become a big boy and wear undies all day! It's been so amazing.

 Mr T, one day you got a popsicle out of the freezer and told everyone, "Sorry. I have to eat it. It has T's on it." 

 and look, there are T's on the package!  So i let you eat it. The logic just made sense!

 While Hammer was out shooting with Dad one night, Mr T got his special outing with Mom. He let Lulu and Baby come along too. We got our first snow cones of the summer! We loved them of course.

 Hammer, here's one of your cool Lego creations

Lulu, here's one of the invitations you made for your tea party 

 Our friends invited us over to their Grandma's house to watch the Bountiful fireworks. Baby, you were happy about being outside with everyone, until the fireworks started. Then you were scared to death. I had to watch them from inside our friend's house.

 They were amazing since the city shoots them off literally behind that house. It was your first experience seeing fireworks right above you. You all loved it, except Baby of course.

 Here you two are watching the 24th of July parade downstairs

 Lulu, every day you beg me to do art with you, and usually I'm so busy with everything else that we don't get to our craft. One Saturday though we did make a few cards together. You picked out the stamps and helped me make this cute Baby card. 

 Last Tuesday was take a Trip Tuesday. We went to Walmart and then grabbed some Wendy's for lunch on the way home. That's always exciting.

 And check it out. I thought it was so crazy that one of the spoons they gave us for the Frosty had two spoons in the one package! It's like Identical Twin Spoons!

 The other day it was storming all day. We had a lot of rain! As we were eating dinner the sun came out while the rain was still coming down. Hammer said, "Maybe there's a rainbow outside!" Sure enough, when we ran out we saw this bright rainbow!

 I made these cool smoothies the other day. Blue fruit punch on the bottom, raspberry lemonade in the middle, and cool whip on top. They looked prettier than they tasted, but they weren't bad.

 Baby, you LOVE being outside

 The other night, after we went over to the Farmer's Market near our home, I took you Lulu to the library to turn in your reading sheet. For every beaker you filled in for reading, they gave you a circle that you wrote your name on and taped to the window. See how many kids are reading in the summer?

I also took you, Lulu, to the Bountiful Basket pickup. We got some yummy stuff!

There you go. Lots and lots of fun in July.

Love you my little ones!

Mom