Without further ado, some of our favorites of our family of 5:
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| Hallie insisted upon having individual pictures taken. That cheeser. |
May 19, 2012
Family Pictures 2012
My wonderful friend Jaime came clear from Alaska to take our family pictures again this year. Okay, okay, she actually came for some time with her family and for some baby showers for her and her sweet baby coming soon, but she was kind enough to squeeze in some time to take our pictures. She always does such a good job and this time was no exception, especially given that Flor cried nearly the whole time (you wouldn't know it, right!?) Thanks Jaim, you are a champ!!
Without further ado, some of our favorites of our family of 5:
Without further ado, some of our favorites of our family of 5:
May 18, 2012
3 pictures and 3 videos of 3 cute kids
Well. We surely have some cute kids...here's a little picture and video of each from the last week.
FLOR:
Okay, sorry this is approximately half of Flor's face, but it is pretty cute still, so here it is. This was actually taken during one of our evening rocking sessions. She is getting much more comfortable with longer/close touch and seems to actually enjoy being rocked now. She climbs right up and we spend 10 minutes or so and then she sits up, pushes off, and she is done. Kind of funny.
And her video is of her in the morning waiting for the bus. She gets really excited when she hears the bus pulling up. Just watch and see.
JACE:
This little stinker is just growing up before my eyes. He is so interactive all the sudden and is getting so smart. I have a whole host of videos of him recently as I tried to capture all his newest "tricks." I had a hard time choosing which one to post here, so there may be more coming in the future. The picture shows one of his favorite places to play in the yard, this little corner where he can eat dirt to his heart's content without being caught....at least for a minute. :)
His little video shows him "singing." Like I mentioned, he is picking up on all sorts of things, and this is one of them as we have been singing a bit at night. (Remember the off key hymns each night? Apparently I am passing that skill on to the kids. Yes!)
HALS:
Can we say "Princess." Hallie has insisted upon wearing dress up clothes as clothes nearly every day recently. Some battles are just not worth fighting, am I right? I decided that this one could slide for the time being. But she is surely the sight to see when we are going on walks or other places and she is wearing her fancy, plastic heels. She promises that she can walk fast and keep up in those shoes, and well, she can. So I can't argue with her there...
Her video is her latest Article of Faith that she has memorized. I know this is mostly even interesting to Grandmas and Grandpas, but I also enjoy having them here on the blog-- which is basically a record of everything for me. So there it is. She forgets a word or two in there, but for the most part she has it down (the 4th Article of Faith.) Now, I better start remembering the 5th so I can teach it to her...haha.
FLOR:
Okay, sorry this is approximately half of Flor's face, but it is pretty cute still, so here it is. This was actually taken during one of our evening rocking sessions. She is getting much more comfortable with longer/close touch and seems to actually enjoy being rocked now. She climbs right up and we spend 10 minutes or so and then she sits up, pushes off, and she is done. Kind of funny.
And her video is of her in the morning waiting for the bus. She gets really excited when she hears the bus pulling up. Just watch and see.
JACE:
This little stinker is just growing up before my eyes. He is so interactive all the sudden and is getting so smart. I have a whole host of videos of him recently as I tried to capture all his newest "tricks." I had a hard time choosing which one to post here, so there may be more coming in the future. The picture shows one of his favorite places to play in the yard, this little corner where he can eat dirt to his heart's content without being caught....at least for a minute. :)
His little video shows him "singing." Like I mentioned, he is picking up on all sorts of things, and this is one of them as we have been singing a bit at night. (Remember the off key hymns each night? Apparently I am passing that skill on to the kids. Yes!)
HALS:
Can we say "Princess." Hallie has insisted upon wearing dress up clothes as clothes nearly every day recently. Some battles are just not worth fighting, am I right? I decided that this one could slide for the time being. But she is surely the sight to see when we are going on walks or other places and she is wearing her fancy, plastic heels. She promises that she can walk fast and keep up in those shoes, and well, she can. So I can't argue with her there...
Her video is her latest Article of Faith that she has memorized. I know this is mostly even interesting to Grandmas and Grandpas, but I also enjoy having them here on the blog-- which is basically a record of everything for me. So there it is. She forgets a word or two in there, but for the most part she has it down (the 4th Article of Faith.) Now, I better start remembering the 5th so I can teach it to her...haha.
May 14, 2012
Celebrating Adoption Walk 2012
Saturday was our 4th year in a row attending the "Celebrating Adoption Walk" sponsored by Families Supporting Adoption. However, this year it was extra special for us as our family has grown and been blessed by the long awaited arrival of our Flor. It is fun to be surrounded by other adoptive families and their children...and the donuts, firetrucks, Cosmo, and candy toss aren't too bad, either (especially if you ask Hallie).
We had a great time walking around the track in honor of someone who has touched our lives in the adoption realm. We then had a balloon release (everyone except Jace, who refused to release his balloon), ran races by age group, and enjoyed donuts and drinks. Of course we had to stop over and see the firetrucks, too. This year Hallie was actually interested which made it fun. The kids had fun playing with a parachute (think elementary school style) and racing for candy in the candy toss. I'm telling you- this is kid's heaven! I enjoyed talking to a lot of my clients and past adoptive families- it is so fun to be able to see them each year to see how they are doing. Dev was a champ and mostly took care of the kids so I could just go from group to group and chat.
Saturday was also "Birth Mother's Day"- always celebrated the day before Mother's Day. My thoughts turn often to Flor's birth mother and particularly so on that day. Though we now know some information about her, I would like to actually know her, along with Flor's birth father. I would love to know the people who gave her life and to commend them for the choice that they made to leave her in the hospital. They felt they couldn't care for her and desired her to have what she needed in life, thus they made the undoubtedly difficult decision to do what they did. I hope someday I will be able to thank them for allowing Flor to have life and for us to have her in our lives.
And with that, how about a picture tour of our lovely day:
We had a great time walking around the track in honor of someone who has touched our lives in the adoption realm. We then had a balloon release (everyone except Jace, who refused to release his balloon), ran races by age group, and enjoyed donuts and drinks. Of course we had to stop over and see the firetrucks, too. This year Hallie was actually interested which made it fun. The kids had fun playing with a parachute (think elementary school style) and racing for candy in the candy toss. I'm telling you- this is kid's heaven! I enjoyed talking to a lot of my clients and past adoptive families- it is so fun to be able to see them each year to see how they are doing. Dev was a champ and mostly took care of the kids so I could just go from group to group and chat.
Saturday was also "Birth Mother's Day"- always celebrated the day before Mother's Day. My thoughts turn often to Flor's birth mother and particularly so on that day. Though we now know some information about her, I would like to actually know her, along with Flor's birth father. I would love to know the people who gave her life and to commend them for the choice that they made to leave her in the hospital. They felt they couldn't care for her and desired her to have what she needed in life, thus they made the undoubtedly difficult decision to do what they did. I hope someday I will be able to thank them for allowing Flor to have life and for us to have her in our lives.
And with that, how about a picture tour of our lovely day:
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| Well, couldn't Flor and Jace at least be looking the same direction, if not at the camera? Oh, well. |
May 11, 2012
A Day in the Life...
So, I have seen some people post what a day in their life is like and I have loved reading them, so I thought this would be fun to record for me too. Read if you would like, if not, come back another day.
A day in the life of Kim:
6:30 am- alarm clock goes off. Hit snooze button no less than four times.
6:50 am- roll out of bed, get dressed, and do a little exercise (note: I do not normally get up and exercise, but Devin and I are attempting to be better. I might even make a chart, since when something is in chart form, it is basically set in stone for me. It makes me uneasy to see things not checked off on the charts. Case in point: We made a chore chart for ourselves about 5 or 6 weeks ago and our house has been much cleaner since. Why? I can't stand to see that day's chore not checked off. Weird, I know.) Oh boy. If my tangents are going to be this long, this post is going to take days. Again, feel free to skip. :)
7:16 am- pant, red-faced around the front room while trying to regain some semblance of normalcy after my exercise attempt.
7:25 am- eat with the kids- pancakes that Devin has lovingly cooked during my absence
7:40-8:15am- put Flor on the potty and get Jace in the tub. Order Jace to sit down. Tell Flor not to eat toilet paper. Ask Hallie to get her pajamas off so that she can get in the tub next. Tell Jace to sit down. Wash and get Jace out of the tub. Get him dressed. Get Hallie into the tub. Wash her. Try to get her out, but she instead insists on staying in to play for a while. Finally persuade Hallie to get out of the tub. Cheer for Flor as she goes potty. Get Flor in the tub. Get Flor washed and out of the tub. Tell both naked girls to sit tight while I run downstairs to get them some clothing. Oops, should have brought that up before. (Devin was not here for this morning. He normally is for this routine, but he had some things he needed to do, which made it that much less smooth for me.) Get Flor dressed. Get Hallie dressed. Work on Flor's hair. Tell Jace to get off the stool. Answer Hallie's questions about death and the resurrection (she is on the topic of death these days. How sad that her little 3 year old mind has to comprehend it on the level she does. She had a lot of questions about Jesus' death and Linda's death.) Continue working on Flor's hair. Tell Jace to stop taking everything out of the bathroom drawers and throwing it in the sink.
8:24am- Finish Flor's hair as I hear the bus pull up. Throw her shoes on as well as her backpack and run her out the door. A few seconds later realize that her teeth were never brushed. Double oops. (Many apologies to Flor's teachers- I know firsthand that her breath is not the best.)
8:26 am- Do Hallie's hair to her exact specifications. Brush Hallie's and Jace's teeth. 2 for 3 aint bad in the teeth brushing department, or so I tell myself.
8:30am- read the newspaper/news online/check facebook. Hallie and Jace are roaming freely around the house.
9:00 am- Put Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on for Hals and put Jace down for a nap.
9:03 am- I strip the beds, gather the rugs, and get the old towels and take them downstairs to be washed (remember the chore chart? This is today's chore for me.)
9:10 am- consider making the beds right away but decide against it. (just for the record- Devin did the beds later. Plus his own chore of deep cleaning the kitchen. Good husband, eh?)
9:15 am- finally bathe my stinking self.
9:59 am- after dilly dallying around, talking to Devin (who has since returned) and reading a little, I decide that I ought to do my hair and get ready to go to work.
10:16 am- show up at work. I know, I can get ready fast.
10:18 am- listen to voicemails and return clients' calls. Enjoy especially talking to one of my former birth moms who placed 2 plus years ago. I haven't heard from her in forever. Love hearing that she is doing so well.
10:40 am- respond to emails/talk to secretary/ check in with boss.
11:00 am- begin a 3 hour Ethics CEU webinar. Snooooooooooooooze. Play games on my phone to occupy my time. Chat with Camille online while listening to said Webinar. Write two sentences on my pad of paper (for the entire three hours-- obviously an insightful webinar). Get up. Walk around. Eat lunch. Make jokes with boss and other boss about how terrible webinar is. Play more games on my phone. Draw a little. Consider getting the crayons out of the cupboard and coloring a picture for Hallie. Become very glazed over. Get really antsy when the webinar runs 3 minutes over.
2:12 pm- pack up my junk and hurry out to the car. I was supposed to be at Flor's school to meet with her teacher at 2:10.
2:14 pm- (I drive fast. The school is nearby. Don't judge.) Run up the stairs at the school in my skirt. Arrive panting in front of Flor's classroom door with teacher standing there eying me suspiciously. Mumble out my lame excuse for being late.
2:19 pm- Meeting with Flor's teacher and the speech therapist to go over all her recent testing results. All tests say that Flor is between 12- 18 months. Laugh with teacher that the state is requiring her to have an IQ test in order to get disability services. (Apparently the psychologist tried to give the test just to meet the requirement and it was a great joke.) Discuss plans for Flor for summer. Discuss Flor's progress (great progress!!)
2:49 pm- Ignore call from Devin. Hurry and end conversation and run out the door.
2:53 pm- Call Devin back and inform him that I am on my way. Yes, I know he has to be at work at 3 pm.
2:58 pm- Pick Devin, Hals, and Jace up. Rush Devin to work.
3:06 pm- Drop by the bank.
3:20 pm- Pick Flor up from school. (usually she rides the bus, but we were out and about doing errands, so I thought I would just pick her up so we didn't have to go home to get her at 4.)
3:34 pm- Call my sister while making our way to Costco. Tell Jace not to stick his sticky hands on things (thank you bank suckers). Tell Hallie no that we are not watching a movie in the car. Discuss Relay for Life ideas with sister. Tell Hallie that we are not watching a movie in the car. Discuss our crazy family with sister. Tell Hallie that NO, we are NOT watching a movie in the car!
3:44 pm- arrive at Costco. End conversation with sister. Park at the very end of the lot as nothing else is available and start making the trek to the front of the store. Adjust arm. Jace is heavy, arm is dead. Order Hallie to hold on to my pants. Hold Flor's hand. Move one inch per minute. Steady progress...
3:47 pm- Still inching along. See friend I haven't seen in years drive up. Start getting giddy with excitement. (This friend went to Ecuador with me and hasn't seen Flor since she has been home...plus she has two boys that she is adopting herself right now.) Wait for friend to park. Talk to friend. Block traffic. Finally decide to keep walking into the store. Some poor lady offers me a cart for my herd of kids. Gladly accept cart. Throw Jace in the front and Hallie and Flor in the back.
3:59 pm- Say goodbye to friend and go about our shopping. Tell Flor not to pull Hallie's hair. Tell Hallie that no we are not getting ice cream. Tell Hallie to sit down. Console Jace with allowing him to hold my costco card. Find one item that is needed. Tell Hallie that no, we are not getting ice cream.
4:02 pm- Hallie wails that she needs to go to the bathroom. NOW. Of course we are on the opposite end of the store. Rush to the front. Run into friend also going into the bathroom with her kids. Unload all three kids and rush into the bathroom. Attempt to hold on to both Flor and Jace while holding Hallie's door shut. Notice that Flor is missing a shoe. Awesome.
4:05 pm- Help Hallie wash her hands. Adjust Jace. Arm hurts REALLY bad now. (this kid needs to start walking)
4:06 pm- Find Flor's shoe on the way back to our cart. Shove kids all back into the cart and resume shopping. Remind Hallie to sit down.
4:07 pm- Tell Hallie that no, we are not getting ice cream. Speed shop. Throw everything in the cart that we need. Last item- diapers. Shove hallie into a tiny corner of the cart and move Flor up front to fit. Tell Flor not to hit Jace (it's more like love taps but he doesn't interpret them that way). Tell Hallie that no, we are not getting ice cream.
4:35 pm- Find a line and high tail it out of there. Console whining child who is mad that we didn't get to write our names on a balloon (Primary Children's Fundraiser and the lady didn't ask us if we wanted to donate, probably because her bagger man was reading a book and telling me all about it and she couldn't get a word in edge wise.) Tell Hallie that she can be my big helper and carry the receipt instead. She thinks this is a great idea and takes her job very seriously.
4:40 pm- Get kids buckled in car and get in the mega long line to get gas.
4:54 pm- Tell Hallie that no we are not going to watch a movie in the car. Ask her to look for the Temple instead. She misses it. She pouts. Ask her to look for mom's work instead. She misses it. She pouts. Ask her to look for the place where she goes to computer class instead. She sees that one and is happy again. (Seriously the moods of this child???)
5:00 pm- Haul the groceries inside. Put Flor on the potty. Rescue Jace from almost falling off the concrete landing. Ask Hallie to get the mail. Put groceries away. Stick soup on the stove to heat up. (We have a bunch of frozen meals again-- my sanity-- since Che', Landon, and I re-stocked a few weeks ago. See picture for evidence...I never did post this. It's only a portion of the final amount. WAHOO for frozen meals!!)
5:06 pm- Cut up some bread and some cheese to go with dinner. Check on Flor. She has gone potty-- yay Flor! Remind Flor not to eat toilet paper. Clean up everything that Jace has pulled out of bathroom drawers and thrown in the sink.
5:17 pm- Get kids up to the table to eat dinner. Kids all actually eat...feed themselves and don't whine, so I get a minute to decompress.
5:50 pm- Put Flor on potty. Clean up dinner dishes. Unload dishwasher. Load dirty dishes. Wipe counters. Sweep floor (this is a nearly every meal occurrence...we have really dirty eaters.)
6:05 pm- Tell hallie to get pajamas for herself and Flor. Change Jace's diaper and get him into pajamas. Ask Hallie to get pajamas. Ask Hallie to get pajamas.
6:10 pm- Brush everyone's teeth. Flor's get an extra good scrubbing because of our oversight this morning. She is none to happy about this. Console Flor. Dress girls.
6:17 pm- Read stories/scriptures. Remind Hallie to sit down so everyone can see. Flor acts disinterested but sits still. Jace is who knows where. Remind Hallie to sit down so that Flor can see.
6:40 pm- Clean up items that Jace has emptied out of his drawer. Change Jace's diaper again as he stinks. Wasted diaper...ugh.
6:45 pm- Loves and kisses from everyone for Jace and then Jace is in bed.
6:47 pm- rock Hallie in the rocking chair and sing hymns/Primary Songs to her very off key (we have started rocking Flor at night for bonding purposes/helping her be comfortable with physical touch for longer periods of time, so of course Hallie insists upon a turn too.)
6:53 pm- rock Flor in the rocking chair while repeating off key singing. (Poor girls.)
7:00 pm- get Hallie and Flor into their beds and tuck them in. Loves and kisses for all.
7:01 pm- answer Hallie's five questions as I am walking out her door. Tell her no, she doesn't need a bowl to throw up in (she is not sick, she just asks for a bowl every night "just in case.") Tell Hallie she will have to save her next five questions for tomorrow. Tell Flor not to suck her fingers. Make my exit.
7:04 pm- eat a large brownie. I deserve it.
7:08 pm- turn on the TV for some mindless viewing while I finish the rest of our thank you cards (thank for your patience everyone). Feel overwhelmed with gratitude again as I think of the over 150 people who helped us in our adoption process.
8:15 pm- done with thank you cards. Catch up on facebook, blogs, and news while continuing to watch mindless TV (Chopped is on. My favorite.)
9:00 pm- begin this post on the blog.
9:02 pm- Answer Devin's call as he is on his break at work. Talk to him for a minute then resume blogging.
9:43 pm- remember that I never watered the pots today as I intended. Water pots.
10:04 pm- Devin is home for work. Get pajamas on, brush teeth, catch up on our days, then get in bed.
10:15 pm- read a conference talk with Devin.
10:30 pm- prayers and lights out.
10:34 pm- I'm in a deep sleep. (okay, I don't know this for fact because I haven't been able to figure out yet how to check the time while sleeping, but it's probably a good guess.)
Aaaaaaand, there it is-- a day in my life. Fairly boring, but I think it will be fun to look back on some years down the road and see what life was like with three young kids....it goes by too fast, right?
A day in the life of Kim:
6:30 am- alarm clock goes off. Hit snooze button no less than four times.
6:50 am- roll out of bed, get dressed, and do a little exercise (note: I do not normally get up and exercise, but Devin and I are attempting to be better. I might even make a chart, since when something is in chart form, it is basically set in stone for me. It makes me uneasy to see things not checked off on the charts. Case in point: We made a chore chart for ourselves about 5 or 6 weeks ago and our house has been much cleaner since. Why? I can't stand to see that day's chore not checked off. Weird, I know.) Oh boy. If my tangents are going to be this long, this post is going to take days. Again, feel free to skip. :)
7:16 am- pant, red-faced around the front room while trying to regain some semblance of normalcy after my exercise attempt.
7:25 am- eat with the kids- pancakes that Devin has lovingly cooked during my absence
7:40-8:15am- put Flor on the potty and get Jace in the tub. Order Jace to sit down. Tell Flor not to eat toilet paper. Ask Hallie to get her pajamas off so that she can get in the tub next. Tell Jace to sit down. Wash and get Jace out of the tub. Get him dressed. Get Hallie into the tub. Wash her. Try to get her out, but she instead insists on staying in to play for a while. Finally persuade Hallie to get out of the tub. Cheer for Flor as she goes potty. Get Flor in the tub. Get Flor washed and out of the tub. Tell both naked girls to sit tight while I run downstairs to get them some clothing. Oops, should have brought that up before. (Devin was not here for this morning. He normally is for this routine, but he had some things he needed to do, which made it that much less smooth for me.) Get Flor dressed. Get Hallie dressed. Work on Flor's hair. Tell Jace to get off the stool. Answer Hallie's questions about death and the resurrection (she is on the topic of death these days. How sad that her little 3 year old mind has to comprehend it on the level she does. She had a lot of questions about Jesus' death and Linda's death.) Continue working on Flor's hair. Tell Jace to stop taking everything out of the bathroom drawers and throwing it in the sink.
8:24am- Finish Flor's hair as I hear the bus pull up. Throw her shoes on as well as her backpack and run her out the door. A few seconds later realize that her teeth were never brushed. Double oops. (Many apologies to Flor's teachers- I know firsthand that her breath is not the best.)
8:26 am- Do Hallie's hair to her exact specifications. Brush Hallie's and Jace's teeth. 2 for 3 aint bad in the teeth brushing department, or so I tell myself.
8:30am- read the newspaper/news online/check facebook. Hallie and Jace are roaming freely around the house.
9:00 am- Put Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on for Hals and put Jace down for a nap.
9:03 am- I strip the beds, gather the rugs, and get the old towels and take them downstairs to be washed (remember the chore chart? This is today's chore for me.)
9:10 am- consider making the beds right away but decide against it. (just for the record- Devin did the beds later. Plus his own chore of deep cleaning the kitchen. Good husband, eh?)
9:15 am- finally bathe my stinking self.
9:59 am- after dilly dallying around, talking to Devin (who has since returned) and reading a little, I decide that I ought to do my hair and get ready to go to work.
10:16 am- show up at work. I know, I can get ready fast.
10:18 am- listen to voicemails and return clients' calls. Enjoy especially talking to one of my former birth moms who placed 2 plus years ago. I haven't heard from her in forever. Love hearing that she is doing so well.
10:40 am- respond to emails/talk to secretary/ check in with boss.
11:00 am- begin a 3 hour Ethics CEU webinar. Snooooooooooooooze. Play games on my phone to occupy my time. Chat with Camille online while listening to said Webinar. Write two sentences on my pad of paper (for the entire three hours-- obviously an insightful webinar). Get up. Walk around. Eat lunch. Make jokes with boss and other boss about how terrible webinar is. Play more games on my phone. Draw a little. Consider getting the crayons out of the cupboard and coloring a picture for Hallie. Become very glazed over. Get really antsy when the webinar runs 3 minutes over.
2:12 pm- pack up my junk and hurry out to the car. I was supposed to be at Flor's school to meet with her teacher at 2:10.
2:14 pm- (I drive fast. The school is nearby. Don't judge.) Run up the stairs at the school in my skirt. Arrive panting in front of Flor's classroom door with teacher standing there eying me suspiciously. Mumble out my lame excuse for being late.
2:19 pm- Meeting with Flor's teacher and the speech therapist to go over all her recent testing results. All tests say that Flor is between 12- 18 months. Laugh with teacher that the state is requiring her to have an IQ test in order to get disability services. (Apparently the psychologist tried to give the test just to meet the requirement and it was a great joke.) Discuss plans for Flor for summer. Discuss Flor's progress (great progress!!)
2:49 pm- Ignore call from Devin. Hurry and end conversation and run out the door.
2:53 pm- Call Devin back and inform him that I am on my way. Yes, I know he has to be at work at 3 pm.
2:58 pm- Pick Devin, Hals, and Jace up. Rush Devin to work.
3:06 pm- Drop by the bank.
3:20 pm- Pick Flor up from school. (usually she rides the bus, but we were out and about doing errands, so I thought I would just pick her up so we didn't have to go home to get her at 4.)
3:34 pm- Call my sister while making our way to Costco. Tell Jace not to stick his sticky hands on things (thank you bank suckers). Tell Hallie no that we are not watching a movie in the car. Discuss Relay for Life ideas with sister. Tell Hallie that we are not watching a movie in the car. Discuss our crazy family with sister. Tell Hallie that NO, we are NOT watching a movie in the car!
3:44 pm- arrive at Costco. End conversation with sister. Park at the very end of the lot as nothing else is available and start making the trek to the front of the store. Adjust arm. Jace is heavy, arm is dead. Order Hallie to hold on to my pants. Hold Flor's hand. Move one inch per minute. Steady progress...
3:47 pm- Still inching along. See friend I haven't seen in years drive up. Start getting giddy with excitement. (This friend went to Ecuador with me and hasn't seen Flor since she has been home...plus she has two boys that she is adopting herself right now.) Wait for friend to park. Talk to friend. Block traffic. Finally decide to keep walking into the store. Some poor lady offers me a cart for my herd of kids. Gladly accept cart. Throw Jace in the front and Hallie and Flor in the back.
3:59 pm- Say goodbye to friend and go about our shopping. Tell Flor not to pull Hallie's hair. Tell Hallie that no we are not getting ice cream. Tell Hallie to sit down. Console Jace with allowing him to hold my costco card. Find one item that is needed. Tell Hallie that no, we are not getting ice cream.
4:02 pm- Hallie wails that she needs to go to the bathroom. NOW. Of course we are on the opposite end of the store. Rush to the front. Run into friend also going into the bathroom with her kids. Unload all three kids and rush into the bathroom. Attempt to hold on to both Flor and Jace while holding Hallie's door shut. Notice that Flor is missing a shoe. Awesome.
4:05 pm- Help Hallie wash her hands. Adjust Jace. Arm hurts REALLY bad now. (this kid needs to start walking)
4:06 pm- Find Flor's shoe on the way back to our cart. Shove kids all back into the cart and resume shopping. Remind Hallie to sit down.
4:07 pm- Tell Hallie that no, we are not getting ice cream. Speed shop. Throw everything in the cart that we need. Last item- diapers. Shove hallie into a tiny corner of the cart and move Flor up front to fit. Tell Flor not to hit Jace (it's more like love taps but he doesn't interpret them that way). Tell Hallie that no, we are not getting ice cream.
4:35 pm- Find a line and high tail it out of there. Console whining child who is mad that we didn't get to write our names on a balloon (Primary Children's Fundraiser and the lady didn't ask us if we wanted to donate, probably because her bagger man was reading a book and telling me all about it and she couldn't get a word in edge wise.) Tell Hallie that she can be my big helper and carry the receipt instead. She thinks this is a great idea and takes her job very seriously.
4:40 pm- Get kids buckled in car and get in the mega long line to get gas.
4:54 pm- Tell Hallie that no we are not going to watch a movie in the car. Ask her to look for the Temple instead. She misses it. She pouts. Ask her to look for mom's work instead. She misses it. She pouts. Ask her to look for the place where she goes to computer class instead. She sees that one and is happy again. (Seriously the moods of this child???)
5:00 pm- Haul the groceries inside. Put Flor on the potty. Rescue Jace from almost falling off the concrete landing. Ask Hallie to get the mail. Put groceries away. Stick soup on the stove to heat up. (We have a bunch of frozen meals again-- my sanity-- since Che', Landon, and I re-stocked a few weeks ago. See picture for evidence...I never did post this. It's only a portion of the final amount. WAHOO for frozen meals!!)
5:06 pm- Cut up some bread and some cheese to go with dinner. Check on Flor. She has gone potty-- yay Flor! Remind Flor not to eat toilet paper. Clean up everything that Jace has pulled out of bathroom drawers and thrown in the sink.
5:17 pm- Get kids up to the table to eat dinner. Kids all actually eat...feed themselves and don't whine, so I get a minute to decompress.
5:50 pm- Put Flor on potty. Clean up dinner dishes. Unload dishwasher. Load dirty dishes. Wipe counters. Sweep floor (this is a nearly every meal occurrence...we have really dirty eaters.)
6:05 pm- Tell hallie to get pajamas for herself and Flor. Change Jace's diaper and get him into pajamas. Ask Hallie to get pajamas. Ask Hallie to get pajamas.
6:10 pm- Brush everyone's teeth. Flor's get an extra good scrubbing because of our oversight this morning. She is none to happy about this. Console Flor. Dress girls.
6:17 pm- Read stories/scriptures. Remind Hallie to sit down so everyone can see. Flor acts disinterested but sits still. Jace is who knows where. Remind Hallie to sit down so that Flor can see.
6:40 pm- Clean up items that Jace has emptied out of his drawer. Change Jace's diaper again as he stinks. Wasted diaper...ugh.
6:45 pm- Loves and kisses from everyone for Jace and then Jace is in bed.
6:47 pm- rock Hallie in the rocking chair and sing hymns/Primary Songs to her very off key (we have started rocking Flor at night for bonding purposes/helping her be comfortable with physical touch for longer periods of time, so of course Hallie insists upon a turn too.)
6:53 pm- rock Flor in the rocking chair while repeating off key singing. (Poor girls.)
7:00 pm- get Hallie and Flor into their beds and tuck them in. Loves and kisses for all.
7:01 pm- answer Hallie's five questions as I am walking out her door. Tell her no, she doesn't need a bowl to throw up in (she is not sick, she just asks for a bowl every night "just in case.") Tell Hallie she will have to save her next five questions for tomorrow. Tell Flor not to suck her fingers. Make my exit.
7:04 pm- eat a large brownie. I deserve it.
7:08 pm- turn on the TV for some mindless viewing while I finish the rest of our thank you cards (thank for your patience everyone). Feel overwhelmed with gratitude again as I think of the over 150 people who helped us in our adoption process.
8:15 pm- done with thank you cards. Catch up on facebook, blogs, and news while continuing to watch mindless TV (Chopped is on. My favorite.)
9:00 pm- begin this post on the blog.
9:02 pm- Answer Devin's call as he is on his break at work. Talk to him for a minute then resume blogging.
9:43 pm- remember that I never watered the pots today as I intended. Water pots.
10:04 pm- Devin is home for work. Get pajamas on, brush teeth, catch up on our days, then get in bed.
10:15 pm- read a conference talk with Devin.
10:30 pm- prayers and lights out.
10:34 pm- I'm in a deep sleep. (okay, I don't know this for fact because I haven't been able to figure out yet how to check the time while sleeping, but it's probably a good guess.)
Aaaaaaand, there it is-- a day in my life. Fairly boring, but I think it will be fun to look back on some years down the road and see what life was like with three young kids....it goes by too fast, right?
May 8, 2012
Kitchen Transformation
I have been meaning to post these pictures for a while...but you know, things happen and time gets away.
So, without further ado....our kitchen transformation:
We bought our house in July of 2009 (we have been here almost three years-- crazy!) and knew that there were a few things that were going to need our attention. First and foremost: the kitchen.
Thanks Uncle Lynn for our fabulous kitchen!
Also, don't forget our Relay for Life Raffle! We have raised $360 as a team and would love to raise more for the American Cancer Society! Will you consider donating $10 to our team? You can go HERE to our donation page (feel free to type in my name, thus the donation will be credited to me! Or Devin is fine too...) and after that, be sure to leave a comment on the raffle blog letting us know that you donated for a chance to win an amazing prize. The raffle blog is HERE. There are some awesome prizes...an exercise basket with Itunes giftcard, a photography session, a gift card to a themed inn, multiple other gift cards to various retailers, and some adorable mother/daughter aprons (which I want for myself) amongst others. Please go check it out! Thanks all!
So, without further ado....our kitchen transformation:
We bought our house in July of 2009 (we have been here almost three years-- crazy!) and knew that there were a few things that were going to need our attention. First and foremost: the kitchen.
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| Gotta love the yellow and green motif. UGH. Plus the boxy feel was kind of rough. Not the best designed kitchen ever. No room for a table, thus our table was in the living room for the first year of living here. Also, please notice the old yellow stove (you can just see a tiny bit of it on the left of the picture). Lovely. |
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| First things first: We ripped out this floor immediately. We actually had just the dirty underflooring (what's that called?) for a few months before we finally got our new floor in. It was that bad. |
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| About a year after we moved in, we finally got around to getting rid of the old yellow cabinets and replacing them with these beauties that we sanded and stained ourselves (with the help of a lot of family members- thanks fam!) |
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| Specifically, my Uncle Lynn...he basically did the whole kitchen for us. What a champ! He was so dedicated that he worked late nights after he got home from his regular job (he builds sets). |
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| And wah-lah! Much better, right? It's amazing what a few little changes can make. New cabinets, new flooring, new appliances, etc. Everything was done last year except for the backsplash. Lynn surprised us and finished it while we were in Ecuador. What an awesome surprise to come home to! We have a white fridge which you can't see in this picture, but it is on the right side, against the wall just out of the shot. So the white sink and the white fridge may be replaced someday...but not right now. We will see. |
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| MUCH more counter space, which is fantastic. The fridge is on the right of the door that you can see here. Just in case some of you want a full visual. :) |
Also, don't forget our Relay for Life Raffle! We have raised $360 as a team and would love to raise more for the American Cancer Society! Will you consider donating $10 to our team? You can go HERE to our donation page (feel free to type in my name, thus the donation will be credited to me! Or Devin is fine too...) and after that, be sure to leave a comment on the raffle blog letting us know that you donated for a chance to win an amazing prize. The raffle blog is HERE. There are some awesome prizes...an exercise basket with Itunes giftcard, a photography session, a gift card to a themed inn, multiple other gift cards to various retailers, and some adorable mother/daughter aprons (which I want for myself) amongst others. Please go check it out! Thanks all!
May 2, 2012
And the fun begins...
Every summer, our family participates in the Relay For Life. Remember this and this? We didn't make it last year because we had sick kids...but there is no way I am missing it this year. It is the highlight of the summer, most definitely. Best yet, it supports a great cause-- the American Cancer Society.
I know that I have discussed my brother-in-law Chris many a time on this blog. He is the reason that we Relay. He lost his battle to his brain tumor in 2009 and our family has participated in the Relay for Life ever since. The irony of the situation is that a few years before his passing, Chris participated in the Relay as a survivor. He had had a brain tumor in high school as well, which he beat. The second round was not as kind to him and it was really a life changing experience to watch him suffer and lose all of his independence. His suffering was one of the saddest things I have ever watched, but he endured it with such grace and with a smile on his face the whole time. He is such a hero of mine. It's easy to say that I hope to never watch another loved one suffer like Chris did. That's why I am passionate about the Relay for Life. It makes me feel like I am doing something to make a difference. I know it may be little, but it seems like the small efforts of many can contribute to make a huge difference.
Now, I know I have recently asked a lot of you all as we did major fundraising for our adoption process. And as such, it makes me feel bad to ask again. But, I am behind this cause and I know that there are some of you who would be willing to donate $10 to our team, so here is the information you need!
My sister organized an AWESOME RAFFLE , here: http://www.relayforliferaffle.blogspot.com/
Go there and check out all the amazing prizes she gathered. I mean, we are talking a night's stay at a themed inn, a mini photo session, a $40 gift card to Barnes and Noble, a $50 gift card to Sportsmans Warehouse (for the men!), an exercise basket complete with gym pass, etc...etc. That is just a sampling of the prizes available. So, GO CHECK IT OUT!!
And, also a huge thanks to all those who supported Devin and I with our Pizza Pie Cafe Fundraiser here in Provo. We had a great turnout and we are so thankful! We also are still planning on holding our garage sale-- proceeds from that will also benefit Relay for Life. So any of you local friends who have done any Spring cleaning and have any items to donate, we would love to take them off your hands. Let me know-- we can also pick up!
And, on an unrelated note, check out what Chris's namesake was up to this evening:
Yes, those are wipes. He sure is proud of himself, yes? It was not the best evening at our house. Let's just say it involved a lot of poop in not-so-ideal locations, then this wipe incident. Good thing we had a little visit from Uncle Lynn and Barb to break up the craziness. A little bit of sanity in an insane night. Got to love the joys of motherhood.
I know that I have discussed my brother-in-law Chris many a time on this blog. He is the reason that we Relay. He lost his battle to his brain tumor in 2009 and our family has participated in the Relay for Life ever since. The irony of the situation is that a few years before his passing, Chris participated in the Relay as a survivor. He had had a brain tumor in high school as well, which he beat. The second round was not as kind to him and it was really a life changing experience to watch him suffer and lose all of his independence. His suffering was one of the saddest things I have ever watched, but he endured it with such grace and with a smile on his face the whole time. He is such a hero of mine. It's easy to say that I hope to never watch another loved one suffer like Chris did. That's why I am passionate about the Relay for Life. It makes me feel like I am doing something to make a difference. I know it may be little, but it seems like the small efforts of many can contribute to make a huge difference.
Now, I know I have recently asked a lot of you all as we did major fundraising for our adoption process. And as such, it makes me feel bad to ask again. But, I am behind this cause and I know that there are some of you who would be willing to donate $10 to our team, so here is the information you need!
My sister organized an AWESOME RAFFLE , here: http://www.relayforliferaffle.blogspot.com/
Go there and check out all the amazing prizes she gathered. I mean, we are talking a night's stay at a themed inn, a mini photo session, a $40 gift card to Barnes and Noble, a $50 gift card to Sportsmans Warehouse (for the men!), an exercise basket complete with gym pass, etc...etc. That is just a sampling of the prizes available. So, GO CHECK IT OUT!!
And, also a huge thanks to all those who supported Devin and I with our Pizza Pie Cafe Fundraiser here in Provo. We had a great turnout and we are so thankful! We also are still planning on holding our garage sale-- proceeds from that will also benefit Relay for Life. So any of you local friends who have done any Spring cleaning and have any items to donate, we would love to take them off your hands. Let me know-- we can also pick up!
And, on an unrelated note, check out what Chris's namesake was up to this evening:
May 1, 2012
Jace- 14 months
Well, where does the time go!? Our baby is 14 months old. He looks more like 18 months old...but oh, well. He's stinkin' cute and that's all that matters.
Jace is such a fun, happy (most of the time) and spunky boy. I always had in my mind that he would have a calmer personality than Hallie, but so far that has not been true. He is a little spit-fire, too. He has a really funny laugh and he cracks himself up quite often. It's cute. He can be a bit demanding when he finds something that he wants. He has the "gimme" motion with his hand perfected.
Jacer is not walking, though he does love to have someone hold his hands and help him walk. I think its part of the large girth that he has to carry around? Anyway, it's interesting how much less concerned I am about milestones this time than I was with Hallie. He'll walk when he wants to and that's that. He gets around just fine with his speedy crawling.
Jace's favorite things include: eating, balls, music, throwing things, playing on slides, time with mom (he is definitely a mama's boy), and escaping out the door as soon as it opens. Jace is a super eater and eats full on adult sized portions. He will eat basically anything given him, though he is not as fond of fruits and vegetables as he should be. He really loves to feed himself- most of his skills at this point revolve around the eating arena. He can feed himself with a fork and a spoon, though sometimes he wants help just because. The other day, he was kind enough to load up his own spoon for me before handing it to me to be put in his mouth. Silly boy.
Jace has a mouth full of teeth. I think we are just missing a few now...and hopefully they hurry up and get in because he is NOT a pleasant teether. With Hals, we never knew when she was getting teeth- they would just pop up. But Jace, oh boy do we know. He has been really clingy and whiney lately as he has popped out all of his molars. No fun. As soon as the last one came through, we decided it was time to rid him of his binky, so he has been binky free for a week or so now. It actually hasn't been that bad, even though he probably could have been classified as an addict before.
Jace doesn't say many words, but he does have a few: mama, dada, uh-oh (his favorite-- typically said after deliberately chucking his food on the floor), hola...and lots of jibberish. That's about it. He can carry on a full conversation in his own language, but nobody but his pal Hudson understands him. :)
And of course a few pictures of our handsome boy:
And a video... I noticed that I have not put as many videos of Jace on as I did for Hallie. Poor child-- second child syndrome. I know exactly how it feels as I am the second child too. My sister got all the glory and all the attention and then there was poor little me. (haha, just kidding) In watching old videos of Hallie, I noticed at this age she could point to her head, eyes, ears, mouth, etc. and yet we haven't even tried teaching that to Jace! Ha. Whoops. Now I know why my sister was always the genius and my smarts were just never quite up to par. I blame it on my parents.
Anyway, this video is of his funny little laugh while we were coming home from somewhere one day. Take note of the full glory of the Laz-E-boy, too. :)
We sure love our Jacer-- he is so special to me and has definitely stolen a large chunk of my heart. I'm thankful that he is ours!
Jace is such a fun, happy (most of the time) and spunky boy. I always had in my mind that he would have a calmer personality than Hallie, but so far that has not been true. He is a little spit-fire, too. He has a really funny laugh and he cracks himself up quite often. It's cute. He can be a bit demanding when he finds something that he wants. He has the "gimme" motion with his hand perfected.
Jacer is not walking, though he does love to have someone hold his hands and help him walk. I think its part of the large girth that he has to carry around? Anyway, it's interesting how much less concerned I am about milestones this time than I was with Hallie. He'll walk when he wants to and that's that. He gets around just fine with his speedy crawling.
Jace's favorite things include: eating, balls, music, throwing things, playing on slides, time with mom (he is definitely a mama's boy), and escaping out the door as soon as it opens. Jace is a super eater and eats full on adult sized portions. He will eat basically anything given him, though he is not as fond of fruits and vegetables as he should be. He really loves to feed himself- most of his skills at this point revolve around the eating arena. He can feed himself with a fork and a spoon, though sometimes he wants help just because. The other day, he was kind enough to load up his own spoon for me before handing it to me to be put in his mouth. Silly boy.
Jace has a mouth full of teeth. I think we are just missing a few now...and hopefully they hurry up and get in because he is NOT a pleasant teether. With Hals, we never knew when she was getting teeth- they would just pop up. But Jace, oh boy do we know. He has been really clingy and whiney lately as he has popped out all of his molars. No fun. As soon as the last one came through, we decided it was time to rid him of his binky, so he has been binky free for a week or so now. It actually hasn't been that bad, even though he probably could have been classified as an addict before.
Jace doesn't say many words, but he does have a few: mama, dada, uh-oh (his favorite-- typically said after deliberately chucking his food on the floor), hola...and lots of jibberish. That's about it. He can carry on a full conversation in his own language, but nobody but his pal Hudson understands him. :)
And of course a few pictures of our handsome boy:
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| "uh, mom..? I'm not going anywhere-- can't you get over here and push me?" |
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| Visit with Grandma and Grandpa Daniels. We are blessed to have so many wonderful grandparents in our kids' lives |
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| Going to the park to play with Hudson. Hudson got to borrow Jace's "Laz-E-Boy" as Che' and Landon call it- it is quite the car seat...and Jace moved over to Flor's seat since she was in school. |
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| Fun times with his best buddy |
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| Jace has a thing for sunglasses. He likes to find them in the toy bin and put them on. But of course he doesn't allow me to get a good picture of him with them on. |
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| Trying on mom's sunglasses this time. |
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| Hallie wanted to take a picture, so she did. Love Jace's cute squishy face! |
And a video... I noticed that I have not put as many videos of Jace on as I did for Hallie. Poor child-- second child syndrome. I know exactly how it feels as I am the second child too. My sister got all the glory and all the attention and then there was poor little me. (haha, just kidding) In watching old videos of Hallie, I noticed at this age she could point to her head, eyes, ears, mouth, etc. and yet we haven't even tried teaching that to Jace! Ha. Whoops. Now I know why my sister was always the genius and my smarts were just never quite up to par. I blame it on my parents.
Anyway, this video is of his funny little laugh while we were coming home from somewhere one day. Take note of the full glory of the Laz-E-boy, too. :)
We sure love our Jacer-- he is so special to me and has definitely stolen a large chunk of my heart. I'm thankful that he is ours!
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