What can I say...life has been busy. Though, with three beautiful little girls to have and hold plus a little boy on the way, I have to say it is a WONDERFUL life.
So what all has happened since the last time I blogged. Lets see... Bethany has had not 1 but 2 birthdays, she is now 5 years old and loving pre-k with Mrs. Winton and Ms. Lupita. She LOVES to read and continues to read very well for her age. She is now reading chapter books like the Magic Tree House series.(in AR she reads anything up to and including 4)She is looking forward to swimming lessons this summer. Claira is 3 1/2. She is just plain wonderful, happiness exudes from every pore of that child. Everyone notices her exuberant, friendly spirit. She has learned her letters and sounds but hasn't figured out reading yet. She is quite bright though and is looking forward to pre-k next year. Oh and I forgot to mention she is now a "Sunbeam" in church primary. Now for my little Elliana. She is 1 1/2 years old, still quite bald and silent, but she is possibly the cutest thing you have ever experienced. She has a joyous spirit like Claira and a contemplative quietness like Bethany. She LOVES to snuggle more than Bethany and Claira at this age did put together. She is shy but happy and though she has been communicative for a long time now she has only just started to use words. At church she enjoys nursery with the other little ones. She is very well behaved if only for the fact that one of her very favorite things to do is sit in little chairs, just sit nice and quiet. Ellie also loves having books read to her. Her favorite is The Pudgy Bunny. Jared, the love of my life continues to amaze me. He is still a talented, caring high school science teacher. He is in the elder's quorem presidency at church and he is trying to finish up his masters this semester. Me, I stay home with the girls. I was VERY sick for my first trimester, but have since had a wonderful practically pain free pregnancy. A vast, vast improvement from my pregnancy with Ellie. I'm enjoying my calling as primary president at church. I love the sweet little kids I get to work with every week. And that is us in a nutshell. The highlight of the past year was probably our big trip to California. We were able to go with a close family friend, Alan Roes. Aside from their Dad and maybe their Mom(but the competition is TIGHT)Alan is the girls' favorite person. We also took Dar, one of Jared's past students to help with the kids. We did Sea World, the san diego zoo, Disneyland, California Adventures, universal studios and the beach. It has always been a dream of mine to take my little family to Disneyland and this past year my dream came true. It was AMAZING. We had such a great time! But along with those big family moments there are also the little moments you want to treasure forever. I have kept a small record of some of those events that have made us smile over the year.
- Jared had just finished pouring me some orange juice. He asked Claira if she could please bring it in to me. She took the cup and while walking over to me started drinking it. When she looked up, she saw that I was watching her drink my orange juice and that she had been caught. To excuse herself from this little act of thievery she said,"There were bugs in it, so I drank it because I like bugs."
-Bethany was eating eggs for breakfast when she sneezed. I asked her if she was OK because her sneeze sounded funny. She looked at me and replied, "I needed to keep my mouth closed so I didn't "bless you" these out"
-I was watching a very touching video clip with Claira snuggled up next to me. I cried through the whole thing. Claira must not have noticed because when the video was over she said in a very confused voice, "I'm all wet. Why am I all wet? Mom, you're all wet, why are you all wet?" She was very concerned but I was too busy laughing to explain.
-Jared has a dunce cap to use as decor for his book presentations. Bethany found it and put it on. When Jared saw her, Bethany asked him if she looked pretty. He said," yes, but I don't want you to play with it. You don't want to wear that anyway. Do you know what dunce means?" Bethay shook her head no and this conversation ensued...
Jared:it means stupid
Bethany:what does stupid mean
Jared:not so smart
Bethany:ohhhh, so you are stupid
Jared:why do you think I'm stupid?
Bethany:because you don't know how to make noodle soup.(top ramen)
end conversation (because Bethany's parents are trying to control their laughter so they can explain more seriously that we don't call people stupid)
Bethany has watched and helped me make noodle soup many many times(it being her favorite meal) She knows the steps boil water, cook noodles, turn off heat, stir in seasonings. One day she observed Jared making noodle soup. He put the seasonings in at the SAME time as the noodles. This, she knew, was NOT correct and has ever since believed that Dad is an inferior cook, at least as far as noodle soup was concerned. :)
-Claira,"DAD, DAD COME HERE, I need to show you this little thing!" pointing at the little thing on her plate she asks,"do you see the little thing?" Jared sees the little thing and thinking he was going to need to convince her this was a crumb and not a bug he picked it up. Claira says calmly now,"thats a little boogger, don't eat it."
-Driving along in the car on one of our many road trips we were playing the letter game. We had gotten all the way to Z. Claira says "Z says zzzzz" Jared responded,"zzzz like zzzzzebra" Claira says," and like B" Jared and I look at eachother ????? Claira, perhaps noticing our confusion explains," Bees also say zzzzz."
There you have it, just a few snippits into our wondeful life. And though we are busy and the kids can be difficult and life can be stressful, they fill it with overriding joy and overwhelming happiness. We love them so much and I for one feel so blessed to have this wonderful, amazing family. I'm also terribly excited(and nervous) to add this little guy to the mix.
