April 12, 2016

Sam and Marianne have chosen to play soccer this season.  Luck for us Mari is on Mallory Pearson's team and Samuel is on Jackson Muffler and Ethan Pearson's team.  Lots of friends.  They both were so excited and getting dressed in their gear before school.    Sam got sweet new cleats for Christmas he has been dying to try out.  They make him look like the coolest fastest player out there.  Sam is having so much fun, he runs around happily no matter who is scoring. He tries his best but isn't necessarily that competitive.  He just loves sports.  Marianne is doing surprisingly well.  She made a goal her first game and also on her second. Go Marianne.  She is loving it, especially feeling important and getting watched.  The first game was the most beautiful spring evening and the view spectacular.  The second game was below freezing and super windy.  You never know what Spring soccer will be like.

April 11, 2016

Beth got to take a trip to Primary's last week. 

She hadn't had a bowel movement in nine days and all the medicine and treatment at home we were trying wasn't working.  I grew anxious and more anxious.  Kate ended up hospitalized at almost the exact same time of year at the same age.  I knew I hadn't been paying attention to her bowel health like I usually do.  We had been having guests all spring break.  But now nothing was working.  I didn't sleep all Sunday night and then Monday morning we decided I would take her in after a call to our pediatrician who agreed it might be the right thing.  We spent about 5 hours there in the end.  They got her moving fairly easily and in the end an X-ray showed she wasn't that backed up as we thought she had to be.    The staff at the hospital found her the most charming patient in the world.  She told them about her chickens and happily played with all the toys they offered her.  The nurses administering the treatment could believe how little she whined and was just a pleasant girl.  It wasn't all bad in the end for either of us.  We played toys, watched movies and played play dough together in a hospital room for a few hours than got to go home.  She really was a fantastic patient.  I was feeling so relieved it didn't end in something worse  even if it will cost us a couple thousand dollars.  The next afternoon it was all a nightmare in the past, we ate our lunch with Mari outside like nothing ever happened.  I always expect the worst, so I was relieved to be home so simply. My brave tough girl.

April 14, 2016

Sam finally lost his first tooth. He believes himself to be the last first grader in the entire school to do so.  It had been wiggling for a while and one morning he packed himself an apple in his school lunch to be sure to do the job.  Well he come home and it was true- it had worked.  At lunch while eating an apple and wiggling and wiggling he had gotten his tooth out.  He said it didn't bleed and that he held it in his hand the entire recess so he didn't loose it!  Than his teacher put it in an envelope for him and he brought it home.  I posted his picture toothless on instagram and tons of moms told me they already knew- apparently it was the talk of the first grade and very exciting!

April 18, 2016

We got to celebrate Bethany's 3rd birthday today.
I have no more babies!  Its official.  Its as official as that we had to pay full price for her at the zoo because she is considered a child not a toddler.

The morning Jake went to work and the kids went to school and Bethany, Marianne and I prepped for the party.  Beth has been talking about her party for a long time "I am going to blow the fire" she would say " i got to get zoo cups and zoo plates and zoo forks"  She knows how a party works.  She actually asked for a monkey birthday- but I thought that might be because that is what she had last year- so we made it a zoo party instead.  We worked in the morning to make the cake, and put out all the decorations she got to pick out at the store.  That was pretty fun. The kids in the morning had decorated the living room in stuffed animals like a zoo.  I had filled her room the night before with balloons.  Then we watched cartoons and played until noon when Jake brought the kids home and we started the party.
She opened presents first.  A puzzle, some water toys, some clothes.  The big hit was the lego set Jake told me to get her.  She opened it up and said in a sing song "I got Legos!  I got Le-e-e-gos!"  and "I got a vehicle" in the lego set.  It was a zoo lego set- her favorite things by far.
Then she got to do her cake.  She blew out her three candles and enjoyed licking the frosting off the giraffe we had put on the cake.  She kept saying all morning and all day "its my birthday" in a little sing song too.

After cake we packed up and went to the zoo.  On the way we had special zoo animal crackers for the ride.  She examined each and dictated what she wanted to see at the zoo from there.  She sang in the car "Today is my birthday!" What else would you do on a zoo birthday.
She loved the zoo.  She wore a safari zoo keeper hat the entire time really the entire day and looked adorable in her new zebra jumpsuit I bought just for the day.  And on the way kept saying she was going to not use the key to let the lions out.  She wanted to see giraffes and zebras and so we did.  And much much much more.  When we saw the tigers she started singing "lions and tigers and bears oh my" and did that for about ten minutes.  She got to ride the carosel- she picked the peacock, than she got to walk along side a peacock for some time.  Most the day she was animated running and delighted.  The kids were all over nice to her too.  Kate gave her a sucker she had in her pocket from school, Marianne gave her a bracket she was wearing, Sam gave her his map when she ripped hers and ran and ran with dad to get carousel tickets.    They all catered to her and so did we.  At the end she got to pick a toy from the zoo store and she picked a giraffe.  I knew it was hard for Mari to not be jealous too, but she wasn't.

We left the zoo and went to dinner and Zupas where she got several things but mostly loved the tomato soup.  At home everyone played animals and legos with her until bed time, where she requested I sing her Happy Birthday like a Kangaroo- so I sang "hop hop hop hop to hop" and she thought it was hilarious so we did it over and over again until it was time for sleeping.

Beth is such a joy to have in our family.  She is also very much  a mix of her older sisters.  This year she has become happy and joyful and loving.  She is always cuddling me up and saying to me "you are my mom mom" and "I'm going to cuddle you up" and doing just that.  She is a lover but also full of spirit and determination.  She happily plays and plays all day with siblings, with toys.  She loves books and cooking and playing outside- she wants to play outside everyday.  She loves cartoons, and attention from siblings and anything they let her play.  She loves singing and dancing and mom tucking her in at night.  She loves her friends and her whole world is our family and it shows.  She is brave.  Brave when she plays, brave with animals like the new chickens, brave with meeting people and going to nursery without a worry.  In fact she "loves my class" to nursery.  Last week I had to take her to the hospital for dumb tummy trouble.  She charmed everyone there with her pleasant conversation, animated stories and happy demeanor.  That is her.  Most everything is the best, she is grateful and loving and happy, with a little side of toughness and stubborn.  I think she is the most adorable 3 year old in existence, and also the smartest.  People often ask her age because she talks like some five year olds we know.  She is silly.  Oh so silly. Sometimes we have to tell her to not be silly because all the time is silly.  She in an effort to help this all on her own says "help us to be safe and calm" in every single prayer she says though nobody ever taught her that.   She is the first kid I remember to have an imaginary friend.  It is a moose- a spirit moose maybe because she is always saying he died in a waterfall, and she blames him for messes and injuries and mischief.    There is a moose statue in park city where we go shopping and to the movies sometimes- she says that is him.  She loves animals, every day she tells me I am a mommy and she is the baby of a series of animals, dragons, horses, kangaroos, puppies, kitties.  She loves when I play along. I am loving watching her grow and learn and I honestly enjoy spending every day with her.  We love you Bethany!