Big Girl, Big Changes

We are now entering a new phase in life.  Yep, our little "Big Girl" Addison is getting ready to start preschool.  As of right now she is BEYOND excited!  Mommy is excited as well but I am starting to get a bit nervous and sad the more I think about it.  I'll likely be in tears the minute I leave her on the first day next week.  I think she's slowly catching on to the fact that Mommy won't be able to stay and play with her like she had hoped.  However, I'm positive after the first week, we will all be LOVING the new routine.

We were lucky enough to visit Addison's preschool yesterday and meet the teachers.  They are both new this year and they seem very capable and good and nice and smart and etc.  Addison was very excited to meet up with Daddy and show him around her new classroom.  She got her welcome bag and a new "pack-pack" that she is very excited about decorating.  It was fun to see how she interacted with all the other classmates.  She was a bit shy and nervous about it all.  However, Jonas had no qualms crawling his way over to the cars and playing with the other boys.  I'm thinking he'd happily trade his sister spots if he had his way.  He'd be playing in the car bin and then turn around to find Mommy & Daddy watching him and just cheese and smile away.  It was also pretty humorous how all the girls were bustling around the kitchen play area while all the boys were hard at work driving the cars and trucks in their area.  Somethings are just ingrained into their DNA I'm learning.

I have a lot of mixed emotions about this next phase of our lives but I'm sure after we are all adjusted it will be a great time.  We are very proud of our big girl and are confident she'll be such a good student and make lots of friends and learn lots of things.  I can hardly wait until it's time to place Scholastic book orders, look through paperwork in her backpack, and help her with her homework.  I know, I'm a lame Mom.  I'm totally looking forward to all the things most parents dread.

We went and ate lunch with Daddy after the open-house and Addison was a bit sad when it was time for him to go back to work.  She shed a few tears but he promised he would send her an email later that day and she was happy about that.  When she woke up from her nap he had this adorable email waiting for her with graphics included...he's a good daddy.  I hope she always remembers this letter and how thoughtful Daddy was.  :D

 

Dear Addison,

I had so much fun going with you today to visit your pre-school!  Here is a picture of you all grown up in front of your new school.

Miss Tara is so excited to be your teacher and to teach you new things!  She is so excited to be your teacher, she made a little frog with your name on it to say YOU are in HER class!  Here is a picture of you with your little froggy:

You will get to go to school all by yourself like a big girl does!  Sometimes, that can be scary.  And that's okay.  Sometimes Daddy gets scared too.  here is a funny picture of Daddy's SCARED face!

Before you go to your first day of Pre-School, Daddy will give you a special prayer called a "Father's Blessing" that looks like this:

It will help you to be brave, to feel happy, to make new friends, and help you to think about Heavenly Father if you feel scared.  When I think about how much Heavenly Father loves me, and how much my family loves me -- I feel....HAPPY!

Good luck my little Addibell at Pre-School!
Love Daddy!

Birthday Boy x 3

This past week we were able to celebrate Daddy's birthday.  I'm learning it's a very busy time of year and will likely be for the rest of our lives.  First Daddy was born, then Jonas has a birthday a little over a week later, and it's also the same time that school (aka preschool) begins for the little girly. So, needless to say, it took us three attempts to give Daddy an official birthday celebration.

Attempt #1:  I decided to have his birthday dinner and cake the night before his big day since I knew he'd be busy with scouts on his birthday night.  His request:  Roast, mashed potatoes, corn, and rolls.  I was thrilled since it's a fairly easy meal to make.  I even decided to go above and beyond and invite our friends the McKassons over to celebrate since Brad and John are good friends and we had a TON of food.  Unfortunately, Brad was traveling for work but we invited his family over anyway.  Then I had the novel idea to invite our friends, the Lowden's over to celebrate too since Tommy & John are good friends and he'd have a "man friend" amongst all the women and children.  Guess what?  Yup, Tommy was also traveling for work (all our husbands work at the same place) so we invited his wife and children over instead.  Yay John!  Who doesn't want to spend their birthday dinner and cake celebration with 3 women and 8 crazy kids?  He was pretty easygoing with it but especially more so when I told him we'd have another "official" birthday dinner the following Sunday to make up for the chaos and fun of that night.  

Attempt #2:  The day of his actual birthday.  I was going to send him off to work with a big breakfast but then realized that those actually make him late and hurried and rushed for work so I stayed in bed and sang him the Birthday song instead.  Then the kids and I met up with him for lunch and even let him pick.  Olive Garden!  Yay Me!  It's actually one of my favorites but he swore to me up and down that he really did want to go there. No complaints here!  Then we took him back to work and headed home to finish the last of the preparations while the kids took their naps.  But, the kids decided to rebel against their naps and I was a frantic mess trying to find the time to get stuff done.  Then Daddy came home after work to chaos.  He was trying to hurry and change and prep for his scout activity which he (and we) had to go early for and help with.  Amidst all the chaos we were able to give him his bacon roses and head out the door.  None of us got dinner that night.  We had a fun time helping with the scout activity so it was worth it.  It also meant we got home late with hungry and cranky kids.  I knew full well that neither of them had the energy or patience to watch Daddy open his presents.  We were all exhausted and went to bed early instead.

Attempt #3:  The day after his big day.  We finally had some free time to clear our heads and get some stuff done and hold still for once.  Addison and Jonas and I went out for one more special present and came home and prepped a quick/easy meal of BLTs and wrapped his presents.  Daddy gave us a twist this year and actually didn't request much in the way of gifts.  He actually specifically requested NOT to spend a lot of money and that he didn't need anything.  Which meant it was time to search Pinterest (my latest addiction) and start crafting some inexpensive gifts.  It took a bit more work but he was definitely worth every second and then some.

So, third time's a charm right?  I actually had a breakdown on his birthday evening since we were all so crazy and chaotic.  I was trying so hard to make sure he wasn't overlooked on his big day and that he didn't feel like he was just an after thought in our lives.  He assured me he didn't feel that way and that he had a great day even with all the chaos.  

He's a good man...comforting ME and MY meltdown on HIS birthday.  Who does that?  We are soooo beyond grateful for John and all the sacrifices he makes for our family.  Not only does he do them but he does it with a smile on his face and a happy attitude.  I honestly don't think I'd be so chipper about waking up early everyday and going off to the office to work....again!  Which also reminds me of how grateful I am that he does that (even on the not fun days) just so I can stay at home with our kids.  He's allowing me to work my dream job...even though some of my days don't really feel like a "dream" per se.  I wouldn't change my job for the world.  I'm always grateful for his sacrifice.  And he never gets jealous when he calls to check in and we are swimming at the pool or shopping or playing with friends while he is at boring old work.  

We are all very appreciative of Daddy and hope he never feels like he's lost in the shuffle.  So glad we got to celebrate him and his day of birth.  Now we are off to do a preview shopping of Cabela's tonight and find his main birthday present.....a gun scope!  Whatever trips his trigger!  (hehehehe.)

Happy Birthday Old Man!!

Blowing out the candles on his homemade Whopper Ice Cream Cake.  Yum!  Addison blew the candles out before he could so he is relighting them.  And then she blew them out again for him.  Such a good helper!

What do you get the man who has everything?  Bacon Roses!  Because no one can EVER have enough bacon.  Thank you Pinterest!

The Informant

Yes, apparently I have one of THOSE children.  I've taught in primary long enough to know that the little kiddos can leak some pretty big news and spill some pretty interesting secrets about their lovely parents mid-lesson.  Once a child mentioned to me that her "Daddy drank some wine - but just a little bit" and another one pre-emptively announced the "baby in my mommy's tummy."  It's all fun and games when you are on the receiving end.  NOT when you are on the other side.

Case in point:
I've been told by Addison's teachers in nursery class that she is rather shy and rarely talks.  This is surprising because she seems to talk NON-STOP during all other hours of the week.  However, apparently when she talks in nursery - she makes it worth her while.

Last Sunday, while one of the teachers (yes, all male teachers mind you) was playing with the kiddos, he was playing with a toy cow while stating:  "Oh here is a cow, we get milk from cows."  To which Addison quickly interjected....  "My Mommy has milk in her boobies."  Lovely eh?  Luckily the two teachers who heard, successfully changed the subject before any other children asked Addison to elaborate.  

I've always made it a point to be open and honest in answering Addison's many.many.many. questions that she seems to have.  And yes, one of them has been her recent fascination with how mommies make milk for their babies.  Keep in mind, my nursing endeavors were VERY short-lived with both children.  Addison - 3 months old, Jonas - 2 months old.  But somewhere along the way, as of late, Addison has decided to familiarize herself with the concept of nursing and milk production and newborns.  

Truly, she gives me the details as I get out of the shower quite often.  "Boobies make milk.  Dey feed Donas.  Mommy has milk in her boobies....etc. etc."  I've explained many times about how they USED to make milk for baby Jonas a long time ago but now he drinks formula.  And how amazing Heavenly Father is for making mommies the way He does so they can feed their babies.  It's a very PG discussion I promise.  However, apparently now I need to include some type of disclaimer that Addison doesn't need to go talking about Mommy's boobies to other people....especially when those other people are in her nursery class.......at church.......that are taught by all male teachers. 

Wish me luck in my endeavors!  I'm hoping to perfect this skill before she starts preschool in a couple of weeks.  Otherwise, her poor little classmates will know wayyyyy too much information about the human body and milk production in mommies.

11 Months Old

Woah!  When did THIS little guy grow up so fast?  Are we really already a month away from turning one!??  Technically just a couple of weeks away since I'm late on my post again.  Not sure I'm ready for this!

Nah, who am I kidding.  I love seeing him get older and seeing his personality even more than before.  It's almost like he is two different people.  He was the "newborn, little baby to take care of and google over" person and now he's the "so fun to watch and listen to jabber and be a silly little boy" person.  It's hard to connect the two people in my mind sometimes.  

So without further adieu.....here are some pictures from our homemade photo shoot today...

This was his slouchy pose.  And also his non-verbal way of telling me he had a poopy diaper and didn't want to sit straight in it.  I figured it out all on my own.....a few minutes later. ;-)

PPD (Post Poopy Diaper).  Apparently he hadn't yet forgiven me for my delayed response.

Alas, a smile!  It was hard work but definitely worth it.   His smile ALWAYS makes me smile.

And this is what he did REPEATEDLY throughout our little photo shoot.  Yep!  He's a crawler....finally!  Sigh.

On the move again.  And it's even the real, 4 limb crawl folks!  He's a fast one.  

The little guy did just as I had predicted.  He spent his first 11 months of life not doing much.   Not, crawling, very little rolling over, and didn't manage to grow any teeth.  However, he has done all of that plus more within the first two weeks of his 11th month.  He's making up for lost time I guess.  What hasn't this little guy accomplished lately?

I knew once he finally understood the process, that he would take off with it.  He started the first few days with the army crawl.  Using that right leg of his to scoot his whole body forward.  He got pretty fast with it and was content using that as his mode of transportation for the first little while.  Until he figured out how to stay up on all fours and crawl.  That is now his preferred method and his poor little sore knees show it.  It doesn't stop him though.  He spends all day wandering and exploring and is so happy to finally be in control.  He's particularly fond of crawling under our coffee table over and over again.

He's also a fan of pulling up and standing.  It totally throws me off when I go into get him in the morning or from his nap and he's standing up and holding on to the side just smiling at me.  He loves to pull up on anything and just bang his little palms to make noise.  

Which reminds me...he is definitely ALL boy and it's hilarious how some things are just ingrained into their DNA.  This past Sunday, I was sitting in Relief Society while he was busy playing with toys and he was constantly making his little boy sound effects while he played.  I tried putting the binky in his mouth to keep him quiet but he quickly spit it out  and kept on making his motor noises.  Plus, he loves any/all balls that are in his path.  If he sees one he quickly giggles and starts flapping his little arms up and down in excitement with a big smile on his face.  He especially enjoys watching Daddy spin the basketball on his finger.  It's so fun to see the differences a little boy brings.  I even noticed today that he enjoys "throwing" things.  Well, his version of throwing which means he picks up any toy and drops it down, picks it up again, drops it down, etc etc.  I think Daddy got his little baller!

He also is rather cute when he gets mad or frustrated.  He'll clench his fists and hold out his arms and grunt over and over until we figure out what he needs.  It's cute to watch.  Goodness, almost everything about him is fun to watch. 

He loves to be upside-down.  This is always a sure-fire way to chase away the grumpies.  Once you bring him right-side up he quickly tosses his head backwards trying to get upside-down again.  This little trick has saved us multiple times in church by the way.  

Rumor has it that he has said "Mamama" and "Dadada" but I'm not sure if it's official yet or that he relates them to John and I.  He has said them, I've heard it even, but I still think it's a jabber at this point.  Stay tuned.

And best of all, he FINALLY grew some teeth!  Yep, technically it's 1 1/2 but I'm rounding up and calling it 2!  His two little bottom teefers finally poked through.  And I'm thinking it's only a matter of days before his big top ones join them.  For the most part, he's done pretty well with the pain.  And we are quickly learning not to keep our fingers in his mouth for too long when feeding him.  Addison learned that lesson first-hand today poor thing.  And lets just say he is NOT a fan of showing off his teeth.  I had to wrestle him quite a bit before I could even get this blurry shot below.  He was mad at me but I know he'll thank me when he's 24 years old and wants to see what he looked like with two cute little teefers.  At least that's what I told myself while I fought him tooth and nail...hehe...pun intended.

Aren't they just two of the cutest little teefers you've ever seen in your whole life?

  Overall, he's just so fun to watch as he goes through this latest phase of life.  It's hard to imagine that he could be walking and running soon.  He has such a cute little personality and I think he'll be quite the dare-devil when he grows up. I'm also excited to see his funny little sense of humor develop.  Just his facial expressions alone show me he's going to be a silly little guy.  Time to start making plans for his 1st birthday celebration!

Wish List

Lately, Addison has developed quite the wish list.  Every single toy we pass at the store, see on the TV, or see in another little kid's hands, is the EXACT toy she wants.  Normally, one would hate this phase since it's when the begging usually ensues.  However, I'm grateful that Addison is easily subdued in these situations.  Here is a conversation that we have at least five times a day:

A: Mommy, can I have dat toy dare?
A: Mommy, can I save my monies and ask Santa Claus for dat toy?
A: Someday Mommy, can I buy that toy?
M: Sure, just save your money.
A: Okay Mommy!  Thanks!

-End of conversation-

Which is rare because anyone who has ever spent more than five minutes with her knows full well that conversations don't usually end that quickly.  She likes to talk.....uh LOT.  So much so that I have to beg her to give me a break sometimes.  However, I'm glad, with this conversation, that it can end rather quickly.  

Either she better get herself a part time job or start piling on the extra chores.  She has quite a bit of money to save for that ever-growing wish list of hers.  Granted, I highly doubt she even remembers what toys are on it at this point.

She's quickly transitioning out of those terrible two's and three's and is becoming a rather fun girl to hang out with.....most of the time.  So grateful we both survived that phase!

Bribery

I'm not above it.

We've been enjoying the potty training life w/Addison for a little over a year now.  She's done amazingly well with it and we have been grateful.  However, we haven't managed to get rid of the pull-ups at nap time and bedtime.  Mostly, because Mommy was growing tired of washing sheets daily when we attempted it a year ago.  Now, I'm finding that I'd rather wash sheets than keep buying pull-ups.  Plus, she's older and more aware of the process.  And it works to our advantage that she has now entered the land of princesses full force.

So, insert bribery tool #1:

Thanks to a Wal-mart clearance rack, we've ventured into the pull-up free phase.  Addison now sports her own princess panties and LOVES wearing them.  So much so that she is beyond thrilled and grateful when Mommy does laundry and washes them for her.  She's always finding a reason to change them five times a day so she can wear them all.  Decisions....decisions.  And we all know, princesses don't like to be peed on.

Bribery tool #2:

The beloved and rare princess fruit snack.  Soooo much tastier than the boring Wal-mart brand that we are used to.  Now, she gets a special fruit snack when she has dry panties after nap time.  So far we have succeeded!  

And bribery tool #3:

The desirable princess minature doll.....as in the whole collection of them.  We have five nights to get this figured out before we start retracting them and starting over.  Wish us luck!  Any morning she wakes up with dry panties she gets to pick a doll.  So worth the cost of the dolls to save the cost of pull-ups months and months down the road.  And our first attempt was a success so far!  We'll keep you posted with the rest of the week!

In the meantime, I'll share a bit of a secret with you.  I was a bed wetter for quite awhile when I was little.  And never really had a great experience during the process of not becoming one.  Thus, I'm more sensitive to when "accidents" happen with her.  I've convinced her that Mommy won't get mad if they do happen but that fun surprises await you when they don't!   So far I think it's working.  She and I are both really excited about the results....for different reasons of course!  Time to be a big girl princess now!

Amazing Feats

In case you haven't heard.  This little girl is FULL of amazing feats.  Only two of which include...

Making a silly face in the dryer compartment while Mommy & Daddy are in repair mode.

Riding a rocking horse WHILE coloring AND watching TV.  Quite the multi-tasker she is.

Among MANY other talents of course.  Addison is in the "Mommy, mommy, mommy, watch this!" phase.  It's hilarious at times and frustrating at times.  


Hilarious because I remember being at that age and truly being convinced that every.single.thing I did was amazing and thus everyone should watch.  Jump into a pool?.....amazing.  Turn in a circle?.....amazing.  Do a somersault?....uh.maze.ing.  


Why would I ever want to miss it?  Oh yeah, because I have another child that requires some attention here and there.  Granted he IS a pretty low maintenance child and used to being the 2nd by this point in his life....but there are a few needs he has that must be met eventually.  Somehow, I have to now learn how to meet his needs while also staring non-stop at Addison as she performs her tricks for me.  


Annnnndddd, I think I'm finally getting pretty good at it.  Because heaven help me, she can really scold you if you look away....even for a millisecond.  So grateful I have such an amazing child!

Random

Yet, another random post to gather all of our random pictures and document our latest happenings...

CUDDLE BUDDIES:

Addison and Jonas getting some morning snuggles in after milkies.

Addison always loves to be the first to "babysit" Jonas when he wakes-up.  Which usually entails crawling into his crib with him and either reading him a book, packing along some toys, squeezing and kissing on him til he screams, or tossing some baby dolls in for him to play with her.  Most days he likes it, except on the days she decides to maul him with squeezes and kisses.  I don't blame him though, it's hardly the first thing you want to experience when you open your eyes for the day.

LONG DAYS:

It's been said (by me) that afternoons are the LONGEST part of our day.  So, on this particular day we went and holed up at the library to pass the time.  Addison loves to read books although she is still honing her "inside voice" skills.  Jonas is fascinated with playing with books and ripping pages out if only we would let him.  Oh and Addison is also entering the "make a silly face when someone takes your picture" phase.  Not sure if I'm very thrilled about that.  

IRRESISTIBLE:

Our kids have always been pretty good sleepers so I really have no complaints.  However, they usually prefer their beds over other people or arms holding them.  99% of the time that is a good problem to have.  I'm just lucky that sometimes the little guy lets me snuggle by him while he takes a nap.  Absolutely one of my FAVORITE places to be....cuddled next to a squeezy, cute, and sleepy baby.  This time he even needed me to cuddle closer to him before he fell asleep.  I could just eat him up.

JUMP ZONE:

We decided to take advantage of some Jump Zone passes and spend the morning playing on the bounce houses.  Better yet, we also decided to steal cousin, Karah from her house and bring her with us.  Addison just LOVES her some Karah.  Such an age difference but I love that she admires Karah so much.  I couldn't have picked a better example for my little girl.  We are just glad she likes hanging out with us just as much.  She makes a great babysitter by the way!  I was able to get some stuff done while she toted the big brutus beef around and still played with Addison.  She was even able to take Addison potty WHILE holding Jonas....I can barely do that myself.  I almost had her Mommy convinced that she needed to skip school every Friday so she could be our live-in nanny.  What better way to learn from real life experiences right?  Um, job shadowing anyone?  

PAUL THE PRAYER GUY:

We've been trying harder to have family home evening lessons on Monday night.  Daddy really came through this past week and taught us a great lesson on praying.  Addison just ate it up.  Especially since he used "Paul The Prayer Guy" to help teach us what to do with our bodies while saying prayers.  Addison has saved Paul ever since and plays with him often.  She even let him come with us to swimming lessons the next day.  Luckily, she didn't make him go swimming.  That wouldn't be good since Paul is made of paper.  Even now, a week later, she still remembers the things we do before we pray.  So much so, that she decides to tattle on everyone (mid-prayer) when they aren't adhering to all the requirements.  She loves to learn and loves to do what is right.  I think I'll always be grateful for that characteristic.




SWIM LESSONS:

And yes, as stated earlier, Addison has started & finished her first session of swim lessons.  I missed signing her up for the community lessons but luckily Miss Emily was teaching private lessons at her pool.  We are lucky to have Miss Emily teach Addison all about swimming.  Addison has always loved the water but I'm definitely up for her learning to be more comfortable in it.  Especially, when someone that isn't her mom is teaching her.  She has been doing so good and talks about Miss Emily non-stop before and after swim lessons.  Now, we just need her to start talking to her during them! ;-)

Contributions

For those who aren't aware, we try hard to discipline/raise our children with the Love & Logic approach.  We aren't perfect at it by any means but we really like the ideas and suggestions so we keep trying and learning.  


Anyway, a year or so ago, John and I were lucky enough to attend a local 'Love & Logic' seminar provided by the Bentonville School District.  I was thrilled since these usually are pretty pricey...and this one was free!  It was very helpful and surprisingly pretty entertaining.  I avidly took notes and can still faintly recollect what was said.  One thing we both liked were the suggestion of calling chores "Contributions" since technically that's what they are.  Not a job that you get paid for, or something that you do on the days you choose to, it's the jobs we all do to help each other and our family out.  It's us contributing to our family and our home.  So, needless to say, I was a bit excited when Addison was old enough to start "contributing".  


She's always been a good helper but never technically had a "chore" to do.  Mostly, just a put this away, pick that up, hand that to Mommy, yadda yadda yadda.  Now, she's a big girl with a "contribution" of her very own.


Ta-da!!!

She's an official "Table-Setter"!!!  

And needless to say, I'm LOVING it!  As is she.  I want to take advantage of that age where it's fun to help and such an exciting thing to do.  Now, it's her official contribution to our family....setting the table for dinner every evening.  And she does soooo well with it.  Mommy hands her all the materials and she goes and puts them where they belong.  She's so proud of herself and it makes me realize just how much she likes contributing to our family.  Probably as much as Mommy likes it as well!  You'd think it was a minor thing to do but it is SO helpful to me when I'm already running around the kitchen trying to finish dinner.  So, thank you Addison for being a big girl and contributing to our family!  I'm thinking we need to have a TON more kids so I can get more help and contributions!!

Squatters

A couple of weeks ago our little family turned into bona fide squatters.  But we were good squatters.....the kind that clean up after themselves, say 'thank you' after mooching off meals, and even doing laundry.  :D


Yep, John had another work meeting in Lenexa and my sister, Michelle was kind enough to let us move in for about 4 days of fun.  However, the work meeting was actually only two days (if that).  We had to head up a few days earlier so John could take part in some 'All Star Game' fun.  I guess he realized the only way I'd get over him not sharing his tickets with me, was if I got to play with family for four days straight while he enjoyed the games.  I gladly accepted that deal! And he wasn't complaining too badly about working off-site in Michelle's basement while we were there.  What's to complain about? A nice, dark, cool room, the door shut to jabbering children, and lunch served to him....sounds like a good set-up to me!  Even if his lunch did consist of leftovers of macaroni and cheese and PBJ's.  


And what DIDN'T we do while we were there?  It'd take me longer to figure that out than to recount all of our fun.  So here is our fun in a nutshell....

We spent the morning enthralled in Yo Gabba Gabba.  And yes, they actually own a regular TV but everything is more exciting when it's viewed 5" wide right?

We swooped in and mooched off of cousin, Ashlyn's horse riding lesson.  So nice of her to share....oh and for the horse to as well.  We were even able to enjoy some yummy ice cream after enduring the heat.

We had some fun watching things glow at the Kaleidoscope center.  So glad aunt Michelle FINALLY took us there after we've visited her about a kajillion times! ;-)

And we had to swing by and say 'Hi' to the dinosaurs in their museum as well.  Here are Garrett & Preston acquainting themselves with a triceratops.

And Ashlyn had to ride solo as my child chose this moment to have a meltdown.

We finished off our mall trip with a meal at the train restaurant, Fritz's.  This was Jonas' first time experiencing it and he was enthralled with all the little trains that brought everyone's food out.  Best way to keep a wiggly boy holding still that's for sure!


We also spent lots of time swimming and pool hopping while Ashlyn was in swim lessons.  Which always led to a nice good nap afterward for everyone involved.  We ate lots of yummy food.  Including eating at a Japanese Steakhouse where we got to celebrate Ashlyn's birthday.  Perfect timing for our trip I'd say!  We were able to get some good bonding time with Grandpa Bell and even got to hang out with our other cousins Kayley, Cora, and Rex (not sure where those pictures went).  


After this week, I'm convinced that the life of sister wives is the way to go.  It's always nice trading off chores, child rearing, with my sister and sister-in-law.  Nothing beats getting to take a shower WHILE your children are awake, running an errand on a whim - child-less, or having dinner made twice as fast thanks to all the hands preparing it, or having a nice conversation over a laundry basket of fresh folded clothes.  If only I could get over the issue of having to share husbands.....otherwise I'd soooo be there.  Life is much easier when there are more hands to help.  And it helps that the children all play well together and respond to all of us like we are each their mothers!


It was fun tagging along on aunt Michelle's everyday life....and boy what an exciting life it was!  We always have a fun time when we get to hang out with cousins and aunts and uncles.  Thanks for letting us take over your house for four days Walker family!  I'm hoping you didn't breathe a sigh of relief after we moved out and returned to our own home!