The Exciting and Mundane

I often think about how few childhood memories I have, specifically of my mom. And I remember reading short journal entries from my grandma when she was a young mom, and they were too short for my liking. I wanted to know more! What did you cook your family? Were you super burnt out? What were some cute things your kids did that you never want to forget? What did your day to day life look like? What was the worst, and best, part of motherhood? Some questions that will never be answered for me.

This is why I'm determined to start blogging again and keep at it. Not only is it a great outlet for me that I miss, it's such a cool way to document and I feel like my girls will really love reading this back one day. Jane is already SO obsessed with any stories about my childhood, so I can imagine she'll have a keen interest in her own childhood.


There is no point in trying to "catch up" on important events that have happened in the past...year or so. So I'm just going to pick up where we are right now, and then try not to get too behind again :)

So without further ado, here are some exciting and mundane things going on in our life as of late:

* I have been teaching preschool to Lyla + 4 of her "besties" as she VERY frequently refers to them. We just meet twice a week. I didn't want to pay for preschool because $$ and also because I love being able to teach my children-- I also knew Lyla needs a lot of social interaction so I felt like this was the best of both worlds. It has been SO fun for me and for Lyla. It REALLY helps that all of the kids are total gems and they get along so well. They completely soak up anything I teach them and are tickled pink with just about any activity I offer to them. I have been working on a preschool curriculum with one of my best friends for over a year now, so I've loved being able to implement the lesson plans we have come up with. So far we've learned about oceans, farms, the forest, and the savannas. I love being able to give the kids a sense of wonder for the world around them.

* While we are on the subject of my dear Lyla, she ALSO just started soccer. The whole week leading up to her first practice/game, she wore all of her soccer attire everyday, and asked jeff to play with her in the back yard. All week she would make sure we knew that she REALLY wanted us to "cheer her" while she was playing soccer. Cheer, we did! We talked about being tough, and getting up if you fall, so she was so proud of herself for falling and getting right back up. Anyone who knows Lyla, knows that her passionate enthusiasm about....EVERYTHING...is a true joy and pleasure to witness. She brings so much happiness and sunshine into our home. Please enjoy these pictures of the cutest soccer player I've ever seen with her signature head tilt pose :)

* Now on to Janie girl! She just started first grade and if I'm being completely honest, which, let's face it, when am I not??....the first week was an ENORMOUS adjustment and not in a good way. I had braced myself for it, but not quite enough to handle the storm that swept our household for the first few weeks of school. She just needed to get used to the extra stimulation, and the holding in of feelings, that inevitably happens at school. Her brain goes a million miles a minute, thanks to her big heart that cares so much about the people around her + a very active, curious brain that literally NEVER relents on coming up with questions and inquisitions about the world around her. All those different racing thoughts needed some taming, and a good strong outlet, and I think she is finally figuring out how to handle them a little better. Journal writing, audiobooks, reading books alone in a quiet room, talking time with mom, yoga, and listening to music are some of the things that help her, and I really am so proud at how she has turned it around recently.

She has been much more willing to do her jobs before and after school, and practice the piano. I had a little chat with her piano teacher about only giving her one or two new songs a week instead of 4 or 5, and it made a world of difference. She has been loving the piano and also gymnastics. She just moved up a level and is in a class with much older and MUCHHHH taller girls, but is keeping right up with them. She also loves singing so much, which makes my heart so happy! I love having my girls sing their little heart out as I play the piano. Oh! And ART! She is a girl of many passions. The art table Jeff made for the girls has gotten SO much use!

Jane loves having family discussions at dinner time or during family scriptures. She thrives on them. I've even recently given her some hot button political topics and asked her opinion on them, giving her both sides of the coin without any bias. It's helped me to realize that we cannot possibly think we have THE right answer to everything because some of these things are much too complex for a simple answer. Jane was extremely frustrated trying to make a decision on some of them.

 She continues to be THE sweetest sister to Cooper, almost always. Cooper absolutely LOVES Jane. And she is also a good best frenemy to her sister Lyla ;)

 "Mom, take a picture of me so I can make a scrap book page of myself. I look so cute right now."

 The walking to school brigade. Well...a fraction of it ;)

First day of first grade!

* Little Coops! Oh man we love him, and we spoil him. And he gets everything he wants because he is just too cute and he will do "please" in sign language with a big grin and you just can't turn it down. CANNOT. I am so interested to see how he will react when there is a new baby in the house. I really have no idea what to expect. My girls are both so nurturing and I know they will absolutely ADORE their new baby sister. (ESPECIALLY LYLA!!!!!) We will see about Cooper. Knowing him, my best bet is that he will assume she is a special type of ball that he can chuck across the living room. But seriously, on the subject of balls, none of my kids have EVER had such a STRONG and early obsession with something. He is ALWAYS PLAYING WITH BALLS, since he was about 7 months old. Either playing catch with anyone who breathes and is within throwing distance, shooting a ball into his little tikes hoop, kicking the ball across the living room, or hitting his plastic golf balls with his beloved and treasured plastic golf clubs. He also begs jeff to watch "ball" on his phone. I am so anti-screens for babies but he is literally INTO the game. He loses interest whenever the ball isn't being thrown or kicked around, and he legitimately learns from those basketball/football/golf videos he watches with daddy.

He also LOVES going on walks and completely loses it (in a freakishly excited way) every time he sees a dog. He also knows almost all of the animal sounds. He says a good amount of words but definitely isn't as talkative as my girls were at this age. He uses a lot of sign language though and it is freaking adorable. Some signs he uses are: please, thank you, more, sleep, sing (for when he wants me to sing him a song), orange, candy, cookie, pancake, grapes, chicken, book, again, shoes, all gone, and love you. He has also gotten SO cuddly lately and it basically is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Oh and did I mention how much his cheeks jiggle when he runs? It is my favorite thing.

He eats a meal, and then will eat an entire other meal on jeff's lap. Jeff always serves himself about double what he actually wants to eat because he knows that Cooper will 100% of the time want a good portion of the food on his plate. These two are the BEST buddies. Cooper greets Jeff by growling like a lion and it makes us laugh every time.

 ^^ he is always so messy, as little boys should be. 

* Mr. Jeffrey....well, his life has mostly consisted of...a whole lot of THIS.

Plus a whole lot of running and swimming. He is training for A FULL IRONMAN. This was right before an 80 mile bike ride. And is anyone surprised by his neon orange biking shirt?? ;) He is such a good, fun dad when he is home. Always working with Cooper on his form (throwing, golf swing, basketball shot) and wrestling and starting dance parties with the girls.

And me? I'm just waddling around popping' rolaids like it's my job. And absolutely dreading getting dressed each morning, at 32 weeks...it just is NOT a fun thing to do.