Shelby's Birthday

Our little Shelby had her 1^st birthday recently. Due to the holidays we just had a little itty bitty party (with my sister who is staying with us) to celebrate. She LOVED the cake. I thought it turned out pretty good. I made it a polar bear because she often crawls on her hands and feet, making her look like the animal. Although lately she is taking some serious first steps.

Here are some things I/we love about her:

She is so smiley, and is usually a pretty happy baby.

She loves her family and loves to interact with her siblings

She is also really good at playing by herself. I can leave her in the playroom for 30 minutes or so at a time and she will entertain herself with all the toys.

She is so beautiful. With her long dark hair and big eyes, I just want to eat her.

Some other “stuff” that is not my favorite:

She is so squirmy and hates getting changed/dressed, and does her best to thwart our efforts.

She is kind of a picky eater. She has her favorites and doesn’t allow much else to pass her lips.

She is such a little treasure

(She recently took a very large tumble down the stairs. You can't see it but she has a HUGE goose egg on her forehead under her bangs. We took her to the ER and she had a CAT scan but she was just fine.)

To keep busy

Here I am again, way behind, and I have made a conclusion. Much like journal keeping, at blogging, I am terrible. I find I really just don't enjoy writing. Math, I could do for days, writing not so much. Three kids keep me busy and when I do have some "free" time, I don't think, "Oh, I think I will write a blog post." No, here are the things that I would rather be doing, and have been doing for the past couple of months, in no particular order:

Making delicious treats, that I shouldn't eat. (Exhibit A)
Sewing: (Exhibit B)
Home Improvement: (Exhibit C)
Planning parties and fun things for my kids: (Exhibit D)
Reading: (Notes E)
Preparing lessons/talks: (Notes F)

A: I LOVE to bake treats of the delicious variety, and ever since I was pregnant with Shelby, I CRAVE sugar. I can't seem to shake it, so I make treats and give them away as much as possible. I love trying new things and making the things that my mom so often did when I was home to partake. My mom particularly excels (among thousands of things) at candy making, so I too love the candy stuff. Mike was having a Thanksgiving day party at his work, so I whipped up some Peppermint and Peach fondant and some Almond Roca. Amazingly good, and thank goodness I sent the whole lot of it with him. I took 1st in the competition!! Mike was sheepish to tell me that most people weren't interested in creating something as there were only two homemade entries and most things were store bought. Doesn't bother me, my candies were HEAVEN, beating only one other entry doesn't change that. :)

 One of our favorite meals lately... We call it Ratatouille

B. I planned to make Everett a quilt for his birthday, since he recently upgraded to his own twin bed. Unfortunately for the quilt, I have been otherwise occupied with providing service to those who have recently discovered my sewing/crafting abilities and willingness. I am working on some projects for our wards' craft the night away and a sister asked me to make 12 cinching backpack type bags. So Everett's quilt was put on the back burner until furter notice. It is an aplique type quilt with all manner of transprotation represented. Here are a few of the "squares" I have completed.

C. Our house is old. Almost 100 years old. And the previous occupants were renters. So there are some "problems," due to age, neglect, and general weird choices by previous owners. I'm also trying to figure out storage space. The house has a good amount but poorly used. Mostly no shelves and the such, so organization takes a bit of time. I also starting painting and remodeling. I started small so here is the coat closet, and the spare bathroom. But then other things happened... like Mike putting his behind through one of the original windows, so those needed to be replaced. (Still have to re-trim them.) And due to poor design and neglect, nasty mold started showing up in the upper bathroom, so that needed to be tackled, and there are so many windows and not enough privacy (curtains needed), and the carpets are in sad shape. Blah, blah, blah. Time, time, time. Here are some pictures.

Downstairs Bathroom (Before and After)

Coat Closet (Before and After)

Upstairs Bathroom (Before Shot taken by previous tenants as I forgot to take one)

After tackling the mold and repainting

I put up a privacy curtain as the bathroom is right off the master bedroom. There are some seriously awkward angles to the vaulted roof line so I was pretty proud of how this curtain worked out.

D. Due to the birth dates of our kids being 1 month apart and the holiday season being what it is, Oct-Dec is a busy time. Daylin turned 5, Everett is now 3 and Shelby has her birthday next month. I love making the kids' birthday cakes and have always done so. They turned out great this year. Unfortunately we lost or forgot to take some pictures at Daylin's birthday. Fail. It was a stacked cake that was suppose to resemble this...

only much more pink and purple. She liked it. Also we made Daylin and Everett a bunk bed for their birthdays. Here is a video of us revealing it the morning of Daylin's birthday. Happy birthday, crazy kids.

E. I have been enjoying reading lately and fortunately I have found audio books which allows me to "read" and do the other things that are "required" of me, like cooking, cleaning and exercising. I am currently listing to Anne of Green Gables. Oh my, Daylin's personality is much like Anne's. She talks relentlessly with an incredible vocabulary, has a vivid imagination that must be shared and a flare for the dramatics that incurs much eye rolling from her mom.

F. Mike and I were called to be the Sunday School teachers for the 14-17 year olds. Large and destractable class. And while it isn't my first choice for activites, a lesson for each sunday must be ready. We were also called this last sunday to give talks this week. Boo. I don't like the pressure of talking in front of others. I always put my heart and soul into it and it takes forever to prepare. Mike can fly by the seat of his pants but not I. Every word must be typed out so that I don't make a fool of myself. Ah such is life.

And here is some stuff from my non free time, a.k.a, "Best Mom I can be" time.

 

Daylin is so bright. And since she has started school she loves crafts all the more. I will find her up to the table all the time writing notes and cutting shapes. She loves to write her and Everett's name and draw pictures of our family. She is quite the girl.

  

Everett is as emotional as always. Quick to anger, quick to love. He can aggravate me to no end and melt my heart within a 30 second time interval. He too is learning and growing fast. He counts really well and loves to try to keep up with Daylin.

Shelby is a doll. She was slow to sit up but once that was accomplished she hasn't looked back. I like to call her a Polar Bear as she often crawls on her hands and feet. And recently she has discovered the power of walking with a push toy. Enjoy the video.

She loves all her family, but I think she loves Everett best, maybe because he is irritated by her and she feels challenged to make him love her. Whatever it is, she can't get enough of tying to bother him.

 

She loves to feed herself but does a poor job of it since most of the food is on the floor by the end of the meal. But she still has the pounds packed on, so I'm not too worried.

That's about it for now... see you in a couple of months :)

Preschool

So Daylin started pre-school last week and is loving it!!!! She is already asking for 1st grade as that is when she will get to go everyday, all day.

Everett loves being free to pick out his own activities for three hours, but also misses Daylin by the end of it. 2 out of the 3 days so far he has brought her a "gift" of his own doing. Once a snack and the other was a rock. :) 
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A full summer

The month of July was a busy one for us, and getting ready for it made June busy as well. Here is a highlight of what we've done, and if I get around to it, I'll expand later. But I wanted to at least give a picture update because our kids are practically adults now since I've taken so long to post.

Well we have the house now. Love it. Needs a lot of work, but there isn't much time to devote to it since I have to be a mom or something like that, and 3 kids is a lot of work... and because Mike is both training for the Hood to Coast (happening this weekend) and trying to once again get private practice up and running. So progress is at a snails pace. Good thing we plan to stay here forever.... and that motherhood has forced me to ignore my anxiety over silly things like a dirty ugly bathroom. Blah! Who cares right? At least my kids are alive, and happy.... and so am I.

Had my 10 year high school reunion... which I was planning.. for most of June....

 It was really great to see so many old friend. About half of my graduating class showed up.

 The softball game was definitely my favorite though. I miss playing sports on a regular basis.

Had my family reunion. What a blast! I really am going to do a post on this later, so these are just a few teaser pictures...

Went to a parade with my best friend from Texas... who happened to move nearish to us this summer... approx 3 hours away.

 Daylin upgraded in bike size. She is amazing when it come to motor skills... riding bikes, climbing, etc.

 And here are some very recent shots at the park.

Shelby is quite the girl. She sits up now, but that isn't enough. She is anxious to crawl and walk. Always squirming. She also sprouted two teeth in front. You probably can't tell from the pictures, but this girl LOVES to eat... pretty much anything. She also loves to watch and be around her siblings.