"It worked!"

Wow...it has been a whole year! I have been feeling badly about neglecting the blog lately...I document our life on Facebook and Instagram and with texting and stuff so much so I don't really feel like I need yet another medium...but then this one seems a little bit more journal-esque than the rest and I am going to try to do better so we have more of a family record.  Then again, I have said that many times over.  Anywho, here goes.

This past Monday we had a quick FHE (because we weren't prepared that well...which used to be fine but now Leo notices and he is always really excited for it so we need to do better...add that to the list) Anyway, we read a story out of The Friend magazine called "School Bus Hero".  I thought he would like it because it had a school bus in it, naturally, but also he had told me about some things going on at recess lately and I felt like it was a good message to talk about.  By the way, totally innocent preschool things happening...just felt like a good teaching moment for the future.

The story is about a boy named Jason who, in a nutshell, didn't like to ride the bus until he made a friend (Ryan) and then he started being friendly to others on the bus (namely Blake) because he didn't want them to feel lonely like him. We chatted for a few minutes after we read it and I asked Leo if he thought he could try and be like Jason at school on Thursday.  He asked me to write a reminder in his lunch (since I always write him a note on his napkin anyway).

Well, today was Thursday.  I remembered to write on his note the tagline from the story that we had discussed (Sometimes heroes wear backpacks instead of capes) and then I drew a picture of a school bus and wrote "Be like Jason".  As we were getting buckled in the car after I picked him up and I was asking about his day and such he got real excited and said "MOM! IT WORKED!"  Then he proceeded to tell me about how he got his note and folded it up and kept it in his pocket so he could remember and then at recess how he got almost his whole class to play duck, duck, goose together.

I felt his comment was so profound...it worked!  Yes in so many ways!!! Family night worked!  Teaching a lesson worked!  Having a goal worked! Writing notes on his napkins worked! Trying to raise a good human worked! For all of the times it seems like it isn't...this is a reminder that sometimes it does.  IT WORKS!  It matters!

(And along those lines, something else to remember...Leo recently told me that he loves our house because of the paint in the dining room, the curtains in the kitchen, the stripes on his wall, and a million other things he listed that I have done to our house...and it was like that total payoff moment where you are like "YES! It mattered! It wasn't just me being vain and trying to be trendy but it makes him feel like this is a loving, secure home! It worked!")

Sweet, sweet Leo...he is a super special child in so many ways.  In a lot of ways I am just trying my best to not mess him up as he seems to be hard-wired to just be pretty awesome. Most days I feel completely overwhelmed in parenting him...he is too wise in way too many ways.  I want him to just be a little boy and enjoy being little and silly, and yet at the same time I feel like we need to keep encouraging and pushing him as he seems to be so capable and definitely destined for something more.

Being a stay-at-home mom is sometimes hard and frustrating and a million times over I wonder if I am really doing anything except the same load of laundry or dishes..but then every once and awhile I get these sweet moments that remind me that it is so worth it.  It matters...it works!

Easter!

So my family has this tradition to camp on Easter weekend...but we haven't done it in awhile.  We decided this year to revive the tradition but by the time we did there were no available camping spots left anywhere near us!  Early spring is a great time to camp in Texas before it gets too hot and every one else had the thought to take advantage of the long weekend like we did.  Oh well...we opted for plan B since we had already told the kids and loaded up our camping gear and headed to Grammie's house.

We decided that Grammie had the best camping spot anyway with clean bathrooms and great food!  The kids thought is was great fun to pitch a tent in the back yard and they, along with Nick and Ben, slept out there all night.  June and I slept inside since she had an ear infection and wasn't sleeping great anyway...I was worried about her waking Leo in the night but I don't think I needed to worry as he was the LAST one to wake up in the morning!  He sure played hard and was TIRED!

We had a great fire, as usual, provided by Grandpa and a traditional Easter ham dinner (but served up camping style outside!) on Friday night and a yummy French toast casserole and s'mores cones I had wanted to try on Saturday morning since I was in charge of breakfast.  We also had sundaes and watched a movie on the Cosby's outdoor screen. The kids were in heaven!

I just had to get a picture of Leo loving Livi...he just can't keep from hugging her!  Saturday morning we couldn't wait for Grammie's Easter egg hunt.  The kids were very patient for us to get a picture first, and then they ran like crazy to gather those eggs!

This year Grammie had tried something new- in some of the eggs were numbers and she had that many prizes laid out.  Whoever got number 1 got first choice, and on and on.  Leo was THRILLED that he found #1 and got to choose the bubble gun that he had been eyeing...and then picked a Sonic gift card and a Walmart gift card.

Saturday afternoon we loaded up and headed home.  We watched some General Conference while cleaning up and getting ready for the Easter bunny.  Leo was already in bed when we remembered we needed to leave a carrot out for him, so we tiptoed downstairs and left a few and a treat for him.  The kids were very happy to wake up and find their baskets full by the front door :)

Leo loved helping June go through her basket as well as his own.  They each got a book, some new clothes, jammies, and plenty of treats!  The Easter bunny even brought Mom and Dad some new flip flops and a dress shirt, respectively.  We celebrated while listening to Conference together and having crepes.  So fun to have holidays and traditions to share together!

 

June, 8 months

Mom fail. Getting back on the blogging bandwagon has been hard!  It never seems that I am on the right device to blog with my pictures when I have a free minute...there has to be an app for that!  Anyway, I really want to update about June since I often look back at my blog to see what Leo was doing when he was June's age...and I won't be able to do that with her!  Poor second child.  Here we go...

 June.  What a doll!  She really is the sweetest baby and I could just squeeze her all day!  She is as happy as can be and very smiley almost all of the time.  It is hard to feel bad when you are out in public with her because everyone sees her, smiles, and then looks at you.  So nice to have pleasant smiling faces everywhere I go!

She has the same long-on-top hair she was born with but man is it blonde!  It has gotten lighter and lighter.  She has figured out how to pull her pony tail out :(  I still put one in (multiple times usually) every day though because otherwise her hair looks kinda funky...to me at least.  Plus she kinda doesn't even look like herself to me when I don't!

 

One of the only times I have really seen her frown!

June is moving.  Not technically crawling on all 4's yet, but she can get anywhere she wants with her army crawl and rolls.  She gets up on her hands and knees though and rocks and stuff but then drops down to actually try and go anywhere.  It won't be long now.

She has just barely learned how to sit up by herself and likes to practice. (Meaning she is barely learning how to get into that position by herself...she started sitting unassisted the very day she turned 6 months!) It is so cute when she has done it and is so proud.  She is also just barely starting to clap too.  And she can kind of wave somewhat on demand now too.

June could eat Cheerios all day long.  She loves to feed herself and likes puffs, Cheerios, and bits of bread. She has done cut up grapes, avacado, cheese, banana, and a few other random things, but she is like her momma and really just prefers a good old carb if she is going to snack :)  She has gotten the hang of the sippy cup recently too and that has been really nice to be able to give her a drink in the car and stuff.

Our little girl babbles quite a bit.  She loves to say "dadadada" most but will also say "mamama" and "bababa" regularly as well as some other sounds here and there.  When she gets over tired she really gets talking loud I just found out!  And she has a little squeal when she gets excited, like when Nick gets home, that is just too cute.

Sometimes she gives kisses that is mostly just like completely chewing on your face.  And boy does she love Leo!  He loves her and she loves him and they already have this fun bond that is just so neat to watch.

June really loves to play with balls and can often be found with one or more in her hands.  She even holds them while she army crawls.  She also likes to try to eat paper, is good about putting her nuk in when she wants it, and likes the swing at the park.

At the moment June is sleeping well.  Her naps aren't amazing, but I think that is just how my kids work...not to mention she is the second child which means her napping opportunities aren't quite as golden as child number one's.  She sleeps pretty well most nights and is happy for Nick to come get her about 6:30 each morning.  She likes her bed and falls to sleep easily when I nurse her.  I just read about Leo at 8 months and it sounded like we had a harder time getting him to sleep through the night so I am not going to complain about our occasional disruption.

June has the tiniest feet!  Always has but it is funnier now that her legs are starting to fill out a little bit more.  She is so fun to get all dressed up and looks adorable no matter what due to her near-permanent smile.  I always tell her "happy girls are the prettiest" and she seems to be taking it to heart :)  She doesn't have any teeth yet but boy are her smiles precious!

She really just makes everything in our life so much more fun and happy. We are so glad that she is in our family!  These last two pictures were taken the actual day she turned 8 months.  We happened to be in Utah for my Uncle Hal's funeral and stopped in to see my Grandpa.  We couldn't resist getting a picture of 4 generations! :)