Easter

Easter Sunday the girls woke up pretty early and set off on a little hunt for their baskets.  Yes, the same one we used last year but they for sure had no idea.  Baskets had toothbrushes, necklaces, a my little pony, books, bubbles and one egg full of treats this year.  We also got a little hula-hoop and soccer ball for them to share. 

 Emery was sleeping and missed out on all the action but once she woke up S and C were all too eager to help her navigate through her goodies.

 After church, lunch and naps, we headed to my folks for dinner and an egg hunt.  It's always a little chaotic for holidays with the fam, which I LOVE.  I debated for weeks over whether or not to spend the money on matching dresses for them this year.  I had decided against it until the night before when I spotted these Old Navy deals for ten bucks each.  White was probably not the smartest idea I've ever had, but they look cute.  Too bad I couldn't get a decent shot of them together.  Yikes.

 And a few, or a lot, of the action shots from the egg hunt:

Random

 Making COOKIES

 

 Must be sisters

 One trip to the store and I am worn out with these three.  Em's face looks similar to mine here, I'm sure.

 Emery NEVER lays down like this, so I obviously had to capture the moment.

 Little weekend date to Swirl It!

 Cousin LOVE

 What?  I can't go in to pick up the Pizza with daddy?  Fine.  I will throw a fit like this:

And when I catch you taking pictures of my fit?  I will do this:

 Em enjoying cake at Kenedi's birthday party

 I caught Sage showing her freshly painted nails to her gal pal just before preschool.  So sweet.

 Time-out.  Again.

 Family Movie Night.  

EVERY Friday.  The girls NEVER forget and we ALWAYS have to have popcorn.  Such little creatures of habit!

Emery

 Whoa.  Emery.  

My once happy, sweet, loveable, no-tantrum little baby has turned into a full blown MONSTER!  When she's happy, she's HAPPY.  But look the heck out when she is mad, or sad, or not getting her way, or just plain P.O'ed.  

She loves to kick and buck and scream her head off any and every time she gets her diaper changed or her clothes changed.  And the SECOND I'm done, she is smiling again.  I kid not.  If I'm a little slow at getting her food ready, she SCREAMS like a bloody pterodactyl at the top of her lungs.  It grates on my nerves so bad.  

She is also not really talking yet--so she has determined that her best form of communication is to scream.  When she wants a drink?  She screams until you figure it out.  Food?  Screams.  A toy she can't reach?  Screams.  It's ridiculous! We have tried to teach her sign language like we did with the other girls, but she pretty much refuses to do it, even though I'm almost positive she knows how.   My patience is pretty thin these days (like, non-existent) so it's possible I have screamed right back at her a time or two.  Or several times a day, every day.  Whatever.  Aside from screaming at me all day, she's major into this:

 OK, bad stuff out of the way.  Aside from hitting the terrible two's half a year early, her grin just melts me.  She is such a dark-eyed beauty and I love how pudgy she is getting.  She will be 18 months next month and I'm excited for nursery with her!  Church is a long, rough 3 hours. 

 She goes to bed usually between 6:30-7 and sleeps till 8:30-9 every morning, but lately she has this strange habit of waking up screaming at least once a night.  I usually go in, pick her up and take a lap or two around the house with her, then lay her right back down.  The whole process takes maybe 5 minutes, but it's weird how it's every night and it seems like she is scared and just needs to make sure everyone is still where they are supposed to be and then she lays quietly back down without any fuss.  Her naps are usually 2-3 hours each afternoon, and I try my hardest to make sure she gets them every day.  Cuz otherwise?  LOOK OUT.  She's a tiny terror for the rest of the day.  

She is still a major daddy's girl.  I'm pretty much chopped-liver when he is home. 

 Just like her sisters, she is a pretty big baby.  She's scared of bugs, the hose when we play outside, any foreign objects, etc.  

She loves to play outside and she LOVES bath time.  

I just love my little gal.  Some days more than others, but I honestly cannot imagine our little family without her in it.

Charlotte

 My little C has turned into the SWEETEST little gal.  Sure, she has her moments.  But for the most part?  Her personality is so fantastic.  She is constantly giving out kisses.  And when I say kisses - plural - I mean LOTS of kisses.  She will randomly come up and kiss my legs, arms, back, butt, anything.  It's so funny.  

About a million times a day she will start listing people she loves.  She'll say, "I love mom, dad, sage, emery, grandma, grandpa, grandma shari, grandpa joe, zach, dustin, kinsey, connor, gage, chance, kenedi, addison, etc".  She goes on and on and on and if she forgets someone, she starts all over again.  

She is always telling me that she "loves the baby that's in your tummy".  And when she is mad at me?  Poor baby gets the wrath.  She'll scream- "well, I don't love the baby in your tummy!"  Haha.  Little stinker. 

 She's definitely got her quirks.  One that is hilarious to me is that she talks to her food while she eats.  For each bite she takes, she names a princess or pony or whatever.  

She is SUPER quiet.  She talks non-stop, but is a very quiet talker.  When we are in the van, she sits directly behind me.  And I can NEVER hear what she is saying.  I have to turn the radio and A/C off to hear her.  I'm constantly telling her to talk louder but the gal just doesn't.  She practically whispers everything.  It gets pretty frustrating in the car, because she asks questions non-stop and refuses to be left answer-less.  So she'll say "mom!  mom!  mom!" over and over again until I answer, but then I can't hear her question so I usually mumble an "uh-huh...", which is just not an acceptable answer to her.  Ya.  It gets annoying in the van. 

Speaking of talking....half the time she talks just fine and the other half I swear she's talking in Chinese.  She will go on and on and on and none of us can understand a word coming out of her mouth.

She is a major RUNNER!  I'm not kidding.  She has got the endurance of a major marathoner and has a super long stride.  She is FAST.  She outruns Sage easily and can seriously go a mile without stopping.  It's amazing to watch.  And she has the biggest grin the whole time she runs.  I love it so much.  

She LOVES to play on her little kindle.  I really need to get better at limiting her time on it, but man it's the best babysitter!

Lately, she has been having extreme bowel issues.  She went on antibiotics about a month ago and it corked her up so bad.  She didn't go for like 5 days and I ended up giving her an enigma.  Ever since then she holds it in as long as she can.  I always know when she needs to go, because she prances around on her tip-toes with her little bum sticking out-making little whimpering noises.  Yes, it's sad.  But it's more frustrating than anything!  I used to be super patient with it but at this point I pretty much plop her on the toilet and tell her she can't get up till she goes.  Most days it works, but some days she'll cry on the toilet for a half hour before I finally let her down.  I'm not sure what to do about it.  I've been really monitoring her diet but it seems like no matter what kind of poop it is she holds it.  TMI?  

I've got her signed up for preschool for this next school year.  It's twice a week for three hours and we went to visit it the other day.  She was super excited and talks about it a lot so I'm hoping it will go better for her this year than it has in the past.  I think that since it will be at the same place each time instead of hopping around from house to house the way we did with Joy school that she will adjust better.  

She is still stuper skinny.  Her shorts range from size 18 month-2T.  She wears normal 3T tops but just has zero butt and teeny tiny bird legs.  Tiny, but super cute.  They're super shapely and her calf muscles definitely come from her daddy.

She's major into:

bubbles

running

my little ponies

tiny toys of any variety

yogurt--but it cannot have fruit chunks of any size or she FREAKS out

I sure love my little C.  She brings such a fun, sweet, happy spirit into our home.

Oh.   And I think she is BEAUTIFUL.  These pictures of her sweet little angel face just make me smile.

Sage

I swear I'm getting worse and worse at keeping up with this.  I feel so lazy and unaccomplished lately!  I hate being unmotivated and feel like that's how I've been the past few months.  I'm blaming it on pregnancy but let's be honest....I'm just in a funk.  I am way behind on updates about things so I'm going to take a few days to try to catch up.  First.  

SAGE

My soon-to-be five year old is bursting with energy and personality lately.  Some good personality, some not-so-good personality.  Most days, she is awesome.   She is the best big sister and is so very considerate. She will wake up and say, 

"Mom, I'm going to be so kindly today".  

Haha.  No matter how many times I tell her it's just "kind", she loves adding that -ly at the end.  She is always watching out for little Em and if Charlotte does something naughty or takes something away from Em she is the first to let me know.  She has a tendency to be a bit of a tattle-tale, but we are working on it.  And in her defense, when I try to explain that she doesn't ALWAYS have to tell me every little thing that Charlotte or Emery does, I know her intentions are good.  She'll reply with- 

 "But mom, it's my job as big sister to make sure everyone is being nice".  

Good point kiddo, good point.

She is doing great at school and looks forward to going twice each week.  Her handwriting is getting so great and I just love listening to her "read".  She is now enrolled in kindergarten for next year.  EEEEEKKKK!!!  I'm ready and yet so not ready.  Walking those big hallways with her about scared the crap out of me.  She just looked so little!  I'm not impressed with the public school in our new neighborhood so our all-day K option is out.  I don't want to pay for full day at the charter schools, so I've decided that half day it is.  She will go from 12-3:40 each day starting at the end of June.  I've always been a full-day advocate, but I'm totally happy with this schedule for her.  She is a VERY slow mover in the mornings.  Like, it takes at least 30 minutes to eat a piece of toast.  And she loathes getting dressed/doing hair/making her bed right away.  She likes to wake up and just lounge for a while before getting moving.  I realize she will be this way until I change our routine and get her moving faster, but I am hesitant to do it yet.  Here's why:

a few short weeks after she starts school, I will have a newborn.  And an almost two-year-old.  And a barely four-year-old.  And a five-year-old.  And a husband who leaves for work at 4AM.  The idea of getting all four kids up, dressed, fed and happily out the door by 7:15 pretty much scares the bejeezus out of me.  The all day K starts at 7:30 and I really, really, realllllly just don't see that happening yet.  I'd be that mom that is late every day.  Like, an hour late.  I realize I could load them up, drop Sage off then come back home to finish getting ready, but that seems like such a waste to me.  Plus, I really love our relaxed morning schedule.  I know that once all day school starts, it won't end for the next thousand years.  So I'm putting it off for one more year. 

I'm dying to enroll her in some sort of gymnastics, dance, soccer, and/or music class, but man.  I just don't see how people do it!  Aside from crazy driving schedules already, everything is so expensive!  I can't stomach the thought of another monthly bill when things are already tight enough.  Charlotte will be in preschool this year too, which is ridiculously expensive.  I'm still trying to decide when and/or how to start biting the bullet and put them in some fun activity.  

Sage has become an extreme bargainer.  She is the best at trying to negotiate with me---over everything.  How much of her dinner she has to eat, how many cartoons she gets to watch each day, how many drawings she gets to do before putting things away, and on and on and on.  I think it's hilarious and also horribly annoying.

Sage is still the BEST helper.  She is always asking for chores to do or if she can help me with dinner or making daddy's lunch for the next day.  She loves to mop the floors and clean the toilets and she actually does a pretty fantastic job.  She has always been my little cleaner and continues to really help with that stuff. 

Things Sage is totally into right now:

HULA-HOOPING

riding her bike

drawing/coloring/painting/crafting

making necklaces

My Little Ponies

dancing

eating nothing but "egg cheese-crisps" AKA egg burrito (I get so sick of making these!)

Most of all, Sage is our happy gal.  She is so loving and kind and just insanely sweet.  She is always letting me know she loves me and is always aware of the feelings of those around her.  I love my big girl so much.

 dum. dum.duuum.

  I adore this picture.  

Charlotte's big grin, 

 Em hanging on for dear life, 

Sage gunning it.  

Oh, man.  The teenage years are going to be rough!  :)

 The BEST big sister.  She loves to hold Em, and despite the uncomfortable look, Em loves when Sage carries her around.