Sage

I totally love seeing the school work Sage has started to bring home lately.  It makes me so happy to see things like this:

"We set up the Christmas tree.  I scraped my foot."

 Apparently this says, 

"I went to the beach and played with my friends in the sand."

 Mrs. Hinderland, her sweet teacher, crocheted little booties for all the kids in her class.  Wow!  I was stunned.  I thought it was such a thoughtful gift, and Sage is IN LOVE with them.

 We went to the little Cottage Fair for this quarter and watched her sing her little heart out.  She makes the cutest nervous/happy face I ever did see.

 

I went to help out at her Christmas party this past week, and talked for a bit with her teacher about things.  I've been noticing that Sage really struggles with number recognition, sight words, and focusing.  I think all of these things come with time, but her teacher mentioned the same concerns to me.  She said that while Sage is far from a discipline problem, she has a very difficult time staying focused and paying attention.  She is quiet, but very easily deterred from whatever she is supposed to be doing.  It takes her FOREVER to get things done, and this isn't just at school.  She has always been our "slow poke".  She takes an hour to eat each meal, has to be reminded a thousand times to get dressed, get shoes, get backpack, etc.  She gets so easily distracted by the tiniest things.  So at school, she won't be talking, but if anyone else is, she is listening to the conversations going on instead of working.  Mrs. Hinderland said that she will look at Sage and can tell by the vacant look on her face that she isn't "with" the group.  So I'm not totally sure what the solution is, but I'm hoping that we can work with her on these things.  She is the lowest in her class and because of Common Core, she will be held back if she can't get her numbers and words figured out.  So I'm a little freaked out.  I'm really going to work with her over the break on stuff.  Buuuuut, I don't have a ton of patience and have been known to make her cry while trying to help with homework.  So we will see.

It broke my heart a little to hear these concerns from her teacher though.  A parent never wants to hear that their child is slower or not doing great in class.  I think because I know how sweet she is and I know how hard she tries, I just can't stand the thought of her ever learning that she is "slower".   Or whatever term should be used to describe it.  I just want her to succeed and I want to do whatever I can/should be doing to help her.  I love my girl so so much.

Charlotte's Preschool Program

 My sweet little angel was an angel in her preschool program.  She is the only angel with a blue sweatshirt on.  Yes, I'm THAT mom.  I'm such a slacker!  I have good intentions, but somehow always end up running out of time on pretty much everything in my life lately.  Anyways, she loves her preschool teacher, Mrs. Olsen, and LOVES going to school twice a week.  She has become so animated lately and likes to talk nonstop.  She is so sweet and loving and aside from the occasional "You're not my best friend anymore Mom!", she is a dream.  She practiced her speaking part "I come to bring you news of great joy!" over and over before the program.  She was so proud of herself, and we were too!  It was super cold this night and I was huddled with Sage and Emery on my lap while Ivy stayed toasty in her car-seat hidden behind us.  Clint wasn't able to get home in time for it, but I got a few videos of her so he could see her in action.  We sure love our little C.

December Happenings

 This month has killed me.  It's great and I love the season and yadda yadda yadda.  But I'm so ready to relax a bit.  I'm not cut out for being on the go all day and all night non stop.  I have no idea what I'm going to do when my girls all have activities they have to participate in.  Before I start moaning and complaining too much, here is a glimpse at what we've done:

Went to our ward Christmas party and ate a lot of nachos!

 Decorated some ridiculously hard sugar cookies.  My recipe musta been flawed because they were pretty nasty.

 

 we hid this damn elf every night.

 We made gingerbread cookies.

 We read lots of books.

We pretended it was cold.

 These two partied in their rooms every night.

 We posed at the Temple lights.

Big tree, Little tree

We decorated the little tree.  We decorated the big tree.  And I'm fairly certain that next year their little tree ornaments will have to be moved to the big tree.   I love their handmade and special ornaments way more than my decorated tree anyway! 

 

 

The TWO year old.

 This rugrat is so cute.  

And so sweet.  

And so freaking naughty!!!!!!! 

First, let's see the cute and sweet.

Rolling out with my lacrosse ball: (she has seen me do this thousands of times)

 

Several times a day, she gathers up all of the play purses we have, finds a pair of toy keys, and goes around the house saying "bye" to everyone and pretends to go out the door.  It is hilarious every single time!

 

Also several times a day, she changes Ken's diaper.  

Also known as daddy.

 

And now for the naughty.

Vaseline all over her hair, face and floor:

 Not only did she climb out of her crib during nap here, but she emptied all of her drawers and painted herself and her bedroom with some nice butt cream.

 

Oh.  And she likes to take her diapers off.  Thank heavens this one was not loaded.

 She will often walk up to her older sisters, grab a clump of hair, and yank.  I keep telling the girls to yank her hair out, but they refuse. 

 

And the naughtiest of all?

She likes to claw at her baby sister.  It's happened about four times now, and each time I lose my mind just a little bit more.  This one happened while I was in the shower.  Ivy was sound asleep in Emery's crib, with the door shut.  Sage came running into my bathroom screaming that Emery was beating up Ivy, to which I said something like, "Ivy is in the crib.  Emery can't reach her."  Sage let me know that Emery had pulled the stool up next to the crib and was reaching through the slats to scratch her.  So, I stormed out of the shower soaking wet and found her basically attacking my baby.  I seriously almost threw up because I felt so bad for Ivy.  These look better here than they did in person, because she was bleeding so bad.  I have tried all different types of discipline.  Nice mom, mean mom, abusive mom....so far nothing has worked.  The last time, I caught her doing it and immediately taped socks to her hands and made her wear them all day.  She HATED it.  She hasn't done it since then, but I'm not holding my breath that it's over.  I honestly feel bad for Emery.  I think she has been feeling really displaced and is trying to get some attention, just going about it the wrong way.  I need to make time to spend with just her.  

Three Months!

Little Miss turned three months in November.  

And yet she's in a Santa hat.  Whoops.  

Maybe we were a little excited for Christmas and jumped the gun. 

Ivy has been my hardest baby yet.  She is SO sweet and kissable, but man.  She's a handful.  She cat naps.  And is up all night.  She doesn't eat during the night, (even if I try to feed her) but the second her pacifier falls out she screams.  And no matter how long I let her cry, she doesn't stop screaming.  So we went through about a 3 week period where I slept, like, never.  It was a rough month.  She seems to get major gas and is only relieved by being burped.  So I feel bad for her--I know she's not just crying to cry.  90% of the time when she cries and I pick her up, she burps and barfs all over.  So she's obviously having tummy issues.  She eats between 4-5 times a day and because we are always on the go, I haven't been able to get her on a schedule at all.  All of my other babies were major "babywise" babies and I was a stickler about their nap schedule.  And, all of my other babies were fantastic sleepers by 6-8 weeks old.  So I guess it was bound to happen with this last baby.  Really nailed the coffin shut on any fifth baby ideas.  Not that I needed further proof that we are done.  :)  

Somehow despite her rough schedule and our lack of sleep, I could squeeze this baby all day long.  I cannot get enough of her.