Dinner and the Movies...for the adults!

Grace got to stay home and play with Levi and Elaine and a super fun babysitter!  Actually, there were two of them!  This is one of the blessings in disguise...Grace has no stranger anxiety.  Now, this is horrible for so many reasons, but in this instance, it's nice because she can have someone stay with them and she won't get worried by it.  And because she stays with the babysitters without sadness or fear, Levi does this same thing.  It makes it to where I'm not stressed as well.  I would definitely worry about her if she had been nervous.  She is so good at reading people, which is so helpful!  Cafe Rio and Pan for the adults!

Amanda

McDonalds fun

Time to visit McDonalds :)  Cabin fever already so we had to get out!!

Amanda

Happy Thanksgiving!!

It was such a great Thanksgiving!  We had a great time doing donuts in the Razor, playing bananagrams and playing with the new slide!  Of course there was also some snow fun but Elaine isn't the biggest fan of the snow.  Too bad because it's so much fun!  It was a nice Thanksgiving and glad that we had some family there, even though the crowd was little.  The kids and Elaine get along pretty well, but there are times that it gets difficult.  But that's normal with any kid!

What a great day!

Amanda

Sissy Coming

Wow, the trip for Sissy and Daddy coming from California is so yucky!  It has taken them 17 hours to get to Jackpot from Roseville.  Seriously?!  Grace REALLY wants to see sissy and holy cow, it's taking forever!!  So I let her watch TV to keep her mind of sissy and Elaine not being here, but she ALWAYS stands in front of the screen and that just can NOT be good!  So I put her fort in the way in hopes that she won't stand so close.  Hm...mommy wasn't very smart.



That didn't work.

And that got boring so then it was time to play with some potato skins.  I was getting potatoes ready for dinner anyways so I decided to let the kiddos play with the skins :)  Oh the things us mamas do to keep our kids occupied!

And then finally!!!!!



They got here!  Little Elaine is here!

Amanda

Thanksgiving Feast at School!

Today was a fun day because she got to have a feast at school with all of her friends!  I, of course, had to be there to watch because it's my little girl and I just love participating in all these fun activities.  It was so sweet to see her interacting with the other kids and sharing a meal with them.  

There's my girl!!

Amanda

Let's go on a Walk

Sometimes, cabin fever just gets to you.  And it doesn't matter that it's so so cold out!  Just dress in your snow clothes!  And Grace did such a great job because she pushed the stroller for Levi :)  It's so hard for me to let her do these things because I fear for his life.  I mean, I know he wouldn't die, but still.  If the stroller tips or whatever then both kiddos could get hurt, and that would be so darn sad!  But she did so great.  Nice and slow, was able to aim the stroller so she didn't go into the grass, and stopped when she was supposed to.  Great job, Grace!

I love this marshmallow girly and her brother!  I know I know.  He's in a girl snowsuit.  Why buy one that would fit him when he's just going to grow out of it!!

Amanda

What a Good Sharer

I know that might not be a word.  But she is so great at sharing with Levi!!  It's been from so early on that she's wanted to share with him, and what is extra special is that I'm not usually telling her to share.  I've seen so many kids blatantly keep things from their siblings and I just wonder what's going through their minds when they do this.  I remember being at a girl scout event with Grace and all the girls got to have donuts.  One girl was walking out with her family and her little brother was asking so nicely if he could have a bite.  The girl just ignored him.  So his mom told him that his sister would most likely share half with him.  Well, she ate past the halfway mark.  He got a little more whiny about wanting some, and the mom told him he'd get to have some.  Well, she ate the rest of it while ignoring him the rest of the time and just acted like it didn't even matter.  And the mom was like, "Oh well.  It wasn't yours anyways."  Seriously?!!  How rude!!  Grace has no problem sharing, and many times, she's wanting to share something that she shouldn't.  Today it was some of her lollipop and bread :)

I LOVE MY KIDS

Amanda

Sensory Time!

Grace got to have some fun today with flour and baby oil!  It didn't work out as well as I'd hoped because it didn't stick together very well, but she had fun anyways.  It was cute because she wanted to get up onto the table and sit there while she played.  I'm not so big on rules when it comes to things like that.  I don't mind if she sits on the table or makes a huge mess, and that's something that is so funny because a lot of parents hate it when there are messes.  But I know that is just part of Grace.  She's going to make a mess, and she's going to get her whole body messy, but I don't care.  I'd rather her satisfy her need for sensory input then to have to follow a ton of rules about staying clean, or not sitting on the table or whatever else.  Those things really don't matter to me.  

This girl matters to me.

Love you Grace

Mommy

Sissy is Coming!

We bought fun advent calendars so that when Kailyn and Elaine get here, the three kids can open them together!  It's going to be so great to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with her!  Grace also picked out some underwear to practice wearing.  She's going to wear sanitary pads instead of diapers and we are SO hoping that this is going to work.  

SO FUN!!!

Amanda

Darnit. ER trip

Before having to go to the ER....



It's all fun till someone starts not being able to breath!

Incredibly hard time breathing, fever, cough...when she asks to be fixed, you know it's bad.  She got a steroid and double breathing treatment and we're finally home.  And I've finally figured out why this happens.  When Grace gets a cold, her asthma (new news to me) flares up just like today.  Just think.  This morning all she had was a runny nose.  By the afternoon she was wheezing, and then the ER.  My poor girly. :(

Amanda

Morris Visited!

Today Grace got to bring home Morris from school.  She loves to bring Morris home and have some fun times with him.  Today Morris got to play in a fort Daddy built, and Grace had such a great time sharing this time with Morris.

And Grace also LOVES LOVES her baby brother!  They get along so well on the good days and it's great to see.

We love you guys!!

Amanda

Civil Defense Caves

On Sunday it was such a beautiful day that we decided to go to the Civil Defense Caves.  In the 4 years that we've lived here, we've never been to these caves, so finally, we went!  I'll say it was an experience, that's for sure.  It was so hard to get in there!!  Grace and Levi had a nice time, and of course Daddy did as well.  We stopped once we got deep enough that there was a large pile of rocks, but Daddy decided to keep going to see just how deep the cave went.  The kids and I headed back to the entrance because, to be honest, I got a bit worried about being in there alone with two kids, so I was ready to head out!!  It was a beautiful cave.

It was a wonderful family trip :)

Amanda

I Have the best Kids

I love my kids so darn much.  And, I think they are pretty darn cute as well.  So I just had to save some pictures of them.

Love you guys so much!!!!!

Amanda

Checking out the Indoor Gardens and Levi is 11 months old!

Today was a fun day because we went up to the college campus and took pictures of the kids!  They got all dressed up and gave us a little fashion show and it was so fun!  Grace really enjoyed watching the koi fish.  

Grace has been doing such a great job at school as well.  She loves her teacher, and she's already learned how to read 6 words!  She has an aide and that's been helping a ton.  She goes to school and puts her homework folder on the kiva, hangs up her backpack, writes her name on a name tag and hangs it on the wall, and then they have class time together on the kiva.  From there they have centers time for an hour, and then the next activities depends on the day.  Grace LOVES swinging on the swings at recess, and for the most part, that's all she does during recess.  But sometimes she stays inside because it's just so darn cold and so she plays in the resource room.  

Homework is sometimes easy and sometimes not.  But who cares :)  I'm all about her making friends and learning how to communicate more than what she's learning.  I mean, I know learning is important but if she doesn't learn how to communicate, she'll be lost.  I'm just so darn proud of her.  This girly amazes me every day, and I'm so glad we're on this journey together.  And she and Levi.  Gosh they love each other!!  To hear them giggling with one another, it's just sweet to hear.  Levi loves having Grace around, and Grace is so sweet sharing toys with him, playing chase with him and following him around.  There are times that it's a bit rough but that's the same with all siblings.  

A good day today :)  Now what to do this weekend?

Amanda

Fort time!

We had to buy a new dishwasher for our rental townhouse because the other one finally bit the dust, so Daddy made a fort for the kids!  How exciting!!  Always the best ideas :)

 Grace was helping Daddy get into the box :)  He had to crawl through a long tunnel of a box that was holding a cal king bed.  What a great idea!!!

Peek a boo Grace!!

Amanda

A Fort!

Here's a fort!

Hello everyone!!  SO much fun :)

Amanda

Time to Brush Teeth

These kids love to brush their teeth.  It's so cute to see them together.  Grace really likes to share with Levi, and Levi would fully oblige to use hers, but we try to keep those two kiddos from sharing toothbrushes.  But any who, Levi really likes to copy Grace so of course he's going to brush his teeth as well.  

Good kids!!!  Love to you both!

Mommy

Reading

Grace has been doing such a great job in school, and I'm so glad that she's finally in Kindergarten, and has the teacher she does.  She was with one teacher in the beginning of the year but because there were so many students, the school hired another person to be a Kindergarten teacher.  Now, I was worried because she'd never taught before.  This is her first year teaching her own class, but I'm so glad we made the switch.  Grace has blossomed in this class.  She's starting to read sight words, and her writing is coming along.  Now, there's a lot of fight sometimes because reading and writing just aren't interesting to her!  She'd rather play and have fun, which is so understandable.  I just love my girl, and I love seeing her succeed!

Amanda

Mama is Thankful

I'm so grateful for the family I have 

smile emoticon

 There have been so many hard times in our marriage and family, as there are in every family. And there have been many tears shed, fights, and times where I thought it's never going to get better. Finally, we had gotten to a point (I felt) that life was good. Grace was in preschool and therapies and making great progress which gave me less to stress about, and so all three of us were less stressed. But then I found out I was pregnant and we had the fears that the baby would have issues like Grace, and then I had some medical things going on with him that made stress start to come about. He was born and then things went crazy again with his crazy 4 months of Colic non-stop screaming. And then Grace had to learn how to share, be soft, not bite, don't push him, why are you laying on him, get that sock out of his throat.....wow. But here we are. The four of us. And it's GREAT! I am SO happy where we are. Grace is excelling in school, Levi is a happy boy all the time (well, unless he's hurt, hungry or tired), and all of us as a family are happier than we had been in a long time. I am so grateful that I feel secure and like life is "good," and that there's no unknowns going on. We are enjoying our time together, and the kids have such a strong bond forming that I can already see, and it makes me so delighted. I can't wait to see how much more our family strengthens and bonds together, and just how strong the kids' relationship will grow.

I am so thankful for kiddos that have the ability to see just how special Grace is, and to treat her with so much love. At 4H on Wednesday I was blessed so much to see all the children treating her so lovingly. One girl was playing cars with her sister and Grace, and they were going to have a race. Grace didn't understand so this girl turned to her and with the sweet mama voice said, "Hey Gracie, you put your car down on the floor...ok, good. Now we're going to push them, ok? Are you ready Grace?" It just made me have a huge smile and my heart was just so full of happiness. Another time later on was when they were playing charades, and it was just really hard for Grace to figure out who she goes after. (There were 6 kids) Every single child was so sweet to her. "Hey Gracie, it's not your turn yet, ok? First it's ***, then me, and then it's you, ok? So here, come stand here." (He softly moved her to where she wasn't going to get bonked by the actor/actress. And even later was one where I thought she'd get hurt because two boys were roughhousing and playing football with a balloon. She REALLY wanted to play but was very overwhelmed by the craziness. I got ahold of the balloon when one boy dropped it and gave it to her and said, "Go Grace! Run to the kitchen!" Well she tried but the boy that dropped it tried to take it from her (just playing). She got really nervous so the second boy jumped in and tackled him, ripped his hands of the balloon and guarded her as he yelled "Go Gracie! Go! Run to the kitchen! That's a touchdown! I gotcha!" Oh it was so wonderful! And after she made a touchdown every kiddo cheered and clapped for her. A happy mama here!

Amanda

Playing with Ryan!

Ryan came over for dinner and a movie, so of course it was play time! 

Grace is always so happy when Ryan comes over, and he's just so willing to get down and play with them :)

Amanda

Halloween!

It was such a fun Halloween!!  It was super cold, though, so Levi didn't last very long.  But that's ok.  Grace got SO much candy, and when we finally couldn't handle the cold, we went home so that Grace could help hand out candy.  She did such a great job, and loved it just as much as I did!

 Our friend's son was a Tiger, just like Levi!!  How fun!  It was so cold Grace girl had to wear her coat, but everyone still knew she was a princess, and she never has to even wear a princess dress for that!

And Grace loves playing with Daddy.  Whenever he lays on the ground, he becomes a horse :)  

Amanda