Snow Trip

Okay, I'm backing up now, back to early January. I knew that I really really wanted to take the kids to see the snow, and that as soon as we had a Friday when it had snowed in the mountains, we should jump at the chance. (We need to go on a Saturday so that Michael can go and if you miss an opportunity, it can be really hard to get another one.) Anyway, about a week into January we had our chance!

Early Saturday morning we packed up the van and headed northeast towards Heber. Flagstaff is definitely the more popular area for Phoenix people looking for snow, but we'd heard there was great snow in the Payson/Heber area, had never been there, and it's a little closer so we figured we might as well check it out. The whole way, the kids watched movies and were SO excited about playing in the snow. Look how pretty it is there!

The kids were antsy to check out the snow so before we even found a good place to sled, we pulled over and let them get in it. It took about two minutes for the tears to start. They seriously hated it immediately. And they hated it before the cold even got to them. (!?)

Yes, she kind of fell into a deep patch of snow here, but she was definitely crying way before that.

Well, we figured the kids just needed to get away from the fluff and onto a sled, so we packed them back up into the car and found a place to sled soon enough. This turned out to not be any better. They absolutely hated the cold! Once or twice they stopped crying for about a minute, only to have it start up again. It was awful!!! There wasn't much me and Michael could do but just laugh about it. I mean, what in the world!? They didn't like sledding. Or snowballs. Or exploring the snow. Or looking at it. Or stomping in it. Or..... well, you get the picture. They just didn't like any of it. And - it really wasn't even that cold outside! It was seriously perfect playing-in-the-snow weather!

They'd been SO excited about building a snowman, so despite the endless crying Michael built them a snowman. And.... they cried the whole time. Shocking, I know.

Biggest shout out ever to Michael, who spent at least a solid hour trying everything in his power to help them have a good time, including carrying them up the hill and taking them down a small hill on the sled so that they never even touched the snow. They wouldn't budge. They just cried and cried. Joshua, who hadn't slept at all yet, finally fell asleep on me for a brief nap during all the crying. :-)

It was so ridiculous but also just so hilarious. At least it is now, now that a a couple months have passed. ;-)  We ended up finally giving up and going to eat at a Denny's in Payson. The kids thought Denny's was incredibly fun and we finally saw them smile. Hahaha. And then we went home. What a day! If you asked them, the kids would still be happy to tell you about how they do NOT like the snow. Maybe we'll try taking them again, but probably not for a few years. ;-)

Joshy's First Birthday

I was pretty much dreading Joshua's first birthday since the day he was born. His labor and delivery was, in some ways, my nightmare come to life, (ha) but once he was in my arms, he was just a total dream come true.

It wasn't a hard adjustment to have Joshua come to the family. Probably because he was a relatively easy baby, I was more prepared for the newborn days, and we were already in the small-kid trenches. I remember holding him almost constantly in the hospital. We were both happier that way. ;-)

Joshua is such a welcome addition to the family. He is sweet and patient with his older siblings and while he wants to be included, he also gives them a good amount of space. He is laid back and easygoing. He is kind of skinny for his age which cracks me up because the boy can (and does!) EAT! He OFTEN out eats his siblings! His favorite foods are pizza, chocolate, raspberries, strawberries, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Cheerios, (one of the flavored kinds) spaghetti, smoothies, Goldfish, and cookies. He'll eat the super healthy veggies if they're cooked well. (Hello Mr. High Maintenance.)

Joshua sat on his own early but crawled LATE. Since it was my third kid, I did NOT take this for granted. Haha! While I didn't try to stop him from crawling, I definitely appreciated the advantages of having a kid take a long time to learn to crawl. He isn't all that close to walking so I don't think that'll happen for another couple months.

Joshua hasn't ever been an awesome napper, and was actually my slowest to learn to sleep through the night, but he is finally getting better at his sleeping habits. He still wakes up in the night more often than he sleeps through it, but it's usually only for a minute or two. And despite not always being a stellar sleeper, he usually has a happy demeanor despite how tired he often was/is. He is just a happy kid. It really doesn't take much to get a smile from him. And oh man, that smile kills me every single time. He has me more than a little obsessed!

Joshua loves being pushed around on anything. (Bikes, swings, etc.)  He also loves wrestling and gets SO excited when Michael or Matthew wrestles with him. He'll often even initiate it himself. He is tough and doesn't cry much or for long. He likes to color and can't do it without humming to himself. He doesn't talk much other than "mama" or "dada" or "papa" but will sometimes copy other sounds that I make. He really loves books and animals. He will growl at any animal he sees. Even fish. :-) He gets excited easily and you know he's really happy when his whole body starts shaking and his arms start flailing. So funny! He kinda likes the bath, though he prefers to be standing when he's in it. (Agh)

Joshua has his pet peeves too. He despises having his nose wiped and really isn't a fan of diaper changes either. It drives him crazy when I take away a non food item that he's trying to eat. He also really, really hates the sun in his face. You live in the wrong place, Joshua. ;-) He also doesn't really like the park since he's still too small to play on the equipment and mostly just gets annoyed that I don't let him eat rocks. He does love the swings though!

I love this boy so much. I'm so thankful for all the joy he has brought into our lives, even when that joy was at 2 am. ;-) Obviously not every moment is picture perfect, but he sure is a sweet little ball of cuteness and his first year of life was so so fun.

His birthday was simple and sweet. It was on a Friday and by super random luck, Michael got off work a couple hours early. Before he got home me and the kids read to him, played with him, and took him on some swings. 

When Michael got home we opened a couple presents... (Joshua had all the help he could possibly want from Matthew and Kate)

and then went out for an early dinner to get Joshua's favorite - pizza!

And then we went home so we could do the cake thing - my favorite part of first birthdays! He was a little unsure about the cake at first, probably because it was so big and sticky, but once he tried it he enjoyed it immensely. ;-)

Matthew took this one. I'm impressed! :-)

Love you Joshua! Happy Birthday!

Kate Turns 3!

Our Kater-Tot turned 3! The night before her birthday she was SO excited. It was so funny and adorable to hear her talk about how she was going to have a birthday the next day. I took this picture the night before her birthday after she got out of the bath. She could hardly contain her smile.

We decorated her room that night with balloons so she'd have a fun surprise to wake up to, and then I decorated the house a little and made a "Frozen cake" at her request. Luckily I found Frozen candles and that made the decorating pretty easy. :-)

This girl really appreciates decorations. I'll often find her "decorating" things around the house randomly. So she was super excited to wake up and explore her birthday decorations.

We let her open a couple presents before we headed to Matthew's T-ball game.

After the game we gave Joshua a quick nap and then went to Chick-fil-A for lunch. After that we came home and did cake and the rest of the presents.

This girl loves cake!

Family pic! (Minus a sleeping Joshua)

I then took her for a Mommy/Daughter date to As You Wish, which is one of those places where you pick something to paint and then they fire it for you and you pick it up a few days later. We had to wait a while since it was super busy, so we popped into Paradise Bakery next door and got a cookie.

When we finally got in to paint, Kate LOVED choosing the princess to paint and then painting it. The only problem was that she wanted to paint way more than just 1. Haha. Anyway, I think she did a pretty good job for her age.

(showing it off a few days later after I picked it up)

Anyway, we absolutely love this girl. She is a ray of sunshine and has a contagious smile. She is INDEPENDENT. Seriously, Little Miss Independent likes her space and doesn't want all that much attention. Me and Michael laugh all the time about this because it can be hilarious when we try to lay with her when we put her to sleep and she says something like, "Mom? There's the door. Go out of it please." (Michael has been told similar versions of this.) She likes to teach herself things and if there's something she can figure out by herself, she will. She is definitely not the type to ask for help unless she really, truly needs it. She is not super mushy or touchy either. It makes it all the more special when she gives us an unprompted kiss on the cheek or says to me, "Mom? You want to watch me dance???" Why yes! Yes I do!

Kate is a total insomniac. I used to actually worry about it, but she has adjusted to this basically being her life so I have too. Ha! She struggles almost every single night to fall asleep, no matter how exhausted she is. It is not uncommon to hear her in her room a couple hours after her bedtime, singing or talking to herself. She also hasn't napped for over a year. Luckily she will almost always sleep past 7. Yay for sleeping in! :-)

Kate has a great imagination and loves pretend play. She is very good at getting Matthew to play what she wants to play, since she's the less interested party with all the power. :-) She has a major sweet tooth and can hear me open a bag of any sort of candy or cookie from a mile away. She likes to help me make cookies and loves going on donut dates with Michael. She likes to read and has really started to enjoy me reading to her. (She has always liked it, but has recently started loving it as she's gotten better at holding still for a little longer, haha.) Kate is very smart. She started writing letters by herself before I'd even started thinking of teaching her how to write. I'm hoping she'll actually let me teach her some things in the future. ;-) She is a Daddy's Girl and has recently started figuring out how to use her daddy's love for his little girl to her advantage. Haha!

Kate is a total girly girl. She loves all the princesses and knows almost all of their names, even though she hasn't seen a good portion of the movies. She loves to have her nails painted and lipstick put on. She wants to do these things herself, and I have let her on occasion, but most of the time I'm too lame to deal with the mess. :-) She loves dresses, pretty shoes, and has a pretty impressive collection of "jewels." As of right now, she wants to be a hair stylist. She is also brave. While she cries super easily if she gets hurt, or "hurt," (ha) she was super brave on all the bigger rides at Legoland and has very little fear when it comes to trying new things, even if they're scary.

Some more things Kate loves include all forms of sugar, dance class, baths, being pampered, bubbles, blocks, playing at the park, being with friends, her family, stickers, swimming, Pez, coloring, crafts, singing, and "decorating" things. (Especially for holidays.) 

Some things Kate really doesn't like include when someone takes something away from her, getting bossed around, fireworks, criticism, feeling rushed, having to be quiet, and snow.

I love this girl so much. I am so thankful that I have a daughter and that she's everything I dreamed she'd be and more. I love her beautiful and independent spirit and I love watching her grow. She's such an important part of this family and I hope she always knows that.