Happy Easter

Adrian

Little man is getting so big! I feel like he is growing so fast, but his happy kicking when we hang out in the morning is pretty fun so I got a video for everyone to enjoy. He has a preferred position when he is upset and that is being held by his stomach and bending down to see the ground. I've had him slobber on my hand several times and try to fall asleep in that position which doesn't make sense to me at all. As much as I like him falling asleep cuddling me, I'm working hard to get him to take naps in his own bed because I need him to sleep longer and his naps are way too short right now. I do get my workouts in even if I have to let him come watch me in the middle of it, and I can usually get some chores done during nap times. 

Claire

We call Adrian a caterpillar when he is wrapped in a swaddle for bed and naps so Claire decided to make herself into a caterpillar as well which made Shay also want to be a caterpillar. Then they played butterflies and it was pretty cute. They both loved the Eggstravaganza at the park, we went on time as a family and played on the bouncy houses and got their face painted. Then after a picture with the Easter Bunny, we went home for a break because Chris was going shooting with a friend and the hunt wasn't until way later. We used the excuse of feeding Adrian for the break and I went back with the girls to have fun collecting eggs. We also saw several people we knew from town and even though it was crazy, I think we had a lot of fun.

Shay

She is now signed up for Kindergarten and we went in for a little assessment with one of the teachers at the school which she did great with! She knows all her letters even though some of them don't sound correct because of her lisp. We are still working on some of the sounds she needs to practice and now we have a little booklet to help her with other skills they want her to practice. She has already learned how to skip which is new, and somehow she already knew which way is left and right! I think she is ready in many ways but worry about how she will interact with friends and her teacher. She definitely has fun with arts and crafts like when we colored eggs and decorated cookies. 

Spring Break

 Adrian

I love how awake and cute he is now and it's only going to keep getting better, but he is already getting too big which is only okay if he still wants to be my cuddle buddy. The girls are trying to play with him all the time but he usually just stares at them. He doesn't have a set schedule but at least in the morning, it's getting more predictable on when he will take naps. we have an appointment to see how big he is getting this week. The newborn-size clothes are looking tight so I think he's getting big and I'm not going to be buying any more newborn diapers! We are taking care of his baby's acne and it looks bad to me, but everything I read and hear is that it's not a big deal, we just need to wait longer to take pictures.

Claire

No school this past week because it was Spring Break, but we were pretty boring and only went to the park, and library, and played at home. They helped me decorate for Easter and played with the eggs A LOT, hiding them for each other outside and finding them to practice for when the Easter Bunny comes. They had a problem with keeping the house clean this week and got in trouble for it so some of their toys are now up in a closet until they can prove they can clean up what they have left. Now the majority of their toys are unaccessable and we will see...she thinks I spend a lot of time with Adrian and I tried to focus on playing with them when I could. I don't want them to think I don't have time for them, but it is hard to have time for me, luckily Chris is very helpful and got Adrian to sleep on him a few times.

Shay

She was excited to have so much time with Claire this past week and I'm almost surprised they didn't get sick of each other. They liked to play outside because we had great weather and had the eggs to play with, we also have more sunlight after Daddy gets home from work so there is time to play. They played soccer, drew with chalk, and had to spend a full day picking up rocks from the lawn because they were messy. We are registering her for Kindergarten this week and she keeps thinking she gets to start school soon so it's sad I have to keep telling her that's not the case. But she will get to meet a teacher for her assessment this Thursday and probably see other students she might have class with. I'm going to focus on her pronunciation this week so they will understand her when she talks!

One month

 Adrian

I keep thinking, 'How as it already been one month and how is he only one month old!?' I feel like he has been really goot this past week about taking naps in his bassinet for longer periods of time and likes to chill out just watching the world in his bouncer. He stares at the ceiling a lot and I keep looking to see what is so cool about the pattern on the ceiling, but I haven't found the answer yet...His sisters like to bring his collection of toys next to him and build things and try to get his attention. I like that they want to play with him, but I need them to keep him calm when he gets sick of waiting for me to finish whatever I'm doing. Instead they play with his toys while he expresses his displeasure loudly. We practice tummy time, and are working on a schedule as much as possible that I'm relearning since it's been a while. And I got a picture of us matching in the present from my best friend who has made me matching outfits with each of my other babies!

Claire

She had a music performance at her school this Wednesday that Shay, Adrian, and I got to attend and get pictures of her dancing along to the rest of the 1st graders singing. She didn't know the words that well so she mostly did the actions and some of the chorus parts. It was pretty cute though and Shay even joined her in dancing to the last of her songs and was excited to get to see her sister at school. I gave her a haircut which hasn't happened for a long time. I can't even remember the last time her hair was cut! She really has beautiful thick hair just like me and it looked to pretty and smooth as I was cutting it. We played Hair Salon so she was happy I was doing it instead of insisting we got to a real hair salon, then she set up a Claire's store next door in the living room so Shay could buy jewelry. Shay didn't really need a haircut, but she wanted one to be like her sister so she got one too. 

Shay

On our grocery trip this week, we passed the St. Patricks Day stuff and picked out two cute bows and three earrings for us girls to wear. We matched on Friday for Claire's last day of school before Spring Break, and also today at church which also matched us with a bunch of other people who wore green. We went over to a new friends house for dinner this Friday night and they spent the whole time up in their playroom making a mess and getting excited about finding toys that they also have at home. They even at all the stake that was made for them because they really wanted the chocolate cake I had made for dessert. It was a nice time and we had a lot of fun getting to know new friends, it was good that the kids got along really well and there wasn't anything to destroy while we were there. Luckily my girls aren;t destructive in a breaking things way, just a making a mess way which is starting to drive me mad here at home.

Chris

He is watching me write my blog this week and complaining that he doesn't get a section like the kids do and I said neither do I! His clinic is growing each week and he keeps being so busy, but he loves it and is excited for the growth because it is directly linked to his hard work. He is constantly working on getting new patients and spreading the word. We feel very blessed for him to have found something he enjoys doing and is able to support our life so that I can stay home and take care of our kids. He was excited to go shooting yesterday and got a bruise because he was shooting clay pigeons with his shotgun and his new thrower. He was sad that Claire's music program was during the day because he couldn't come, but I took videos so he could enjoy watching her. He is patiently waiting for Adrian to start liking him because it seems like Chris only gets to hold him at the end of the day when he is fussy all the time. I get to enjoy Adrian when he a happy morning baby! He did take the girls swimming yesterday and had a lot of fun while I put Adrian down for a nap and had a quite house...so weird...We text or talk through marco polo all day, and these are the kinds of pictures I get sometimes!

First travel!

 Adrian

It's almost been a month and we took our first trip across Idaho to visit our family in Blackfoot. It went really well and Adrian slept really well and fed then went back to sleep. It's a perfect amount of distance that we only had to stop once right in the middle which is where we switch driving anyway. He got to meet another Aunt at her baby shower getting ready for their first little girl, he was a hit with everyone. Then he met some friends that we went over to have dinner and let our kids play on Saturday night. Chris had been at a medical conference all day with his mom and brother, but we had planned to visit our friends because they live right in town and it's been a long time since we've seen them. 

Claire

She was a little too excited to see her cousin and play with the Barbies at Grandpa and Grandma's house. We had a morning of playing with cousins and then an evening with our friends, so I asked if the drive was worth it. She said it was long but she likes going, while Shay said it was way too long. They had the phone to distract them for most of the way but the batteries ran out before we made it all the way because they like to play games on it instead of watching shows. It would be nice if we still had a variety of shows...thanks for ruining that Netflix! They had watched a movie while we went to visit her cousin and she wanted to sleep with us because separately it scared her, since the guest bed is too small she slept with her sister instead! How adorable right??

Shay

We have some great days together and she likes me to explain things all the time. She has started asking so many questions while we are driving places and are alone together. I also feel like I have to tell her 'no' a lot of times because she always wants things from the store. She is expressing more jealousy over not getting to go to school since turning 5 and learning she has to wait until after summer. She likes to call me throughout the day on her toy phone to talk and ask for things like snacks and tell me all about things she is doing. She can now say her name so much better than before, she no longer says 'tay' it actually sounds like Shay. I don't know how that mental block suddenly vanished but I'm hoping it transfers to the other words we work on. The picture is one she took when she was using my phone...

Visitors Galore

The Baby!

We had a baby blessing today and the weather tried to ruin it! It snowed enough to make it harder for family to come to town and even though we have a late start church, there was a chance people were going to be late because of the roads. Luckily, it all worked out and everyone was safe and we had everyone who planned to come to attend except my brother and his family who had been here all weekend but needed to leave before church. We hosted a meal after church and it was cool to be able to host so many people even though we needed more chairs for seating. I had bought and painted Adrian a big wooden A and decorated it with dinos so people could sign it for him, the girls both have a letter and now he does too and its so cute! We are very blessed to have wonderful family that came to celebrate Adrian.

The Birthday!

Shay's birthday was Friday so we had some fun times this week making her feel special. During shopping, Nana Cox bought her presents she had to wrap up and wait to play with for a few days. Then on Thursday we went to a nail salon and on Saturday we had a birthday party! I had tried to invite enough people to make it fun for her and we had two families come so with all the kids in those families plus the cousins that were already here we had a good amount of people. Unfortuantely, Daddy missed most of the party because he got stuck in the mud earlier in the day and didn't have help until later...Shay didn't notice because there were friends and presents and cake! It turned out to be a nice time and I now don't feel like a failure at planning brithday parties because my track record is pretty sad.

The Visitors!

This was the first week that Claire expressed not wanting to go to school because we had so much going on here at home. Nana and Grandpa Cox flew in on Tuesday night even though they were supposed to get here earlier...and then my brother's family with cousins they don't get to see very often came too! They also showed up later than planned because of weather so I've declared war on the weather after all it's tried to ruin. It's supposed to be spring now and I see snow on the ground and a weather report with more weather this coming week...I mentioned it before but we also had a lot of Chris's side of the family that came for the blessing and now I'm ready to be boring again! My parents fly back home tomorrow morning and we can be boring again real soon.