Rest of February

Looking at and organizing these pictures reminds me how wonderfully full my life is right now. Any given 2 weeks time period has dozens of fun pictures, many milestones met, and innumerable fun memories.  The end of February was no different. Nothing spectacular happened, but we had a lot of fun :).

This first picture is just Olivia's nap time activity. I found it later and was just awestruck at our similarities. She pulled out everything from a random drawer, took the time to sort tooth stuff from non, and organized it all. She does this regularly with all sorts of toys, books, and less kid-friendly things.

As a result of having so much fun, the days go VERY slowly :). That isn't very often a bad thing, but I am still (and may forever be) a mom adjusting to three kids. On the 19th of February I noted on Facebook that at 9:00 I had changed 4 leaky diapers, changed 1 soaked bed, gotten 3 new kid outfits, completed 2 loads of laundry, made and cleaned up breakfast for 4, fed the baby 3 times, and vacuumed 2 rooms. I remember looking at the clock after I finished feeding Kenzie and doing a double take because it had to be at least noon. Alas, it was 9:05...and time for a cartoon so mom could rest :).

Block hot lava game!

My two lovely girls. O loves to hold Kenzie, and every time she does she expects that I will immediately start taking pictures. She just sits like this, gently shaking (hear GENTLY...) to get her to smile until I snap a few pics.

There are always lots of fun stories at the end of the day to share with whomever will listen. Sometimes - often - there isn't anyone around over the age of 4, so I have to write them down. One morning I was washing dishes and I heard from the other room two words that I will never allow in my house. Olivia yelled 'Go Duck!'. My heart started racing, fingers shaking, and I immediately began an internal debate over what exactly warranted a time out without warning (I usually try to give the kids a chance to correct the behavior before sending them to time out). I walked into the play room ready to get my Mad Mom on and had to physically stop myself when I saw that she was reading 'Duck on a Bike'. This is a family favorite book, but happens to feature the worst animal on the planet. I was relieved and took 3 deep breaths before resuming my work in the kitchen. Go Beavs!

Family reading time :) Makenzie is busy learning about dinosoars.

Right now both our kids are into look and find books. We have a bunch, but all of these toddler ones are too easy for them, especially Olivia. She turns the page and immediately points to each thing. The entire book takes her less than a minute. They are still entertaining for her though!

This picture does not do justice to the size of this book compared to Carter's little arms holding it up. There is no way this is more comfortable than sitting up :).

Here is a cute play-by-play of the best way to get Kenzie to smile. a little washcloth tickle is all it takes :).

My days are full of chasing kids around trying to keep the house clean while still managing to stop and play with them often. Makenzie uses a major chunk of that not-involved-with-the-toddlers time, so a few things have slipped through the cracks. One of these things has been deep cleaning. Our house stays picked up for the most part, but I can't remember the last time I organized the junk corner or dusted. I also haven't been as on top of cleaning vacuuming as I should be. This was demonstrated when I pulled out the vacuum and sitting behind it was a sippy cup full of what used to be milk. It had gone past sour, past chunky, to that horrible separated stage that has a smell so strong it permeates the cup. Needless to say, I took it straight to the outside garbage, not even considering the cost of replacing the cup. By the time I returned I was needed to sort out some sharing issues, then changing diapers and feeding the kids took priority, and the vacuum stayed half in the closet for the rest of the day. Maybe tomorrow I will actually get the floors clean!

Discovering the baby in the mirror is a favorite time for me. I made Alex wait so I could grab the camera before he showed her this fun new toy :). Besides this first day she has been mostly interested in the grown up in the mirror, but she smiles at herself as well :). What a fun girl!

Sometimes you come out of the bathroom and find this...and immediately wish you hadn't even seen it. Carter was SO proud of his invention that helped him make every shot. I was just sure that the whole thing would come tumbling down any minute. We are going to have a broken bone sometime, but luckily it didn't come this day. I let him shoot a few times, then convinced him that just the table would be a better platform :).

Grandma and Grandpa sent the kids some money for Valentine's Day, and they used it to take the whole family to Pojos! Daddy benefitted the most, he loves those arcade games.

Licking the beaters one afternoon...the best part of any baking day for sure.

The last week of February brought my Mom to town, and she brought this great addition to our family dance parties! Just writing this reminds me that we need to pull it out again to get through the heat of summer. Thanks mom!

Olivia's preschool class had a fun field trip to Great Harvest. This was definitely the field trip that I have been most excited for all year. Those treats are yummy :). They learned about the 5 ingredients of bread, and got to go to the back to see all the commercial sized equipment. Those mixers are HUGE!

O and her friend Lilia are so cute together. Preschool has been such a fun time for O, she learns more every day and has made great friends in the process.

The day before Valentine's Day, my phone broke. It could access the internet and send text messages, but couldn't actually make or receive phone calls. It was quite ironic and a glimpse into the world when my phone would do everything possible except be a phone. After a wrong address, a late shipment, and 16 days without a phone, I got my replacement from Verizon via my dad in Oregon. He can't send a package without packing peanuts, so here is the kids opening up this box :).

So I have become the epitome of a lazy mom with Kenzie. She is really into the mirror, but I didn't want to go find the baby mirror yet, so I just propped up my phone with the camera reversed so she could see herself in it. She was totally enamored, and rewarded me with about a dozen of the world's youngest selfies :).

And on February 28th we took all the girls (including my mom, who was still visiting) to the BYU @ BSU gymnastics meet. It was fun to see top 25 quality gymnastics, and we represented with Kenzie wearing OSU gear. It has now been 2 years since I have been able to see OSU gymnastics in person. Hopefully third year's the charm :).

The first week of March included a great trip to Utah! Coming up soon :)