Princess Camp

Someone is very attached to her big brother. I knew she would be sad to be alone while he was off at Cub Scout Camp. When two girls in the ward offered a week-long Disney Dance Camp the same week, I jumped on it. Catherine took some persuading--she has decided that she no longer likes dancing, only gymnastics. Eventually I sold her on the idea of Princess Camp. After the first day, she was all in!

Coloring pictures

All the beautiful princesses at camp.

And yes, she totally went as Galadriel, with no prompting from me.

I really thought we were going to have Elsa #4...

The girls with Lydia and Abi, their teachers.

The camp was supposed to end with a little dance recital, but Catherine didn't want to dance and Jon didn't want to make her (the rest of us were in the van waiting to drive to New York to visit Daniel). So she happily jumped in with her bag of crafts (including some Rapunzel hair made of yellow yarn) and joined us for our trip to see the cousins. A great way to end a fun week for both kids. 

Cub Scout Camp

Seth got to spend another awesome week at Cub Scout Camp with his buddies. I was so glad he got to have Joanna as his den leader again! She's the best (and a trooper for spending five full days in the heat and humidity with a bunch of eight-year-old boys).

I'm also grateful for cell phones and awesome leaders who take lots of pictures for those of us who aren't able to volunteer:

Passing the Hula Hoop

Decorating his dream catcher

Crossing the rope bridge

Making a brick out of ash "like from a volcano"

Peg boards and rubber bands

House of cards

Making a toolbox with Felix

Shooting the BB gun

Pushing the go-cart

Seth's turn to drive

I am so grateful for all the people who put so much effort into this camp.

Seth looks forward to it every summer!

Princesses

It might have terrified me at first, but having little girls is SO MUCH FUN!

We get to decorate their room with all the girly things I always wanted.

Like a canopy to read under and a dollhouse right in the bedroom:

Catherine calls this a "fairy trap"

We also get to play dress up!

Elise gets to be Anna to Catherine's Elsa.

Guess the red hair kinda sealed that deal:

Queen Elsa takes a selfie:

I love the cute clothes and adorable shoes. I love the jewelry and nail polish. I love how Catherine always wants to pick out Elise's clothes (and Aaron's too). All I need is for her to let me do her hair and I would be in little girl heaven!

Four Months

This "I'm so exhausted" look has been standard for both of us lately

Ah, Miss Elise! Four months was kind of a struggle for us. I thought you would let me have a little more sleep as you got older, but you did the reverse! Your naps are getting better (mostly), but you're back to eating every 2-3 hours all night. So. Tired.

This is the closest you get to apologizing for your behavior

But you are still just a sweet, happy girl, so I let you get away with it!

Here's what else you're up to at four months old:

*rolling from back to belly. This is rotten because you still can't sleep without a swaddle. So we put away the swaddle blankets, bought some muslin blankets and are working on breaking the swaddle habit. But you claw your eyes out every time your hands are free, so you still get swaddled.

*not rolling from belly to back. This is the third (?) time you've forgotten.

*drooling, singing, blowing raspberries, shrieking...you're always putting on a show for us. Especially when you make eye contact with us and want to be picked up.

Part of the "pick me up" show

*grabbing. You're generally still pretty amazed when you manage to actually get it to your mouth.

Loving her giraffe lovey from Aunt Lori

*you can get yourself into all kinds of crazy places by rolling and twisting around. No method to your madness yet.

*thinking about sucking your thumb or fingers. I'm rooting for a thumb-sucker, but you seem to always end up poking yourself in the eye while attempting, so it's not happening so far.

*you still won't go to bed until around 9:30 pm.  Naps are getting better. Some of them are 2-3 hours. But I can't count on anything yet.

*you poo-splode out of your diaper almost every morning.

I put you in this adorable outfit Aunt Kenna made for Catherine...

...and you pooped in it.

You apologized profusely to Aunt Kenna:

But I knew it was only a matter of time before you were at it again.

And again:

*somewhere between 3-6 month clothing and 6 month clothing. Finishing off size 2 diapers.

*at your fourth month appointment you were 13 lbs. 12 oz., 12 inches long, with a 16 in. head. So average-sized, but 75% for height.

Too bad there's no percentile calculator for amazing thighs

*still spitting up.

*working on getting you to sleep in your crib. You still prefer your swing and will take long, long naps in it. But you're getting too long for it, so we try to get you to sleep in the crib.

Beautiful Sunshine Princess

Summer outfits are the best.

I might chew on your chubby thighs several times a day.

Father's Day

This was the only picture I took on Father's Day. Jon is reading the fun little book Seth made for him at school, while Catherine waits for him to open the box of fudge she picked out just for him. Our Primary also put together a video of the kids answering various questions about their dads which was so fun to watch (even if Catherine just shrugged and answered, "I don't know" to every question). 

I am so lucky to be married to such a great dad. He loves his kids and makes playing with them and teaching them a priority. The second he comes home he has four little monkeys begging for his attention (yes, even Elise. She wants him to carry her around). Thank you for all you do, Jonny Blood.

We Like To Party

Living so close to APG, we have many friends who are military. Most of them are only here for 3-5 years, which seems like a long time until they start getting ready to leave. We have four families (three military, one job change) leaving this summer. We decided we needed to have a big party to say goodbye. Thankfully our ridiculous backyard was the perfect location to host 170+ people!

Amazingly, we had no serious trampoline injuries and no neighbors throwing fits about the music.

It was awesome to be able to say goodbye in such a fun way!

Second Grade

There should be no school after Memorial Day.

It's all a joke after that.

But we persisted and pretended the kids were actually learning until June 15th.

Gabe & Seth at a field trip to Herr's Potato Chip Factory

Mrs. Morehouse with her class

And then, finally, school was out! 

Seth headed straight for the devices:

Sadly for him, Mom quickly instigated a daily list of chores/learning that had to be completed before devices came out. Life is rough for my kids.

Rita's to celebrate the end of school

Clearly it was too bright for everyone to look at the camera at once.

Thank heaven for summer! I am thoroughly enjoying the break from schedules and homework.

Seth's Class Party

Seth's school always has an end of the year "celebration." They keep calling it a picnic, but there's no food involved, so I don't get it. They basically play games outside, which seems odd since Field Day was just a few days earlier. Clearly I am not in charge of these things.

He was so excited to have me there!

Relay race

Freckle-face selfie

They had a freeze dance game, which Seth took very seriously:

He clearly gets his moves from me.

Mrs. Morehouse's second grade class:

Blue popsicle tongue:

Elise, the "discouraged sibling":

I hate our school's policy of "no siblings allowed." It makes it really hard for people like me, with three little ones at home, to come to all these things. Plus I think it's just plain dumb that siblings can't come to things like Field Day or outdoor class celebrations. And not allowing nursing infants? Ridiculous. Luckily this time siblings weren't forbidden, just "discouraged". So Elise got to come and be carried around by Bente the entire time. Seth was so proud of his baby sister, despite the school's worry that my focus should be entirely on Seth and making him feel special. Guess what? Having his sister there made him feel pretty special!

We Are Special

Special Selfie Princess

Special Family Home Evening lesson with sleeping baby prop

Special Aaron hair--Jon calls this "The Donald"

Another special Aaron hair.

Catherine and I got bows--he insisted he needed one as well.