One Year

(Feb. 20)

Little Lise-a-Bug,

I blinked and you were one already. Knowing that it would come quickly didn't seem to slow time down at all. We are so blessed to have you in our family, sweet girl.

We are all so grateful for your sweet, happy personality and your easygoing nature. Your siblings all adore you. Even Aaron, who spends most of his time pestering you. He's the first one to say "I go get Lise-a-Bug?" when he hears you waking up. 

You are your daddy's sunshine. You love him best, and it makes him so happy. Once he's home, you're in his arms basically all evening. If he ever has to hand you off to me, it takes quite a bit of persuading and usually some force to get you to release him. 

You love being where your siblings are. If they go down to the basement without you, you'll sit at the top of the stairs and yelp or whine until someone takes you down.

I love you, Tiny Bug. I love your red hair, your blue eyes, your chubby cheeks. I love your tiny toothy grin and the way you cling to us like a little monkey after you wake up. You are a sweetheart and we love you so. Happy birthday, my little one.                Love, Mom

Here's what you're up to at a year old:

*you've mastered the art of crawling up the stairs and can go down if properly positioned. There was one day when I thought you had it figured out all by yourself, but it didn't happen again. 

*you're still not even really close to walking yet. You were doing great practicing your independent standing, but then you got sick and quit. Hoping you'll pick it back up soon.

Feb. 17: Cleaning the church and practicing walking with Seth

*also no first word yet. You seem to maybe know that "Dada" is Dad, and you know what  the light is when we ask you, but you don't say anything besides a vague whisper and possibly a "t" sound. 

*most of the time you're very easy. But if you're tired or hungry or sick, you can be a bit irrational. This particular evening you required a medicine cup, a paint can opener, and the lime juice in order to be pacified:

(Feb. 1)

*weaning you was different from your siblings. Seth was happy to wean after he got milk. Catherine and Aaron weaned themselves early. You were weaning yourself during the day, but still wanted to nurse once or twice a night. I finally decided to force your hand. You went to milk cold turkey, by force. And you suddenly started sleeping at night. Punk. 

(Feb. 9)

*you're at the stage where you like to present us with various objects, then immediately take them back after placing them in our hands.

*you very much enjoy chomping the tops off the markers your siblings leave around:

(Feb. 15)

I finally decided it was time for the crazy little hairs to be trimmed:

(Feb. 19)

The little curl (don't worry, I saved it for her baby book):

*I should clarify: you're a mellow, easy-going kid AS LONG AS you can move around. You don't like being contained. Which is why I'm so glad our pediatrician keeps her supplies right above the table. All kinds of entertainment for wiggly babies

(Feb. 21)

*at your one-year appointment you were 18 lbs. 8 oz., 45 cm head and 30 inches long. Tall, thin, and a surprisingly small head for one of our kids. You did have to get three shots, but this time you got a sucker when it was over. Worth. It.

*shopping with you isn't actually as bad as this picture makes it look. I'm really focusing on the pens in your hand. You always snag the one I use to check off my shopping list, so I have one I give you immediately to preempt this. But now it's not enough. You need ALL the pens:

(Feb. 22)

*with all this lovely weather we've been enjoying, you've developed a great love for the outdoors. You stand at our back door and just gaze outside, hoping someone will let you out. It's a little complicated since you still can't walk, so it has to be warm and dry outside before you can roam free. 

Feb. 24: Loving the playhouse our neighbors passed to us

Feb. 28: Finding your shoes in the shelf. 

Shoes and jackets bring you great excitement: you know you're going outside!

One day I'll get around to taking your one-year-old pictures (you have to get over your runny nose first!). We sure love you, little one. I'm so excited to see what this next year brings for you!

Elise Turns One

I can't believe this little one is already one. Parents always like to say things like "time flies", but really: it does. 

We started off Elise's birthday a day early. I misplaced some of Catherine's birthday presents and finally found them. She opened one gift and was very confused: why did she get a pack of Nerf gun darts? I quickly realized that I had slipped one of Elise's gifts from Grandma Cathy into the mix. Elise was thrilled with her darts:

Feb. 19: Dropping them off the tray...

...and onto the floor for later snacking.

We started off her birthday with some delicious sugary cereal:

She was a big fan of her "Kookies."

Because of her big blue eyes, my dad called Catherine "Luna" or "Luna Bug." So it was only natural that Elise would be "Lady Bug."  We also call her "Lise-a-Bug", so her cake was perfect for her!

Because it was yet another freakishly warm February day, we headed up to Rocks State Park with our friends to celebrate (benefit of having your birthday on a federal holiday--no school or work!).  Elise had no idea what was going on. Which is pretty much a constant state for a baby. But she good-naturedly cooperated for singing and let Aaron blow out her candle, to his everlasting joy (all birthday candles are Aaron's domain, including his friends' birthday candles). 

This picture cracks me up.

This was taken immediately after Aaron blew out the candle:

Elise reaching for the candle.

Brie reaching for Elise.

Seth snatching a ladybug off the cake.

All within two seconds of the end of the singing. 

Family picture.

This is version 2. Seth refused to join for the first one:

Had to be documented:

Jon cutting the cake with a (sanitized) zip tie from Anna's car because some genius forgot a knife. 

Oops. 

Elise enjoyed lounging in Bente's arms while being fed her cake:

It's hard to tell from the picture, but she had put her legs up on the table and was quite content. 

She seems to prefer eating with elevated legs if given the option. 

That evening we opened gifts!

A fitting crown for the birthday girl:

It lasted all of ten seconds.

Which was long enough for Aaron to fill it full of stickers:

That kid...

It turns out that opening presents is lots of fun:

Very interested in the Boogie Board from Grandma Cathy:

Elise doesn't really draw on it yet, but she likes putting the pens into and out of the the bag.

Our boring presents for Elise:

New sippy cups (since Aaron chomped the straws off all our old ones):

She thoroughly enjoyed putting the cups into the bag and pulling them back out.

That's one way to make the presents last longer, I suppose.

Happy first birthday, Itty Bit!

Catherine's Birthday Interview

1. What's your favorite color?
"Pink! Purple. Pink & purple. It's because they're really beautiful and they're girl colors."

2. What is your favorite food?
"Broccoli soup and noodles with eggs. Because they taste REALLY GOOD!"

3. Who is your best friend?
"Gabe. Because when Seth teases me, he says 'stop.'"

4. What's your favorite movie?
(At this point she shows me her sock with Rapunzel on it). "Tangled. It's kind of fun to watch."

5. What's your favorite game to play on the Wii?
"Mario Kart, Mario Party, and the dancing (Just Dance)."

6. What's your favorite toy?
"This stuffed animal (an elephant she got for Valentine's Day from Grandma Cathy). Luna Sara. And there's like this pad that I like to draw on (a Boogie Board, also from Grandma)."

7. What's your favorite game to play?
"Minecraft. Because me & Seth connect."

8. What's your favorite snack?
"Animal crackers and those cookies (Nilla Wafers) and cheese cookies (rice cakes)."

9. What's your favorite animal?
"Cat. Because they're really cute and I think they're cute. Especially baby ones."

10. What do you want to be when you grow up?
"I want to be a teacher. I'm gonna teach...about...about...umm...oh! I'm going to teach about...math."

11. What's your favorite song?
"Under the Sea."

12. What's your favorite Primary song?
"The temple is the house of God (I Love to See the Temple). No, wait! Sunbeam."

13. What's your favorite book?
"My favorite book is Nursery Rhymes."

When asked if she had anything else to add:
"I HAVE TWO LOOSE TOOTHS! And they're growing back in (she meant "lost teeth", not "loose teeth")."

Catherine at Six

Dear Miss Catherine,

I know you're ready to be six, but I'm still struggling with it. I had just barely accepted that you were five! 

You have grown up so much this year. I'm not sure if it's kindergarten or just the age, but you are not a little girl anymore. You are so independent. You always have been, but you need me less and less every day. Bittersweet.

Your teachers at school and church always pass along compliments about your sweetness and your good behavior. You love school, especially "centers." I thought kindergarten would be a hard year, but you are thriving.

Feb. 7: Dressed up as an old lady for the 100th day of school

You still enjoy playing Minecraft with Seth, but you're my only kid so far who willingly gives up the electronics to go create or play independently. You're always making giant messes in the office with paper, tape, glue & markers. 

You are a wonderful big sister. You adore Elise and are always happy to help keep her entertained. There have been mornings where I come up the stairs to find you in her room, keeping her happy until I can get her out of her crib. You love to tell her how much she looks like you and how she'll get all your clothes when she gets "five or six."

Feb. 20

You're still my little helper--you love to be in the kitchen with me. Hopefully helping me is still interesting here in 5-10 years...

You love music. You begged and begged me for piano lessons until I relented. You also love playing Just Dance with me (and you usually crush me, despite my practicing). You'll also come home from school singing little bits of pop songs you've learned from your friends. 

Your reading has really taken off. I love finding you snuggled up with a book! You still need help with unfamiliar words, but you're even reading the Book of Mormon with us in the mornings now. 

You still have Daddy wrapped around your finger. Many nights you'll be "too tired" to walk upstairs to bed, so Dad will carry you like a princess to your room. 

You & Seth are great friends. Probably best friends. Yes, you fight and tease each other, but you love playing together. When I have one of you home sick from school, you get lonely missing the other. 

Not sure if I can entirely blame Seth's influence, but your love of Elsa and Frozen is waning. It makes me a little sad to see that part of your childhood get left behind already. You don't need to rush to grow up, little girl! It will happen too fast as it is. 

We love you, little miss. Thank you for the joy and excitement you bring to our family. Here's to a great six-year-old year!

Love, Mom

Happy Birthday, Catherine!

Feb. 18 

It's a great day to be six!

I may have had to take several...ten...pictures, but I finally got a good smile!

Since our kids are swimming in "things" (toys, books, clothes), we've been trying really hard to give them "activities" as gifts. For her birthday this year, Catherine got to go on a date with her dad to Red Robin. She even dressed up for it!

After the date was over it was time for the birthday outfit from Grandma Cathy:

She loves this thing and now wears it on a regular basis.

Catherine was very specific about what she wanted for her cake this year. White chocolate cake with white chocolate/sour cream ganache, covered in fondant which she would paint:

Aaron also enjoyed painting (and chopping) some fondant:

Then, because we've had a crazy warm winter, we went to a park to celebrate with friends. A park. In February. It was lovely. 

Enjoying being sung to (and please note the awesomeness of the cake, 

since I failed to get a picture of the completed masterpiece):

No idea what the painting was, but the pink blobs are hearts in the shape of shirt, apparently.

Blowing out her candles...

...and then Aaron swoops in to help.

Sadly, the cake ended up being a disappointment for Catherine. She didn't like how it tasted and was not entirely happy with her decorating job. The rest of us thought it was delicious and that the cake was very fitting for a creative little girl

After some fun park playing, we headed home for dinner and gifts. The Oliveras brought Elise a gift, too. She had no idea what to do with it:

Emma & Catherine examining her gifts:

I may have misplaced some of Catherine's gifts from Grandma Cathy. Thankfully they were found by the next morning, meaning Catherine got some extended birthday fun!

Feb. 18: A swimming Moana doll!

This was supposed to be a Christmas gift, but thanks to some extremely slow shipping/packages getting lost and resent, it ended up a birthday gift. One happy little mermaid in the tub! 

She has since requested that I sew the tail together "like real mermaid."

We'll see if it happens...

Happy birthday, Princess Boo!

Valentine's Day

Feb. 14

Valentines' Day began (as it always does) with fun presents from Grandma Cathy. Like this glorious lip suckers. I may have had to threaten Seth to cooperate for this picture:

Grandma also sent Elise an adorable "First Valentine's Day" outfit.

Elise LOVED it:

I always thought redheads weren't supposed to wear pink.

Elise manages to pull it off quite nicely:

Aw, look at my adorable children, sweetly playing together:

Reality? Hitting Elise on the head with a fuzzball:

Aaron shows love in the most big-brotherly of ways.

Blue & Gold

Feb. 10

I freely admit that Scouting is not my favorite. I love the activities, the leaders, and the idea behind it. Hate the expensive shirt/patches/book that they change all the time so you can't save it for the next kid. It feels too much like a money-making scam for my tastes. But until the Church decides to do something different, here we are. 

I was excited for Seth's first Blue & Gold Banquet. I feel like I never have enough time with Seth, so it was nice to have a night just for him. The theme this year was "bugs" and the boys all had to bring cupcakes. I tried really, really hard to find chocolate cockroaches, but all I could find were chocolate-covered cockroaches and I was NOT going there. So we got plastic ones and shoved the cockroaches on top. It was a little too life-like for me. Thankfully I saved some of the delicious lemon cupcakes without cockroaches for myself for later. 

Still gross. 

The Wolf Den did a really fun synchronized swimming skit.

Noah, Seth, Ryan, Thatcher, Jack, Gabe & Greyson:

Seth looks so excited to be there:

The skit was pretty fun to watch. 

Bless their leaders for the patience they must have with all these crazy boys. 

Strutting around with his punch.

Confidence is not something Seth lacks, for better or for worse:

Receiving some award from his leader (I should probably know what it was, but I don't):

Seth earned his Bobcat, which meant I got a pin.

Me and my two crazy boys:

Jon got to have a moment of glory, too. There were a couple of boys there moving from Cubs to Boy Scouts. They had the "bridge" for the boys to cross all set up. Jon was trying to get us out the door when he realized that he was the only Boy Scout leader there. He quickly stepped up and was there to welcome the boys as they "crossed over". Please note Jon's official Scout uniform which we totally have because we like spending lots of money on Scout things. Oh, wait...

Scouting may not be my favorite, but I love seeing Seth have fun with his friends and leaders. I'm grateful that it's been a good experience for Seth and that he enjoys it so much.