New Bookshelves

We officially celebrated two years in our new house in April. I figured it's about time to start getting things settled the way we want them. Now that all the crazy painting is done, we could move on to the library! 

This is actually a formal dining room, but we have nice wood floors with lots of little gaps between the planks. I'd rather not be digging food out of those gaps, so we eat all our meals in the kitchen where there's a tile floor. And so the formal dining room became our library. This is what it looked like before we started: a varying assortment of shelves from our townhome:

After pricing out built-ins and custom built shelves, we did the adult thing: went to Ikea! White Billy bookshelves were a great fit:

Also a great fit: three kids in a cupboard:

Thanks to Jon's brilliance in installing a wireless light switch we were able to fit in a full set of shelves along the wall. And thanks to my friend Melissa's brilliance we coughed up extra money for the cupboard doors along the bottom. So glad we did: they look so nice AND cover a multitude of random piles of stuff inside. 

Shelves in, waiting on finished moulding

All done!

I got to take a crash course in mitering and installing crown and foot moulding, but it turned out SO well! Now I just need to fill the shelves with books and decor instead of my kids' Easter baskets...

The Carmel

Yesterday Aaron spied a carnival in the mall parking lot. He was sure he needed to go to the "carmel". I told him it wouldn't open until it was dark and we left. I thought that was the end.

That night at dusk he announced, "Put on the shoes! It time ta get in da van, go carmel!" I've never seen him so excited before.

First thing this morning, "We go mark-a-ball!" (Apparently 'carnival' is a hard one to remember). And so we went and paid way too much money for kiddie rides. And it was magical and Aaron didn't want to leave.

(Special thanks to Jon for taking the time to be a dad tonight instead of finishing prepping his seminary lesson for tomorrow morning at 6 am. I married a good man).

Seth on bumper cars

Catherine (Aaron behind her) on the dragon roller coaster

Aaron rides the cups

Elise steals someone's apple juice

A successful "carmel" for all!

Just Seth

Sometimes we ditch school and play on scooters instead.

Loving on Elise during a warm spring day

Apparently you grabbed these and said, "Hey Camera Lady! Take a picture of me!"

Camera Lady (Sister Pierce) was quite amused. 

Possibly because most of her other pictures of you involve you eating food:

Sethisms:

-"Even though I get mad at you sometimes, you're still a really good mommy."

-"Is the Primary going to sing at halftime during church today?"

I love this getting-too-big, always-hungry, computer-game-nerd boy!

Elise Kitty

This one.

I cannot handle the sass:

Yes, that is your artwork on my brand new library shelf.

Thankfully you generously used a pencil and not the Sharpie you used on the kitchen wall:

Hard to tell, but that is a yellow marker in your hand.

Your favorite things to carry around are writing utensils, 

sharp knives from the dishwasher and glass jars:

I took you shopping and you refused to stay in the cart.

Instead you sat yourself down in this empty box. Because you're a cat:

I came home from babysitting to find this: your first hairdo, courtesy of Kaia:

New method of self-defense: biting:

I don't even yell at you because Aaron usually deserves it.

I tried to pass off  the sound "fff" every time you see a dog as your first word (short for "woof"), but my family rejected it. Official first word? "Dada" (of course). But we are ALL Dada. You know our names and will look at the right person when asked, but I, Seth, Catherine & Aaron are all "Dada". But only the real Dad gets the squeal and the stomp dance when you see him. You adore him. Also, you're going to be in trouble with your pediatrician if you don't pick up some more words soon. You're almost 18 months and still only have one word (not that it stops you from getting what you want!).  Love you, little Sass Cat!

What? What?

Oh, my Aaron. Life has been complicated for you lately. You've gone from being a pretty mellow, easy kid to a frequently angry, whiny kid. Our best guess is that you're frustrated about not being able to communicate as well as you want to. We're trying to figure out how to help, but in the mean time you (and I) spend a lot of time being irritated.

Which is why we're debating about taking you in for a more thorough assessment. Yes, you have speech delays and are getting (a pathetic amount of) help through the school. But you also have other delays in motor skills and comprehension that can't be explained by a speech delay. You've made HUGE progress in putting on and taking off your clothes, but everything is just so hard for you. It makes me sad. 

Then there was potty training. We tried SO hard. You did pretty well as long as I set a timer on my phone. But you never, ever told us independently that you needed to use the bathroom. So I gave up. Until we get to that point, I'm not willing to do several loads of laundry every day. 

You normally LOVE Sunbeams, but we had a rough day one week. Daddy had to come retrieve you because you were throwing a fit. As far as we can tell you were upset because you wanted to draw something and couldn't get it to come out right, nor could you tell your teacher what was wrong. A week or so later Kaia accidentally took you to Nursery instead of Sunbeams. I had no idea until I showed up for Nursery singing time. You were quite pleased with yourself and had no intention of returning to Sunbeams. Thankfully this Sunday you were happy to be back in Sunbeams again. Also, Sis. Grocott is a saint. She loves you and always fills me in about how you're doing in class. She even removed the toy lion from her bag because it scared you. 

New fear: spiderwebs. My best guess is this started when you got stuck in one under the playset. You were too scared to pull your hand away so you just cried until I could get over there and pull your hand away. Now every time we come in the garage door you throw a fit because you don't want to walk up the garage stairs with the spiderwebs underneath. Eventually you take the stairs at a full Aaron run. I guess spiderwebs can't get you if you're going fast enough. Other fears: lions, sharks, and Elise eating your food. 

Your imagination is starting to kick in. There was a week when every day you'd bring your animals to the table and demand that I feed them:

Collecting all the "A for Aarons" from our game

Another haircut. Still haven't figured out how to style your crazy hair.

The hair love still happens, but it's happening less and less.

I think I might actually miss it.

Some Aaronisms:

-Dad & I went on a date one night. When we got home, you announced, "I wanna go on a date. Go to da dance. Wiff Bekah!" Bekah was going to her middle school dance that evening. I think you would have made a great date!

-Catherine: "How do you spell 'party'?"

Aaron: "A-A-R-O-N!"

-You went through a stage where you responded to every question with, "What?" No matter how many times we repeated it: "What? What?" Or if we were really lucky, "Whush?" It sounds precious but it was really, really obnoxious. 

I sure love you, my little Aaron.