Helping Hands

I need to be better at writing down the funny things our kids say. Today I was doing something and I was having some trouble doing it. I can't even remember what it was that I was doing. Anyway, Madeline was watching me and apparently saw that I was struggling and came up and asked me, "mommy, do you need some helping hands?" I though it was super cute.

Madeline had to sit in time-out today. Lucas has become very vocal and he felt he needed to let her know what she did was wrong. He marched over to time out and waved his finger at her and said..."no, no!" We had a hard time not laughing. It was pretty funny.

Jimmy got off work early today so we decided we would spend the evening at Ko'Olina. It's a beautiful beach with lagoons so the water is PERFECT for our kids. It was so nice. Madeline and Lucas were in heaven splashing in the ocean. I am uncomfortably huge so I decided to just sit on the sand and be a spectator. I have to say that my little family brings my heart so much joy. I loved watching their smiling faces and hearing the giggles. Daddy took turns tossing them in the air and splashing them into the water and then they each rode him around like a boat. It was a little piece of heaven. As I sat watching them I couldn't help but be thankful and hopeful that we will always have such wonderful times together. I love my Jimmy, Madeline and Lucas. Life for us really feels pretty perfect.

Baby Boy #2

I have been feeling so bad because I have been so behind on our blog and our little one on the way has not had his time in the spotlight. I am going to make that up to him.

This pregnancy has been so different from the other two. It makes me laugh when I think about the differences in each one. With Madeline if I was tired or sick I would lay down and take a nap or watch a movie...with Lucas there was less time to do those things but I still managed to do them every now and then inbetween taking care of Madeline and with this one...ha ha, let's just say that I find myself frequently going down slippery slides with two children on my lap at 8 months pregnant.

In the very begining of this pregnancy I was super stressed out and concerned that he wouldn't make it this far. I had a lot of bleeding at 4, 5 and 7 weeks. I had to go into the hospital for an ultrasound and despite the bleeding everything looked great and everything still does! I was convinced that we were having another girl. The beginning of this pregnancy felt similar to my pregnancy with Madeline. I was super sick for the first trimester...throwing up everyday and into the second. Midway through the second it started getting better. I was shocked when we went in for the ultrasound and they said we were having a boy. Shocked, but thrilled.

This pregnancy has felt extremely emotional. My poor husband and children! Around the middle of the second trimester I started feeling much better. This baby is sitting really low so I have new pains and discomforts. He is a MOVER! I love to feel him move and I always do! He is a strong little guy and moves all over the place. It's funny to watch my belly because it jumps! Madeline is really excited for him to come. Every now and then she will say she doesn't want a brother and that she does want a sister but when it comes down to it she is so excited. She loves to tickle my belly and says that the baby is laughing. She also likes to put her ear on my belly and tells me that he is talking. Pickes have never tasted so good. I have also craved all kinds of fruits and veggies...and chocolate. Another funny craving is caffeine! It's funny because I very RARELY drink any kind of soda let alone colas etc. I opened the fridge the other day and saw one of Jimmy's Mt. Dews sitting in there and could not restrain myself. I only took a couple of sips but it tasted so good.

We are so excited and are anxiously awaiting his arrival. His due date is November 12th but I will not be surprised if he decides to come early. I must say that I feel so blessed. I feel so thankful for the opportunity to be Madeline's, Lucas's, and this little baby's mother. I know I am far from perfect and despite everything they love me unconditionally and it is the best thing in the world. I also feel so blessed that my children have an amazing father. Jimmy is the best thing in all of our lives...if I do say so myself.

We still haven't decided on a name. So far it is narrowed down to Jude or Jonas....anyone want to cast a vote?

Some belly pics:

23 weeks

32 Weeks

33 Weeks

We can't wait to meet you sweet little boy!

Family Home Evening

I think Family Home Evening is SO important. I also think it can be challenging with young children. I want my children to learn the gospel and understand the things that we are teaching them. I know that they absorb more information than I think but with little wigglers and short attention spans we have come up with a fun solution for our family home evenings. We have been trying to always incorporate a craft that goes along with our lesson and it has been working wonderfully. Madeline remembers the stories because she remembers making something about them. It has been a lot of fun too!

Thank heavens for washable markers and paint!

Noah FHE

Jonah and the whale

Since we started doing crafts we have also done Daniel and the Lions Den and made lion sack puppets.

Madeline & Mommy Preschool

All of Madeline's friends are in preschool this year and she has been begging me to go. I have felt like 3 is too little to start so we are waiting until next year to go somewhere for an "official" preschool so to make it up to her this year we are doing preschool at home. It has been so much fun and she absolutely loves it. It makes me happy to see her love learning so much. She gets so enthusiastic about everything we do.

Right now everyday we do the days of the week, the month, the abc's, we count to 20, we talk about the weather. We do a letter and number of the week. She learns how the letter sounds and how to write both the letter and the number. She already knows her capital letters so we have been working on lowercase and number recognition. We also do a theme each week and with the theme we do snacks, crafts, and "field trips." It has been alot of fun. Mixed into everything we do games that teach her about sequencing and other stuff.

So far we have done D for Duck. This is the craft we made that week...

We went to the botanical gardens and fed the ducks some bread.

Lucas thought the bread was for eating...

We made "dough" Peanut butter playdoh....awesome by the way...eat and play at the same time...

We also did D for Dog and the number 6.

She gets so excited when she does a good job writing.

We dressed up like dogs...

We have done A for apple...

and the number one...

I have been so impressed with how quickly she picked up how to trace and write the letters and numbers. I personally think she is pretty much a genius.

Lucas gets in on the fun too...

We have done other things too..these are just the ones I have pictures of.

One week we did I for insects and we went to the pet store and bought crickets for a little bug aquarium we have and we looked at them with the magnifying glass and played with plastic bugs. It was a fun week. Jimmy and Madeline ended up catching a lizard to go with the crickets. Last week we did Z for zoo, which she absolutely loved. We finished off the week with a trip to the zoo. This week we are doing C for camping...I think s'mores are in order.

Creative Movements Class

We decided to put Madeline in a creative movements class. It's a dance class for 3 year olds. She was SO excited about it. They do a trial class before you sign up and pay...I knew we would need this trial class. Madeline is SUPER shy when it comes to new people and things. Generally it just takes her a little bit to get comfortable but this dance class was a different story. She got all dressed up and was bouncing off the walls with joy that she was going to do dance. When we got to the studio she was super excited to see all of the girls and was still bouncing off the walls. They called them back for class and she went smiling. My hopes were high. A few minutes later the teacher came out asking for Madeline's mommy. I went back and she was in tears. We sat there and watched the class...me thinking that maybe if she saw what they did she would want to participate. No such luck. She turned to me and said, "Mom, I'm just not ready....maybe when I get a little bigger I can do this." Sometimes she sounds so grown up to me. So that was that. Maybe next year! It makes me giggle because I was the SAME way when I was little. My dance teacher, who was my neighbor bribed me with barbie dolls to dance at recitals.

She looked so cute....and really was happy about it...at first...

Big Boy Bed....Sort of....

Lucas did so well sleeping on a bed during our trip to Utah that we decided to change his crib into a toddler bed when we got home. BIG MISTAKE! After one week of him climbing out of bed NUMBEROUS times a night and coming to get mommy...the crib went back up. I was so sleep deprived I couldn't think straight. He is now happily back in his crib for the time being and we are all sleeping much better.

It was FUN while it lasted.

Disneyland (Utah Trip 2011)

We decided to fly out of Los Angeles on our way home so that we could visit Disneyland. Madeline is in a major princess and Mickey Mouse phase so we thought she would really love it and we were right. My mom came a long with us and I wouldn't have wanted to do it any other way. It was perfect to have her there....plus this was her first time too!

We woke up early in the morning and left St. George for Anaheim. We got there early in the afternoon. The kids were AWESOME travelers. Madeline was so excited that we just dropped our bags at the hotel, hopped on the trolley and headed over to Disneyland.

We got there right as the parade started. She was so thrilled to see everything. We took a lot of random pictures but my favorite ones are those that capture her wonder and excitement with everything.

Here she was so excited to see the princesses.

She was so excited she started climbing up on daddy for a better view.

So excited to see the castle and eating their first churro.

Visiting Toon Town.

It's a Small World. Madeline LOVED this ride.

We stayed in the kid area of Disneyland because she was kind of scared of alot of the "bigger" rides. We spent most of our time on the tea cups and the carousel and seeing the different princesses. We did take them on Pirates of the Carribean...Madeline wasn't so sure about it and Lucas fell asleep. ha ha.

My beautiful mom. Madeline was so happy she was there (so were we). She was attached to her almost the entire time and wanted Grandma to do everything with her.

We looked around in the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique and Madeline fell in love with this Snow White dress. We let her try it on and she instantly started twirling with a big old grin on her face.

Hanging out while Daddy and Grandma went on some of the bigger rides.

Madeline's very favorite ride was by far the tea cups.

They got so excited about this little door. Madeline ran up and turned the doorknob and came back sulking because it was "locked."

Lucas didn't mind so much.

She kept going back....she really wanted in.

Madeline was SO EXCITED to see the princesses. We stood in line FOREVER to see them and she was so super shy. It was so funny. She kept rubbing her eyes or covering her face. She LOVED it though and was super happy that she saw them.

She wore her Cinderella dress just for the princesses and her special princess light up shoes.

She picked out some Cinderella "glass slippers."

We headed over to Pixie Hollow to see Tinkerbell. Lucas handled the boredom of standing in line in his own way. Sometimes he is so good at entertaining himself.

Super shy again...but so cute.

Lucas loved the mushrooms and flowers.

and so did Madeline.

Of course we visited the petting zoo. Our kids LOVE animals.

We got tricked into waiting in line for pictures with Mickey....ha ha. We thought the line was short but it kept going and going and going....at least there were things for the kids to climb on while we waited.

Ha, and this is what we ended up with!

We decided to cool off with some ice cream. Madeline thought that was the best idea ever!

Of course we had to catch the parade again. This was one of Madeline's favorite things at Disneyland. She kept asking to see it over and over again. Here she is running to get a better seat.

So excited!

I love all of her happy faces in these pictures.

This is where the princesses came by and she was so excited. She is yelling "Hi Snow White, Hi Ariel, Hi Cinderella!" Cinderella saw her and waved. That made Madeline's day.

We also spent some time over at California Adventure Land. We all loved the Toy Story ride and Jimmy was able to go on the rollercoaster. Madeline also really really liked the Little Mermaid ride. Aw, we loved everything...what's not to like when you are in Disneyland right?

The first day we were there we stayed for the fireworks show but the following two days we went home before they started because the kids were spent.

Madeline LOVES the carousel.

We tried to get Madeline to go on the Dumbo ride from the beginning and she did not want to...until the last day. Jimmy was going to take Lucas and when they got up there she decided she wanted to join them and then she couldn't stop talking about how fun it was.

She did that with a few of the rides...ask her about the "rolly coaster" that she rode on with Daddy and she will tell you it was TOO FAST and SCARY, but she laughs about it...so that's alright...right?

Lucas loved Dumbo!

She wanted to ride on the pink teacup so BAD! She was not happy to be in the yellow one. I think it's funny...she still talks about how she doesn't love the yellow teacups.

Madeline did not want to go on the boat ride where you go through the whale's mouth. She was terrified of it. We finally convinced her to go...

and she covered her eyes and kept her head in daddy's lap...

We had such a wonderful time at Disneyland. Madeline asks if we can go back pretty much everyday. One day she said..."We can get on an airplane and go to Grandma's house and then go to Disneyland again and then come back to Hawaii." If only it were that easy!

My mom took a ton of pictures that I will be adding next.

It was a WONDERFUL trip. We loved being around family and just being together for 3 whole weeks. It was awesome.