It's a small world after all...

Life is so full of little things that remind us how small the world really is...

My first friend at BYU was from New Jersey, and then a few months later I got a new roommate and she was from New Jersey; and then, later my companion in the MTC was from New Jersey and last, my Mormon neighbor when we moved here to Charlotte was from New Jersey...all from the same little area.

Mark and my brother-in-law (Jenn's husband) grew up next door to each other, that's not how Mark and I met, but we bonded over Ryan Swapp on our first date;

And...my best friend from highschool (I went to highschool in Maine) has a little brother that lives in my sister Sarah's neighborhood, so when she comes down to visit her brother I get a little best-friend time!

Me and Kim and the kids
The kids were equally excited to see her. There is nothing like blowing off responsibilities while your kids are in pre-school and sitting around gossiping like the old days!

Student of the Week...

Students in Katie's preschool class have been taking turns being student of the week. When it is your turn you pack a bag full of "you" and do a show and tell for the class.

This is what Katie put in her bag...

Lambie I, Eliza, Lambie II and her blanket

We bought this book for her before the twins were born, she loves it, and has it memorized. It has been taped together 3-4 times.

She had about 5 pictures from when she was a baby

She loves Christ, church and singing

Daddy and Mommy married in the temple (and she loves my dress & flowers)

Marcus and Addy

My family

Mark's family

Her closest friends and dance

A little love...

Just in time for Valentine's Day Marcus and Addy have learned the power of saying 'I love you'; they know they can get what they want because it melts my heart. When I ask Marcus who he loves, he yells at the top of his lungs, "I love Mama!!!". I give Addy a hug when she gets in the car from preschool and she says, "Wuv you Mama".

Katie is also being smart with love...last weekend a certain nameless sister, who might have a reason, was looking at wedding dresses with Katie. Katie picked her favorite dress in the magazine, a huge, puffy princessy dress on a girl who happened to be in the arms of a blond boy. My sister said to Katie "maybe that can be you someday" (she meant in the dress) but Katie said, "no, I am not going to marry a boy with long curly blond hair". Mark was very proud of her for being so selective.

Katie's Valentine artwork.
The 'e' on "love" was cut a little in the scan.

This Valentine's Day Marcus celebrated by singing "Happy Valentines Day to You" (to the tune of 'Happy Birthday', if you couldn't get that) to me first and then to Katie and last to Addy. Mark didn't get home in time to earn the song.


Addy and Katie putting Valentines on the door of our neighbors. Shhh!

The good mom...

There are some times where you feel like you are doing it right, that you have it all figured out. Every once in a while you think...I am a good mom. I don't have those moments very often. I am usually more stressed out then I need to be and trying to figure out how to get it all done instead of focusing on how much fun my kids are.

I have noticed that my 'good mom' moments seem to come more often when I am outside with the kids. I grew up in the country, and still love to go there to escape. So, when I am outside, preferably surrounded by trees, I feel like I can breath--and then I can let everything else go.

We had a break in the cold last week and the kids and I hit our favorite place in Charlotte for a little hiking. It is right behind the kid's preschool, and they get so excited when I pick them up and instead of heading home, I keep driving to our hiking spot. We hike, find rocks and throw them in the lake, pick up sticks and hit things and make as much noise as possible.

Throwing rocks in the lake

The big kid beds...

So, since I mentioned it last post I thought I would update you on how it was going with Addy and Marcus sleeping in their big kid beds... We laid the twins' mattresses on the floor next to their cribs. We prepped Addy and Marcus during the day. They were excited about sleeping in their beds--or maybe they just liked jumping on them...

Night One
We did the normal routine and laid them down on their beds with the blankets, a pillow and their stuffed animals. Within a few mins we heard noises and had to to put them back to bed with a strict warning to not get back up. About 20 mins later we hear something out of the ordinary and I go into their room and find both Addy and Marcus on Marcus' bed reading books--in the dark. I lay them back down and threaten all sorts of things if they get back up. About a 1/2 hour later, I sneak in to check on them. Finally! Addy is sound asleep, upside down with her feet on the pillow. Marcus, on the other hand, is laying in his bed clutching every stuffed animal in the room and staring at me with fear in his eyes. The poor little boy was so scared to be out of the comfort zone of his crib. We had mercy on the scared boy and let him sleep in his crib.

Night Two
Addy was excited to sleep in her bed but Marcus didn't want to sleep in his. We said that Marcus could sleep in his crib, and this made Addy uneasy so she changed her mind and wanted to sleep in her crib as well.

Night Three
They both wanted to sleep in their cribs.

Night Four
In case you didn't get it yet, we gave up. Marcus still climbs out of his crib but Addy doesn't, and we are too lazy to force them to sleep on mattresses. Maybe if I ever get unlazy they will be sleeping on beds (and be potty trained)--here's to someday right!

Marcus kissing Addy good night

Mark went to his brother's wedding in Utah two weeks ago. I had really been dreading the weekend alone with the kids--especially because it was was a long week at work for Mark complete with super late nights. He flew out on Thurs and came home on a red-eye Sat night. The kids and I survived the weekend with flying colors (I had to loosen my TV rules and got them movies to watch both nights). We were all so excited to spend Sunday with Mark but it wasn't all we dreamed it would be because he was so tired--duh! I was really dreading Monday and the long afternoons by myself again. But the stars aligned and it snowed and Mark's office was closed Monday and Tuesday (yes, we only had two inches)!!! Of course he had to work from home, but who really works from home? (oh wait, I do!)

But then because of the snow the kids didn't have school Wednesday or Thursday but Mark did have to go into the office, so that turned into another REALLY LONG 3-day week for me. But thank goodness for Martin Luther King because Mark got Monday off as well--and, thank goodness for Preschool because my kids are there!

Ok so not that I am done ranting and raving, and seeing how this blog is really supposed to be my kids baby book I realized I haven't done a real update on the kids lately.
We had some good weather at the end of these snow days

Katie
She is such a good girl. When I dropped the kids off for school yesterday, her teacher was having a panic attack because the other teacher had called in sick last minute and they could not find a sub and there was a new kid in class and he was a little wild. I told her I could stay for the first hour to help out. It was so fun to watch Katie in class. She is good and listens and loves every second of school. Her teacher told me that Katie is so ready for kindergarten next year. We have been working on her reading she is doing so well, she can read short, short stories all by herself. She is still into princesses but she loves her baby dolls more. She is my little helper and cleans her room and unloads the dishwasher for me.

Addy
She wants to be a little princess. Everything should be pink and princessy. It is actually getting a little annoying because she fights with Katie over the pink plate, cup, spoon and fork--she thinks she should have it every time and not take turns. She is my little helper and likes to repeat what I tell Marcus to do--sometimes I will catch her disciplining him. She also helps Marcus take off his shoes when we come in from outside. She likes to tell us when Katie is mean to her; "Katie mean." If we ask Addy "why" she did something, she always says "cause." She always tell me "just a second, Mama." The other day she was sitting quietly on the couch a while after I had sternly disciplined her, Mark asked her what was wrong. She put her head down and stuck out her lower lip as far as she could and said, "Mama mad at me."

Marcus
He is very good at being the baby--my baby. At the beach my little brother Seth started teasing him calling me "my [his]mommy"; Marcus went nuts! And now it has become a common fight in this house about whose mommy I am. Marcus has also started saying things like "where'd MY daddy go?" Marcus started counting a couple months ago and can count to 13 by himself. He refuses to say his own name. If I ask him his name, he laughs and says "No!" I have tried to trick him before while helping him pray, I'll say, "thanks for Addy, Marcus and Katie," Marcus will repeat, "thanks for Addy, me and Katie." Little stinker.

Last Friday morning Katie came running into my room gasping--she scared me--she said, "Marcus and Addy got our of their cribs and came into my room!!!"
Mark and I had a babysitter for Saturday so we had her come early so we could look at bunk-beds. We bought them on the spot and they are being delivered Friday night, we are going to put the twins on mattresses on the floor this weekend, so check back next week for some fun stories about that. Today, I heard Marcus screaming at the top of his lungs when he should have been sleeping. I ran into his room to find his big little body out of his crib and stuck under his crib. He was so scared because he couldn't move. Addy was standing in her crib telling me to "help Marcus, help Marcus, Marcus crying."

I heard Marcus out of this crib yesterday, and this is what I found. Obviously the capes are not working as well as they should be. (Addy fell asleep reading books in her crib)

Christmas pictures

Growing up we always had 'Christmas outfits'; I think Christmas is a great excuse to buy something new to wear. Mark doesn't, but I do it for my kids anyway. They always wear their outfits to church the Sunday closest to Christmas. It didn't really work out this year, since we drove to the beach the Sunday before and got snowed in the Sunday after, but...nonetheless they eventually wore their outfits to church and here they are...

(I think the pictures turned our pretty good given that we took them on our little camera, with a timer. It's all because Mark's little sister Emily edited them.)