(Writing this almost a year late, so I'm just going to write what I remember!)
At three years old:
Donny is still pretty easy going and usually the easiest child. His smile and laugh is infectious. He speaks very well for is age, but his voice is still so little. He has the CUTEST voice!! He is crazy smart and picks up on things very quickly. You can tell that big head of his has some good brains! He still sucks his thumb and says "w's" instead of "l's." It sounds adorable. He is our media kid and if we would let him, he would watch TV nonstop. He is and always has been a very affectionate, snuggly boy. He is sweet and loves his sisters. He plays well with Josie and looks up to her so much. He took a gymnastic class recently and rocked it. It was for 3 and up, but they let him in at 2. He follows directions very well and does great in class settings. His facial expressions when he talks are the most hilarious things ever. He has always been an expressive speaker. Oh, that face. He is still a petite thing, but he is growing! I'm pretty sure he is on his way to being average on the growth charts soon. For now, it's still 18 month to 2T size!
He looks like some sort of puppet or marionette to me in this picture, lol.
Celebrating at our favorite lunchtime restaurant (El Maguey) with daddy.
We decided to give Donny a real birthday party for his third! We invited some friends for a fun, Saturday morning party! Of course, a very special guest showed up. I really think Donny was very confused over whether this was really daddy or the real Bat Commander. He kept saying it was the real Bat Commander, but I could tell there was a shadow of doubt since the "Bat Commander" acted so much like daddy.....hmmmm......
Donny asked for a Spiderman cake (I think?). Just make a blue cake and put a Spiderman mask on it. That's how it's done, right? ; )
Daddy took some real time setting up and decorating. Really, the whole party was daddy's doing. He did almost all the work. Here is the "fire" breathing piñata.
The Bat Commander doing battle with the T Rex.
Dancing in the basement together.
Friends!
Ok, so the weirdest part of the day. Right as the party was getting started, Josie and some kids went out back. We were sitting there watching as one of the squirrels came up onto the deck. Someone warned the kids to stay away from the squirrel since they carry rabies (not true). Right as soon as he said that, the squirrel randomly ran toward Josie and jumped (climbed?) up on her leg. She freaked out and screamed, of course, and the squirrel ran off. (This was a squirrel that we saw everyday. It lived in one of the trees and the kids named it "squirrely." How appropriate.) Anyway, she had a few little scratches from his nails and everyone started freaking me out over it. "Quick! Take her to the ER! She has rabies now!" "Rabies is deadly. You never know!!!" I know I should have googled first. Always google first!!! So out of peer pressure, I took her down to Urgent Care and waited. And waited. And waited. We waited about an hour before I started googling on my phone and asking around the waiting room. Turns out, squirrels don't carry rabies and cannot transmit it. There is no real danger in a squirrel scratch. Just wash with soap to keep away infection. Meanwhile, Kevin kept texting updates and pics and we got to see all the fun stuff we were missing. Finally, I decided this was ridiculous and took Josie home. (She was totally fine and the UC trip was completely unnecessary. Stupid peer pressure!!) By the time we got back, we had missed the whole party. I was soooo bummed!! I missed my son's 3rd birthday party! Josie was devastated. Donny tried to make her feel better by sharing his new toys. The only thing that perked her up was when the Bat Commander came back at bedtime to meet her. She was sooooo confused!! She kept saying, "Wait....is that daddy? Who is that?? Is that really him??" Kevin makes a convincing Bat Commander, apparently! Sad we missed the party, but at least someone took a bunch of pictures and video. I guess it makes a funny story now and Josie loves to retell it!!
This was probably one of the longest, most exhausting years for me as far as mothering goes. Having a baby, a 2 year old and a 3/4 year old was hard. Rori really isn't much easier for me, but the other two are at least old enough to do things on their own now, and it takes some of the load off of me. At 4/5, Josie is pretty helpful and at almost 3, Donny is quite the little helper. But since this post is about Rori, here's a little about our little firecracker:
*She is loud and determined. She definitely cries more heartily and more in general that my other two combined. She is quite particular. I MUST hold her most of the time. She is intense.
*She is smart. All that tagging along on my hip has taught her a lot and allowed her to see everything. As annoying, tiring, and inconvenient as it is, I am happy to do it if that's what she needs. I always feel bad for babies that spend most of their time on the floor, car seats, or crib. How do you learn anything there? I think babies learn best when they are face to face with people and seeing everything you see. Apparently, it's worked cause she is very observant and especially sensitive to peoples emotions.
* She is running, climbing up and down stairs, clapping, singing, giving "eskimo kisses," and lots and lots of snuggles.
*Did I mention she is snuggly? Like, wraps her arms around you and buries her head in your shoulder snuggly. She loves giving and receiving hugs and kisses. (Those irresistible, squishy cheeks!!) Like every second of every day. I love, love snuggling her, but holding her all the time is super exhausting. See point one above : )
*She LOVES her big sister and tolerates her brother. They are both super sweet with her, but Donny is a bit more "hands on" with his love, so she's a bit tentative with him. Every morning, my sweet, sweet Josie takes Rori into her room to play with her so I can sleep in. I am usually still in zombie mode, but I can hear them in there giggling and playing as Josie dresses her up and gives her toys to play with. Is Josie a gem or what?
*Dogs. Rori's favorite thing is dogs. I have never seen her happier than when she sees or touches a dog. Squeals of joy!
* Still has 8 teeth. I've considered that maybe her grumpiness is from molars or incisors possibly coming it. It still remains to be seen.
* drinks independently (messily) from a cup and is starting to use utensils. She can poke eggs with a fork and get them into her mouth.
*favorite foods are frozen blueberries, strawberries, yogurt, peas, fish, nuts (yes, somehow she eats these and doesn't choke. I learned this after she kept sneaking them) cereal, and whatever crumbs she finds around the house. She pretty much only drinks water and breastmilk. Yep, still nursing.
*Still 2 naps during the day. A bit better at night now, but still not sleeping through. She wakes once or twice, but it's short lived. She's in bed at 7ish and sleeps till at least 1 before waking, sometimes not until 3. Then wakes again at 5 or 6 and is up at 7ish. Not bad, really.
*Her eyes are the weirdest color. I don't even know what color they are. I *think* they will be green like mine, but lighter. They might stay bluish. Right now they are a light blue/grey/green.
*in many ways she reminds me of Josie as a baby, but overall, this girl has her own dynamite personality.
A little while back, Kev and I decided it was kind of sad that we were two successful musicians that never did any music together. We made it a goal to try and do something, even if it was just singing songs we like together. I want our kids to grow up around music. It's been kinda fun! Here is a small sampling : )
This one was for our moms for Mother's Day. The part I sing is a primary song. The counter melody, Kevin wrote one morning. While the primary melody refers to our earthly mothers, his melody refers to our Heavenly Mother. I love it! Here are the words.
Oh my Mother
Heaven's matron, I can feel your, presence near
Greater love hath
No one other, Than I know you've, offered here
Was I nurtured
In thy presence
Do the flowers, yield thy virtue
Oh my Mother
All these flowers, remind me of you
Oh my mother
Great provider
There is love in, every flower
I have heard thy
Gentle whisper
Through the grace of, Heaven's power
When I leave this, frail existence
If I've done all, I can do
When my Savior, makes me whole
I'll dwell there with you
-Kevin Packard
P.S. Don't mind Josie in the background : )
This one was just a fun idea Kevin had. The three songs are basically the same chords, so we made a mash-up out of them. This one and the next were recorded at midnight after a long day. Forgive the mistakes : )
One more......just a song we like : )
We are going to try and upload more as we do them. Hope you enjoy! Any requests??
There's so much I should blog about, but I'll at least give a little update on life these days.
We've been doing a lot of work of the house, including a basement overhaul. That deserves a post of it's own, so I'll do that later. We are waiting for some beautiful spring weather to arrive so we can end our winter hibernation. To satisfy my kids social needs and to give me some sanity, I started a babysitting co-op. Me and 4 other moms trade around watching each others kids while we shop, sleep, clean, run errands, do whatever we want! Basically, someone takes one day a week and opens up their house to whoever needs it. So, you have one day of watching a bunch of kids (usually anywhere from 1 or 2 to up to 6) and 4 optional days off. I would usually drop my kids off for a couple hours each day so I could get things done. It was so great!! And free! The kids loved playing with their best friends, too. Now with the warmer weather, it will just turn into park days. The mom who's day it is, will watch the kids at the park while the other moms run to the store or whatever.
Easter happened! Here's the kids' bunny pic. Cute huh?!
They were SO excited to see the bunny this year! They ran up and gave him hugs. Of course, Josie had to tell him all about how she picked out her Easter dress....
I was super excited that the girls are at an age where I can buy matching dresses for them!
The kids played at the mall after. I love this pic, lol!
"I'll catch you, Josie!!" Donny was saying : )
We also dyed eggs, did some easter crafts, and did a killer egg hunt!! Sorry, the video is from my phone.
Now for some individual updates!!!-
Rori: 10 1/2 mos.
*Soooo close to walking! She's just a little nervous to let go. She took her first steps (4 in a row) a few days ago. She can stand unassisted for minutes at a time easily. She just stands there!
*Likes to crawl around while holding things. It looks so funny cause she holds her arm and whatever she has up in the air while she crawls with the other
*says "Mama" and "Dada" very clearly
*Still crappy sleeper. Takes 2 naps that are usually 45 mins.-1 hour long each. Not nearly enough time to get anything done!! Still wakes at least 2-4 times a night. *yawn* At least she goes down early (6 or 7) with the other kids! She's usually up at 6:30ish for the day.
*Is sooo super clingy these days. When she's awake, you can bet I'm either holding her or she's whining at my feet. The other 10% is her crawling around trying to eat anything that's edible off the floor. We lovingly call her "floor sweep."
*She's so super snuggly and sweet. She loves to lay her head on your shoulder and smiles when we say "awwww."
*She still has these beautiful blue eyes. I still think they will probably turn green, but they definitely won't be brown like Josie and Donny!
*Drives me absolutely crazy most of the time cause she never sleeps and is always clingy but I love her so, so much! She is just the cutest little darling, I can't help it!
Donny: age 2 (turns 3 in 3 mos)!
*this kid is so super smart. I don't even know how to describe it, but you can always see the wheels turning in that big head of his.
*has been totally potty trained since about the day after I last posted about him potty training, lol. He was SO easy to train!! He has only had one night accident and never any accidents in public. He is very good at running to the potty on his own. He only seems to have a problem when he's really involved in something and can't get to the bathroom fast enough. Even then, he just leaks a little, doesn't have full accidents. It's so, so nice to only change one diaper! He is super independent about it, too. Most of the time, he will do everything himself. The only time I even know he's gone is when he's having a problem wiping or getting his pants on the right way.
*at the same time, his stutter disappeared over night! It was really that sudden. We just noticed one morning that he wasn't stuttering at all. Every once in a while, he will stutter from being so excited about something. Not anywhere near how he was doing it before. His mouth must have finally caught up with his brain!
*everyone thinks he is at least 3. Seeing him with kids his age is so eye opening. I keep having to remind myself that he's only 2. His speech is really good and he speaks very clearly. It really makes me see how aware 2 year olds really are! I never new they thought all this stuff, lol. On a side note: a friend who watches him occasionally was being really hard on him about something ( a rule at their house). I didn't mind that she had this rule and was sticking to it with him, but I noticed she didn't say anything to the other 2 year olds there who were breaking the same rule. I said something about that and she suddenly remembered that he was only 2 and the same age as the other kids. She was holding him to a higher standard cause she was thinking he was way older than the other kids, one of which shares his birthday. In nursery, the teachers thought he was the oldest, too. (he's somewhere in the middle, I think)
*I talked the gym into letting him into a 3/4 gymnastics class. I hate mommy and me classes, which is the only thing available for 2 year olds. I assured them he would be fine on his own and could listen and follow directions. Honestly, I was slightly nervous that I would eat my words, lol. I was right, though!! He was so great. I think it was partly from being so excited to go to gymnastics like Josie and partly cause I threatened not let him do the class unless he could listen and behave. He knew I meant business : )
*I just love this kid. I want another Donny someday!!
(I'll post some videos of him where he's talking a lot soon. He never seems to talk much when I'm filming!)
Eating Easter candy. Notice the chocolate face : )
Josie: 4 1/2
*Just started a 4/5 gymnastics class and LOVES it. She mopes around for an hour after we leave, complaining that she wants to go back and do the class again. She gets an "A" for effort and focus, but I really hope the class will give her some better coordination and motor skills. She is great in certain areas but needs help in some others.
*We've tentatively decided on what to do for school with her. She misses the deadline for public school kindergarten by a month. We've always planned and hoped to do homeschooling with her. It seems like the perfect opportunity to give it a try since it's sort of a freebee year, anyway. So, we have chosen a homeschool kindergarten curriculum and will start her in the fall, just like her friends. I'm really kind of excited about it! I was going back and forth on what to do and I prayed about it a lot. I don't want to get into my thoughts about public vs. home education right now, but it just feels like the right thing for us. Of course, it helps that I have 2 friends that are each homeschooling their 5 kids. One of them is our neighbor! It helps seeing the amazing kids they have raised and how home education has brought them closer together. (And no, their kids are not weirdoes : ) ) Anyway, we decided on an all-in-one curriculum that's Christian based called My Father's World. We are also going to use the "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" book. I have friends that use and love both. Josie will love it!!
*She's the sweetest little cupcake lately. She is always randomly expressing her love for me, daddy, and her siblings. She also has been sharing the gospel with anyone and everyone. She told a kid the other day that "Heavenly Father is our only hope....." She also informed me that "Heavenly Father does NOT want us to drink root beer." I tried to clarify that one, but she couldn't be persuaded. Good thing we don't buy it : ) She loves her primary lessons and remembers everything that's said.
*She loves having a project or something to work on. She's really not big on movies or tv unless it's the only thing to do. She'd much rather color or do a puzzle or put together an outfit.
*speaking of outfits, she changes them about 10+ times a day. They are always very creative and very hilarious. She has taken to actually making and sewing them, too.
Here she "sewed" a custom dress for her dolly out of an old doily. I was pretty impressed!
She also made a leash for it with a headband and some string, lol.
She made a skirt for herself by cutting up an old blanket.
When it wouldn't stay up right, she rigged up some suspenders!! Pretty clever, I think.
*She is still suuuper girly and still into everything princess. Maybe a little less obsessive about it lately.
*Every morning, she opens her window shade to see if the sun is up yet, comes into our room, and asks permission to go downstairs. I'm not always sure what she does down there while waiting for us to get up, but it's never anything messy or naughty. I think she just plays quietly or does a puzzle. She sometimes gets herself some cereal or an apple.
*speaking of, she eats at least 3 apples a day, everyday.
*she's a major, major social butterfly. She is always looking for new friends and would love to play with her friends all day, everyday.
*tantrums seemed to have peaked right after she turned 4 and have steadily declined since. Very happy about that!
