Missed Pics

Found some cute Mimi material on my other camera. These are from 9/14/10.



I particularly like this one. Lounging with an expensive camera. Frankly, I'm lucky she didn't spit up on it!



Here is some video footage of Mimi eating. She's getting much more proficient at getting food in her mouth.

Some More September

I'm totally behind again. Doing the 12 days before Kindergarten kind of burned me out, although it's super nice to be caught up every day. So we backtrack a couple weeks...

Miriam 9/10/10: I set her down on her back on the upright play gym, and about 3 minutes later came back to this. She's getting super speedy.



POTD 9/10/10: We braved a restaurant with the whole family. There have been many times that I sat out in the car with Mimi while Brad and the girls ate inside a restaurant. It went really well this time, so perhaps we can enjoy this as a family a bit more often, now!


POTD 9/11/10: Leiden was playing with her penny stash this morning and this is what she came up with. That's a rocket ship, planets, the sun, and I believe a star.

A close up of Saturn. Look at those 3-dimensional rings!

Miriam 9/12/10: Mimi's a sitting pro these days. She does get awfully frustrated, though, and eventually ends up pitching herself backwards to end the monotony.

POTD 9/12/10: I feel like I go through phases with which kid gets the most pictures taken. I have so few of Mac lately--I take more than I show here, but her hair is always in her face, and there's usually something on her face, so they're not always the prettiest pictures. In this one, at least her hair is out of her face, although it is dirty!

Miriam 9/13/10: We started braving the hard floor with Mimi sitting up, and guaranteed she has gone straight backwards a couple times. This particular moment, she's more liable to conk her forehead!

Miriam 9/14/10: She's getting much better at picking things up between forefinger and thumb.

And has figured out how to get it in her mouth! Hooray! I think she's bugged that she can't feed herself as quickly as someone else can feed her, though. When she's being fed, it's pretty much us shoveling the food in. Open mouth, swallow. Open mouth, swallow. Chewing and having to use your own hands slows the works down.

POTD 9/14/10: My own version of Cafe Rio salad. Meh. It was okay, but I just can't get the tomatillo salad dressing to taste right. Which is unfortunate, because it's lovely.

Random and Mimi

POTD 9/9/10: Leiden's first school homework assignment. Super simple, and she was excited to do it. I'm fairly certain that will not last.



Miriam 9/9/10: She ate sweet potato fries with us. She's chewing really well now--or gumming things, so she can eat a bit more varied fare now.



Her pincer grasp is pretty awesome, too. As of this picture, she couldn't get the puff in her mouth after grabbing it unless it was truly right between her thumb and forefinger. If she bailed and just raked it up, she would end up with a closed fist against her mouth and get really frustrated. (She has since figured out how to open her fist to her mouth.) It's astounding how quickly they learn things.



She must wonder why I take so many pictures of her while she's eating, but it's prime photo time as she's stuck in one place upright.

By dinnertime she's always a little bit tired, so this pose was classic. It would appear that she got tired of eating the fry, so just stuck her thumb in her mouth--while still holding the fry.

Mimi is such a big baby. I got some new jammies from Target the other day, 12 month size (she's 7 months), and they were fully too small. I got them on her, but they squeezed her little legs and tummy. So we got the 18 month size. She's 7 months. If she doesn't slow down the growth, she'll be wearing Mac's clothes.

September 11

I let a lot of days pass by that should merit some comment here on the blog--often Christmas, Easter, Conference Weekends, etc. come and go without me writing my thoughts down. Then, when I get back to it with pictures, I'm busy captioning and journaling about the kids, mostly, and it often seems like the moment has passed to write something meaningful. Days like today make me want to express my feelings, yet I often shy away from that--my political knowledge is shaky at best, and my opinions stem from my gut, my knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and what the Spirit whispers to me.

But, I had a few spare minutes, and seeing that the Spirit and the gospel are never lacking, wanted to articulate my feelings. The terrible events of this day 9 years ago are still fresh in our minds and certainly in the minds of those who lived or lost through it. I did not know anyone who lost their life that day, and I don't personally know anyone who survived it at the scene. But, as with most of us, I did learn things that day. And those events have continued to teach me.

In this modern day of 'political correctness' and 'tolerance', I think we forget that there are some things worth fighting for and worth protecting at any cost, and there are some things worth fighting against. That which is virtuous, that which is lovely, that which is of good report, that which is praiseworthy, and I would add that which is true, these are the things worth fighting for. Our families fall into this category. My children have come into a world of extremes--it is the loveliest place, yet the most repulsive, vile, and degenerate things happen here. Somehow we have to teach them to navigate in a world that is much more dangerous than it once was. There are those who would take everything that is good away from them, and smile doing it--expect rewards for doing it. As a mother, I finally understand what it means to love someone more than myself, and motherhood has created within me quite a few feelings of non-tolerance. My memories of September 11, while only experienced on a television screen, are vivid. Do they haunt me? Do they terrify me when I think about having brought three children into a world where things like this happen, and terrorists exist? Absolutely. But. I have a responsibility to be an example of, to teach, and to show my children the things that are right. I love this country. The United States of America is truly a land of opportunity. We enjoy freedoms and indeed luxuries that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. I am SO GRATEFUL for those who translate their love for this country into a willingness to physically fight for the things that are right, and physically fight against the things that are wrong. Their sacrifices on my behalf and on the behalf of my family are wondrous. I love my Heavenly Father, and thank Him all the time for the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. I love my family. They are dear to me.

These are just a couple of things September 11 makes me think about.

First Day of Kindergarten!

POTD 9/8/10: Look at this face. She was so excited. She was ready early, checking off the things she needed to do from her poster. Her running commentary went, "Hair, check. Clothes, check. Teeth, check. Shoes, check. Backpack, check." Not sure where she heard 'check' before, but it was pretty funny. She even went into the bathroom and doused her head with her detangling spray and brushed through her hair. Every picture I took she said, "Bapa will love this picture!" (Bapa is my dad.)



Showing off her bus tag.



Tired of pictures, let's look at a leaf from the ground.



Here she is at school. Do you see the delight on her face?!



Such a little one walking into such a big building.



More smiles as we're walking (hence the blurriness) down the hall to her room.



Stowing the backpack in her locker.



Sitting on the rug by her nametag.



Her bus was upwards of 10 minutes late this afternoon, making me worry, and then she didn't get off the bus when it stopped! She was still doing this when the bus started going again! Luckily, the girl she was sitting by is an older girl she has played with before, and she was also looking at me. I frantically waved that Leiden was supposed to get off, and the bus only went about 6 feet before it stopped again.



And Leiden came bounding out.



First day, check.



Miriam 9/8/10: Mimi came outside to wave Leiden off today as I took her to school. She's sitting pretty well, now, but I think she prefers laying down. She can move when she's laying down. It appears she's starting another cold, now, so we'll have to muddle on through.



I am so proud of Leiden today. I know every child goes to Kindergarten, and this is not a new thing, but she did so well. I was astounded when I loaded up all the pictures from the day and saw how she was just beaming in them. Not for a moment did she appear anxious or nervous, and for that I am so grateful. She didn't bat an eye when it was time for me to leave her in her classroom today, and in fact she looked at me for just a second like she knew that this was going to be a change for me. For just a moment, she was comforting me, letting me know she was going to be fine, and that this adventure was just starting. What a lovely little child.

1 Day Before Kindergarten

The rhyme:



Leiden at the KitchenAid--she used to love to crack the eggs in whatever we were making, but now she balks at it because she doesn't like to have to leave the action afterwards to go wash her hands! For some reason she wanted to show her chewing gum while she was smiling.



The brownie base (It's going to be a pencil...) that we set aside to cool all the way:



Aforementioned brownie base after Mac got her little paws in it. She went to time out for that one. Although surprisingly Leiden did not freak out about it.



The decorating after dinner:

POTD 9/7/10: We'll snarf this baby up tomorrow night! I can't believe she starts Kindergarten tomorrow!

Miriam 9/7/10: And this one. This one had a check up today. She is one big baby. She weighs 20 lbs. 9 oz., which is 97th percentile, and she measures 29 inches long, which is 99th percentile. She is the size of an average 12 month old. When you think about it, that means that 50% of 12 month olds are smaller than my not quite 7 month old. Whew. She is still talking up a storm, making all kinds of noises--it's like the dam burst. Which is good. She can also have yogurt, now, which for some reason I'm totally excited about! Go Meems!

She has taken to scooting over to the bin with all her toys in it, and tipping it over. Then all the toys get spread all over the floor. Awesome fun.

2 Days Before Kindergarten

The rhyme:



Obviously I didn't take any pictures of the event, as that's not what we do. But, Family Home Evening was great tonight, and it really builds the Spirit in your home when you have a meaningful one like tonight. Tomorrow's the last day before kindergarten!


I've been missing Meems' pictures too often lately. Our ward had a picnic today at a beach pavilion on a lake, and Mimi was interested--extremely interested in the bag of chips. I forgot my good camera, so this was taken on a phone, and there are no other pictures to speak of, but at least we got Miriam 9/6/10!

3 Days Before Kindergarten

The rhyme (on a totally crooked picture):



The supplies:



The assembly:



POTD 9/5/10: The finished product. (I meant to take a super cute picture with Leiden, but we had guests coming for dinner, so I didn't have time.)



This was a super cute idea that I got from a blog that has some really great stuff and free downloads to go with their ideas. Love that other people are talented, and I especially love when they share their talent with others for free!

Blah, Blah, Blah

Here it is, folks! Mimi is really a quiet little baby--quiet enough that I've been a little worried about it. We see the doctor next week for a check up and this was on the list of questions to ask about in depth. No babbling at all, barely an 'aaa' cooing sound. Mostly just quiet or crying. Occasional grunting.

I got home from taking Leiden today, and Brad said she'd been babbling. I wasn't sure I believed him until she started doing it just a few minutes later. The video doesn't capture the whole scope, but it gives a glimpse. When she gets going, it sounds a lot like she's saying 'blah blah blah..." Brad and I think that's probably what she hears from us most of the time. "Blah, blah, blah, bottle, blah, blah, bath, blah, blah, blah, thumb."

Seriously, the rest of the day she was talking. I am so relieved I can't believe it. Finally she's babbling!

4 Days Before Kindergarten

The rhyme:



Before...



Getting her hair washed:



The cutting:



The blow-drying:



POTD 9/4/10: The new hairdo!