In January, we hit a milestone in our family. We had our first trip to the emergency room, thanks to our dear fourth child. It turns out that if your 2 year old runs in the tiled entry way of the church and loses her footing, she can hit the corner of the tiled floor runner and split her forehead open. Six stitches, three hours from arrival to departure, and one episode of Dora on the Child Entertainer's Iphone, left us with an appreciation that we haven't had to do it before now, but grateful that we went to a Children's hospital for treatment.
The sweetest part of it all, though, was our little girl, sitting weakly but surprisingly alert in her car seat as we made the frantic 20 minute drive to the hospital. Sometime during that anxious ride, Todd sneezed and she looked at him, her bandage seeped with blood across her forehead, not even crying with pain, to reply, "Bless You Daddy." It brought tears to my eyes.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Happy Birthday Camilla! 3 years old
Talking lots and lots
Driving her mom a little crazy
Running her grandmother ragged
Seeing just how many ways she can look cute to get what she wants, ha ha.
We sure do love having her in our family, though.
Here are some things about her that always make me laugh, in random order:
- She loves blackberries--can't get enough of them.
- She hates naps.
- She can get up before any of the other girls and go to bed later than them--showing no signs of stopping.
- She won't eat donuts or cake--only lick every bit of frosting off that she can and leave the rest.
- She loves books. She will just sit and look at them on her own and doesn't have to have them read to her, though she will often ask.
- She loves Phantom of the Opera music.
- When she loves a song, she just can't sit still. She gets up and starts moving her arms in the air and striking semi-ballet poses and positioning her head "just so" as she "feels" the music. This includes, but is not limited to, during sacrament meeting at church--in the aisle no less, local musical theater presentations, or the movie theater aisle. Below: Cami dancing to the music at Sea World.
- She always has to say good-bye to me in the mornings now before I go to work. If I leave and she wakes up when the door closes (it rarely doesn't wake her up) she gets up and runs out the front door literally crying, WAIT!! WAIT!! I want to say goodbye!
- She loves the "Rock Song" for her choice of bedtime song. The words of the lyrics: "The wise man built his house upon the rock, [repeat], and the rains came tumbling down, [repeat], and the floods came up, the rains came down and the floods came up, [repeat] and the house on the rock stood still."
- She loves to say/do things to make you laugh. It's not unusual for her to say, "Hi Grandma Mommy" and wait for me to say I'm not. . . and then laugh and laugh.
- She remembers where she puts things hours and hours later. I've asked her where things are, and she'll go directly to it without searching. It's not 100% but at least 90% of the time, and it surprises me.
- She really loves baths, not washing her hair so much, but she loves the play time.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Lessons from a Road Trip
- Audio books are amazing. Who needs a TV/DVD player in the car after all? Four Junie B Jones Books, and Mr. Popper's Penguins [the classic story] made 8 hours go by pretty fast.
- Emma learned that she loves drawing comic strips. She wrote "The Fly," "Tree," and "Lunch Ladie." [though she admits that it doesn't actually have to do with a lunch lady after all, just lunch].
- We left for the mall but arrived at the zoo. [Avoid Memorial City Mall on Memorial Day. BAD IDEA. As if you can actually say that you are celebrating the holiday better by hanging out there.] You can barely make out Camilla as she heads into the castle. . .and this still doesn't do justice to the number of kids there.
- My girls LOVE Phantom of the Opera, or as Camilla says, An-toe Oh-pa, that made for another time killer of 2 hours. Camilla was the most frequent requestor of the soundtrack-especially once I realized what she was asking for.
Dreading the Teenage Years
So, my 4 year old is boy crazy. There, I've said it. I'm no longer in denial. And to my friend Melissa whose son Logan is the object of her adoration, well, lets just hope she never becomes a stalker. The girl talks of Logan so frequently. I heard thru the grapevine that they held hands sometimes at preschool. Hmm. Last I heard the preschool didn't have a rule about hand holding. Note to self: consult with the other moms. Sample conversations of the past 6 months:
Kayla: I'm going to marry Logan.
Todd: Why is that?
Kayla: My heart tells me.
Me: What if it doesn't happen?
Kayla: It won't.
***
Emma: Kayla, you get to go to kindergarten in a few months.
Kayla: Me?
Me: some of your other preschool friends will too, but Logan won't be there.
Kayla [with an exasperated tone]: Yes he will, but not Ally [his little sister in preschool too].
Me: Well, he will be in kindergarten but he won't be at your school. He'll be in another school.
Kayla [looking troubled now]: He will? But he goes to our church!
Me: I know, but it works differently with the schools.
Kayla: Oh. But can I still see him at church? [Her excitement for kindergarten visibly dimished.]
***
Upon hearing that we would not be attending our church that Sunday:
Kayla: I want to to go to our church.
Me: Why is that?
Kayla: Because
Me: Really?
Kayla: And it's not because of Logan [I hardly believe that one.]
***
Twirling in her dress while getting ready for church:
Kayla: I look pretty. Logan will think I look pretty too.
Me: Honey, boys don't notice that sort of thing right now.
Kayla: They don't???
***
Random Comments:
- Whenever I hear a pretty song I think about Logan.
- When asked if she had kissed Logan at preschool [after finding out about the hand holding]: No, there are other people there. [Not reassuring-she loves trying to sneak a kiss on my lips instead of cheek when I go to kiss her goodnight. She loves kisses, so you can understand better why we would even ask the question.]
Dreading. Seriously dreading. Really, I'm dreading the tween years.
Kayla: I'm going to marry Logan.
Todd: Why is that?
Kayla: My heart tells me.
Me: What if it doesn't happen?
Kayla: It won't.
***
Emma: Kayla, you get to go to kindergarten in a few months.
Kayla: Me?
Me: some of your other preschool friends will too, but Logan won't be there.
Kayla [with an exasperated tone]: Yes he will, but not Ally [his little sister in preschool too].
Me: Well, he will be in kindergarten but he won't be at your school. He'll be in another school.
Kayla [looking troubled now]: He will? But he goes to our church!
Me: I know, but it works differently with the schools.
Kayla: Oh. But can I still see him at church? [Her excitement for kindergarten visibly dimished.]
***
Upon hearing that we would not be attending our church that Sunday:
Kayla: I want to to go to our church.
Me: Why is that?
Kayla: Because
Me: Really?
Kayla: And it's not because of Logan [I hardly believe that one.]
***
Twirling in her dress while getting ready for church:
Kayla: I look pretty. Logan will think I look pretty too.
Me: Honey, boys don't notice that sort of thing right now.
Kayla: They don't???
***
Random Comments:
- Whenever I hear a pretty song I think about Logan.
- When asked if she had kissed Logan at preschool [after finding out about the hand holding]: No, there are other people there. [Not reassuring-she loves trying to sneak a kiss on my lips instead of cheek when I go to kiss her goodnight. She loves kisses, so you can understand better why we would even ask the question.]
Dreading. Seriously dreading. Really, I'm dreading the tween years.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Daddy Daughter Nerd Night
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Emma: Perfection Personified
We had parent teacher conferences with Emma and Abri's teachers three weeks ago with the end of the first six weeks. Emma has two teachers, one for Math and Science, and one for Language Arts and Social Studies. We met with each of them, and each started with the same thing, "Well, let me tell you all the things Emma has done wrong" but obviously in jest. Both had only compliments to give of her, but her Language Arts teacher's comments particularly touched me. She said something along these lines: "Emma is the most perfect, moral student. She is the best example for all the other kids and she works so hard. I'm so glad to have her." It wasn't just the words, but the tone and deep level of sincerity. It brought tears to my eyes, I've never almost cried at a teacher conference.
Then, this past Sunday, one of my friends at church who is neighbors with Emma's third grade teacher shared part of a conversation she had had with Emma's past teacher about Emma. Kelly, the teacher, said that she's had two perfect students in her teaching experience, two girls who never behaved badly and always did amazingly.
Such high praise, and I certainly think it's deserved. She's amazing. I don't even feel I can take credit for her, she is just that level of pure goodness. Love that girl.
Then, this past Sunday, one of my friends at church who is neighbors with Emma's third grade teacher shared part of a conversation she had had with Emma's past teacher about Emma. Kelly, the teacher, said that she's had two perfect students in her teaching experience, two girls who never behaved badly and always did amazingly.
Such high praise, and I certainly think it's deserved. She's amazing. I don't even feel I can take credit for her, she is just that level of pure goodness. Love that girl.
Answered Prayers
I love when my kids have their own experiences with prayer. Here are a few that have happened lately.
Abrianna:
We had a big storm that came in pretty suddenly a few weeks ago, right around bedtime. It really scared the kids with winds around 45 miles an hr and heavy rains. I tried to reassure them that it'd be okay but they weren't reassured. Then I realized: I had a story they could relate to. I said, "You know, God has power over the weather. In the story of Jonah, God brought the storm to the ship that made them send Jonah into the sea. He can control it, it's ok."
Abri "So, we can pray to ask him to make the storm go away?"
Me: "Yep"
Abri "I'm going to say a prayer that he'll make the storm go away."
Not more than two minutes later the storm calmed.
A couple of weeks ago, Abri and I were talking about her experiences at school. She said she had no friends to play with at recess. I asked her about a few of the kids that she had mentioned before and asked what they were doing at recess. She said they were playing with other kids. I suggested maybe she should ask Heavenly Father to help her have friends at recess the next day. She nodded. The next day at dinner I asked her how recess was. She said, I had a lot of friends to play with. I said, that's great, see, Heavenly Father answered your prayer. She nodded.
It's so nice to know that even when we aren't there to help our kids, Heavenly Father is.
Emma: Her Grandmother was driving her to the church building for Activity Days the other night, but she hasn't been to our building very much. Emma told me that she was worried that they wouldn't get to the church because Grandma kept making turns that weren't the normal route. She said a prayer and in a few minutes they got to the church.
Abrianna:
We had a big storm that came in pretty suddenly a few weeks ago, right around bedtime. It really scared the kids with winds around 45 miles an hr and heavy rains. I tried to reassure them that it'd be okay but they weren't reassured. Then I realized: I had a story they could relate to. I said, "You know, God has power over the weather. In the story of Jonah, God brought the storm to the ship that made them send Jonah into the sea. He can control it, it's ok."
Abri "So, we can pray to ask him to make the storm go away?"
Me: "Yep"
Abri "I'm going to say a prayer that he'll make the storm go away."
Not more than two minutes later the storm calmed.
A couple of weeks ago, Abri and I were talking about her experiences at school. She said she had no friends to play with at recess. I asked her about a few of the kids that she had mentioned before and asked what they were doing at recess. She said they were playing with other kids. I suggested maybe she should ask Heavenly Father to help her have friends at recess the next day. She nodded. The next day at dinner I asked her how recess was. She said, I had a lot of friends to play with. I said, that's great, see, Heavenly Father answered your prayer. She nodded.
It's so nice to know that even when we aren't there to help our kids, Heavenly Father is.
Emma: Her Grandmother was driving her to the church building for Activity Days the other night, but she hasn't been to our building very much. Emma told me that she was worried that they wouldn't get to the church because Grandma kept making turns that weren't the normal route. She said a prayer and in a few minutes they got to the church.
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