Soccer Season

 Max just finished his first soccer season.  It was a lot of fun.  Mainly because he really wanted to do it, so there was no begging to get dressed and out the door to practice or games.  Although he quickly learned the difference between practice days and game days and was always sorely disappointed when it wasn't game day.  He had just as good of a time doing cartwheels and flips during games as he did scoring goals, he gave everyone some good entertainment.

Bedtime

Bedtime is one of my favorite/most dreaded times.  For obvious reasons, I'm plain tuckered out by 7 o'clock and am literally counting down the seconds for little bodies to hit the hay.  On the other hand, I LOVE freshly bathed little bodies in pajamas and I really enjoy reading to them.  We read lots of easy storybooks.  But lately, Z has been letting me read condensed novels to her and it is a great time! We just finished Anne of Green Gables and then watched the movie together.  Zannah is now determined to change her name to Anne with an E, because it is "much more romantic".  She also really liked Swiss Family Robinson (we had many discussions on how we would survive in a similar situation), The Secret Garden, and The Little Princess.  The latter two had Z convinced it wouldn't be too shabby to be an orphan.  She packed up her things and hit the sidewalk several times during those books.    

Max will fall alseep promptly at 7, if we are done with our routine by then.  This may seem early, but the boy is up at 6:30 and never stops jumping, spinning, rolling, hopping, and cart-wheeling, unless I turn a show on or it is bedtime.   He also is obsessed with dressing up, so usually sleeps with some kind of apparatus on.

Zannah on the other hand doesn't require as much sleep.  She has a really hard time shutting it down. She is in her room at the same time as Max, but doesn't fall asleep till 9:30 or later.  This is her drawing/sewing/creating/imagination time.  The following picture is a common scene, though her creations are never repeated.  She is very busy during that 2 1/2 hours. She also has boycotted her bed for the last few months.

 We have made NO progress in the bed wetting arena. The money bribe didn't do it.  I know I should cut drinks off early, but it just isn't a battle I'm ready to take on yet.  I swear our kids came to us with wills of iron forged in the Mountain of  Mordor.  Max sometimes wets his bed, comes into our room where I help him change and get a fresh pull-up on, and then gets in bed with us and wets our bed in the S-A-M-E night!  Sometimes he is soaking wet and his pull-up is bone dry, sometimes both of their pull-ups are soaking wet having performed their necessary job until morning when the kids pull them off and throw them face down on the carpet, which leads to me scrubbing the carpet and swearing under my breath because washing the sheets and blankets even if it is every other day is easier than carpet scrubbing.  I try not to remember the morning Max was taking his 3 lb pull-up to the garbage swinging it like a nunchuck and somehow the entire thing exploded all over the kitchen floor and walls.  I'm really hoping that last one is funny to me someday.          

Metta Birthday Recap

 We celebrated Metta's birthday with Papa Tom and Grandma Dana first.  Metta immediately touched the flame on the candle and cried.  Oops.  We celebrated in Malad next, in which she really delved into her cake.  Swiss did a photo shoot with Miss Met and it turned out fabulous.  Metta's favorite toys are the stairs and sitting in carseats (unbuckled of course) or any stool/chair.  She loves to get toilet paper and blow her own nose.  She also likes to try to dress herself and undress herself.  One day my dad said to me, "What would you do without Met?"  A wave of gratitude washed over me.  I don't know what I would do.   She is just a perfect little miracle for our family.  

Her Own Way

Met's own way of crawling.  And just for cuteness sake, Max making Met laugh.

ONE

Metta turns one today.  What a fabulous year it has been.  I just love the baby stage, I really do.  It has taken me three times to learn to slow down, not worry/compare milestones, not sweat the sleepless nights, and just enjoy her baby goodness.  (I'm thinking it would take twenty more kids to relax me on the toddler age).  My nursing days ended at 10 1/2 months.  I was sad, but proud my body made it that long.  The first couple months of nursing I didn't know if I was going to make it, but then it was suddenly enjoyable. Mom was right as usual.

Metta is teething like crazy.  I think she has 6 right now with 7 and 8 on their way in.  She scoots on her bum. (I'll post a video, it is something to behold)  She loves to swing.  She is slightly obsessed with sitting on her own chair.  For instance, she can't play the piano from my lap, she has to be sitting next to me on the bench.  On the walk to and from school each morning, she waves and says, "I" to people we pass.  She likes to give fives.  We have always had really great car-riding children and she is no exception.  Thank goodness, because she is such a lightweight, she won't be in a front-facing carseat for some time I'm afraid.  She also really loves the water.  If she hears running water, she scoots as fast as she can to check it out.  Max and Zannah just adore her.  They beat me to her crib each morning and climb right on in with her, Metta tolerates it.  

Happy birthday sweet Metta!

May 2014

In May we took a little family trip to Washington.  Phillip was graduating from Vet School (Hooray!) and Marcus needed to visit a dairy near Seattle so we combined the two.  The kids were stoked to see the beach.  I don't think they were expecting a cold, windy beach, but loved it nonetheless. And Zannah graduated  Kindergarten!  

It's just not right

To start school this early that is.  I do not like the freedom school robs but Z was excited.  Here's to getting into a routine I guess.