Lunch Bunch

This is the second time the gym has had a special lunch day for preschoolers to eat with their friends, enjoy tumbling, have free time in the gym, and end the day with a story. This time I decided to bring a camera. I was pretty busy watching Delaney and my friend Angela's little boy, Brock. They are only 2 months different, and with them both being mobile, they were everywhere!

They had a blast on the toddler mats.

Makenna and Camden enjoyed playing with their friends, but also each other. Makenna knows many girls that go to the gym, but Camden was excited the only boy he knows was there, Josh. A fun day...and they took great naps after it was done!

Happy 1st birthday Delaney!

I can't believe our little baby is really one! This means no more bottle, self-feeding, starting to walk, starting to talk and so much more! It's been such a wonderful year with her (and fast!). She is such a sweet, cuddly, energetic little girl. She makes us laugh ALL the time and we just love having our little Laney.

We had her birthday party at the park and so many family members were able to make it. It was very low-key with a ladybug theme. The kids had a blast playing at the playground and Laney was content to play in the sand. I actually had to drag her away, crying, to go open presents! She was most interested in putting a box of tights in and out of a gift bag. That kept her busy while I opened presents. She got lots of clothes, some toys, a new toy organizer for her room, a suitcase, and money. Great presents!

Then came the cake. She ended up with a rather large first birthday cake due to a screw-up at the bakery...long story. I was not too happy that it was black and red (I asked for white but whatever!). She took one taste and then proceeded to demolish the cake. I have never seen a baby eat so much cake! Of the eight grandkids she was definitely the most interested! Someone said we should call her Laney Cake, not Laney Bug. :)
Look at that cake and look at that girl! Unbelievably enough Christian and I were able to clean her up in the bathroom sink and although her skin was a bit tinted, she looked great! We played for a little while longer and then everyone headed home.
For the remainder of the day, she was quite fussy. I'm not sure if it was being tired or a tummyache, but I suspect a combination of both. It was a happy day!

Camden's gray tooth

A few weeks ago, at Legoland, Camden took a pretty bad fall. He really hurt his mouth and it affected his eating for a few days. After the first few days, all was forgotten. Unfortunately the injury had some lasting effects...his front tooth has turned gray! I noticed a little gray about 2 weeks ago and it has gotten progressively worse. I have researched this on the internet, and it most likely means there is root damage and it will not be able to repair itself. Luckily it's his baby tooth, but still he has a long way until he will lose it. I am sad by this because it affects his beautiful smile. It's now what you notice first when he smiles a big smile and I hate that something has to taint the way he looks for the next 3 years. I admit that when I see little kids with discolored teeth I have always thought it didn't look very pleasant, and now people will think that of my poor little guy.

Yesterday I took the kids to the dentist and he confirmed my fears. We will watch it get grayer (is that even a word) for the next 6 months and then it will either lighten up, or stay dark gray. There's no telling. I did ask about capping it and he said because the root is dead, it would then turn a mustardy yellow. So we are basically left with the option of gray or yellow. The dentist's response was, "He's just all boy!" The funny thing is that he really isn't! He's never been that crazy, daring, race-around-the-house-like-a-superhero kind of boy. It was just an unfortunate accident.

I have no picture because our camera isn't working (I think it must have gotten wet when we went to the snow). I guess I am a bit dramatic and need to just realize this is a minor challenge in life...it could always be worse.

Valentine Snow Day

What an exciting Valentine's Day we had!! We went and visited the snow for the kids' first time! Now for those of you not living in Arizona, this might not seem like a big deal, but here, the kids have all this curiosity with snow. When Makenna started asking random people if they would take her to visit the snow,we figured it was time for a road trip!

Aunt Amy (well, almost Aunt Amy...12 more days till it's official!) and Uncle Ross were generous enough to watch little Delaney. We figured she wouldn't really enjoy the snow that much and it gave us time to focus on the older two. I know Delaney had a much better day being the center of attention anyway!

We left around 8:30 to drive up to Forest Lakes, just north of Payson. We began seeing snow once we hit Payson and the kids kept asking, "Is this the spot we can get out at?" We knew right where we were going though...right where Christian's parents park their fifth wheel.

The snow was SO deep. The kids had a lot of trouble walking in it so we kept following Daddy's footprints. It was very powdery, so unfortunately we couldn't build a snowman, but it was fun to throw snow at each other.

That was definitely Camden's favorite part of the trip. He would find little snowballs already formed and just throw them to watch them break apart. He would have spent the rest of the day doing this if we had let him!

Makenna made snowangels.

She was super excited to bring Alaska (her doll) to the snow. She was home!

At one point Christian decided to shove me into a huge snowbank of what he "thought" was powdery snow, as I flew back it felt like my head hit a huge rock! I was a little disoriented for just a second until I began to investigate what my head hit. Christian thought I was just being a baby until he discovered my head smacked right into an ice block! Solid ice! My head hurt for a little while, but I was pretty lucky considering!

We decided to take a break and eat lunch. We then went sledding at a pretty big hill which the kids weren't too keen on. We then went back where we started and I created a small sledding hill off the large banks of snow on the sides. It was a perfect tiny little hill for the kids to sled by themselves. They loved it!

I thought it was a great Valentines Day! We did miss you though Laney!!!!

Sarcasm at 3 years old

So, I am sitting at the table eating lunch the other day and the kids are getting a little rambunctious, like usual, and I start asking them questions. I am asking Makenna and Camden how to spell random words. Amazingly enough the kids are great at this game, I often wonder if the actually picture the letters like I would or exactly how they do it. Anyway I am off track. I went through a few times and then I asked Camden, "How do you spell tree?" Camden looked at me and said, "Momma, how do YOU spell (and then slowly enunciates the next 3 words and shakes his head with along with them) I don't know?!"

What a stinker! It was his way of being done with our little game...but I am quite worried for our teenage years!

All about ME-kenna

So Makenna got the "All About Me" poster this past week. She was so excited to decorate it and share with her class (remember she loves the limelight). Here is a picture of the poster.


(will post picture soon)
It says:
I am 4 years old.
My favorite color is pink.
My favorite animal is a penguin. (that just changed from a flamingo)
My favorite food is applesauce.
This is what I look like.
My family.

Disneyland is my favorite place.

When I grow up I want to be a teacher.

My favorite thing(s) to do is(are) dance and tumble.

If I had one wish I would wish for a dog. (This is the first time I have heard this...ever. We are not getting a dog anytime soon, so hopefully it's not her newest obsession)



When I picked her up from school she was excited about sharing with the class and I saw her friend Haley all excited to get this poster this week. I'm so glad Makenna is loving school so much!

Ballerina Photoshoot

I wanted to get pictures of Delaney in a red tutu for her first birthday. We are decorating her room in ladybugs, so the colors of the room are red, black and white. I took her to get pictures taken and she didn't smile the whole time! So frustrating! I then decided to take some pictures of my own in our front yard. Unfortunately we do not have a fancy camera, so the pictures just look like snapshots. Someday I'd like to take a photography class like you Courtney! Anyway, here are some of the pictures I took. I think we will try again another day at a studio. Thanks again Angela for the adorable tutu!

Mesa Community College

Kinetic Energy performed at the MCC men's basketball game yesterday and the girls did fantastic! It was such a great place to perform because everyone could sit so close, and the audience was so receptive! Camden and Riley got to meet the mascot, the Thunderbird.



Christian had to sit up pretty high to keep Delaney away from the sidelines (out of bounds was right by the stands and we didn't want to know what would happen if a player dove out of bounds and landed on a little baby), so the video is from up high. You can make Makenna out quite easily though! She was so excited to perform and did awesome! Julia is in there too, on the opposite side though. She did great too!



Thanks to everyone that came!

Is pottying on the potty really the worst thing?

So I mentioned in the previous post that potty training has not been going well for Camden. I should clarify and say it's not going at all. Camden is scared to go for some reason and has no desire to learn. We have tried every incentive we can think of (toys, candy, stickers, movie time, etc) but nothing works. He wants to play football and baseball and knows he has to be trained first...still doesn't want to. Any ideas are welcomed!!! Anyway the other day I was sitting on the couch asking him random questions. "Would you rather eat spaghetti or pizza?" type questions. Then I asked:
Me-"Would you rather fall down and get hurt or go potty on the pottychair?"
Cam-"Fall down and get hurt, but then I might cry."
Me-"So would you rather fall down, get hurt and cry or go potty on the potttchair?"
Cam-"Fall down, get hurt and cry."

What am I going to do with him?!?! Makenna then wanted to answer the question. Obviously she would prefer not to get hurt and go on the pottychair. I hope it clicks with Camden soon. He can read but not potty out of a diaper?

I really feel for parents who have people being rude to them for not having their child potty trained. People are so judgemental and rude. Just because your kid was potty trained at 9 months (by the way yeah right!) doesn't mean every child should be! What does it matter to these parents anyway?

Okay off my soapbox now. I just need ideas to get this kid motivated!

Where is the time going???

I am at work and I just filled out paperwork for Makenna and kindergarten! I cannot believe she is off to school in August! We are putting her in half day because I really think that's all she needs, but the school is over 20 miles away because we want her in the district I teach in.
I also registered Camden in preschool this week. Academically he's been ready for a while...potty training is another story. Much harder for boys than girls for us! He will get it before preschool though...we hope!
To top it all off, Delaney will be one in just a few weeks! It's all happening too fast!!