Life as of Late

Ezra is the wiggliest, busiest, attention-seeking baby I've ever seen. He literally NEVER holds still and is just so stinking squirmy! He loves eating any foods with his fingers. His favorite place to play is the dishwasher and loves when he gets tickled. I thought he'd be walking by now because he crawled so early but he's pretty content just crawling. He's on the small side, probably because he's so wriggly and burns up the food so quick. The other thing is that he only wants me. HE HANGS ON MY LEGS NONSTOP!!! I can never get things done and when I try to pry him off of me he's like like the strongest little octopus I ever did see.

Cora is doing well in her four therapies: OT, PT, speech, and music. I'm anxious for a long break during summer. I've started doing Mommy School with her just like I did with Kimball and I'm finding a HUGE delay in her writing skills. She holds a pencil just fine but doesn't have any fine motor control in her fingers or wrists. She can't draw a shape or a stick figure or anything that you ask her to. She can't look at a shape and draw the same shape next to it. Tracing is a challenge and is often very jagged or completely off. We're working with her on it and I'm hopeful that she'll get it eventually. Two months ago I started having her sit on the toilet to overcome the fear of the toilet. On Monday we start potty training and I'm completely dreading it and so afraid but it needs to be done - she's going to be 5 years old in November! I know she can do it, she's just so strong willed and stubborn that she refuses to learn. I'm just going to have to force her to show her that she actually CAN do it and that there are no more diapers for her to wear. I'm crossing my fingers that next week is not a complete disaster with it, I want her to be successful and proud of herself for tackling something that's hard for her.

Kimball is just goofy Kimball. After the parent teacher conference and hearing how well he's doing it made me wonder if I'm too hard on him or if I expect too much from him. He just teases Cora relentlessly and whines about insignificant things. I need to remember that he's only six and to let him be a six year old. He really is a great kid and is a HUGE help with Ezra. He's got his Dad's sense of humor; from the dollar that he got from the tooth fairy he went to the dollar store and picked out a whoopie cushion. Then he got a little something for Ezra and Cora because he didn't want them to feel left out. I love that kid.

Lance is still working hard on the business. The barbershop director is taking a leave of absence for the next six months so Lance will be directing the chorus now. He really enjoys his quartet and was recently asked to teach the temple preparation class at church in addition to his other callings.

Lance and I went on a date last weekend to see The Sound of Music on Broadway. It was absolutely fantastic!!! We've started to look at houses again but the market is so hot that the houses are sold before we can look at it or its a multiple offer situation. Needless to say its a bit frustrating. I am just doing the same stuff taking care of the family and the house and I'm quite enjoying it. :)

Mr. Thoughtful

Kimball drew this picture of me at school: Princess Mom

Yesterday when the kids were playing outside Kimball wanted to help me out so he got my gloves and tools and started weeding near the driveway. I love that he wants to help me and takes the initiative to do it. And look at that little baby butt crack!

We had Kimball's quarterly parent teacher conference a few days ago and he's thriving in school. She said he's the student who always wants his good actions to be noticed and tries to set a good example. We had a little bit of an issue with breakfasts, he always eats at home but then I got a bill that we owe the school for lunch money. I thought that was odd because he takes a sack lunch. Turns out he'd been going into the school for breakfasts because "they have really good juices, mom. And it doesn't even cost anything the breakfasts are free!" We had a chat about nothing in life is free and what to do to solves the breakfast issue. He just does it because all of his friends are in there eating and he wants to be with them. Turns out the Breakfast Club is a real thing.

My Big Helper

Yesterday I had to stop at Walmart for goats milk and while we were checking out Cora saw this little old lady behind us and went up to her and said, "I be yo big helper, k?!" Then she started unloading her cart whether the lady wanted help or not. It was so sweet, I hope she always wants to be the big helper when she sees a need.

Grandpa Watson's Funeral

March started out with sad news of Grandpa Watson being admitted to the hospital again, this time with more serious complications of pneumonia and heart failure. His blood pressure was extremely low and he was severely dehydrated. Mom and her siblings went to Boise as this was a more serious nature, to be with Grandma and Grandpa. The next day things weren't getting any better and more organs started shutting down; kidney failure and the need to start dialysis, and respiratory failure. Grandma and Grandpa came to the conclusion that this was the end and he wasn't going to fight anymore. After their kids and spouses all made it to Boise to say goodbye, Grandpa passed away some 30 minutes after stopping medications and oxygen. Before he passed they were able to have one last family prayer and the men gave Grandpa a blessing.

We canceled our trip to Twin Falls for spring break and instead drove down to Boise for the funeral and then spent 5 days in Twin Falls with family. I'm not sure why the drive on this trip was so taxing but it was tough, I think because I was so tired. Grandpa's funeral was lovely and Lance arranged and officiated the services. One thing I learned about Grandpa was that he and his identical twin brother were 10 pounds EACH at birth. I had no idea and can't imagine how Grandma Charlet managed that!

Christine and kids, and Scott and Sydney, and myself were able to stay with mom for a few extra days. It was good to spend time with them! At times we had a full house so I had to give up my room and ended up sleeping on the floor with the kids. One evening we planned a cousin slumber party and while the kids all played, the siblings got together for an adult dinner. It was sooo nice to visit without kids interrupting and the extra noise that they make. Then we went back to mom's house and had an easter egg hunt in the dark with flashlights. It was so fun!!

 

The kids and I spent a few days with the Cox's and even got to see Stephanie's family. I can't wait for summer!

 Haha, Cora's hair was crazy on this day and the wind had nothing to do with it. Such an adorable thing!

Be The Nice Kid

"Some kids are smarter than you, some kids have cooler clothes than you, some kids are better at sports than you. It doesn't matter. You have your thing too. Be the kid who can get along. Be the kid who is generous. Be the kid who is happy for other people. Be the kid who does the right thing. Be the nice kid."
- Unknown

Winter Visit

This week was Valentine's Day and Kimball was so excited to go to school and share his Valentine's, he came home and shared his loot with Cora which was sweet. Lance did singing Valentine's with his quartet like usual so I didn't see him until late that night, but I did make sure to make him a cheesecake to show my love.

Tuesday was also awesome because Mom flew in to visit us for 5 nights. It was SO much fun and SO needed!!! The first day we were without a car so I put mom to work doing a little hemming and patching on some clothes. While she did that I exercised and folded laundry. Her and Cora were inseperable, Cora adores her like nothing I've ever seen before. They did nails together painting and putting little stickers on, it was so cute to watch them.

We did lots of shopping, first at the mall downtown and eating lunch at Tortilla Union, which was super spicy and I'll probably never go there again. The next day we went shopping at the mall close to my house, Mom found a lot of super cute sweaters and epic shoes, she made a good haul!

Friday I kept Kimball home from school so he could spend some time with Grandma as well. We went bowling and ate at Tomato Street. My kids have the best, coolest Grandma ever!

Is There Anything Better Than A Baby In A Bowtie?

Garbage Delight

There's something about this recyclable box that all the kids love, even Ezra. Kimball will dig out any can, bottle, or box and glue them all together making some sort of creation. It actually drives me crazy but he's using his imagination and being creative so how can I say no? It reminds me of when we were kids and got to go to the Store, we'd always go through Dad's office garbage can looking for any junk mail. Christine was the best at it and always got to keep the good stuff.

Brothers

Kimball really is the best big brother! He's my right hand man with Ezra and is a great babysitter. He'll feed Ezra if I ask him to, he'll watch him while I take a shower, he plays with Ezra nonstop, and is Ezra's #1 fan. I don't know what the difference is, maybe because she's a girl, but his relationship with Cora has changed. He teases her nonstop and they always seem to be fighting about one trivial thing or another. It drives me crazy and Kimball is always the instigator. Every time I talk to Lance about it he says, "That's just what brothers do." Which I suppose is right if I think back to my brothers teasing me relentlessly. I guess it's a form of affection. But I'm so grateful for my kids and the unique relationships they have with each other. One of the best parts of parenting is watching them as siblings and seeing how they help each other.

Class Clown

This week's treasure from school is this little stuffed emoji that Kimball's teacher gave him. She said he makes everybody laugh and knowing he's just like his dad in that regard, I'd say she's spot on!

Tuckered Out From Therapy

Artwork

Some of Kimball's drawings crack me up, this one did for sure. What kind of a face is that? I don't know whether it fits into the Nightmare Before Christmas movie or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie.

Student of the Week!

Family Update

December was been the busiest month for Lance, landing a record in call volume both by month (196) and day (15). He also went through a week where it was just him and one other guy so that wasn't very fun for either of us; the kids and I never saw him and he was worked to the bone and so worn out. January has also been a busy month for him but the weather has been fairly nice so that seems to compensate for a lot. No snow to drive through makes his job SO much easier. Yesterday it was 54 degrees, almost spring-like!

I've been staying busy doing the usual mom thing. Not much ever changes with me although I have started to exercise to heal my stomach muscles from pregnancy/surgery and to try to tighten and strengthen up. I'm always shocked how the body changes after having a baby and how much looser and weaker the body is. I'm 4 weeks in and haven't seen much change yet but I'll still work at it.

Kimball LOVES kindergarten. He's loving his short term soccer league and loves being a big brother. He's my right hand man, I rely on his help with Ezra especially in public when Cora needs my attention i.e. sacrament meeting.

Cora has been doing well with all her therapies (PT, OT, speech, music) and especially loves her music class. This week we started having her sit on the toilet for 1 minute a few times a day to hopefully overcome her fear of sitting on the toilet. I'm hoping that after a few months, sitting on the toilet will be a natural thing and we can slowly move on to the next step of potty training. Baby steps with this one, potty training her has been so tricky!

Ezra is a great baby. Pretty mild and go with the flow, much like the other kids were at this age. Although, Ezra is very BUSY! He has to always be moving and going, he never sits still. Ever. Sacrament meeting has been especially challenging!

We've all been sick this last month but we are so anxious for warmer weather, visits with family, and summer vacation!

"Let us review some of these less-conspicuous gifts: the gift of asking; the gift of listening; the gift of hearing and using a still, small voice; the gift of being able to weep; the gift of avoiding contention; the gift of being agreeable; the gift of avoiding vain repetition; the gift of seeking that which is righteous; the gift of not passing judgement; the gift of looking to God for guidance; the gift of being a disciple; the gift of caring for others; the gift of being able to ponder; the gift of offering prayer; the gift of bearing a mighty testimony; and the gift of the holy ghost."
- Elder Ashton, Oct 1987

Sick Days

Sick days are rough, especially when you're so tired that you fall asleep like this.

Project Day

The kids painted a wooden puppy and kitten and I made Cora a hair how holder. It works a lot better than stuffing them into a bag where they all get squished and ruined. She loves it!

Soccer

A few weeks ago we started Kimball in soccer and he LOVES it! It's the first sport that he's ever done and his first team. Luckily, it's just a 6 week program so if he didn't like it I wasn't committing to anything major or anything too expensive. When he kicks the ball he turns to find me and wave, instead of going after the ball. There's nothing more hilarious that watching 5 &6 year olds play a game. He's having a blast with it though!

LOVE this baby!!