Fast Poke

Hannah is famous for taking her own sweet time to do things. Sometimes it seems like it takes eternity to get ready to go places or to do things. Tonight was one of those times. It was taking forever to get through Hannah's bedtime routine. Chad told Hannah she was a slow poke to which she replied, "I'm not a slow poke, I'm a fast poke!" What else could we do but laugh?!

Feel good moment

As a parent it's nice every once in a blue moon to have one of those feel good moments when something happens that helps you realize that your children are actually internalizing and learning some of the things you teach them (especially since most of the time you feel like you are talking to a brick wall!) That happened to me yesterday at church. The talks in sacrament were on the theme of favorite New Testment stories. One of the ladies spoke on the story of the Good Samaritan. As she was summarizing and talking about the story Hannah turned to me and said, "Hey mom, that's the story we have talked about!" We have talked about that story from her scriptures, during family home evening, plus we have a living scriptures video about it. It was a feel good moment for me. Maybe there's some hope for me as a parent!

Binky

Spencer loves his binky. I had already weaned Hannah from it by the time she was Spencer's age. He is going to be a bit tougher to break of the habit.
Spencer loves to sleep or lay down with his arms under his tummy. 

Blowing Bubbles

Hannah loves to blow bubbles. Of course she likes it best when she gets to blow them. I thought these were cute action shots.


 

Stake Split

Yesterday we had regional conference. It was a really good meeting even though it was long for the kids. We went an hour early because I knew I couldn't handle the kids in the back in the folding chairs. So we got the soft seats which was good. The meeting extended an extra half hour to take care of stake business. So all in all the kids sat in one place for 3.5 hours. I took Hannah out to go to the bathroom once. They did amazingly well and we were very proud of them. It was long for me too!!! The stake business was to split the stake. We have been anticipating it for quite some time now so it was not unexpected with 20 wards in the stake. It was interesting to be a part of the split. For us the change isn't that big of a deal. We are still in the old stake with the same stake presidency. The big difference is that now we only have 10 wards instead of the 20 wards. The amazing thing to think about is that when Chad and I first moved into our house seven years ago, the ward boundaries encompassed the entire area that just got split from us and is now a stake. That gives you an idea of the growth that has occurred in our little area, most of it in the last 4 years. Crazy!

Spencer

As I look through our pictures I have all kinds of pictures of Hannah posing and smiling for pictures. But Spencer is completely a different story. He does not stop and pose for anything. I just have to get lucky and catch him on the go as he is always in motion it seems. I happened to catch this picture when Deanna and her kids were visiting and we went over to Thanksgiving Point to the Barn yard. He is at a really cute stage right now. He is so observant and notices everything around him. He is really trying to talk and tries to say about anything we ask him. Some words are better than others. He can say "moon" and will say it over and over and over again when he sees it outside. He also notices the airplanes and will say "airplane" as he is pointing up at them. It is fun to watch. He definitely has a lot of energy. 

Hannah and Alia

My sister Deanna came out for a few weeks to visit. It was fun to get to see her and the kids and spend some time with them. One of the best things about the visit was that Hannah and Alia actually got along really great. In the past it wasn't the most pleasant experience to have them together. We had to constantly referee them. This time they quite enjoyed themselves though and playing dress-up together. It was a great relief to us all. Now we just need to work on Spencer and Lawson...What can you expect from a 16 month old and 2 year old?! 

Princess Hannah

Hannah has become quite interested in "Princess" and "dress up" and "dancing" lately. She changes her clothes 10 times a day it seems and is always wanting me to watch her do her ballet (not that she has ever taken any classes). She is also always asking me "Don't I look cute mom?"