like bandits

Hope you had a nice Christmas. We made out like princess bandits! Thanks Santa!

Merry Christmas!

What a year 2011 has been! It's been so fun and I've done poorly at recording more, but here's the recap in a nutshell:
Let's begin at the beginning: New Year's found us with a one week old baby daughter! Noelle Anne (Ellie) was born December 22 at 6 lb 15 oz, and came home from the hospital on Christmas Eve. Needless to say, Christmas 2010 for me is a bit of a sleepy blur. We love having this beautiful girl in our family. She is a little Momma's girl and cuddle bug. She knows her name and "no no". She is beginning to learn some sign language to help us communicate. She is famous for her "gimpy" crawl (right foot, left knee) and she loves to climb (my first big-time climber). She climbs up on stools, stairs, and rocking chairs, etc. whenever she is given the chance. She is adored by her sisters (sometimes competitively). She loves rocking and having stories to read her, playing cars with Amanda, dancing with Katie (I love the baby tooshie dance!) and her pink penguin, Penny. Ellie is well-loved and our sweet Christmas baby who is growing up so quickly!The second big event of 2011 came in April. We officially ended our financial relationship with the universities, in the form of Brett's graduation from BYU Law School. It came with great joy, and mild (bordering on hysterical) trepidation, as Brett still remained unemployed. After applying all over the nation, he ended up 2 miles from home working for a small business law firm in downtown Provo! It's a relief to know we can start paying back those student loans with something! He has a lot of independence in setting his own work terms, which is nice. I'm enjoying the lack of homework, but it's been sad to give up the holiday breaks and the flexible hours (that was a two-edged sword). I'm so proud of Brett and all that he's accomplished. I'm also glad that his schooling is over! :)Third big event: Katie entered kindergarten in the fall. She thinks her teacher is grand, and so do her parents. She has already taken another jump toward reading and writing. She loves art and learning new songs. She has a great time making new friends. If she could, I think she'd love to go to school all day, every day! Katie mastered riding a two-wheel bike this year, as well as tying her own shoes. She loves dressing up and dancing, pretending to cook (we all know real cooking isn't as much fun!), and acting out stories with sisters, dolls, animals, etc. I can't believe I have a child in school, but she's great to face new challenges.Fourth big event: Amanda and Ellie took their first family vacation for their first time at Disneyland! We've waited for years to be able to get traveling again and it was a joy to see Amanda experience all that is Disneyland! She loved having many rides that she could go on (a few were still too big) and loved the characters and princesses. We plan to go again next year, and I think Ellie will enjoy it more and more too. (Yes, I know I still need to post the trip!)Amanda enjoyed becoming the big sister this year. She loves to read stories to Ellie every morning, and insists on pushing the stroller when we go out. Amanda loves to put together puzzles, play at the park, dance, sing, play with cars, and tag along her big sister. It's been hard to be left home when Katie goes to school each day, but once we're home she does enjoy being the biggest kid at home with no one to boss her around! Amanda has enjoyed more opportunities to play with friends her age. She is usually very cooperative and sharing with her friends and sisters. What a joy to have our Manda-Panda.

Wendy is one year older, and wiser too. I try each day to prioritize and remember that dirty floors will keep much longer than my babies will. But I still need reminders. I finally made a good contact with a community clinic in Provo (similar to the other clinics I've worked at), and so I've been able to pick up a couple of shifts closer to home. It's sublime to have an 8 minute commute instead of a 58 minute one! I still work about two shifts a month in Salt Lake as well. This year, I finally completed Amanda's birth cross-stitch sampler, and am working to design Ellie's. I still enjoy reading, paper crafts, traveling and more, and just keep trying to find little bits of time along the way to give to my interests.
We feel so blessed as we look back on an eventful year. We have been buoyed up and provided for at every turn. We know these are blessings from our Savior and we rejoice in celebrating his birth and life. We hope you and your family find joy as you also remember the Lord whose birth we celebrate, and whose life saves each of us.

Merry Christmas!

Brett, Wendy, Katie, Amanda and Ellie

Trick or Treat

Ellie loved her first Halloween. She didn't fight her "mane" and she loved Trick or Treating. I stayed home to pass out candy and Brett took the girls around the neighborhood. I expected him to drop off Ellie within an hour but they came home well after dark and Ellie was having a grand old time. She loved watching all the costumes, going to the door with her bucket, and growling like a true lion.
Mandy had a huge story for me about "darf skater" (Darth Vader) who followed them, but then turned and went away. Her eyes were huge as she's telling me this. She repeated the story multiple times over the course of the evening.Katie just kept going and going, dancing the night away. I made them come in and eat some dinner when they finally brought Ellie home, but they wanted to go back out again so Brett took the older two out again and Ellie was asleep within half an hour. It was lots of fun.
Katie had fun at her first school party and she got to be in the costume parade that went around the whole school. Mandy and Ellie came with Brett and me to Salt Lake to see Brett sworn in as a Utah Attorney in Abravanel Hall. They wore their costumes, and while we waited for Brett to sign all the various rolls, everyone gooed and gahed over Ellie and Mandy. So it's official, he signed his soul away on Halloween.

Right in the Middle

I never did a birthday post for Amanda or Katie, so I'm going to play catch up.
Amanda at Three Years Old!
Amanda is probably my most affectionate child. She loves to hold my hand, give hugs and kisses, and will often just spontaneously tell me that she loves me, or that she missed me. She loves to help Ellie and wants to be big enough to hold or carry Ellie (which usually just annoys Ellie as Mandy is holding her back when she tries to get away!)
Amanda is quite emotional, which often translates into much tears as we enter the "trying three's". She still stumbles a lot (which we attribute mostly to her left foot still having some curvature) and every little spill usually takes much love to get past. After a few minutes, she's a real champ to show me her happy face and move on.
Amanda still loves her lamby and it's still the original lamby! We found a replacement and hopefully when the time comes for this lamby to retire, she'll handle it well. Lamby has seen some serious miles and pulled Amanda through many illnesses, tears, long nights, etc. She's been a faithful friend.
Amanda is learning to be independent. She can dress herself, is great at going to the restroom by herself (but in true girl form, often asks me to go with her just for company!), can get on her own shoes, jacket, etc, puts away the clean silverware from the dishwasher, and CAN make her own bed, but hates to. Amanda
loves to pull out homework whenever Katie does. She recognizes all the letters now and is improving on number recognition. 2 and 5 are tricky! She can spell her name at computer class (given multiple choice what the next letter is) but can't quite recite it out yet. She knows our phone number perfectly, and her birthday. She can also tell you her parents names. Amanda loves to sing. She can sing many primary songs that she's learning in nursery, and also has been practicing lately making up her own songs.
Amanda is often found playing make believe with her dolls. If Katie is around, she'll gravitate toward the activity that Katie is doing, but while Katie is at school, I see more clearly some of Amanda's own interests (which are definitely still influenced by her big sister). Amanda carries around a baby, sometimes putting it in the stroller to go shopping, or to the library. She'll simulate story time or church and will pick up her baby and rock/bounce her while she shushes her "It's okay baby." She loves to load up baskets full of blocks or puzzle pieces while she "shops". Sometimes the puzzle pieces or blocks become food, and she'll set an elaborate table, the dishes full of blocks/puzzles. Interesting in that we have a huge play food set, but that's never the food!
Amanda loves to play outside too. She's gotten much more confident riding her new bike (with training wheels). She loves to ride her three-wheeled scooter but tires on it quickly. She loves to swing and can get on the swings independently but can't pump yet. She loves to go on our daily walks to drop off and pick up Katie at kindergarten, and still sometimes gets upset that she can't stay (kindergarten DOES look pretty fun!).
Amanda has beautiful blonde hair that is silky and still has a tiny bit of undercurl. She has a gorgeous, broad smile and light blue eyes. She is so beautiful. She has dropped considerably in appetite and so is losing any of her remaining "baby fat" or roundness she might has still had lingering. Although she can still sniff out the most remote treat, and then hides under the kitchen table or family room table to eat it!
Amanda is usually the first one up in the morning, and often has a hard time staying in bed at night. Katie and Amanda often stay up giggling after bedtime, and Mandy will finally come out and want to go to the bathroom, or wants her music restarted. She gets the sillies and has the sweetest giggle.
For her birthday, we took Amanda up to Heber and rode the Heber Valley Railroad. It was loads of fun, but really hot. We only took the 90 minute ride and I think 60 would have been enough. During the ride, the train made a stop and two "train robbers" demanding the "money box" got on the train. They had handkerchiefs over their faces and play guns. They had all the passengers put their hands up and almost took our seat neighbor as hostage. We laughed and tried to keep it light, but still play along. Amanda was pretty worried about it. Long after the robbers got off and the train departed again, Amanda kept her hands up and asked repeated where the robbers were, if they're gone, etc. She kept a close eye out the window for them.Amanda loves her sisters. If we're getting ready to go and her sister (usually Katie) isn't ready and coming quickly, Amanda is often telling us to wait for Katie, don't leave her! It's funny! She always wants to give her kisses to Ellie at night too and if Ellie goes to bed early without a kiss, Mandy's sad about it.
In Family Home Evening and scripture study, whenever we ask Mandy a question, she says Jesus. If that's not it, her next try is Joseph. She loves to pray and is pretty good at doing it without help. Sometimes that means, however, that she'll start looking around and telling stories in the prayer (like what we did at the park). But I guess that goods too. I'm sure Heavenly Father loves these child-like prayers and appreciates the relationship she has with him.
It's funny to watch how the girls' play has shifted now that Ellie can crawl and follow Katie and Amanda where they play. If they're building trains or lining up cars, Ellie, of course, comes a long to crash and destroy. Mandy will repeatedly tell Ellie (very reasonably) to go play over there, to leave her cars alone, to not crash her train, to here, play with this instead. It's funny because each time, Mandy fully expects Ellie to understand and obey! And she gets so frustrated when Ellie just continues to sit right there and pull things apart! So far she has not taken the frustration to a physical level, which I think is a tribute to her gentle, loving nature (which is sometimes overcome by other three year old tendencies!).
Amanda is often my store helper and I think she's my preferred shopping companion. She's pretty good about staying close and playing some little games with me to stay happy. She's also a good helper to find things, carry things, and make selections. She's getting more outgoing and rarely has profound shyness. She's interacting more with others her age. She talks about playing at church with friends and we've had few play dates. Only occasionally has she had a bad case of the "mines" during these play dates. She's trying so hard to be big and I want her to slow down! I'm sure that's only going to get worse and worse!
I love Amanda dearly! Being in the middle of three girls, I hope she never feels lost in the shuffle because she is so special and unique to me. I think I see a lot of me in her, personality-wise. I love you Amanda!!

The second 9 months

I feel like Ellie is really blooming lately. Her personality is just coming out and it is so much fun! Today, we put her in the jumper chair that hangs from the doorways. She had so much fun jumping! I think she felt so big and more like she could control what was happening to her. She has been playing lots of cause/effect games. She loves to shake her head (like saying no) and wait for you to do it too, so she can do it again. She laughs and thinks that's so fun! She also loves to clap. Anytime we say "Yay!" she will clap for herself. Many times, like tonight in the high chair at dinner, she alternates--head shake, clap, head shake, clap. It's darling! And of course, she waits for you do it with her each time. Today we went to the park and I put her in the baby swing. As soon as I gave her a little push, she just started laughing like it was the funniest thing all year! It was hilarious! Each time she'd go away from me, she'd catch her breath, and as she swung closer to me again, she laugh again so hard! She loves to go down the slide. I hold her with a hand in front and a hand in back, and when she's ready to go, she leans forward and lunges down the slide with a big, adventurous grin! She's so brave and fun! She loves playing in the wood chips. Of course, she still tries to eat them, but once I block her feeding hand once or twice, she's pretty good to just play in them and crawl in them. She's never been bothered by sitting in grass, even bare legged. She is quite the tactile girl. I still can't put anything in her hair because whenever she's sleepy, she fingers her hair to go to sleep. She sometimes will finger mine if I'm rocking her. Now that she's bonded with Penny the Pink Penguin (thanks Uncle Aaron and Aunt Jenny!) she's doing better about sometimes rubbing Penny and resting the hair. She's got the thinnest hair so far of my girls, and I'd hate to see her lose any more of it, even self-inflicted!
I think she bonded with Penny when we were trying to sleep train her to sleep through the night and go to sleep on her own. Less than a month ago, I finally got her to sleep through the night. I had tried before but I couldn't take listening to her and finally went in to her. This time, she'd wake up at 1 or 2 am every day. I let her cry (I could see her but she couldn't see me). She would cry until 6 am. Every day! For four days! I finally went in to her at 6 because I figured it was getting light by then and I couldn't take her sad crying anymore! So I went in and got her out and changed and fed her, etc. So, on the fifth day, I woke up at 2. Ellie did not! Ellie woke up at 6 am from then on! Awesome! It's an early start, but I'll take it over 2 every day! I have gradually got her to now sleep until about 7 am, which is even better! It was harder to get her to sleep through the night than with her sisters. So, Katie slept through at 5 months, Amanda at 7 months, and now Ellie at 9 months. I hate to think what that pattern might predict!
Ellie is mastering her "gimp crawl". She still does the right foot, left knee crawl and she's getting faster. She loves to crawl into tight spaces-under the kitchen table, between close furniture, into a diaper box, under the desk, etc. It's hilarious how she can try to squeeze in anywhere. She's caught herself high centered on a chair rung too. Very funny to me, but quite distressing to her!
She's pulling herself up onto furniture, and also learned to roll over from her back to her front this week. She usually pulls herself up on something, and then gets stuck. She gets her legs too far forward so she's really leaning back, or she just hasn't learned how to squat back down. She'll pull herself up on the coffee table, or leapfrog table, or dishwasher door, and love to play for a few minutes and then realizes she can't get herself down so she starts to squak.Ellie has enjoyed exploring my face a lot lately too. I get lots of fingers in my eyes, pulling my eyelids, pulling my earrings, in my nose, in my mouth, grabbing my teeth, trying for my tongue. I love watching her face when she sees my tongue move! And then she'll looks at my eyes and smile like "That's a pretty cool trick you do, Mom!" She's still a momma's girl, which I love! Now that she's sleeping through the night, I love the sleep I get, but I miss rocking her more. I'm trying not to get her hooked on being rocked to sleep, but it's hard to put her down when she's so drowsy and snuggly! I just love my Ellie-Bellie. These second nine months have gone so much faster than the pregnant ones! She's growing so fast, she's my little butter ball girl. I love to see her reach for me or snuggle me or say "MaMa" when I enter the room!
She's got one sweet little tooth, but her poor bottom gums are so lumpy that it looks like she's got two more almost popping through! She loves trying to feed herself. She loves bananas, peaches (from our own tree!), pears, crackers, and BREAD! We still get the "num, num" sound effects from her too! So cute. She still likes her mush too. It's funny, if I try to feed her just straight solid foods, not puree but cut up, she doesn't seem satisfied until I give her a little rice or oatmeal mush at the end. We're still working on the sippy cup. She'll take it for a few drinks, but it's almost like it hurts her teeth or gums.She's practicing her little sister skills. She follows around her sisters and tears apart their toys--pulls apart train tracks, scatters lines of cars, crashes block towers, pulls down tents, rearranges the kitchen and wakes up napping baby dolls! I laugh. Katie and Mandy don't!
I've started playing animal noises with her. We pull out the little people animals and make monkey and jaguar sounds. She does her little growl thing in return. We'll work on it! She's such a cutie and I love her with my all!

One giant step

in the process. Not quite the final one--that is to come on Halloween (swearing in before a judge, and then legally can work as an attorney) . But, Brett passed the Utah State Bar exam! Yippee! (We pretty much knew he would, but still, the confirmation is great!)
More updates to come (hopefully) in the very near future. Things like-Ellie is 9 months old and crawling, has one tooth, and still doesn't consistently sleep through the night. Katie started Kindergarten and LOVES it. She would probably go all day, every day if she could. Today they chased the gingerbread man all over school, finally caught him, and ate him. She is already showing greater focus and fine motor skills. Amanda is DYING to also start school, so we joined a computer preschool. She learns reading fundamentals, to spell her name, familiarity with numbers, and some basic science (like the five senses). I. . . . am going crazy keeping up with it all, longing for a vacation (or at least a vacation from laundry and dirty floors!) and happy to have an employed husband and sound children. Life is good. Good night.

Is it finally starting to sink in?

We had a 5 year old epiphany tonight. And it felt great! Family scripture study each evening is often circus-like. We sometimes struggle to read 3 verses before the animals (small children) go crazy. It often feels like no one is listening (including me when I have the crying infant in my lap). But tonight while we were reading in Alma chapter 7, I felt like maybe, just maybe, something from the hours spent reading the scriptures together, might have sunk in. Dad read a few verses (about 10-16) and Katie read verse 12. We talked about the need to be baptized to be born again and live with Heavenly Father and Jesus (v 14). Katie asked, "Well, what about Charlotte, Mom's sister? She wasn't baptized. What will happen to her?" I think I almost started to cry, and Brett was astounded too. So we had a great family discussion (until almost 10 pm mind you-whoever said teaching experiences were convenient or timely?) about the atonement of Christ. We talked about being accountable at age 8 to know right from wrong, and to choose the right. We talked about being old enough to make covenants and promises with Heavenly Father. We talked about where children and babies go if they die before they are baptized, and how our loving Heavenly Father provided a way that they can be saved too. We talked about resurrection being a wonderful gift to us, and that through Christ, we can all be resurrected when He comes to earth again, even my baby sister. The spirit was strong (even with Mandy wrestling her bears on the bed) as Katie pondered the plan of her Heavenly Father, and Brett and I attempted to teach her, where her intuition had already guided her sharp mind. The spirit was even stronger as Brett testified of the truth of baptism being necessary, and the atonement saving little children, and recognizing the spirit in the room. It is something I want to remember, and I hope Katie remembers too. I am so grateful for my loving Savior who atoned for my sins, and who provided a way that not only I can be saved, but also my innocent baby sister.

21

Katie got her own hard-back copy of the Book of Mormon for her birthday (so she doesn't have to steal mine off the nightstand) and each night, she works hard to read about one verse. She's also figuring out the other tasks associated with reading, like following the lines of words from left to right, then top to bottom, chapters, and page numbers. It's a lot to take in when you think about it. At the grocery store tonight, Katie looked up at the aisle marker and said, "Mom, look! We're on page 21!"

Rainbow Bright

Last night the girls and I went outside to water the garden, harvest our strawberries and peas, and play outside as the evening cooled off. Our activities got cut off early by some lightening, thunder and rain sprinkles. So, we sat under the patio and watched the storm. I enjoyed it more than the girls, but it was a phenomenon to them too. We came inside for jammies as Dad came home and announced that we needed to go outside to see something. Straight south of us was a HUGE and bright RAINBOW! I don't know that I've ever seen a complete rainbow crossing the entire sky before! It even had a reflection rainbow to the west. It was amazing and beautiful. Katie is still talking about it today and added it to her birthday wish list-she'd like a rainbow for her birthday! I'm so glad that we live in a world where our loving Father in Heaven showers us with such amazing gifts!

"Oh! I stink!"

Amanda has pretty much gotten the hang of taking care of her own toileting needs. She occasionally has accidents, but for the most part, when we're at home, she trots off to the bathroom when she needs to. This morning, she did just that. I walked by the bathroom to offer assistance, which she didn't need. As I walked away, I heard her say with great expressiveness, "Oh! I stink!" I laughed to myself and went back to the bathroom and asked her to repeat what she'd said. "I stink. I need some of that spray so Daddy won't think I stink!" she said pointing to the air freshener! She's got a pretty good handle on the whole thing, don't ya think? :)

PS--She's way too cute to be that stinky!

Happy Birthday, America!

Bo, Raimi, Ellie
We partied all weekend long to celebrate the creation of our great nation. Saturday found us in Salt Lake for a mini Larson reunion at Granite High, the Alma Mater of Grandma N and her siblings. Katie and Amanda loved playing with their second cousins from Las Vegas (Mia, Luke, and Ella) and Ellie got to meet her second cousin, Bo, who is almost a month younger but looks a few months older (he's a big boy!) Mia, Bo, Raimi, Ella, Ellie, Mandy
It was hot but we were grateful for a little shade and some cold drinks.

Despite the heat, a little cold, and being 3 days out from a ton of immunizations, Ellie always seems to have a smile for Mommy!
Katie loved playing with the older kids, especially Mia. Mandy played a mean game of Skip-Bo. We had a picnic, concert, family catching up, and an awesome firework show. We got home after 1 am. It was a killer night!
Monday morning, Independence Day, Brett, and Grandma N took the older girls to the 6 am hot air balloon launch. The weather conditions mandated that the balloons couldn't fly, but they inflated for show anyway. Don't the girls look so tired? Hah!
The new balloon this year was Darth Vader. (Cooh Perr)
Ellie (and by default, myself) merited a break, so we stayed home for a nap.

We decided to let the crowd sit in the heat of the parade, and we went to the water park. While half the town was at the parade, we jumped right on the slides with almost no lines!Grandma N and Amanda on Cave In.
Daddy and Katie on Cave In.
Mom and Katie on Tube Run.
Dad and Mandy on Tube Run.
Ellie had her first time on the slides, and she did great! It was overcast, and not really crowded for a holiday so we had a great time.
We topped the day off with an early birthday dinner for Katie at Brick Oven (now that's lovin' from the Oven!) complete with free root beer and birthday sundae!