the davis family

Bed Rest

2012-01-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

I have gone seven weeks without . . .

Cleaning a toilet.

Changing a diaper.

Picking up Charlie.

Cooking dinner.

Vacuuming.

Shopping anywhere, except for online.

Driving a car.

Doing a single load of laundry.

So weird

In the last seven weeks . . .

I have become obsessed with crocheting.

Discovered pinterest--such good timing.

Taken guitar lessons via YouTube videos.

Watched Netflix more than usual.

Read more than usual--including seven "Junie B Jones" books out loud to Anna and Max. (That girl is a bad influence.)

Cuddled with my kids more than usual.

Conquered all levels of Sudoku puzzles including the level called Diabolical.

Not all bad.

In the last seven weeks I have realized that. . .

I can let other people be in charge. (including Taylor)

I can let other people help me. (including almost everyone I know)

I know, live by, and am related to amazing, thoughtful, kind, selfless people.

I am also married to a person like that.

My family loves me even when I am not doing much to contribute to their well being.

My kids can make their own lunch--what was I doing all this time?

Just one week to go before I can be done with strict bed rest and start being up more. I will be 34 weeks then. Good news! Freedom! We did it! Whew!

Baby Name

2012-01-22T16:40:00.005-07:00

I just wanted to make it public knowledge that this baby girl already has a name. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do that this time---have the name all picked before the baby is born--but it seems like we just can't help it. So this little girl is Georgia Kate. I've thought of her as Georgia for a lot of weeks now and our kids all pray for and talk about "Baby Georgia", and so do we. She's already named and already loved.

Big Boy Bed and Doughnut Party

2012-01-20T19:36:00.010-07:00

Charlie had a birthday yesterday. Right now though, Charlie is banging on his new big boy bedroom door and yelling "OUT!" because he gets to sleep in his big boy bed tonight in his new bedroom. A few minutes ago I was in Charlie's big boy bed too telling him how nice and soft it was and how I liked his dinosaur pillow. Charlie is opposed to change, as am I a lot of the time. The timing of this change is mostly due to the fact that I'm not supposed to lift this child who wouldn't mind being carried everywhere for another couple of months, and so if he could climb himself into and out of bed, that would be really nice for us. Normally, I am of the opinion that cribs should be taken advantage of for as long as possible. Bedtime went a lot more smoothly when Charlie was caged in. And mostly, I'm just not sure if I'm ready for my baby boy to be big.

As for Charlie's birthday We celebrated on Sunday--we had a doughnut party instead of cake and ice cream because Charlie loves doughnuts. Almost every trip to the grocery store with Charlie results in either a melt down by the bakery or Charlie eating a doughnut happily in the cart or the first one followed by the second one. Last Sunday we invited Grandmas and Grandpas and Aunts and Uncles and we all ate doughnuts together and told Charlie that he is two and he is a big boy! He is a very loved little boy and although I don't think Charlie appreciates how loved he is at two years old, it means a lot to his mom.

The Four Year Old

2012-01-08T16:02:00.006-07:00

Max turned four on December 17th--he is such a big guy. Daddy helped make his birthday really exciting--they went to McDonalds for lunch, came to open presents with me at the hospital, and had cake and ice cream that night with the Cashes, Grandma and Grandpa Shepherd, and Tina and Chris. Pretty much fun. Here are some pictures that Tina sent me of the party. Taylor called me in the middle of it and asked me where the candles were. Me and Max bought some just for his birthday, but I couldn't remember where I had put them, so Taylor improvised with some candles he found, and they did the job--lit up and blew out. Max got Legos for his birthday from me and Taylor and a new Leapster from Anna and Charlie. He was a happy boy. I was sad to miss the fun, but I have had lots and lots of good time with my four year old since then. We are so glad that he is part of our family!

The things I want to remember about Max as a three-year old

Max has always seemed a little older than he is to me. He tries to talk like a grownup and he wants people to take him very seriously. One of my favorite words he uses is "certainly". He always talks with his hands and he will tell me things like "Mom, I certainly made a good picture"
Max loves space ships and aliens and ninjas and robots. His friend Owen was here one day and the two of them gathered up all of Max's little ninja guys and the ones that Owen brought and they played ninjas for an hour without any talking other than ninja sound effects.
Max is a good brother and really loves Anna and Charlie. He waits for Anna to come home on the bus every day and he runs out to meet her. They hold hands and walk home (Yes, I realize that's not going to last) He shares all his cool big boy toys with Charlie. I am really amazed sometimes at how willing Max is to share his cool stuff. He has gotten so good at that this past year.
Max has very shiny, clean teeth that he is so proud of.
Max's hair has a really hard time laying down, but he insists on having it flat and not spiky. We do our best at that.
Max gives kind of violent hugs. He has a lot of love and energy inside of him.
Max has a great smile because his whole face changes when he really smiles. I love it when I wake up to a big Max smile right by my face.
Max is the first one awake at our house every day.
Max has a whisper voice and an outside voice. There's not a lot in between.

We love you so much Max!!!

December

2012-01-08T15:17:00.005-07:00

The beginning of December started with our kitchen torn apart and us eating every meal downstairs on a picnic blanket, which was okay because we were very excited to get new floors and cabinets in our kitchen. Max and Anna and Charlie were pleased with the dietary changes that included things like granola bars, lunchables, and juice boxes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We tried to make our house festive for the holidays in the midst of the mess, but it was a little more like just a big mess. I have to say having no kitchen was kind of more of an inconvenience than I'd anticipated. I guess I didn't think through that one all the way before we were in the middle of the whole thing, and we all learned that Mom and her kitchen are very important to each other. It's okay though because we all got through it and one day I am going to cook in my new kitchen and also clean it. Here it is when it was almost done (just the floors left)

Other happenings in December included this fun Christmas party at Grandma and Grandpa Shepherds. Here's the nativity with Kellie and our little cousin baby Violet as Mary and baby Jesus. Max and Anna are shepherds and I wasn't there, but I think I heard that Charlie chose not to participate until the end when someone told him he could be a sheep. That is more of Charlie's thing.

Anna had a Christmas concert with her school choir which she has loved being part of. It has been such a good thing for her. She LOVES to sing loud and enthusiastically. I think the favorite song from that concert was "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch". She taught Max all the words, of course, and we heard it over one thousand times during the holiday season.

And the unexpected part of December was that I was in the hospital for a week (including Max's birthday) and then home on bed rest for all of Christmas break. That was not in my plans for Christmas this year, but it turned out okay and I have really felt so much love through the help of family and neighbors.

And last, here is Charlie when daddy let him take his Leapster to bed. He was pretty pleased with the situation. Charlie is going to be a big brother soon, so Taylor set up a big boy bed for him upstairs. He loves to pat it , and climb on and off of it, but he won't sleep in it. We're going to work some more on that later.

A change of plans and pace

2011-12-14T06:32:00.001-07:00

Just an update on the goings on here, which have not exactly been smooth sailing the past few days although we are feeling very grateful for a lot of things right now. Sunday night we ended up in the hospital wondering if this baby girl was going to be delivered that night at 26 weeks It was a pretty scary few hours, but things were under control and seeming better by morning. From all the tests and ultrasounds it is looking like this sweet baby girl is growing normally and doing well, but there are some problems with the placenta that could lead to another scare like sunday night and to her coming early, which we would like to avoid. To give us the best chance of me carrying this baby to term they are watching me in the hospital for a few more days and then I will be at home on strict bed rest for the next couple of months (no church, no unnecessary car rides, no lifting up my 35 lb toddler). Not ideal, but worth the increased chance of having a healthy baby. Taylor has been really amazing at taking care of an overwhelming amount of details, making arrangements with work, setting up babysitting, running charlie to the insta care last night for an ear infection, making sure max has something for his gift exchange at preschool. I am so thankful for him. I have been really amazing at watching a lot of tv, reading a lot of books, finding cool stuff on pinterest, and taking up crocheting again after a 15 year hiatus. We have amazing family and friends close by and have also been feeling so thankful for all the offers of help, which have been a lot, and for all the time and energy already spent. My mom has been a lifesaver and I am so thankful they live so close by. I miss my kids and am so thankful they are being taken care of by so many people who love them. We are feeling really blessed.

Happy News

2011-12-01T14:05:00.003-07:00

We are excited to be expecting a baby girl in March! We have all been so, so excited about this baby coming, and can't wait for a new little sister. Anna predicted it would be a girl long before our ultrasound. She has suggested we name the baby Rosifina. Max loves his baby cousin Violet and is going to be such a good big brother. Charlie loves babies, but is concerned by the fact that there is a baby in mommy's tummy. He thinks that's really weird.
We're really thankful for this little girl and excited to meet her in a few months!

Fall Festivities

2011-11-28T21:18:00.006-07:00

Yes, it is Christmas time, but here are some pictures of Fall .. .

Trick of treat! (Charlie said "uh uh ee!"). I stayed home this year to hand out candy and have hot chocolate ready for everyone when they got back, in case enough sugar had not yet been inhaled. I was so surprised how long Taylor and the kids stayed out trick or treating. They were motivated little kids! I think I'm usually the one who gets cold and wants to go home.

Anna was a princess for the third year in a row and here she is at her school parade. Beautiful! Max was a knight and was very proud of his tough looking helmet and Charlie was a chubby dragon who was very proud of his tail.

We went to Cornbellies to go through the corn maze and enjoy the rest of the craziness. Here are four of my favorite boys in the world. Taylor C. and Taylor D. with Max and Charlie on their shoulders.

I was super happy that it was warm enough (barley) to carve pumpkins at the picnic table outside. So much better than in the kitchen. Here are our creepy creations.

And here is the work in progress. . .

Taylor is the Halloween guy at our house (although not pictured here). He gets as excited as the kids do, and I'm glad because if it was just up to me, they might not get quite the same Halloween experience. He makes it exciting and also scoops out all our pumpkins.

Happy Halloween and Merry Christmas!

Uncle Taylor

2011-11-06T16:01:00.004-07:00

We are so glad to have one of our two missionary uncles/brothers back home! My brother Taylor got home a few weeks ago after two years in Oregon and it has been so great to have that kid back! What a guy! We love him.

Throwing Rocks and Hiking

2011-11-06T15:14:00.003-07:00

Before I post about Halloween . . .

So one day the kids and I went for a drive up the canyon and found a little reservoir that looked perfect for some rock throwing. They wanted to bring dad back and show him, (he is the fun parent, after all) So a few weeks ago when it was still pretty warm outside, we brought dad to show him the secret rock throwing heaven. And because we explore when dad is around, we even found a little trail and took a hike.

Here we are hiking. I made the mistake of introducing walking sticks. I think I was trying to be the fun parent.

Charlie tried to slide down a slippery looking part of the trail. He hiked the entire way up all by himself and finally let me carry him for part of the way down. He is one big boy, and he was so tired when we got back to the car

Hiking buddies.

Rock throwing heaven.

Fire Station Fieldtrip

2011-10-13T16:37:00.000-06:00

Max is in preschool this year and he loves it. He takes it very seriously as he does every big boy thing in his life. This past month he got to go on a field trip to the fire station and daddy went too. I heard that they had a really great time. Max told me he even got to wear all the fireman's gear. He was a pretty happy boy when they got back home.

What we're up to

2011-10-10T14:31:00.005-06:00

Here's what Max has been up to . . .

Here's what Charlie has been up to. . .

Here's what Anna has been up to . . .

(Charlie thinks he is on the team too)

Catching Up

2011-10-10T13:52:00.005-06:00

A lot has happened since I posted last which was at the very end of summer. Mostly, we have a schedule now because Anna is a Kindergartner, and Max is a preschooler. For the first couple weeks I kept asking myself why I ever decided to chose morning Kindergarten, but we (mainly I) have adjusted. Anna loves school, loves her teacher, loves the bus, loves the swings they have on the playground, loves the shiny floors in her schools halls, loves saying the pledge of allegience, and loves everyone in her whole class. Max loves his teachers Miss Jeanna and Miss Crispy (I believe that Christy is the correct pronunciation, but I just wrote what Max said) He loves doing homework and wearing his backpack, loves snack time, loves that everything in his classroom has a specific bin that it is supposed to go inside of, and loves that he has his own cubby and his own chair. He has a field trip coming up and has told me that he would rather I didn't come so that he can ride in his teachers car. We are all very happy about school. Charlie was sad the first day when we dropped off Max at this fun place and he had to leave with me, but he has gotten used to being my buddy and I really love the time with just him. Here are some pictures of the first day of school . . .

Max going into preschool.

The swing Anna loves.

Lining up to go inside.

These are some little boys from our neighborhood with Max and Charlie. They wanted to play!

Max and Anna on the porch before their first day of school . . . so excited!

Anna Leita

2011-08-29T15:18:00.009-06:00

Things I want to remember about 4 year old Anna since this sweet girl just turned five. . . .

You love to sing. You make me so happy when I catch you in your own little world making up songs and you don't know anyone is listening.
You love your brothers and help everyone at our house get along and be happy (including your mom).
You make me laugh and you are happy to laugh at yourself. You are a peacemaker and like things to be light and fun.
You and me are buddies. You like to do things like make hair bows and comb your princess dolls' hair because these things are "just for the women" and that is me and you.
You want to be a mommy one day and you love babies.
You are reading so well!
You get excited about almost everything except for swimming lessons and shots. (Although you did great at swimming lessons last summer after a couple days of getting used to it)
You are such a special part of our family and I am so thankful that you are my little girl. You are brave and funny and perfect as the first child in our family. We love you so much Anna!

Yellowstone

2011-08-29T13:23:00.007-06:00

A few more pictures of our summer vacation . . .

We stopped at Bear World in Rexburg, ID on our way up to the cabin and loved the petting zoo there.

Taylor convincing us that petting a baby deer is not scary.

Charlie chasing the chickens.

Scary Bears.

At the cabin Anna picked lots of wild flowers for me. She even found one that she was pretty sure was the magical flower from Tangled.

Yellowstone.

At the Cabin

2011-08-24T16:08:00.001-06:00

We spent another fun family vacation at Taylor's parents' cabin in Island Park. Sometimes we talk about going somewhere else, but 1) we are afraid of staying at hotels with our kids, and 2) we just really love the cabin. It is one of Taylor's favorite places on earth and that is obvious when we are there. We all love it, though. It has become a special place to our kids too. So here is some of the fun we had. . .

For the first few days we were there with just our family and it was so good to have Taylor all to ourselves. We put together this Aladin puzzle we found that had 200 pieces. (Charlie tried his hardest to thwart our efforts.)

We ate Captain Crunch because Taylor shopped for us and because we were on vacation.

We played baseball.

We threw rocks in the lake. Buckets of them.

And when Grandma and Grandpa came up we played in the water. I love how much my kids like to ride in the boat. I am a paranoid mother, and am constantly worried about the water while we are at the lake (although of course I have lots of help with the kids), but this year we seemed a little more under control--especially Anna and Max. They are pros at the boat and the jet skies now.

It's a good thing Grandma Sonja sent me some of their pictures because I for some reason didn't get any of Grandma and Grandpa, and here's at least a couple of Grandpa. We really love being with them and Uncle Casey and had so much fun together!!!

Big Boy

2011-07-29T16:51:00.012-06:00

Yes, I am doing some major catch up work on my blog, I've mostly been lazy.

This handsome boy turned 18 months old in July and he thinks he is at least as big as Anna and Max. He is such a busy guy these days . . . here are some of the things I want to remember about Charlie at 1 1/2 years old . . .

He is, of course, off the charts as far as height and weight. He is 34 lbs and 36 inches tall. Big boy!! Hard to carry. Good to wrestle with.
He loves to be outside and has tan little arms and legs and bright white hair after all the summer fun we've had.
He loves to chew on anything made out of yarn, and when he's falling asleep he chews on his blanket.
He likes to pretend to be a doggy so I will scratch his head. It makes him drool. Just like a doggy.
He loves fruit and cheese and milk and spaghetti, and pretty much everything we've ever put on his high chair tray.
He likes to point and grunt and sometimes scream in order to communicate. I heard Anna telling someone one day that Charlie can talk. Then she explained "For Mom, he says Ma. For Anna he says Na, for Max he says Ma, for Grandma he says MA!!, for more he says Ma, and for milk he says, Ma Ma." It's kind of true. It's Charlie-talk and we all understand it pretty well. No need for English yet.
He gives regular kisses and silly kisses. If Charlie is downstairs and he hears someone wailing upstairs he hustles as fast as he can to find the sad person and kiss them better.
He bites. Really hard. We're working on that.
He is tough. Maybe that just comes with being the littlest guy.
He is obsessed with cell phones. If he thinks you have one in your pocket that you're not handing over, he will pat you down. Doesn't matter who you are.
He loves to read books. He will sit for so long and read with me. He also loves to point at pictures of our family and say who is who. He also loves to color.
He is not so much a fan of nursery, but he goes (lots of credit to his teacher here), and he is always so proud of himself when we go to pick him up. He is a big boy!

We love you Charlie Robert!

Date Night

2011-07-25T16:57:00.000-06:00

Max and Anna ready for their date night. This is the typical garb they wear--pretty fancy. Taylor and I have a date night at home after bedtime on Friday and Max and Anna decided to follow suit, so every Friday they put these fancy clothes on over their jammies, eat a treat in their room together, and then watch a moving in bed. Pretty much fun. I am so glad that my two little kids love to be together most of the time.

Anna

2011-07-25T13:51:00.011-06:00

This big girl is five years old and going to Kindergarten in a week! Anna turned five last week--I'll have to post the pictures we took of her fun birthday, but for now, here are a few pictures of Anna from this past summer. What a girl! We love her to pieces . . .

Art Show

2011-07-04T16:46:00.000-06:00

Summer Happenings

2011-07-03T16:36:00.009-06:00

There are a lot of them . . . we have been a busy family.

So, Charlie learned to run fast (look at him go) and where he really loves to run is away from me. He also has a new favorite animal friend--his toy snake. He plays with his snake and makes him eat his food and kiss everyone and talk snake talk. It's amazing how little kids are when they start playing pretend, it's pretty adorable. Also, I hope this doesn't traslate into me taking care of any real snakes when Charlie is ten, because I do not think that snakes are adorable.

We went with the Cash gang to the Lehi Roundup Rodeo--a summer activity that is dear to my heart. We left Charlie home with a babysitter since I was afraid he would fall through the bleachers. He probably would have--we dropped Anna's shoes as well as a hamburger through them. Charlie probably would have been next. Max wore his boots with his shorts. It was awesome.

We have had two very special Daddy dates. I don't have any pictures of the first, but Max and Dad slept at the Dinosaur museum, and it was the best night of Max's life. Uncle Wesley even got to come and Max was feeling like such a big kid. He came home with all kinds of interesting fossil looking things and dinosaur knowledge.

Anna and Daddy went to a Daddy Daughter Ball, and it was the best night of Anna's life. Apparently they announced "Princess Anna and her Daddy" when she walked in, so it was officially a real ball. She took the whole thing very seriously as a real princess would.

We had a family camp out in our backyard to test our ability to camp. The funny part was that in the morning I woke up and after three trips inside during the night and a sleep walking husband, and I was thinking "We are definitely not going camping." The first thing Taylor said when he woke up was "Well I think we just proved that we can totally go camping!" Hmmmmm. It was a lot of fun though. Good memories for the kids--that is what I tell myself.

I love summer. I love summer. I love summer.

Hill Aerospace Museum

2011-06-25T21:33:00.009-06:00

We went with some of my family up to the museum at Hill Air Force Base a couple weeks ago for a very fun and educational summer-time field trip. Here is Max with my Uncle John. They are pretty good buddies.

Grandma Leita and Anna Leita looking at the air planes with their sunglasses on.

Max and Uncle John inside a helicopter.

Astronaut Max

Anna and Max and Charlie, just after they landed on the moon.

Dinosnorzzzzz

2011-06-20T17:02:00.001-06:00

Daddy and Max got to go to a Dinosnorzzzz sleepover at the Thanksgiving point Dinosaur Museum this summer and here are a few pictures from Taylor's phone of the fun time they had!

Daddy and Max went on a special date to a

Daddy Daughter Ball

2011-06-20T15:02:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures from Taylor's phone of the wonderful time he and Anna had at the Daddy daughter ball. It was fun to see Anna feeling so special and beautiful and princessy that she hardly knew what to do with herself as they were leaving. Cute girl!

What a Dad!

2011-06-19T15:50:00.007-06:00

We love our Dad because... (compiled of thoughts from Max, Anna, Charlie, and me)

He is the fun parent. Mom can't compete. He can (and is willing to) give up to three children a piggy back ride at once. He wrestles in his suit.
He is strong. Max says dad can pick up our house, and one day Max will be able to too.
Dad reads us stories, and makes us yummy food (like cereal for dinner) when mom is gone. He is really, really smart and handsome.

We love you dad/Taylor!

Happy Father's Day!

St. George!!!

2011-06-09T21:56:00.012-06:00

So we are so good here--because it is finally sunny, and because we officially started off summer with a really fun vacation. We spent last weekend in St. George with Grandma Mary Ellen and Grandpa Guy and, of course, had such a great time. We loved all the sunshine (especially since we left a lot of cold wind here in Lehi) and we loved the swimming, and we just really love Grandma and Grandpa and being at their house. Anna and Max and Charlie ate with the Mickey Mouse spoons, which I know are really fun to eat with. Grandpa and Anna sang songs. We ate peanut butter cookies and had fried potatoes for breakfast. We played games. We fell asleep reading stories, but stayed awake in bed. We stayed up late visiting. We looked at pictures and read letters. We took a picnic to the splash park. We wore ourselves out swimming in the pool. We all just had so much fun. Fun Memories. Thanks so much Grandma and Grandpa!

Some of Spring

2011-06-01T16:55:00.000-06:00

We went to Hannah's for dinner one weekend when Heidi was visiting and Wesley entertained ALL the kids with his Nintendo DS.

Max and Paige playing hide and seek. They're getting to like each other I think!

For Mother's Day we took Mom to Thanksgiving Point for a day, which has become our annual tradition.

And for Memorial day we went out to the beautiful Cedar Fort Cemetery, where we got rained on for the fiftieth year in a row. It is spring!

Rough Night

2011-06-01T16:49:00.000-06:00

Rough night. Not the most flattering picture of me. I found it among all the pictures we just dumped on the computer from Taylor's phone. I hope when I look at this one day I will remember how much I liked to wake up to a sleeping baby in my bed. Not regularly, of course. Just sometimes. Especially after a night of that baby being sick and sad.

This Phase

2011-05-26T21:48:00.009-06:00

Tasks that cannot be performed safely or effectively or without a major tantrum while Charlie is near (besides the typical things you can't do with a one year old involved). . .

Cleaning the bathtub or shower--he'll want one.
Making a phone call--he'll want to.
Unloading or loading the dishwasher--he likes to shove the trays in, slam it closed, and push start.
Opening the fridge--it's his.
Vacuuming or mopping the kitchen--the vacuum and mop are his too.
Laundry--he'll want a handful of soap.
Drinking form your own cup--you'll share.
Using the computer--he will push you off the computer chair and climb on himself. Ask Anna.

I'm just saying it's not weird that I feel like I can't get anything done.

To be fair though, this boy is adorable. Here is a list of all the things I don't want to forget about this busy one-year-old. . .

He nods his head while jabbering at you with a very serious expression on his face.
He runs as soon as he's out of the bathtub, dripping wet and shivering, and laughing.
He is obsessed with phones--I bought him a matchbox car and the first thing he did with it was hold it up to his ear and talk.
He clicks his tongue to try to make a kissing noise when he's giving loves.
He yells "Na Na" for Anna and "Mah" for Max.
He can turn on and off anything in our house that has a power button--dishwasher, washing machine, vacuum, phone, computer, cell phone, iPod, etc.
He knows what he wants. Today he wanted to climb up onto the window seat, wearing my shoes, without any help. Frustrating for him.
He watches for Daddy to get home every night.
He likes to wear shirts with doggies on them.

Washington DC

2011-05-23T21:08:00.009-06:00

Taylor and I took a trip to Washington DC a few weeks ago to visit Taylor's brother Colby and his wife Maria who live out there, and who we have so much fun with. The best part was probably just being together--with Colby and Maria and with each other. Taylor and I spent a lot of time wandering around Washington DC without a plan, which I loved. One day ended up being spent mostly at the Smithsonian art museums (he really loves me), and the rest of the time we tried to fit in the stuff people expect you to see in Washington DC, which was also really great. Colby and Maria took us to an open street market where I wanted to buy everything, but settled for a really huge plate of pancakes and another night they took us to a national park by the Potomic River which was beautiful. It was such a fun trip and good break. It was also a good reminder of how much I love this country, how much I love Taylor, how much I love to shop, how much I love hot dogs, and how much I love our kids (I missed them).

Easter Eggs

2011-05-19T22:34:00.008-06:00

Well, here's Easter. I'm back after our computer died a slow death over the past few weeks, and now we have a new computer that stays on for longer than ten minutes at a time. Lots better for blogging.

So I don't really have a lot to say about Easter. It feels like it was more than a month ago. I think the cold weather is making me think that summer already happened and we're starting into winter again.

Anyway, we were really excited to have our Easter egg hunt in the back yard because we love our backyard. I get excited to see it every spring. Charlie was fun to watch this year--if he sees Anna and Max do something, he's totally on board. He was very proud of all the eggs he found and then he was overjoyed when he figured out that there were treats inside. Max is a very good egg finder and recovered all the eggs from the tricky places. Anna likes to dance around while she finds her eggs and tried to pick up all the ones we left on the ground for Charlie. Could this be the same reason why I was always the last one looking for my allotted number of eggs? Perhaps. It's hard work--better to wait till the end and let someone else point them out to you.

Max and Anna comparing their Easter egg treasure. The Easter Bunny was very fair of course.

Charlie hugging his lamby

Anna got a "My Little Pony" that was pink because she is trying to love animals and not be afraid of them.

Don't even think about taking Charlie's Easter basket away from him. This is a very common stance and facial expression of Charlie's at our house.
He feels like he has to defend his possessions for some reason.

Happy late Easter everyone!

Pictures to Save

2011-05-13T20:11:00.000-06:00

Sad Ears

2011-04-23T10:35:00.002-06:00

So a lot of what has been going on around here these days is ear infections. The running total in our family since January is seven and Charlie's ears are responsible for most of those. We are now waiting for a few more weeks to decide if he needs tubes or not. In the mean time, he's not the happiest camper, so to try and cheer the poor, cranky child up we went to the Children's Gardens a couple weeks ago to dig in the sand. Charlie loves being outside and sitting in dirt is the best place outside to be. (By the way if anyone has any secrets to healthiness that you think I might be missing, please pass them along. I'm not kidding.)

Happy brothers.

Max has no toes.

Floating sticks.

Waterfalls.

Secret trails.

Teeter-totter, sort of.

Spring Last Sunday

2011-04-20T22:33:00.000-06:00

Spring in Utah is so annoying. I feel like every year for some reason I expect it to get warm when it's supposed to get warm, and then it doesn't. Then I complain about it. I also give up and just start dressing myself like it is 65 degrees instead of 45 because it is technically spring. I also send my kids outside in the soggy back yard and tell them that it is good weather to play outside anytime that there is no rain, snow, or hail falling from the sky and whenever the wind has died down enough that they can stand up. Are you with me?

On a more positive note. Here we are enjoying that "good weather" at my parents house last Sunday. We love living by Grandma Judy and Grandpa Bob and feel so lucky to be so close! I kind of wonder how we survived with out them here. Strangely the camera doesn't make it over to their house as often now as it did when we used to take trips to see them, so we're working on that!

Anna, Grandma Judy and Max

Uncle Travis and Taylor jumping on the trampoline--I can't wait till October when there is another Taylor (Elder Cash right now) to be weird and crazy with them.

Charlie sneaking up on the cat.

Charlie looking at the cat. He couldn't catch him, and wasn't really sure if he wanted to either.

The gang--minus a few, with Max in mid air, which is where he is a lot of the time, even when there is no trampoline involved.

Everyday Stuff

2011-04-09T22:32:00.011-06:00

A few random pictures from the last few weeks . . .

Charlie is so set on being as big as his brother and sister are. Here he is in the art room sitting on his own stool holding his own glue stick.

And I took this picture because one night Charlie learned how to give high fives and he really thought it was great. Then we all sat down for dinner and Charlie spent most of the time sitting like this--with his hand up, just waiting patiently for a high five. Next time you see Charlie, ask him for a high five. You'll be buds.

Max found a box of brownie mix the other day and he realized that he loves brownies and that he wanted some, so we made them. At the stirring part, he told me that he needed two really big spoons to make them be all mixed up, so I got him two spoons. I realized after we were done and he was licking off both of the really big spoons what a tricky boy he is.

And here is a picture of Anna and her doll Carold (rhymes with Harold) in their matching dresses and matching hair bows. Anna is such a good mommy to all of her babies. I get to be the grandma and they come to my house for lunch usually every day.

"Charlie" by Max

2011-04-05T10:04:00.001-06:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T11:47:00.007-07:00

These two kids take holidays very seriously. Their mom is trying to live up to their expectations and make St. Patrick's Day everything that Anna told Max it would be. Did you know leprechauns turn your water green if you leave it on the table and go a way for a while? Me neither. We have learned a lot about leprechauns from Anna today--they are mischievous and messy and it's really exciting, but I hope they only stay here at our house for one day. We have some mischievous, messy, exciting people who live here all the time, and I just don't think there is room for any more, even if leprechauns are really, really tiny. (They are. Anna said.)

Also, I had to take pictures because yesterday Taylor brought home from work these snazzy hats and the dollar bill bow ties--pretty fun.
Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

All Better and Other things

2011-03-10T22:11:00.008-07:00

All better. Max looks normal again! And he feels good too. We are so glad. I could tell he was feeling like himself again the other day when he made Anna scream and knocked Charlie down in the same half of a minute. Max is back! (in full force) We love this kid. It was so boring around here when he was sick and tired.

Anna is going to Kindergarten next year and she is so excited. I feel like I need to tell someone that, since she tells me every day. She is feeling so grown up lately. A couple days ago I told Anna about a project we were going to do--make a hair-bow holder to hang in her room. She looked at me and said "So is it going to be just the women making this project?" I was kind of surprised. I guess Anna and I are the women in this family.

Also, we have had some great prayers at our house as of late. . .

Anna prayed "please bless Charlie to grow up to be a fun kid like me and Max." I'm not worried.
Max prayed "please bless us not to hit each other or skeez (squeese) each other, or make Charlie cry, or chase each other, or bite each other" Yes, please bless. Amen.

Sick Boy

2011-03-06T20:07:00.016-07:00

So it wasn't hives after all. . . we made a second visit to to urgent care on Saturday since Max's hives were looking weirder and covering more of him, he had a fever, and his arms and legs and face were swelling up. At the urgent care, we learned that when you bring in a little boy covered in red and purple splotches, with a swollen face, they don't make you wait very long in the waiting room. They rushed us right back to see the doctor. The diagnosis? Erythema Multiforme. I was kind of weirded out by the fact that I had never heard of it before. He also has walking pneumonia which probably triggered the Erythema Multiforme which is a type of allergic reaction to an infection or sometimes to a medication. It can be really severe, but Max's case is not. He has been super tired, had achy knees and elbows and toes that are all feeling better, swelling in his hands, feet, joints, and face, an upset stomach, and the lovely hive-looking things that turned into purple bulls-eye looking things all over himself (but not inside his mouth, eyes, etc--apparently that is one of the things that would make it a severe case). He was a super brave boy at the hospital where he had blood work done and an x-ray of his lungs. He is very proud of the three big stickers that he got there and the spiderman bandaid. He told me he was really close to crying. What a tough guy. He is looking and feeling lots, lots, lots better today, and I am relieved and so is he.

This afternoon, while Anna was at school I NEEDED to get him out of the house (the rash is not contagious and he's been on antibiotics for the pnemonia, but he still looks kind of interesting) so we ran to Kohl's to buy daddy's birthday present, and right when we walked in the door he lifted up his shirt all the way and said to the lady "Look! My tummy is feeling better" She looked kind of horrified. I didn't really know what to say, so I just smiled and we kept walking and made sure to check out at someone else's stand when we were done.

Anyway, that is the scoop. The hives really did warrant a trip to the doctors, and now we hope that we are saying goodbye to sicknesses and hello to spring. I understand if you don't want to let your kids play with my kids.

About motherhood

2011-03-05T13:21:00.012-07:00

I am not qualified.

I rushed this little boy to the doctors.

and they said I really didn't need to bring him in. (the hives were caused by a virus, probably. Happens all the time, they said.)

I didn't take this little boy to the doctors. I told everyone he was going through kind of a cranky stage, or maybe he was teething,

He had a double ear infection. (the doctor was glad I FINALLY decided to bring him in.)

Also, I missed Kindergarten registration.
I can't figure out how to thread my sewing machine.
I threw away the most specialest painting Anna ever made.

I really like being a mom. I would have it no other way, I just hope we all make it through.

He's Walking!

2011-02-28T15:08:00.005-07:00

Itty-Bitty Basketball

2011-02-21T21:12:00.004-07:00

In January Anna and Max got to do a basketball clinic at the rec center for three and four-year olds. They loved it. Our neighbor Quinn even ended up being on their team! It took Max a little bit to warm up, but it helped that he and Anna were on the same team. By the last day he was maybe feeling a little too comfortable being on the same team with Anna. I just watched from the stands as their coach tried to keep the teasing under control . They learned lots of basketball things like how to guard the basket, chest passes, bounce passes, and the sign you make for 'time out". The last day Leo the Lion came, and even though I don't know what Leo is the mascot for, we were so excited that we got to meet him and give him a high five. We love Leo.

Charlie-boy

2011-02-20T21:40:00.001-07:00

A good eater

a good helper

a happy boy

a nice boy

a funny boy

Charlie-boy!

Outside

2011-02-15T09:31:00.014-07:00

Welcome 50 degrees! I'm usually ready for spring on about December 27th, and my kids are showing serious signs of having been inside all winter long. More pictures have been knocked off walls this last week by jumping, flipping children than any other week in Davis family history. We are taking advantage of the good weather. Hurray for playing outside!

Charlie loves this little car. He sat in it for an hour--I was pushing it some of the time and some of the time he was just hanging out and talking on his cell phone. When it was time to get out, he was heartbroken and I almost brought the car inside. I wonder really how long he would sit in it. I might bring it inside. I might bring it to church.

We also took a trip to the petting zoo last week after Taylor got home from being out of town all week. It was so good to have daddy there with us--he makes everything so much more fun.

Max prefers to tuck his pants inside of his cowboy boots--otherwise, he wouldn't be able to see ALL of his boots and that would make him sad.

Charlie meets a goat.

Anna in her bunny hat--it's hard for her to decide whether to wear it over her eyes so she looks like a bunny (that's fun, but it's dark) or to wear it like a normal hat (that's not dark, but it's boring).

Faces I Love

2011-02-14T18:33:00.000-07:00

I've had a week of realizing how thankful I am for these little faces. . .

The Little Things

2011-01-30T18:36:00.002-07:00

Like Max climbing in bed with me at 2am and telling me "I brought my robot airplanes!" Comfy.

The way Charlie pats me on the back when he gives me a hug,

Anna planning a birthday party for her doll and making a list of things we will need for it . . . balloons, make up, cake or pie or cup cakes, glitter, and pink frosting.

The signs on Anna and Max's rooms that say "Jesyz Hawz" (Jesse's House) and "Wudyz Hawz" (Woody's House).

The blue house Anna made out of tissue paper and half of a glue stick.

Charlie, in the bathtub, splashing and laughing until he tips himself over.

And Max when he prayed (sincerely) that he would not wipe his nose on the couch.

It really is the little things that count

One-year-old Charlie

2011-01-18T15:23:00.006-07:00

Today is Charlie's birthday! His first year has gone by painfully quickly, and I am a little sad that he is already one. We had some family over for cake on Sunday to celebrate, which was so much fun. I always feel so blessed when I think about our amazing families and how much our kids are loved!

Here is what I want to remember about one-year-old Charlie. . .

Charlie is such a happy boy--he is happy to hang out with mom in the kitchen with all the canning jar rings and tupperware lids. He is happy to crawl after his big brother and sister and be part of the action. He is happy to hang out in his bed when he wakes up and talk to himself for a while before joining all the action again.
Charlie likes to eat bananas and peas and cookies, of course, but most of all he loves cheese.
He loves pictures of his family. If Charlie is sad, he feels better when we stand by our family picture in the hall so that he can point at everyone while I say their names.
Charlie growls really loud. Along with that very important animal noise, he also says num-num, dada, mamamamamamamamamamamaaaaaaaa, and na-na (anna and/or max).
Charlie is a funny boy. He pounds on his chest like Tarzan and claps and dances and has lots of energy.
Charlie sometimes bites. Anna and Max have both been the victims of some pretty painful looking bites. In Charlie's defense though, his big brother and sister love him so much that they are usually always right next to him, or right where he is try to crawl, or occasionally sitting right on top of him.
Charlie still takes two naps everyday and sleeps all night. We feel lucky.
He loves his grandmas and grandpas and uncles and aunts. He also loves anyone who will wave at him.
Charlie pretends that his is talking on the phone all the time. If he doesn't have a hold of something that resembles a phone, he just uses his hand. He says "Huh, huh, oh, oh, bye!" It is so, so, so adorable.
He wants to be a big boy--we went swimming a few weeks ago and Charlie was not sure about the water, he was hanging on tight to me and fussing and then I told him "Charlie! You're such a big boy!" He stopped crying and sat up and looked so proud of himself.
Charlie gives good loves and kisses and sometimes bites, like I said before. He loves to cuddle and rock-a-bye in the big chair in his room, and I hope that lasts for a while longer!

Happy Birthday Charlie-boy! We love you so much!

Three-year-old Max

2011-01-18T14:34:00.002-07:00

What I want to remember about three-year-old Max

For Halloween Max just really wanted to be himself more than anything I suggested. He kept saying "Mom, I just really want to be Max." We finally settled on Max the Astronaut.
We call Max "Maxie" a lot (which I'm pretty sure I promised Taylor we wouldn't do when I was lobbying for the name Max--sorry.) Anyway, Max knows how to spell his name M A X, but he prefers to spell it MAXC for Maxie, and he makes me write it that way on all his important stuff.
Max is mostly all about rules--meaning he likes to make them up, and enforce them, and point out when I am breaking them. He is also pretty good about following them himself but for those times when it's hard, he really loves the phrase "I think that was an accident."
Max is organized. He will take any spare container he can find because his goal is to have each of his earthly possessions stored in either some kind of box or a ziplock bag.
I never quite know what Max is thinking, and he thinks a lot, and his thoughts are original. One day when we came home from church I asked Max what he learned and he said to me "I learned that Jesus wants me for a sunbeam and Mary wants me for a little lamb." Another time our home teacher was doing a great job of telling the story of Jonah and the whale to the kids and at the end he said "So what can we learn from that story?" and Max yelled out "That whales have bellies!" That's what he learned.
Max is determined and focused and intense. He will do what he decides to and that is a great thing about him.
Max is strong and has big muscles. He helps me carry lots of heavy things.
Max and his daddy built the most amazing box together a couple months ago with their tools. They are good buddies and a lot alike.
Max likes aliens and monsters and scaring his sister and mom. He also asks for hugs a lot and makes sure that everyone has a toy to play with and a treat to eat. He sings the best lullabies to his baby brother and plays the most exciting games with Anna.

We love you so much Max!

Bathtime

2011-01-06T11:14:00.000-07:00

Christmas Day

2010-12-29T16:29:00.002-07:00

We were unbelievably excited for Christmas this year. I can't believe we made it to Christmas morning, because it just seemed like it would never be here. Santa Clause left pillow pets in Anna and Max's beds and that was a good first surprise.

Santa brought Max some aliens that eat other aliens--they are super cool.

More princesses and a doll house for Anna!

Books and balls for Charlie, who had his first Christmas, since he barely missed it last year.

All the excitement finally wore us out. Max took a nap at Grandma Judy and Grandpa Bob's house on the couch, right in the middle of everything.

We had such a fun day and got to talk to Uncle Taylor and Uncle Carter who are both serving missions. I love Christmas!

Christmas in Idaho Falls

2010-12-28T09:24:00.001-07:00

We took a trip up to Idaho Falls this year for a few days right before Christmas and that was a good idea! We made gingerbread houses with Grandma Sonja, took a drive to see lights, opened some special presents including magic pillowcases from Grandma Devonna and Grandpa Hal. We love our grandmas and grandpas so much and were so happy to see so many of them this Christmas time!

Happy Birthday Max

2010-12-22T20:19:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to Max! He finally is three--even though he has been claiming to be three for about a year now (the whole time he was two).

The morning of his birthday he came down and hopped in bed with us--like he does most days, and we decided to give him his present then. He was super excited to get a Buzz Lightyear as we are going through a major Toy Story phase at our house. I have just recently been aloud to try out the cool buttons on Buzz that make him shoot laser beams and talk in Spanish, and he is a pretty cool toy. On Max's birthday we also went to Jump On It--one of his favorite places and had a great time together. Mom and Charlie mostly watched.

A couple days after Max's birthday we went up to Idaho Falls and got to celebrate his birthday there as well! He is a very loved boy and had lots of birthday fun this year.

Max's Boots

2010-12-16T16:19:00.003-07:00

Max will be three tomorrow and on Tuesday he got to go with Grandpa Kent and Grandma Leita to buy some cowboy boots. He was so excited, and he knew on the calendar which day was the day for the boot store. He came home with these good looking boots and has had them on ever since, I think. Yesterday I took them off of him when I tucked him in at naptime, and when I peeked in at him he was sleeping with them on again. What a lucky boy!

Sad Story and Thanksgiving

2010-12-01T21:40:00.009-07:00

Here is the sad story . . .
On the Sunday before Thanksgiving Charlie fell out of a booster seat at my mom and dad's house while I, his mother, was standing six inches away. He cried and cried and I felt so bad. We went home and put him to bed and he slept all night so I thought he was probably fine. The next day, though, after watching a normally very, very, active ten month old spend a whole day wanting to be held, or just staying right wherever I set him down (even if it was within sight of the Christmas tree), I decided to take him to the doctor. The doctor sent us over to the hospital where we got x-rays and found out that Charlie's right leg was broken. Poor boy! Luckily, it was not a very bad break (a buckle fracture of his right tibial, I think, and was up by his knee) And since he is not walking and jumping around yet the doctor gave us the option of not casting it and "just keeping him close by and holding him a lot". That didn't sound like it would make for the best days of our lives, but a cast for six weeks seemed even less appealing so we opted to leave it without a cast. We had a few pretty sad days at first, but Charlie is feeling so much better now and is pretty much back to his normal, busy self.

Thanksgiving . . .
Because of our sad boy and bad weather, we stayed home from our planned trip to Grandma Sonja and Grandpa Kent's for Thanksgiving which made us all miss them a lot. We can't wait to see them in December! We enjoyed spending our Thanksgiving day at my grandma and grandpa's house in Lehi and having them all to ourselves. That doesn't happen very often! They were so sweet to us. There is just something about being at their house that makes everything feel better.

We are very thankful this year for family who love us and help us so much--from close, or far away.

Davis Family Band

2010-11-30T13:20:00.000-07:00

Taylor and the kids made a band on Sunday. They all wore their favorite hats, but not their pants (you'll notice in Anna and Max's case) and they made some really loud music. Max the cowboy played the recorder, Charlie the Moose played the tamberine, Daddy the fireman played the piano, and Anna the farmer played the maracas. Ole!

Everyday

2010-11-17T14:00:00.006-07:00

Here are just some pictures from everyday. Pretty good stuff.

Taylor, Anna and Max playing the piano, with Charlie working the pedals. It's good to all have a job to do.

Charlie has become an extremely busy boy lately with lots of things to do. There are always plenty of toys scattered around our house, but those are so unappealing. Charlie is an explorer, so he goes for the things that are still in drawers and closets and have not yet been scattered.

And last, these are some monster puppets we made a few weeks ago, because you can never have too many of those. Max's red monster was named "Super Monster Glasses Guy". He can fly because he has a cape. Max's yellow monster has to stay on the ground. Anna's green monster was named "Harry" but she is a girl and Anna's purple monster gets lost a lot so she glued a bell to it. That seems to help.

The First Annual Cash Dash

2010-11-06T18:05:00.006-07:00

Who's gonna win, gonna win, gonna win? The grown ups ran a 5K and the kids ran around the block with Grandma Judy and Grandpa Bob. Max was just all ready to get started.

Ready, set, go!

Cashes dashing

Hurray!

I believe my children have inherited the Rosy Cheek Curse when it comes to exercising. It may not sound so bad, but listen to this. . . . once in college, I was jogging around the track in the Smith Field house in my BYU issue, feeling good, and a cute guy stopped me and asked if I was going to be alright--he pointed out that my face was bright red and suggested that maybe I stop running. I told him that's how I always look when I run, cause it is, and then I ran home, not wanting to show my bright red face in the Smith Field House any more that day. That's my story.

Gold Medalists!

Wow, what a fun time! There were prizes--I won a whole box of fruit snack all for myself. And water bottles for everyone. And a yummy lunch together after. I like imagining the 20th annual Cash Dash--it's gonna be a fun group! Thanks Grandma Judy and Grandpa Bob!

Nine Months

2010-11-05T13:46:00.007-07:00

Charlie at nine months . . .

Such a good-natured little boy. I can't even express how patient and smiley and loving he is, and has been through every stage so far.
He is no longer quite as sedentary as he used to be, which is good, but also really a lot busier. He is crawling fast, pulling himself up to things with beast-like strength and throwing his body weight around like a pro--hold on tight if you are holding him and he decides to dive for it!
Charlie loves to bang anything he is holding on the floor, his own head, his tummy, or my head.
Charlie can say ma ma, da da, and num num. (and that's really all that matters)
Five and a half teeth so far.
27 lbs at our last doctors visit and I forgot how many inches, but he is tall. The doctor told me "You sure know how to grow em'!" That we do.
Charlie's hair is pretty special to us. We all really love to feel how soft and fluffy it is. If it is all up to mommy, this little boy is still many moons away from his first hair cut.
He loves his mommy and his daddy, and his big brother and sister. He gives good kisses and loves.

And now for some picnic blanket pictures. . . Notice the mystery blob in Charlie's fluffy hair? I didn't. (I'll spare you my theory on what that is and you can use your imagination--have fun!)

We love you so much Charlie Robert!

Jackson Hole

2010-11-02T09:33:00.008-07:00

We were ready for a trip and so the man I love planned (yes, planned) a trip for us this last month--without the kids. We took them up to Grandma Sonja and Grandpa Kent's for some fun (they were so excited) and then took ourselves up to Jackson Hole. We met up with some good friends up there and had a great time together. The highlight of the trip was a ride through Teton National Park on ATV's that we rented. It was gorgeous--I didn't know I liked Wyoming, but I was totally enchanted by the landscape and also by the animals we saw (specifically buffalo--up close, very close).

Go Cougs!!

2010-10-17T14:28:00.005-06:00

Grandma Sonja and Grandpa Kent took our whole family to the BYU game a few weeks ago. We were so, SO excited and we cheered our very loudest. The kids all did great, and it was absolutely so much fun. Thank you so much Grandma and Grandpa! We love you! And thank you for the pictures Tina. We love you too! And thank you to the people sitting in front of us for telling us our kids were cute even though one of them was kicking you with his light-up Spiderman shoes for three hours. We love you as well!

Uncle Casey came and stayed with us during his fall break for a few days and then he went home on the Saturday of the game. He was kind of like a hero while he stayed at our house. These kids have the best aunts and uncles!

Cornbelly's Field Trip

2010-10-15T23:30:00.005-06:00

While Uncle Casey was here, we all went on a field trip with Anna's Preschool class to Cornbelly's. What a fun group, all on top of lots of hay! Anna was sneezing like crazy.

Max is an honorary member of Anna's preschool class, and next year will most likely go to the same teacher she has gone to. He draws pictures for Mrs. Jeanna and sends them to school with Anna.

We had a lot of fun with Uncle Casey while he was here and think it's pretty cool that he would come just to play with us!

Memorable Moments

2010-10-10T17:32:00.001-06:00

Anna gave herself a haircut with her safety scissors and some of her bangs are less than an inch long now. I told her how we don't use our scissors to cut anything but paper. She told me "I was just thinking the same thing, mom!" Then she told me that at first she thought it would be a good idea, but after she did it she thought maybe it was a bad idea. I think we all know that feeling.

Charlie is crawling! He isn't happy about it, but he's crawling. I think he's not happy about the amount of effort that is required in this endeavor. He crawls a little, then stops and lies down for a little breather, then gets up and keeps going. This kid so far is just really not all about life in the fast lane--a fact that I, as his mother, am just fine with. He is such a sweetie. We love him to pieces.
And lately when Charlie makes the effort to crawl over and take one of Max's toys, Max says . . . "Charlie! You can NOT have this! This is NOT a toy!" It makes me laugh. Max's toys are not considered toys--they are his tools and friends and important stuff.
Max named his favorite toy doggy "Doggywell Taylor Davis" after himself. See, Max's long name is Maxwell Taylor Davis, and so Doggy's long name is Doggywell Taylor Davis. Makes sense. We love Doggywell! We love Maxwell too.
Anna gave us a rock star concert this morning. She got all decked out and then asked me to do her hair so it would flop around when she shook her head. I wasn't sure exactly how to achieve that so we went with an up high ponytail and she was happy with it. My favorite song she performed had lyrics that said "you're my ma ma . . I'm a rock star . . . you're my grandma . . . I'm a rock star . . . your my daddy . . . I'm a rock star".

Monsters and Dragons

2010-09-29T10:35:00.001-06:00

We have been experiencing an intense princess phase at our house since Anna was about two, but the tables are turning with two little boys who both love to growl and be loud. The princess is having to put up with a lot of monsters and dragons and sometimes robots or bears or other wild things. She is handling it quite well.

Monster Masks

Drawing dragons on the window

Where the wild thing lives.

Summer Vacation

2010-09-26T13:52:00.018-06:00

So around the middle of summer, I was getting ready for girls camp, Taylor was in the thick of a very hard class, and we had scheduled a week long trip that was seeming to not fall at the most opportune time. We, however, were desperately in need of a vacation that included our busy daddy and so we let him bring his homework, and we went anyway. We had such a great time at one of Taylor's favorite places on earth. We spent a week at the Davis cabin in Island Park including a day in Yellowstone. It was beautiful, quiet, and perfect.

Here's us enjoying dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's before we headed up to Island Park.

At Yellowstone . . .

Oh, I really, really love this place. It's so weird. And so, so beautiful--a favorite combination.

Max wanted to see the animals and so we looked and looked for them. We didn't see any close enough to be really impressed all morning and it was starting to stress us all out a little. After lunch Max fell asleep in his car seat whining "I want to see animals . . ." and seconds later we passed a buffalo along the side of the road. We stopped and yelled for Max to wake up. Anna shook him, and poked him. The buffalo even put his face right next to Max's window. But Max kept sleeping. Happily, we spotted another buffalo in the trees a little while later (I believe he was sent to us to spare us from losing our minds) Max's vacation was complete from that point on.

While waiting for Old Faithful with three little tired kids and their drippy ice cream cones, I thought "Is it really that cool?" Then the geyser went off and I remembered. It is.

I also remembered something else. . .this song about a horse. I love it because my dad sang it to me when I was little. . .

Old faithful we roamed the range together
Old faithful in every kind of weather
When your roundup days are over
There'll be pastures white with clover
For you old faithful pal of mine

Hurry up old fellow cause the moon is yellow tonight
Hurry up old fellow cause the moon is mellow and bright
There's a coyote howlin' to the moon above
Carry me back to the one I love
Hurry up old fellow cause we gotta get home tonight

Old faithful we rode the range together...
For you old faithful pal of mine

Back at the cabin . . .

And on all the days we weren't in Yellowstone
we threw rocks in the lake. I think that is officially our families favorite past time. I guess that says a lot about the stage of life we're in.

Another favorite activity at the cabin was playing with Taylor's old nerf gun. As always, Anna's ears did not go unprotected.

And another important thing to mention from our leisurely time at the cabin was that we bought ice cream cones every day after nap time. I dreamed of living in a cabin and owning the ice cream shop in Island Park and I thought that might sound better than going back home.

Grandpa Kent and Grandma Sonja and Casey came up for the last couple days to be with us and we had lots of fun with them. We got out the boat and the jet skis and loved the rides. Charlie even liked the boat and tolerated his life jacket--he was such a good baby the whole time. He slept where ever we happened to be, yelled at us when we didn't share our ice cream, and his fuzz-hair looked really sparkly in the sunshine.

Here are some pictures of Anna and Max on jet ski rides with Grandma and
Grandpa . . .
The jet skis were the most fun for Max when the driver was driving crazy and trying to hit floating ducks and they were the most fun for Anna when the driver was driving slow and pretending to be riding a unicorn.

And for our final picture. . . My mother-in-law and I had fun looking around at a boutique set up in Island Park. I bought these tie-dye clothes because they were so bright and happy and vacationish, and also because I love it when my kids match, although I don't fully understand why.

After that, I dressed everyone in their matching clothes and I took this picture to remember the best vacation ever and how much I love being the mom of our family. It's a good job.

Grandma Erickson

2010-09-26T13:35:00.003-06:00

Taylor's sweet grandma passed away this past week and we will miss her so much--what a sweet, loving woman. We are so thankful to know that families are forever. I love these pictures of her holding each one of our babies on their blessing days.

with Charlie

with Max

with Anna

Mud Pies

2010-09-13T15:13:00.007-06:00

Dreams came true when I bought these dishes from the DI for the soul purpose of baking mud pies and flower-leaf soup. All summer Anna and Max have been trying to persuade me to let the bring funnels and whisks and other kitchen gadgets out doors , and I finally realized that there was a place where millions of those kind of things are only 50 cents each. We love that place! And it was worth every cent since our backyard kitchen has produced some delicious dishes such as "french fry and dirt soup", and "orange flour leaf pie" and "princess muddy cookies". YUM!

Happy Birthday Anna Leita!

2010-09-10T08:37:00.007-06:00

Anna is finally four! She's been waiting forever to be that many. We had a super fancy party with some of her friends from primary and Max and Wesley (our funny boys). We also had lots of family come the Saturday before her birthday--even Grandma Sonja and Grandpa Kent were here from Idaho--lots of people love Anna Leita!

Our fancy kitchen at the fancy party

Ribbon dancing is the fanciest!

See?

Max's swimming goggles were giving him troubles while he waited for grandmas and grandpas to come.

Anna Leita and Grandma Leita

This is one of the beautiful Barbie Princess dresses that Anna got from Grandma Sonja and Grandpa Kent. It's rainbow, which is the most beautiful color of all.

Grandma Sonja, Charlie, and Anna.

Max, Anna, and Grandma Judy having a tea party.

Max in his moose hat and swimming goggles--all ready for some birthday party fun.

Things I want to remember about 4 year old Anna . . .

Anna loves to dance this year--sometimes like a princess and sometimes like a rock star.
Anna working really hard at learning to read. She is really good at sounding out words and is so proud of herself. If you come to our house you will probably get to hear Anna read "Mat has a Cat."
Anna is such an attentive big sister. She LOVES her baby brother Charlie and is always right near him. She makes him smile and laugh. Anna and Max are best buddies too. They play "princess and nice dragon" and "princess and scary dragon". They also like to play "firefighters" and "shopping day" and house.
Anna's favorite books to read are Fancy Nancy books, Ladybug Girl, and Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse.
Anna's favorite songs to sing are "I Love to See the Temple", "Puff the Magic Dragon", and the Little Mermaid songs.
Anna is a great little artist. She draws the happiest princesses for herself and the scariest monsters for Max.

We love you Anna Leita!!!!

Preschool!

2010-08-28T15:14:00.000-06:00

Oh boy! Preschool started. Anna goes to Starting Point Preschool and she loves it. She waited all summer for it to start and couldn't fall asleep the night before her first day! It is as wonderful as she remembered. I can't believe she'll be in kindergarten next year!

Chlidren's Gardens

2010-08-23T14:25:00.002-06:00

Our favorite place ever. We love the children's gardens by our house when it's really hot. Anna and Max and daddy love to splash and me and Charlie love the benches in the shade.

A Declaration of Love

2010-08-06T09:07:00.003-06:00

I have been married to this man for five years and I love him! Yes I do.

Summer Fun

2010-07-29T13:09:00.005-06:00

I can't believe it's almost over. Here's what we've been up to. I have a LOT of pictures of our Idaho vacation that are on Taylor's computer--I'll post those soon . . .

Anna and Max took swimming lessons in July and did so good considering that Anna was a little afraid of the water situation and Max was a little afraid of the teacher situation. I was so proud of them both!

We had an exciting water fight at my parents house that also provided some great picture taking opportunities. (Did I mention yet that my family moved to Lehi? I think I prayed them here. We have had a lot of fun with them this summer and I am so, so, so glad they are close)

And Charlie got a tooth

And Tina came to hang out

And mom went to girls camp . . . I was lucky enough to be a part of girls camp this year and it was so much fun. We have an amazing and very colorful group of young women, as you can see, not to mention some very talented and hilarious young women leaders and consequently camp was a riot.

Anna did a summer dance class and LOVED it. She had a little recital that she calls a recycle and it was very fun to watch. Here are some pictures of her at dance class in her dance shirt and three fancy skirts. What a star!

And last of all we ate lots of Popsicles and ice cream in the garage. See why?

Oh Baby!

2010-06-29T13:10:00.005-06:00

Charlie is five months old, and we just need him in our family! He gets more kisses than anyone I know! He loves Anna and Max a lot and gives them lots of smiles.

Dance, dance.

2010-06-29T13:00:00.004-06:00

Anna is taking dance classes and she just can't stop dancing. This was while we were bowling and she was waiting for her turn.

Strike!

2010-06-29T09:36:00.003-06:00

Bowling is a big favorite of ours right now, so a couple weeks ago when we had Grandma and Grandpa Davis stay over, we took the chance to show them our skills. Max beat us all in a not so close game. It was lots of fun to be together.

Family Dinner

2010-06-07T22:07:00.009-06:00

We have lots of fun every month at family dinner at my grandparents house. These are pictures of a game we like to play called "Colored Eggs". It involves a big bad wolf, colored eggs that run, and some that get flushed down the toilet and it is lots of fun. I'm glad we have a new generation to carry on the colored egg tradition.

We Love the Zoo!

2010-06-07T21:39:00.005-06:00

We met Taylor at the zoo on Friday afternoon since he had meetings in Salt Lake. We were too excited to take naps before we left so everyone was a little tired, but we held it together for the most part. Max wanted to get in with every animal. I think he took Taylor's joke about putting him in with the monkeys so that he could swing around with them seriously, and it looked like a lot of fun to him to get closer to the animals. Anna, on the other hand, was afraid of almost all the animals except for the penguins, and asked me what each animal ate--just to make sure that they weren't thinking she looked yummy. We brought a picnic, which I was very proud of, and had a great time.

We stopped on our way home and visited the Thompsons who are very special to me. It was the first time they had seen Charlie. I wish I had taken a picture of Grandpa Thompson holding Charlie because they have almost the same name. Charlie is Charles Robert and Grandpa Thompson is Robert Charles! We also got some more grape starts since our first ones died a slow and tragic death and, speaking of death, Taylor got some gruesome tips from Grandpa Thompson about how to exterminate gophers. We were very grateful.

Things Max says . . .

2010-06-07T16:09:00.004-06:00

Max can be sort of philisophical in a two-year old way sometimes. Today when I was feeding Charlie, he was sitting by me and thinking deep thoughts. First he said "Babies don't kick down people." then he said "People can put cool things in their pockets." and then he told me "People can buy candy when they are hungry." I think he's figuring life out.

He likes to start phrases with "I won't ever never . . . ." when he is in trouble . Like "I won't ever never hit Anna again"

Max also asks me a lot "Can I break this up?" and "Can this go in the water?" He loves grown up stuff like keys, magnets, calculators, colanders, etc. He asks me every time he sees me putting on my make up if he can have it--I'm pretty sure he's not wanting it to wear it, but just to figure out what it is and probably make a huge mess in the process.

One of Max's favorite things is toast and the other day Max was sitting at the kitchen table looking bored and I asked him what he was doing. He said "Just waiting for my toast to pop up." (so then I put some bread in the toaster).

I also think it's really nice that Max tells everyone who leaves our house "Bye! Me love you! Don't touch the flowers!!"

Iona

2010-06-07T12:59:00.005-06:00

We spent Memorial Day weekend in Idaho Falls and had a great time. On Sunday we drove out to Iona, a little area near Idaho Falls where Taylor's grandpa and great grandparents were from. It was really inspiring to me to hear about their lives and their trials and what amazing people they were. I am grateful to be connected to this family through Taylor.

Sunny Days . . .

2010-06-04T21:15:00.001-06:00

When we were in Idaho Falls over Memorial Day we got to go play at this playground we love by Grandma Sonja and Grandpa Kent's house! (Be prepared for lots of pictures)

More of Idaho Falls

2010-06-04T21:09:00.001-06:00

Idaho Falls

2010-06-04T20:50:00.000-06:00

We had so much fun in Idaho Falls a couple weekends ago. We were so happy for nice weather so that we could play together outside.

Anna's Stress

2010-06-03T20:53:00.005-06:00

Anna's biggest stess in life is loud noises. (those were the days) And as you may be able to guess if you know Max--this delights him. Her reaction anytime he yells, bangs, slams, etc. is what makes his world go round. It has been a bit of a problem at our house until yesterday. So Anna wears these now--some old broken headphones, and they work. See Max in the background blasting on a recorder, and yet she's still smiling. Now I just need some for me.

And here is Charlie because I can't resist a couple pictures of him. He's growing so fast and is such a sweet boy. I kiss him at least 4,000 times a day. Do you blame me?

Big Boys

2010-05-14T15:10:00.003-06:00

Big day . . . potty training. So far Max is doing great and I am so proud of him. He will pretty much do anything to be a big boy and we are taking full advantage of that independent streak. I think the advice moms hear the most is to enjoy the moment and I tell myself that all the time, but potty training is one where I give myself full permission to just get through it thinking the whole time "I will be so much happier when this is over." Not something I love. But I do love this cute boy in Spiderman "wunnerwears".

And I also love this big boy. Charlie ate rice cereal for the first time today. He watches me longingly whenever I eat real food in front of him and chews on everything now. It is time. Oh, we are growing up so fast here!

Growing Pains

2010-04-27T11:05:00.007-06:00

Sometimes it's painful to watch your kids grow. I didn't realize that. Max is sitting on the floor playing with his dinosaurs and his train and a Little Mermaid camera. He is taking pictures of the dinosaurs riding in the train and then doing their voices for them as they all yell "Thank you Max!" I want to freeze time and keep him just like he is right now.

And Charlie isn't a newborn anymore and he doesn't fit laying on my lap the way he did a few weeks ago. I'm afraid that I'm not enjoying every moment like I should be.

Anna was at the store with me and she saw a Disney Princess Magnet Board that she really, really, REALLY wanted. I told her she could save up ten dollars and buy it, and she tried really hard not to cry. As we were in the checkout line, Anna made one more last effort and told me, "It is the best toy I ever saw and by the time I save up ten dollars I won't even be a kid anymore!" And I thought that it really does feel to me like it is flying by that fast sometimes. Not all the time, but sometimes. I miss Anna as a baby already, and soon I'll miss her as a three year old.

I wish I could remember every hug and every word and smile. I know it is a happy thing to see my kids grow and learn, and it makes me happy. It is just surprisingly painful at the same time.

Golfing with Wes

2010-04-24T09:12:00.002-06:00

I know that my blogging is a little out of control, but I am determined to catch up so as not to forget the last month which has been really worth remembering. One major highlight was having my little brother Wesley here with us for a few days. I think I mentioned before how helpful he was--he was also such good company and we had lots of fun talking. Max and Anna absolutely adore him and try to copy everything he does. They are lucky to have an uncle like Wes who is willing to play and play and play with them. While he was here we went miniature golfing and had a great time.

Sweet Baby

2010-04-24T08:49:00.004-06:00

I am in love with this baby boy and I can't handle how fast he is growing! Charlie is such a pleasant, mellow baby. He lights up every time someone looks his way and he loves to cuddle. He is patient when Anna and Max are near--very near, and he smiles right up at them when they talk to him which they can't get enough of. I can't get enough of his adorable chubbiness and thumb sucking. He is a very loved in our family and we feel so lucky that he's ours.

Fancy Dinner Night

2010-04-24T08:14:00.005-06:00

I have been feeling the lack of some very basic table manners at dinner time as of late, so we declared a fancy dinner night--Sunday dress and best manners, which means no running around the table eating your roll, and no dropping your food in your drink and stirring with your knife, and no deliberate crumbling of cake or bread. (Max likes to crumble for fun) I didn't take any good pictures of dinner since I was a little busy being on my best manners, but here are some pictures of how fancy we looked. I wish I would have gotten better pictures of Kellie and I because Anna did our hair and adorned us with many necklaces and scarves--fancy.

The Starfish Drama At Our House

2010-04-24T00:09:00.007-06:00

Does this starfish look not-so-pointy? Yes. This story has just been begging to be blogged about, but I am behind in blogging (and life in general), so here I give you a copied and pasted account of The Starfish Drama at Our House from letters I wrote to our missionary brothers. . . .

"We went to the Bean Museum for fun, and it was fun. When we were ready to go, I let both of the kids pick out a sea shell from the gift shop--I thought that was very educational of me. Max picked a starfish and he held it in his little hands all the way home. Anna asked me on the drive if it was a real starfish and I said yes. "Is it alive?" No, I told her. "So it's dead?" Well, yes. She spent the rest of the drive home dealing with the fact that Max was holding a "real dead starfish". Later on, I went downstairs and found Max chewing something. I asked him what in the world he was eating.

"Um , me eat my starfish"

Get ready for this . . . He was eating his real dead starfish. He was chewing and swallowing his real dead starfish. He held up his real, dead, not-so-pointy starfish for me to see. I took it away, not sure if i should call poison control or google "I ate a starfish". And the unexpected part was that Max cried and cried and told me--"Me love to eat my starfish" I did not taste it myself, but apparently it was not so bad. He was beside himself for several hours, and we are still hearing the sad, sad story about how mommy took Max's starfish away and he loved it and he couldn't eat it. He's told on me to several people. . .grandma . .dad. . . in hopes of someone siding with him and his starfish that I am a mean mommy."

So there you have it . . . Max likes eating starfish. I'm sure they're salty. I'm sure they're crunchy. I'm sure someday it will be fun to tell Max this story of him as a crazy two-year old, but for now, oh yuck.

Bowling Night

2010-04-20T14:50:00.006-06:00

So we took ourselves bowling for family night a few weeks ago, and Kellie and Travis came with us (which was very fun and extra helpful). Anna got a strike and it was very exciting. She also cracked us up with her victory dance after every turn. Woo woo. Max took the game extremely seriously and, in typical Max-style, refused to use the little kid ball ramp when he noticed how all the grown ups were doing it. With Max rolling the ball himself it took a WHILE for it to reach the pins every time. He sat very still and watched till it hit them going four inches per minute, then he jumped up and gave high fives all around. Ten frames took us a WHILE but it was a very fun night. Taylor beat me, but just by 11 points, and I am all the way over it now.

Counting my blessings today

2010-04-12T13:47:00.007-06:00

One . . . I lived through the winter again--I love spring!
Two . . . Baby Charlie is a good sleeper, as far as babies go, and has started sleeping through the night occasionally. I feel so human when I get seven straight hours of sleep.
Three . . . I just shared a chocolate malt from Iceberg with my brother Wesley--the most helpful eleven year old I know.

Things to remember . . .

2010-04-06T08:37:00.008-06:00

Games. . .I love the games that Anna and Max make up together. The other day they were pretending to be Katie Davis and Taylor Davis--they were running around holding hands and telling each other--"We're going to be late!" We also love game nights--Don't Eat Pete with marshmellows, Simon Says games that burn more calories than running a mile (Max could be a personal trainer), Duck, Duck Goose, Red Light Green Light, and Mother May I.
Stories. . .I want to remember Charlie's sweet baby talk--he loves to tell stories. Max is also a story teller--I stand at his door every night while he goes on and on, ending every sentence with "AND, YEAH!" which is usually the only part of his stories that I understand. I eventually say "I love you!" and shut the door with him still talking. And Anna wants to be an author and an Indian when she grows up so she is also a very good story teller. Our very favorite books are "Where the Wild Things Are, Fancy Nancy, Pinkaliscious, How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight, and Wet Dog.
Songs . . . Anna and Max love to perform on our living room stage (the window seat). I spend a lot of time being the audience while they sing and dance. We love The Princess and the Frog Soundtrack, Jack Johnson's Curious George songs and Here Come the ABC's. We pretty much can't clean anything without some good music. And we definitely can't have naptime or bedtime without calm quiet music.
Tears. . . things that make Anna cry . . . when her Ariel doll's head popped off, when she has bad dreams, when Charlie got shots. Things that make Max cry . . . when he lost his birdie blankie, when gymnastics class is over (every week), when Charlie got his shots. Things that make Charlie cry . . . when he is such a hungry, tired boy, and when he got his shots.
Laughs . . . Things that make Anna laugh--Daddy, the way Max says purple, Max's knock knock jokes, Max's wiggle dance. Things that make Max laugh . . .Daddy and himself, Charlie when he burps. (we have funny boys in this family) And we're still trying to teach Charlie how to laugh, but we think the way he smiles with his tongue out is soooooo cute!

We Are the Dadises

2010-03-24T08:02:00.002-07:00

Anna says . . "We are the Dadises and we can do hard things. " (The v sound in our last name is a problem for those members of our family under three) I love to hear, though, that she knows that she can do things that are hard and I think Max is learning that too, actually I think Max was born knowing that. Some of the hard things we do right now include sharing, walking and not riding in the stroller, cleaning up all by ourselves, etc. Someday they weill do even harder things and maybe remembering that they are Dadises will make those hard things seem more possible.

Blessing Day

2010-03-16T12:26:00.013-07:00

I love blessing days. Charlie was blessed a week ago on March 7th--here is our happy boy looking so sharp in his little blessing suit.

Charlie with his mommy and daddy who love him so much!

I had to take a picture of his little coat tails because I couldn't even handle how cute they were.

And here are some pictures of family that came to enjoy the day with us. We win when it comes to family.

Max and Grandpa Bob eating lunch.

Max directing a game of PutYour Hand on My Hand with Kellie (Jamie and Travis)

Grandma Sonja and Grandpa Kent with baby Charlie.

Great Grandpa Kent

Grandma Judy and Charlie

Colby playing princesses with Anna--what a good uncle.

Grandma Erickson and Grandma Mary Ellen talking to Charlie

Grandpa Kent and Grandma Leita

Grandma Mary Ellen and Grandpa Guy

We love Charlie so much! He is such a good natured, loving, cuddly baby and we just need him in our family.

Once there was a snowman

2010-03-10T13:53:00.005-07:00

The fun parent, Taylor, took the kids out to play in the six inches of snow that graced our back yard for half of the day last Friday. They built a very friendly looking snowman. I took pictures from the window. . .

Max helped a lot--Anna mostly ate a lot of snow,
and then came inside to be warm and watch the progress out the window.
Good work team!

And here stood our wintry friend until it was springtime a little later that day and he melted into a little lump of snow in the middle of a whole backyard of grass.

Good Baby

2010-03-10T13:47:00.004-07:00

This child is chill, and I so love him for it. He has his newborn moments of course, but I when all his needs are met, this is how he spends his time. The only challenge is finding a safe-from-little-feet place to let him stretch out on the floor.

Presidents Day and Valentines

2010-02-21T19:39:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of our President's Day Weekend that we spent in Idaho Falls. We were feeling pretty brave and missing family we hadn't seen in a long time and so we took four-week old Charlie, Anna and Max up for the weekend in our new van. It was a surprisingly relaxing trip, even with a newborn, and it was so nice to have a change of pace for a few days and lots of people to entertain our kids and hold and hold the baby.

We were there for Valentines Day so we brought along some very attractive cupcakes to celebrate. . .
Anna also made a valentine hat for herself and one for Max. Nice sister.

I forgot to pack my camera and even though I realized it just a few minutes after we left we were NOT about to go back for anything. So here are a few pictures from Taylor's iPhone of us hanging out at grandma and grandpa's house. (Praise the iPhone!)

Max goes straight for the puzzles at grandma and grandpa's. He is a puzzle maniac. Not to brag, but he is pretty amazing at them actually. I am thankful that there is some activity that he will sit still for.

Charlie made some good buddies while we were there. Here he is with Great Grandpa Hal (Davis).
And another buddy--Uncle Casey.

Anna organized a complicated game of catch and was in heaven with how many fun grown ups there were who were willing to play with her.

As I've said before--we are very, very thankful for our families and think that being together is the best fun!

My Special Place

2010-02-20T20:09:00.006-07:00

It's just been one of those days (especially the last part of it). The kind of day that ends with multiple children in their beds crying loudly or mournfully calling my name.

Tonight we fought a little battle with Max called "We don't pour water out of the bathtub, ever."

And one with Anna called, "I mean what I say even if you are really cute, and then I still mean what I say even if you are crying the biggest tears I've ever seen."

And one with Charlie called "Have a pacifier. You cannot nurse every hour for an hour because it throws a major wrench in the workings of this family."

I felt like a really mean mom, and I fought a little battle inside myself, actually several. One of them was called, "Should I stay or should I go away from here?"

Luckily I have developed a coping strategy for when I can't go away from here, which is usually. If you are curious, I just take a little mental vacation to a dark, quiet, cathedral, yes, where monks are singing. And as I write that, it doesn't sound very normal, but it works. And while I am there, I take some deep, deep breaths and maybe eat some chocolate chips, and then I say goodbye to the monks and come back.