Gender Neutral

So, there was a show on Discovery the other night called 'Extreme Parenting'. It had extreme styles of parenting....one in particular was labeled 'Un-schooling'. Anyone heard of that one. Well, I really try to be open-minded, but this one had me quite flabbergasted. Look it up if you are interested...basically I think its lazy parenting and neglectful.

Anyway, there was another called 'Gender-neutral' and by the looks of the picture above...looks like we might fall into that catagory! Ha ha ha. Makes a pretty handsome Tinkerbell:) That smile pretty much melts my soul!

Multi-purpose...

...according to these kids:)

'Mustaches' is what they called them...I about dies when I turned around and saw this.
They keep me going, thats for sure.

better late then never...

so...since new years ive had this on my mind:

goals.

one particular goal.

i need to be a better friend...to my family,
to my already friends,
to my old friends,
and to my new friends.

so...there ya have it.

J/K

to elaborate a little...

in the past, before I decided to grow up, i was really flaky. so flaky that sometimes i wonder if it cost me a few really close friends...and it kind of makes me sick to think that i am the reason i may have lost out on friendships that i treasure. and...through the years ive realized that relationships are so important to make, have, and keep. also, i am really bad at keeping in touch. i know life grabs you by the ankles and sweeps you away from the real world sometimes but i need to make a better effort at keeping in touch with friends.

to make a long thought process short...i will try my best to do this. i will try to mend broken relationships...try to strengthen current relationships...and try to find lost relationships.

i love you friends:)

FHE, Family prayer, and Dad

So, I'm not gonna lie and tell you all that we have been doing FHE, and family prayer consistently...but we are doing much better. Probably over the last month we have done FHE every Monday...and can I say that it is hilarious. It lasts a total of 10 minutes, and half that time we are laughing. We try. We really do try, but really, the kids are too funny and their comments are so great.

Prayer is my favorite part. Rae usually opens our meeting with a prayer, and I generally peer out my half open eyelids at Evan...trying with all his might to be reverent. He folds his arms, peeks out his little eyes around the room, sneaks a treat to his mouth occasionally then quickly resumes prayer position. Only to do it again but this time he quickly gives his truck a little ride up his leg...all the meanwhile he has his eyes still just half way open and the arm that he doesn't use he still has folded over his small chest....trying. Too funny.

Then Rae ends the prayer and gets to pick a song. We have a short...very short lesson then Evan picks a song and says the closing prayer...and this is how his prayer goes:

"Hebanly Father...thank you for the food, and Raegan, and daddy, and mommy, and Mayci..."

and this is where the normalcy ends...he then can't resist and opens his beady little eyes just a little, starts to observe, and then says,

"and thank you for the trucks...and the table...and the babies that are Raegans...and Mayci's blankets..."

and on and on and on.

I can't help but laugh, and then he laughs and then we all laugh, and then we say Amen!

LOVE IT!

And yes, that is Shawn being the 'teacher' reading all the kids Barney before bed. Even Mayci enjoys the action. How cute.

Evan vs. Nemo

So the other day Evan and Rae were playing in the bathroom while Farrah was getting dressed. All of a sudden Rae runs out of the bathroom screaming that Evan had left a present in the toilet and sure enough he did. He and Rae were messing around and she was talking to him about using the toilet. Good teacher!!! haha So Farrah decided maybe it was time to potty train Evan. She has put it off due to a couple reasons and wasn't in a hurry to go through that training with a new baby in hand. After the incident with Rae she thought she would give it a try. She put him in some Little Nemo "swimmers" since we hadn't planned this and had no pull-ups. We brought down the toilet and he was sitting on it but just not doing anything. The morning passed with a bunch of attempts but no accidents nor progress. Well Farrah has to run up and get Mayci who was waking up and when she comes down Evan is panicking and with a pouty/scared face says, "I'm sorry Mom. I'm sorry". Farrah asks what happened and he replies that "I pooped on Nemo." Farrah tells him that's okay but you can see he's worried. She picks him up and lays him down to change his diaper and Evan asks, "Is Nemo Ok Mom?" Farrah couldn't stop laughing... :)

If you haven't been around Evan lately, you are missing out. He now loves to tell you that you are hurting his feelings if you ever say no to anything. Fruit snacks, gum, cookies. Today we were walking to the park and Evan was on his bike. Farrah got him a helmet that she says he looks funny wearing. While on our way Farrah was giggling to herself looking at Evan. He tells her to "Stop looking at me Mom. You're hurting my feelings Mom."

Cute Kid!!!

Lots of Mayci=Lots of smiles

Well, its been 3 months now that we have had Mayci in our lives...and she truly has added so much joy! She is now smiling...at everyone...and it is the best. She has turned out to be THE BEST baby ever. She had us going there for a bit though. She turned 2 weeks...and was full on colic! I thought I knew what colic was with Evan, but I found out he was just fussy:) Mayci would literally scream from 8pm to 3am...scream. Not fuss, scream. After talking to a few people who experienced colic babies, I knew it would end but I remember those nights thinking...'really, another 2 1/2 months'.

But lucky us, it only lasted one month and now...I can't describe what an angel she is. She now sleeps 10 hours at night...consistently. I didn't know that was possible either (I kept her in my room thinking oh this will change, but ended up moving her to her crib and still hasn't changed)! And she just chills. Shawn said last night, 'she seems different than our other babies' and I said, 'what do ya mean' and he said 'she seems more...' and I finished 'chill!!!!' Yes, she is sooooo mellow.

I have heard from so many people who have 3 or more kids say their third was the best. I wonder if this has to do with the fact that you can't pick them up the second they squeak and they learn to adapt, but whatever it is, I am one of those parents who can claim the same about the third child. I was the third and my mom tells me I used to sleep like Mayci and that I was a really good baby...if I didn't know this I might think something is wrong with her, but look how I turned out...beautiful, funny, so smart... :)

Anyway, I could go on about this new little treasure, about how my heart swells when I hear her waking from her naps just so I can see her big beautiful smile cross her face once she see's mine, and how I still stare at all her little features in amazement at the pure innocence she holds, and how I try to comprehend the unmeasurable amount of trust my Father in Heaven has given me with His most precious gift. It's overwhelming.

As busy as life gets, I am doing my best to soak up my kids and the special time I get to spend with each one of them. Life seems to move so fast...I'm just trying to slow it down and enjoy each step because before I know it I will miss constantly picking up puzzle pieces, sippy cups, binkis, blankets, trucks, babies, blocks...and will miss folding footies, and onsies...and miss sweeping up crumbs under boosters and high chairs...and so on. I know this day will come so I'm gonna hold on for as long as I can to 'the now' and enjoy:)

Tune in for a few more posts I have comin...one in particular I've been thinking about writing for a while now so it won't be long till Im back!

Mayci Jo Olmstead

Mayci is now 3 months and doing great. She is an absolute doll and joy to have in our family. Farrah is pretty cute too!!!