Lately

It has dawned on me, that I now have three kids under three years old. Holy Cow! No wonder I'm so tired! A bigger house and a bigger family all within a month has required all my energy and focus to get things normalized as much as possible. I cannot say enough how blessed we have been since being here. Our ward is awesome! Our new friends and neighbors have really taken good care of us. There is a great feeling of community out here, and there's lots of people to befriend.

Stephen and I are just plugging along with the normal everyday tasks of working and taking care of the kids. I would love to go out on a date sometime soon. It's been a long while since we've been out by ourselves. Stephen has now picked up the art and talent of baking bread; he's become really good at it and really enjoys it (so do I). He is such a good dad; the boys go rushing into his arms yelling "Daddy's home!" as soon as they hear him open the garage door. I love it when he plays his guitar and the boys will go in the living room and dance and sing along with him. It's so cute to watch. I am just trying to figure out a new routine while keeping up with the housework and playing with the kids.

Zander is starting to become interested in his ABC's so we started learning how to spell his name. He loves to hold his little sister as he asks every time I finish feeding her to hold her. He's really good with her. He'll even wipe her mouth when she drools milk out of her mouth. He is now enrolled in a tumbling class! I'm excited to see how it all goes. He starts next week. He's all about balancing and doing flips and somersaults all over the living room so I think he'll be quite good at it. He no longer takes naps, and is getting better about playing by himself for a little while, but he still loves to be with people. I think he gets that from me, or at least Stephen thinks so. The boys are playing a lot better together as well. There are always squabbles here and there, and some days are better than others, but they are finally starting to hang out and enjoy each other especially at bed time when they're supposed to be going to sleep.

Lucas still copies Zander all the time, but he is really starting to become independent. He loves to play in water no matter where he finds it. I can always find him in the bathtub or at a sink or in a puddle. He can count to 10 all by himself, and knows part of the ABC's song. He loves to read books and snuggle with his turtle, and now he has a stuffed bear that is his "baby" that he totes all over the house. He takes good care of that baby wrapping her in a blanket and putting her to sleep and changing her diaper. Speaking of babies, he just adores his baby sister Hannah. He is the first one to tell me that she crying and that she needs me to feed her. He is always in her face giving lots of kisses and hugs, hand shakes, hello's, and I love you's. My favorite is when I' am holding her, he'll come up and give her a kiss on the head and announce, "I wuv her! I wuv her, mom!"

Both boys love to help in the kitchen. It doesn't matter how small or quick the task is, they want to help. They pretend to make pancakes and cookies at the stove, and play hide and seek in the cupboards. They like to play games with mom and dad now, and I actually love playing games with them. Some of their favorites are matching games, Go Fish, and Candy Land.

Hannah is four weeks old. I forget how fast the time goes when they are this young. The newborn stage is my favorite, and it's the stage they grow out of the fastest. She is such a beauty and so loved by her family. She is a great sleeper, sleeping 4-6 hours at a time. When she's awake, she is really alert and takes in everything around her. She's starting to give little half smiles here and there, and loves her mom to hold her. She's very easy going and calm as long as her tummy is full. She is such a joy to have as part of our family.