Moira in the Cabinets

I think every child does this at some point, but frequency does not make this less cute :)

Moira and the Dishwasher

Now that Moira is a bit more mobile and understanding of the English language, I've let her explore more areas or be with me at times that I put up a gate before. Last night I was doing the dishes and she came in the kitchen to play with the dishwasher. When I turned around at one point this is what I found:

I guess she wanted some more broccoli and cheese soup!

Happy Birthday Moira!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY MOIRA!!!!!

I can't believe that my Moira is a year old already! We did our festivities early since Pop was here and needed to get home before the snow stranded him at our house. We ordered some pizza for lunch and then did cake and presents. Here is the proof of the fun :)

In her 3$ on clearance b-day girl shirt :)

Getting ready to blow out the candle (and tear off the hat)

Mmmmmm... Sugar where have you been all my life?!

She's a pro at opening gifts since all her Christmas practice :)

Can't tell from this picture who the truck belongs to, huh?

Moira is such a sweet addition to our family. Sweet and yet spunky. You would think that one would get bored with kids after the 3rd, but it's just as exciting watching Moira grow and do new things as it was to watch Grace. They are each one of a kind and wonderful in their own way. We love you Moira!

Flashback Friday

My baby turns one tomorrow. It shouldn't surprise me since she has stopped acting like a baby and is frantically trying to catch up with her sisters, but I still felt a shock when I thought about it this morning. So here are some pictures of my 3rd princess, Moira.

New-found skills

I love watching my girls interact with each other. It really makes it set in that these are 3 separate human beings with their own personalities. Here are some recent examples:

Moira has learned that she has a voice- and that she can take things from others. I have caught her taking away Liliana's 'Baby' and yelling at Liliana when she tries to take it back. She's very good at making her opinion known. On the brighter side, Moira also lights up whenever we pick up Grace from school and babbles excitedly and the other day she and Liliana were playing finger games together.

Liliana LOVES to talk. She catches onto social situations and repeats them whenever she can. Yesterday when we picked up Grace from school, she started to ask Grace all the questions that I typically ask her. "Grace, how was your day? What did you do today?" She has also picked up the positive response of "Of course!" So I might say, "Liliana, can you go pick out a book?" and she would say, "Of course!" Also, Grace asked her for something today and Liliana corrected her by saying, "How do you ask?" forcing Grace to say 'Please.'

Grace is learning how to read right now. It's fun to read her little books from school. She loves to read- especially fantasy books. The librarian at her school knows exactly where to lead her for new books. We have found her numerous times reading to Liliana long after we've put them to bed. She's also picking up lines from movies and lyrics from songs, which makes us think twice about a few songs on the radio. A few days ago she asked what "Gives you 'ell' means." Oops.

Moira's 1 year appointment

Moira went in for her 1 year appointment on Monday. She weighed in at 17lbs 6oz (fully clothed- she even stood on the scale by herself!) and gained an inch to be 28 inches. Her head circumference is 17.5 inches. She's only 5% for her weight, but that's an improvement from Grace and Liliana falling off the chart.

We do need to take Moira to see a pediatric surgeon. Her belly button has had a hernia since shortly after birth. It hasn't gotten better so the doctor suggested we go see a surgeon to check whether we need to operate on it to close it. Hopefully we'll find one that will look at it objectively and not as just another paycheck.

We're planning a small family party for Saturday- as long as the the snow doesn't keep Pop away!

How to clean a room...

...Just move the clutter to the bathroom...


This kids' common sense message was brought to you by Grace :)

Don't leave me!

It's fun to be with Liliana right now because she finally has a strong command of language, which allows her to tell us exactly what she's thinking. It's hilarious to hear the things that come out of her mouth because she's so honest. She's not afraid to tell someone that they hurt her feelings but she's also just as quick to tell someone how much she loves them or appreciates what they did for her. Lately she's been very attached to Kaylon and me, but me especially. When I come home from exercising or shopping, she'll run to me while yelling 'Mommy!' Then she'll say, "Mommy, I miss you so much. I need you. Don't leave me ever again. Okay? Promise?"

I'm surprised I've ever been able to leave after such a heartfelt plea!

Happy Birthday

If you ever want to feel loved on your birthday, go volunteer in your daughter's kindergarten class when she has already told the class that it is your birthday. You will get sung to and wished a happy birthday every possible moment by the cutest kids who want you all to sit next to them.

It was pretty cool.

Daddy Daughter Date

Kaylon has been teaching Grace the piano for a while now- maybe since September. As an incentive, he had her fill up a vase with candy she earned for practicing, promising her a 'her- choice- daddy-daughter date' when it was full. This past week she finally filled the vase! And boy did she have ideas for the date!

She decided that she was going to dress up as a snow pixie (this has changed over the months- first it was a princess and then a mermaid... we don't have the costume for a mermaid, so she settled on the snow pixie). Daddy was to be the king. This involved dressing up in a suit and wearing the crown she made for him that morning. I'm sure they turned a few heads at the chinese restaurant and the ice cream store!

I'm so grateful to have a husband who is such a good father- and such a good father of girls. He is not afraid of their bows and pink and princess scepters. I'm sure he'll be scary when they are teenagers, but in a good way. He'll be scary because he loves them and wants the best for them (and knows what teenage boys are like). But for now he gets to be the king, and hold open doors for them, and carry them in from the van when they are (pretending to be) asleep.

Steps!

Moira took her first steps yesterday! She didn't go forward but she picked up her foot and put it back down while standing on her own! Twice! I can't believe how big she's getting. She'll be one in about 2 weeks. Maybe she'll walk before her sisters did...

King of the Mountain

Liliana and Moira are starting to bond. Many of you won't be surprised to learn that they are bonding over common mischief.

A few days ago I walked into the living room to find the cushions off the couch, with Moira and Liliana taking their places. Moira had the biggest grin on her face- like she had conquered the world. I just had to laugh. I could just see it in her eyes how her sitting on the couch made her feel like a big girl. And in a way she is. I watched her get off the couch too- all by herself- by going backwards just like she should. I never showed her that, she just did it. (She can go down the stairs too, but that still scares me since about halfway through she seems to think that she can stand up and go down the 'big girl way.' That's when she falls.)

So today when Grace was at school and Liliana down for her nap, Moira stood whining at the couch. It took me a minutes to realize what she wanted, but then I boosted her up. She got that excited grin again, and then proceeded to push all the pillows off of the couch. It seems that she learned all too well from Liliana what you are 'supposed' to do when you get up there. :)

Mother's Intuition

I had a few extra moments today while Liliana was watching a movie and Moira was napping, so I decided to be a good mom and play Barbies with Grace. As I walked in to my room (which I let her use so that no little girls can get into her stuff) she had a weird look on her face. She was holding one of her horses and a brush full of its hair. I sat down and showed her how to gently brush the hair so that it doesn't all come out. As we brushed together, the thought popped into my head that when I first walked in it kinda looked like she had cut the horses hair because of all the hair in the brush. But I blew it off, figuring it was just how it appeared.

Then Grace jumped up and said she had to "check on Yoda's bed." Uh huh. Right. So I told her to bring me what she had put over there. She begged me not to be mad as she brought me scissors. I asked her what she was doing with them, to which she confirmed that she had wanted to cut the knots out of the horses hair. I reminded her she needed to ask to use scissors, and she apologized. I didn't want to ruin the mother-daughter playtime, so I let it go after that, and we continued to get all the princesses ready for the ball.

Course, sometime in there we heard a crash, followed by crying. I immediately knew what it was but didn't want to believe it. But I opened up Moira's door to find her on her floor in front of her crib- no broken bones- just a little shaken up. She recovered as I set right to work lowering her crib all the way. She looked like she was in prison, behind bars, as I closed the door behind me and made her take the nap she thought she had gotten out of.

I still find it funny that I know these things before I know them. Maybe that's where our brains go after we have children- not into our children, but into our intuition so that we can keep them from doing stupid things -or knowing when they already have.

From the mouth of Grace

"I want to go to a new family. You yell at me. My teacher doesn't yell at me. I want to go live with her." (FYI, i never even raised my voice- I just told her that if she didn't stop throwing a fit that I would send her back to her room.)

....

"I think we're a broken family. (where the heck did she get that?) Yeah, we're a broken family."

...

"MOM!!! ARE WE A BROKEN FAMILY???? ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?? TALK TO ME!!!! ARE WE A BROKEN FAMILY????"

When she stopped yelling at me (1 minute ago) I told her that we were not a broken family, that she was just mad at me, which was not the same thing. Then I asked her where she heard about broken families. She pointed to the TV and said, "Stitch." (Lilo and Stitch)

And all of this because I asked her to pick up her toys. I'm such a bad mom. :P

Stripper

Nearly every night when we go in to the girls room to check on them before we go to bed, we find Liliana stripped down to her panties. It started when I put her in footed PJ's, so I thought cutting the feet out would curb the behavior. Nope. I thought if she wore her new Dora pj's that she would keep them on. Nope. Talking to her didn't help. Threatening didn't work. And now Grace has joined in the fun. I'm debating using safety pins to make it harder, but I'm afraid of what Liliana would do if she managed to get one of them off. Scary thought.

Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam

In the LDS church, our Sunday School is called Primary. It is broken down into a nursery (18 month to 3 year olds), Junior Primary (3-7 year olds), and Senior Primary (8-11 year olds). All children who turned 3 last year started junior primary today as Sunbeams. And so there was one very cute 3 year old little girl in a fluffy dress sitting in the front row today, smiling and singing songs.

It wasn't Liliana.

No, Liliana was the new sunbeam running around, trying to get to the microphone, telling her teachers to "go away," and taking apart the seat covers that designated the different classes. Liliana was THAT child. I don't think she sat down on her own the whole time (and only for mere minutes on someone's lap). She did do better once they went to their classroom- in fact she was really excited to tell me all about it. Thank goodness I ducked back into the library when I saw her class coming back from a potty break before she saw me- it probably wouldn't have been pretty.

Course there was a sweet moment too. Grace was chosen to help with one of the songs, and on her way to the front she grabbed Liliana's hand and had Liliana help her. I love it when they love each other!

Mama

Moira said 'Mama' yesterday. She said it clearly AND she said it in front of Kaylon. He can't deny it. I feel slightly better. :D