Terror in the Water

We got to do swimming again today. The last two days it has been way too cold and windy for lessons, but today was nicer. Nicer, but not quite nice enough. It was about 70, the water wasn't super heated, but at least there wasn't much of a breeze. I thought "They're Nebraska kids, they'll be fine." I also thought Ella would have more fun this time. I was wrong.

As you can see it was worth it, but Caleb and Ethan both had blue lips when we were done.

Mother of the Year Award Continued

Well, my bad parenting knows no bounds. We went to Wendy's with Eric for lunch after Ella's dance class (he took an early lunch to watch her, what a good dad!) I forgot Livi's formula container, so she munched on fries and a chicken nugget to tide her over. All bad, but even worse, I didn't buckle the safety seat belt in the high chair, AHHHHHHHH!

Dancing Queen

Ella had a show off day from the summer session of Ballet. It was only 6 classes, but super fun, and she showed how quickly she learns things. She talked the whole way home about how she can't wait to go to ballet again. The first clip Ella didn't put her arms out all the way and the teacher corrects her, she gets embarrassed and cries a little. Being type-A myself, I can totally understand. The second clip is her scarf dance. She was the best one, if I do say so myself! I am so proud of her!

Author and Illustrator

Ethan has always had a fascination with drawing. He also has inherited Eric's love of writing books. Last night he set up a little desk area on the table and went to work on a project. I wasn't really sure what he was doing, I just thought he was drawing like usual. 30 minutes went by, not unusual, then an hour, then 1 1/2 hours, so I finally asked what he was working on. He said "A book." I decided not to pry and just wait till he was done. It took about 2 hours 15 minutes, but I finally got to see the masterpiece. It is a book that has a top and bottom. The top of the pages talk about who are the moms of different things, like pokemon, babies, and Mickey Mouse. The bottom of the pages, when you flip the book, is a collection of songs, all but one of which he wrote by himself, that have to do with the same subjects. There is a song from Pokemon, a song about Olivia and Carter, a song about Mickey Mouse, etc.
I can't believe how good the pictures and writing were for someone who is only 6. He's got a great little work ethic, and I think we should be putting our energies in this direction instead of the failed soccer/basketball route.Notice the concentration. Notice the uncomfortable position he "sat" in for most of the time.The book is called "Poke-Moms" and "Poky Songs" on the flip side.This says "A Sudowoodos mom is a Sudowoodo" and "A Bonslys mom is a bonsly." They are pokemon characters, and if you know them, the illustrations look pretty close. The flip side has a song about Brock, a character from pokemon. It says "Broco can cook. Borco cooks the best. O Broco can cook O Brocko cooks, cooks the best. O Broco can cook." There was even a tune to it!
This one says "A Carter's (Cardrs) mom is a human (hyoomon)," and "Olivee's Mom is a human." I noticed Melissa and I look pretty similar in our pictures! Funny guy.

Livi's long lost brother Casey, or my baby is just like a golden retriever

How sad, that at every turn I think my baby is becoming more and more like my parents golden retriever, Casey? At first we called her the "golden retriever of babies" because she loved EVERYONE (except the lady at Hallmark, go figure). Since then (a couple of months ago) I have noticed more and more similarities:
1. Her her feet kick uncontrollably, making her whole body move when one of us enters the room. Casey is so happy when people come home is tail wags his whole body.
2. She follows the kids around the house. Casey follows the kids around the house.
3. Livi puts everything in her mouth, and cannot go 2 feet without something sticking out of her cute lips, mostly things I don't want in there. Casey cannot greet someone without a "present" in his mouth, and most things in there are things that we don't want him chewing on (ie scriptures, reading glasses...)
4. Livi tries to steal our food while we are eating it. Casey has stolen a sandwich my dad was in the middle of eating.
5. She is sad when you leave without her. Casey has doggy depression when someone leaves.
6. Livi thinks there are prizes in the toilet. So does Casey.
7. Livi tried to crawl into the dish washer to lick the plates. Casey is also guilty of that.
Should I be worried?

Swimming Lessons

Melissa found a great swim teacher for the kids, and we were lucky enough to get a week of lessons this summer (she's in high demand). This is our week, so the kids go every day for half an hour. They were SOOOO excited about swimming, and even more excited that Maddi and Caleb would be there with them. After a LONG talk about how they had to listen to the teacher (Mrs. Poole, which the kids thought was hilarious), and not spend the whole time goofing off with friends, we headed off to the lesson.
Ethan did great. They strapped on their little supports called "puppies" and jumped in the water. Good so far. Mrs. Poole took out Ethan and he did great, he even doggie paddled for a while with no help. Maddi and Caleb also did great. Ella, hmmm, well, as far as I could tell this is what happened: Ella was doing her legs just right, but when it came time to add arms she didn't quite understand what she was suppose to do. Mrs. Poole said to start her arms, and Ella just said "NO." Mrs Poole and I both thought she was just being mouthy so she let go of Ella's arms and Ella did what she said she would, which was not move her arms. Ella went under water and swallowed a little bit. She was upset and started crying. Being the supportive mother I am, I just thought "served her right for being rude."
Well, it turns out (once I got her quiet by promising her an icecream sandwhich, my good parenting knows no bounds) that she said "No" instead of "I don't understand." She really didn't know what she was suppose to do with her arms. Hopefully that little hiccup is all we have and the rest of the week goes well.
Just wanted to share my latest "Mother of the Year Award" moment of the week.

Standing Tall

It can't be. It just can't. Livi stood on her own on Sunday. I couldn't believe it. Today she was hanging out, just standing, then she looked around a little and tried to take a step. What in the world is happening? I can't have a baby walking around this house. We are only baby proofed for a crawler, and I just can't let her grow up so fast. Of course she didn't take the step successfully, but the fact that she wanted to take it scared me.
I have to go now. Eric actually wants to watch "So You Think You Can Dance" with me. He's addicted! Go Evan and Janine!

Livi's Turn

Livi finally got the bath she was dying for in the other videos. She normally has a shower with one of us, and doesn't get to play like the kids do. I put barely any water in and let her play a little, which she loved.

Measuring Up

I was looking at the kids yesterday, and was struck by how skinny Ethan is. I laughed to myself that he is probably skinnier than Livi, so I decided to measure the kids' arms and legs. I know it is a crazy, silly thing to do, but my days are slow, and I was curious. Here are they are
Arms:
Ethan 6.5 inches
Olivia 6.5 inches
Ella 6.25 inches
Legs:
Ethan 11 inches
Olivia 11 inches
Ella 12.5 inches
So I was wrong. Ethan and Livi are the same size, only he is stretched out and she is compact. Ella was so sad her arms were the smallest, but happy her legs were the biggest, go figure. In about 10 years she would run off to her room and cry. I guess I'll just enjoy them, no matter what size they are.


Here's how Livi felt about getting measured!

Scooter Livi

I thought I would just add a couple of videos today. I've been working like a mad woman on scrapbooks lately, so I get a little sick of looking at the computer (I've been digitally scrapbooking).
The story is Ella was taking a bath. Livi LOVES baths, and was very sad that she couldn't get in with Ella. I kept removing her from the bathroom, but every time I did, Livi zoomed right back. She would stand there, looking forlornly in at Ella, and bang on the shower door.

Better Late than Never, Maybe or "The 4th of July"

I am such a slacker, but I thought maybe I should post some of the wonderful pictures from our great 4th of July celebration. The Bagleys were nice enough to put up with us for the day, and we had a BLAST! We started out by all going to Ice Age 3, which was SOOOOO good, and then headed back to their house to hang out, eat, and eventually do some fireworks.
We had a great BBQ and I actually made potato salad for the first time. Melissa made these awesome fruit kabobs were you put marshmellows on the end, put them on the grill so the marshmellows melt all over, and then you dip it in a raspberry dipping sauce, can I saw AWESOME!
Livi had a love/hate relationship with this waterbottle. I let her have a drink of it, but it was colder than she expected and started crying. For the rest of the evening she kept chewing on the lid, then crying, then chewing on the lid, then crying. It was though she was chewing on it to hurt it back, then crying when she remembered the dreaded drink.
I think inside every man and boy there is a tiny pyromaniac. We set off a few little fireworks before dark to keep the kids entertained, and then for some reason Chad and Eric thought it would be a good idea to lite a giant dandilion on fire. I don't know what disturbs me most, that they did it in front of the boys, or the look on Eric's face.
The kids got to do the biggest sparklers I have ever seen. I think the girls were a little scared, but the pyro boys had a great time.
It wouldn't be a holiday without a funny face from Ethan. Is it just me, or does he look like James here?
Melissa had another great idea and got the kids glow bracklets and wands. The boys decided they were glow swords instead of wands, typical, and had fun waving them at anything they thought they could, or should, chop.
It maybe mother's intuition, or maybe the look on her face, but I think by this point Ella had just about had it. The smoke bombs had agravated her allergies, she's been to a movie, and played with friends for hours. It was two hours past her bedtime, and she was ready to go home. She even asked if she could sit in the car while we did fireworks (I wouldn't let her because I am a mean mom, and we spent too much money on fireworks for her to ignore them).

Crawling 210

Livi is on the move. Not just little baby crawling, she is a bonified trucker. Not only can she haul diaper across a room, she is also pulling herself up, and she even started cruising across the floor next to the couch while holding onto it. Craziness!!!! Our pediatrician was even surprised! It's great, and I am proud of her, but she keeps bumping her head and falling, so I look like an unfit mother with this little baby with bruises on her head. Luckily I have an inside man at Child Protective Services (Eric is their lawyer).

Secret Cursing

We were so excited to be able to go to Eric's family reunion this year. It was luckily right before Aspen Grove, so we were able to combine it all into one trip. That makes it sound easy. Here is what we actually did. We all flew out to California and Eric flew back the next day. I stayed for a week and a half with my family, then drove to Saint George with my Mom. Eric drove to St. George from Nebraska and met us there, then we all drove to Zion's National Park for the reunion. After the reunion we drove up to Provo Canyon for my reunion, and Eric flew back to Nebraska 3 days later. Eric then flew back to Salt Lake on Saturday (5 days later) and we all drove home on Sunday. So "combining" is really a misnomer. Crazy hard? Yes! Worth it? Yes!
One thing that was especially gratifying to me was seeing Ella ride an actual horse for the first time. She looks SO much like I did at that age, but she is 100% Stott in personality. Or at least I thought she was. Turns out she has a deep love of horses that I also share. She was in heaven. She never wanted to get off of Whiskey (the horse, not the drink)Ethan also had fun riding horses and the kids went as many times as they could. Ella managed to talk her way onto 5 rides, and Ethan rode 3 times.For some reason Alan, my father-in-law, went out to be one with the animals. Cheryl called him the "cow whisperer."Eric got to play volleyball, so he was super happy. It was awesome to see how good he still is. They kept trying to get me to play, but I knew what would happen if I did : The ball would come close to me, and I would completely miss it, they would all be nice on the outside, but secretly they would be cursing me in their heads. I know his family. You may think I'm joking, but you would be wrong.

Pigs Flew

For those of you who don't know every little detail of our lives (and why wouldn't you, we are so interesting! j/k) we use to have a dog. Eric got Charlotte while the rest of us were out of town hoping that she would help Ethan get over his fear of dogs. Well, 9 months later we had to find Charlotte a new home. Ethan wouldn't go in the backyard, we couldn't go on walks with her, I couldn't park in the garage without carrying Ethan across the yard to the back door. As much as we loved Charlotte, we just felt like she deserved a family that would be able to give her the attention she deserved. We agonized and cried, but we felt that Charlotte was stressing Ethan out more than helping him.
Needless to say this has made our trips back to California hard, since my parents have the biggest dog on the planet. Casey started out little and cute, but that scared Ethan even more than big dogs did. Nothing is scarrier than a little ball of adorable yellow fur. Casey is now the biggest, love-iest, nicest dog in the world, who wants nothing more than a little friend to play with, but Ethan would scream and jump on the kitchen counter whenever Casey came in the room. Poor Casey spent most of our trips in the backyard, looking woefully through the slidding doors, or secluded in the laundry room.
So present day, and I am flabbergasted. My mom is the "little boy whisperer." She was able to accomplish in 3 days what we failed to do after almost a year. I would feel sadder about poor Charlotte, but the look on his face in the picture below made all the pain (emotional and physical, ever carry a 6 year old while pregnant?) up to this point worth it. Not only does he love Casey, and Casey love him, but Ethan is so proud of himself. He accomplished something hard, and he knows it. Good job Ethan! (Phew)