Azure at 4.5

To celebrate she got to open one Christmas present (a new tradition). We also went to her new favorite park (Daffin). It's her favorite because they have a really steep slide that propels you quite quickly. I even went on it and was surprised how fast I went. She got to eat a fluffernutter with nutella for lunch. I made her brownies after dinner (sugar overload!) and we sang her "Happy Half-Birthday". We don't have any candles so she blew out the flame from a lighter.

Yesterday morning the first thing Azure said to me when she saw Vince was, "Vince is SO cute! I just want to marry him!" I think it's so sweet that she has so much love and adoration for her little brother. Though she did just throw a ball at his head this afternoon on purpose she admitted. Grrrr....

She hardly seems like a 4.5 yr old. More like a 6 yr old. She asks such thought provoking questions and is very observant. Last night she turned to me and said, "Could you imagine what it would be like to not have any bones in your body?" Then while we were watching The Nativity Story she said, "Could you imagine what it would be like not to have cars? Because they (referring to Mary and Joseph) didn't have cars."

Her reading continues to improve. She read a verse of scripture during Sharing Time in Primary with minimal help (I think just 2 words). She is so ready for kindergarten.

I asked her what she would want to do more than anything and she said, "Play tea party with you every day." Melt my heart. I try to play with her as often as I can. Though she does ask at inopportune times- like when I'm getting in the shower.

The girls soccer team at SCAD did a soccer clinic for one day that I signed Azure up for. It was with older kids so she enjoyed it more.

such concentration

Goooaaaalllll!

Her hair is turning brown at the crown, just like mine did at this age. It makes me happy mostly because having brown hair will accentuate the blueness of her eyes and her name is Azure after all.

 She is so tall. Yesterday she measured 43 inches at Target. This is a 4ft. tree.

She still likes to make silly faces; still sucks her thumb, but says she's going to stop when she goes to kindergarten. I hope she won't have too much anxiety about that.

She is ravenous with treats. The other day I gave Vince a fluffernutter. Of course he got fluff all over his face, esp on his upper lip. I heard him saying, "No!" and turned around to see Azure rubbing her finger on his upper lip to try to get some of the fluff off and eat it off her fingers. She had just finished her own!

Her new favorite movie is Monsters Inc.

She has a hard time when I tell her to get dressed in the morning. She whines that she doesn't know what to wear even after I give her suggestions. She insists on me doing it for her. Somehow I think this is my fault. Maybe I've been too critical of her choices when it doesn't match?

She has two toys that she still plays with almost daily and she received them when she was two! They are her blocks and a magna-doodle (writing thing). It amazes me that she hasn't lost any interest in those 2 things. Definitely worth every penny!

She has gotten really imaginative with her blocks and makes some cool creations.

Some days we still have a battle of wills but, mostly I thoroughly enjoy her company daily. I would be so bored and lonely without her. She truly is one of my best friends. Love you sweet Azure Marie.

Vincey

*UPDATE* Just today (Dec. 19) Vince put two words together for the first time! "My book." Yay for verbal development.

I'm gonna have to interrupt this catch-up with an update on the children.

Vince is now 22.5 months old which is kinda crazy to think. He'll be 2 in 7 wks!

Trying starfruit for the 1st time after church

• Starting saying ta-caw (the t has a very distinct sound like he's rolling his tongue which makes me think he might take to Spanish more than Azure has) a couple months ago and I had no idea where he came up with it. Then about a month later he said it when he saw a picture of a rooster. 

• Has started saying, "Mine!" Sounds more like "my". Let the terrible twos begin :(

• Plays best when I am close to him. Doesn't play well on his own. They say he does just great in nursery. As soon as I go in to do Singing Time the last 15 mins he won't let me go though :)

• He has stopped calling us "Mama" and "Dada" and now call us "Mommy" and "Daddy". He especially likes to say "mommy" over and over again until I get him wants he wants. *sigh* Sometimes, that is not so cute!

• He calls milk "meem". When he wants his cup of milk he says, "Ah- meem, ah- meem, ah-meem." He says it gradually louder and louder, crescendo-ing to a screaming, desperate plea.

• He can stack the nesting boxes very well. I like to watch his brain work as he meticulously lays down the largest box until he puts the smallest at the top. Sometimes, he'll make a mistake but, he always catches himself when he realizes the next box is bigger than the last instead of smaller, and re-stacks.

• Loves La-La (Elmo) and Signing Time and asks to watch one or the other at least once a day. He will dance in circles and try to sing and/or pant like a dog when he hears the song, "La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la, Elmo's world." So cute!

• Calls movies, "moo-mees" and blueberries "boo-bees". We try to enunciate the l  :)

•  Stills sleeps about 12.5 hrs a night. 7-8pm to 7:30-8:30am. 

•  Still the world's best snuggler! He loves to "check in" with me periodically and kiss my legs and give me a tight hug. He has such a strong grasp, it surprises me.

• He's finally wearing size 4 diapers now. He could have been wearing them for the past couple months, but we just made the change. He is not even close to potty training. Maybe 3?

• Depending on his mood diaper changes can still be a wrestling match. That's probably the most frustrating thing he does! How does one stay calm and composed when their child is rolling around getting poop on their feet and all over the place? I've tried distracting him with toys and singing songs. The only things that works is raising my voice.

• He can do lots of new signs including: cookie, flower, elephant, and more that I'm forgetting.

• He's a pretty picky eater and rarely eats depending on his mood. Except treats of course. He'll never refuse those. 

• He calls the moon, "moom" and likes to find it in the sky saying, "ah-moom!"  

• Sometimes he still whines and cries when I go up the stairs without him.

• After I scold him for hitting or taking things out of the trash he comes up and kisses me and says "thank you". He's a natural charmer! Sure love this boy. 

• He's had all of his teeth (except 1 set of molars- still to come) for the past 2 months.

Halloween

We saw these jammies at Sam's and just couldn't pass them up. (Like true Deanna fashion I price checked them first and then bought them the 2nd or 3rd time I saw them.)

Our little monster

Since the Primary Presidency was mostly in charge of our ward's Trunk or Treat/Carnival I decided to do a pumpkin balloon popping game I found on Pinterest from Martha Stewart. It was the hit of the carnival. Thanks Martha! And thanks Charlie for blowing up practically all the balloons. It makes me too light headed.

Of course they didn't have any orange only balloon packs left. And the only way you can tell it's supposed to be a pumpkin is by the green steam at the top. This is my feeble attempt at being crafty.

Azure had already been a mouse for the past 2 yrs so I thought I should get her another costume. She told me she wanted to be Clifford The Big Red Dog. I kinda like that she is isn't super girly and didn't want to be a Disney princess. I'm not really down with Disney princesses. The cheapest Clifford costume I found was $20, $10 too much. So, I casually mentioned it wouldn't be so bad to be a mouse again and she agreed!

Vince's bear costume was just a little too tight and the day of the Trunk or Treat was warm. Then I remembered that my parents had bought him a Charlie Brown romper. Totally worked as a costume.

I wanted to dress up, but I was a little too stressed about the pumpkin game to figure anything else out. Chelsea was a super cute Minnie Mouse!

On the actual night of Halloween it did end up being cold, the first year it wasn't over 75 since we've lived here! So, Vince adorned the bear costume for the actual trick-or-treating.

It was the 2nd year we went trick-or-treating in a real neighborhood. As we were going from house to house I said to Charles, "We are officially parents. This is the real deal." It was a milestone. We also had our first ever trick-or-treaters in our married life. A real Halloween to remember.

The let down was that the Beep-Boops didn't answer their door. Not sure we're ever going to find out what their real last name is. Oh well.

The loot

Catch up: Aunt Tally and Uncle Angel's visit

We just got back from our trip to New Orleans and Florida but, I am behind and am just now posting about Aunt Tally and Uncle Angel's visit back in Oct...

On our way back home from Raleigh we got to see Tally and Angel at their timeshare in Hilton Head. It was such a treat to come home (somewhat) and have them already here and waiting for us :)

Vince really latched onto Angel. They were best buds the whole week. If I left the room, it was okay as long as Uncle Angel was there. I sure could use you around to help me entertain that boy Angel ;)

They even treated us to a BBQ of beef heart hamburgers! Looks just like turkey burgers; tastes just a little different though. Not sure I'd recommend those. Yeah. Thanks guys.

We ate at Mrs. Wilkes and then walked around downtown. It was such a gorgeous Fall day!

We picked out pumpkins at the pumpkin patch.

Angel helped Azure carve one. I took the easy route and applied vinyl stickers to mine.

We made yummy treats.

We went to the Children's Museum in Hilton Head, and hung out at the beach.

This is his excited face

Thanks for coming! Can't wait till we see you again :)

Tree of Life

A couple weeks ago Charles and I watched The Tree of Life. I had read about it and watched the trailer so I felt like I knew what to expect, somewhat. This movie can be compared to a documentary. It doesn't have a plot. And it is long- 2 hours and 14 mins. I will be honest and say that some of it dragged for me. A couple times aloud Charles and I said to each other, "What is going on?" and "Huh?"

With that intro you might not think I liked it. But, I loved this movie. And I would definitely recommend it. Here's why:

Cinematography: Wow. The images shown are a lot like still life photography. The lighting is absolutely perfect. It creates a warm, intimate feeling throughout the movie. The sun is always visible shining through the windows.

God, Love, and Family: Once or maybe twice the mother asks the rhetorical question, "Where were you?" referring to where her son was during the creation of the world. I just love that a Hollywood movie with Brad Pitt and Sean Penn brings the gospel truth of the eternal nature of our souls to light. Of all the creations God has made, the family is the most important. The ways they captured love within the family was my absolute favorite, especially between the mother and her sons. To see what I do as a mother all day on the big screen being glorified as monumental and important was incredible. The books, the laughter, jumping on beds, chasing each other. These are the things that are important to a child and these experiences shape and influence them greatly. We are doing a great work!

Temporal things are spiritual: I also appreciated the contrast and comparison between the prosaic (washing dishes, hanging up laundry, watering plants, bedtime routine- brushing teeth, reading books) and the extraordinary (the creation of atoms, volcanoes, the sun, dinosaurs!) By small and simple things are great things brought to pass.

"The only way to be happy is to love. Unless you love, your life will flash by."

Just remember, it doesn't have a plot and it is slow and long and somewhat random, but that is the point I think. If you do see it, comment on this post and share your thoughts. I'd love to hear them!

*We rented this from Red Box for free. Here's some codes.

I love to see the temple

We went up to Raleigh, NC on the weekend of Oct. 22 to see Evelyn and Mike be sealed. Catherine also came down from DC and just as expected it was a wonderful experience. Their sealer was Elder Scott's brother.

Beautiful fall foliage. Perfect weather. Loving friends. Food. Football. A great way to celebrate an eternal union.

The kids ate a total of 50 fruit snacks (about 25 pouches each) and 24 applesauce pouches the entire weekend. Interesting diaper changes.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving here's a small sampling of things I'm grateful for:

• That Elijah the prophet restored the sealing power to Joseph Smith making it possible for relationships (like Ev & Mike's) to be perpetuated beyond the grave and last eternally. That this is indeed truth and not just wishful thinking.

• To be able to go to the beach in November and wear shorts. I really do like Savannah :)

• My body and that I am healthy

• To be able to stay at home with my children (though somedays it's hard to see this as a blessing :)

• Music and my calling as Primary Chorister

• Stacy's pita chips (we may or may not have eaten 4 bags in 3 days)

• That I am madly in love with Charles and insanely attracted to him (emotionally, spiritually, and physically) and he feels the same about me

• The sound of Azure making Vince laugh hysterically and watching them play so well together

• To have a wonderful group of friends who love and support me and like to be around me as much as I like to be around them

• General Conference talks- gems!

•  Seeing a whole array of yellow, red, orange, and purple trees

• To see azaleas blooming in the Fall!

It is good to be alive!