Cadence's 6th Birthday!

Cadence was so excited to go to school this morning. She was filled with stories of what she would get to do because it was her birthday: bring cupcakes, wear the birthday crown, get a birthday pencil! I walked her in to school this morning, rather than just dropping her off at the curb with her 2 dozen Tinkerbell cupcakes. It was a little surreal to step into the school hallway and watch her easily step into the flow of students without me. She's so grown up!

After school, showing off her birthday crown and the decorations we put up just for her (the balloons were dangling first thing this morning, but Aunt Jen had to tape them up before Connor pulled it all down)

Birthday cake. Yum!

She blew out the candles so fast I couldn't snag a picture

Opening Grandma Bobbie's present

We had to give Connor a piece of cake to appease him during the present opening ceremony. What is he going to do when there's no cake tomorrow?

Cheesy grin time!

Safety first! Showing off her safety glasses for her big girl present from mom and dad...

Practicing with dad with her new BB rifle. Learning the basics of aiming and safety. She did pretty well, except it was still a little too big for her. But when she aimed and let Daddy pull the trigger, she hit the target. ;-)

So, she's 6! It still hasn't completely sunk in that I have a genuine kid. Not a toddler, not a preschoolers, but a kid! She's excelling in school, she's making friends, she's learning a dozen new things a day, and she's doing 100% fine without me. *sigh*

Last Friday she got to do the "birthday bash" for all the kids with a November birthday in school, which meant she got to eat on the decorated stage and bring a friend with her. She invited her best friend: Nishi, which is a great story. I had worried that Cadence would struggle with making friends, but she plays with everyone and when their teacher was worried about Nishi not making friends easily, she enlisted Cadence to play with her and I encouraged her to keep it up and before I knew it, Cadence had a best friend. I'm excited to go to their "Friendship Feast" this Friday and finally get to meet all the kids I hear so many stories about every day. :-)

Megan's 5th Birthday

It's always a busy couple days when mid-November comes around and we have our back to back birthdays, but the weekend is upon us and Megan Ruth turned 5 years old!

All the kids enjoyed the streams and balloons hanging over the hallway door entry.

After getting ready for church, Megan insisted on posing.

We did the whole birthday cake and presents ordeal a little earlier than usual today, only because Cadence's present requires being opened before dinner, so Megan got to open hers before dinner too!

There's a definite pink theme for girly Miss Megan

She needed more than a little help blowing out the candles.

Opening her present from Grandma Bobbie

And squealing in delight over her present from James and me. When you turn the crown on top of Aurora's head, her dress changes colors.

Cadence read the instructions and Connor came over to investigate Hulk's newest girlfriend while Megan waited patiently for Daddy to get the doll out of its packaging.

Connor enjoying his sister's very pink cake.

Megan got an absurdly large slice, but, hey, it's her birthday!

So, that was Megan's day. Now she's happily playing out stories with her color-changing princess doll and soon we'll be cooking up her birthday dinner selection: hot dogs, beans, corn, and fries. I'd say "I can't believe she's 5!", but I totally can. She's matured so much recently and she's just as ready for school to start as Cadence was when she turned 5, more so, actually, because she's crazy excited after hearing how much fun Cadence is having at school.

She's seriously the sweetest girl. She lives to love, 100%. She is perfectly content to just shower love and affection on everyone around her, and she's just as excited about everyone else's achievements as her own. When Cadence and I get home after school and work, she's the first one at the door to greet us and she's learned quickly how to be a great big sister to Connor without Cadence around to fill that role.

Halloween 2014

Took me long enough to post these pictures, right? But Halloween was a fun event this year. Sadly, I had to cancel our "Zoo Boo" plans with friends due to car trouble (that is a whole new rant, but after a long weekend and a grand total of 20 hours in a mechanic's waiting room, the car is no longer making the squealing sound), but we did make it to our wards chili cook-off/trunk or treat. We also spent an evening in the elementary school parking lot jostling our way through for another trunk or treat, where we got a lot of dum dums and business cards, since businesses signed up to be the "trunks". At least we did get some balloon flowers and a chance to climb into the cab of a fire truck.

As for the ward trunk or treat, we got there on time, which means we were "early" and spent some time letting the kids run around before dinner was finally served. Then it was time to gather our pumpkin pails and go trunk to trunk. Without the overcrowding issue, I was able to take Connor out of his stroller and run wild. He quickly figured out how things work and had the time of his life.

The girls posing in the church's parking lot. Cadence was "Fancy Nancy" and Megan is doing her best Spidergirl impersonation.

Showing off her cat face paint.

A close up of Connor's costume. Everyone "awwed" over his muscled Spiderman as he strutted around.

Connor enjoyed the fruit of his labors. If anyone tried to even touch his pumpkin, he threw a major fit.

Halloween night, I was so excited to finally be in a neighborhood that actually trick or treats. This made it the girls' first real Halloween experience, because up until this year, their only trick or treating had been in the church parking lot and the zoo. Connor, who refuses to talk at home and insists on communicating with grunts, whines, and pointing (third child syndrome, I suspect), forgot himself for the evening and went up to each door to shout "tree!".

He only got to go once around the block before James took him back inside, and the girls and I explored a little further through the neighborhood.

Posing right outside our dressed-up front door.

Pictures & Captions

Our Book of Mormon reading chart. We have a family goal of finishing it together before the end of the school year. Once we do, there's a big surprise planned. It's a surprise even for James and me, because we have no idea what it is yet. Whatever it is, it will be AWESOME.

  

Pumpkin painting, because the kids and the pumpkins were too small for pumpkin carving this year.

Cadence actually painted a face on hers. ;-) Megan just painted all sorts of designs.

Connor got paint everywhere. We discovered the blue paint would come off with paint and water, but a blue stain remained. Luckily, baby wipes did the trick!

Dentist appointment!! Both girls were cavity free once again, but the dentist did remind me we'll have orthodontic bills rolling in eventually. Poor kids likely inherited my crowded teeth.

That's right, I'm hired! Made possible only because of amazing family! This of course segways into how excited I am for Robyn coming out in a few months (well, and Jen will be here for the holidays until then, yay!). Of course, Robyn was planning to come out before I even thought about taking a job, but super glad she's able and willing to help out for a few months until summer break.

Visiting the pumpkin patch. It was actually hosted by the same place I'll be working, though I had planned on going to this one before I even contacted the director of the preschool program.

Family picture, thanks to a very sweet woman who instructed us to smile and say "Cucaracha!"

Riding on the barrel train. Boy was I cramped, but the kids loved it. I might have loved it more if the guys in the background hadn't catapulted a pumpkin toward us. They were so focused on looking one way, they forgot to look out for us. It launched over 250 feet, but came less than 20 feet from us. A little scary, but all was well. They apologized profusely as soon as we pulled up to the "train station".

The girls in their barrel as we drove through the "woods".

Time for a generic update post:

Connor

Connor has had a few updates recently in this blog. His first day of nursery (first and only day, since we had General Conference then a sick day) and his 18 month check-up with a check-list of his milestones. His most recent excitement was teething. He had four teeth attempt to break through at once and they are finally ALL through, so no more teething for us for quite awhile. Thank goodness!

Unfortunately, we started some BAD sleep habits during his teething nightmare and I''m still trying to fix them. Essentially, my sweet boy who would read a book with me then run to bed, now refuses to go to bed willingly and we wait him out on the couch in a darkened living room before quietly transferring him once he's in a deep enough sleep. Yeah, bad habits, but I'm not sure how to fix them without a monster session of cry-it-out and I'm just not sure I can handle that. The boy is a pro at tantrums and can cry for 30 minutes over nothing even with me attempting to soothe him. If he actually has something to cry about... I don't think it will matter how tired he is.


Cadence

Cadence has lots of exciting updates. She is still excelling at school and loving every minute of it. She's still getting "purples" most days at school. She had her first "yellow" a couple weeks ago and was quite upset about it, but it was a one time thing. Every day she comes home with more stories and things she learned and stories she read and pictures she drew. I am eagerly awaiting the parent teacher conference so I can hear more about how she is doing and have time to ask the teacher a few questions. My biggest concern is her making friends. It seemed like she was becoming good friends with one little boy, but recently that seems to have cooled off. She's getting along with her classmates, bu I do worry that she's not making any real friends.

Her biggest achievement that I've seen is reading the scriptures. We've made it a goal to focus on our family scripture study, so Cadence has her own Book of Mormon and she usually reads one or two verses each night. I am constantly amazed at how easily she figures out words that I'm so sure will stump her.


Megan

Ah, middle child syndrome. It's something I have been keenly aware of lately. It doesn't help that this little girls lives for her brother and sister. I had a chat with her primary teacher at a Relief Society event and her teacher mentioned that all Megan talks about is her siblings in class. Then, her milestones are so close on the heels of Cadence's...

Megan is reading, though. As much as Cadence is self-taught, Megan is more so. Of course, she wants to be reading just as fast and easily as Cadence, which means she'll guess on a lot of words so she can "read" them at a glance, then grow frustrated when it isn't that easy. However, I can quiz her on Cadence's sight words from school and she can read most of them without a second thought. I'm collecting easier books for her and I to work on together and we're trying to review letter sounds so they're ingrained in her head. She still sometimes stumbles over vowel sounds and mixing up "y" and "w" and thinking a little "l" is a capital "I".

She is having trouble with the whole "friends" thing. She's never really had to worry about it before, always having Cadence to fall back on. It doesn't help that she's the only one her age at most playdates and only one girl her age in her Sunday class, so... I need to take up a friend on her offer for playdates. Her daughter is a year younger than Megan, but they're close enough it could be good for both of them. Megan would undoubtedly draw the quieter girl out of her shell and Megan would have somebody closer to her age than Connor to play with.

James and Me

"New" stuff is definitely a thing for the younger generation, but we do have a few goodies I suppose. James is continuing to work. We have had a few ups and downs recently, but that's the norm for life, right?

I have also actually begun looking for part-time work. With some family coming out to help us out, I've put some feelers out and actually had an interview for a part-time job at a mothers-day-out program nearby. Nothing official yet. I still have a telephone interview with the head of the program, but... It's an amazing opportunity and I am cautiously optimistic. Thinking long-term, for when I won't have help with watching the kids, the hours would allow me to drop both girls off at school, take Connor to work with me (he'd be enrolled), work, pick the girls up from school and go home for the rest of the afternoon with my family. It would give Connor the socialization he's used to once his sisters are no longer around, and I'll get some socialization too. So, wish me luck. ;-)

Spiderman at the zoo

When we go the email that the Houston Zoo was having a special visit from Spiderman and Captain America, James and I knew we wanted to take the kids. Connor and Megan had recently discovered an old-school Spiderman cartoon on Netflix and all the kids have an interest in superheroes right now, thanks to the recent Marvel movies.

Knowing the zoo would likely be crowded, we tried to get in early. With a later-than-wanted start, we managed to get there right as the zoo opened and we still had to park in the back parking lot. Even with a beeline to the meeting place, we had an almost 30 minute wait to see the masked duo and we were the lucky ones. By the time we had our picture done and left the building, the line was twice as long and on our way out of the zoo it had doubled once again.

The moment Connor caught sight of Spiderman, he demanded my attention and pointed him out. He then stared at the spot, waiting for the people to move so he could catch yet another glimpse.

Once we were at the front, he got a little shy. Spiderman was great, crouching down and interacting with him. Connor still wasn't sure what to make of them, though he couldn't stop watching.

The girls were equally excited to meet them, giggling and giving them high fives. By the time we took the picture, Connor had lost interest and was walking away, so I had to jump in. Of course, once we stood next to Spiderman, he couldn't stop grinning at his new hero.

Once the visit was over, we wandered to some of Cadence's favorite exhibits and the girls got to show James everything.

And, as always, a sidenote: Today was Connor's first day of nursery. It would have been last week, but that was Stake Conference, so this week James dropped him off (learning from past mistakes). I hovered in the hallway hoping for an immediate update and kept peeking through the windows before I finally had to go to where my class waited for me. James did peek in and assured me all had gone well, spurring exclamations from my small group of teens over his beardless face. I did my best to not rush to pick him up afterward. It wasn't that I missed him, it was actually nice to listen to the Relief Society lesson and not have him attempt to dive off the folding chairs for fun. Mostly, I wanted to hear how he had done from his new teachers. As it always goes, they were all smiles and raved about how sweet and quiet he was (that made me smother a laugh).

And, of course, the nursery leaders did mention how much they loved his little grin. Look at all the attitude conveyed in that smile. ;-)

The Zoo... again? You betcha!

Making the most of our zoo membership before it expires next month (Boo at the Zoo will happen before it expires, so we won't miss anything if I don't get the chance to renew it before that happens). We've actually done two separate trips since the beginning of the month. The majority of the pictures are from our visit today, which was made during moderate temps with a nice breeze. The first two pictures are from our more daring venture, when it was so humid I was mentally pleading with Mother Nature to just make it rain already (it finally did on our way home and then for the rest of the week).

At the elephant baths. The kids were fascinated by the baby elephant (8 months old now!) and the tricks the zookeepers were coaxing the elephants into doing.

Can you tell how hot it was from Megan's pink cheeks and damp hair?

Staring at the great hornbill. Connor claimed free reign of the zoo for the first half of our visit.

I've been making a conscious effort to be in more pictures with the kids, thus turning Megan into the photographer for a bit.

Knowing what was next, Connor launched himself from the stroller and ran for the drums. I had to drag him away.

Another inclusive picture. Too bad you can't see the chimp.

Climbing all over the rhino cutout.

I needed at least one of Megan and I, so here's a selfie. I love Megan's smile!

Getting to pet a baby alligator. We also got to pet 2 types of lizards and a snake. Quite adventurous!

We also got to wander through the "big bugs" exhibit, since it was free today. No pictures, since Connor had worn himself out by running willy-nilly through the zoo and Megan was too eager to move on to the next bug each time I stopped to fish my camera out.

For a quick general school update for Cadence (since I know this is how several family members keep up to date with our family going ons): She's doing SO well! Any concerns I might have had are gone. Behavior is reported daily, with purple being excellent, green being default/good, and then the yellow, orange, red for misbehavior. Cadence's daily behavior record has significantly more purple than green. She is loving school and I've had a recent reminder how lucky we are to be in a school that does more explorative learning than non-stop worksheets in kindergarten. Daily Cadence goes to PE, music, art or the library, and she also does "workstations" in her class daily. Some of the stations are worksheets, but others are cutting, coloring and pasting a book on that day's subject, while others involve building with blocks as a group or walking around the room with a clipboard to write down words they see or even just an "art table", where they're given basic supplies and free reign.

I've filled out the paperwork to have her tested for GT (gifted track). She'll be tested at some point throughout the year and then we'll get results in April. It feels vain to be nominating my own child. Doesn't every parent know their child is brilliant?

18 month stats

It's just been one of those weeks, ya know?

We'll start with the happy stuff. Connor is 18 months! Unfortunately, his first day of nursery was trumped by Stake Conference, so his first day of nursery has been pushed to next week. Though, to be honest, he's already gone once. I subbed for the second half of junior nursery and let him wander around. He was perfectly fine. I imagine as long as we have James do the drop-off, he'll have no issues adjusting. Toys, snacks, and other kids? What's not to love? All it's missing is a pet of some sort.

His check-up was first thing yesterday morning. I have yet to switch to a pediatrician closer to our new home, though I have officially decided the distance is too far. I will be switching the girls for their annual check-ups in November. However, I will continue taking Connor to the current pediatrician for his 2-year check-up due to his heart murmur. The pediatrician is not concerned, but did tell me if it is still there at 2 years, she wants to refer him to a cardiologist and I'd like to see that through. The girls' heart murmurs had healed themselves by their first year, so...

Despite starting out as Chunky Charlie, our stubborn toddler has slimmed down and is pretty much the same size as his sisters. A half inch shorter than Cadence at this age, but the same weight.

Height: 32.5" (50th percentile)
Weight: 23lbs (25th percentile)

His physical milestones are above and beyond. He keeps up with the girls on the playground, climbs over everything (we had to take the girls' bunk beds apart because even blocking off the ladder didn't work). He's been wielding a spoon successfully for quite awhile (pudding has been really inspiration for him). He even puts on his own shorts and sandals, though sometimes his legs end up in the same hole.

The only frustrating point is talking. He'll boss Beau around like there's no tomorrow, but ask him to use words to communicate with people and all he does is "ma!" and "ugh!" while pointing or yelling. However, he understands most of what we tell him, so I'm chalking it up to his stubbornness and figure he's just saving up words and once he talks, he'll surprise us with how quickly he picks them up.

*

Cadence also went to the doctor yesterday. We got a notice that her immunizations were not up to snuff, since two of her shots were given a week earlier than acceptable (had to be given after her 4th birthday or she needs an extra one). The doctor was most apologetic, to the point it started to get awkward, because it's something she and her office are aware of and are usually on the ball for. She claimed this was the first time in almost ten years that she's had to give the 4th shot, because they always schedule the 3rd one for after 4th birthdays.

Either way, Cadence had to get the shot. Luckily, they were able to combined both needed vaccines into one shot and, despite crying about it as we drove to the doctor's, Cadence put on a brave face and only whimpered a little during the actual shot. My big, brave girl!

We also all got the flu vaccine, except for Connor. We'll have to take him in later once they have the one for under 2. Megan wasn't thrilled with it, but I did mine first (nasal vaccine for the win!) and then she got hers.

Car Woes

Intermittently for the past year or so, my car would make a gurgling-type noise while decelerating or idling. It was ignored initially, because it happened rarely. But, as things tend to do, it gradually got worse until I realized it was doing it more often than not. This became more obvious as I did a lot of idling while dropping Cadence off at school. Finally, it grew from irritation to concern and after the guys at the Jiffy Lube (oil change and state inspection appointment) were clueless over it, I went to google. It was several days of trying various combinations and combing through forum posts and maintenance articles.

I finally found a youtube video that sounded similar to my engine and blamed the IAC valve. I had already been considering this, even though most complaints about the valve involved a different noise complaint (a whining/humming sound). We opted for the cheap fix first: take the piece out, clean it out and see if it made a difference.

Oh, it made a difference all right. The sound got worse. Instead of happening most of the time, it happened every single time. I spent 2 days hating my car before I returned to google and confirmed cleaning the valve was an option, but most of the time didn't work. So, saying a prayer and going on a hunch, we put the money into the replacement part.

Once we compared the new part and the old part, we realized the valve was most definitely the problem. The rod is most likely not missing, it's probably just so gummed up, it's stuck out of sight. Either way, once the new part was in, my engine was so quiet at idle during this morning's drop-off at school, I kept having to roll down my window to listen for my normal V8 rumble.

Of course, now I can hear all the other squeaks and sounds the engine is making and I can't remember what's "normal", because all I'm used to anymore is the loud gurgle (made from air vibrations in the air intake system, specifically resulting is loud vibrations throughout, most strongly felt/heard at the air filter housing).

I am bummed I didn't get a picture of Connor. While James and I tinkered with the car, he came out and started touching the engine cover and got adorable smudges of car gunk all over his hands and face. I tried handing him a wrench to grab a picture, but he wouldn't sit still.

The dog also got my on my crap-list while we were fiddling with the car. The first time, he got in the front yard with Connor and then saw a cat. I basically threw Connor to James and sprinted after him. He hadn't gotten far before he found people, forgot the cat and cornered them in their truck. When I called for him, he ran straight to me and I dragged him home.

I obviously didn't learn my lesson, because two days later, when I was tinkering again, Connor opened the kitchen door to let both of them out into the garage (I'd left the garage door open so I could hear the kids while I was in the driveway). Same cat, same problem. I sprinted down the block once again. This time when I called for him, Beau realized I was mad and ran to another truck to beg them for their protection from my wrath. They betrayed him in the end, holding him so I could drag him back once again.

The car tinkering is not quite done. I want to clean out the throttle, just for good measure, and James has plans to change my brakes this weekend.

Also trying to decide whether or not to swing by the Jiffy Lube and tell them what the problem was so if they encounter the problem again, they can offer a suggestion to future customers.

My birthday

Having kids makes my birthday a rather quiet affair, at least when compared to theirs. However, the girls have been impatiently counting down to my birthday ever since Cadence started school (they may not understand how far apart the days are, but they DO understand the order of things. For example, they know the next big thing is Halloween).

The girls, super-sweet Megan specifically, spent all morning telling me "happy birthday" and coloring pictures for me. Megan even used her budding reading skills to write "Mommy, happy birthday" completely unprompted, though the concept of words being written/read left-to-right is still optional in her world, probably because being left-handed, it's easier to write "backward".

Turning 29 was not a huge deal. As I've mentioned to lots of people, 29 actually seems like a young number when you add in my 3 kids, at least in this day and age. I know I'm not the youngest person to have children numbered/aged like mine, but I am actually one of the youngest ones I associate with. However, to make me feel "old", we gave Connor his first haircut. I'd been debating it for awhile. The hair was uneven, several inches long behind one ear, and not behind the other. So, we grabbed James's hair clippers and buzzed it down to a reasonable 3/4" all over. In truth, he didn't look too much older when we finished. He actually reminds me of his 9 month pictures, since the boy hasn't really changed much since then, except his hair and height. :-P Still, he's super cute.

As for my birthday celebration itself? Saturday afternoon I splurged on a haircut that wasn't at Supercuts or Great Clips and added in some highlights. I also got a 2-hour break from parenting, which is nice in its own way. Currently, I'm fretting over how clustered/bright some of the highlights are, but I've been assured it should tone down in a week if I can just wait it out.

Finally, Sunday, we had the missionaries over for dinner and treated them out to steak and sausage, along with some roasted potatoes and steamed broccoli. The whole night was rounded out with a tasty layered cheesecake, regular on bottom, pumpkin on top. There was concern it wouldn't turn out when Connor turned the oven down on me and I didn't realize it until I thought it was done cooking. Luckily, overnight in the fridge allowed it to set up and it was delicious.

Heh... gotta love how a post about my birthday is 90% about the kids. Life as a mom, I suppose. :-)