Photo Dump

 These are a little of this and that from the last few months for us. 

I was helping Josh's mom get some things ready for taxes, and Josh took the kids to the Aggie football spring scrimmage. Apparently there were some good deals on Aggie gear, because these were the pictures that I got from him. (Grant, above, all decked out for the game.)

 ...And Meili. Josh's reasoning? "They just looked so cute in the hats." They do. I agree.

 After 4 years of stalking Big Blue, Meili was finally brave enough to have her picture taken with him.

 Cache Valley had a one-day random snow storm in April, and while I was at work, and Josh was watching the kids, this is the picture he sent me on my phone. Apparently the pile of snow that I called a "snow-horse" was not good enough. It's hard to tell, but four giant piles of snow are the legs, with a big slab of particle board all holding it up; finished off with a giant smile of spray paint. And yes, the pink child in the corner is Grant.

 Meili had the idea that for Family Home Evening this week, she wanted to go to the temple and take pictures. I thought it was a great idea and I let her pick out whatever she wanted to wear-hence, the beautiful dress, and the cowgirl hat. What a goober!

 You'll see some pictures at the bottom of our child that is currently super-photogenic. However, this child decides to hug a fire hydrant in her picture. And that's just one more reason that we love her so much!

 Now that we're coming to the end of the school year, Meili's preschool teacher is asking each of the kids to be a Super Star, and tell the class a little more about themselves. Meili's Super Star day was pretty much the best day ever for her. Starting with decorating her bag. I just had to take a picture so we could remember that she colored it, put beads, Christmas decorations, and pom poms, and even added some stickers. She's got her whole life to learn the principle that "less is more" right?

 ... And don't forget that we covered the back in pictures of the family too. 

If her teacher had let her, Meili would have packed up our entire house in that bag, and talked about herself for the full two hours.

 We went to the park last week, and my children are beautiful. Enough said.

 Here's Meili's preschool picture. She's gotten so big this year and she has absolutely loved her class, and her teacher! Just hope next year goes as well.

 There's the always-photogenic Grant that I mentioned.

He's such a stud, he doesn't even know it, and it makes my heart ache how much I love that kid.

As for his updates:

At 15 months he was 33 inches, which is the 95%, and 26 lbs., which is 75%.
-Every time my mom sees him, she comments on how much he wants to talk. He's making sounds all the time, but most of them sound pretty much the same. So I would say that he has a word for "shoes," and "ball," (anyone can understand those,) but he also says something associated with duck, bubbles, drink, treat, blanket, book, Meili, car, no, dog, bird, uh-oh, and more that I can't think of. Some are definitely more clear than others.
-He knows some animal sounds but is picky about when he'll actually say them. I think he knows, dog, duck, bunny, fish, pig, chick, and cow, but will only perform like 1 out of 10 times.
-He wants so desperately to be helpful-in a way that I don't remember Meili ever doing. One day, Meili and I were cleaning up their room, and he automatically started picking up shoes and putting them on the shelf in the closet. As soon as I change his diaper, he has a one-track mind about making sure that he throws the diaper away in the garbage. He closes the door if I open it, and is right there everytime I am loading and unloading the dishwasher, as well as sweeping, mopping or vacuuming. If he spills something he wants to wipe it up. Please say that this is a personality trait that will last for life.
-He loves being outside-which I think is where his obsession with shoes started.
-If I sit down in his room, he automatically picks out one of his three favorite books, and plops himself down in my lap.
-He's still a mama's boy. He's doing better with other people, but definitely prefers me, and if I am with another child, he will definitely have something to say about that.
-Just this week, he's down to one nap a day, and Josh has been going with him to nursery for more than a month, and he's transitioning well.
-We've learned that his teeth grow 7 at a time. He got 7 last fall, and has had nothing grow in since. But in the last month or so, his fourth tooth on the bottom popped up, and several molars have broken through. It's made for a few rougher nights, but at least he gets a bunch at a time instead of one a month forever!

We love him a little more every single day! He's pretty dang sweet, and I think we'll keep him!

Soccer

 I would say that Meili's soccer this season was a little better than last year, beginning with the fact that she didn't get hurt the first game, Josh was able to come to all the games, rather than having to work through most of them, and Meili actually scored a goal in her last game! (We won't talk about WHICH goal the ball went in to, because details like that are unimportant :) And, the added bonus was that Josh was the coach for Meili's team-Eruption-and he did a great job!

 Meili's skills have improved, but we've still got a long way to the World Cup. She pretty much followed the ball the whole game, and even kicked it a few times in every game, but she's still not really aggressive to get into the herd.

 Zander, Lincoln, Grace, Meili, Kaylinn, Lola, and Alex.

Too bad my daughter is smart enough to actually pay attention to the fact that they spelled her name wrong. She said, "This says Mellie, not Meili."

Easter #4

Meili got hit with her sickness the hardest on Easter day, so some of the pictures are pretty sad. She did get excited about the Easter bunny, but then she spent a lot of the day sleeping. Grant was almost back to himself by Easter day.

 (Look at that face!) 

Meili has been talking about Big Hero 6 for at least a month now, and has watched it SEVERAL times since getting it, but if you ask her what she got for Easter, she will say "marshmallow chicks." Like that is the highlight of the whole day. And they're still sitting on our kitchen table-uneaten!

 Grant got a little lawn mower that blows bubbles, which Meili has also kind of claimed as well. But they do a good job taking turns at least.

 The Easter Bunny also left a trampoline in our backyard. (Yes, and still Meili only mentions the marshmallow chicks.) 

I had visions of Meili running outside, so excited, jumping up and down, smiling. This picture is quite what I expected. She's had more fun on the tramp since then, but the day of, she tried to jump for a few minutes, but it was cold, and she was still tired, and after jumping for probably she had a coughing attack that she couldn't get over, and asked if she could come inside to watch a movie. :(

There you have it! Another Easter in the books!

Easter #3

The Friday before Easter, after Baby Animal Days, I took my kids to my parents house. The plan was to dye Easter eggs with some of my nieces, and the next day was the Easter egg hunt at their house. Sadly, Grant had started to get sick earlier in the week, so it put a little bit of a damper on the weekend. Grant miraculously slept through the night on Friday even though he had coughing all day long. But when Meili got up the next morning, she was running a fever. All in all, we were able to have a good time, but after Christmas and Easter this year, I'm ready for a holiday with no hiccups.

Easter #2

We dyed Easter eggs the Monday before Easter. This year was a tie-dye kit which wasn't really all it was "cracked" up to be. (Ha! Ha! Get it?)

 I tried to figure out how to get Grant more involved, but Easter egg dying is tricky for littles. So he sat contentedly with his sucker, until he was done and then he needed a "ball"-(aka Easter egg) desperately. I gave him one, and he crushed it in his hands immediately.

Meili could just keep switching eggs from one color to another all night long.