April is 2 months old!

The past 2 months have really flown by! April is an absolute angel! Honestly. The best little happy baby ever. She really does complete our little family. I can't imagine life with out her. She just fits right in with our family. I thought by now the "novelty" of a new baby would have worn off with the kids. But it hasn't at all. The kids are all infatuated with her. They fight over who gets to sit by her in the car, they argue over who gets to talk to her or hold her. I love it. She is holding her head up really well now. The Doctor said he was impressed and usually babies can't hold their heads up that well until they are 4 months old. Tummy time isn't her favorite but the kids get a kick out of watching her roll over constantly. They just roll her right back over and think it's so funny that she has mastered the skill of rolling over from tummy to back. She is nursing extremely well, probably my best nurser so far eating still eating every 2-3 hours. She is a pretty good sleeper too. I've only had a handful of "all-night" good night rests. But even on the nights she's up every 2 hours she goes back to sleep fairly well. Not very fussy or cranky.

She really is very happy all the time even in her sleep she sleep she laughs and smiles. (Her fussy time of day is usually around 4-6pm). She is cooing and talking so much now. It's my favorite. I love when she hears my voice and I can tell she is looking for me. When our eyes meet her eyes just light up. She really does make my heart swell. Ron is in love too. The other day I heard him talking to her and telling her "I'm so glad mom talked me into you!"

Her stats:
10 lbs. 15 oz.
22.5 inches long
50% all around

April and her adorable cousin Kendalyn! (Future Besties!)

Callie's Dance Recital

Callie has been taking Dance this whole school year and finally had her dance recital today! Yesterday was the Dress Rehearsal I was able to video record it up close. The Dress Rehearsal was from 9-11am at Skyline High School Auditorium. It was hot and a little miserable. The A/C must have not been working. Blah. Next year I'm going to have her more dolled up for the rehearsal because the actual recital our seats were terrible and I could barely see Callie. After the rehearsal yesterday we went swimming. While at the pool Callie decided to head back towards our pool bag for a snack. (This is a common reoccurring event with Callie at the pool. Which is why I always keep our pool bag stocked with snacks so she is well fueled.) As I'm sitting in the pool talking to my friend Jenessa and watching Callie I notice as she starts walking back she is talking to herself and pauses for a moment. She then proceeds to perform her entire dance routine poolside as if she was on stage. It was the cutest thing ever and I wish I could've recorded it.

This was taken picture day with her good friend Lacey.

The actual recital was a bit of a blur. I got to hang out with Callie and her friends back stage for a little while before the performance. The AC still wasn't fixed so that was a little uncomfortable. She  did great. Even from my seats way back I could see her enthusiasm. 

I'm so proud of my little girl. I was so nervous that she would get stage fright but she rocked the stage. When I went up to get her after the performance she ran up to me with a big smile and curtsied. It was adorable.

Swim Team

The Boys first summer Swim Meet was held tonight. I was a little nervous for them but also really excited. They had "time trials" on Wednesday and I was so impressed with Mason's swimming. He looked like he was really trying and pushing himself. He was placed as 2nd swimmer on the relay team which means he got the 3rd fastest time on his team! This week I purchased him some "Jammers" the tight swim shorts and he begged for a swim cap. I obliged (a little begrudgingly) and I just love how cool he thinks it is!

Noah did great too. He is improving with his swimming, in the just the past couple days I noticed him coming up for air off to the side more instead of coming up and "doggie paddling" for a while. When I was buying Mason some swim shorts I could tell Noah was really excited and wanted a pair too. I told him he didn't need a pair since we had an old pair from when Mason was his age. Poor Noah always gets Mason's hand-me-downs and he rarely complains. So I bit the bullet and spent another $26 on Jammers for Noah. I'm so happy I did too. He sincerely thanked me for them at least 3 different times that day. How can I ever say no to that face?!?

Both my boys NEVER complain about getting ready or going to swim team. I love that my kids love the water and are good sports about this. Me on the other hand I complain plenty. Sitting in the heat for 2 hours a day, 4 days a week and then weekly swim meets in the blistering sun at 6pm. Nursing my baby in the Pool restroom is an interesting experience as well! YUCK! But it's worth it when I get results like this:

Crazy Mom Days

I've done this before but I want to remember when I'm old and have forgotten everything. I want to remember the crazy mom days of little kids involved in good fun activities. Today was insane!
5am Baby April woke up and I nursed her
5:30am I went to the gym
9am I dropped Mason off at swim Team
9:30am took Callie to dance rehearsal
10am dropped Noah off at swim team and picked Mason up
10:15am took Mason to Music Theory
10:30am picked Callie up from Dance
10:45am picked Noah up from Swim team
11:30am picked Mason up from Music theory

Most of my mornings aren't this bad. I don't like to just drop my kids off at swim. I like to stay and watch even if it is a thousand degrees outside. Yuck. I also try to plan my kids extracurricular activities around my friends and their kids playing the same sport. This way I have people to socialize with and I have back ups for driving/supervising. Today all my "back-ups" were unavailable. Which is why my morning played out this way. Luckily dance is now over for the summer and we can just focus on swim.

April's Baby Blessing

Today was simply amazing. I can't put into words how great I feel and how smooth today went. April slept incredibly last night. I couldn't believe it when I woke up at 6:45am!!! Felt so good to sleep in. Not sure if that much sleep at once was a fluke or what but, I will take it! We have 1pm church and I have mixed feelings about that. I feel like I spend all day prepping for church. But I also think that it feels more like "the Sabbath" for longer. When we have early church it seems like it's easier to come home change clothes and the Sabbath day is over. So I do like that my Sunday's seem extended. Plus I have lots of time to get 4 kids ready for church. Today, Ron only had one meeting before church so it was nice to have a little extra help.

April's Blessing

April was very calm and sweet during Sacrament meeting today (actually during all 3 hours of church). I was nervous about how she would be. She didn't eat too great before church. I felt like I was force feeding her to time it right. She was a perfect little angel for her Blessing. So sweet, calm and alert. My brother Nathan told me that during her baby blessing she reached down and held his hand for the whole thing. He had never experienced that before. Ron blessed April with joy and safety in living the gospel. He told her to stay close to her mother and Grandmas. I thought this really sweet considering she was named after her Great Grandma Julia. He spoke of her being an example to others. I like to think about the kind of person she will be. I picture this sweet little brown-eyed brunette going about quietly doing good. 

Because he was conducting Ron bore his testimony in Sacrament meeting. He got choked up a couple times speaking about our family and having April. It was a little bittersweet. (I've honestly never seen him cry) I was surprised when he talked about not really being ready for a fourth child but how glad he was that I had pushed for it. He spoke about looking at pictures of Mason, Noah, and Callie when Callie was a baby. Those pictures reminded him of the joy that comes from adding another sibling. I love listening to him up on the stand.

I love this little crazy family of mine! 

A Love for Reading

It's hard to admit but I am not an avid reader. I consider myself doing good if I can squeeze in my daily scripture study (and even that is usually while I'm multitasking and exercising on the elliptical...) I know I'm pathetic. But my kids on the other hand for some reason all LOVE books. The library is practically Disneyland to my kids. Noah and Mason recently received their own library cards and they think that is SUPER cool. They take it very seriously. I love it. Both boys are becoming quite the readers and I love that too! Noah really enjoys reading "Informative books" as he calls them, and then will write about what he has read in  his journal. At school the last couple months they have kept track of how many books they have read. The kindergartners get a ribbon and metal if they reach 100 books by the end of the year. Noah got to 193! I'm so proud of him. Mason, Noah and Callie are all constantly reading to April and I've managed to catch some of it on video.

I'm not sure where they picked up this love of reading (like I said I'm not much of a reader)... I figure someday I will have time to read. For now, I just really enjoy watching my kids read and reading to my kids.

Let's Play Music

Mason graduated Let's Play Music this weekend. I came home from his concert on such a high. Mason LOVES music and he definitely showed it in this recital. I keep going back to my phone to watch the video clips I took of him performing, both singing and playing the Piano. I'm amazed at all my children's abilities and mostly their level of confidence. I don't think I was that confident at that age. being up on stage gave me butterflies and made me really nervous. Mason shines on stage! I can't believe I almost didn't sign him up for this. My good friend and next-door neighbor is their teacher. I think Let's Play Music has instilled a love of music in my kids. It has helped them gain an ear for music and started basic piano skills. I will admit piano practice wasn't always easy. There were times I wanted to drop it (I hate the fighting and arguing over music). Mason at times would only want to practice the music he already knew. I'm glad we stuck with it and I hope we can figure out piano practicing in the future. He really does seem to have a knack for the piano. I'm really sad I forgot my nice camera but thank goodness for camera phones.

Noah cracks me up. Before he actually started the Let's Play Music program I had quite a few conversations with him about starting music. EVERY time we talked about it he would inform me "No. I don't want to do music." or "No. I'm not going." LOL I was REALLY nervous he wouldn't like it and would not participate. It's an expensive program to take a kid that doesn't even want to be there. I honestly considered not enrolling him. (Save a few bucks.) After the first class he was hooked. He LOVED it and never complained about anything. The weeks I didn't go with him he would skip of to Ms. Christi's house. It was awesome! I love that about Noah's personality. He has to think about and analyze things before jumping on board.