Little Girls

Oh I love my little girls! After I was done taking Holland's 8 month pictures, my bigger girls came in all dressed up and wanted their pictures taken too!

I hope these girls always stay friends! There are certainly little fights and shouting at each other occasionally, but it never lasts too long. I am so grateful for their sweet natures and kind tendencies.

Miriam always says the funniest things!

Miriam: How long is one million minutes?

Me: like how many hours?

Miriam: yeah

Me: well since there are 60 minutes in one hour, we would have to see how many times 60 goes into one million.

Miriam: do you know that?

Me: not off the top of my head.

Miriam: what about inside your head?

One day for preschool we were talking about the equator and I explained it was an imaginary line the goes around the world. I asked her if she knew what imaginary meant. She said, "It means it has powers!"

Miriam's age is really important to her right now. She brings up her birthday regularly and talks about whose birthday is next, and how old so and so will be when Holland is so old. Age is really important. If I ever say she is four, she ALWAYS corrects me to say that she is four and a half! "Four and a half you mean?"

One Sunday she was explaining to us that she got a treat in primary (they receive SO many treats in this ward!). She couldn't remember the name for the candy so she described it as small and colorful. She said, "You know, the opposite of skittles!" Haha! M&Ms!

Miriam also prayed recently, thanking God for our delicious food. It makes me smile!

Little Eliza is so sweet! She is so smart and confident. She loves reading and creating things. She loves her friend Ava probably more than just about anything.

Eliza had this picture in her head about how she wanted her photo taken for these pictures. "Mom, I want my hands like this." "And I want to be looking out in the distance not at the camera with not a very big smile on my face."

Of course, Miriam wanted to get into the dramatic pose action! But we got a few normal ones too!

I have a feeling that the drama is only just beginning for my little girls! Oh I just love them! I know I say it all the time, but I can't believe how quickly they are growing up! Slow down! 

Holland 8 Months!

On Holland's 8 month birthday we had a little photo shoot on her changing mat. She almost died only a couple times.

We just can't get enough of this sweet baby! She is just starting to squeal a little bit and play with her voice more. It is adorable!

She loves to be played with. Times 10. She loves music and being in her swing. We often turn on the prerecorded piano music for her to listen to while she swings, and it is a pretty happy place for her.

This is where she almost died. It is because she doesn't really sit independently yet. It is a work in progress, but setting her on a high surface is foolhardy to say the least.

The name of the game at this point is drool and spit. In abundance. No teeth yet.

Toes are still particularly fun to play with and suck on, but as she gets more mobile she squirms her way to other things which are fun/dangerous to play with so the toes get less attention than they used to.

Her hair almost looks red in these pictures, but it isn't. Just a light brown/blond.

The expression in this picture is very typical of her trying to grab something just out of reach. She'll often push herself on her hands and toes in frustration almost in plank position and it moves her just enough that sometimes she can then reach it. Holland is starting to push herself up to her knees as well. I think we'll have a crawler soon!

This photo shoot was also dangerous because she wanted to roll off the card table with all her might.

Holland loves toys! Probably more than just about anything. Especially the tag portion of the toy. She gets a tag in her mouth, which facilitates lots of drooling. Pretty soon everything is a big drooly puddle. Our new white carpet is getting a lot of wear and tear by this baby's drool.

Holland also went through a spitting phase. Particularly she likes to spit at church or at least we notice it more there (where things are supposed to be proper and reverent). One Sunday we received a few comments about it.

She would not leave the 8 month sticker alone for this shoot. As you see.

Holland is in a lot better place now with her naps than she has been recently. Whew, what a difference that makes! She sleeps through the night sometimes and sometimes not. That is a lot less stressful to me than not napping though. Oh we just love our girl!

9 Years Baby!

We celebrated nine years of wedded bliss by cleaning the first half of the day and putting Christmas decorations away. Exciting, huh?

I am super hard core. These pictures prove my edgy nature.

Unfortunately I couldn't find any goofy ones of John. He thought about modeling some without his shirt on, but we want to keep it G-rated on the blog.

Oh man, I love this guy! Sometimes I can't believe he puts up with me. Seriously. Nine years and going strong!

Christmas in Arizona

It is always a little anti-climatic to come home after a big long trip and then do another Christmas celebration, but it is still fun. Like I said before, the kids were really sweet this Christmas. Super happy and grateful about everything.

We had gifts from each other and a couple more to the kids from us. The girls gave me chocolate. We gave them a few more small toys and gloves, shovels, watering can, and small plants for them to have their own little flower garden.

The stockings were a total hit this year too. Just some small stuff: lotion, play necklaces, slinky, a small game, etc. What a fun morning!

Holly's first Christmas stocking. She got hand-me-down baby toys from her big sisters.

She doesn't mind.

Sweet girl!

Planting the new flowers.

They had so much fun with these.

And they are actually still alive one month later! I wonder how long they'll last?