Caitlin's 1st dance recital

Saturday May 18th was Caitlin's first dance recital. It was also the day that I realized we have a lot more dance recitals in our future. Caitlin LOVED performing and being in the show. Her class dance to "Sugar Sugar". She ha d adress rehearsal in the morning and i forgot to bring her little sucker with us so she used a wand but halfway through the number she went up to her teacher and said, "Miss Cassie where is my popsicle?!" She is pretty good at following direction and doing the little moves so after the dress rehearsal I was excited to see how she would actually be on the stage that night.




Her recital was at Timpview High School in the packed auditorium. Her class performed fifth. At the beginning the studio owned spoke and reminded everyone that "...perfect dancers are boring dancers! We are bound to be truly entertained tonight and we embrace and encourage it all." Our friend was helping backstage and saw Caitlin and she said she kept asking her if t was her turn to do her dance yet. And then she would tell her to smile big for her mommy and she would show her a big grin. They led Caitlin's class out and she found her pink dot to stand on and stood there until the lights came up and music started. She didn't seem nervous or fidgety at all (MY heart was pounding). Their song started and it didn't take long for things to get interesting! There are about 7 girls (all aged 2-3) in Caitlin's class and one of them turned around and took off running to the very back of the stage! Didn't take long for a few little friends to join her and soon enough half of the line was doing the dance and following the teacher and the other alf was running amuck. A few helpers from back stage came to get the girls back in line. It was hilarious! Kids are so unpredictable. Also a little surprising was the fact that Caitlin stayed focused. She kept watching her teacher and didn't fun off. She did her little dance and it was all adorable.  

After her song ended I went backstage to get her and found her crying. I thought it was because she couldn't find me so I quickly ran to her and she just turned to me and said "Mommy I really want to go do it again!" It took quite a bit to tell her she would have another turn a different day an she was really sad she couldn't just march back on that stage and do it all again. Another lady working there said she's never seen one cry because they want to go again.  Eventually she calmed down and said bye to her teacher Miss Cassie. Caitlin has really loved her. She came out with me to find Daddy and Nolan and Mike and Jenna and Bailey and got some pretty flowers and took pictures. She was happy that we were so proud of her and she said she had so much fun.  The whole thing was just too cute and completely melted my heart.

To see the magic for yourself, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEbAgowRZXs

 

mother's day

Mother's Day is a pretty special one for me.

When you spend every waking moment (and a lot of not-so-awake ones) doing something, you want to be good at it. I pray everyday that I can have the energy, patience, and spiritual guidance to be the best mom that I can be for that day. And then I take it one day at a time. I am not a perfect person or perfect mom AT ALL but I can say that I love it. I love and cherish being trusted to be a mother. It is a fulfillment of my dreams and I would have it no other way.

I also truly love and admire my own mother and my mother in law. They are both incredible women and deserve extra love and praise always. Their sincerity and constant concern and interest bless my life on a daily basis.

Mother's Day for me is a day of rest, reflection, and getting out of doing the dishes. It was also a day of:

 sleeping in, breakfast in bed, cards, flowers, Paul making me dinner, getting some time to write my kids their special letters, going to church, and of course savoring the moments with these two:

 Miss Caitlin is my spunky little girl that is everything I could have hoped for and everything I deserve all rolled into one irresistibly cute package. I love being her mom. 

 Nolan Man is my big blue eyed boy that I fall more in love with every day! He has such a gentle soul and is so sweet and happy. I love being his mom. 

weekend review

Another great weekend. Paul has been traveling almost every week since April, so when the weekend hits we both have about a million things on our to-do and want-to-do lists and of couse we never have time to pack in all in but we still have a good time.

Friday night Paul went to an MMA fight with some friends and I went to a girl's crafting night. We were both happy with our decisions. I worked with my friend Stephanie making "fairy houses" for an upcoming event she is hosting and it was so much fun to get creative.

 Saturday morning first thing we went to get our cars washed. The kids were so mesmerized.

Later that morning we attended the Pack family's sealing in the Draper temple. Little Lucy was sealed to Evan and Heather and it was so beautiful. I had no idea that I would get that emotional but just seeing this family in such a visual way being sealed together was so touching. After the sealing we went to their church building and Evan gave Lucy a really beautiful father's blessing and then we had lunch. The Pack's also shared some exciting news-- they are pregnant! So excited for them and the wonderful things happening in their lives.

Saturday night we had a bunch of friends over for a badminton tournament. After going to Paul's uncle Steve's birthday party a few weekend ago and playing there we got hooked for the summer. We got a set and put in up in our yard and then ordered pizza and let the kids run around while the adults got really serious about our couples tournament. It was really fun and apparently I was too focused to take any pictures.

On Sunday Paul had to take some Benadryl and it knocked him out cold (as it always does). I was getting ready and  Caitlin came and found me whispered "Mom, can I go snuggle Daddy?" I thought it was so cute and I knew he wouldn't wake up for anything so I said yes. She climbed in our big bed with him very slowly and quietly and was so content, I thought it was so precious.


Also wanted to mention some other going-ons...
My sister Cassie returned home from her mission on April 27th. It's been a hard decision for me to come to grips with but one that was hers to make. Life takes unexpected twists and turns and I definitely would not have seen this coming but I want her to be happy and so far she feels confident in her decision to come home and what the future holds.

Rebekah and Jordan McCullough get engaged! They were engaged on May 6th, and from what I can tell Jordan did a great job with the proposal and of course Rebekah said yes. They will be married July 6th in Texas and we are very excited for them. Jordan is a great guy and we are excited to have him as part of the family!

these kids

Caitlin and Nolan are definitely different and even opposite in some ways but sometimes I have little deja vu moments.. it's funny how babies are attracted to similar things. So far both of them have enjoyed exploring the pantry, utilizing the bar stools, getting the shoes out of the closet, and kissing the trashcan. 

Also notice: my pantry is way more organized, the bar stools are painted, Caitlin's closet is the more exciting one now, and we have taken the trash out... give me two years and things get done. 

I know this next picture is blurry but I thought it was cute-- a true candid moment of whenever Nolan sees Caitlin. He adores her. I love my chubby cheeked, too-big jeans wearing, happy, energetic and curious babies. 

Nolan: 11 months old

Nolan is on the brink of becoming a rowdy, wild and crazy, full fledged little boy. His little personality is coming out and he is still very sweet and hardly ever grumpy but starting to be more curious and more wiggly and determined on doing what he wants to do. He wants to move and communicate but doesn't quite know how to do it all yet. He is getting very wiggly and I have discovered that holding a 25 pound baby is an arm workout but holding a wiggly 25 lb. baby is a full body workout!

Eats: He is still mainly eating baby food but is starting to branch out with finger foods as well. He is very destructive with food when he gets his hands on it, but will usually still eat well from a spoon. He loves sweet potatoes but seems to like fruits more than veggies in general. He loves goldfish crackers and graham crackers.

Sleeps: This has been a rough month for sleeping. He's had an inconsistent napping schedule and has been waking up a lot earlier than normal. Hopefully this will settle down. He did get anther tooth and I guess I will blame it on that.. making 6 total, 4 on top and two on bottom. We tried switching him to the  other kind of binky but he wasn't interested and then we noticed he was no longer taking any kind of binky (we were giving him the newborn kind just to sleep) and i would find them thrown out of his crib all over his room so we put away his binkies altogether and although I just said he has been inconsistent in sleeping I actually don't think he has missed his binkies.

Plays: He pulls himself up on everything (!!) and prefers to be standing. He also likes to cruise along things holding on. The other day he walked along the entire perimeter of our bathroom just using the wall. He is not standing on his own or walking holding onto our hands. He is also starting to try to copy things that Caitlin does. He can also finally go from laying down to sitting up on his own. He is also crawling with his tummy off the floor more often. And he can climb stairs! He was by our back stairs to the loft and just started climbing them and went all the way to the top.


Likes: He loves bath time. He likes sitting in the water and playing with the toys and doesn't mind get sprayed off or soaped down one bit. He is obsessed with cords and will find them anywhere and wants to chew on them. He is very rough and tumble and he likes physical contact and wrestling around. He also loves playing Caitlin's room! A lot of times if i can't see him I will find he has sneaked into her room and started playing with her toys. He also loves being outside. He gets excited and flaps his arms when we come outside.


Dislikes: Having things taken away from him. He will whine and yell if you try to take away something he wants (usually it's trash, dirt, or rocks that he is shoveling into his mouth). He also dislikes eating cold things. We've tried bites of ice cream or popsicle and he makes a face like he's eaten a lemon and tries to spit it out.

Also: He started waving! We doesn't respond all the time but when he does it's precious. He still makes a lot of noises too. I also just noticed he is wearing a lot of pajamas in these pictures. Which I will admit is his usual attire because it is just the most comfortable. But when he does wear cloths, he is in size 18 months.

neither here nor there

my April through instagram:

joys of motherhood: april

-I think I do pretty well documenting funny things that Caitlin says,  But I still feel like this is only a small portion, and some of it really can't even be explained through writing. Her little voice and the way she says things are half of it, it's so hard to capture it all. To try to get most of them I usually write them down on my phone in a note as soon as she says them then keep them all there until I'm ready to do this post. unfortunately the note for this month's collection was erased. (little hands...)
So, here's a few Caitlinisms that I remember:
-Anything that has happened in the past = "last night", whether it really truly happened last night or not. Anything that is happening in the future = "in a different day"
-We passed a lady pushing a cart on our way into Target. In her cart was sitting a cute little black girl in braids with colored beads at the end. Caitlin was looking very closely at her hair and after we passed she turned to me and said "Mommy, that girl had treats in her hair!"
-The other day I looked over and Caitlin was laying on couch sprawled out on her back with arms out wide. I said "Caitlin what are you doing? Relaxing?" and she said "No mom, i'm just doing my workouts" If only working out was that serene.
-She likes to have a little pillow talk before she goes to bed, or a lot of pillow talk as the case may be. The other night I sang her her songs and told stories as per usual and then I was laying there with her to fall asleep and she peeked one eye open and then the other and said "so. mom... you have a good day?" haha so then we had to talk about our days a little bit.

-Moments like this make my heart sing. Best friends.