neither here nor there

March instas:

joys of motherhood: march

My kids have a lot of personality. I always thought this was a given in kids but as I'm seeing more kids and seeing different temperaments I'm realizing that my kids come out with a bang and make an impression (not saying it's always a good one) but I'm so thankful for their big personalities and their clever conversations and questions that constantly keep me on my toes. A lot of the things they say are all in the delivery too... their cute little voices and intonations I wish I could describe as accurately.   



Caitlin:
-She saw an older lady doing the crosswalk while some kids were getting out of school and this is what she said: "What?! A grandma is being the stop sign holder lady?!"

-She always includes "Mint" as one of her favorite colors, right there with pink.

-I realized the other day that she legitimately thinks that Alice from Alice in Wonderland's name is: Allison Wonderland

-the other day we were driving and I pointed out something we saw. Caitlin didn't see it then she said "I just don't have i spy eyes"
me: what are i spy eyes?
C: you know, like when you can see things really good far away.
On the other hand, when she does notice something she'll say "I really had good i spy eyes on that one"
-Our neighbor's birthday was a few weeks ago, on a Sunday. He is a boy turning 14 and his older and younger sisters babysit for us often, we love their family. Caitlin found out it was his birthday at church and was so excited to come home and "make him a craft for is birthday!" She worked really hard on her little presents for him then I went with her across the street. She kept saying "oh he is just really going to love this!" She wrote his name on it and considered colors he would like and everything. When we went to give it to him she got a little more shy but was still proud of her work and told him happy birthday. I was so impressed with her confidence that of course this 14 year old boy would want a craft from her! And he'd love it!

-Caitlin loves writing things and is always asking me how to spell things so she can write them. The other day she drew a picture for Paul and wanted her message to be: "Please eat your vegetables because they are very good for you" 

Nolan:
-Nolan not sleeping. Not during the night, no during the day. He wakes up all throughout the night and then early in the morning. He takes 2 hours to settle into bed at night and fall asleep. It's exhausting. 

-Nolan often refers to himself as "Nolan Man" and I've seen him playing with new friends and they will ask his name and he tells them "I'm Nolan Man." They are like "what?!" It cracks me up. 

-I was getting Nolan dressed and pulled out a navy blue and yellow striped shirt for him to put on. As it was sliding it over his head he said, "Hey! Moooom! I don't wanna dress like a bumble bee!" Made me laugh out loud.
-The other day at the grocery store I got both kids a donut and Nolan chose chocolate. So of course he just ate all the chocolate off the top and got extremely messy with it. As i was putting him in his car seat. I said, "Nolan you have donut all over you! You're so messy!" He looked at me, licked more chocolate off his cheek and said, "Mom. You can't have your cake and eat it too!" Ha Ha! I was so taken aback. He learned that phrase from a movie he watched a lot but his timing in this situation was impeccable.

Maverick:
-The kids LOVE to go in to see Maverick once he is awake in the morning or after naps. They fight over who will get to go in first to see him. Maverick gets so happy to see them.

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 -3: got a little more snow and finally made a snowman!

-3-10: My parents were here, they came for a visit and to see Cassie perform with the Young Ambassadors at BYU. We loved having them here and spending time with them. My dad, Paul and I got to run our 10k that we missed while in Texas and it was fun to run together and put some miles behind us! 

-4: Grandpa Goulding's 80th Bday. He also had his knee replaced the day before and spent about 3 weeks at a recovery center. We got to go visit him a few times there and he was happy to see us. I love how my grandpa (and grandma) love my kids and see their unique qualities and individual personalities. The kids love my grandparents and I love what a special thing it is for them to have a relationship with their great grandparents. 

-7: We got to go see Cassie's show at BYU and she did a great job, the whole group is incredibly talented and the show was fun to watch.

-14: We got to go see the new "Cinderella" live action movie as a family and I absolutely loved it. The movie was beautiful to watch and I loved the repeating motto of "have courage and be kind"

-17: We hosted a little St Pattys Day play date 🍀 at our house and had about 15 kids and their moms come. Everyone brought green food and the kids played outside in the perfect weather. We did a treasure hunt and made froot loop necklaces. It was a lot of fun. 

-20: Mike and Jenna and their family came for a visit and we got to have a fun date night with Mike and Jenna and the Meads. We also got to meet baby Audrey for the first time! So precious!

-Caitlin and Nolan started gymnastics this month and are loving it. Nolan did even better than I expected and after the first class the teacher said I should move him up to the next level because he was so good at listening, following directions, and very coordinated and works hard. Go Nolan! That was definitely good to hear, so I moved him up and he also has a couple friends in his class and just loves it. There is also a smaller play gym with a foam pit and rock wall that he can play in while Caitlin does her lesson and he likes that as much as class time! Caitlin went into a 4-5 year old class so she was on the younger side (which isn't common for her) and she struggled the first couple times with feeling like she wasn't doing everything perfectly but she has really been practicing a lot at home and showing a lot of improvement. I'm proud of her for seeing a challenge and going after it.

-23: I took Caitlin to the dentist for her first ever full cleaning and... she had 5 cavities. Ouch. She did great through the appointment and was very happy and bubbly and let them clean and do xrays and everything. Then they said they had an opening to do the filling right away so we did. They were hoping to get through a couple fillings but didn't know if they'd be able to do all of them because most kids don't last that long. Caitlin was a dentist superstar and got laughing gas and no novocaine and let them fill all of them. She was SO good and brave I was very proud of her. And we learned our lesson that we need to floss more often!! Her teeth are very close together and the cavities had started in the middle and spread to both teeth. We went to Walmart after and I told Caitlin she could choose anything in the store for a prize for being so good at the dentist and after some deliberation she chose glitter glue to use for her crafts, I thought that was so sweet.

-24: Caitlin and Nolan also started swim lessons, in preparation for our Mexico trip coming up in April. We tried a new place this year and the teachers are a little more strict and down to business and it's been an adjustment for the kids, but they are already showing some real improvement. 

-27-29: Paul and I had a fun getaway with the Hansens down to St. George and Zions. We went to celebrate Nick's birthday and had a lot of fun. Friday we went to dinner then drove down and got dessert and watched a movie. Saturday we slept in then went to Zion's and did the "Observation Point" hike. It was 8 miles round trip and got long but we completed it and the view at the top was beautiful. The weather was perfect for being outside!! It was delightful. We went rock shopping around town then that night we got dinner and hung out at the house (we stayed at Nick's grandparents house). We got back Sunday morning before church. It was a great weekend!

-29: We had a fun park/game night/dance party with the Linebaughs. Their boys are SO fun with our kids and we love their family. Our kids love all the attention they get and they feel like they are kinda with the big kids. 
-other things we've been busy with: hanging out with friends, working out, having fun family time.