Nolan's party theme choice was obvious: Lightning McQueen. He was so excited for his party and loved coming to the party store with me to pick out decorations. We decided to have a "road rally" party and so everyone brought their vehicle of choice over to a blocked off area of the parking lot and rode around, ate and played. I loved all the cars themed food ideas and we ended up with some cute food options and very easy and kid friendly. Grandma Lorraine make his AMAZING Lightning sugar cookies that were a huge hit and his cupcake cake turned out adorable. We had a station for "Ramone's House of Body Art" where the kids could get streamers and banners for their bikes and temporary tattoos and stickers. We did a race and obstacle course and a piñata. And the cherry on top of the whole thing was his big surprise gift: his own mini RZR. He opened all his presents and then we told him there was one more in dadd'y truck bed and lifted him up to take off the blanket. Off course he wanted to drive it immediately and it was so cute to see him take off driving with a trail of kids behind him.

We went swimming and got snow cones and then had a movie night to finish off the birthday boy's day.

Nolan: 3 years old

My Nolan Man.

He is my wild boy in every sense of the word. He constantly surprises me and catches me off guard by things he knows, does and says. 

He legitimately thinks his name is “Nolan Man” and he introduces himself as such. His normal volume is a yell, he “raars” at complete strangers and he is fiercely independent. He is very determined and stubborn as well. He is smart. He is a leader and absolutely expects to be in charge of every situation he encounters. He isn't afraid of anything and will always voice how he feels to anyone, anywhere, and at any volume he chooses. He is independent in every way and makes his own choices and once he chooses to do something He is very dedicated.

He loves getting into mischief and hates being told how to act. He loves treats and hates eating meals. He's rather have drinks than eat food. He loves anything with wheels, playing with friends and being with his dad. I will often find him in his room just playing by himself too.

And when he is good he is SO good. We call him our "sour patch" because he can be so sour but then when he is sweet we can’t get enough. The clever things he says, his happy personality and love for adventure and fun are so magnetic. His sweet compliments and things that he notices are always spot on and he gives the best snuggles. He has an excellent imagination and he likes to make up stories and scenarios. He likes to be silly and make people laugh. He is loyal, has a big heart and a deep love for people who are close to him. And we sure love him too!

My Birthday interview with Nolan:

-What's your favorite color?

"Red like Lightning McQueen"

-What's your favorite food?

"I don't know"

-What's your favorite thing to drink?

"Chocolate milk"

-What's your favorite treat?

"Snowcones"

-Who is your best friend?

"Cason"

-What's your favorite animal?

"a Horse"

-What's your favorite thing to do?

"Mom, don't ask me questions any more."

Maverick: 9 months old

He's now been out as long as he was in! He's a mamas boy. Not to the point that I can't leave him but to the point that he is my special one. Whenever I catch his eye across the room he has a smile for me. His wife mouthed closed smiles I love. I If he's sad he wants me. If I'm around he prefers me. I love it. Caitlin is such a daddy's girl, Nolan is independent and can take it or leave it, but I feel like with maverick I have my tiny boyfriend and he's all mine.

Eats: He still does a bottle with rice cereal in his crib for breakfast, then a snack bottle about 4 hours later then eats lunch and dinner, then another bottle to go to bed. He is still hard to feed sometimes (i.e. we have to force feed and squeeze his cheeks so he will open his mouth) He never spits things out and he is usually not sad about it, he is just distracted and not super cooperative.He went through a bit of a growth spurt, also probably due to the extra energy he uses being mobile. He still has 4 teeth but I think more may be coming soon.

Sleeps: In direct comparison, he's probably the worst sleeper of all my kids. He's an early riser, but will drink a bottle and stay in his crib for awhile. He only naps if he is put to sleep, he doesn't fall asleep on the go. He likes to be part of everything and if he can see that he will be missing out on stuff there's no chance he's falling asleep! Luckily he is still pleasant even when he is super tired. He doesn't often hit that wall of being too tired, but of course he does get fussy sometimes. So in this way it makes him teh perfect kind of sleeper for being a third child. He really still needs a short nap in the morning (like 30 minutes) and then a longer nap in the afternoon (2+ hours) At night he usually sleeps about 11 hours.

Plays: He still likes to be held a lot and doesn't like to be on his own. Now that he can crawl he finds the action. He likes Nolan's cars and of course any little tiny thing he can find to try to put in his mouth. He doesn't have a favorite toy at this point, he just moves from thing to thing. His favorite thing to play with would probably be his siblings!

Also: He is pretty much over his binkies. He prefers a bottle or nothing and if you try to put a binky in his mouth he just spits it out. He is learning to wave but not consistently, and he babbles some and mostly says "ba ba ba" He is definitely my fairest child yet and is holding on to his blonde hair and blue eyes! He also has fair skin that I am not as used to and he will literally get sunburned after 5 minutes outside.

Firsts: Mav's Mother's Day gift to me was crawling! He started full-out crawling and he can now get anywhere he wants. He's also started pulling himself up on things. I found him standing in his crib and since then he has been standing up against basically anything else. Even flat-surface walls.

Doctor stats at 9 month check up:
length: 28" 37%
weight: 18.5 31%
head circumference: 18.75" 86% (I don't know why they even measure the heads but I think its funny to put in there because my kids always have huge heads)

May 5-June 5

neither here nor there

 my May instagram:

joys of motherhood: May

Tucking her into bed the night before Mother's Day:

Caitlin: "Happy Mother's Day mom. Hey mom? Do they usually have sister day or brother day?"

Driving past the temple and Nolan says:

N: "Hey mommy! There's the temple! Last night we went to the temple together!!" 

(Last night = any time in the past)

me: "Yah we did! What did you think of the temple?"

N: "I liked it."

My kids love playing house. Caitlin is always the mom, Nolan goes between being either the Daddy or the pet dog, and Maverick is always their baby.

 I teach the 4-5 year olds in Primary at church (Caitlin's class). We have a lot of fun. On this day we acted out the story of Nephi going to get the brass plates. Costumes curtesy of Paul's t-shirts and my accessories and they did just the trick. Anything that takes 20+ minutes during class is a win.

Paul's 30th

Paul turned the big 3-0 this year. He hates getting older and so we knew this one would have to be a lot of fun. originally we had planned on a Lake Powell trip but unfortunately weather did not permit. So we re-located the trip to Sand Hollow/St George and took 6 other couples and had an amazing weekend! The weather didn't really cooperate still but we had such a fun time it didn't even matter.
-We got there late Thursday night, Friday we worked out in the morning then got brunch. That afternoon we went RZRing and found some fun sand dunes to ride around in. On his second ride out, Paul was driving the Barnes and they came down a hill and somehow hit a rock that was standing up and it completely severed off the tires and fender from the rest of the RZR! The boys had to figure out how to load it back on the trailer with a missing wheel and that pretty much ended the RZRing portion of our trip.
-Saturday (Paul's birthday) We worked out in the morning, did a special cross fit workout in honor of Paul: everyone chose a move and we had to do 30 reps of each one. Then we came home and had lunch and went out on the boat. It wasn't warm so the girls bundled in the boat while the boys strapped on wetsuits and were brave enough to get in. That night we went to dinner at Benja Thai then had a party back at the house and did lip syncs and played games. I surprised Paul with a spotting scope for his gift and he was successfully shocked.
-Sunday we went to sacrament meeting and then that afternoon hung out at the beach by the lake then had a big BBQ and game night.
-Monday we finally got some sun and were able to go boating!! We had so much fun, everyone got up surfing and then we drove home that night.
We stayed up late, talked, laughed, did all kinds of competitions, played games, told tories and had so much fun. We are so blessed to have such a great group of friends!!

ⓜⓐⓨ

Got back from Mexico and back into the swing of things. This month was about finishing things up and getting ready to roll into summer! Unfortunately the weather didn't get the summer memo and we got hit with quite a bit of rain throughout the month! 

May 9: Corinne turned 3 and we got to go to her "Frozen" birthday party

May 10: {Mother's Day} I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love being a mom. I feel so privileged to be able to spend my days with my perfect little rascals and to learn from them as I try to teach them a thing or two, and most of all just try to make them happy.

"Motherhood is a choice you make everyday, to put someone else's happiness and well-being ahead of your own, to teach the hard lessons, to do the right thing even when you're not sure what the right thing is... and to forgive yourself, over and over again for doing everything wrong." -Donna Ball

Breakfast in bed, homemade cards, yummy meals and lots of hugs and kisses and sweet words made my day truly wonderful.

May 12: We had our last swim lessons! The kids were excited to be done with swim lessons. They improved so much this year and even though this year of classes were harder and expected more of them they rose to the occasion and did a great job. We had a lot of talks about being brave and trusting your teacher and trying your best.. and we had a lot of treats as rewards but it did all pay off! 

May 13: We went to the Payson Temple Open House. The kids were so good as we walked through the temple and explained a little bit about what happens inside. They were very reverent and being in the temple with my little family was a special experience I will always treasure. Nolan said his favorite thing was "the cows" and Caitlin said hers was "the cows with the special baptism hot tub and how pretty everything was"

May 21: Caitlin's Preschool End-of-the-Year Program. They sang songs and talked about what they had learned this year and said goodbye to their school friends and Ms. Maureen. Caitlin had a wonderful year in school and loved every second of it. Her teacher was wonderful and she learned so much. She was animated and happy to share her program with us. 

May 29th: We had our first (of many) Summer pool party at Skye estates to celebrate school being over! We had watermelon, pizza and lots of fun swimming with friends! 

May 30th: we were working out and I was lifting weights then turned and did something to my back. Immediately I felt a buckling sensation in my lower back and was on the ground in pain. I got to my back and felt like I couldn't move. It was one of the most painful feelings I have felt. I had to be carried out of the gym and put in the car. At that point (and with our history of back problems) I felt like we should go and get it checked out. We dropped the kids of at Mead's, I got a blessing from Paul and Chris, and we went to the ER where I was able to get on some pain medication, and get looked at by the doctor and have x-rays taken. The good news was it was only a pulled muscle. Surprising because of the amount of pain I was in, but definitely a better outcome. I went home with pain pills and a sore back. That night all three kids were up throughout the night with a stomach bug and were throwing up. Not quite the weekend we had envisioned! Paul and I were wiped out by the end of the weekend.

Also on the 30th was Caitlin's Dance Recital! Basically a holiday at our house. Caitlin practiced really hard for her dance and it showed. Her class did the best in their age group and Caitlin really stood out in her dance. she knew her choreography and she had a big smile and she was spot on. She LOVED getting her make up and hair done and we had a really fun time getting her ready. She loves to perform. It always amazes me how she never gets nervous or overwhelmed. Only excited. We sure love our little dancer. Grandma & Grandpa Goulding and Christine and Corinne got to come watch and Caitlin loved having all her supporters there.