Pop

my grandfather passed away on friday as 12:20pm.  his health had declined much in the past year and a half, and we all knew it was coming.  it was harder for me to deal with than i thought it would be.  i am so grateful for my knowledge of the plan of salvation and eternal families.

i've thought a lot about what i wanted to say about pop. and as i've grown up, i've learned through stories and witnessed myself a lot about his character.  he was a quiet example to me of hard work, charity, and honesty.  growing up he never voiced affection, but his actions spoke more to me than i think his words could have.  if i had a piano recital or band concert, he and my grandmother were there.  they went to at least one game of all of my sporting events growing up.  he was at my graduation, and so many birthdays i can't even count.  although he was not a member of my faith, he attended every baby blessing, baptism, mission farewell, and wedding that is health allowed.

i'm grateful for the example that he was to me.  and while i have struggled with his health decline and his death, i am grateful to know that i will see him again.

day to day

i've had a hard time the last week or so.  i've been pretty homesick, especially because there has been a lot going on at home that i haven't been able to be a part of.  pop has been really sick for a year and a half, and was finally put into a place with end of life care.  meanwhile bom found out she had cancer, and had to have surgery.  cody's grandma has also been in and out of the hospital as well the past few months.  i have felt so useless here. i've really gained a testimony of prayer.  not just praying for others, but in really communicating with Heavenly Father.

with two kiddos that need my care, everyday life has to continue.

mae asked me to straighten her hair one day while i was doing mine.  after i did it she said, "oh mom i look just like rapunzel"  it didn't stay straight for long.  this girl sweats like a beast, and that hair was back to it's fro in no time.

still doing our letter of the week craft.  and she still loves every bit of it.  we've also started doing halloween crafts each week.  this girl is quite the little crafter.

every friday and saturday mama gets a 'special drink', a girl needs her diet coke.  sometimes mae gets lucky enough to get a drink or slurpee.  this happened the other week while i was putting izzy in her carseat.  i went over and found mae trying to pick it up and put it back in her cup...nasty.  there was still some left in the bottom, so she was fine.  and i was happy...less sugar for her.

oh teething, how i loathe thee.  it's in full force around here.  and this girl is a grump with a capital G.  she's all smiles if i'm holding her, or right next to her.  but if i walk away it's like the world is ending.  there's been major finger chewing and tons of snot.  poor thing.

we play up on our balcony sometimes if we need to get some fresh air.  mae's old walker is up there, and the other day she was using it as a stroller for her baby.

this girl is eating so much.  forget about pureed foods, she wants the real stuff. we tried meatballs the other day, and she loved it.  

another letter of the week.  right after she finishes she walks over to the stairs and says 'take my picture mom'.

mae's new thing is to have 'parties'.  she sets the table and gets snacks for 'all the girls', whoever they are.  it's pretty cute.  what's not cute is when she takes a chair into the pantry to get snacks for the 'girls' and knocks stuff over, or climbs the shelves and gets stuck.  life with a three year old.

when mama is around i get some pretty wonderful smiles from this girlie.  there's no such thing as a small smile with this one.  always a open mouthed, crinkled eyed smile.

very proud of her puzzle skills.  

fall-ish

well, it sort of feels like fall around here.  at least in the mornings.  and by fall i mean, the highs have only been in the upper 80s/ low 90s.  definitely not the fall that i'm used to, but we're enjoying the slightly cooler temps none-the-less.

this little scooter, has been awesome for this girl.  we have gone on a walk every single day since she got it, so she can ride on it.  seriously, every single day.  she's gotten really good at it.  

this little nugget bends so far forward in her umbrella stroller, that i dont think she'll be in it much longer.  if i'm not holding the back of it, she'll tip right over.  as you can see, we are still rockin the chicken legs and arms.  her belly is getting a little meat, but thats it.

she's had one tooth for a few weeks, and it seems like the second one on the bottom has been working it's way out for weeks! it's finally starting to cut through.  no crawling yet, but she rolls around and spins in circles until she gets to where she wants to be.  and she has some seriously long arms, so usually whatever she sets her sights on, she can reach. she pretty much cries anytime i leave the room, and has gotten pretty attached.  i'm not sure if it's a teething thing, or just wanting to be near mom all the time.  cody and i have decided that she is either happy or mad.  she doesn't really have much of a gray area between.  but, when she's happy, you can't help but smile.

our pool closed labor day, but it's still hot enough to swim, so we've gone to the lake a few times so this little lady can get her fix.

izzy used to just sit and play in the stroller, but now she wants to be part of the action.  i don't even want to know how many pebbles made it into her mouth...but she loved it as well.

i had to make a ton of cookies for primary a few weeks ago, and of course i had my little helper with me.  she pilfered quiet a few cookies.  

 and scraped every last bit of cookie dough off the mixer.

another gift she has loved is the care bear that grandma and grandpa baldwin sent her.  she's taken it to bed and on a few errands.  the icing on the cake was when he had to be buckled in last week.

mae is my girlie girl.  she loves everything and anything that's pink, princess, sparkly, poofy, remotely girly.  her new favorite is to pretend that she is rapunzel.  she asks me to tie an ace bandage or a blanket or streamers in her hair, so she has a long ponytail like rapunzel.  and she loves to listen to the soundtrack...over and over and over.  

we're still doing our letter of the week.  although, if i'm being honest, all we really do is a craft one day a week.  and read a book with the letter.  i'm totally slacking, but it's better than nothing, right?

this little girl has become a book worm.  she's always reading books to herself, her stuffed animals, or to izzy.  or she's asking me to read to her.  pretty soon we're going to have to go to the library more than once a week, because i am getting tired of some of those books!  or else, we're going to have to get a bunch more.  i love that she is enjoying books so much.

one of the best

i'm a lucky girl.  i've got some awesome family.  and i'm so lucky that i have such good relationships with them.  i'm even luckier that they come to visit me!  and last week one of my favorites came, my cousins sydney.

i always have a good time with her.  we just pick up right where we left off.  and even better my little girls absolutely adore her.  mae was on sydney like white on rice.  we did lots of fun things while she was here.  first up, we went to zilker park to ride the train.  despite mae's face, she really did love it.  she's always mean muggin.

 we went downtown and saw the sights, went shopping, and of course ate at delicious places.  and even had a blast just hanging out at home. 

 izzy started this tounge thing while syd was here.  she has her little tounge out like this a lot now.

 part of our nightly routine...the milk.  i have some seriously long kids.  izzy is already getting to long for her 12 month clothes and she's not even 8 months yet.

 every waking moment mae had to know where sydney was and what she was doing.  i'm glad that sydney didn't get tired of her. 

 this is mae's fat girl face.  she makes this face very frequently.  especially when you're trying to take a picture of the two of you.  she'll hate me one day for putting that on here, but you have to document these things, right?

sydney did lots of educational stuff with mae while she was here.  seriously, good thing she does that in her career because she is amazing at it.  she set up a learning space for mae, and brought all these games.  we've done them everyday since she's been here.  mae loves it.  and i'm so glad someone helped me do that, because educating my child is seriously daunting to me.

syd was here for our letter of the week craft.  i'm not sure how much of this mae actually retains, but, it makes me feel better to be doing something that is somewhat educational.  

after we do our craft we read a book that has the letter of the week. 

mae was in heaven with sydney here.  i feel like i don't give her enough attention, and it's always fun when someone different comes and can fill that void!

 miss iz.  sydney took this cute picture of my smiley little babe.

so grateful that sydney could come spend time with us, she's awesome.  and she came just when i needed a pick me up.  love her.