It's a Boy...

or a girl. We aren't sure yet since I am only 10 1/2 weeks along. We do know that it will be one of the two though. Eliza is really wanting a girl. For Bubba's sake I am hoping he gets a brother. Things are going great so far and we are very excited for Jan. 22!

Oooops

On Saturday was Eliza's second ballet class. I had such a hard time last time leaving Kate and seeing her crying as we left that I decided to bring her with us this time. We got to the Rec center and dropped Eliza off at her class. Kate and I were walking up and down the flight of stairs they have right next to Eliza's class when I heard Eliza's teacher in the hallway say Eliza's name and tell her the direction of the bathrooms. I ran down the stairs to tell Eliza to wait for me to take her since I didn't want my little girl wandering down the hall by the main entrance by herself. Kate was stopped on the landing of the stairs and wasn't moving so I ran up the stairs to get her and then we hurried down the hall to catch up to Liza heading to the bathroom. When she saw the bathrooms she said, "I'll just go at home." I told her she needed to go so she didn't have an accident and she was already missing class so she needed to hurry. (I was a little annoyed at this point because we have an issue with her lying to me about going potty. I always tell her to go before we leave the house so it isn't an issue when we are out to find a bathroom. She tells me she went, but it is usually a lie. I don't want to have to go and watch her use the bathroom so I am trying to just trust her or make her hold it if she lied. I was mad that she told me she had gone to the bathroom before we left and here we were missing class...) She said she needed help getting her leotard off so I started to pull it down for her and told her to finish pulling it down and then go to the bathroom. She sat down on the toilet and started peeing and then yelled for me. She hadn't pulled the leotard and tights down far enough and her legs were too close and touching making the pee pool and run directly onto her clothes. It was a total accident and I knew that, but I was mad we were in this situation to begin with. I stripped her of her clothes and had to rinse them off in the sink. I started to try to dry them under the blowers, but I realized we would be in there the entire hour. Kate, in the meantime, was running around the bathroom eating her snacks I had brought and I kept telling her to not touch anything. The bathroom is not the place to be eating! I told Eliza she would have to wear her clothes wet since we didn't have time to dry them. On the way back to class I told Eliza to say she had spilled something on her if anyone asked about why she was wet. She said, "What did I spill, Mom?" I said, "Water. We did have to use water on it." I know it sounds horrible to teach her to stretch the truth, but I didn't want her to be made fun of for peeing her pants when it was a fluke accident. None of the other kids even noticed and I just told the teacher we had an incident with the water. When we were loading up to go home Eliza said, "Mom, I like wearing wet clothes, and no one even made fun of me!" She was sweet making a good situation out of something that I had made too big of a deal about. I love her for that!

Opportunities

I love the simple little opportunities I have to bear my testimony to my children. Eliza is very a curious little one, I don't know if it is just the age or if it is unique to her. She is always asking questions and wanting me to tell her stories. Yesterday, Daddy took the two younger ones to the store but Eliza didn't want to go so I stayed home and had a little one on one with her. She just eats that up. She wanted me to tell her stories about when she was a little baby. I told her 4 or 5 short stories while I was making dinner and then somehow the topic changed. I don't even remember how. She said, "Mom, tell me a story about Jesus." I thought that was so sweet. I told her about Jesus performing miracles and then about Jesus walking on the water. She was so excited about that story that we pulled out the picture scriptures and told the story with the pictures. She remembered it and during family prayer after Family Home Evening she blessed Peter walking on the water. Nathaniel looked confused so I filled him in. I am grateful for her and her curiosity. It allows for a lot of teaching opportunities. Not just me teaching her, but her teaching me. What a blessing children are in our lives. I am not perfect, but without them I would be a lot further from it than I am now. They bring perspective to us in small everyday moments like Eliza taught me today.

Little Suckers

Katelyn and Nathan are both finger suckers. Kate sucks on her first two fingers on her right hand, but only when she is going to sleep. She also has to have a particular shirt of mine that she stole almost two years ago from me while she was napping in my room. It is now something that is part of her bedtime collection (also included are her pillow, blanket, 2 baby dolls, and a sippy of water). She sucks on her fingers and holds the shirt right up close to her cheek and nose. It is really cute, but something that we are going to have to break her of. The dentist told me today that it isn't affecting her bite...yet. He said to try taping a glove onto her hand at night. That's going to be a fight. I tried at rest time to get her to not put her fingers in her mouth. I kept taking them out...and she would give me a dirty look and put them back in. It was like she was silently saying, "What's the deal, Mom? Leave me alone!" I told her she was a big girl and she didn't need to suck on her fingers and she said, "But I want to!" Looks like the glove is going to have to come out.
Nathan sucks on his second and third fingers on his left hand, but only when he is in bed. He also has one blanket that he is very fond of. It is fleece which is unfortunate in the summer here. Both of my kids get into bed, find their fingers and pull their blanket/shirt up to their nose and go to sleep. Little habits you learn about them along the way. I think it is cute.

Little Ballerinas

I signed Eliza up for a ballet class through Tucson Parks and Rec. Her first class was on Sat. and she was adorable. She thought it was so funny that you didn't wear panties under your leotard, but just your tights. I heard her telling one of her fellow sunbeams about it on Sunday. She also wanted to be sure that Aunt Becca saw the pictures of her as a ballerina. So, here they are:




Kate isn't in the class since you had to be 3 by the end of May and her birthday isn't until July. She was heartbroken and so was I. When it came time for me to leave with Eliza, Kate tried to bolt for the van, but I caught her and tried to talk to her about it. She tried to charge through my hands and I had to pick her up kicking, screaming, and crying and have Daddy pry her off of me. It was so sad. She has a hard time seeing herself as being younger since the two of them do everything together. It will be good for Eliza since she is really craving one on one time with me and Nathaniel. I love to have time with just her as well and loved to watch her. She is such a beautiful girl. I love this mom thing!

The Summer of Fun

Nathaniel, JD, Megan and I have officially declared it the Summer of Fun. There have been a few late night playing Settlers of Catan Cities and Knights lately and I'm guessing it is only the beginning. I sure do love those guys. JD is in the same year of law school as Nathaniel and Megan teaches so she is done for the summer. We don't get opportunities like this everyday, so we are trying to live it up while we can before our husbands graduate law school and have to take the bar and get real jobs. As for now, the kids and I are loving life and enjoying every minute we get with Daddy. Nathaniel and I are loving every minute we get to spend with the Santini's. It's hard to believe that in a year school will be over and real life begins. I'm glad to say that I will miss this. That obviously means things are good and we are happy.

Eliza Turns 4!

Eliza received a tea set for her birthday. She was very excited about this new toy. We have had most of our snacks (if not meals, too) on the new tea set. This picture is the girls on Thursday the 4th right after opening her gift. I told her the present would be wrapped and waiting right outside her bedroom door when she woke up in the morning. I wasn't going to try to torture her (or myself) and make her wait until later on in the day. Kate woke up at 4 in the morning and was ready to see what the gift was. Luckily she went back to sleep. Nathaniel and I have our kids pick an activity that they would like to do as a family for their birthday as well as what they would like for dinner and dessert. Eliza chose swimming for her activity, but the pool changed their hours and we had to leave minutes after being there so we went to the sprinkler park instead. She also chose hot dogs and spaghetti for dinner. Weird!
The water was quite cold at the sprinkler park, so there were not many other people there. It was really nice for us. We were able to run around and play tag. Eliza and Kate loved it. I didn't think I needed to be in a swim suit, but it's a good thing I was because I ended up soaked.
Kate running through the water rings. She was a little timid at first with the water, but quickly warmed up and had a great time.
Eliza is in the pink swim suit. She ran around like crazy. She is such a fun girl. I just can't believe how grown up she is. She seems to be so much older than 4 at times, but then there are other things that make me realize she is still my little girl.
When we were getting ready to leave Eliza and Kate found their "princes" and had to spend time with them before we left. Those girls are way too into love, romance and marriage for their age. The "princes" were very cooperative! The only type that would have put up with that kind of treatment. Look at Eliza...it looks like she is going to kiss him!
Eliza requested a pink cake with pink frosting. She also told me she wanted a princess castle cake. She was very particular about having the flag on it. It didn't occur to me that we needed a flag, but she insisted. I'm not one to try to do cutsie cakes, but it was really fun. I loved the look on her face when it was done, she just lit up and said, "this is the best cake EVER!" She also said the same thing about her tea set, "this is the best tea set I ever saw!" I love it when she is dramatic when she is being positive. Kate was such a sport. She thought it was her birthday, too. She is now convinced she is 4.
Megan and JD came over and brought Eliza bubbles. Her face says it all.
Eliza is looking at Daddy as he tells her to get her "thinking finger" out and think of a wish. She was excited about this. We had recently read a book about a girl having a birthday and she was excited for the birthday wish part.
Eliza closing her eyes to blow out the candles with her "thinking finger" still in place. As you can see there is still one candle burning that she missed. Thank goodness Daddy was in range and by they time her eyes were open, she thought she got them all. Daddy saved the day!
Megan blowing bubbles with the girls. Megan said that when Kate blew the bubbles, she would go cross eyed. I tell you, that Kate is such a riot. A real character. I love it. Nathaniel and I find ourselves looking at each other and smiling or laughing at things she does all of the time. She really brightens our days.

Anniversary Gift

Nathaniel got in touch with my Uncle Bob to have him paint a picture of the Mt. Timpanogas temple for me. It was supposed to be an anniversary gift, but he finished it by Christmas. I love it! I have another couple of paintings from Uncle Bob and I really love the way they make my house feel more like a home. It's not everyday you have an original painting in your home...let alone one that was painted particularly for you! This painting is the first thing you see when you open the front door or as you walk down the hall. It reminds me every day of the joy the temple brings to our lives. This temple reminds me of the most wonderful day of my life. My husband really is an incredible gift giver.