fine, I'll update the blog: part one, may

The longer I put off updating the blog, the harder it got to motivate myself to update it. But here for your viewing pleasure are pictures of my family from the second half of May.

At some point Gray decided he liked people food. He liked to eat it and he liked to wear it.

He also likes to play peek-a-boo.

This is Gray's favorite place to play in the kitchen.

We went to the splash pad in Spanish Fork with Brad and DeAnna. Kate didn't want to get wet this time, though in general she loves to.

Colin never has a problem gettin gwet.

I built a sweet Lego tower that went all the way to the ceiling. It used almost all of our Lego pieces. I yelled for Nate to come and hold it for me so I could take a picture. (He also had to put the last few pieces on because he is taller than I am.)

And that's all the pictures I have from the end of May. I'm pretty sure Brad and DeAnna came to visit and it was awesome. Right? Was that in May? My brain hurts.

Walker, Baby Gray

Gray is walking now. He took his first steps a week or so ago, but he's walking more and more now. He's getting pretty good, too. I both love and hate this milestone, because it means my baby is quickly becoming a toddler. Gray took his first steps right at the same age as Colin, a week before he was officially 11 months old. (Kate walked a little more than month earlier.) Well done, my boy. Well done.

mispronunciated

Words Kate mispronounces that I find adorable:

family—flamly
goblin—globlin
butterfly—blutterfly

Notice a pattern? I'm sure there are more. She's so stinkin' cute. I love her.

imagination

At my house right now Dash (Colin) and Elastigirl (Kate) are running through the house fighting the little monsters to take the secret message to the Queen. Elastigirl likes to pick up the little monsters and bring them to me. Gray and I are the helpers. Oh, now I'm Violet and I have to go on a treasure hunt to look for bears. Got to go!

mothers day, etc

I thought I had better blog while Colin was at Joy School so he couldn't stand behind me and read what I'm typing over my shoulder. He's been doing that lately. I'm amazed at how much he learns and how quickly he retains new information. It's hard for me to remember that he is only 3 when he acts so much older sometimes. (Most of the time he acts like a 3-year-old, what with the craziness, disobedience, and general naughtiness.)

Gray's high chair was taken outside for a good scrubbing, and then it was left outside to dry, and then it rained during the night so it was still wet in the morning. So Gray got to sit at the counter like the big kids. He was pretty excited.

He looks so little, which is kind of a new thing for him since he's such a behemoth.

I love this shirt, even though you can't really see it in the picture. It says Li'l Stinker. Also, Gray has the most beautiful dimples in his fat face.

Colin puts together some of the best dress up outfits. I can't tell if he was a pirate or Prince Phillip or a Star Wars guy or just a cool dude. His look has elements of all of them.

Gray likes to chew this squishy football. I believe Kate was poking him in the face while I took the picture.

Another classic Kate sleeping pose. What a weirdo.

Gray LOVES the curtains. He will play in them forever. He also likes to stand against the sliding glass door and look outside. He also likes to smash his face against the door and blow raspberries.

After a bout of mastitis, I decided to take the kids to the park for a picnic to remind them that I really am  a nice mom and I do like to play with them. We had a great time. This was Gray's first time in a swing at the park. He might have played in the swing at Granny's before, but I don't know.

They stayed in the swings forever. They were having such a great time.

Here is a picture of my Mothers Day present from Nate. We played Deal or No Deal. There were 20 prizes that ranged from 1 penny to a complete bedroom makeover. Some of the prizes were a Twix bar, 2 Twix bars and a Redbox movie, dinner at Zupas, a tent and sleeping bags, a Silhouette machine, a Bosch, a shopping spree, an iPad, a new bed, and a fancy Amish-made bed. Nate made a spreadsheet and randomized the numbers. With each round Nate had a website that told him how to calculate the offers for me. I ended up taking an offer, but if I would have held out with my original pick I would have gotten a new bed (assuming Nate actually paid up). Oh well. Maybe next year. Nate had a lot more fun than I did, because I had anxiety over winning a good gift and not a crappy one. Nate just laughed and laughed. I think we'll have to play again for Fathers Day. Sunday evening we ate dinner at Caleb's house with Nate's family, and it was delicious. Nate made smoked salmon that was awesome, and I don't even like fish. We had a great time visiting over there, and then we came back to our house to play games with my family. I had a great day. I love Mothers Day. And I love my sweet husband for being extra nice to me. And I love my sweet kids for continuing to let me be their mother. They are terrific.

We found a cool huge machine on our walk to quilt group the other day. Colin loves him some huge machines.

Kate rocking the the side ponytail. She looked so adorable this morning. What a sweet girl.

The end. I'll try to blog again before another month goes by.

the rest of april

Oh blogger. I wish I could say that I have missed our time together, but I really haven't. And when did the posting format change? Where have I been? Oh, right, taking care of 3 little kids. Anyway, here's what I can remember from April.

On April 6th it snowed. It was weird.

On April 8th Kate did her own hair and bit the Connect 4 game. It made me laugh.

Blurry Instagram Gray. Still adorable.

Gray rocking a pair of shorts that Hannah bought for Colin back in the day. They are really cute, and so is my boy. Speaking of my boy, he's been crawling on his hands and knees for about a month. Once he turned 8 months old it was like a switch flipped and he decided that he was a big boy. Yay for Gray! He also signs a bit, loves to eat people food (NOT baby purées), babbles, spits, wags his tongue, cruises along the furniture, bites when he gives hugs and kisses, smiles constantly, wrestles with his brother and sister, gets up to eat once during the night, and he is my constant companion and buddy. I love his happy, easygoing nature.

Bucket head!

Awww, I miss his crazy-long hair. We cut it last week.

Gray is a super climber like his sister. He crawled up onto the bed after I took this picture. Then I made him get down.

Kate sleeps in the strangest positions. She fell asleep half standing up, half folded over her bed. She's done this several times.

Light sabers! I'm an awesome mom! Best $2 dollars I've ever spent. The kids love these so much.

I asked Kate to put some clothes on before she went outside, so she put on shoes, a jacket, and a hat. She neglected to put on pants or a shirt. I let it go.

easter

For Easter we were all sick. We didn't hunt for eggs. We didn't have Easter baskets. We didn't go to church. We didn't get new clothes. The end.

good news!

So, today Gray crawled like a big boy, for about 5 paces. But still! Way to go, son! Keep on keepin' on.

guess I haven't blogged for a month

My bad.

I get busy!

Here is Kate making a kissing face. Or a fish face. Or a surprised face. I'm not sure.

She sure is cute, despite her rather unfortunate hairstyle.

Nate on the ground. He probably won't be happy that I posted this.

The kids were so excited to play outside the beginning of March. The weather warmed up and the bikes came out. Colin is getting pretty good at riding his big boy bike.

Nice outfit, Kate. Who dresses this kid? (Not me.)

Colin loves hats. And sticks.

Ha. He can't take his helmet off by himself.

On the 9th a friend from high school took some pictures of my kids at the Provo City Library. Brie Pinales is starting up her own photography business, and she took pictures of the kids for free in exchange for me allowing her to use the images for her business. The kids weren't super cooperative, but we did get some cute pictures. She mostly just followed them around while they played and ran. Gray is super handsome. This first one is my favorite.

Pretty, pretty Kate. she was sporting her favorite outfit—pink pants and a pink shirt. Then she added some of her favorite accessories—pink skirt, pink heels, pink headband, pink beads. You go, girl.

Family Movie Night! Every Saturday night we watch a show together as a family after dinner. We all cram on the bean bag and share special treats. The kids love it. I like it because when they ask to watch a show during the week I can say, "Not today, but tomorrow is Family Movie Night, okay? We'll watch a show then." It makes it so I don't have to just say, "No" so often.

Nate was doing a sit up and Colin flung himself onto Nate's lap. He thought it was fun to exercise with dad.

The middle of March sometime. I was trying to get some weeding/planting done in the planters near the house, so I stuck Gray out on a blanket. Kate and Colin were kind enough to keep him company for a few minutes.

DeAnna and Lenna (my sisters-in-law) and their kids drove out from Iowa for a week at the end of March. We had cousin pictures taken one afternoon, and we had dinner at my house afterward. Nate smoked a turkey. It was awesome.

Rach rockin' the hula hoop.

Here are some of my favorite shots from the cousin photo shoot. You might be surprised to hear that it is really hard to get a good picture of 13 kids under 10 and under (with the bulk of them being 4 and under).

Kate giving Gray some love.

Heather's big girls with Addi.

My kids!

DeAnna's kids.

Kaylee peeking at Chamae.

Lenna's kids.

Heather's kids.

Kate and Gray enjoying some bonding time while Colin was at Joy School. Gray would only crawl through the tunnel if he could see Kate peeking at the other end.

Gray is no longer happy unless he is pulling himself up to stand on something. This is one of his new favorite spots, under the kitchen table. He loves to climb and stand, but he's not too good with getting down yet.

Another classic of Gray standing. This time he's sporting one of his sweet pink diapers. Work it, bro!

I walked the kids down to our lame neighborhood park and let them run for a while. I thought we would stay longer, but a certain 2-year-old decided to poop her pants, so we went home. Also, the park bathrooms were locked up. Awesome.

I loved this outfit on Colin. Gray is so much bigger! He barely fits into it now.

What a tease.

In other news, all the kids have croup. Gray spent a few hours in the ER Monday evening. He was fine all morning, and then when he woke up from his afternoon nap he was having difficulty breathing. I didn't know what the problem was, so I tried looking in his mouth for something he could have put in there. I whacked him on the back a few times. I tried to get him to clear his throat. Nothing worked. So after 10 minutes or so I asked my mom if I could borrow her car and take him to the doctor. I drove over and the receptionist told me the doctor said to take him straight to the ER. I freaked right out. I drove to the hospital in tears, yelling at every red light and moron on the road. Granny watched the other kids, Nate met me at the hospital, and my mom dropped off a diaper bag on her way to work. The respiratory therapist gave him albuterol (didn't help), steroids (I guess they helped, but they took several hours to kick in), and finally epinephrin (dramatic difference). Four hours later we brought him home, breathing just fine. Needless to say, that was a pretty scary day for me. Colin and Gray have had yucky coughs, and none of the kids are sleeping well. I really dislike that part. I don't do well without sleep. I think everyone is getting better now, thankfully.

Nate and I went to a local nursery last weekend and bought some raspberry starts, grape starts, two peach trees, and a pear tree (no partridge—please stop asking about the blasted partridge!). Nate has been looking at plans online to build a grape arbor. I've been weeding beds every chance I get so I can plant some flowers and stuff soon.

Colin loves to read. He gets so excited when he sees a word he knows. He's loving this website, and he asks daily to play the Learn to Read Game on the computer.

Also, it snowed today. What the what?!

I think that is all.