Summer 2008

Johanna's trademark smile

Cole got head-butted by a goat last month--and survived!


Fingerpaint fun in the tub! Get these two to hair and makeup!!

Me and my "seesters" on Mother's Day


Coleman and Lillie LOVE their baby sister!

It's been yet another crazy couple of months. I haven't been up on the blog, sorry. Of course, I actually got it up so that's more than I ever thought would happen. Well, here's what's new: Ira started his new job with Big-D Construction as a foreman a few weeks ago and is anxious to get started on his first big project hopefully in the next week. For now he's working in their wood shop and is getting ready to scream because of all "the mindless work." His project will be overseeing some warranty work on a Wal-mart parking lot. He is anxious for it to start.
I am yet again fighting off another sickness. This week it's a cold and another fever. Yay! Other than that I am just keeping busy watching my nephew once a week, my 3 beautiful children every day, and I'm pretty busy with my YW calling. It's all good and crazy fun.
Coleman is just getting funnier every day! He learned a silly dance from some TV show and does it for everyone now. Lillie turned 2 on June 16! Now we have a 2 yr old and a 3 yr old--insane!! Anyway, Lillie didn’t want shoes or toys for her birthday, she just wanted a “popern ba” (popcorn ball) for her 2nd birthday. Cole tried to convince Lillie that she wanted a backhoe. Me: “Girls don’t want backhoes, they like pretty things.” Cole: “Well, we could buy her a backhoe and then buy some pretty flower stickers to put all over it!” [Then with all the excitement of an epiphany and with clasped hands...] “They have them at Costco!!!”
After that, I was talking to Cole about the days they were born. I told him that Johanna was born on a Sunday and he and Lillie were both born on Fridays. His reply to that was, “But Friday is GARBAGE DAY!!!” To think that he could be born on garbage day! Needless to say the kids had me rolling in laughter all day. We just had the family over for a little backyard pool/trampoline party with cake and ice cream for her B-day. It was fun for everyone. It’s hard to believe all the changes I have seen in her in the past 2 years. She is quite a character. I can’t decide whether she’s more like me or Ira. She is usually more quiet and reserved around new people, and she gets embarrassed easily in the last month or so. My visiting teachers were over a few weeks ago and Lillie tripped in front of them and hit her head on our coffee table. Her face turned bright red and she looked at them like she was ashamed and then she turned and ran into her room to go cry instead of coming to me for comfort like usual. She obviously didn’t want them to see.
I’ve never seen Cole do anything like that. In fact, he is the exact opposite. He is the first person to introduce himself and ask everyone around him personal questions. The other day we picked Ira's brother Ben up from the airport for Father’s Day. On the way, we were talking about how Cole was getting hair on his legs and that meant he was growing bigger. He replied, “Yeah, and Uncle Lance [my hairy little bro] is growing really big! He has hair ALL over his body! He even has hair in his belly button!” Then to our amazement, as soon as Ben got into the truck Cole asked him, “Benny, do you have hair all over your body?” Ben was a little shocked but replied, "Pretty much," and we all had a good laugh about it.
Anyway, back to Chica! Her new favorite thing (besides shakin' her booty to anything with a beat) is to hide inside the fridge to eat. If I’ve told her she can’t have some more yogi or something, she will sit inside the fridge and eat it. The fridge door is only open a few inches so I can hardly tell that she’s in there. I lost her a few times and panicked until I came to find her in there. It’s a pretty funny thing to see though.
Then there is Johanna! My perfect little angel! I think she’s the reward for all my hard work. She is my own personal stress-reliever. She was laughing and grabbing her toes at 4 months, rolling over at 5 months, learning to sit and even trying really hard to crawl at 6 months and now she will be 8 months on Friday and she's crawling all over the place. Jo also pulls the funniest faces! She’s getting a little bit of separation anxiety because I think she’s finally recognizing who her mommy is. She is such a mellow baby though. I often forget where she is because I set her down in a room and she is so quiet that I don’t hear her and forget where I put her. However, only time will tell if she’ll stay sweet and quiet. If all babies were like her, the world would be full of pregnant women!