Catchup!

Well, of course the summer went by in the blink of an eye and that means I am way behind on blogging. So here is an update on all that we have done this summer:

Mason turns 7!

That's right, my baby is growing up! It seems like just yesterday I was nearing the end of my pregnancy, working nights, enduring swollen ankles, and wondering what it would be like when he finally graced us with his presence. I always joked with Thad that we would have a redheaded child, and lo and behold, Mason is our redhead. We truly enjoy having him in our family! He is a great helper, especially with entertaining Maiya, and is an expert at playing video games. He also enjoys playing sports and spending time with his Grandmas and Grandpas, and Aunts and Uncles. He has the cutest, silliest grin that warms your heart. He is an excellent student with his favorite subject being math. He is also a great reader, but much to his mom's chagrin, he would rather be playing video games. We have been greatly blessed to have Mason in our family and look forward to many more years with him, guiding him and watching him grow. Happy Birthday Mason!!

I made Mason a spongebob cake at his request.


Make a wish!




Maiya's First Foods

Of course being September when I am writing this, Maiya is well into eating her solids, but I still had to post about her first feeding. She of course had rice cereal as her first "solid" food. She did well with it and still loves her cereal. She's not a fan of the sweet fruits, but loves her rice cereal and any kind of vegetable I give her. I'm hoping that eventually she will aquire the taste for fruits, just so she can have a more balanced diet, but for right now I'll just enjoy the fact that she eats her vegetables without complaint!


Getting excited!!

This is interesting...

Hmm, not so bad.


Cousins

I have been watching my niece, Claire, for several months now. I watch her less often now but for a while I was watching her 1-2 days a week. The kids love having her over so they can entertain her and make her laugh. She is a couple months older than Maiya so it's been fun to watch her blossom and know what Maiya will do in a couple months. I'm hoping they will develop a close friendship with each other as they grow up.






4th of July

Our 4th of July this year was pretty low-key. Thad of course worked as he always does but was able to spend time with us in the evening for the holiday festivities. For once I didn't have to work the actual holiday, but worked every day around the holiday, so needless to say it wasn't much of a holiday for me beyond spending time with family, enjoying some BBQ and watching my brother, Chris, with his crazy fireworks show. Makai actually enjoyed watching the fireworks this year instead of hiding under his blanket. I think he mostly enjoyed throwing the pop-its on the ground and making them "explode". Maiya also enjoyed the fireworks show and didn't seem bothered at all by the loud noises. All of our other children have always been scared of the loud fireworks when they are young, but not Maiya. She's pretty much our happy go lucky, sit and enjoy everything, baby!

Playing with pop-its



Claire just hanging out

Maiya hanging out and playing DS with dad

Getting ready for the fireworks show with their 3D glasses


Grandma Kay and Makai

Sparkler fun




Makai was a little wary of the sparklers





Maiya is 6 months!!

Maiya turned 6 months old on August 2nd. She is a wonderful baby! She is usually very happy and content to sit and take in her surroundings. At her check-up she weighed 23 lbs (97+ percentile) and was 26 1/4 inches long (50 percentile). She is by far my biggest baby. She loves to watch her brothers and sister and often laughs at their silly antics. It is really sweet to watch them care for her, and help her play with her toys. Makai is really sweet with her, giving her kisses and entertaining her in the car, making her giggle. As far as major milestones, she loves to squeal, coo, and babble. She can almost sit up without support. She can sit without support but quickly loses balance and falls over. She recently found her feet and can sometimes be seen playing with her toes (which I think is always the cutest thing, when a baby plays with their feet). She has not shown any interest in mobility ie rolling, crawling, etc, and I think this is in part to having everything handed to her by her siblings and because she is a rather chubby baby; it takes a lot of effort to move that weight around. She is taking rice cereal and baby foods like a pro. Some of her favorites are sweet potatoes and bananas. She is truly a blessing to our family and we love having her with us. It's actually very difficult thinking back to when she wasn't here, it seems like she's been with us forever. Here are some random pictures of her 4 months-7 months.



She fell asleep sitting up on Uncle Chris' lap


Aah, so sweet!


Sisters

She has long enough hair for clippies

Just chillin' at a soccer game


Tuckered out


Utah Vacation

Scentsy Convention was held in Salt Lake this year, so we decided to make a family vacation out of it. As luck would have it, for us anyway, Thad's younger brother, Loel, moved to Salt Lake last Spring so we were able to stay with him. We had fun spending time with Loel, playing at Lagoon, visiting the aquarium, shopping, and eating yummy food, mostly cooked by Loel. Scentsy Convention wasn't all that bad either, but by the end Maiya was tired of all the attention (and unfortunately acquired Roseola as well). Thanks Loel for letting us intrude on your peace!

Lagoon

Waiting for bumper cars

Having fun...Makai would have stayed on this ride all day. He loves cars!

Riding the helicopter solo


Driving yet another car

Waiting for the last ride of the day

Maiya was such a good baby through all of it



Enjoying some ice cream, yum!


Trying to get the water bottle open


Aquarium

Makai slept through most of the Aquarium tour

Mason and Malia checking out something cool

Jellyfish


First Day of School

A few days after getting back from Utah, the kids started school. In the middle of August, I know; it seems like every year they start earlier in the month. I'm thinking eventually they'll start in July or even switch to year round if they are going to short the kids on summer vacation. They aren't even getting out any earlier at the end of the year, they still get out at the end of May. Oh well, enough complaining.

So Mason started 2nd grade and Malia is in Kindergarten. Due to budget cuts on bussing, they decided to stop doing morning and afternoon 1/2 day Kindergarten classes and switch to full days with the kids going a few days during the week. So Malia is on a Wed/Fri track and occasionally has a Monday. They told us it would be every other Monday, but with holidays and teacher inservices falling on Mondays a lot, she tends not to go on Mondays. She loves school, but I think she is struggling with this schedule and we are having to work with her at home a lot to help her understand her reading and sight words. I'm concerned about whether she will be ready for 1st grade at the end of the year if she continues down the path she is on. She is a smart girl but there's only so much information you can cram into a child's brain before it's information overload and they stop listening and learning. She really could use the consistency of going to school every day. I hope that as the year goes on she can settle in and hopefully this new schedule won't be a detriment to her education.

Mason on the other hand is thriving. He was recently selected to be a part of the 2nd grade enrichment program due to his high test scores on the IRI and his higher reading fluency. He will be pulled out of class once a week for a few hours to work on Science, problem solving and projects. He is very excited for the science aspect, which of course thrills me since my degree is based on science.







Potty Training

Makai decided he was finally done with diapers. He would come tell me he needed his bum changed or that he had pooped. We went out to Walmart, bought him some big boy underwear and off he went. The first day he recognized the need to use the toilet and would run and do it before the timer would even go off. He also didn't want to mess his pants so there were very few accidents. He immediately went to staying dry through his naps and at night. He occasionally has an accident at night, but overall is completely done training. I have to say he has been very easy and by far both boys were the easiest to potty train. So yay for us, we only have one child in diapers!!

Look mom no training wheels!

This summer has been full of firsts. Mason rode his bike without training wheels for the first time this summer. We felt he needed an extra little push to learn without training wheels, so I took the training wheels off, which forced him to either learn or not ride. He has had so much fun riding without them and feels like a much bigger kid now! Maybe next year for his birthday we can upgrade his bike...




Swimming

The kids didn't get to do a whole lot of swimming this summer. Mostly because we were busy and then we didn't have any money to put them in lessons this year. Hopefully next year they can be fish all summer long! So, Labor Day weekend we decided to take them to my grandmother's neighborhood pool before they closed it up for the winter. They had so much fun! I really wish we could have taken them more throughout the summer.











Soccer

Mason is once again playing soccer. He is doing so much better this year at being more assertive and going for the ball. His ball handling skills have improved immensely and he really seems to be enjoying himself. He has even scored a couple goals for his team, which he is so proud of!!




Happy Birthday Charissa!

I recently celebrated my 31st birthday. We celebrated with a yummy pot roast and birthday cake here at home. Thad made it fun by hiding my presents around the house and then presented me with clues to find those presents. The kids had a lot of fun helping me find my gifts and I think watching them and their excitement might have been better than the gifts. I was definitely spoiled by my family, both immediate and extended. I was given a Wii Fit by my brothers, their wives, and my parents. I'm hoping it will help motivate me to work out and get back into shape. Thad and the kids spoiled me with a new WillowTree figurine, shower gels from Bath and Body works, a new Saute pan, and some much needed dish cloths. Thad's parents and brother gave me several gift cards, which have already been put to good use in buying the boys some winter clothes. They also gave me a book, more shower gels from Bath and Body works, more dishcloths, Season 1 of the Big Bang Theory (haven't seen that show?, it's hilarious you should check it out!), and dinner out! Thanks to everyone for making my day so special!