Chase is 6 months...

Why does time have to fly so fast? It seems like 9 months of pregnancy takes an eternity and then once they are finally here, time just flies. Chase is doing all sorts of new things these days.
*On Feb. 10th he started rolling over from his back to his stomach. You know what this means? More mobility! He now rolls his way over to the kids and grabs their things. So funny and cute! You can tell he really wants to crawl.
*He does not like baby food. He will eat rice cereal, but makes all of the classic sour, nasty faces when he eats baby food. It's so funny to watch!
*He is already teething! His front 2 bottom teeth are coming in. One of them just poked through 2 days ago. So he has been really miserable with that.
*He just had his 6 month well baby visit to the doctor and got 3 shots a couple days ago as well. So the poor little guy had a double whammy with shots and teeth. He weighs 16.8 pounds and is in the 50 percentile in his weight and height. And 90% in head circumfance! Big head big brain! :)
*We don't know what it is, but this kid seems to hate church. Our other two kids rarely had to be taken out. But Chase will not sit in Sacrament or classes..EVER. Nor will he sleep! He fusses the entire time. So needless to say, church is exhausting these days!

Yup, Parker-isms!

12-17-09
Parker's prayer:
"Thank you that I could eat the food with protein and thanks that we don't eat the food with poison."
After I said, what food has poison and he said, "Apples?"
***
12-17-09
I told the kids that they will be going to the Meikle's house tomorrow night so Dad and I could go on a date. (The Meikle's have 4 girls and no boys. Two of their daughters are each Gracie and Parker's age. Lydia, the one that is Parker's age is a bit pushy with him apparently, but cute as can be, and wants him to play Barbie's all the time. She does let him be Ken though!) So I asked Parker if that was okay and he said, "Yeah, I guess it's okay if Lydia ropes me into playing Barbie's." Then he says in an embarrassed and disgusted voice, "But she makes me play kiss with them...and they're naked!"
***
He tells me all the time, "My heart loves you."
***
12-17-09
Phil went Christmas shopping for me tonight and when he came home, his smell was a dead giveaway at what he had been shopping for! I told him, hmmmm.....wonder what you were shopping for! Haha! Obviously it was perfume. A little while later Parker was sitting on Phil's lap and Parker said to Phil, "You smell like rotten chicken!" Haha! Hysterical! I said to Phil you might want to rethink the scent you chose!
***
12-22-09
Phil: "Parker, it's supposed to snow 12-18 inches in the next 3 days! Do you know what that means?"
Parker: "Yeah, ummm.....ummmm....it means 3 pounds....3 days.........I'm pretty sure."
***
He tells me all the time, "I love you higher than Jesus."
***
1-03-10
Parker's prayer:
Please help us to say butrous (pronounced beutrous) words...even though we don't know what butrous means.

So often in Parker's prayers I'll be squinting ever so slightly so that I can see Parker and Gracie's faces and to make sure they are kneeling, folding their arms, and closing their eyes. But by doing this, I usually see Gracie in the corner of my eye giving me this puzzling look about something Parker just said. I'll see her smile and her shoulder's moving up and down as if she is chuckling about what he just said and at that moment all of my strength to keep my giggles inside comes to an abrupt end with a burst out of laughter. When this happens, Parker seems a bit confused after his prayer as to why we are giggling because he is dead serious in his prayers. I love those moments!
***
1-04-10
Me: "Parker, what do you want for lunch?"
Parker: "A cheese melted up sandwich."
Me: "A grilled cheese sandwich?"
Parker: "No, a cheese melted up sandwich."
***
1-03-10
Parker decided to do his own hair and he was SO proud how good it looked!

***
1-05-10
Parker's prayer:
Thank you so that we could trust Jesus and not trust the bad guys. Thank you so that we could be good zamples. Thank you so they trespass against us.
***
2-10-10
Parker: "I don't even know what President's Day is. Oh, I think it's like that show on TV, General Grievous (from Star Wars). No, it rhymes with General Grievous. You know Mom?! The show with the presidents on it?"

Me: (In deep thought thinking what in the world could President's Day have to do with General Grievous from Star Wars and what TV show rhymes with General Grievous...DING DING....I think!)
"Are you talking about General Conference?"

Parker: "Yeah, that's it!"

Gracie-ceta!

2-17-10
I was reading the kids books tonight before bed and Oscar (our dog) came up and cuddled with us while we were reading. Afterward, I said, "Okay, let's have prayer." Then I started talking to Oscar asking him if he wanted to have prayer with us.

Gracie chuckled and said, "Mom, you're talking to him like you do Chase. Do you love Oscar now?"

Haha! Okay, truth be told, I haven't always been an Oscar fan. So I tell Gracie, "Yes, Gracie I love Oscar now. I used to really not like him and I didn't like the way that made me feel. So I prayed and asked Heavenly Father to help me love Oscar more. And you know what? I had a change of heart. My heart warmed and I love Oscar now."

So I look at Gracie (the dog lover) and her eyes are filled with water {seriously!}. She manages a smile and says, "Mom, stop. You are going to make me cry."

Oh my goodness how sweet. She is so tender hearted!



***
Gracie's class in school has started a notebook journal where she writes a letter to me or Phil at the end of each week telling of 3 things she did during the week and then asking whomever she is writing to a question. Then we are supposed to write a letter in the journal back to her including an answer to her question. Well at parent teacher conferences last week her teacher shows me the notebook and I see SEVERAL red marks all over mine and Phil's letters. Gracie had gone through them and corrected our mistakes. This was not actually an assignment, just something she took upon herself to do! Haha! I laughed so hard! She told her teacher that I did not write my capital 'I's' right and that I wrote "Mom" with 2 capital 'M's" instead of just the first one. On Phil's letter he would write random capital letters in the middle of words in lower case and she underlined all of those errors plus some other legit mistakes. My jaw literally dropped to the ground that our little 1st grader was correcting our letters....AND she was right!
***
We read lots of books around our house and lately while I've been reading to the kids Gracie corrects me if I miss a word or say a word wrong. She seriously follows each word I read and once again, legitimately corrects me! She is fast!
***
At parent teacher conferences her teacher could not say enough good things about her. She said Gracie makes her job easy. Gracie is reading at a 3rd grade level in fiction and nonfiction! The best part to me though, is not that she is so smart, but that she loves it! She truly enjoys reading and I just love that!
***
I mentioned a while back that Gracie's teacher wanted her tested for the "gifted and talented" academic class next year. Over the past several weeks they tested her during school and even on one Saturday. We got the results back and she has been accepted! This class is combined with 2nd and 3rd graders and moves at an accelerated rate. They'll do a lot more hands on experiments using knowledge and creativity. It is designed for each child to move at their own pace. So when a concept is grasped then they can move on instead of waiting for the rest of the class to grasp it as well. We are so proud of Gracie!!!
***
Gracie went to her friends birthday party the other day at the Ramada Inn. They have a big indoor pool park with a big winding slide and a big pirate ship. Gracie was afraid to go on the slide so Phil told her he'd give her $5.00 and a meal at McDonald's and that he'd even walk her up to the top if she went down. Gracie accepted the offer and went down the slide several times in fact and loved it. So Gracie tells Phil, "Dad, I've gone down the slide lots of times so I think you should give me $10.00." Haha! Phil was like nice try! Later Gracie says, "Well Dad, you didn't walk me to the top of the slide and that was part of the deal so I think you should give me $6.00." OH KIDS!!!
***
The other day Parker and I were having a discussion about something not good that he was doing. Gracie was listening in and she said to Parker, "Parker, let me give you some advice...." I can't remember what the advice was, but seriously, a six year old giving a 5 year old advice! I love it!

Slumber Pary!

Gracie and Parker are always wanting to sleep in each others rooms together. Phil and I went down one night and this is what we found.

Random Funness with the Fam!

We had so much fun with Grandma and Grandpa and Shanan here! This is the first time my sister has been able to see Chase and it was so much fun to be able to show her around and spend time with her. She helped Parker conquer and open some levels in Star Wars on his DS and she put stickers on and painted Gracie's nails. Oh, I can't forget to mention that Shanan has a reputation around our house for being an awesome dancer! So Gracie made Shanan teach her some new moves for her freestyle at dance class. I can't forget to thank my dad for being Mr. Handyman and helping Phil fix our dishwasher among other things. Great times, great memories! I could kick myself for not getting more pictures with them here!

Okay, so my Mom does this bizarre thing with her eyes where she makes her eyeballs disappear. Kinda freaky if you ask me! :) But the grandkids LOVE it! About a month ago Gracie started doing it and couldn't wait for Grandma to come so they could do it together. Absolutely hysterical! I've pondered on what to call the "trick" and all I can come up with is "Alien Eyes." The rest of us thought we'd give it a try and well...see for yourself how that went. I dare anyone to try it! It's not as easy as you'd think! Maybe we could call it a hidden talent?? Just a suggestion, but if it were me, I think I'd keep it very hidden! :) But man did we ever laugh our heads off doing this!

31 Candles! Call the fire department!

Dang, I am getting old! My mom and dad and sister Shanan flew in to town on the day of my birthday. What an awesome birthday present!!! I haven't spent my birthday with family for 5 years, so this was really exciting. My mom brought, decorations and yes, 31 candles with her because she knew how much that would mean to Gracie. So thoughtful! I decided for my birthday I wanted to stay home and watch the premier of LOST! I know, lame huh?! NOT! Totally exciting! We enjoyed some cake and ice cream too though of course! Except for my mom and Shanan who are watching their figures! :) The next night we went out to dinner though. We went to the Texas Road House which I love. However, I've never been there for a birthday, nor have I seen anyone there having a birthday before. So I'm watching our waiter and he wheels out what appears to be a saddle on a "thrown". No joke, I was thinking what could that be for? Then BAM like a brick, it hit me and I realized they're going to want me to get on that thing! Sure enough! I thought I was going to die of embarrassment. I said no way am I getting on that, but all eyes possible were on me and I didn't want to be a party pooper. So I swung my leg over that thing and there I sat as my waiter YELLED, "This is Mandi and she just turned 31! Can everybody give her a YEEEEEHAW?!" Then in unison the entire restaurant YELLS, "YEEEEEHAW!" Oh my goodness, pure embarrassment! Afterward Shanan told me that I nearly hit the table behind me with my leg as I was mounting the saddle. LOL!! One word, unforgettable!

I LOVE MY KIDS!!!

(As a reminder to our readers...This is merely a journal of our family, not a bragging session {okay, maybe it is! JK!} )

I don't know what it is, but lately I just can't get enough of my kids. They are so YUMMY! They make me laugh so hard! I feel so grateful and almost unworthy even that they belong to me (and Phil of course!) They are such great kids with hearts of gold. I think I have been noticing lately how fast they are growing up and I have been trying to hang onto every moment and embrace it. In some respects I have become a softy {and I'm not referring to my love handles or extra cushion in places that will remain nameless}. Things I once tried to control are now seeming to be not so important in the long scheme of life. Kids will be kids and that's a good thing! I love each one of them for their own unique personalities. They each bring something to our family that is irreplaceable.

Gracie:
I love Gracie's sweetness. She has the biggest most tender heart of anyone I know. I would rather watch a movie with her than anyone else because her and I can hold each other and cry together in all the sad parts {and we do!}. She is helpful, thoughtful, and so generous. She has a killer smile and such a fun personality. Her teacher says that she is very non-confrontational and gets along with everyone at school. She is a great friend. She holds no reserves at home and is so comfortable just being herself and flying by the seat of her pants. I love that about her! She has a strong sense of right from wrong. She is very protective of those she loves. She is very accommodating to whatever situation comes her way. If she has her mind set on something and it doesn't work out, she doesn't dwell on it, but moves on with a good attitude {e.g. For days and days leading up to my birthday she reminded Phil over and over to get streamers to decorate for my big day. Well, it was late the night before my birthday and Phil had forgotten to get them. While Gracie's reaction was sad at first and only for a split second, she then bounced right back and said, "Well, that's okay, it's not the decorations that make the party, it's the people." }. She LOVES animals (excluding birds!). She is a great listener. I can give her 10 things to do and she can do them all without having to be retold. She LOVES to read. If we would let her stay up all night to read, she would. She finished reading 16 'Junie B. Jones' chapter books in a month! She has a great imagination and is so creative and would rather write, color, draw, glue, tape, build, paint, make meals from play-doh, play with her toy animals, or doll house than do anything electronic (Wii, DS, Leapster) any day. She is a great big sister to her 2 little brothers. She can always put a smile on both their faces and get them to laugh. She really looks out for Parker and tries to accommodate to him to make him happy. But she sure knows how to shake that stick too! :) Her and I stick together!

Parker:
(I know I just paid tribute to Parker on his birthday, but I don't care, I want to do it again!)
I was just thinking the other day how grateful I am for Parker because he has taught me more lessons in life than anyone else...and we're just getting started! This kid is hysterical! He has the best laugh! I absolutely love to hear him laugh because it is so genuine and contagious. I love how he is so passionate about things. Some people might call it obsessive compulsive, but I call it passion! Recently I have seen Parker grow up so much and overcome so many struggles that he has faced in the past. He is my lovey boy. He loves to cuddle! I can't get enough of it! He is such a great big brother. He is always helping me with Chase. Chase's face lights up so bright when he sees Parker. He can really get Chase laughing! I love how Parker needs to be "roughed up." I love how Parker loves the outdoors. Parker loves his sister so much. He isn't embarrassed to kiss her and hug her. If anything, he likes to do it to tease her! I love his funny personality. He is always trying to trick me and tease me. He has a thing for spanking bums...okay, mostly mine and Grandma Holgate's. I don't get it, but it makes me laugh! Maybe our bums stick out there a bit more than others??? (Not yours though Mom!) I've mentioned before how I love his prayers. They are so random and funny! I can't count the number of times I have accidentally burst out into laughter in the middle of his prayer. (Don't worry, I always come up with a random excuse that it was something else I was laughing at and not what he was saying! I am fully aware that I am not setting a good example when that happens! I really do try hard to keep it in, but sometimes it's just impossible!) I love how Parker is determined to do things on his own. He doesn't ever want any help. He learned his address, phone number, and spelling of his last name so fast! He's my pal!

Chase:
The joy of all our lives! The one thing that is guaranteed to make us smile. My favorite scent. Chase is such a huge blessing to our family. None of us can get enough of this little boy. He is constantly smiling and laughing! I love listening to him talk and squeal. He sleeps through the night!!! Need I say more?! :) I can already tell this is one determined little spirit. You can see it in his eyes that he wants to get down and take off at full speed. He wants to explore everything and be right there with his big sister and brother, but his young little body just won't let him yet. I think he has a glisten in his eye that reads mischievous all over it! It's hard to comprehend that this tiny little being can have so much personality and love to offer. Only one complaint, he won't cuddle any more! :( But that doesn't stop me from kissing him a million times a day. He is bursting with personality! I love how when he stares at me, I can feel his love through his eyes and it melts my heart. I love when I pick him up, or at random, he'll grab my neck or my ears or my hair and pull me into him and lay a big wet kiss smeared across my face. I love when I come near him he waves his arms and legs a hundred miles an hour excited that I am going to pick him up.

I can't imagine my life without them!

Okay, I'll stop the mushiness......for now!