I started to type a rather extended status on my facebook and decided I'd rather post it as a blog. I would like to be better about blogging, it's easier to look back on than facebook status updates anyway. I don't suppose there's terribly much to report at this time, but even everyday life is worth recording.
Mira is 1 year old as of last week
we blessed her here at home at her birthday party with family and friends around, as Adam will be leaving to go to Texas later this week and we'll be getting her sealed to us in the Oakland Temple not long after his return. After she is sealed on May 10th (only 5 days after our 12th wedding anniversary of being married in that same Temple) it will all finally feel official and done. Somehow just the adoption doesn't make it feel done. Having that special day in the temple with the whole family makes it all feel complete and real....really another child of ours forever.
She is almost walking, not quite there yet, but certainly close. She takes 2-3 steps at a time but hasn't gotten much past that. When Adam comes home from Texas she should be walking for sure, at least he didn't miss her first few steps. Darla started walking while he was in Texas the last time.
Mira loves to make silly faces, she loves to make people laugh, quite the little character that one, here is a picture of one of her silly faces.
Why is The Husband Man going to Texas, you ask? He has been invited to join the Union Pacific K-9 Team for the National K-9 Trial Competition. They compete to see who has the best relationship between handler and dog for a top prize of....a pat on the back. Haha. Not literally, but it's not much more than notoriety when someone wins, but we both agree it's pretty neat that he got invited in the first place. He'll be there for a week of intense training with the team coach, just to clean up any problem areas, and then on to the preliminary rounds of the competition leading up to the final rounds. I wish I could go cheer him on, or that they could show it on ESPN or something but unfortunately all I'll get is his daily phone calls to update me on the goings on in Texas.
Catcher is 3,
he is speaking very well and has fully grasped the concept of potty training without much hassle. He stays dry at naps and bedtime and hasn't worn so much as a pull up in several months, all undies all the time :) So proud of my little boy and to have one less kid in diapers!! Somehow he managed to learn all of his colors, it's kind of funny because I sat down to work on it with him once, figuring it was time for him to know his color,s and to my astonishment he already knew them all! Chock it up to bigger siblings....or Public Television, hard to tell which, but either way I was pretty proud of that. He is full of love and hugs on a daily basis. His relationship with Darla has entered a fun stage, I'm sure it won't last. Right now the two are each other's best friend, there is never a moment where they are without each other. At one point when Darla was extremely sick I had to take her to the ER, Catcher was so distraught at my leaving with her and not taking him, not just because he wanted to go wherever i was going, but because he wanted to be with Darla.
Darla is 2 and a half,
She is so happy all the time and all of life is a game to her....including potty training, which is lasting way longer than I'd like. She knows the concept but just doesn't seem to care much about it, similar to Maggie at this age so I know we'll get through it eventually. The thing is this girl is rarely in a bad mood, or if she is it's for a second and she's back to acting happy and silly again. Can't help but laugh with her, just look at that smile!
Katie turned 5 last month.
She is learning to write her own name and can recognize any letter of the alphabet and has started to teach herself how to add. She is excited for Kindergarten next year which will be via the homeschool program through the local Charter School that we've been doing with the older two girls for two years now. She is doing ballet this year and will be performing the quack quack dance in this years recital.
Maggie is 7 and a half
She joined a competition gymnastics team this year and is loving having a chance to get out her excess energy, even after a three hour training she still has energy to burn. She's building strong muscles though and is making good use of them in tumbling and bar routines. She got glasses this year and upped the cuteness factor, as if she needed it!
Elaine is 9 years old this year
She's getting so grown up! She is still doing ballet and even performed as a Bon Bon in the 2012 Central West Ballet performance of The Nutcracker at the Gallo Center for the Arts. It was a beautiful performance and she looks forward to auditioning for it again this year.
I see many years of ballet ahead, she has one more year in lower level classes, next school year, and after that will be moving on to dancing on point. That is a crazy thought, but she is very much ready for it. They skipped her a skill level last year and she caught up and has advanced to the top of her class again. Dance is a real passion for her but she has also been taking horsemanship classes this semester (free through the charter school...yeah!) and is loving her time on the beautiful horses she's gotten to ride.
Adam and I are celebrating our 12th wedding anniversary this year....
We were so young when we met....
And fell in love and got married May 5, 2001
And well I can't even find a current picture of just the two of us, all of them have one or more kids in the picture, so here is us 12 years and six kids later....still so much in love!
