First Day of School 2011

Here are some pictures from our first day of school. Chiara started BJU 2nd Grade and Mayah started My Father's World Kindergarten. I am so proud of my girls and how hard they work. Mayah was so enthusiastic and it was contagious! Chiara is struggling a bit more with the transition from "summer schedule" to school, but after a good talk with her father about having joy and not rushing things have greatly improved.

Leah has been occupying herself with computer time and Preschool Prep videos. She has not been that hard to manage during school. Emma has joined us at some point each day this week and we just work around her 'schedule'.

We did have some milk and cookies in the afternoon to keep a Day Family tradition going. It brings me so much joy!

Here is Mayah sorting and matching upper and lower case letters.

Emma joined us for a while

Another tradition-first day of school pictures

Chiara working in her handwriting book

Here we go again......

I have been terrible about keeping up with this blog....no idea why?!?! HA! Emma is a big 11 weeks old now-zooooom! So fast. This past week she moved out of our room and into hers. She is still sleeping in the swing for half the night, but in her own room. David and I seem to be sleeping better and I really think it is best for her to start getting used to her own space. The bassinet is still in our room if needed and of course there is always our bed!
We are about to embark on another home school year. We plan to start tomorrow. I am learning that I do not need a "start" time right now as each and every day looks different. I purchased a curriculum for Mayah this year-Kindergarten! Yes, she is quite ready even though the public school system would have her wait a year. She has a desire to learn and after looking through the beginning of the curriculum I think she is beyond ready. It starts with letter recognition and she is doing letter sounds and I think ready for blends. We are going to take it slow only because I am managing 2 kids with school and 2 kids not...and breastfeeding. My only expectations for the school day is to make it through the day with joy and grace.
Chiara is starting 2nd grade curriculum with BJU. She can and likes to work very independently and BJU allows her to do so. I can't take any credit for the amazing things Leah Jo knows! She can count to 10, recognize numbers 1 through 10 and even recognizes at least 20 letters. WOW! Thank you Preschool Prep Company DVDs!!!
I have been using almost all of my "free" (hahahahaha) time preparing for the school year beginning of our home school support group. David and I are Directors this year and it is our heart's desire to see the group grow....and it is already! I can't wait to see what happens this year for Mi CASA!
I am sure there are so many things I could write on here....so many little details that I am neglecting. However, I am choosing to just be in the moment and enjoy what comes each day.

Beautiful Moments

I absolutely love capturing these beautiful moments...even if that means I have to run into another room, grab my camera, and try not to disturb the beautiful moment by taking a picture of it. A lot of the time I just look and absorb, but this time I captured it on film.

Chiara has been wanting to read to Leah for some time now and Leah has continued to say no. She's two, what do you want? Well, Friday morning she said YES! Chiara was so excited. She picked out a Berenstain Bear book and started reading. She told me that this was her "dream come true". It is one of my dreams too. Not only is Chiara an amazing reader at 6 years old, but her desire to spend time with her sister fills my cup! It is my prayer that our girls will become best friends-a great reward for having our children so close in age. When I see these beautiful moments I am encouraged that they are on their way!

You can tell it's bedtime because......

Leah is screaming, Mayah is talking, and Chiara is trying to get one more minute with Emma before bed. All while Emma is fussing and David and I are trying to keep our cool. Mayah goes pee about 4 times before staying in her bed and bedtime seems to be her story time. She talks and talks and talks. That's nothing compared to Leah's nightly routine....screaming, fighting, fit. It sucks. Part of it is her age-we have been here before....2 years ago. Part of it has been since Emma arrived. We have tried so many things-spankings, sitting with her, yelling, talking, ignoring. There is nothing that "works" or has fixed the problem. We always prep the girls for bedtime too-no surprises, but that does not seem to help either. It sucks.

Yes, it will pass. They have all done this at some point. Tonight I took some time to lay with Chiara in bed and love on her-at bedtime she is so well behaved that she seems to get the short end of the stick. It seems forever ago that she was getting out of her bed and falling asleep on the floor. She gives me hope that someday we will totally be out of this phase.

A Month Gone By

Has a month really gone by?! Only 4 weeks ago (ok, I am writing this a week later so technically 5 weeks ago) Emma Lynne was all tucked up inside me. An amazing thought.

I cannot say these 5 weeks have been easy. Balancing a house of four girls in Arizona in the summer can be a challenge. We are stuck inside most of the time, which is difficult for kids who love running around outside. Emma has had her challenges too. I have too much milk and had to do block feeding to be able to stabilize my supply. Thanks to a dear high school friend who is a "pro" breast feeder in my opinion I have learned something new about nursing and milk supply. Who would have thought too much milk can cause so many problems.

Emma is still an infant so lots of sleeping during the day and up at night-anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. There are nights when she sleeps a 6 or 7 hour stretch, and those are the nights she is up for about 2 hours after. She has a fussy time between 7 pm and 9pm. She only wants me to hold her, does not want to nurse, but likes to be "bopped" and walked around.

Just last week she started making some baby noises and a couple facial expressions. A sign of things to come. I do not want time to go faster, though I am certainly looking forward to a little bit better sleep.

All three girls are still head over heels in love. Chiara and Mayah are always asking to hold Emma and Leah comes to rub her a few times a day. Chiara was so excited that I let her change Emma's diaper the other day-it was just wet. I think it really made her day. She is very motherly and loving. Even at 5 weeks old I can tell that Emma knows her sisters. The way she looks at them is amazing.

I did take her on the scale with me since we will not have her weighed for another month and
it was a 10 pound difference!!!!! Ten pounds already?!?!? Wow! No wonder I am so tired and hungry-this girl eats!

So, here's to another 4 weeks.....

Celebrating 10 Years

This week David and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary. The day was quiet and normal-well, our new normal with a newborn. We exchanged gifts and David surprised me with a trip to Seattle in September!!!!!!!!!!! Just for him, Emma, and I. A big thanks to my mom for taking time off work to make the trip possible.

So, Friday night we went out with my parents and the girls to celebrate our anniversary. We went to Rustler's Rooste located at Pointe South Mountain. They have a steer outside, a slide to get to the dining room, great food, live music, and for us a night of surprises, laughter, and so much fun!



I am more in love with this man now than I was 10 years ago. He is a wonderful husband and an amazing Daddy. He loves me unconditionally and gives so much to this family. He supports me in all that I take on- a great cheerleader! He works so hard to provide for our family.
The girls checking out the huge steer outside the restaurant.
Emma joined the party near the end.
My mom convinced the girls that we had to feed one another the eclair cake like we fed one another at our wedding. We reluctantly did-the things you do to please your kids.
The eclair!!!!!!
Going down the slide to get to dinner!
Our view from the table-Camelback Mountain.
Mayah was so snuggly with Grampy!!
I love this one....10 years ago I danced with him at my wedding and here we are my Dad dancing with my daughter!
Listening to the live music
Enjoying a piece of fry bread
Fun hats!

Our Silly One

Each child has their own personality and in this house each girl seems to find their niche. Well, Leah has found hers in 'silly-ville"! She loves to get the laugh-especially from her two older sisters.

On this particular day she wore purple goggles for half of the day. Just being silly and she knows it. I love how her personality keeps developing and coming through more and more each day. There are a lot of things that are tough about a two year old, but so many things that outweigh those times.