Touro University Occupational Therapy Class of 2014 GRADUATION

Molly: 1 year 9 months

I want to give the right impression about our dear Molly. We love her so much, even if she isn't the easiest child right now. I will write honestly, but some of her most difficult traits are some of her most endearing traits as well. If nothing else they keep us up laughing at night when we discuss our days before bed.
I'm not quite sure where to begin with Molly. She is very contrary. She wants everything you are not offering until you offer it. And when you offer it, it is not what she wants. She wants everything she can't have and knows very well what she is not supposed to have and purposefully takes the time to obtain it. For example, our bathroom drawers are now completely empty because she would not stay out of them. She loves to carry around pens, pencils and anything sharp, for what seems like the only reason, because she is not supposed to have them. She taunts us with them and when we finally get the courage to remove them from her grip, she throws a royal fit as though we have wrongfully taken away her favorite stuffed kitten for no reason at all but just to hurt her. If she is in the middle of one of those fits, nothing will console her. Not drink, or treat or even an alternatively safer toy. So we have learned not to try to console her, and instead let her have her fit. "No" is her favorite word although she is very expressive and has quite a big vocabulary for her age (or at least compared to Lucy at her age).

Molly is a very good eater, even with the dairy intolerance. Although the food she likes and eats is very plain. If she does not get 3 meals and at least 2 snacks a day... she can be very ornery. The times of day that she eats are very calculated, and if we are going to be out, I always plan a snack, or else fits will be thrown.
Molly is a fantastic sleeper as well. She loves and looks forward to her naps. She is always willing to go down and will do so with out a fight. Night is the same. She loves to wake up early and bug Lucy until she wakes up too. Thank heavens for good sleepers.
Story: I have been searching for a used Cozy Coupe for the last couple of weeks. We happened to be out to my brother Mason's house when I spotted one in his driveway. It was like the heavens had opened and answered my prayers. Mason doesn't have kids young enough to enjoy a Cozy Coupe so I didn't hesitate asking him if we could have it. He said that he almost through it out a few weeks ago, and that it was ours. I wanted it so badly for Molly and was so excited to have one. She would not get out of that thing for two days straight. I knew that would be the case hence my search. We have since declared it Molly's and Lucy only gets to play with it when Molly is asleep. Mostly because Molly won't allow it any other time of the day. Molly loves to ride in the car carts at the grocery stores. As I push her around she yells, "BEEP, BEEP" at all the customers in our way. She loves to play in our car when it is parked and refuses to get out, if I give her the opportunity. She loves cars and so I knew the Cozy Coupe would make her happy. I love when Molly is happy.
Molly also can be very silly, and makes us laugh on a daily basis. I know that one day, a lot of her traits will work for her good. She is very determined and once she sets her mind to anything, she does not stop until she achieves it. She is not afraid to stand up for herself no matter what company she is in. She loves FROZEN, all Disney princesses (and can recognize all of them by name), and anything girly. She loves her blanket and binkie and can always be soothed by either. She loves books and loves to be read to. We spend a lot of time reading everyday. We love her so much and don't know what we would do with out her in our family. Lucy especially loves her sister and gets excited every time she wakes up from her nap.

Lucy: 3 years 4 months

I've been looking through my own personal history and am realizing that I have some updating to do. I'll start with each of the girls because their progress deserves some recognition and then we'll see what needs to be added from there. And forgive me, but I haven't written for awhile, so it may be choppy but I hope coherent to those that take the time to read it.
Lucy although she shows many of the traditional 3 year old traits is still very sweet and for the most part a very compliant child. I love her for that and need her for that. She loves to be silly. I am not sure where she learned to be silly. I think probably from her cousins that she sees more frequently than any other child close to her age. They can be very silly and she loves to hang out with them. She gets to see them all every Sunday and often during the week as well. They are all older than her, but they are all very accepting of her and let her run around with them. They include her in all the play as well. She LOVES it so much. They are all her friends and looks forward to seeing them every time we go to grandma's. Last week we went to Grandma's and expected to be the only ones to visit. After about 45 minutes of waiting Spencer's family showed up and started piling through the door. Lucy was elated and so full of excitement. She put both of her hands on her cheeks and said in the most happy excited voice, I've ever heard come from her mouth, "My friends..., My friends are here!" There are lots of little girls her age in our ward, and everyone wonders why she doesn't have other friends to play with,... Truth is, it's not her fault. It's mine. I am the anti-social one not her. I am not always like that but I have been over 7 months pregnant since we moved here and I am especially not social when I'm this pregnant. It's far too much work. Give me some time and Lucy will have friends in the ward and maybe I will too. We'll see.
Lucy although she is learning to stick up for herself a little more with Molly is still a very loving and understanding older sister that probably gives in a little too much. I think mostly because she is tired of listening to Molly's cries and tantrums. Now every time Molly starts up, Lucy puts her hands over her ears and ignores her. We've all sort of learned to ignore the fits... because they are so frequent we have learned to ignore her. But this post is about Lucy.
Lucy has turned back into a good sleeper. She had a really bad streak when we first moved here, crying and panicking every night, but she has gotten much better. She even takes a nap about once a week. We don't always encourage her to take a nap because when she does she sleeps for hours and is up until at least ten pm those nights. But there are days when she really does need them.
Lucy is still a great eater. She doesn't love meat but I feel like everything else is fair game. She will always try a bite or two of anything, which is just how we like it.
Lucy is learning new things everyday, although not to extent that I feel she was before. Mostly she is learning and discovering new words and vocabulary and learning to express herself in ways that amaze me everyday. She loves to be loud and is so very social, and would love more opportunities to be more social. She starts swim lessons tomorrow so I will update on that. I hope she will enjoy the time away from mom and sister and especially love her time in the pool with peers.
I love Lucy so much. She will randomly come up to me and just say, "Mom, I just love you." and give me a hug. I love it. She says "thank you" for everything that is given to her and for the most part is getting the hang of asking politely for the things that she wants or needs. She is a very good girl. And I do need her so.

Happy 4th anniversary to my one and only (Warning: this is mushy and you're welcome not to read it, but wanted it in my records)

Today is our 4th anniversary. It's really hard to believe it's only been 4 years. I feel like we have accomplished so much together, it's hard to believe that we could have done it all in just 4 years. James is currently back in Henderson for a two day board exam prep class before we celebrate his graduation from OT school on Sunday. He won't officially be done until the end of June but because of other programs "more normal schedules" they make OT's join them early. I miss him today. But we have been trying to celebrate a little all week long and will go out on Saturday for a small date. It's a wonderful time in our lives. I could easily compare my life to any of my siblings whom are all established and able to take their wives on elaborate trips or their families on vacations, while we are content to visit local parks and stay as close to home as possible. But it is easy for me to realize that there will be a time when we can afford a decent family vacation or even enjoy it, because our kids will be grown and more independent. For now we are creating our family. Preparing for the future and enjoying what we do have. I love my job, as a mother and wife. I would not trade it for anything in the world. I love supporting James through his schooling and learning with him the value of a great education. I am so happy James asked me to marry him. I have loved every bit of our life together. He is as supportive a husband as I could have ever dreamed up. He makes me happy and calm and I miss him every moment he is not around. He makes me a better person.
I always spend some time looking through our wedding photos around this time. I treasure them (thank you Elizabeth). It was a beautiful day and a beautiful wedding. In my personal opinion it was the most beautiful I had ever been to (thank you Mom). It was perfect. James and I had soooo much fun celebrating with everyone. We still look back on that day with smiles and the fondest memories. I am so glad we kept it simple. It has always been sort of a motto of ours from the beginning and we have always tried to keep our lives simple. It has brought us every bit of peace and happiness in our family's life.
So Happy Anniversary James! I love you so much. Come home!

Mother's Day!

This is James again writing this post (I feel that I've kind of taken over the blogging right now while Lauri is pregnant, so I guess just expect that all the blog posts are going to be from me right now until Lauri gets back into it, but you never know, I could take over completely).

This post is to say HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the wonderful mothers in my life. I am grateful for my own mother who has raised me well. As I have already told her, I have a much greater realization of what it means to be parent and particularly a mother. I feel that you can only gain this deepened understanding of parenthood and motherhood by being a parent yourself. By caring for my own children and watching Lauri nurture and love our children and care for them everyday (not to mention the process of bringing children into the world), I love and appreciate my own mother that much more. I also know the rambunctious, crazy child I was and the headaches that I caused her with my unlimited energy. She sure taught me how to love, listen, have patience, and serve the Lord and those around me through her own example. These are some of the most beloved attributes that I most cherish about my own mother.

And I also love and appreciate my wife for the wonderful mother that she is to our children. Not to brag, but she was voted most considerate for her high school yearbook. This is probably one of the best qualities to describe her as a mother as well. She puts our children's needs before her own and seek out for their well-begin. She has a big heart and great depth of love to give. And she freely gives of her love to these girls. They know how much their mother loves and cares about them. This is the trait that I have most learned about from my wife is the ability to love unconditionally.

Here is the picture that we put on our Mother's Day cards to our mothers (and yes I am wearing lipstick as well). It was our way of sending hugs and kisses:

 I also wanted to put these pictures on as well because they are cute pictures of the girls. We told them to hold hands (I can't remember the reason). Well, Molly decided that she wanted to keep holding Lucy's hand and would not let go. They walked all around the basement for about 10 minutes holding hands. It was pretty cute. They sure love each other and they are good sisters to each other. They'll be great mothers one day as well because they have a good mother as an example.

St. George Children's Museum

We sure have had a fun time being in St. George. It seems that we go out on outings with the girls all the time. One of our favorite places to go is the Children's Museum. The great part is that the museum is free, but the bad part of that is that it always seems to be crowded....Unless you buy a membership and you go on Mondays which are member-only days. That basically equates to having the museum all to yourself at any time on a Monday (because no one wants to pay for something that is already free). So, yes, we bought a membership and these are pictures of us at the children's museum all by ourselves. And I am not exaggerating. There was literally no one else at the museum with us the whole time we were there. It was pretty awesome. We got to do all the things that the girls have wanted to do but haven't been able to because it was too crowded before. Needless to say, we had a great time and we'll be going to the children's museum. And if you ever want to head to the children's museum with us on a Monday when no one is there, we'd be glad to take you because we can take up to 5 guests with us.