A Day Of Good-Byes

Today has been a bit of an emotional day for this pregnant lady as I've said farewell to two dear friends.  One I've known for six years and know that I will still see on visits to Utah.  The other I've known for just a year, so short, but it seems that I've known her much longer.  It is possible our paths may cross again and I would be delighted if they did.  One year just blocks away from each other was not enough.  

To Katie and Janine, I love you and your darling families.  So grateful for your friendship.  We have been blessed with wonderful friends during this Milwaukee experience. 

Father's Day

We had a pretty low-key Father's Day here.  The highlight of the weekend though was Richard took Thursday and Friday off of work so it really was grand to have him around for four straight days.  We all got a lot done, had a lot of fun, and even got substantial relaxing time in.  

Marshall filled out another funny little paper about Richard in primary.  Richard and I got a kick out of it.  Here it is...

He is 22 years old.  Just off by a decade.  :)

His hair is black and his eyes are blue.

He likes to wear blue.  

He is smart because he knows how to play Mario Kart.

He works hard at taking pictures of people's bones.

He always tells me to do chores to fill up the chore chart.

It makes him happy when I sing him a lullaby.

If he could go on a trip he would go to Disneyland and he would take his clothes.

I really love it when he goes to the airport.

If I could give him anything I would give him new BYU clothes.  At the young age of four Marshall knows the way right to Richard's heart.  :)

My favorite thing about him is when he gives me a Transformer.

Oh Marshall, thanks for making us laugh!

And Richard, we love you dearly, so glad we have you!

   

Conversation with Bridget

Bridget's vocabulary is coming along.  I do love her sweet little voice and her short two and three word sentences she is putting together.  For the grandparents, enjoy.  :)

Memorable Memories

I am just a bit nostalgic these days.  With baby number three on the way and two good friends (both for me and Marshall) moving next week; I just may be a bit emotional.  Here's just a smattering of pictures that always make me smile and help me remember things I never, ever want to forget.

Fun summer evenings outside.

Story time at Yo-Mama with hilarious glasses.

Looking way too grown up, but also incredibly darling.

Dinner out with dear friends and no children!

 

 

A rainy evening at the zoo.

Fun watching the jaguar cubs.

Evening zoo outings.

Marshall looks so old, coming up on five.  :(

Hiking in a beautiful nature preserve in the middle of the Milwaukee ghetto.

Waving good-bye to Daddy every morning.

Water fun with friends.

Bridget getting her seasons a little confused. 

A summer evening spent at a lake with some of the greatest people I know.

 Okay, I have to stop, I might start crying.

Bye Bye Binky

Bridget is growing up, or at least she's being forced to grow up.  :)  Last Friday we got rid of her binkies once and for all.  Since the middle of March we have just been letting her sleep with her binkies for her nap and at night.  The first day of that was AWFUL!!!  Thankfully though she adjusted quickly and life moved on.  

I wanted to get rid of her binky for good some time in June to give her a few weeks without it before the baby.  For weeks I was stumped as to how to go about this.  We mailed Marshall's binkies to Cosmo because Marshall adored Cosmo, but Richard and I couldn't think of anything/anyone Bridget loved that much!  That was until Marshall discovered Jake and the Neverland Pirates and now Bridget adores them.  She asks to watch "Pitates" multiple times a day, she has books about them now, and our good friends have their ship and toy figures and the moment we walk in their door she runs to the basement to play with the pirate ship as long as we're there.  

The "pitates" were the perfect solution.  :)

Thank you Jake, Izzy, Cubby, and Skully!

We talked this whole thing up for a few days and Bridget was so excited to mail her binkies to the pirates.  Last Friday morning she decorated the envelope, plopped her binkies in, and took it to the mailbox.  

All sealed up and ready to go.

Just before plopping it in the mailbox.

Bridget was completely fine until her nap on Friday afternoon.  She screamed for an hour and a half crying out for her binky and mommy.  It was heartbreaking and she never fell asleep.  Friday night I let her cry for 20 minutes before I went in.  We rocked, same some songs, and she willingly laid down.  Just before I put her blanket on she asked for her binkies and when I reminded her again that they were gone her chin quivered, but she didn't cry, and just went to sleep.  Again, it broke my heart and I had to stop myself from running to grab them out of my top drawer!  She woke up twice during the night asking for them, but she quickly went back to bed both times.  

She has gotten better and better each day.  Sunday night was her first night sleeping through the night without them, so it really didn't take too long to adjust.  She will still ask about her binkies, but then quickly explains to herself and all of us that she mailed them to the pirates and they are happy to have them.  :)

Mother's Day

If you have read my previous posts, you know that the days leading up to Mother's Day were not so pleasant.  :)  I also had to speak in church on Sunday, again, not my favorite.  However, it really was an excellent day.  Richard got me a card that plays the National Mother's Day Anthem..."I Will Survive".  So fitting.  :)  I cracked up as soon as I opened it.  

I enjoyed lots of flowers, lots of chocolate, a nap, and a delicious dinner.  The thing that I loved most about Mother's Day though was the card Marshall brought home from primary.  He wrote his name in it all by himself and answered ten questions about me.  I've had the card sitting on our living room shelf for weeks and it makes me smile every time I walk by it.  Its the things like this that make me love the young age of four; they really are just darling.  

Without further adieu...

"All About My Mom" 

by Marshall Leake

1.  How do I show my mom I lover her?  I give her a hug.

2.  My favorite thing to do with my mom is:  Play video games with her.

3.  Her favorite color is:  Blue.

4.  Her favorite food is:  Spaghetti.

5.  If she has extra time, she likes to:  take a nap.  (This one really cracked me up because pretty much every afternoon for the last seven months, I put Bridget down for a nap, turn a show on for Marshall, and tell him I'm going to go take a nap and I'll come check on him in a bit.)

6.  When my mom grows up she wants to be a:  Just wants to be a mom.

7.  My mom and dad first met:  at BYU!

8.  My mom laughs when:  I'm silly!

9.  My mom is ____ years old.  I don't know!  Maybe 17.  Good answer Marshall.  :)

10.  What my mom loves the most is:  Disneyland!

I love my mom because:  She colors with me and she plays with me.

I think I need to take more pictures of me with my kids...this one is from March!

30 weeks.  Yikes!

Marshall: "You're Killing Me"

"You're killing me."  This is a phrase that Richard and I have jokingly used with each other for probably our entire eight years of marriage.  It is also a phrase that Marshall has heard in my moments of complete exasperation with him.  Now I hear him tell me this probably 20 times a day.  Richard and I have stopped saying this entirely now; I don't know if Marshall will ever stop saying it.  Big parenting mistake, apparently.  

Oh Marshall.  He has taken Richard and I on quite the parenting adventure these last six weeks.  At age one and two Marshall was such a happy-go-lucky kid.  He was so well behaved and really such an easy, easy child.  All of that changed the night before Bridget was born.  I kid you not.  Its been almost 2 1/2 years and I think Marshall has yet to adjust to having a sibling and some days I am honestly terrified to walk in the door with another sibling in less than 10 weeks.  

Don't get me wrong, he is still generally a kid good, but boy oh boy, he pushes me to my limit and beyond some days.  It just so happens that we've had a lot of those days these last six weeks.  

We have discovered that Marshall doesn't do so well with change, even if that change is good.  He has a little anxious personality.  I don't know where he gets this from; clearly not Richard or me.  :)  These last six weeks have brought a lot of change and even more changes are headed his way.  He and Bridget were sick for ten straight days, then Richard and I were sick for six, but in between those days of health he got a new bunk bed, and a new bike.  Preschool also ended two weeks ago.  Ahead of him he still has two of his dear friends moving, both in the same week, and of course, a new baby coming by August 9th.  Its a lot to deal with, especially when you are four, and you hate change, right?

Marshall, in his rage, said a couple of things to me the week leading up to Mother's Day, fitting, I know.  

One morning after about a 45 minute temper tantrum because he wanted to wear his pull-up all day he informed me that I was a bad mom and he wanted me to move to a different state.  I texted Richard and told him this idea sounded very appealing and that I just might leave.  

Also that same week the kids and I were eating dinner and Marshall, yet again, informed me that I was a bad mom.  Here's how our conversation went...

Me:  "Let's think about all of the things I do for you.  I get you food, I take you fun places, I read with you, color with you, do puzzles with you."

Marshall:  "Now let's talk about the things you don't do for me.  You don't get me cereal at night."

Complaint number one, no cereal at night, oh geez.  And, I am terrified for our future years if at age four he is quick enough to say, "Now let's talk about the things you don't do for me."  I'm seriously in trouble.

Despite all of this though, we are making progress and things are getting better a bit at a time.  We instituted a sticker chart (these have always worked wonders for him).  He gets a sticker for having a happy morning (we have defined a happy morning) and he gets a sticker for having a happy night (again, with specifics).  When his chart is full he gets to go miniature golfing with Richard.  We've been doing this for almost two weeks and just today he reached the halfway point.  He had a horrible night yesterday, but thankfully, a happy morning.

We've also started a job chart for Monday through Friday and a small allowance every week, 25 cents (slave labor!) if he does one job each day.  He really bought into this last week.  One morning he was so excited about vacuuming the couches he did it while Bridget and I were still eating breakfast!  I had to force myself to stay in my chair and just enjoy breakfast, but I did, and he did a great job and was thrilled with his work.  

Lest you think this is an entirely negative post about my son and the woes he is causing me at the young age of four, don't worry.  I still adore him, he amazes me every day with the things he knows and quickly catches on to, he has such sweet moments with us, and I do love him.

New bike, complete with an Angry Bird helmet.

Can you tell he loves Angry Birds?

New bunk bed!  Thankfully, he loves it.  He rotates between the top and bottom bunks and does great either way.  In just a few short months he'll be getting a roommate, his dear sister.  Wish us luck.  Yikes.

I think he's happy here, but this is usually the face he makes right before he hits her.

Preschool graduation!  I am SO glad that we made the choice to send Marshall to preschool.  He learned so much, he always looked forward to it, and while he is still shy and quiet, he made huge progress! 

A playgroup outing to Yo-Mama and their story time.  He looks good in pink glasses.  :)

Here's the happy Marshall we know and love.  I do love him.

This is his preschool picnic that began with a short singing program.  Marshall didn't say a word or do any actions until the last song.  He looks thrilled. 

  Well, I think all of this writing was very therapeutic for me.  I promise to write of more positive things next time.  :)