March

This little girl has gotten to be quite the little mover.  She can't crawl yet, but she has gotten really good at rolling.  I'll look away for a few seconds, and she has rolled into another room.  She is also a really smiley baby, but of course I couldn't capture that.

She was thrilled to have green beans.

It has been nice to have Emerson around to be able to give her a bottle once in awhile.  Sometimes life just gets so busy and everyone is hungry at once and I need an extra helper. 

 Speaking of Emerson, he got into a little bit of trouble one day at school.  Apparently he was making another boy laugh and eventually got sent to sit in the hall.  Imagine how, as a teacher, I was mortified to have a little Kindergarten delinquent, and so I quickly helped him decide how to apologize for making his teacher's job so hard.  He made this card for her, and I hope it melted her heart as much as it did mine.  He drew his Pooh Bear on the front because it is his dearest possession.

 Here is what it says: "Sorry I was notey. (naughty) I love you.  I will try to be good.  Love, Emerson

Sweet girl all bundled up for a brisk walk.

 We love visiting Grandma and Grandpa when Dad has to work all weekend.  That means movies, and fun toys!

Here is Maddi flashing her gang sign in her high chair.

She thinks she is one of the big kids now.

Mid-roll

Don't you just want to squish her!?

We got to have a visit from our cousin Rowan when Aunt Ashley and Uncle Scott brought him to Utah to celebrate his 1st birthday with everyone!  We love cousins.

 Aren't those the most succulent thighs!?

 She loves to roll over to the toy box tags and suck on them.  Little weasel.

We, like the rest of humanity, purchased Frozen the day it came out.  We had a Del Taco picnic in the front room and sang along to every song.  It was so fun.

Here is Maddi's Instagram profile pic.  She has a lot to say, and it quite witty about it.  (This is a joke that my brother Brad and I came up with.  I might actually do it one of these days though.)

Baby neck!  Nom nom nom.

She has two new razor-sharp teeth.  She likes to run her tongue over and over them all day.

We are keeping busy with work, school, and play.  I play chauffeur most days to school, swimming lessons, and playdates, and Maddi is a good sport and spends a lot of time in her carseat.  Poor third child.  The kids have their really great days of getting along and getting lost in their magical world of play, but we have a lot of days with many ridiculous fights and a mom with low tolerance for shrieking.  We have fights most days about getting homework done, not eating candy for breakfast, (like it's a surprise EVERY morning that I won't let them...) and not laying on/squeezing their baby sister. 

We have been trying a new behavior chart with stickers, and when they fill it up they get to go pick out a new toy.  They have been working really hard for the whole month trying to fill up their charts, but the rule is that if they ask for a sticker after they do something good, they don't get one.  It gets pretty funny to hear them come up with innovative ways of asking without asking.  They will do something nice for me and say something like, "And what does that mean, Mom?" with a winning smile plastered on their cute little faces.  I'm hoping the positive reinforcement will train them to do nice things, and that I can wean them from needing a reward at all, but we shall see.  It has at least helped them recognize that they appreciate when people do nice things for them, because when I do something for them they say, "Oh Mom! That was so nice.  You should put a sticker on YOUR chart!"  Silly kids.  They make me so exhausted, but I love them to pieces.