March

March is full of fun, kind of made up, holidays. Some years we do a lot for them, some years we do a little. This year I thought it would be fun to send a holiday package to a friend from out of town. The Caldwells had been on my mind, so Chase helped me shop for little St. Patrick's Day themed gifts for each member of their family (stuff like green socks, green nail polish, green playdough, March themed bows for the baby Vivi, a rainbow candle, Mike and Mike's for Mike). We wrapped it up all rainbow themed and sent it off as a fun surprise for them!

Chase's basketball season has been a real highlight this winter! He has practiced so much this last year and improved a lot. Games were a little emotionally charged for him, with a couple games being really hard, and he learned a lot about positive attitude, cheering on his teammates, being a team player and working hard to the last second. I was so proud of him and how far he came this year!

Also, his team was full of his friends! Luca, Jaxson, Austin and Levi were all on his team! They were a talented little team and went into the tournament undefeated! They won their first game pretty easily. On the 2nd night they played again and were tied with almost no time left on the clock- the other team got the ball and a poor kid got confused and scored in Chase's teams basket! So Chase's team ended up winning under weird circumstances. We all felt so bad for that little boy! Chase was elated though because that meant they got to come back for the championship game later that night!

All season they only allowed one parent to watch each game, but for the championship game they let two come! We hurried and had my mom come down to babysit so we could both go and I'm so glad we did! Chase's little team played so hard- and the other team was so good! They were trailing by two baskets right up until the very end! They took the lead and held it for the last 30 seconds until the buzzer went off and won! I loved seeing them all jump and cheer when they realized they'd won the game! I may have teared up a little I was so happy for them!

One great thing about this little team is that there were so many good players and they truly learned to play as a team. Many of the other teams we played had 1 or 2 all-star players that scored all their points. On this team I feel like everyone carried their weight and although some were a little more advanced players, they didn't have one all-star who did all the work. It was so fun to watch them play. This year Chase realized what an asset he could be to the team in rebounds, and frequently scored a basket or two in games.

He was so proud of his trophy he carried it from room to room with him the next day. It sat on the piano while he practiced, it sat on the desk while he did his distance learning, at the table while he ate. He basked in the glory of the moment for a good while.

Oh Davis- I snapped this picture after we'd finished doing the sacrament at home one Sunday. We had pulled out our scriptures to do reading and he went and filled a plate with more bread, blessed it (almost word for word the actual sacrament prayer) and then proceeded to pretend to pass it to all of us, except he ate it all. Then he went and got water cups and repeated the whole thing with the water (but did demand we all drink from the cups). This is right where Ben sets up the sacrament when we do it at home. Our house didn't get struck by lightning and it was super adorable, if not a little irreverent.

Lila got a doll for her birthday from Papa Ray and Grandma and this baby stroller from Will and Kate, and they have been very loved! It's kind of funny to see these pink, girly toys around the house now after years and years of trucks and tractors and lightsabers.

Also, Lila is just the cutest in the tub. She flashes me the best smiles while she's playing away in there. I usually bathe her right after dinner, but sometimes when she's really grumpy we do a bath in the afternoon too.

Daddy and Lila dancing in the kitchen- she loved this! Every time he stopped she'd start waving her hands at him until he kept going. She's got him wrapped around her little finger.

St. Patrick's Day ended up being quite an eventful day. In my efforts to be a fun mom I made green muffins the night before and set the table with our green tablecloth. Lucky the leprechaun even stopped by a left a few notes for the boys.

It really did turn out to be our LUCKY day! Ben got a new job! 

A little background- Ben has been at RedList for 3.5 years and hasn't been super happy there. I mean, it's been okay, but not great. The hours are extreme. The pay isn't great. The expectations are unrealistic. The commute is long (1 hour with no traffic each way). It paid the bills and gave him good experience for sure, but he just wasn't loving it. A year ago he was seriously looking at other jobs and a few seemed really promising, and then Covid hit and pretty much everyone started a hiring freeze. He decided to just sit tight for awhile.

A few weeks ago, several recruiters started reaching out to him on LinkedIn. If the job seemed interesting he took the interview and just started casually interviewing- not really doing any prospecting or looking on his own. After a successful interview with a company called Eccovia, he noticed that he had a mutual friend, Anthony Booyse, with the hiring manager. On March 16 he did an interview with her and her boss, which he said went extremely well. He let her know at the end that he's good friend's with Anthony and would like to add him to his reference list. Anthony called Ben an hour later and told him he was pretty confident he'd get the job. We were kind of hopeful, but not banking on it. Stuff like this has happened before and something else has come up (hiring freeze, funding didn't come through, internal candidate surfaced, etc.).

The next morning (the 17th) they called at 9:00 am and offered Ben the job! All the details were just perfect- it was like all the stars aligned. It's totally work from home right now, with the possibility of 1-2 days a week in the office in the future. But even then, the commute is cut in half! The pay is significantly better. The company is much more established. They have a 401k program. Great insurance benefits. We couldn't ask for more... (except we did, Ben asked them to add a little bit to the already generous salary and they did!). We couldn't believe it! It was definitely an exciting day!

Baseball season is just around the corner, which has found our boys out practicing with their mitts and balls more often. Both of the big boys are really good sports at playing with Davis, even though he kept referring to it as his "soccer mitt". I can't wait for baseball season! Spending spring evenings at the ballpark watching my boys play is my favorite.

 These pictures were just before church one Sunday because they all looked so dang cute. Capturing a cute picture of the four of them together is no easy task. It was significantly easier without the baby :) Also, every time I go to take a picture of them, all three boys fight over who gets to hold Lila. She's one loved little sister.

Davis Turns 4

After two months of trying so, so hard to have a birthday, it was finally his turn! On March 4th Davis turned 4! He's the last birthday in "birthday season" at our house, and at this age it was a little agonizing to him. His big day came along and it did not disappoint!

The day before he got his special birthday date with Papa Ray and Grandma. This is such a fun tradition and the first time he's gotten to do this- he was ecstatic. I was in the middle of zoom parent teacher conferences when they came to get him, which was no problem. He bolted right out the door as soon as they pulled into the driveway. They took him to Target to pick out his own presents- which is possibly one of the best things that's ever happened to him. (And now I'm slightly nervous to take him back to Target...)

His birthday morning I had strung up some red crepe paper and wrapped all his presents in red. Also, not coincidentally, all his presents were actually red themselves. He got a new Spider-Man costume, which he mostly liked, and then went back to wearing his super worn out one. He spent the whole day playing with his new toys. Nana, Papa and Heidi came later that night to give him presents and it was basically the best day he could ever have imagined.

The night of his birthday was actually Chase's basketball tournament, but Davis didn't really care that we waited until the next night to do his cake. Lindsay really outdid herself on this one- I asked her if she could make it look like Bei Bei and it turned out so cute! As soon as Davis saw it he yelled "It's Bei Bei! Win-see! Did you make that for me?" He kept admiring it, talking about how it was Bei Bei and saying over and over "Win-see made that for Davis!" He talked about this cake for days and told everyone we saw about it. Hickman's stayed to sing and eat cake with us (it was delicious- it was a cookie dough cake with boiled milk frosting) and Davis loved running around with his brothers and buddy Will.

 At 4 years old:

• 41 inches (70th percentile) 35 pounds (50th percentile) 
• Knows his shapes, letters, colors and can count up to 20...then skips to 100
• He's super into avengers stuff and was so happy to get some new costumes for his birthday. Spider-man is his favorite.
• He picks three books that are his favorite for a few weeks at a time...they slowly rotate and morph into different books but we read the same books over and over again. He's got the current ones completely memorized.
• He loves to play with other kids. Every morning we go outside and he sees if Will or Ollie can play (most of the time we are watching Ollie, which has been so fun). He also loves to play with Mark and James Bacciocco. He's super social.
• He has the funniest, deep little voice. It's kind of raspy and so endearing.
• He's a champ at wearing masks- not that he wears it totally appropriately all the time, but he doesn't complain about it and puts it right on like it's no big deal.
• He asks for pizza for dinner every night. And sometimes yells/sobs that WE ARE HAVING PIZZA, even though we are not. He just really loves pizza.
• Totes Bei Bei around a lot. Sleeps with him every single night and nap. Refers to him as a member of the family. Bei Bei is looking pretty worn out at this point, but Davis doesn't mind one bit. We love that panda!

Lila is 1!!!

Our little sweetheart is ONE! I can't believe Lila has been in our family for a whole year! She's just been pure magic for us. I can honestly say I've really savored every day of her little life and my heart just swells with joy that she's here!

We didn't do anything grand for her special day, but we opened presents with her that morning. She was a little overwhelmed by all the hoopla and her brothers were pretty anxious to get her to open faster (and did most of the opening themselves). Hudson got her sippy cups and they were a huge hit! She also got some little tub toys and some cute outfits.

After naptime Papa Ray and Grandma came over and gave her a present- a baby doll and a cute book. She was very sweet with the baby doll, which is so funny to me after having three boys. We've never had baby dolls around! I think she will love playing with it.

Then we had our pizza and movie night- I made the boys watch Frozen 2. They are normally so against princess movies, but since it was their sister's birthday they gave in. Get ready boys, I think there's more of that coming! Then Nana and Papa and Heidi came over with their presents and to have cake with us. This was the most beautiful cake, made by my friend Lindsay. It tasted amazing! It was a strawberries and cream cake and there are even freeze-dried strawberries in the frosting which made it extra delicious. The birthday girl very daintily enjoyed her piece (unlike her brothers on their first birthdays who practically inhaled their cake). 

Nana and Papa brought this cozy coupe for her and boy was it a hit! We were all laughing so hard because Lila clearly knew it was hers and wanted to play with it, and so did Davis. He kept pulling her out and getting in himself- and would knock her down when she'd try to reclaim her present! A few days later they are still kind of a fighting over it (although Davis is getting a little better about sharing).

A few things about our ONE YEAR OLD:

• She's a great eater! Her favorite food is cuties. She's pretty good about eating what we eat at meals.
• Loves to empty boxes, cupboards, drawers. She's very intent, like it's her job.
• Prefers mommy, loves her daddy, and is pretty reluctant to go to other people. She does have a special liking for Nana, but everyone else is pretty honored if she lets them hold her. She does smile at everyone though!
• Can go down the stair backwards now!
• Stands on her own for a few seconds sometimes, no steps yet!
• Has 9 teeth and has been the best teether- hardly any grumpiness at all and still sleeps all night even while cutting a tooth generally!
• 1 year old means 366 days of bows. I have put a bow on her every single day of her life. I just love the bows! I'm not sure when I'll stop- she does pull them off. I just put them back on 87 times a day.
• At her 1 year appointment she was 19 pounds 7 oz (40th percentile) and 29.5 inches (60th percentile). So proud of her after spending so much time below the 5th percentile!

I put this little headband on her that she wore on her original birthday and immediately it gave me all the feels. It went too fast! I would love to relive that day (and all my baby's births) over and over again. She's been such a gift!

 Happy Birthday to my little sweetheart!

Hudson's Baptism

On February 6, Hudson got baptized! He was really excited for this day and it was a beautiful one! Due to Covid we didn't know how it would all work out, but thankfully we were able to have most of our family there (in masks, of course). Both sets of grandparents came, along with Will, Nate, Halie, and Katie and his cousins Nora, Anna, Rosie, Jeremiah, Jaylah and Jordyn. We were able to Facetime Nathan and Heidi in, which was also so nice! 

I let Hudson choose the whole program. He asked Nana to play the piano and chose "When I am Baptized" and "I love to see the Temple" as his songs. He asked Papa Ray and Davis to say the prayers. He asked me and Papa to give the talks. And he had Chase and Papa Ray be his witnesses. 

He looked so sweet in the font with Ben and the spirit was really strong. Ben also gave him a very sweet blessing when he confirmed him. Poor Davis tried so hard to be baptized too, including trying to climb over the glass partition right into the font, rushing to the door exclaiming "MY TURN!" as soon as Hudson was baptized, and also trying to join the circle of men during the confirmation. He really didn't understand why Hudson got to do all the stuff and he didn't as well.

We just brought donuts and chocolate milk to the church and served it right there afterwards, which made the day so much less stressful. Then Hudson and Ben went out to a special lunch just the two of them. 

I'm so proud of this boy! He really is the best big brother. He has a very tender heart and does try hard to do the right things. He's just the sweetest kid in the world and my heart was so full watching him take this step to follow Christ. 

11 months of Lila

 

11 months with our sweet baby girl! In the last month she's really found her voice! She says "dada" all the time- and actually when she sees her daddy, so we are officially calling it her first word! She also says "yaya" all the time, which sounds like Lila, but I'm not sure she knows that. She also vocalizes her demands while waving her little hand around to really make the point. I think she's got some sass!

She is into everything. Her latest obsessions are opening drawers and emptying them of their contents. And then usually pinching her fingers in the drawer and then crying. And emptying cupboards. She does this like it's her job, she concentrates so hard!

Her favorite food has been clementines. If she even sees anyone eating one she bounces and grunts and leans towards them to really let them know she wants some! She also loves blueberries and grapes! She's quite the fruit lover.

Definitely a mommy's girl, but also loves attention from her dad. In fact, if Ben walks into the room and doesn't immediately come pick her up, she gets offended. After mom and dad, her other favorite person is Nana. And she's pretty much lukewarm on all other adults.

She has 8 teeth! Teething is no big deal to her! Sometimes she needs a little Motrin, but otherwise seems pretty chill about it. She sleeps a solid 12 hours every night with two naps during the day. It's nice having her on such a predictable nap schedule, it makes planning around her naps so much easier!

She has really started to pull the bows out of her hair. And so I just put them back on like 45 times a day. 

This little girl has really been a bit of magic! We all just love her. She's been the perfect baby!

Our January Birthday Boys!

January is such a dreary month, unless you have fun birthdays to celebrate! I was always be thankful that January brought me these two amazing boys! We celebrated both their birthdays with the Smith family on January 3rd. My friend Lindsay made this amazing cake for them- it tasted just as good as it looks!

Then on January 4th, Chase turned 10! I can't believe he's ten. That went by so fast. He was actually thrilled that he got to go to school on his birthday this year.  

At 10 years old Chase:

• Is the most driven kid you'll ever meet. He's quite the perfectionist, something we are working on. But it does motivate him to work so hard in school, piano, basketball, etc.
• Never complains about practicing the piano and does a solid 30 minutes every day. And it shows. He's gotten so dang good!
• Is loving playing basketball with his friends. Games can be intense for him emotionally, but he's learning a lot from it. He's great at rebounds and assists, and can usually get a basket or two scored each game.
• Wants to help and wants others to feel loved. He gives me at least 12 hugs every day. 
• Says he wants to be a software engineer when he grows up

The night before his birthday I set up this little display for him for the morning! Some of my favorite pictures of him, a few wrapped gifts (he already got his big present, a bike, for his half birthday in July) and I wrote little notes on paper stars all about how much I love him. He's since taped those little stars above his bed in his room to look at while he goes to sleep.

He is also thrilled that he shares a birthday with Utah! Utah celebrated 125 years of statehood the same day. 4th graders study Utah, so this year it was especially fun for him. They made this relief map back in December at school and he was so proud of it!

Normally we do birthday parties for even birthdays. This year COVID made that harder. His best buddy Luca has a birthday two weeks before his, so we decided to do a very chill combined birthday celebration at a local park. This ended up being the weekend after Chase's birthday when we had a pretty clear/warmish Saturday. We just brought pizza and cupcakes and let the kids play at the park. It was simple and chill and so fun! 

Davis has really struggled with all the birthdays this month and that apparently none of the birthdays are his! A friend captured this picture of Chase and Luca blocking their candles from the breeze, but that stinker Davis above them still trying to blow them out! After we sang he retrieved Chase's burnt out candle and insist I relight it and that everyone sing "Happy birthday dear Davis!" Oh what a little stinker he is! 

On January 24th it was Hudson's 8th birthday! We love this sweet little 8 year old so much! I tried to get a cute picture of him for his birthday and asked him to go put on a cuter shirt. He told me he had a better idea. This is what he came back with. I had to admit it was perfect. There is nothing he loves more than Nerf gear and next-level comfort. 

He got this minky from Nana and Papa for his birthday and has been wrapped up in it whenever he's home and sleeps with it every night. Nana got it for him because he kept trying to steal hers.

I put together a little display for Hudson as well. He's pretty easy to please, he just wanted split waffles for breakfast and to have dinner at Nana and Papa's. His birthday fell on a snowy Sunday, so he got to play out in the snow with his brothers for awhile.

At 8 years old Hudson:

• He really grasped reading and does so well! But still doesn't like to read for fun at all and only does the bare minimum required for homework.
• Committed to getting all his math facts passed off early so he could start on multiplication and division- he did it!
• Still loves to pretend and has the best imagination ever. He can play legos for hours with no one interrupting him. 
• Loves all things Minecraft, Star Wars, Nerf and Avengers.
• Is the sweetest with Lila- he is so nurturing and is so great at finding little games to make her laugh.