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Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Autumn // 5 Years

Tum Tum is five, and I can hardly believe it. Truly. She has been looking forward to her birthday for weeks and has been all smiles all day. She changed her mind on her birthday dessert multiple times before finally settling on donuts. (Of course...last night she said she wanted cake instead, but I said it was a bit late to be changing her mind again...so donuts and ice cream it was.)

This girl is quite the character. Let's chat about all things Autumn! (Pictures are forthcoming, as per usual. Austin's are up on his post now, so I'm making progress!)

Autumn at 5 years old:

- Situational Social Butterfly

- Treat Thief (heaven forbid you leave a treat unattended on the kitchen counter)

- Chapstick Addict

- Every time we have a visitor in our home that she likes, she yells "I LOVE YOU!" out the front door as they're leaving. (And if you're lucky she'll say, "I love you so much forever and ever.")

- She has a whole setlist of people that she goes around to during the first hour of church. She'll hop from family to family, settling herself in next to her favorite people for a few minutes before heading off to the next stop on her list. She'll add a new person/family to the list every couple of weeks.

- She still resists going to Primary most Sundays. There were several times in the past year when she would run out of the chapel before the prayer was done and hide somewhere to avoid going to Primary. Her usual hiding spot was up on the stage in the corner by the curtain. Once, Elder's Quorum had already started and she was hiding back there...nobody noticed! She didn't make a peep!

- There have also been a handful of days in the past year where I've had to hand her out the front door of the car at preschool drop-off because she didn't want to go and even once where I had to get out of the car and retrieve her from the back seat. MOST days she gets out of the car happily and willingly, though.

- Very good at Bop It! (her high score is somewhere in the 80s)

- Loves books and has been caught many times using a nightlight to look at books when she's supposed to be in bed (including tonight).

- Regularly sneaks down to her older siblings' rooms to take their stuff (mainly books).

- If her siblings love it, then she also loves it. Monkey see, monkey do.

- Strong-willed

- Still sucks her fingers (We've tried to stop her, but...well...see the previous line.)

- Dairy and beige foods are her favorite foods (breads, crackers, pretzels, cereal)

- Has her own room now that Austin has moved into his own room. She LOVES it.

- Went through a phase where she'd ask about death every few days. More specifically, when she would die. She didn't seem nervous or stressed about it, just curious.

- Loves to swim (but can't swim unassisted yet)

- Enjoys puzzles

- Loves to play a boardgame called "Race to the Treasure" in which the goal is to use path tiles to create a pathway from one end of the board to the other while collecting keys along the way.

- Classic third child. Interpret that as you will.

- Plays so well with her little sister while the older two are at school. They listen/dance to music, play with barbies and Little People, and play make-believe.

- Current music of choice: Descendents; Puss in Boots: The Last Wish; and various video game soundtracks.

- Started regularly refusing to dance during the first 20 minutes of her dance class (during the tap portion), so we just barely switched her to an acro (tumbling) class, and she LOVES it.

- Really wanted to play soccer last spring, and then spent most of each game refusing to play. She'd play a bit towards the end, but only because there were treats and I told her that only kids who play the game get the treats. I'll let you take one wild guess on whether I'll sign her up again this year or not. :P

- Getting tired of preschool, apparently, and just wants to go to the same school as her siblings. I can't even imagine her in kindergarten, she doesn't seem old enough! But that's still half a year away.


She does things completely on her own timetable, loves freely and openly, and keeps us on our toes. She brings a certain chaotic, "wild card" energy into our home, but not because she's hyper or uber-loud; the chaos comes from not knowing what she will do from day to day. Will she eat the chocolates that Doug bought for me? Will she accidentally damage one of her sibling's toys that she wasn't supposed to be playing with? Will she hide under her bed with a crayon and completely coat the wall with bright scribbles? (True story. Yes, she intentionally went under her bed to scribble because she knew it would be hidden from us.) Ah, Tumble Bum. We love you so much.

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Nicole // 9 Years

As of about a week ago, Nicole is halfway to adulthood. IS THAT NOT INSANE?!?! Okay, I'm done yelling. But honestly, it's a bit crazy to think that her childhood (if you include the teen years) is halfway done. Nicole had a bit of a busy birthday because of school, ballet, and acrobatics, but we still managed her birthday dinner request of grilled cheese with tomato soup, as well as a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday" while she blew out candles that were wedged into no-bake cookies and ice cream. Most of the true festivities happened over the weekend with a birthday party with friends from school at Hang Time (a trampoline park) and a pizza dinner and cake with my in-laws.

Nicole at 9 years old:

- Still a huge bookworm. I put a small bookcase in her room about 2 months ago and she has already run out of space on it because she keeps bringing all types of books home as prizes from her teacher at school.

- Stays up too late reading with a nightlight. I let her get away with it because #childhood

- Even though I already read the entire Harry Potter series to her (twice, technically) she is now reading it herself. Currently on book 6. She has her own copies of all 7 books.

- Participating in Battle of the Books for the first time at school this year and is quite confident her team will win

- Has a full dance schedule this year with ballet, jazz, and acrobatics every week

- Entered the PTA-run "Reflections" program for the first time this year and came in first place for Original Dance Choreography at the intermediate level (grades 3-5) at her school.

- Sang a solo in church for the first time back on Easter. She was so nervous but did SO well.

- Has vivid dreams pretty regularly

- Still loves Polly Pockets and has enough sets to create an entire community out of them

- Wears jeans under dresses

- Puts her shirts/dresses on backwards half the time

- Would wear dresses every single day if she could

- Would also wear flip flops literally everywhere if she could

- While she's still obsessed with KitKats, there's a new candy battling for her number one spot: Airheads Xtremes

- Straight-up asked about Santa earlier this year, so... she knows

- Doesn't talk to me about boys all the time anymore, so I guess we're getting to that phase where mom isn't her go-to gossip buddy anymore. Waaaah.

- Became obsessed with the TV show "Miraculous: The Adventures of Ladybug and Cat Noir" this year (and got the rest of us hooked on it as well, honestly)

- We discovered this year that she's missing two of her adult teeth. They're just... not there. Her front two bottom molars. Hopefully the baby ones last for many years to come!

- Would rather handle the dirty dishes than sweep the kitchen floor

- Refuses to ride a bike, even though she can technically do it (Doug has witnessed)

- Very efficient on a razor scooter

- Runs on the cold side, so she's developed the habit of huddling over the heating vents whenever the furnace is running and complains that the 3 blankets on her bed (plus her fleece pajamas) are not warm enough at night

- Collects ChapSticks

- Very eclectic taste in music, but primarily prefers movie and videogame soundtracks

The happiest of birthdays to you, Nikki B. Enjoy your final year in the single digits!

Saturday, October 28, 2023

Austin // 7 Years


Somebody turned SEVEN a few days ago!!! It still seems like yesterday that this kid was small enough to carry around and keep snuggled up on my lap. Now he's attending school all day long and has his own bedroom (after years of sharing with this or that sister) and is reading books!

Austin wanted to invite every single boy in his class at school to his birthday party, plus a couple boys from the other class who had been his friends in kindergarten. It was his first birthday party (because I'm a slacker who didn't want to deal with executing birthday parties for the past several years) and he had an absolute blast. He requested chicken enchiladas for his birthday dinner and chocolate cake with chocolate frosting for his birthday cake.

As per usual, pictures will be forthcoming. I still haven't edited the pictures I took of Lydia back in June for her second birthday!

Austin at 7 years old:

- Trades Pokémon cards with his friends after school every day until his sisters and I yell at him through the window to come get in the car

- Can do backbends really well and is working on getting strong enough to do kickovers

- Still loves playing soccer. We need to get him into a league that plays more than one season!

- Doesn't have a banana per day anymore, but that's mainly because he's at school for lunch now and bananas don't keep well in his lunch box that he tosses around.

- The best helper. He's very willing to lend a helping hand at home and at school. His teacher said he's the first to volunteer to help a struggling classmate or to complete a classroom task.

- Responsible

- Kind

- Thoughtful

- Generous

- A great mind for mathematics. He's already doing multiplication in his head.

- I'm still amazed by his spatial awareness. Just today he created a 3D model of a local building without any help from parents, and it looked very neat. If I hadn't sat there at the table and watched him make it, I wouldn't have guessed it was made by a first grader!

- We're currently reading the first Harry Potter book for the second time, and he's looking forward to finally moving on to the second book. (Nicole is looking forward to it too, haha!)

- Protective of his little sisters, especially Lydia

- Wants to be friends with everyone

- Enjoys playing Minecraft, Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Lego Harry Potter, and Kirby

- Has so much energy!!!

- Still has a tendency to be snuggly (when he's not bouncing off the walls). Old habits die hard!

- Lost a total of 4 teeth so far. He doesn't patiently wait for them to fall out--he pulls, wiggles, and twists it until he manages to extract them himself.

- Loves to ride his bike and his razor scooter

- Doug took him skiing for the first time this past winter and he handled it pretty well

- When we are voting on a playground to visit, he always insists that whichever one we choose NEEDS to have swings

- Quick to pick up on new skills

- Is very good at pacing himself with candy and treats. He'll get a pack of candies and make them last for several days, just eating a couple here and there.

- Still loves building with Legos and has an entire table in his room he can use to build at

- Still has the best belly laugh (I hope he always has a contagious laugh)

- He's a budding comedian, actually. He's made a few jokes in the past year that are quite witty and make Doug and I snort-laugh. He likes to make others laugh and seems to have made it his personal goal to get me to laugh whenever he can. He takes great pride in it and always points out, "Made you laugh!" when one of his off-the-nose comments elicits a chuckle from me.

- (To build on the previous concept: Last year for Mother's Day he was asked "What makes your mom laugh?" and his answer was, "I have tried everything to make her laugh and it doesn't work" so yes, he really does consider a great accomplishment to get me to laugh, apparently)

- I taught him some piano this summer, so he can play a bit now. He actually has a fantastic ear and can sound songs out without needing music. He transposed "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" into a minor key and called it "Old MacDonald Lost His Farm" and I love him for it. He performed a minor version of "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" that he had created at his Kindergarten talent show back in the spring. He went through a Music In Minor phase, I suppose!


Oh, this kid. Doug and I often ask each other where on earth he came from because he really is awesome. I have always been nervous and a little freaked out at the concept of my children becoming preteens/teens, but I'm quite excited to see the kind of teen and adult this kid will be someday. We love him dearly and our home is a better place with him in it. Happy 7th birthday, Austin!