August

I know August isn't quite over yet, but I felt like sharing some thoughts and happenings from this past month or two. Life gets going and passes me by, and then a day hits where I think "I need to write all this down so I don't forget.", and I know in those moments that I need to stop and catalog the little things that have been occurring.

Diana is in her last year of preschool. In one year from now, she'll be starting kindergarten and 13 uninterrupted years of real schooling, and that totally freaks me out. Seriously. I've loved having her home these past 4 years. Yes, some days are totally crazy and it's not even noon and I think "How am I going to make it to bed time??", but even on those days, I'm so thankful for my crazy kids. Today was one of those days, but even through the tears and frustration, again, I'm so glad I get to be home with my kids..I wouldn't trade it for all the prestige and money a career could possibly offer. To me, nothing is more rewarding than staying home with my kids. Is it hard? Heck yes!! Is it for everyone? Nope! Is is rewarding and fulfilling? Absolutely, no doubt about it. Again, I know everyone doesn't feel the same way, but I'm glad that, feeling the way I do, I am able to stay home and raise my kids and care for my home. I'm so grateful I've got an awesome, amazing, spectacular husband who busts his butt at his job to support us, all on his own, so I can stay home with our kids. AND, he was able to fully support us on his own, working full time, while also doing school full time for the past 3 1/2 years as he completed his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees. I'm totally proud of him and don't think I'll ever get tired of bragging about him and his awesomeness!! :)

But back to Diana..it makes me sad to think next year is the end of our days of no school. Last year she did preschool two days a week, and that was a good practice course, and honestly it was kind of hard. I know she had fun, but it was difficult letting her go for those few hours, twice a week. I know people look at me like I'm an alien when I say things like that, they think I've got some weird over-attachment to my kids since I don't relish in the thought of leaving them behind regularly in exchange for a girl's night out or date with my husband (although a date with my husband does sound divine..), but the fact of the matter is, all my life I've wanted to be a mom, that was what I wanted to be when I grew up, and honestly, it's the best "career" I could ever have. Call me a workaholic, if you will. I love my job. And Diana was the one that started that for me, and it's bittersweet to see those carefree years with her come to an end. I know she'll love school. She's smart, super-social, and eager to learn. The one who'll have a hard time is me, though I know Daniel and Ellowyn will miss having her around all the time, too. I'm not looking forward to the change. Luckily, I still have one year left with her being around all day, and I've taken full advantage of that by doing home-school preschool with her this year. Mike insisted that she needed preschool again, he wants her overly ready for school and to have every advantage when she starts, so I figured I could kill two birds with one stone by teaching her at home. So far, so good. And, since I'm teaching her, I have Daniel join us and I've been teaching him, too. I teach him at his own pace and he seems to just love the one on one and group learning time.

(My helpful little sweetheart)

Diana is getting so big, it's sad. She's a sassy little diva, but I love her to bits. Like I tell everyone, she's like a 3-foot teenager, and it's so true, it's almost scary. But, she's incredibly smart and loves unconditionally. She's a perfect "Second Mommy", as Mike says, and loves to boss around and dote on Daniel and Ellowyn. She loves to mimic me, though I do admit sometimes it gets to be too much. But, I love her and I love that she loves me and wants to be like me...I'm by no means a perfect mom, and that, to me, is the ultimate show of love from her. She loves to bake and to help mommy clean, she loves to sing and dance, she loves to tell stories and care for everyone, and she loves her brother and sister with all her heart. Most of all, though, she loves her Daddy. He's her hero and he absolutely adores her. When he snuggles with her and shows her love and compassion while teaching and correcting her, it completely melts my heart. He has more unconditional fatherly love and concern for her than I've ever seen anyone have for anyone. He's a wonderful daddy and the one she needs. He's so good to all of our kids, and I'm so lucky to have him!!

(Our home-school preschool)

Daniel, that boy...he's a handful! But boy, is he a-freaking-dorable! Every time I want to get mad at him over something he's done (drawn all over the walls, spit his entire plate of chewed up food ALL over the floors, table, and chairs, gotten into the dirt and poured it all over his head, body, and in his diaper, jumped on and off the couch a billion+ times after I've begged him to stop, etc), he looks up at me from the top of his giant, brown eyes and gives me the saddest boo-boo lip he can muster, and it takes every ounce of my willpower to not give him hugs and kisses and laugh. He can work it, and it's dangerous! Ladies, look out!

He's learning so much lately. Like I said, he's doing school with Diana, and he's picking up what he's being taught pretty well. He seems a little further behind that Diana was at his age, but not by much. So, we're trying to make up for that lost knowledge through our preschooling. He's definitely like a little sponge, and it's so fun to watch him learn and converse and express his thoughts, feelings, and wants through words. His latest phrase (which I love to hear because it sounds so cute coming out of his mouth) is, "I don't want to!" He says it so clearly and perfectly that it's actually adorable, even when he's screaming it. He loves to say prayers and read scriptures along with us at night. He loves to talk to us and to share his thoughts, or to just tattle on his older sister. :)

(He HATES having his picture taken when he's in a bad mood)

He's definitely a boy...he loves cars and trucks, and is always carrying as many as humanly possible with him at all times. He loves to loudly imitate car noises and race his cars throughout the house (or any house he's in), including on walls, tables, counter tops, floors, stairs, stair rails, etc. If he can reach it, he's racing his cars on it. He loves dirt and mud and is happiest when he's completely filthy. He loves the outdoors and would spend his entire day, every day, outdoors if he could. He loves to look at, pick up, and squish bugs. He loves to run, jump, scream, and wrestle. He thinks it's funny to cause pain and even funnier to get Diana angry enough that she causes HIM pain. He's a mischief maker and does his best to push the limits every second of every day, seeing just how much he can get away with before I lose it. Seriously, he's a handful and completely exhausting, but I absolutely love and adore him and can't get enough of my little man! Seriously, even when he's being naughty (which is often), I can't help but smile at him and want to give him big, squeezy hugs. Little stinker!!

Ellowyn, oh man, that little girl is a beauty! What a sweet, happy, beautiful little girl! She's got big, dark puppy-dog eyes like Daniel and beautiful mega-lashes that scream girly-girl. She's got the sweetest, most infectious smile ever and gets so excited over everything. But, in true girl fashion, and like her big sister, she's a serious diva and is not afraid to show it. She has to be held all the time, and has to be held while the holder is standing. And she won't let just anyone hold her, she has a very small group of people that she will allow to hold her without acting like you're sawing off her legs. Her absolute favorite people are her mommy (naturally), her daddy, Auntie Debra, and Auntie Tasha. I know she loves Deb because she looks, sounds, and behaves so much like me, so she's like Ellowyn's mommy-double. Plus, Debra is loads of fun! She's got 5 crazy kiddos of her own, so she knows how to be a great mommy, and Ellowyn can definitely sense it! ;)  And she absolutely adores Tasha. I mean ADORES. We went on vacation to St George a week ago with Mike's family. While we were there, Ellowyn was held the entire time, and mostly by sweet Tasha. And Ellowyn was IN HEAVEN. She actually got to the point where Tasha has become like another mommy for her (like Debra...Deb is her second Downer-Mommy, Tasha is her second Steadman-Mommy!). While on vacation, Mike and I decided to go grab a quick dessert to celebrate our anniversary (a couple of days late..we went up to St George on our actual anniversary and were unable to go out that night), and for the very first time, I left Ellowyn behind with someone else (as we knew we wouldn't be gone more than 15-20 minutes). Well, my mother-in-law said Ellowyn cried and screamed the entire time we were gone, naturally. Tasha and Steve had been out on a mini-date at the same time as us, and got back just as we did, but made it back into the condo where we were staying first. My mother-in-law said as soon as she saw Tasha walk in, she immediately stopped crying and started to smile. That, right there is amazing, pure love. I love that she loves Tasha so much, it is the sweetest thing, and a total testament to me of the awesome, Christ-like love that a child possesses.

(Ellowyn attempting to crawl at about 5 month, 1 week old)

(Ellowyn pretty much crawling a few days later)

Ellowyn is growing like a weed, too! She's been sitting up on her own, she's crawling (She does everything minus move her arms. She'll move her knees but then collapse because she hasn't figured out the moving-her-arms part of crawling), and she's working on sitting from the crawling position..and she's not yet 5 1/2 months old! She's crazy!! My other kids were totally disinterested in crawling until they were a month or so away from walking (both older ones walked at 9 months), but then they only learned to crawl so they could crawl over to things, stand up, and try to walk. It's so weird having a baby crawl so much earlier that my other kids, and earlier than the age that babies usually crawl at...I think this means big trouble for me. Oh, boy.

(One of her favorite ways to fall asleep..hand in her hair, sucking her thumb)

I know so much more has been going on, but that's been a good, long sum-up of our lives around here lately. Like I said before, I love these three crazy kids, and wouldn't trade my chance to raise them at home all day for anything!