Jovi turns TWO!! May 2013

We started off Jovi's birthday celebrations with a crib-side serenade.

And enjoyed a plethora of junk cereal. Even with Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Cocoa Pebbles (or the generic version, at least) Jovi chose Apple Jacks? Whatever, it's her birthday!

No cake? No problem... candles actually fit perfectly in individual Apple Jacks, in case you wondering.

Her second Happy Birthday of the day:

Kyle's sister, Aftin, and her husband and kids were in town for the weekend following Jovi's birthday, so we were able to have a fun family barbecue party and enjoy a beautiful Provo summer afternoon with them. The next three pictures were taken by my brother-in-law, Bill, who caught some cute moments, the first being a classic I will forever be grateful to be in the possession of:

The cousins had so much fun playing together. Minnette and Aurelle have always looked up to their cousin, Aliyah. They always play so cute together. 

Our apartment complex has a huge grass field literally right next to our apartment building, which is almost never used, and is encircled by a sidewalk which makes for perfect picnicking and barbecuing while the kids ride bikes, scooters and wiggle cars around in circles.

Sssshhhhhhh.... Sidewalk  chalk isn't technically allowed on BYU campus (and we live on campus), but what fun is that?

There are seven kids, age six and under, between our two families, which makes for a fun and active crowd

And a third round of "Happy Birthday" and more candles (on a cake this time!). Don't mind our filthy child... a perfect example of how Jovi often (usually) looks after eating... and this was only watermelon!*

*See third bullet under 2 year stats

2 Year Stats:

Height: 32.75 in (30.34th %)

Weight: 24.07 lbs (16.98th %)

BMI: 15.78 (31.67th %)

•Jovi has recently learned to climb out of her crib, which has brought nap-time logistics with 4 kids to an all-time "interesting" high for me. Morning start earlier.

•Loves to copy her sisters in all they do. She will join in just about any imaginative play even without having a CLUE as to what is going on. Minnette and Aurelle are barking and spinning in circles, pretending to be dancing doggies? So is Jovi. Her closest interpretational version of it, at least!

•We call Jovi our little foodie. Jovi likes to "experience" her food. A two foot radius of meal remains and spilled beverages can usually be found around Jovi following any meal or snack, along with oatmeal in her hair, syrup on her forehead and smoothie covering her clothes. Out of the three girls, she, by far, eats the most (and considering her weight, I have no idea where she puts it!), and will eat most things offered to her. If she sees you put something (anything!) on your plate- she MUST HAVE IT, and will immediately and urgently (and at full volume) let you know that she wants some too! Doesn't even matter what she's eating. She could be eating PB&J and see you pouring salad dressing on your plate. Doesn't matter. She will insist she gets some on her plate too. And in case you are wondering, she will dip her sandwich in it!

•For a span of time, Kyle and I were slightly worried that she might have a hearing problem. This girl is focused. You can say her name fifty times in increasing volume each time, and she won't respond in the slightest. Then we learned that if you say her name in any combination alongside the word "food", she will not only immediately snap her attention in your direction, but will come running! 

•Jovi is much less adverse to new people or situations than her big sisters. She is will walk right up to and join in with a group of 10 year old boys all running around screaming and playing just because it looks like fun. Doesn't even seem to notice or care that they are twice her size, three times her age and playing crazy. It's awesome. This little girl is not easily intimidated, which, as the girls are all getting older, is a great blessing because she has been able to influence Minnette and Aurelle at times, to try new things and be more cooperative (with things like, ahem, doctors appointments). Honestly, it has been a bit of a relief to know that it's not something Kyle and I are doing to scare or influence them into being shy, but that they are just being who they are.

•Jovi is a Daddy's girl. She is always asking where Kyle is whenever he is gone, and on days when Kyle is gone and I do something she's not happy about (like help her take a nap, or ask her to get dressed or some other ridiculous request ;) ) she will start crying and asking for Daddy.

•Jovi has the best and most loud, contagious, maniacal laugh ever. You can not hear it and not start laughing yourself. Every single time. It is impossible. While Kyle and I attend Sunday School, Jovi participates in a nursery class. While walking between our Sunday meetings, Kyle and I have often overheard crazed-maniacal laughter emanating from the room where Jovi's class is held-  from around a corner and a good 50 feet away, even- and without a doubt we know that it is Jovi. There is no mistaking that cackle of hers.

We headed out on the morning of Jovi's birthday for our traditional birthday date, and she had birthday pictures taken:

Loves putting those fingers in her mouth!

We love you so much, Jovi Povi Hovi! You make us laugh every single day and you bring such a fun and spunky spirit into our home. We are so grateful you are in our family! Happy Birthday, Tupper!

Picking Carrots with Grandpa Murphy-June 2013

Unfortunately, due to our camera breaking (and only having access to Kyle's digital camera from his mission... in 2005... yikes!), after spending almost 5 weeks in Phoenix for Sam and Raquel's wedding, multiple cousin and friend birthday parties, swimming and play dates, and a national holiday- among other things- these are the only pictures we have to show for it! I know. Tragic. Though, not entirely surprising given our track record, right? I'm shaking my head right now, too. There is an upside here, though: I now have a lot less blogging to do in order to get our blog caught up! Hey, you can either laugh or cry- and I prefer to blog less. ;)

Anyway, these two lonely pictures are of the girls 'helping' Grampa Murphy pick carrots. My parents have been expanding their vegetable growing skills, and had quite the harvest of tiny orange carrots. The girls had a blast going out in the yard with Grampa and picking carrots, and of course, eating them! Thanks, Grampa,  for letting the littlies tag along and eat of your carrot bounty! We love you!

Meet our new friend, Sammy the Slug!

We eat a lot of oatmeal for breakfast at our house. It's quick. It's healthy. And the girls love it. One morning, in an attempt to mix it up a little, I brought out a package of raspberries to top our oatmeal, and in the few minutes from doing so, to getting bowls, spoons and all the oatmeal accoutrement out I reached over to open the package and found a slimy little surprise crawling (do snails crawl??) out onto the lid!

Since this experience, I am now completely paranoid about checking inside each and every single raspberry before eating it! Can you blame me?? Uck!

Sammy got a quick fling over the balcony rail where he began his new life as a resident of Wymount quad 1.

Air Mattress Fun (or what happens when Daddy is in charge)

Kyle is always coming up with fun things for the girls to do when he is at home with them. He is pretty creative- and the girls are guaranteed to have a blast. Let's just say that coming home to this video of Aurelle and Jovi isn't at all unusual for me.

Do yourself a favor, and after watching the video of cuteness in it's entirety, please place your mouse on 1:36 and just keep clicking... you won't be disappointed!

Star Wars Baby

We are big Star Wars fans over here, so many evenings after the girls are in bed and Kyle and I are working on various chores and projects, one of the six movies will be playing. One night while I was working on the computer holding Waits so he was looking back over my shoulder happened to be one of those nights and I think Waits liked what he saw! 

At just over 3 months old, he is normally a very quiet and content baby, so what you see in the videos is quite a rare sight for Waits. To Kyle and I, he was very obviously excited- he especially loved all of the colors and sounds during the light saber fights. We are so proud to have another Star Wars fan in the family! *tear* ;)

Memorial Day 2013

This year, we tried to make Memorial Day about more than just a day off of work or a day for a bbq for our family. Yes, time with family is always special and always important, and we celebrated that, as well, but we wanted our girls to learn about those who sacrificed their lives for our country so that we might be able to have the freedoms we now enjoy. We headed to the grocery store and picked up some flowers which we delivered to the Brigham Young University war memorial. There is a huge wall that has the names of every student or alumni that fought and died in an American war. There are plaques, and pictures and books throughout the room that we spent a good long while looking at.  There was no one else there, and we could let the girls play while we browsed, and then bring their attention to a few things we found to be really special. They really enjoyed it, and still remember it, and more importantly, they remember why we did it. I look forward to the opportunity to do the same for future Memorial days.

The girls with their flowers (They were so concerned about what would happen to the flowers after we left them there. Would they die? Would someone throw them away? They are so sweet and funny).

Minnette's Broken Arm- May 2013

4 1/2 years we made it in our family with no broken bones... But I guess having 4 kids under the age of 5 is just tempting fate and our luck finally came to a very abrupt 6-foot-fall-from-the-top-bunk kind of end. 

[Just as for a little background information, which may seem completely random at the moment, but will be relevant later in the story: I got a yoga DVD for the girls a while back for a good indoor activity (especially for the winter), and one of the poses that is taught on the DVD is a headstand, which the girls will rarely attempt, and when they do, they will only do it against a wall, and with my help.] 

It was around 9 pm and all of our kids were asleep (or so we thought), when we heard this big crashbang followed by a very brief moment of silence, and then lots of loud screamingcrying from one of the kids' bedrooms. Kyle and I both ran into the Minnette and Aurelle's room and found poor Minnette laying on the ground near the head of their bunk bed. When we picked her up and asked her what happened, we found out she had been practicing her yoga headstands on her bed (not even against a wall, silly Minnette, but right at the top of her bed in the open!) and she lipped right over the headboard and not only fell, but crashed into a nightstand on her way down. 

She was pretty upset and kept mentioning and grabbing at her left elbow. Kyle helped check her arms and legs and bent all of her major joints to see if nay of them hurt, and even after she kept saying that she had hurt her elbow, Kyle bent it and straightened it and it didn't seem to bother her at all. We decided to wait until the morning and see if she had any problems, and if so, w could take her in then. 

Within 20 minutes to an hour later(I honestly can't remember), Minnette woke up crying. When I went in to check on her, she was complaining about her left elbow again, but this time, she couldn't even move it without practically screaming from pain. She must have had a lot of adrenaline in her system when we first checked her arm that made it so that she wasn't feeling any pain, but it had definitely worn off by this point. Kyle and I decided that I would take her into the ER and get her arm checked out.

Minnette was so good. For the drive, the wait in the ER, the nurses checking her out (temperature, weight/height, blood pressure), talking to the doctor, x-rays, getting her arm splinted, you name it- unless you had to move her elbow joint to any degree, then she was absolutely miserable- it was pretty sad. After getting everything checked out the doctor told us she had a broken humerus, but that it had stayed perfectly aligned so all she needed was a splint. In and out of the ER with a broken arm in less than an hour, and... No surgery! No cast! Hallelujah! 

We went in for weekly x-rays and re-splintings with the orthopedic specialists, and she was able to have her splint removed before we headed down to Phoenix for Raquel's wedding the first week of June. She only had her splint on for a total of about 3 1/2 weeks (and after the first day or two- and a few doses of Tylenol to get her through her first night- she played as if it wasn't even there), and we had to do some light physical therapy at home for about 5 minutes a day total. It was funny because we headed down to Phoenix a few days after her splint was taken off, and it was almost like it had never happened, so when I mentioned it to anyone in my family in passing, they would be super shocked and surprised that Minnette had broken her arm and no one had even known about it! I think for our first broken bone experience with one of our children, we definitely got it pretty light. And we are so grateful.

The nurses at the hospital were so sweet with Minnette and gave her coloring books, snuck her oreos and milk and gave her these stickers puppets. These were very popular at our house for the next few days.

If I had to guess, I would say that this picture was taken sometime before or after nap time the next day. That was not a very happy or comfortable time for Minnette. Her arm was still pretty sore, she was exhausted from being up past 11 pm at the ER the night before, and trying to find a comfortable way to sleep was challenging. Poor sweetheart. :(

A few days later, after she had it re-splinted at the orthopedist. Back to her usual happy, silly, active self, and feeling much better:

Luckily, she didn't have to wear the sling, and she didn't let having a broken arm get in the way of doing any of her usual activities. It's amazing to me just how resilient kids can be.

Here's to a minimum of another 4 1/2 years before our next broken bone experience! (knock on wood)

Mother's Day 2013

I love Mother's Day. It is one of my favorite days of the whole year. Mainly because I absolutely love being a mother. It is such a privilege, and by far my favorite thing to do, ever. But getting spoiled with presents, hand-made and crayon-colored cards and a gourmet breakfast made by the hubs most definitely doesn't hurt either. :) More than the day itself, though, I love my reasons for being a mother... these four awesome little people:

At our home we celebrate not only Mother's Day, but also future Mother's Day. Minnette, Aurelle and Jovi are going to grow up to become wonderful mothers themselves someday, and we want them to know and understand that their role now as daughters, sisters and friends, as well as their roles in the future as wives and mothers are special, wonderful and appreciated roles that no one else can do. Daddy was so sweet and went out Saturday night and came home with corsages for all of the special girls in his life. I thought it would be cute for all of us to match, but since I was coordinating everyone with my favorite black dress, it ended up looking an awful lot like we were attending a funeral! At least it helps that Mormons don't wear black to funerals, right? :)

Our beautiful girls modeling their corsages. They were a little worried (aka- totally freaked out... more than a little crying was involved) about the pins that were used to hold them on, but in the end they got over it (no one got poked even once!) and were so proud and excited about their corsages at church.

 It was such a wonderful special day, and I am so honored and grateful to be a mother! It is literally the most important thing I do, and I am eternally grateful for the children that God has blessed and entrusted me with! I love you Minnette, Aurelle, Jovi and Waits! You (and your Daddy) are my world!

Baby Burritos, Sleeping and Smiles- April/May 2013

After about the first month of falling asleep while nursing, or falling asleep on my or Kyle's chest, or wanting to be rocked/bounced to sleep, Waits decided he was too grown up for that, and that he wanted to fall asleep after being swaddled-up into a little tiny burrito. Which was great because anywhere we were, if he was swaddled, he would fall asleep. And I mean an.y.where... in the middle of sacrament meeting, outside while the girls are playing on the playground, you name it! After a while we could swaddle him and lay him in his boppy pillow wide awake and he would put himself to sleep. Sometimes without being swaddled at all (more on that at the end of the post!). Seriously,this kid- I tell ya- has just made life piece of cake for Mommy and Daddy! He must have known the home he was coming into, what with three very active, and very young older sisters, Mom and Dad sure needed a good sleeper!

All ready for bed:

Giving Mama a small smile and getting settled-in for a solid 3:

 Our little pig in a blanket- love those tiny tootsies hanging out!

See what I mean about falling asleep anywhere? 

And one night, Minnette and Aurelle (who share a room and a bunk-bed) decided to have a late night party up on the top bunk, so I decided to separate them by putting Aurelle on my bed until they went to sleep, which meant that Waits (who was still in a bassinet attached to my bed) was kicked out to the living room for his late-night nap time. I was working on the computer, and he seemed content to just hangout, so I set him up on his Boppy right on the floor next to me at the computer. Well, I really shouldn't have been too surprised about this considering this is WAITS we're talking about, but within a few minutes... well, just watch:

And just like that, he's out! What a cute and sweet, chubby little boy. I seriously can't get enough of him, I pretty much just want to eat him every second of every day. Is that weird? 

Trust me, this being our fourth baby, we are well aware of just how lucky we are to have such  good sleeper. And we are so grateful for our sweet baby boy!

Marshmallows and Toothpicks

One afternoon in April, I decided to sit the girls up for some craft time. How can you possibly go wrong with toothpicks and marshmallows? The girls immediately got to work, and spent the next 45 minutes+ working on their creations. They had so much fun doing this activity, and it was so ridiculously easy to set-up (seriously, a bag of marshmallows and a box of toothpicks...there ya go, kiddos!) that I will be planning this for a snowy winter day indoor activity for sure!

Jovi mostly just ate her marshmallows... but, hey, easy clean-up, right? :)

Waits just hung-out. 

An little explanation of what their creations are supposed to be:

Some of my pieces of art:

Highly recommended! Go get some marshmallows and toothpicks right now!

Sheriff Waits

 Found the cutest little outfit at the second hand store. That fringe is seriously so cute I just want to die!

There's a new sheriff in town...

Play Mat Tummy Time

   Falling asleep is a completely normal occurrence during tummy time for Waits. Considering he needed the tummy-time neck workout as part of his physical therapy for torticollis, and this was the typical end result, you could say it wasn't usually very productive. :) But that's just Waits for ya. Always so content and patient: "Okay mom, I'll just lay here... for the next half hour... and don't worry, I won't cry...not even a peep... even though I AM getting tired... *yawn* well, I guess I'll just go to sleep right here while you finish making lunch..." Yep, typical Waits!

 Oh, and Mr. Froggy (Minnette's stuffed animal) wanted in on tummy time, too. Minnette was so excited to show me that she had put Mr. Froggy on "his mat to play!" Love her.

Spring and Buckets 2013

In order to keep Easter more centered on Christ, Kyle and I decided that we wouldn't have our family participate in any Easter bunny activities. No fun, right? Well, I completely disagree, but so some would say. We decided, instead of getting baskets filled with candy on Easter morning, that our kids would get yearly "Spring Baskets" (which season is not officially celebrated in the Willman Home until we can wear shorts and flip-flops outside on a regular basis. So forget March 21st, people... "spring" doesn't come 'til May in Provo!) which are loaded down with tons of outdoor summer toys and activities for the upcoming months of non-cold-weather fun. And I believe they are quite happy with the trade-off, thank you very much.

The Spring basket haul of twenty-thirteen:

Some cute spring outfits sent by Gramma Willman (Oh, how we will miss her working at Carter's!)

Waits wanted in on the fun. Or, well... maybe not. :)

It's finally sunny outside... and... NO SNOW!! Sublimely glorious and most definitely cause for celebration!

Our little lovelies enjoying a beautiful spring day in their new spring wardrobe:

Thanks, Gramma, for the cute outfits! 

And here's to the upcoming months of running around, bike riding, hiking, sidewalk chalking, jungle gym climbing, exploring, park and sand box playing, picnicking, walking, wiggle car riding, duck feeding, water splashing, shorts and flip-flop wearing, bbq-ing, air-conditioning weather! CHEERS!