Kate -- Need I Say More?

Kate is up to her same tricks. Her latest thing is switching her outfits a bazillion (I'm sure it's a legitimate word:) times a day. As exhibited below, she doesn't actually like to swim in the water, however she does like to get geared up like she's going to... I found a large chair, stacked on top with a small chair leading to the top of the bookshelf. She is still ALWAYS climbing!! She fell off a chair and banged up her lip a little this week as well. Who needs botox when you can just injure your lips and have plump scars? She is obsessed with popcicles and is always on the move, but she sure is irresistible. When we left for Seattle she got potty trained (Yay for Kate!!), and she must be completely naked from the waist down in order for her to go. But she yells "yay!! I go tinkle tinkle!! and then comes out wanting high fives. She has done great and I am so relieved she appears to be over that hump. This last picture is of a gargantuous snake at a lizard show they did at the local library. When it was over no one (including me) was interested in getting near the snake. No one that is, except for Kate. She was insistent and touched this bad boy like it was no big deal. I was holding her hand flinching and looking away.

Meg's Summer Activities

I can't believe Meg aka "the Megster" aka "Meggy Megs" is now over 5 months. How does it go by so much faster when they are out of your body than when you are pregnant? Mark had meetings in Seattle so Meg and I went with him, so this was her first real "trip" anywhere. She hung out in the Baby Bjorn and did great. The photo is taken by Mark. We decided to take a "pedi-cab" (basically they pull you behind a bicyle). You know that poor guy saw Mark and was thinking, "oh no, don't pick me, please don't pick me..." He was impressive and biked us all around downtown.

Meg was loving her little exersaucer (as exhibited in the picture below:) but as of late, she's kind-of over it. She's up on her hands and knees rocking now and is really itching to get moving. I am still hoping it takes a couple more months.

She also has started eating. She pretty much chases the spoon around and is pretty aggressive about it. So far, she is NOT fan of baby rice or oatmeal, and her favorite is the sweet potatoes. Below is her first eating experience. By the end it was a lot more messy!

Her first swim. As a general rule of thumb, I don't take any pictures of myself in a swimsuit, much less post it on a blog. This was however the only one, so you know, just focus on Meg. Launa was the photographer as I wasn't comfortable letting her hang on to Meg in the water. Ah well.

Meg gets carted around A LOT!! Even though I am a stay-at-home Mom we are kind-of still running to and from all the time. She spends a lot of time trying to sleep like this...

And this...

My highlights are when I open my eyes and see her on her tummy right in my face with twinkly eyes and a big smile. How can you not wake up happy when you see that? I love to snuggle in bed with her and nurser her. She really is such a joy!! I just love her to pieces.

Launa Swim & Preschool

Launa had her preschool graduation party and it was a blast!!! There was a gigantic slip and slide that I was itching to go down myself (I restrained, don't worry). She loved it!! We really loved her teacher, Colleen. I have known her my whole life and she handled Launa perfectly. At five, Launa can pretty much write and list all the letters and their sounds and can count to about 40. I feel like she is very prepared for kindergarten and will really enjoy it. She just completed her swim lessons today. She also liked those. It was a little chilly but she was a pretty good sport. She can now swim from the shallow end to the deep end all by herself. It's just a doggy paddle, but she is relentlessly practicing and knowing her, will have it mastered by the end of the summer. Her teacher, Piper, was a girl in our ward so that definitely helped her feel a little more comfortable. She is always shy in new situations. Below are a few pictures of all of the above!! Way to go Launa!!

Living on the Wild Side

So it is now 11:24 AM. The day is only half over and I just caught Kate riding the garage door up and down. She talked Jande's little boy, Hunter, into being the operator while she was the rider. When I yelled at her to stop, she dropped from almost the top and took off running, laughing her little head off the entire way. You'd think the fall would have took something out of her, but nope, she could have cared less. Two hours ago, I had to get out to run something into Launa's preschool. In the 15 seconds that I was gone, she had unbuckled herself, shimmied to the front (there are three car seats in the back of my Camry) and locked my door. Good thing I didn't stay to chit chat because she was moving on to the other doors when I came back and ran around the other side of the car to open the passengers side door before I was locked out with her and the baby in the car! Oh yeah, and she broke a glass cup about oh, an hour ago. All this and it's not even noon!! Did I mention she also peed (not in her bed, but in MY bed) and I am washing all the sheets for about the fifth time this week. Last week, she got into Launa's room, dumped out the entire craft kit and then pooped in Launa's room. Launa hysterically came downstairs screaming that Kate had left a "terd" in her room and everything reeked!!! I went up with the wipes and the sterilant to clean up. We then attempted to clean up the craft kit mess when Launa stepped in an actual terd and had it stuck to her foot. At this point, she was on the brink of lunacy and Kate was hiding (probably laughing knowing her). Truthfully, I was glad it was her and not me. If I had stepped in that, I would have had to have gone to my room and counted to a million for the safety of everyone in the house. Kate has an abundance of nicknames but due to her wild personality and lion's mane head of hair, she has now been referred to most often as "Tarzan". Ironically, that was what they called Mark as a child. Hmmmm.... I wonder where she gets it. :)

A Big Week for "Firsts"

Little Miss Meg (her latest nickname) has started rolling over. When enraged she can really roll over. When she's not, she doesn't see much of a point. I got a decent giggle out of her this week, but I'm still looking forward to her first real "belly laugh". She is sweet as ever, although she really enjoys hanging out in my Baby Bjorn pretty much all day. Launa just learned how to tie her shoe like 35 seconds ago and was so proud of herself. It's amazing how when they finally are interested in learning, everything just starts to click. Her job this summer is caring for our little garden. She is working toward a new bike. We'll see how it goes. Kate continues her thievery. My Mom had just got new Nordstrom shoes for mother's day (seriously, it couldn't have been the $8 flip flops!!:). She called after I had left and asked if I had seen them because she couldn't find them. I asked the girls and no one fessed up (I should preface this with a small story -- Launa once got mad at my Dad and stole his glasses and hid them. They found them like two months later after he already got replacements). Kate did however mention something about the garbage. My Mom spent a couple hours searching high and low, my Dad rifled through every garbage and the dumpster, I looked everywhere-- and, no shoes. I finally bribed Kate by telling her she could have a brownie if she would find Grandma's shoes. She marched outside and into one of my Mom's planting beds and pulled them out of the shrubs. Why this is fun for her baffles me? I think she is notorious at church for being a real "ball of fire". I also had a couple funny conversations with Launa this week as well. She wanted something and when I told her no, she did her usual "Why not?!!" The first two times I explained it to her and about the third and fourth round I finally said "Because I said so!!!!" She looked at me and said "That doesn't even make any sense!!" Then she also got mad and told me "You are NOT a stay-at-home Mommy." I said, "Okay, why not?" She replied with "You are a WORKING Mommy. All you want to do is work. Make the beds. Plant the plants. Pull the weeds... You are a working Mommy". Maybe her perception was a little off. I don't know too many (okay, none) stay-at-home Mommies who are not working Mommies.

Life at the Mollotte House

My friends I grew up with were in town and we had a little BBQ. It was fantastic to see them all and they told me I should really be recording all these little "classics" about my children/animals. These are the happenings for the last week and a half or so.

Jande had her hometeachers over. Prior to the home teachers coming over, Kyla had to run out and get Brayden's shoes back as he had left them on the back porch and Kate came over to run off with them. Fast forward a couple hours. Chad says to their home teacher "um... did you lock your doors?" He said no (this is the country after all), and they looked out the window just in time to see Kate running back toward my house with some loot in her hand. She was then going through the other two cars of the company that we had at our house. She had rummaged through the poor home teacher's wallet and run off with his keys and cell phone. Should I be worried? Needless to say, I had to leave my car in Moses Lake after MY keys went missing while I was digging up flowers at Jodi's. I have a pretty sneaky suspicion who the culprit was. Nothing like a two year clepto! A couple weeks ago, I found her in my father-in-law's car eating the M&Ms he left and standing where she had just peed on the seat. Thank goodness they were leather!!

The commentary between Launa and I:

Launa: "Mom, you remember last night when Kate colored all over the carpet with your lip stick?"

Me: Yes, I remember that very well.

Launa: "You sounded like Mother Gothal from Tangled".

Me: Did I?

Launa: "Yeah. You know that one part, when she yells at Tangled "You are never leaving this tower -- NEVER!! That's what it reminded of when you were telling Kate 'You are never getting in here again -- NEVER!!'

We welcomed three new additions to our household. Two orange kittens and one black one. I was devastated because I knew the cat had had them and thought she had abandoned them. I heard meowing two days later in my dumpster and ran to grab Jande (she is better under high pressure situations :) She rescued the kittens while I ran around like a lunatic. The kitties are in our garage (much to Mark's chagrin) and doing fantastic. The kids and I are loving them. Mark, not so much. He's more of a dog person.

Launa also learned how to ride her two-wheeler. I so appreciate her intensity. When she wants to do something she WILL do it.

Kate riding the scooter is kind-of awesome!! She doesn't like the baby version and can barely see over the big one, but she's a maniac on that thing and flies around the corners like it's nothing, giggling the entire time. I love it.

Jande and I have started getting back into shape. Picture us both attempting yoga, Brayden climbing on her, Launa pulling my pants down (repeatedly), 4 kids trying to do jumping jacks, 2 babies screaming... You know, just a nice relaxing workout. :)

Experiencing Joy

The past couple of weeks have been... exciting. Kate is giving me a run for them money. I have cleaned poop off the front steps, the foyer floor, the table, the tub, multiple diapers, etc. Bleach is my best friend for peace of mind. You get the picture. It's been a little crazy, and therefore, I have been a little crazy. But, amidst all the insanity, I have had quite a few moments of what I would consider absolute joy. A small list is below:

* Meg's first smiles and coos -- one of my all-time favorite "firsts". She has deep, blue eyes and when she smiles I feel my heart flutter with joy. I am so lucky.

* Launa started soccer this year. She loves it, and seeing her love it and be so happy and energetic brings me joy. She has come so far in her behavior and is actually very responsible and helpful (most of the time). She also learned how to ride the mini four-wheeler. I saw her driving Kate around and both of them having the time of their lives. That's what having siblings is all about. It made me happy.

* I had strep throat last week and told the kids "I've had it. Get out of my room and give me some space for 5 minutes (not the best version of myself, but the reality). After my being unkind (to say the least), Kate came to my room, climbed up by me on the bed, took my face in her hand and sincerely said to me "you feel better, Mommy?" So sweet. It amazes me how forgiving and kind children can be, even when I don't deserve it. She also said "Grandma has baby goats? That's awesome!!" I love her sweet voice and the quirky little things she says.

* It's spring which means I don't see a lot of Mark these days, but when he does come home, and he gathers up our little girls and coos and plays with them, it makes me realize again what a good decision I made. Watching him want to be with them even though I know how exhausted he is brings me joy. Kate saw our wedding picture and said "Mommy, that's my Daddy!!!" I said "Yep, that's when we got married." Launa and Kate both told me that I did a good job choosing a Daddy. :)

And that's what my life is about these days -- being somewhere in between crazy and incredibly happy at the life I have and the people who are in it. :)