Nicole’s Birthday and Other Stuff

I took the kids to the aquarium to celebrate my birthday since the kids didn’t have school. We had a good time but the very best part was watching Kaley enjoy herself. She wanted to swim with the sting rays in the petting tank. She loved the water and touching all the animals she could in the petting section. She also loved looking at all the fish and kept trying to grab them through the glass. She really did make it fun. Jacob and Makayla also enjoyed it and want to know when we’re going back.

Jacob was such a sweetheart regarding my birthday. The week before my birthday we let him know when it was and I teasingly asked him if he got me a present. He said he didn’t but then he thought hard about it and said he was saving something for me. It came up a few more times that week and then on my birthday Jarl helped him wrap my present. He gave me his big, blue, stuffed shark. It’s a silly present, but he put thought into it beforehand and he cared enough to give me something of his. I will always appreciate that.

Conference was really good. But it’s a lot more challenging to hear the talks with three loud, active kids. The talk “Preserving the Heart’s Mighty Change” by Elder Dale G. Renlund stood out to me. I really like conference weekend because I give Jarl a list of projects that we’ve bought everything for but haven’t gotten around to actually doing yet. He made three more screens and got them in the windows (of course they were all second story windows). (We’ve been in our home for almost three years and we still have four more screens to do although we’ve had the materials almost since we moved in.) We also hung family pictures in the kids’ rooms. I started making Makayla’s Christmas stocking. I’m determined to get Makayla’s and Kaley’s done before we decorate Thanksgiving weekend. And I’m going to figure out how to put our names on our stocking since we’ll have seven stockings hanging. All in all it was a productive weekend both spiritually and for house projects.

My cousin Lucy had her 5th birthday on Monday, October 5th (I’m the oldest grandchild on that side and the youngest is 1). My aunt hired a magician and invited all the family and many of her friends over. Coincidently it was the same magician that performed at the Foster Family Camp. We only saw half of his show because Makayla was so tired she wanted to go to bed. It was fun to see his whole show and Jacob was the most appreciative person in the audience. He laughed and cheered the loudest, the longest, and the most often. He told me that he wants to be a magician when he grows up. We were going to dress him up as a magician for Halloween, but the Batman costume my mom has won out since it’s already made and it fits him.

The kids continue to keep me really, really busy. Kaley is cruising now that she’s crawling and pulling herself up to stand. I had to finish baby-proofing the house last week. Mostly I had to trim up the trailing plants and move some other plants that were within her reach. The gate in front of the stairs is up and we have to keep track of her since she loves the bathrooms and the garbage cans. She loves her mobility and loves pulling herself up on the toilets (they must be a comfortable height because she does it constantly if I don’t keep the doors shut) and in the bath tub which results in many bumps and bruises. She continues to delight us and is a real joy for me.

Makayla still loves school and often says “My teacher said . . .” or “That’s what me teacher said.” She’s also added “The Wheels on the Bus” to her repertoire. She’s also the most stubborn kid I have ever encountered. If she doesn’t want to do something she won’t do it (like clean her room). And she can pout with the best of them. When she’s happy and cooperative she’s a joy to be around. And when she’s not she’s nearly impossible. I’m praying this is just a phase and she’ll get through it. She’s such a huge shopper. She asks me almost everyday if we can go to the store. And sometimes she asks if we can go look at shoes for her. She loves looking at new clothes and pulls everything off the racks and exclaims over how cute it is and that it will fit her. There’s no questioning that she will be a shopaholic and a shoe hoarder. She’s also super excited for her birthday in two weeks.

In contrast to Makayla, Jacob is doing better and better everyday. Although his insatiable curiosity gets him into trouble continually. Today he was in trouble for playing with the gate in front of the stairs. He has to touch everything and play with it. In some ways it’s really endearing and I’m hoping we can channel it into the sciences or something really productive. In other ways it’s annoying because his curiosity over rules whatever we tell him or whatever common sense he had to begin with. I feel like I’m constantly yelling at him to leave things alone. He loves school and is really into letters. He’s figured out that combining letters forms words and he’s forever making “words” and asking us what they say and mean. It’s so fun to see the world opening up to him.