Squeezing it all in...

I guess you could read that title to mean a bunch of things.  Like..."squeezing it all in to one weekend", or emptying the camera and "squeezing it all into one blog post".  I think it may also refer to what it's going to look like later this week as we pack to get ready for our trip to the lodge with my family.  I'm willing to bet we'll be "squeezing it all in" literally as we pack up everything this troop is going to require for a week in isolation from the rest of the free world.

 

Regardless, it has been a busy few days for us.  I held true to my promise of trying to get out of the office one afternoon each week during the summer and picked Joshua and Lauren up Friday afternoon to head to the movies to see Monsters University.  What a cute movie it was!  And I swear, I had the most adorable dates that afternoon, donning their 3D glasses.  It was Lauren's first time to see a movie in the theater, and I was proud of her for not getting scroochy until the movie was almost over.  We felt a bit like criminals smuggling in our peanut safe snacks, but I was grateful that the kids didn't seem to mind eating their popcorn out of a ziploc baggie.

 

Saturday was an at home day for me as I was preparing for a little picnic that evening with the Knepleys.  We were thrilled to have picked one of the hottest days of the summer so far.  Yeah right.  Their new baby, Mason, is only a month old, so it was great fun to have a little little one in the house.  Their almost three year old, Miller, jumped right in with our big kids and was running all over the place despite the sweltering heat.  We ate too much, drank some wine and shared some good laughs about how quickly our lives have changed from our wedding days until now- with five little kids between the two couples.  As is the case with most fun times, I neglected to get out my camera.  But having to hold it might have hindered my ability to enjoy that glass of wine.  So I'm glad I didn't have to worry about that.  :-)

 

Sunday we had all good intentions of getting up for Sunday School, but I knew I was defeated as soon as the alarm went off and I couldn't convince myself to get out of bed.  Too much fun on Saturday night I guess.  I did, however, consider it a victory that I talked myself out of skipping church altogether, and the kids and I headed for church and made it there on time for the service.  As is usual, I ended up in the nursery with Mara while the big kids were in Wee Worship, but it was OK.  She is starting to learn how to behave through the first 15-20 minutes of church now that we're out there with Joshua and Lauren too, so that's a good thing.  She has her moments, and more often than not, I end up sweating as I try to keep her occupied and quiet (quiet is the issue without a doubt), but we're getting there.

 

I am noticing so much development happening with Mara these last few days really, that I started snapping pictures of some of her new skills.  I feel like she has been a little slower at picking things up than the other two were, but I don't completely trust my memory on that either.  Things have gotten awfully fuzzy in my memory since Mara came along.

 



 

 

 She is working diligently to pick up food and get it to her mouth using her fork.  She has been "using" utensils for a few months, but I've been noticing in the past week or so that she is doing so with greater accuracy lately.  As in, far more ends up in her mouth than on the floor.

 

Anyone who has been within ear shot of me in the past few months has certainly known that I have been increasingly concerned about Mara's lack of vocabulary.  We have no trouble figuring out what she wants or is trying to say, and so many people have told me not to worry and that she will find her words in her own time.  I have to tell you, though, as we near her 18 month checkup in a few weeks, I feel like I have a test that I didn't study for, because they're going to ask me about her words and I'm going to have to tell them that she can't say anything besides "mama" and "dada" and "eh", with the latter being her go-to for everything.  Well, after she downed her Oreo cookie the other night and was a complete and utter mess from the chin up, I grabbed my camera to take her picture.  To which she smiled and said, "eeeeeeeeeeese".  I nearly fell over.  In the days since, I have caught her saying "no", "up", "bubbles", "Bible" (when we're singing the B-I-B-L-E), "Nana", "Pap-Pap" and a few others.  So, all of a sudden, it seems to be picking up.  Here's where the fuzzy brain comes in again-- I know that the other kids started putting words together around this time, I just don't know exactly when.  So, it looks like we have some talking to look forward to soon from Miss Mara!

Books and puzzles are Mara's new found favorite.  I do distinctly remember Josh and Lauren being seriously into books around this same age, and it seems that Mara will follow in their footsteps.  We have been doing a whole lot of reading in recent days, with her favorites being Brown Bear, I Love You Through and Through, No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, her big word book and her Mickey Mouse lift the flap book.   Where's Spot continues to be a favorite, although all three copies that we have are now missing their flaps where she got a little excited to find the animals hiding beneath them.   I loved this picture of Lauren reading to her on Saturday morning.  Lauren is such a good big sister most of the time.  She adores Mara and I can just see the kind of relationship they are going to have down the road.  What a blessing!

 These were a few pictures of our crazy kids on Sunday afternoon who insisted, despite our urging, to be outside playing in the 100 degree heat.  Honestly.  But the last two pictures highlight Mara's newest ability to climb up onto things.  Little Miss Independent.  The big kids were sitting at the table eating a little snack and she was not going to be outdone.3

 

So that's the latest from this little corner of the world.  See you soon!