Four is Funny

I swear Kenley gets more entertaining every year. Here are some of her latest and greatest (sorry, lots of repeats from Facebook):

* When Parker was copying her: "Mo-om! Parker is following my voice!"

* "I smell good. Parker smells like yucky pickles."

* "Mom, Taylor Swift knows EVERYTHING. And so do I."

* "UGH! Wa-alllll! Why you always bang my head, wall? Every single time I run into you, you bang my head! EVERY TIME!"

* For a frame of reference for this quote, a few weeks ago we had someone come to our home to do a speech evaluation for Parker. I think that's what Kenley was thinking about when yesterday, in a fit of despair over not being able to draw a pumpkin, she told me sadly, "I think I need someone to come out and test my body. I can't say marshlellow, I can't say lellow, and I CANNOT draw a pumpkin!"

* Aaaaaaand, my newest favorite. Minutes before I took the picture below, she wheeled that stroller into the bathroom where I was doing my makeup, and asked me, "Mom, can you watch Pepper for me? Just text me if you have any problems. Okay? My number is 1-2-3-4-5."

Claire's Blessing Day

We blessed Claire this week, again surrounded by family. Because of various travel arrangements, we decided it would be easier to bless her during the week, so we did it on Friday down at the church. It was a beautiful blessing, and such a special night to have so many family members there to share it with us. We had all three sets of grandparents (including the Hamptons, who came down from Utah), and both my siblings. I was extra excited that my Grandma Teddy was also able to be there, all the way from Alaska!

Thankful for sweetness

The thing I love most about my kids is the tender relationships they have with each other. They are so sweet and loving.


First, these two. They are just two little peas in a pod. They spend all day together, playing, laughing, fighting, wrestling, snuggling, encouraging, and loving. Kenley makes up all kinds of crazy games and activities, and of course Parker willingly follows along. My whole day sounds like a variation of, "Parker! I frow this ball and you catch it! Parker! I play these Polly Pockets and you be this dog!" "Otay!"

They are just lost without each other. A few months ago, right before Claire was born, they had been fighting a lot, so James and I each took them separately out on a date. By the time an hour had passed, they were asking for each other and wanting to go home.

They also love to do nice things for each other. Today Kenley decided to clean her room, and made Parker's bed for him (note the Elmo wrapped in a washcloth, my favorite part).


I hope that they will always keep the sweet closeness they have today. I know having kids 18 months apart isn't everyone's cup of tea, but they really are best friends, and I truly feel blessed at how close they are.


They are also both enthralled with Claire. I knew Kenley would be loving and nurturing, but I didn't anticipate how sweet Parker would be with her. The other day when she was crying, he went and got her little book, and put it in front of her and started reading to her.

Seriously, if that picture doesn't make your heart melt, you are made of stone.

Here's one of Kenley yesterday. I made Claire a bottle and then went to do something, and when I came back Kenley had taken it upon herself to help me out by feeding Claire.


Kenley and Parker ALWAYS want to be around Claire. When I was trying to take a picture of Claire in her blessing dress, they were just swarming around trying to make her smile. I had to step back and take a picture of what I was dealing with. The poor kids just could not understand why I didn't want the backs of their heads in the picture.


I am thankful for my kids, but even more thankful that they have so much love for each other. It'll give me something to hold onto during the next ten years of fighting, biting, scratching, and crying!

Halloween

I am under serious threat of death from my mother to update my blog. So here are our Halloween pics! Parker was Luke Skywalker, Kenley was Taylor Swift, and Claire was a pink leopard.




Total vent but seriously NONE of our neighbors said ANYTHING about the kids' costumes. Didn't tell them they looked cute, didn't even ask who they were dressed up as. So since I worked so hard on their costumes, if you want to tell me they looked cute, I'll totally take it.

Oh, and just for fun, here's Kenley crying in the same costume when she wore it, and then Claire on Halloween. Apparently if you have to wear the pink leopard costume, your life sucks.

Star Wars Meet and Greet

So some of you already know that both my kids are OBSESSED with Star Wars. It is scary how much Kenley can tell you about all the characters and plots, and Parker also knows most of the characters in our much-loved family Star Wars Encyclopedia. Of course the blame for this lies with my sweet, geeky husband, but I have to admit I am starting to find it all quite adorable.

So my mom e-mailed me this article about a Star Wars night they were having for a fundraiser for this little 1-year-old with a terminal illness. So of course we had to go. I temporarily forgot that both my kids are pretty reserved, and easily frightened by things like that. They had all the characters in a group and you could get your picture taken with them. Kenley was too scared to even go up to the group of characters, and Parker was tentatively okay for a moment before breaking down into sobs (he told me later he was scared of the Darth Vader). Only Claire was not at all frightened, and had her picture taken with a giant Chewbacca.

But of course, depite their fears and tears, both kids LOVED getting to see all the characters and did get some pictures with characters who were just walking around the park. After the pictures, they showed the original first Star Wars movie on the outdoor screen, and that was lots of fun.

On a more sober note, they did a little slide show of this darling little girl who the fundraiser was for, and it made me just cry and cry. I am really overwhelmed with my kids right now, but I made a goal to be more appreciative and grateful that I have three healthy, beautiful children.

First trip to the Pumpkin Patch!

Last week we headed over to the pumpkin patch. As I dressed my kids in their cute Halloween shirts, I gave myself a huge lecture about not having any expectations about getting a cute picture of all three of them together. But of course I did anyway and got frustrated when Parker was a total grump. But now that I'm out of the moment, I quite love this picture BECAUSE of his cute little grump face!

Sweet Little Claire

Just a quick little update on our little Claire. She continues to be a delight to our family. She started smiling a few weeks ago, and she always has plenty of them to give. Unless, of course, I am holding a camera.

Each month I take a picture of my kids next to their stuffed animal we made them at Build-a-Bear. Here are Claire's pictures at one month and last week at two months. Seriously, EVERY time I see anyone they talk about how she's filling out. She's getting to be a chunk!



Sleeping has turned into a challenge. During out week at the beach house, Claire would wake up anytime she was put down during a nap. We sort of chalked it up to being somewhere unfamiliar, and there were so many people willing to hold her, that she pretty much got held while she slept for a week straight. So now I'm attempting to undo that lovely habit. It's hard, especially with Kenley and Parker running around all the time. I have shed many tears of frustration in the last few weeks. But, to end on a good note, the other day Kenley and Parker wandered out of their bedroom each holding a swaddled baby. They're experts in baby care already!

Meet the Hamptons - Ghostified

I was having Kenley make some Halloween decorations, and she decided to create this ghost family. Look familiar? It's James, me, Kenley, Parker, and Claire. She drew these little faces and cut them out all by herself!

The Beach House!

This year for our family vacation with Dad and Joanie, we decided to stay close to home. When planning, we knew we'd have a brand new baby, and plus the workers in the family couldn't get a lot of time off. So Joanie found an adorable beach house in Oceanside that was right on the beach and over 100 years old! We had a great time together.

Are you wondering what Cartwrights and Hamptons do when they vacation? First, lots of eating. We ate appetizers as we watched the sun set, enjoyed delicious dinners every night courtesy of Joanie, and toasted s'mores by the fire for dessert.



Second, lots of running. Running is serious business for our family, and every morning found several members of the family lacing up running shoes and taking off down the beach. Sorry, no pictures of that. Just not pretty.

Third, lots of laughing, mostly at each other (mockery is a favorite pasttime).


Fourth, lots of hours logged at the beach.



And fifth, LOTS and LOTS of sleeping.


This next picture is on the last day of our trip. I was supposed to be packing, but took a few minutes (maybe hours) to take a little nap snuggled up next to Claire. When I woke up, this was the view from our room. It was so peaceful and relaxing, I had to snap a picture.



And more picture overload!









Other than the fact that Claire was a little on the gumpy side all week, it was a wonderful and relaxing getaway. And yes, turns out October is an excellent time of year for a beach vacation! Gorgeous, sunny weather all week long, and hardly any tourists on the beach! Thank you Dad and Joanie, for an amazing week! The kids LOVED it, despite Kenley announcing on our last night that she "couldn't wait to FINALLY be free of this place!" We loved getting to spend so much time together!

Happy Halloween from the Hamptons!

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Happy 4th Birthday, Sweet Girl!

In all the flurry of birthday party pictures, I didn't make time for my yearly post about Kenley. I try not to brag about her too much, but this is my blog and my kid's birthday post, so if I want to talk all about how amazing she is, I just will. :) So here's a little glimpse into Kenley at age 4...

Kenley LOVES to be with other people. If she had her way, every day would include having a friend over to our house, going to a friend's house, going out to eat, and hanging out with her grandmas and grandpas. Luckily, that's pretty much my idea of a good day as well, so she's got a happy life. She loves her friends up here in our area, and also occasionally gets very sad about her "faraway friends" Carli, Lila, Kaitlyn, Madeline, Connor, and Annika.

She remains very.... um, verbal. She talks incessantly, and has the vocabulary of an adult. She loves watching TV, which is where I think she picks up all the funny phrases she uses. Just in the past few days, she's told me, "My daddy makes the best cakes in town!" and "I know that Grandma can count on me!" and "I can't wait to finally be free of this place!" She's quite the conversationalist, and likes to ask James and I, "So, how was your day?" and listen intently to our response. Somehow she is able to both eavesdrop on EVERY word I say while not actually hearing anything and making me repeat any story I tell. One of her most-used phrases is, "Tell that story to me!" But for sure her #1 phrase, which I probably hear 3789 times a day is, "I need tell you sumping!"

Kenley is obsessed with Taylor Swift. I made her a CD of Taylor Swift songs for her birthday, and she loves to belt them out in the car. She even likes to pretend that she IS Taylor, and I get to be Taylor's mommy. Only girls with blonde hair (in other words, her) get to sing Taylor Swift songs in the car.

She's not so into letters or numbers, but is amazing at cutting. Honestly. I have spent many, many hours in Kindergarten classrooms, and Kenley puts most Kindergarteners to shame.

She is so sweet and loving to everyone in our family. She and Parker are inseparable, and absolutely best friends. She would rather pick up all of Parker's toys for him than see him get in trouble for refusing to pick up his own mess. She adores Claire and loves to coo over her "precious tootsies" and tell me that Claire is a "darling child."

I wish I could put into words how sweet this girl is. Seriously, she is so GOOD it just makes me want to cry. 99% of the time, she is obedient, considerate, kind, and polite. She always seems to know when I need a little boost, and likes to tell me that I am the "BEST Mommy ever." She is a willing helper, and the best example for her brother and sister that I could ever ask for. I will never know how I got so lucky.

Superhero

First, I have been on a posting rampage tonight, so don't stop here. Just keep on goin'!

But the real point of the post... My mom is the absolute best. Tonight I had class and James had to work, so my mom was going to watch the kids. This morning I put her on alert because the kids were puking, cranky, and horrible. But by this afternoon they were all asleep and happy, so I figured the worst had passed us by. My mom said she'd come up to our house, so I went ahead to class.

Little did I know what I was leaving behind. Kenley threw up all over herself while Claire was screaming her little head off. Parker and Claire both had blow-out poopy diapers. Claire started screaming every time my mom put her down, and she never got to eat dinner. All in all, I think the night was less than enjoyable.

And after all that, not only did my mom actually WANT to kiss those children good-night before she left, but you know what she offered? To help me clean up before she left, and that I should come down to her house tomorrow with the kids if they are sick again. Could you think of anything better than that?

I don't think I could raise these kids without my mom. I really, really don't. Thanks, Mamacita, for all that you do to help me stay sane. I don't think I could ever possibly tell you how much it means to me. I love you!!!