I love them!

Hazel: 

After I asked her if a specific shirt still looked okay with my growing belly
"It doesn't matter what your shirt looks like, you're beautiful no matter what."

While I was brushing her hair one morning
"I know you try and be gentle but really you pull and hurt me even though you're trying."


Eliza: 

About 20 times a day
"Can I have a treat? Say 'Sure!'" or "I want to read 2 more books. Mom, say 'I guess so'"

Nap time the other day

Primary Program

November 10th was our ward's Primary program (where the kids from 4 to 11 present a program of short parts and songs for the entire congregation in place of having speakers for that Sunday). This was Hazel's first year and she was SO excited!

Our ward did something I have never seen done, but I loved it so much. They sent each child home with a prompt and had them discuss it with their parents then write their own speaking part. Hazel's prompt was "My Heavenly Father loves me because______." For family home evening one night we had a lesson about all the ways we know Heavenly Father loves us then let Hazel write her part. Here's what she came up with:

"My Heavenly Father loves me because He made flowers for me."

It was so sweet and so perfect for her. Then she practiced and practiced. The day of the program she was able to stand up and both sign her part in ASL and speak it as well. She also signed and sang along for all the songs (we go to a Deaf ward so the program is in ASL.) We were so proud of our little Sunbeam for doing a great job on her first program!

This picture isn't from the Sunday of the program, but it is adorable.

One other side note... Hazel's favorite song that they sang for the program was "Called to Serve." She memorized both verses and she and Eliza sing it all the time. Every night at bed they want me to sing "Called to Serve" while I tickle their backs and tuck them in for bed. It's so cute how much they love that song!

Rafi is Home!

I posted a while ago about how Hazel lost Rafi and was devastated. It broke my heart to see her missing her "best friend" so much, and after about a month and a half I knew we weren't going to find Rafi. So I gathered up all my super mommy powers to make it better.

First I got online and found an identical "Rafi" on Ebay. I was pleasantly surprised when the seller accepted my offer of $15 so I didn't have to pay the full $25 he was asking for it (though I totally would have had he rejected the offer.)

Then, I got the new "Rafi" in the mail and boy was I shocked. The description said it was used, but when I opened that package I honestly couldn't remember Hazel lovey EVER looking that nice! Haha, guess that's what happens when you get used to the old, well loved, grey Rafi instead of the nice, soft, pink one. So now I had a problem. How would I get her to believe this was really Rafi? Thanks to a stroke of mommy genius, I came up with a plan.

I wrote up a quick letter and left it on the table with Rafi for Hazel to find the next morning...

What made it even more perfect was that morning we woke up to a dusting of snow for the first time this season. Hazel knew this was the real Rafi and the elves really had cleaned her up and sent her home!!!!

I can't even begin to tell you how excited she was! She carried Rafi around all morning and talked to her, catching her up on everything she had missed while she was gone. She excitedly showed Rafi her new bunk bed and cuddled her. She even told Eliza she should send her lovey Ellie to the elves so they could clean Ellie up too with their magic soap!

It truly was one of those moments that was priceless. I'm so, so, so glad it worked! Of course some day she will find out that this Rafi is a replacement, but I don't think she'll be mad. Plus, in her heart, this is the same Rafi and that's all that matters. That night in her prayer she even expressed how thankful she was that Rafi is home. While I know it won't last, I love that for now I can take away her little problems and make everything right in her world again!

Halloween

This year Hazel decided she wanted to be Ariel from the Little Mermaid. Then Eliza decided she wanted to be Ariel too:) I love how much they want to do the same things right now because I remember doing that with Gabby when we were little.

So the girls picked out the fabric they liked and I made them little mermaid fins. I think they turned out so cute!

I didn't want to pass  up the chance to have a fun pregnant Halloween costume so I made one for baby girl as well! I got so many compliments on her.

My three favorite mermaids!

The girls were SO excited for Halloween because it meant they were allowed to dress up ALL DAY LONG. (We've gotten to the point where they're only allowed to play with their dress up clothes before getting dressed for the day and after dinner. Otherwise they never want to wear clothes and make such a mess switching outfits 100 times a day). So a full day of dress up was heaven for them. They enjoyed that more than the candy!

For pumpkins we were able to grow 10 awesome pumpkins in our backyard this year! The girls picked out their favorites then had fun giving the rest away to friends/family. Sadly we got busy and only got one carved. Any guesses? Yes, it was Ariel:)

Tuesday night we went to the Halloween party in our "hearing" ward then Thursday we enjoyed Trick-or-Treating with friends from our ward. Poor Eliza tripped on her mermaid fin and hurt her hands a bit when trick-or-treating then wanted me to carry her a lot after that. The baby was sitting really low that day and walking was already uncomfortable so it ended up being a long night for me, but the girls loved it.  It was a very successful (if exhausting) day! 

Bunkbeds

The girls have their bunkbeds and you can see how much they LOVE them!

Hazel sleeps on top and is very careful climbing up and down. Eliza on the other hand is such a monkey and makes me nervous sometimes. I hope we don't end up with a broken arm in our future...

I just need to get Hazel's name moved over next to Eliza's now and we'll be one step closer to being ready for the baby to arrive!

Things that make it all worth it

Some days with young kids are just hard. They argue all day, won't take naps, make messes and have accidents at the worst times, fall down and hurt themselves after you warned them to stop doing something. And it goes on and on. But then there are the millions of things that happen every day that make it all worth it. To me these always come at the most discouraging times and I know they are true tender mercies from the Lord. Here are a few of the tender mercies I've seen recently....

Having Daddy home on a Sunday afternoon (a very rare occurrence these days!) Then seeing Eliza give him tons of loves and cuddles.

 Finding sweet Eliza asleep like this. It looks like she fell asleep saying prayers.

Spending time with the most beautiful princesses in the land! Those necklaces and rings are as bad as Legos on bare feet but I will sure miss this when they're older. 

Finding Hazel not napping but instead doing this... 

She even put the toe pads in before she put the shoes on. I just couldn't even be upset with her:) 

Finding the "72 Hour Kit" that Hazel made all by herself...

Realizing as I was blow drying Eliza's lovey so it would be dry for bedtime (she had an accident about 6 and won't sleep without Ellie) that I'm so thankful to be spending my days like this.

During the General Relief Society Broadcast I was touched by many of the talks and messages that were shared. It was truly an amazing night of inspiration. But the thing that touched me the most that night was singing the song "I'll go Where you Want Me to Go" The lyrics go: "It may not be on the mountain height, or over the stormy sea. It may not be at the battle front, my Lord will have need of me." As I sang I felt an overwhelming feeling of assurance that the Lord needs me most at home with my kids. The days may be long and I may spend my time blow drying loveys so little girls can go to sleep that night, but I'm so thankful for it!

Dryer Elves

You know those annoying little elves that steal socks from your dryer? Well mine have escaped and are pillaging the house! And they're only hitting big targets.

Right now the camera is missing (with an 8GB memory card in it that has pictures from the past 2 years in it!). So is Hazel's best friend Rafi. And our can opener. All of them have been lost for several weeks and it's making me crazy wondering where in the world they went. 

The last time we saw the camera was when we went on a picnic up the canyon. It was in my pocket right before we left and I swear I looked through the photos as we sat in the car on the way home, but no luck. I was REALLY bummed about losing it. Not for the camera but for all those pictures! Thankfully all the best pictures are on the blog and I'm so glad I've kept it up to date. I'm still hoping it turns up!

Then there's Rafi. Poor Hazel misses her so much. She tells me Rafi is on vacation and has been calling and texting her. But now Rafi got lost on her way home and is still trying to figure out how to make it back here. It makes me sad Hazel doesn't have her best friend. And for whatever reason, it makes be sad to think of Hazel going to school without Rafi. Hazel has talked about how when she goes to Kindergarten Rafi will come along and stay in her backpack all day. If Rafi is there she won't be afraid and she'll have someone to comfort her if she needs it when I won't be there. (Pregnancy's making me a tad overly emotional I'd say).

The can opener? Well, that I'm just annoyed by. Seriously, how do you lose your can opener?

So dear dryer elves, please bring back some of our things. Until then I'll be asking everyone for  every picture they have of my children for Christmas.

Sweet and Silly in Pictures

 

Thing Three

At my 20 week ultrasound there was no doubt about it.... baby number three is another girl!!! Part of me can't believe we're having another girl and the other part of me is so thrilled to have another little princess! We are excited for sure!

Just from her profile on the ultrasound I think she looks a lot like Hazel and Eliza did as babies. I can't wait to see if she's born with the full head of black hair like they were.

My parents were watching the girls for the day when we found out so I gave Hazel a call to tell her the news. She said "I'm going to have two sisters!!!" Then proceeded to tell everyone around her (they were at the dollar store at the time) that her baby was a girl. Eliza is pretty indifferent to the whole idea of another baby and pretends she doesn't know what we're talking about (though I'm pretty sure she does haha).

Once we knew the gender, the quest to find the perfect lovey began. As soon as we told Hazel we were having another baby she wanted to buy the baby a lovey. The weeks of waiting to know the gender were agony for her. We thought that surely finding a lovey wouldn't be too hard... we were wrong. Hazel is a lovey snob for sure. The lovey had to be cute, have a stain back, feel a specific way, and have a rattle in it's head. I think we finally found an acceptable one after about 7 or 8 stores. The one we found is really cute - it's a pink "sock monkey" type and Hazel is very pleased with it. She can't wait to give the baby her gift the first time they come meet her in the hospital.

As people have found out we're having our third girl in a row several have made comments about how Michael must be a great dad because it takes a special person to be a father to so many girls. I would have to agree - he is a great dad! Today at church he shared his testimony along with his gratitude for the women in the church. He talked about how he wouldn't be the man he is today without the influence of his mother, me, and other wonderful women in his life. He also talked about how women are God's greatest creation and truly make this world a wonderful place. It really made me think how blessed we are to be raising all these girls. They will be the future generation of women who change the world with their powerful example.

So, yay for little girls and the blessing to parent them here on earth. We love you sweet princess and can't wait to meet you!

Become as a Child

Children are so close to the Lord. It never ceases to amaze me how much my children teach and inspire me. Here are some of the things the girls have done recently have had me in awe of their sweet, innocent spirits. No wonder we are counseled to "become as a child."

Hazel:
As we were leaving church one day Hazel looked at me in all seriousness and asked "Mom, why did they kill Jesus?" She was so upset just by the thought of people killing our Savior that she burst in to tears. Hysterical tears. Her love for Christ is so boundless and pure. It was wonderful to be able to explain to her that even though they had crucified Christ that He was resurrected and live again.

Eliza:
One day Hazel was talking about what she wanted to be when she grew up (a princess was the final decision). Then she asked Eliza what she wanted to be. Eliza answered without hesitation - a missionary! The rest of that week they both talked about how they wanted to be missionaries. They also decided Daddy was really lucky because he went on a mission already AND he would get to go on another on with Mommy some day.

Hazel and Eliza:
The other day instead of building a fort to play in the girls built a temple out of blankets. Then Eliza got all dressed up so she could get married in the temple. So sweet!

I LOVE my beautiful little girls! I feel so blessed to be their mom. They truly teach me more than I teach them.