.:Everett’s Sealing:.

In March, I had the chance to travel to Oregon so that I could be there while my sweet nephew, Everett, was sealed to my sister and brother in law. They have been on quite the journey to get Everett to them, and while it certainly hasn’t been easy, I think that we have all been blessed through the experience. Adoption is such a beautiful gift, and it still makes me tear up whenever I think about it.

Sam and I flew up to Oregon solo – no kids! It was crazy! And maybe a bit heavenly.

We spent the first couple of days hanging with family, and loving on these two newest nephews to the family.

Everett

Beckett

While I definitely missed having Josh and the girls with me, it was also sort of nice to really be able to focus on my nieces and nephews and get to know them a little bit better without having my kids, you know, needing me.

My grandparents were up from Arizona, and it was so so good to see them on this trip! It doesn’t happen very often, and I just love being able to spend time with them.

My grandpa is a sealer in the Mesa temple, and he has sealed all of us kids when we were married. He was also the one who got to seal Everett to Alli and Nic. So special, and such a blessing to our family! We got to the temple Saturday morning, and got to see Everett for a few minutes before we headed back into the sealing room.

Medford Temple

Once we were all situated in the sealing room, Alli and Nic came in. My grandpa spoke to them for awhile, and it was just wonderful to listen to. He pointed out some things about what he would say during the sealing that were important for us all to listen to. While we were in there, Everett was not impressed with being left with the matron and no one that he really knew. Although he was crying, my sister and I were saying how neat it was to hear a baby in the temple. It is typically such a quiet  and reverent place (which is appropriate) but it was so fun to hear a baby in there; really makes you think about your eternal families!

Everett was able to be calmed down by Alli and Nic for a few minutes before the sealing began. Once Everett was in there with his parents, he was perfect as could be. Totally quiet, totally still, just gazing at the chandelier in the celestial room. It was so beautiful and special and we were all bawling. It was seriously a special experience for our family, and I’m so glad that I got to be there. Alli and Nic are wonderful parents and I’m so grateful they have Everett!

Our family has always been close, and I’m so blessed to have amazing siblings. I sure love these people a lot!

And of course, love our parents a ton, too! They have set such a great example for all of our family, and keep us all close. Best family ever!

After the sealing, we went to eat with everyone who was there.

Sisters, sisters…never were there such devoted sisters!

We spent our last evening there playing Five Crowns and laughing. Hard. A lot.

So grateful and blessed to be part of this wonderful eternal family!

.:Reece–4.5 Years Old:.

Oh this girl.

She is growing up way too fast on me. The things that come out of her mouth sometimes sound so much older than I expect from her. I want time to slow down a little bit!

Reece is about as girly as they come. She loves pink, loves wearing skirts and dresses, loves wearing necklaces, and is obsessed with her long hair and lips. But even though she is girl, she still loves to get rough and tough (kinda) and wrestle with her cousin Jay. She might need a brother! In fact, she said to me the other nite in the tub, “Mom, we forgot to have a baby brother. We need to get a baby brother.” Um yeah. I’ll get right on that…..in six months or so. Reece loves to dress up, and has a wonderful imagination. She and Remi are always coming up with all sorts of situations for their stuffed animals and squinkies. I love listening to them play.

Reece is also quite the little performer. She loves to sing and dance, and is never one to shy away from a camera. She still poses like crazy, and loves to also be the one taking pictures. It’s great since I need a model for my blogging so often!

Reece continues to love school and learning. Her handwriting is still one of my favorite things. She loves drawing pictures and showing them to us. It is fun to hear her tell us about what she learned at school. Reece is also pretty social. She gets along well with all of her little friends at school, and loves to have play dates with them. Although sometimes she just really loves to be home with her sisters. It is so sweet to see how much they all love each other. I say it all the time, but I hope they are always close!

Even though Reece is so polite and well mannered, she definitely has plenty of sassyness in her. She talks back sometimes, and can sometimes be heard giving Remi the what for. She’s recently started becoming quite the tattler, so we are working on that. It’s still one of those things that I have to be better at modeling for her; how to stay calm, and how to talk nicely even when you are upset. We’re all working on it!

We just love this beautiful girl, and are so proud of her! She’s such a joy to everyone around her!

At 4.5 years old, Reece likes:

- dancing

- singing

- dressing up

- coloring

- drawing

- school

- learning

- books

- tubs

- movies

- T.V.

- tablet

- playing with Remi & Harper

- snacks

- treats

- her long hair

- Primary

- kitty

- ‘nite nite’ (blanket)

- princesses

- posing

- taking pictures

At 4.5 years old, Reece does not like:

- time out

- being told ‘no’

- not getting her way

- having to go to bed

Love our Reecey girl!

.:Remi–3 Years Old:.

Sweet Rem-a-lem. How can you be three???

This fiesty little gal is growing up way too fast! Remi has started talking so much more. She is a lot easier to understand than she used to be, although she still has her excited moments of gibberish. She uses sentences all the time, and some of my favorite phrases of hers are, “Oh, man!” and “No, no way!”

Remi is definitely starting to test us. She’s gotten more fiesty, and more defiant as of late. We’ve started having to do time out more frequently, but hopefully that will slow down as she realizes that she can’t get away with being a naughty little beasty.

Rem continues to be able to fall asleep anywhere, anytime. When the girl needs to sleep, she sleeps! She is sort of trying to phase out her naps right now, but she can’t quite make it the entire afternoon without some sort of little snooze. Even if I don’t put her down for a nap, she will likely fall asleep on the couch or floor wherever she is playing. It is quite the gift!

Remi adores her sisters. She and Reece are truly best friends, and they are usually so sweet with one another. I love listening to them play, and hearing what stories their imaginations are coming up with. It’s so fun to have Remi at an age where she can play back with Reece, instead of just playing along with Reece…if that makes sense. Remi loves to play with Harper, and I love seeing her take on more of a big sister role. She will get toys for Harper, and play alone with her when Reece is at school, or if Reece is doing something else. It’s pretty sweet.

Remi loves to dress up. She is always wearing a dress or dress up shoes, or frequently both! Remi also loves to hoard her little buddies: her stuffed animals. She is a big fan of Ariel and Rapunzel, and will usually carry around one or more of dolls of those characters. She has her ‘giraffey’ that she always has to have, too. Most nites she will go to bed in a dress, and with about 5-7 friends in her bed with her.

This sassy gal is pretty much daytime potty trained! I was so nervous for potty training (really struggled with it – on my end – with Reece) but it actually wasn’t too bad. I took a casual approach, and tried not to put too much pressure on Rem. She doesn’t do well with that. She actually had very few accidents, and rarely will even go in a pull up during nap anymore. I figure we’ll get super solid during the day before we start worrying about the nite. I’m glad it was mostly painless!

We just love Rem to pieces, and feel so blessed to have her in our family! She’s a joy to all of us!

At three years old, Remi likes:

- snacks

- coloring

- dress up

- princesses

- giraffey

- tubs

- books

- making messes!

- treats

- movies

- her sisters

- brushing her teeth

- blankets

- screaming

- singing

- nursery

- playing outside

- dancing

At three years old, Remi does not like:

- getting her head wet (still!)

- baked goods (crazy!)

- time out

- not being able to go to school with Reece

Love the Remster!

.:Valentine’s Day:.

I think Reece has been looking forward to Valentine’s Day since the second she finished un-wrapping her last Christmas present! She is always on to the next holiday, wondering when it’s coming, and of course, what she’s going to get.

I don’t think she was disappointed in our Valentine’s Day this year. It was a lot of fun with Reece and Remi and their ages. They thought it was super fun to have heart shaped things, get flowers from Daddy, and of course, get some Valentine’s Day goodies!

We started off our day with heart shaped pink pancakes! I had also made some heart shaped strawberry milk cubes that we put in the girls’ milk.

After breakfast, it was time to get ready for the day. Reece was having a Valentine’s party at school as well. Of course, we had to dress up a bit for the occasion, and what better way to do it than with some skirts!

Reece made quite the haul at her pre-school party!

And Remi enjoyed her new goodies from Mom and Dad all day long, too.

We wrapped up our Valentine’s Day by doing the classic activity: decorating sugar cookies.

Yum!

Holidays are so much more fun with kids!

.:These Kiddos:.

Nothing too exciting has been going on around here lately, but I thought I should definitely just give some little updates on the girls. They are just growing up so much every day, it is so fun to watch!

Reece is such a good girl. She has some of the best manners of any four year olds I’ve ever met. Most of the time she is super polite and well behaved. She loves school and loves learning. She’s learned how to write her name now, and it is one of my favorite things! I love little kids hand writing! She is always wanting to write out the names of people in our family, and it’s amazing to me that she can do it with me spelling to her. She loves to color and draw, and I just feel like she is learning so fast lately. She likes to know what things start with, and is always trying to figure out beginning sounds. She definitely has plenty of sass at times, and has started to talk back to me a little bit. I am working on not getting sucked in to arguing with her, and trying to teach her how to talk to me and Josh. We're also starting to learn a little bit about honesty. :) She loves playing with her sisters, and is always quick to help with them. Reece loves to sing and dance, and is constantly making up her own songs and dances. She performs into her broom handle frequently. Reece also loves being in pictures, and has started to pose whenever you go to take a picture. I have no idea where she learned the poses, but it is funny. She’s definitely got some Stewart performing genes coursing through her bod! Reece loves going to church, and loves Primary. She and Remi always run to get the Book of Mormons out at bedtime to read. We just love her and are so proud of the girl she is and is becoming!

Remi has turned into such a happy little girl. She still has her moody moments, but she is definitely out growing them. She’s found her voice and speaks in sentences all the time now. If she gets too excited, she’ll revert to babbling, but you can generally understand her most of the time now. It must be so nice for her to finally be heard! Remi adores Reece, and loves to do whatever Reece is doing. It’s going to be a sad day when Reece goes to school all day and Remi can’t go with her. They truly are just the best of friends. Remi loves to color and draw as well, and I’ve even got the crayon marks on my wall to prove it! Remi surprises us with being able to mostly sing her ABC’s, and can do some counting as well. It’s amazing what kids pick up even when you think they aren’t paying attention! You won’t often find Rem without a princess dress or dress up shoes on. She is our shoe girl for sure. Remi also loves to play with Harper. Sometimes they will just be off somewhere on their own, and all you can hear is them giggling. It’s fun to see Remi play more of a big sister role, since I’m more used to seeing her in a little sister role to Reece. We’re gearing up for potty training her and hoping that it goes relatively easy. I can’t believe she is almost three! We just love this sassy little red head!

And little Harpie. We can’t imagine our lives without this funny little baby. Well, I guess she’s not technically a baby anymore, but she’s still the baby of our family. She LOVES pushing things around. She was super dependent on her little walker for a long time, which I think is why it took her awhile to start walking when she probably could have earlier. Once I put that away, she found the strollers, and also likes to push around the little chairs from the table set in the girls’ room. But she is walking on her own now! She just up and decided to start walking this past Sunday at church; I don’t know what clicked, but she’s walking most of the time now around the house. She has her falls, but I think she has pretty good stability for it only being a few days. Reece and Remi get so excited when they see her walking around. It still surprises me when she walks up to me in the kitchen. Harper loves to sing and dance, and shout and yell. She doesn’t have very many words yet, but she’ll get there when she’s ready. Between walking and learning how to go down the stairs, she’s had a whole new world opened up to her! She’s just a happy, easy little girl, and we all adore her to pieces!

We feel so blessed to have these three beautiful, amazing girls in our lives. We sure love them!!!