.:Harper–18 Months:.

Harper Mc Harps a lot.

Could this girl get any cuter? Or funnier? Or sassier?

Harper is becoming quite the independent gal. She is not afraid to let you know when she does not appreciate whatever decision you might have made for her. She loves to be down, walking and running, wherever we are. She doesn’t quite understand that if she would hold my hand, she would have a lot more of that freedom. She dislikes even being carried to be put into the car; she must walk to the car and climb in herself. Any form of restriction is unacceptable: car seat, stroller, shopping cart; she would like none of it, but unfortunately she gets quite a bit of it!

Harper loves to be outside. She loves running in the grass, playing with (and eating) chalk, running down the sidewalk – pretty much anything outside is good in her book. I always have to brace for a fight if I answer the front door and then we don’t end up going outside afterwards. Tantrum city! And speaking of tantrums, those are quite fun these days. They’ve gotten a little better lately, but I’ve been impressed with the magnitude of sound that can escape her tiny little body when she is unhappy. And totally amazed at how quickly she can be happy again; it’s like someone flipped a switch!

Harper loves her sisters so much. And they love her right back! These three are just peas in a pod. I love watching them all play together. I hope I can help them always love each other so much and want to spend time with each other. They are just little buddies, and it warms the cockles.

Little Harpie has turned into quite the affectionate little lady. She loves to give hugs and kisses, but especially hugs lately. There’s not much better than her wrapping her little arms around your neck, and “mmmmm”ing to herself as if she can’t get enough of the hug. I know it won’t last forever, so I’m trying to soak it up as much as I can while she still likes to do it!

Harper is starting to talk more and imitate more. I think that she probably says more than we realize. Some of my favorite words that she says are ‘shhhhh’, shoes, and cookie. A lot of words – dad, dog, duck – all sound the same. Harper will even tell us when she needs her diaper changed. She’ll point to her diaper and say, “Dipe.” I just love her little voice.

Harper is just a happy, shining, ball of light, and you can’t help but smile when she flashes her dimple at you! We love this girl to pieces!

At 18 months, Harper likes:

- laughing

- hugging

- kisses

- treats

- juice

- lambie (her lamb stuffed animal)

- pushing things around (stroller, chairs)

- climbing

- coloring

- reading books

- playing with Reece and Remi

- running

- chasing

- playing on tablets

- snacks

- baths

- being outside

- sidewalk chalk

- dancing

- peek-a-boo

- playing with her hair

- playing in the dvd's

- showing where her button is

- getting her bib out for dinner

At 18 months, Harper does not like:

- being in the stroller or shopping cart

- getting in her car seat

- having anything taken away from her

- diaper changes

- not getting her way (the nerve!)

- being made to hold hands (sometimes)

- being carried (in the parking lot, through the halls at church)
- drinking milk at any other time of day besides when I'm changing her diaper first thing in the morning

Sure love this beautiful girl!

.:Weigh In:.

I was reminded of this post of Dani’s, where she was laughing at the size difference in her two girls who are 1 1/2 years apart in age.

 

Here are the recent stats on Remi and Harper, who are 19 months apart.

 

Remi

Height: 38.78 inches (86%)

Weight: 33.51 lbs (76%)

 

 

Harper

Height: 32 inches (63%)

Weight: 20.99 lbs (8%)

 

 

Their heights aren’t that big of a difference – percentile wise – but they definitely have quite the weight difference!

.:Easter:.

Our Easter festivities this year included lots of fun…and lots of goodies!

We kicked off our Easter weekend by going to a neighborhood Easter egg hunt. A gal in our neighborhood organized it and gather up supplies and donations, and opened it up to anyone who wanted to come. The girls were super excited to go hunt for eggs!

A lot of their little friends were there, so they had fun searching and playing with them.

The fun didn’t end there! We got together with Sam and Nikki to do a little egg hunt with their cousins. We just hid eggs around our house and front yard, and the kiddos had a fun time getting even more candy and treats! Some of the eggs had some coins in them, so the girls were excited to put the money in their piggy banks.

After all of the eggs were found, we went out for a quick dinner and then headed back home to dye Easter eggs. I didn’t boil very many because I didn’t really think the kids would get too into it, but I was wrong! The kids were loving it and I wish we would have had more. They were proud of their eggs!

Yes, this is Remi sipping on the Easter egg dye. Is anyone surprised?

Of course the Easter bunny came to visit during the nite, and the girls were spoiled with more treats and a few little gifts.

There were more eggs to be found, and then it was time to get ready for church. The girls looked pretty darn beautiful in their new dresses from Gramzee and Grandpa Paul!

After church, we loaded up our stuff – which included new sunglasses from the Easter bunny, and headed out to Grantsville for the rest of the day.

We spent the day at Ken and Kerri’s house, and the kids were all treated to yet another Easter egg hunt!

We had a wonderful couple of days, celebrating with our family and friends, but are also so grateful to reflect on the true meaning of Easter and all that our Savior has done for us. I feel so blessed to have the knowledge of this gospel and to be able to raise our kids in it.

.: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!