Our New Groove

Nearly 6 months since the birth of sweet Taylee Mae we are starting to feel like the ground isn't shifting so much beneath our feet.  I always find myself grasping for more time with my precious babies during the first few whirlwind months.  Dax and I were discussing Taylee's teething woes and he said, "I can't believe she is old enough for teeth."  Me neither.  My heart aches every day with a desire to keep my kids little.  When did I get a 4-year old?  (sigh)  Such is life.

Taylee is continuing to grow nice and plump, and we all adore her.  Looking at her can always bring a smile to my face.  I don't know what we would do without her.  She has rolled from stomach to back 2 times, and I missed them both.  She's nearly sitting up by herself.

Kyra is the little mother around our house.  She is also our screamer, and we hear her strong lungs working frequently thanks to her older brother.  I keep reminding him that someday he is going to want her to do all sorts of things for him so he better be nice to her now.  She is becoming Hayden's shadow, even with all of his teasing.  We are finally taking potty training serious--her motivation is a crib for her baby dolls.

Hayden is still loving legos.  His friend Addie gave him another set and he was thrilled.  He has discovered he loves PBS kids and is constantly begging me to play games or watch videos on it.  He is really into Wild Kratts.  Kyra is more excited about learning to read than he is, but his lessons are coming along.  Fun to see him catch on.  English is such a ridiculous language though.  Way too many exceptions to rules, and over complicated rules.  Poor kid.  

I taught READY! for Kindergarten in Othello for 3 days the first part of the month.  I enjoy it.  I also gave a nutrition presentation for our Relief Society activity.  It was good to refresh my knowledge and spend time getting up to speed on health and nutrition.  I am now mustering up the courage to tackle more home projects.  After painting the laundry room yellow and the kids' bathroom 'kilim beige' I lost motivation.  We had homemade chicken nuggets and joe joe's last night for dinner and they were a big hit.  I have never bought fries or chicken nuggets from the store in my entire married life, so the kids thought it was like eating at a restaurant.  I am getting out of my 'make what is easy ' rut and am back into adding variety to the menu-it's lovely.  Dax even reluctantly ate salmon for me the other night. :)

Dax continues to get the least amount of sleep of us all, and doesn't complain.  He works so hard and I am constantly amazed at his earnest desires to improve his company culture.  He was recently called as young men's president, so he has been extra busy lately.  He loved not having to worry about contacts on a camp out with the young men.  He has willingly started watching Downton Abbey with me.  We just started the 2nd season.

 

Christmas/Craziness/Customs

I fell off of the blogosphere (yes, that is a completely made-up word) for a few weeks.  We weren't necessarily busy, just off of our customary ways and gone from home for a couple of weeks.  We started our Christmas break on December 21st, when Dax had his LASIK surgery.  He was tired of contacts and glasses-who wouldn't be when you can't see the big E on the vision chart without corrective lenses?-but definitely apprehensive about 'going under the knife.'  We dropped the older 2 kids off at my parent's house, and Taylee girl got to come along because that is just how it worked out.  The lady in charge of payments wasn't too happy, but that is a story on its own.  The surgery went well, and Dax followed the recovery instructions to the letter and has been completely happy with the results:  20/20 vision with no lenses!  Best present $3000 can buy. :)

He was stylin' while we were out shopping the day after surgery.

But he did take them off for a picture

 

We went to the Taylor family Christmas party Sunday night, and unfortunately for me Dax didn't want to drive and the roads were horrible.  We were stuck behind a tiny car with bald tires going up Radar Hill and when he got stuck and I had to stop we got stuck too.  LAME.  That's when Dax decided to drive-whew! That night we began our stay away from home-beginning at my parent's house.  I haven't laughed as hard as I did when we played "Would You Rather..." in a long time.  We spent Christmas eve and morning with my family and then headed to Dax's parents' house in the afternoon.  Santa stopped in for a visit on Christmas eve to remind the kids to obey and ask what they wanted on last time.  Hayden wanted a star wars lego set and Kyra wanted a baby doll.  Santa didn't disappoint.  Hayden received over 1400 lego pieces for Christmas and now "has as many legos as Grandpa Wells."

 

Nativity with Jensen side of the family

 

 

Wednesday through Friday we got to spend with just the Hales family...it is becoming a tradition we look forward to.  I am grateful to Makala for jump starting my running desire post baby.

Saturday David's daughter Lydia was baptized and then we spent the rest of the day at home doing laundry in preparation to leave again on Sunday.  We spent the rest of the break with Dax's family. 

Wednesday we went back to reality-Dax to work and me to taking care of 3 kids (and a house) without the help of entertaining cousins.  We are so grateful Dax gets such a long holiday break!  We always enjoy spending time with family over the holidays, but are glad to have things quiet down and get back into a normal routine again as well.  The kids were all asleep by 8:00 tonight!