Five Things for Friday: This and That

- 1 - 

The girls learning Hawaiian dancing. The other day Michael also had them watching YouTube videos on how to county line dance. They are so adorable!

- 2 - 

The girls found a princess hairstyles book at the library that teaches you how to do all these fancy hairstyles. Most of them I refused to even try because they'd take at least an hour. However, we did find a few that weren't too complicated. The girls loved feeling like princesses. 

On a side note, I caught this picture of Hazel and Eliza after church while we were baking cookies. I love this picture! Eliza's little smirk, the bond you can sense between them, how beautiful and grown up they both look. My little girls are growing up! Someday all too soon they'll be young women, then young moms... It's not an easy world they will be facing, but I'm so thankful they have each other to lean on.

- 3 - 

I feel like I'm slowly getting the hang of having four kids down. It's still so busy, and someone always needs something! But I love it! I remember after Eliza was born, I felt brave and took both girls to run errands. We went to the bank and one other short stop, and I felt so proud of myself for surviving an outing with two kids. Looking back it's sort of funny - now I can take all four of them swimming by myself and not be phased. It's incredible how the Lord helps expand our abilities to meet our circumstances. 

This was Orson's first time in the pool and he loved it! I think he'll be a water boy just like Michael.

- 4 - 

Eliza and Lenora are in the adorable phase where they are just best friends. They play all morning while Eliza's home from preschool. They're almost always playing house. Lenora calls Eliza "mother," and Eliza bosses her around. There are often bad guys to be conquered, and, of course, lots of silliness. Sometimes I'm not allowed to help Lenora, only "mother" can. 

The other day Eliza was trying to get Lenora to go upstairs and get her a teddy bear. Lenora grabbed the bear she was holding tightly and said, "I"m hugging my bear with both hand so I can't carry yours!" 

One other cute Eliza story... Yesterday she asked me how I did something, and I replied "magic." She said moms don't have magic, but I assured her we do. That's how our kisses are able to help boo-boos feel better. Then she looked at me, smiled, and said, "Mom, there's not really magic on earth - only priesthood power!" Wow Eliza, you got me! Thanks for your amazing testimony and example sweet girl. 

  - 5 - 

Michael is done with another semester of school! That puts him at 1/3 of a way done with his course work. It has been exhausting for him and for us, but it will be worth it. Right? That's what we keep telling ourselves. And here's Michael's picture.... 

The girls were watching the slideshow from our wedding and we saw this picture. I still cannot get over how much Orson looks like him! 

Half a Year with Orson

Sweet, handsome Orson is already 6 months old! In fact, I've been so slow at getting this posted he will be 7 months later this week! He is 15 lbs 3 oz and 25 1/2 inches tall. He is now sitting up like a pro, rolling all over the place, and just ready to move! He also has two teeth! 

Orson is just the most darling baby. He is happy and content almost all the time. He loves: music, smiling at his sisters, anything he can put in his mouth, sitting on my lap while I practice the piano, and being outside. He is also a huge flirt! Any time we go out, he is smiling at everyone he sees. 

He still looks so much like Daddy! These two just love hanging out together...

This poor little guy hasn't had the easiest month though. Four weeks after his hospitalization with RSV poor Orson came down with another bug. Monday he started with a runny nose but it seemed like just a little cold. Tuesday afternoon I heard him starting to wheeze a tiny bit but by the next morning he was 10 times worse. I got him literally the first appointment on Wednesday morning and he was already hypoxic (meaning his oxygen saturation was too low). Poor guy had totally crashed in less than 12 hours! The doctor immediately admitted him to the hospital again where the found out he had pneumonia. Thankfully, this time around he was able to wean off his oxygen much faster and we were only there one night. These pictures were right before we went home which is why he looks way to happy to be in the hospital.

Of course he now has us all a bit concerned about why he keeps getting so sick from every virus he catches. The pediatricians in the hospital both agreed that he was likely not fully recovered from the RSV when he caught this bug (and it was a nasty one - I got it too and ended up losing my voice for several days. Even a week and half later I'm still not back to 100%). We're hoping that's all it is, but it could also be asthma or something as well. Only time will tell.

Orson we are all so in love with you and so thankful you joined our family!

Pull out the Weeds and Water the Flowers

Here are the girls watching General Conference, King Benjamin's people style....

As always, General Conference included so many wonderful talks, and I learned so much. Perhaps the single quote that has stuck with me the most came from President Uchdorff's talk during priesthood session. "... pull out the weeds and water the flowers." In our marriages, pull out the weeds and water the flowers. In our families, our friendships, our time in life, any difficult situation we found ourselves in - pull out the weeds and water the flowers! Imagine how much that simple advice could strengthen the bonds between spouses, parents and children, friends, and even strangers. Imagine how much more happiness we would enjoy if we applied that to all situations in our lives. I love it! So one of my goals for the next 6 months is to more fully "pull out the weeds and water the flowers" in all areas of my life.