{7.3.17 - 7.9.17}

The girls get really excited to show Matthew all of their library books. I loved listening to Lyla read to him and her sister. 

Happy 4th! (Lyla, Axel, Alya) 

I love these kids and I get so excited for them to experience new things and new holidays. I love this picture of Lyla, and I always want to remember how small they are and how magical things are to them. // I love Alya's chubby little hand and Axel in the background. Keeping him away from the pool was not easy! 

We love getting together with our friends! It was fun to spend the holiday with them. (Alya, Lyla, Alexa and Annalyn)

 Alexa, Annalyn, Alya & Lyla

Let me tell you a story about this years' Fourth of July. While doing sparklers, Lyla could not wrap her mind around the fact that the part that just burned was hot. Multiple times she grabbed the hot part and burned her little fingers. She finally figured it out, don't worry! 
Later, Alya was playing with her sparkler. I looked over at her as flames wrapped around her torso and started climbing up her sweater. I ran over to her and started beating out the flame. It probably looked more like I was beating her. All I could think was that I had to get this flame out before it went too far. It was the scariest thing I've ever experienced! She was fine...other than the fact that I scared her to death! I am so grateful no one was seriously hurt! 

I'm glad that even after such a scary experience, she was hesitant, but willing to try again! 

A new first! The girls got to jump on the trampoline with the sprinkler underneath! 

Another first - running through the sprinklers. I think it's so funny how they would hold their breath when they ran through! (Lyla) 

(Alya) 

I had the opportunity to go on our stake young women's fourth year high adventure camp this year. We went down to Moab and floated down the Colorado River and then we repelled and hiked to a watering hole. It was a lot of fun and very hot and I am so glad that I went! 

Grandpa Great (Matthew's Grandpa) passed away this week and we were able to get to Idaho for his funeral. He will be dearly missed but we are glad that he is in a better place and free of pain. My kids did awesome, my girls are beautiful and of course they had to wear their glow stick necklaces from our 4th of July celebration.

{6.26.17 - 7.2.17}

The circus came to town! There were clowns, jugglers, acrobats, elephants, camels, dare-devils, it was pretty great! 

Alya was a bird...her wings are "put away"//Axel, so cute, so big 

SO BIG! 

Axel loves the water. Even though this water was so cold, he didn't want to stop playing in it.  

This is how his sisters felt about the hose. (Alya, Lyla) 

Looks like summer 

Alya 

Lyla 

Axel 

 *Almost* a family photo

 Water babies

I love all of these little toes 

The girls graduated swimming lessons this week! They can now advance to level 1 // Axel likes to climb and it freaks me out! 

The girls blankets are coming together! This is before I moved the blocks around, so don't mind the pattern...just know I am getting excited for them!  

We did this. We bought sponge curlers and the girls have been SO anxious to use them!

.ten months.

6.25.2017 - 10 months

Axel is almost officially walking. On May 30, he took 4-5 steps, which was more than I had seen yet and he just keeps practicing and getting better and better every day. He still prefers crawling over walking, though and has started to initiate walking on his own, rather than only walking when we balance him and coax him. His sisters love when he walks to them so that they can give him a hug, and they have been asking me if they can hold him, but they want to hold him like they used to when he was tiny - which doesn't seem like that long ago. I have to remind them that he is bigger and doesn't want to sit still or lay down to be held, so they usually settle for a hug.
He loves walking with us, but we are only allowed to hold one of his hands. If I try to hold both, he always yanks one away.

He LOVES the splash pad. He is definitely a water baby! He thinks it's so funny to sit in the puddle near the drain and splash in the water. He also loves the tub, but he doesn't want to sit in the tub. He wants to try walking around which, of course, makes me super nervous. I think that's his goal in life: to see how anxious he can make me.

He is easily startled and it's hilarious - even he thinks it's funny! When his sisters yell, or when it's really echo-y in a room or when something drops and is really loud he always jumps and then almost always laughs.

He rolls his tongue when he is mad. Usually when I don't pick him up as fast as he would like or when he wakes up from a nap and is just sitting in his room by himself. He also likes to walk circles around my legs, rolling his tongue until I pick him up - or until he gets distracted by something.

He's really good about entertaining himself and it's usually pretty easy to get him interested in something when I need him just to play on his own for a minute.

I predict that we have a little musician in our family. He loves music! Even in the womb I had this suspicion as it seemed like he often kept a beat with his little foot. He loves to pull himself up to the piano and plink away at the keys. He doesn't bang on them like his sisters used to (and sometimes still do) and he likes to go pluck the strings on his dad's guitar - again, not bang on the guitar like his sisters, but actually pluck one string at a time, listening to the different sounds that each string makes. We were in sacrament meeting one week and he was feeling pretty restless and just wanted to move, but then the choir started singing and he stopped, turned to look at them and bounced his little foot in rhythm until they were done, then he went back to trying to escape my arms.  

His favorite food is strawberries. He likes applesauce and yogurt and pretty much anything else we are eating, but his very favorite is strawberries.

We have been waiting somewhat impatiently for his next tooth to come in. I can see his top two teeth working their way down and they are driving Axel crazy!! We are anxious for them to stop torturing him!

He is my little buddy and I hope that's how it always is! We love this happy little baby so, so much!

{6.19.17 - 6.25.17}

The girls have been practicing their "I LOVE YOU" hands, and I love it, and I love them! (Left: Alya, Right: Lyla) 

These girls and their dress ups are pretty awesome! // Lyla looked pretty great, didn't she? 

He's walking!! 

We love fishing! 

Lyla // Alya 

Don't let these smiles fool you. They were being little stinkers! We had asked them not to get in the water, but they ended up soaking wet (surprise, surprise), so they ended up naked in this chair until it was time to leave. They are obviously not afraid of us.  

The girls used to wear these little rompers, so when I pulled them out for Axel to wear Lyla wanted to try hers on. It fit better than I thought it would.  

The girls started swimming lessons this week! They are doing awesome! 

 This favorite boy of mine is officially 10 months old.

Matthew bought water balloons with the girls and they have been so excited to play with them. I love this sequence of Lyla and Matthew! (Look closely at the middle picture...you can see the water from her balloon splashing at her dad's feet.)