HARLO

My oldest child.
Does she get enough of me?
Does she get enough appreciation for how much she helps?
How much she holds this family together in her own magical way?
How smart and capable she is?
How I think she’s the strongest person I’ve ever met in my life?
Does she get that?
Oh, Heaven help me, I hope so.  I hope hope hope so.
Harlo is so good.  So good.
Harlo is also good in a very unconventional, and under-the-table sort of way.
Harlo’s goodness is not in your face, at all.
Harlo’s goodness is in the smallest details of the day, and in the easily ignored places where love and caring thrive.
My biggest fear for Harlo’s goodness everyday is that it will be overlooked.
But not to me, my dear girl.  Never by your mother.
I see that goodness in her.  It radiates all around her.
It’s in her wise, older-than-the-world eyes.
It’s in the way she naturally loves and cares for her sisters.
It’s in the way she is able to face and overcome tough things.
It’s in the way she constantly pushes through her comfort zone.
That goodness inside of her is the kind not a lot of us get in this life.
I’m not sure I did, and I’m glad I have her to help me.
When I think of Harlo, I know she is such a special person to our Father in Heaven and that she is meant for such a great purpose.
I am so honored to be her mother, I truly am.
I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of anything in my life than that.
Harlo’s favorite thing to eat is refried beans.  That child would eat refried beans for ever single meal – happily.
In fact, sometimes we talk about kids in other countries that don’t have very much food and all they have is some beans to eat during the day, day in and day out.
Harlo thinks that wouldn’t be half bad.  She would love to only eat one meal a day, and bonus if it was beans. (we’re working on empathy with her, lol.)
Harlo also loves cereal.  Kicks, Rice Krispies, and chex are among her favorites. (I hate buying sugary cereal in the worst way.)
Harlo likes apple juice, not orange juice.
Regular milk, not almond milk (or anything else).
She prefers ice cream over any single treat in the world.
For her school lunches she always wants crackers, cheese and pepperoni (wonder where she gets that, Grandma!) or an egg salad sandwich.
Harlo has recently started to recognize modesty.  She doesn’t like shirts or dresses with too thin of tank tops, and she doesn’t like watching Tarzan because she doesn’t think he’s dressed “repropriately”. (ha!)
This is all on her own, but I’ve found it fascinating how her desires and maturity changes over the years.  She is turning into a little lady.
Her heart still belongs to Hudson, a close friend of ours.
Last week the girls and I made a pact that they would grow up and be next door neighbors with me and I would babysit their kids while they go on double dates with their honeys.
It sounds like a fantastic plan to me!
Harlo is loving first grade.  She is such a good little reader and is a whiz at math, it seems.
Her only complaint, along with mine, is that she has too much homework.
Homework for first graders? I don’t love that.
What I do love is that first grader of mine.  She is a good one.

STELLA

Stella continues to be the happiest child on the planet.
She is happy about everything almost all of the time.
She goes to school skipping, and comes home skipping.
It is really hard to have a rough day when Stella’s little rays of sunshine are all around.
I mean it.
Since about April, the first time she saw Maleficent, she knew that’s what she wanted to be for Halloween.
I wondered if it got closer if thing would change, but nope.  Not even the new Cinderella movie could sway her.
And not just any Maleficent, YOUNG Maleficent.  So I will be busy this week preparing that costume for her… it’s not one that can be purchased on Amazon.  Dang!
Brady and I laugh sometimes that if we’ve given our kids anything, it’s their own opinion.  Which I think is good… in the long run.
But Stella, even though she has her own opinions about everything, she is still so easy and go-with-the-flow.
All the time when I ask her what she wants, she’ll say “whatever, mom.”
I try not to take advantage of her easy-nature and make sure that sometimes we’re eating her favorite thing, or doing what she wants, because she’s so willing to give up what she wants for the best of the family.
Stella is such a good example to our whole family.  Often times we find ourselves following her example.  Especially me.
Stella’s favorite food is probably mac and cheese or ramen noodles (which she really only gets to eat once a week when Miss Ellie comes to babysit) ha!
She likes orange juice over apple juice.
Isn’t a big milk drinker.
Her favorite drink is lemonade, but she still asks for water most of the time, even when she has the option for a special drink.
Her favorite is horchata from Cafe Rio, but she calls it “cinnamon milk”.
I love their little quirks and preferences.
Stella’s favorite movie is Tarzan right now.  Or Maleficent.
She also can’t wait until she gets boobs and can wear a bra.
“When again mom? Like when I’m fourteen?” she’ll ask as I’m getting out of the shower.
Stella and I were cut from the same cloth in so many ways.
Brady once said to me “Now that we have Stella, I understand you so much better.” I  knew exactly what he meant. 🙂
Stella is a serious snuggle bug.
If anyone in the house is sitting with a blanket being cozy, it’s only a matter of time before Stella is coming in for a snug.
Sunday naps especially.
Stella would nap every day if we let her.  Except then she doesn’t go to bed until 11pm and I turn into a crazy person.
Stella is smart.  I knew she was smart, but I really had no idea.
At her pre-kindergarten testing she read higher than any other student.
She is reading just about where Harlo is, and Harlo is a good reader!
She also likes to help with Harlo’s math homework and can usually add faster than the rest of us.  It’s crazy.
She is just a bright little thing.
She has a late birthday for school, but I’m definitely glad we made the decision to put her in this year.
She was so ready.
Funny how having a big sister just above her really pushes her to learn and do more.
Stella was star of the week in kindergarten last week.  You bet she loved every single minute of it!
Stella is our star everyday though, and we love every minute of her!

GRAE

Oh my word, Grae is so cute.
She is so cute that sometimes it makes me crazy.
I constantly ask her “Where on earth did you come from?”
I say Grae is my hardest baby, and she definitely has been the most demanding child I’ve had.
But she’s also been my biggest mama’s girl, and that’s exactly what I wanted and prayed for.
She loves me so much and hates when I’m out of her sight.
All day long she asks me “hold jew!” and if I have to set her down, she is hanging on to my dress or apron so I wont get too far.
I cook with her on my hip, I do laundry with her hugging my legs, I pee with her on my lap.
She is an attached little baby.
Grae is also 19 months old! She is exactly the same age as Harlo was when I had Stella.
I gotta say, I’m glad we have a few months until our baby gets here.  I have no idea how that will all pan out.
I feel like God sent me Grae for such a distinct purpose.  I feel that way about all my girls, but I am right in the middle of God changing me right now with mothering her and I feel that.
I needed to be loved in this life the way Grae loves me.  And I needed to learn to put someone’s needs before mine ALL THE TIME like Grae requires of me.
I have a better perspective since Grae has joined our family and I am grateful for that.
Did I mention I tried to take Grae to church nursery once?  Yeah… that didn’t work out.  We’ll try again later.. much later.
So right now I usually skip the middle hour by walking the halls or running home for this or that, and then the third hour Mr. Miller and I shuffle her around through our young men and young women where we both are.
If she’s really lucky, she goes to relief society with Grandma, or does bishopric duties with Grandpa.  Ha.  Homegirl runs that place!
Grae is very much enjoying (demanding) feeding herself these days.
It’s hard to pin point her favorite thing, because some day she loves something and the next she will have nothing to do with it.
She is a little sugar baby though.  Definitely has had more sugar than either of my other two combined by this age.  Yikes!
The other morning I came home from dropping the girls off from school and Grae was eating a sucker.  I looked at Brady and he said “You try to tell her no.”
Yep.  That’s my Grae Girl.
We’ve basically created a darling monster.
Grae looooves Elmo and she also loves Caillou.
We have a Caillou DVD in the car, and she asks for it to be turned on as soon as I put her in to buckle.  “Caillou?  Caillou?”
Every morning after breakfast, I get her her juice (because she is painfully constipated without daily juice) and then she asks, “Elmo?”
She’s basically got life figured out.
She is talking better and better each day.  Not a word she won’t say if you ask her.
She misses the girls when they’re at school and asks for “Lelly? Ha-lo?” when they’re gone.
She LOVES when the bus pulls up.  It’s her highlight of the day.
She says “thank you!” if you hand her anything.
She says “Bless you!” if anyone sneezes. (cuting everyone to death on the daily)
If I come in from even the next room over, she’ll exclaim “MOMMY!” running to me with open arms.
As much as she loves her mama, she’s equally as obsessed with Daddy, if not more.
When we’re both around she says “mommy daddy!” over and over like the happiest little child.
Grae goes to bed like a dream, which is funny considering she didn’t sleep at all for her first 12-14 months of life.
She has also been our easiest baby to travel with as far as sleep goes.  She had a trial sleep over at Grammy’s the other night for when B and I are going out of town, and she did perfect.
We really really deserved some easiness in the sleep department.  😀
Her naps have finally fizzled from two to one a day.
Every once in a while I’ll get a good nap out of her, but mostly it’s just an hour.
I’ve embraced that about her though.  At least she doesn’t fight me at bedtime.
As spicy as she can be, she really is just as sweet.
There’s not a single doubt that she wasn’t made for our family.
She has sure carved out a nice little spot for herself.  Both in our family and my heart.
We are so blessed.