Saturday, May 26, 2007

faves about evan


here are some pictures of evan from the past year (if you're struggling putting pictures in order by age just look at the hair). it's amazing how fast they grow and all that they learn that first year. i feel so blessed to have witnessed it all. here are some of my faves about evan:

1. he's a snuggler.
2. he loves to wrestle. he will start charging toward you like a bull with his head down and then try to wrestle you to the ground. i think he can actually knock lily down from a sitting position when he does this.
3. his smile.
4. his laugh.
5. his latest technique when i read to him is to try and close the book fast or push to the ground - for which he giggles when successful.
6. the way he waits for an audience - if he makes someone laugh, he looks around to see if others will look at him too and waits for their attention before he will perform again. OR he waits for attention before he does something to grab your attention - such as looking at you and smiling before he turns the T.V. off for the umpteenth time!
7. he loves the piano, wheels, cars and balls.
8. he is so patient and persistent. he sits in his high chair and will plug away at feeding himself until his gotten enough food down. he does the same thing when trying to learn how to play with something or get up high by climbing something.
9. he's happy and hardly ever complains.

"It is not a slight thing when they, who are so fresh from God, love us." -Charles Dickens
"A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on." -Carl Sandburg
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the haircut


even looking at these pictures now makes me tender-hearted. evan got his hair cut on his birthday. these pictures illustrate the transition well. my baby is gone!! he looks like such a big boy now! so sad.

fyi - that's my friend angela cutting his hair. she did a great job! thanks, angela!
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lamb cake


evan is 1 year old!! here he is with his "lamb cake." my grandma shirley made my dad a lamb cake when he was one. they brought the cake up to him and he grabbed it. they then gave him the rest of the cake and a macnair family tradition was born. all of his siblings, my sibs and cousins and the grandkids have been given a lamb cake on their first birthday. the cake is made just for them. my boys have done well attacking and my girls just cried and we're scared of it. wish all my pictures were digitalized and i would post all my kids with their cakes (alas i'm too lazy to retrieve them and run them through a scanner - maybe another time).
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i'm baaaaccckkk

sorry for the break in blogging. lots has been going on, so get ready for lots of posts (at least as many as i can get done tonight - we leave for an overnight trip tomorrow and i should be packing. all of a sudden updating my blog seems oh so important. i'm such a procrastinator!)

Sunday, May 13, 2007

happy mother's day


evan was born on mother's day last year. lily was blessed on mother's day (i'm mostly positive). this year, gracie was baptized on mother's day. there are some perks when most of your children were born in the spring. my emotions were high this morning when i thought about all this. i've had such wonderful memories on mother's day (even the labor and delivery part - it was such a nice delivery - i mean that seriously - i had him quickly, no epidural, felt great and had him early in the morning so i could enjoy mother's day. it was a great experience). i don't have anything poetic or earthshattering to say here. i only want to share with you the gratitude in my heart in that i have been blessed to be a mom. i have seen friends struggle to have children and it makes me realize how blessed i am. i love my children and they truly bring such joy to my hearts. they will grow too fast and i hope i remember to be grateful for these moments that i have with them.

i've also thought today of the legacy of mothers that i have. my dad's sister and i have some striking similarities. i didn't see her that often growing up. it makes me wonder what traits or talents i might have inherited from my ancestors; i'm grateful for my lineage. i'm also greatful for the three remarkable mothers that i now have - i am blessed with a mom, stepmother and mother-in-law. they have each taught me in so many different ways and i'm grateful for the varied and plentiful service they have rendered on my behalf. i've also been influenced by many aunts and grandmothers who were strong women and truly encouraged me to not let anything hold me back. thank you all for your loving influence.
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faves about gracie


in honor of gracie's birthday, i want to write some of my favorite things about her:
1. can you tell from the pictures that gracie just loves life? she is a bundle of energy and life.
2. she is very thoughtful. on occasion, she has cleaned up her room without being told, told me that she wanted to do the dishes and then did them all for me, or just offered to help. these have been rare occasions, but they have happened nonetheless, and i have been very touched every time.
3. she is mindful of others and likes to help. at school, she tries to be a friend to everyone and likes to help her classmates if they need it (or not).
4. she is a wonderful big sister and will get down and play with lily despite the five year age gap. she is always thinking of lily or jake and evan and will share with them or excitedly share with them the details of what she's doing.
5. with a disabled child and two young ones, i rely on gracie to help me. she does most of this without complaint. i remember one time i took the kids to a doctor's appointment once without grace and boy did i miss her. it reminded me of how much she helps me.
6. for being my child, i am amazed that she can sing on key and draws decently for her age. any talent gene in these two areas that i might have hoped for went directly to my sister or brothers because i sure didn't get any! glad to see that grace has different talents and inclinations.
7. gracie has a keen mind and is a very motivated self-learner. she truly wants to learn - whether it's about the gospel or science - she's there trying to think of new things or figuring things out. it's great and i hope her thirst for knowledge is never quenched.
8. gracie is goofy - which is where she gets her nickname "gigi." it is actually "GG" which stands for gracie goofball. this she probably directly inherited from me. i love her goofiness especially when she is just busting up or giggling over something that's happened.
9. she sincerely wants to choose the right and be a good person.
10. she is passionate. she has always loved horses and music and loves to develop talents in these areas.

happy birthday grace! i'm so blessed to be your mom.
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it's great to be eight


gracie and her friend kylie were baptized today. (in our church, the children are eligible for baptism at age 8). gracie turned eight last sunday and kylie's 8th birthday was yesterday. these two girls have been friends since they were three. they just love each other so much and have a great friendship (kylie's mom made a poster of the girls together through the years). it was a great day and they were excited to be baptized together. everything went well. all their grandparents were able to attend (including two grandpas who have previously avoided airplane flights due to illness were willing to make the flights for them). lots of other extended family and friends were there. thanks to all who came! it was a beautiful spring day here in the northeast, the girls and their brothers and sister sang a song and everything just turned out very nice (except kylie's little sister was somewhere else in the church when kylie was actually baptized and so she missed it - but i guess it makes things memorable at least). gracie had her papa mike speak and he did a great job. then her daddy baptized and confirmed her a member of our church. it was a great day and i truly felt these girls understood what they were doing and have such sincere desires to choose the right and do good.

this weekend also brought the performances of the musical "Annie" that gracie has been involved in. she played a servant in daddy warbucks' mansion. she did a great job and sung so enthusiastically with a big wide open mouth (yes, she inherited my anatomically big mouth). she did well with her dance moves too!

add to all of that a primary activity, mother's day celebration, dining out with grandparents, two ice cream trips to celebrate performances and mini birthday celebration for evan with the extended family, and you will understand why i'm so exhausted. i must say everything has gone so amazing well; it's just been a great weekend. thanks to any of you who have been involved!
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Monday, May 7, 2007

FYI

design mom is doing giveaways every day this week. in honor of mother's day, they are all gifts for mom. today's giveway includes two dresses from shabby apple. go check it out. (her link is on my sidebar.)

Thursday, May 3, 2007

consider the lily

here are some pictures of lily from this past year.

age two




personality
(yes the bandaid picture needs some explanation. she got poked in the eye and wanted a bandaid. i told her that we don't put bandaids on eyes. in typical lily fashion, she went into bathroom, got bandaid off of shelf in closet and put it on herself. and yes, i know that taking the picture will only encourage her. she went to bed with band aid on so i wasn't around when she pulled it off. luckily, she still had her eyelashes in place when she woke up in the morning.)



nemo costume from halloween.
i usually don't buy costumes but i couldn't resist this one. plus lily loves fish (hence the birthday present).
i


cindy lou who
this was my attempt to make her look like cindy lou who. i stopped counting at how many people have told me that lily is a cindy-lou-who look alike, but i think the number is 30+. i haven't heard it for a while so maybe she is outgrowing the look. i still bought a dress on clearance to make a cindy lou who outfit with for next halloween.
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faves about lily

in honor of lily turning three, i wanted to write about the things that we love about her (yes, i even consulted pat on this post). here are some of our faves about lily:

1. instead of saying bought or give, lily says "borrow me." example: "mom, you borrow me a birthday."
2. she throws the word "actually" into her conversations. she likes to say that's her favorite or your favorite. lately, she keeps reminding us of our family relationships. when my mom came over, "that's your mom, mom." "gracie is my sister", etc....
3. lily gives the best welcome homes. whether it's pat returning from work or me from an errand, she runs to the door and jumps up and down and announces you're home. usually gives hugs and kisses too!
4. if you say no to her, she starts to give a little jump and says: "plleeeeeeease." this is in no way annoyingly done. it's very cute and probably more effective than it should be.
5. lily has always been a little parrot and loves to repeat back or restate what you tell her. it's pretty cute to hear her repeat things and see what she emphasizes.
6. lily is very independent. she often helps herself. i've found ice cream cartons or peanut butter jars with a spoon in them.
7. she can pour amazingly well for her age. one time she wanted milk in her cereal. i was in the middle of something and told her i'd be there in a minute. when i got there, she had already helped herself. she lifted up a gallon milk container that was at least 3/4 way full and poured her milk without any spills. i believe this incident happened more than 6 months ago. i don't let her practice with milk gallons, but since then i've repeatedly seen her pour well. don't quite know what life-long talent this translates into, but i do find it impressive nonetheless.
8. a true little sister, lily loves to do everything her big sis does. gracie loves to sing and so does lily. lily loves the preschool songs, but she's also learned songs from musicals that grace has been in and the cheetah girls songs (which gracie unfortunately keeps listening to lately). it's great to hear lily belt out "tomorrow" from annie (the play gracie is in right now).
9. lily also loves being a big sister and babies of any kind. unfortunately, lily's almost toddler brother loves to wrestle and pull her hair. he's gotten chunks of her out before i could stop him. i swear she will be bald before he outgrows this stage, but lily is undeterred in her desire to love and play with him.
10. she also loves her big brother whom she calls "japie" instead of "jakie".

those are my faves about lily. she is just a ray of sunshine that keeps me on my toes and smiling all day long!

quotables

"is that lily holding baby lily?" -lily's response when i showed her a picture of gracie holding her when lily was a baby.

"drama class is actually a lot of fun." -gracie (this is only humorous in that grace seemed surprised by how much she likes drama class. this from my child who we refer to as "a drama queen" when she is not around.)

"mom, you can go with my teacher and i'll stay home with japie and evan. daddy can go to work, and i'll be the mommy" -lily, in response to learning that she would be going to preschool next year instead of this year.

"mom, if you don't get rid of that smell soon, you're going to have to buy a new car." -gracie when it took me a couple of days to clean out my car after returning from a road trip.

"mommy, they have dress-ups for you!" -lily while walking by the prom dress section at macy's.

"i said the prayer "last"-erday." -lily's replacement word for "yesterday."