Juan had a birthday...

Shout hooray!

Juan turned THIRTY over the weekend. It is so exciting, I think he has accomplished so much and has such a full life at 30. And so what if he's having a bit of a mid-life crisis in the career department, just wondering what his purpose is and where he wants to ultimately end up. Such fun, this adult life.

We met the day before Juan's 16th birthday. So this marks 14 years that we have known each other. And we didn't just meet and then hardly know each other, we met, liked each other, didn't like each other, became best friends, went many times without talking, and then finally dated. I love our story. Next year at this time, I will have known him half my life. Wow.

 This is what Juan looked like when I first met him. Stud with a mustache. Who can resist?

I told him back then, in my mean teenage girl phase, that we'd never end up together. And now, I am so glad that girl was wrong.

 We celebrated his birthday all weekend. We took all the kids to see The Lego Movie on Saturday afternoon.

 And then Saturday evening, we went bowling with friends! It was so fun to have a date night out, and Juan and I are both terrible bowlers, but our friends are good. 

 Doesn't he look happy?

 More celebrating on Sunday, his actual birthday. The girls and I made him a banner and we had a fun day at home.

Happy Birthday to Juan!

Videos!

Amelia teaching Oscar to clap.

Maya singing I am a Child of God.

Amelia singing Pat-a-cake to a slobbery Oscar.

Oscar getting his scoot on.

Juggling

I have been thinking a lot lately about 3 kids and how people juggle. I have such a desire to really be there for each of my children and not get too caught up in keeping the house clean (I've got that one down already-NOT keeping my house too clean, it's a skill people) or getting involved in too many activities that are for the kids but ultimately do not really matter in the scheme of things. I want to focus on things that really matter, and right now that is individual time. With an infant, I always have a baby on my hip. He is just always with me. And as much as I love it, I feel for my girls. They know I am not as accessible as I have been in the past.

For Amelia, her time to shine is with dance. While it is not exactly one on one time, we take that time each week to get her to dance and it is all for her. She will do the dances for Juan in the evenings and she really loves it. I love watching her be independent, this is the first time we've ever put her in anything. And I love that it is just hers, I don't feel the pressure to put Maya in dance also, she can have her time later.

Amelia is so great to talk to. She is constantly telling me she is going to get taller taller taller and then she wants to be a mommy. Well I make sure she knows how hard work it is to be a mommy, not to discourage her in any way, but we talk about how hard daddy works and then we also talk about how hard mommy works. So the other day I was telling her when you're a mom, there is always something to do. And then I said, will you run and grab me Oscar's binky? And she says, "Well I just going to rest wecause I not tall yet." (meaning she's not grown up yet). Okay then, live it up while you can Mill.

Oscar and I have plenty of one-on-one time. He knows how to make me feel like I'm the most wonderful person in the world. He loves patty cake. He "throws it in the oven" the whole song. He has been sitting up now and playing with toys and he can play by himself for an hour or more, and he loves when the girls stop in and play with him. I love to sing to him, I love when he lays his head on my shoulder, I love to nurse him. He is getting bored with nursing these days and gets so distracted and just wants to look up at me and smile or whip his head around and try to grab the book in my hand, or sit up and spot what the girls are doing. Sometimes I have to pump and hand him a bottle, which he devours. He loves to hold his own bottle. I love having a boy, he is sweet and amazingly chill. Julaine visited and she told me 100 times, I have the best behaved baby. And it is so true.

And Maya. She is our firecracker right now. This girl, she cannot be talked down from her fits. She will just go on and on and on. Yelling and screaming and wandering the house so she is sure to be heard. And I have tried everything to snap her out of these tantrums, and nothing. So we wait it out. Thankfully it doesn't happen too often, but this girl can go on for up to an hour each time. Aside from that, she is our sensitive one. She sobs and comes to find me during the scary parts of Disney movies. We were having our "talks" one night and I was asking her about her day. She told me a boy pushed her down and nursery and said, "mommy wasn't there to 'tect me". It broke my heart. Because of the Disney movies, I had been telling her that mommy is always here to protect her. And then I wasn't. She is so wise. The way I maximize my time with Maya is our talks at night and sometime in the middle of the day, when the girls are at the height of fighting, I'll sweep her away and we read books together or play a game or sing her favorite songs. She melts my heart.

We have the funnest kiddos.

We leave for Utah in 1 month. And we go to Disneyland in 3 months!!! We are so blessed and have so much to look forward to. I am trying my hardest, and know there are so many great moms who have done it before me.

My Favorite Things

 1. This guy. Oscar, I love him so much.

 Seriously he is the best baby in the world. He is so chill. He is always the last one I get to because he is the most quiet. We get home from swimming and he just waits patiently while I get everyone else dressed, and then I will finally get to him, cold and wet.

 He chills quietly while I'm chasing around the girls at playgroup. He falls right to sleep when I lay him down for naps and bed. He eats everything I offer him. He lights up the second I look at him. And when we were at Disney On Ice, he clapped for the first time. Baby firsts, there is nothing better.

 2. This necklace. Juan got me this necklace for Mother's Day and I wear it every day. I love it so much. And I guess it's decided, we are done having kids, because I don't see myself parting with this necklace for the next 20 years.

 3. Splash pads. In particular, the smaller splash pad that isn't stressful or crowded (this one is Falcon Pointe). And it's just so fun to sit and talk with friends in the shade while the kids have the time of their lives. I love Texas.

 4. This picture of Amelia.

 5. Sleeping Babies. Maya saved my life last week. I crashed and burned, major meltdown style (more on that later) and it was right while I was being forced to transition Maya to the big girl bed because she started climbing out of the crib. Well if there ever was a prize for this transition, Maya wins the prize! She loves her bed. It is queen-sized, same one Amelia trained in, and she uses up the full space. She stays in the room, and hasn't once bothered Oscar (or maybe hasn't even noticed him?) sharing the room in the crib. She LOVES it. The first morning she woke up, she wouldn't get out of her bed and asked me to bring breakfast up to her. Ha! Tender mercy for sure.

 More sleeping babies. Yes sometimes Oscar uses pink things. Ha! Function over color in this case.

 6. This family picture. Maya resting on Juan. Amelia's smile. The beautiful scenery. I love it. Thanks Kasee, of course you took it, you take all our great family pics.

 7. My morning "runs". (I put that in quotes because I'm not actually running the whole time yet, but I run more than 50% of the time!) I've never been a runner. This all started with last week and just getting at my wit's end. Because Juan is working so much, I am always on mom duty, and even when it feels like I'm alone because they are napping, I am never alone. You know how it is. I have to carve out this time for me. Every morning after Oscar's first feeding, I escape out into the world on my own! Oh it is so wonderful. It is beautiful, and I listen to my music, and I challenge myself to work harder and then I'm sore all the time and it is just the most wonderful thing for me right now.

 8. This picture. Joy people. This is pure joy.

9. Reading Charlotte's Web to Amelia. I always claimed Charlotte's Web as my favorite book all growing up, and so for my birthday while Juan and I were dating, he got me a beautiful copy of Charlotte's Web. I have carried it around in my baby boxes for years and years, waiting to read it to my children. And now it is happening! Maya is infatuated with the physical book, she carries it around with her everywhere and likes to sleep with it. But she won't hold still (or zip her mouth) for a second while I'm reading it. So Amelia and I have to rip it from her sleeping grip to be able to read it every now and then :)

 10. Haircuts! My dear friend came and cute our hair this week! Amelia and Oscar got tiny trims. Maya got this cute bob that just makes her look so stylish. And I cut off 6 inches, (see below, only picture I've taken since). I love this length on me. Feels fresh and summery!

11. And this picture of the girls at Disney On Ice. More joy. More happiness. I lie in bed every night thinking how wonderful my kiddos are. They challenge me every day. And that is part of what makes them so wonderful.

Summertime!

The pictures in this post just scream Summer! to me. We had a visit from Ginger and Sam this last week and got to meet little Lottie. 

Oscar is 6 months and Lottie is 4 months old, sweet cousins.  

 On the train at the zoo!

 The pool!

 We share a cul de sac with the neighborhood pool and it is a dream. 

 Getting the kids dressed, sunblock on, pool toys, towels, floaties collected. That is enough work, thank goodness we just walk right across the street.

 Oscar loved his first pool trip! The water is still cool, but we get used to it real quick and we might as well live it up since by July it will be warm bath water, ha!

 This picture looks like all my babies^^ Take away the hair, they all look the same to me. 

We are so proud of Amelia. Last year she wouldn't go near the non-toddler area of the pool, even with her floatie. This year, she decided to be brave. She let me let go right away and then the 2nd time we took her she was jumping in all by herself, not letting us catch her, and took off swimming on her own. All with the puddle jumper on but it is just HUGE improvement from last year.

 Oscar and Lottie in matching unisex pjs that Maya and Bennett also wore. Cute!

 Girls!

 Sisters with all our kids. We have a lot of kids.

 Sorry these are out of order, another pool shot. Aren't the girls so cute in their suits? Can't resist.

 The older kids.

 

 And more zoo! I love this picture of Juan.

And finally, Mr Oscar has reached 6 months! It really just flew by. 

He just moved out of our closet to the crib, sharing a room with Maya for the time being.

He just lies on the floor waiting for someone to look at him, and the second he gets attention from the girls or Juan or me, he lights up and just kicks.

He scoots backwards when he is on his back, mostly from being hyper and bouncing his little bum.

He is really trying to scoot, but mostly ends up accidentally rolling over as he is reaching for something, and then gets distracted and forgets what he was reaching for.

He eats eats eats, it is the easiest thing in the world to feed him because he actually opens his mouth for bites.

He loves to reach out and touch people now. He touches my face when I get close enough and Maya's too (because she loves to get in his face).

But he also loves to pull hair, and hard. The best ever that Maya is already fighting with her 6 month old "Oscar hurting me mommy!"

He scans his hand across the pictures in books while I read to him.

And he gives kisses! The big, slobbery, open mouth coming at me, there is nothing better in this world.

We love this baby boy!