Every New Stage is my New Favorite Stage

In reference to her baby's growth, one of my friends once told me, "Every new stage is my new favorite stage."

I TOTALLY felt like this whenever Addison learned something new. But when Addison was a baby I remember wondering if the feeling would be the same for your second or third child. I didn't think so. With your first,not only is it new for the baby, but it's new for you too. You've never had a baby roll, or say mama, or learn to walk before. Surely the second time around it wouldn't be as exciting.

WRONG! With Hannah I feel like every new stage is my new favorite stage all over again! And now I'm excited because every stage I'm loving of Hannah's I think, "Hey! I get to do it again in 18 months!" Te he he.

Right now Hannah's in the "learning to use phrases" stage. Some of her favorite are:

Where's Daddy?
Where's Addison?
Whatcha Doing?
All right. (This one's one of my favorites. It frequents our home in a sing song tone after I've asked her to do something and is usually accompanied by a swaggering walk to go and do whatever it is that I've asked her to do).
You're Naked! (I like this one too, although it gets a little old when she's in the stall with you at a public restroom).



She's also going through a binkie stage. She refused to take a binkie when she was a baby, but around last September, she re-discovered them and loves them. I'm not worried about weaning her from them. She doesn't normally walk around with a binkie in her mouth, and she has no problem going to sleep without them. They just come in handy if she's being exceptionally fussy and either a) I'm nursing the babies, so I can't comfort her at the moment or b) she really wants a bottle (something I would like to wean her off of).



Yeah, the bottle. Sigh. I know you're supposed to get them off the bottle around the age of one, but man, when she is inconsolable and I have two other babies that are inconsolable, that bottle really comes in handy. Yes, she is perfectly capable of drinking from a straw, sippy, and regular cup. But she loves that darn bottle. Bart and I would really like to get her off of it by the time she's two (holy cow is that really less than a month away?) so we've been giving them to her less and less lately. But she's caught on, and when we do break down and give her one, good luck getting it away from her. She carries it around with her non stop. And if she is doing something that requires two hands, that doesn't stop her:




This is also her, "I like putting hoods on my head that make my ears stick out" stage.


My silly little comedian.

My Picture is on a website!

Remember that photography forum I told you I joined? Well, a little while ago they asked people to submit photos for their new home age. Hundreds of people submitted photos. I decided that even though I'm relatively new to this whole photography thing I'd submit some, but as I looked through all the submissions I thought there was no way any of mine would get chosen. There were just so many good ones. A lot of them from professional photographers.

Well, I was wrong!!! This one got in!



I am SOOOOOOOOO excited!!! The website is http://www.clickinmoms.com/. If you click the right or left arrows on the scrolling picture bar it will take you to the next set of pictures.

It's probably not a big deal for a lot of people, but I was pretty darn excited. :)

I think Lilly Discovered Maya Today

I know it sounds weird, but Lilly and Maya NEVER look at each other. I've put them on their sides facing each other so that their noses were almost touching and their eyes would dart everywhere else but at each other. It was like they were intentionally avoiding eye contact.

Well, today I was nursing them and Lilly un-latched and her eyes wandered over to Maya. She looked a little startled, then got this big smile and started babbling away, talking to her sister. It was awesome!

As for Maya, well she just kept on eating.

I Don't Like Restrictions

Particularly on where I can or cannot travel. And especially when those restrictions are imposed by my own government. I was reading this article today, and suddenly really wanted to go to Cuba!

Would it have the same appeal if US citizens weren't supposed to go there? I'm not sure. It seems like a very interesting place to visit. I had an Econ Teacher in High School who always used to tell us stories from when he sneaked into Cuba. And I always like learning about and seeing different cultures. But in all reality, my interest has been magnified simply by the fact that I'm not supposed to go.

I've never before wanted to be a citizen of another country, but right now I'd kill for dual citizenship in Canada...or better yet England! Oh, that reminds me of another place I'd like to visit...off to look for articles on Stone Henge.

Grandparents!

So, Thursday afternoon my Grandma and Grandpa Collyer called and told me they were coming to Utah for their mission reunion so they wanted to visit me the next day. SWEET!

Then, about an hour later, Bart's aunt called to say they were coming and were thinking about bringing Grandma (Francis) so she could visit and meet the twins if that was alright with us. HECK YEAH!

So the next day I got to visit with not one, but THREE of my grandparents! It was the best April Fools day ever!

And of course we got lot of pictures. :) I was thinking about just posting one or two, but pictures of my grandparents just make me so happy! Every time I look at them my heart just swells! I love my grandparents so much. So I decided to just share them all with you. :)

Grandma and Grandpa Collyer and the Twins:



Lilly



Maya



Grandma Francis with the Twins



Okay, I just have to say. I LOVE this next picture of Grandma Francis and Maya. Not only do I think she looks just beautiful in it, but to me, it perfectly reflects a part of her personality. When we had Addison (her first Great Grandchild) I remember Grandma telling us all she wanted was rock that baby on the rocking chair.

And she did! When Addison first met her Great Grandma Francis, she refused to go to sleep while anyone was sitting down with her. Well, Grandma changed that! She got in that rocking Chair with Addison and had her to sleep within minutes! It was incredible!

And the legacy continues. Maya isn't a fan of people sitting while holding her either, but she fell right asleep on Grandma's shoulder in the rocker. I love you Grandma!


And, while all the grandparents were here, we realized that we had an unusual opportunity. I had, in the same room, the girls only two living biological great grandmothers. (My Grandpa Timms is remarried and if Teresa had been here, I would have thrown her in the pictures too!) :) So I got a picture of the twins with their two living Great Grandmothers.



Ahh, I swear these pictures just make me so happy! GrandmaS and Grandpa, I LOVED visiting with you guys. Please, come again ANYTIME!