Yearly Update

Abby (7 ½) has become a reader!  It took a while but she has taken off and I’m impressed often at the words she is able to read.  At parent teacher conferences her teacher said she lacked some confidence and I pondered what I could do to help her be more confident.  I felt impressed to just spend more one on one time talking with her.  I started doing that and she LOVES it!  She’s also involved in choir and dance this year.  She has a sweet singing voice and has really improved in dance.  She does a bit of gymnastics in her dance class and it’s been quite hard for her.  And that’s my favorite part because she really has to work at it.  Her cartwheels have gone from flopping on the floor to pretty decent ones.

Luke (5 ½) is such a peacemaker most of the time.  If there is one candy left, he is quick to let another kid have it without being asked.  When we are playing a game where we keep score, he’ll purposefully do bad to let me catch up.  He played soccer for the first time in the fall.  I loved watching him pick up on the rules and skills of the game.  He would get so excited for his teammates when they scored and was ok that he never got the ball in the net. 

Rachel (3 ½) makes me laugh.  Today Jared and I were the monsters and she was “the princess with powers that superman gave me”.  Needless to say I died a lot and she ruled the world.  We are starting to realize she thinks her bed is our bed.  We have her visit and take up lodging with us most nights.  She knows how to get her way and can be pretty good at bossing Luke around.  She watches out for Jared for me all the time.  Oh, and it’s just so adorable to watch her sing and dance to the songs from the movie Frozen. 

It’s hard for me to believe but Jared is 1 year old.  His smiles, laughs, and snuggles bring so much joy to the entire family.  He loves to play ball, play rough, and crawl upstairs to mess up the big kids toys.  They don’t love that but I think it’s kind of funny.  

Jonny is up to the same things this year as he did last year: work and church.  Abby and I have talked a few times about how great dad is that he works all day and then shares the money he makes with us.  We are so blessed that wants to provide for us.  He loves to spend time with the family and we love to be with him.  The kids always get excited when he comes home and that includes Jared.  He hears his voice and starts crawling to him while he makes this little pick-me-up whine. 

This year I’ve made a lot of effort to get my body back to normal.  Pregnancy left me physically week and emotionally unmotivated.  It took me a while but I got to work and lost the baby weight.  I’m proud to say I’m back to the weight I was when I got married and the best part is that I feel strong again.  I’ve also thought a lot about the Savior this year.  I felt a need to redefine my testimony of Him.  I pondered a lot about the experiences I’ve had over the years that led me to believe in Him.  It helped confirm again that He is my Savior .  I’m forever grateful for his love and sacrifice for me.  

Talking With My Boy

Late Halloween Post

Well I haven't posted anything in forever. It is just never high on my priority list. And this is a Halloween post but I couldn't miss the opportunity to show off my costume. It's not very often you get to wear a costume like mine. I had the baby 3 days after Halloween. And here's a shot of my kiddos too.

A Hair Cut

Well it had to happen at some point. Abby happily and with pride informed me that she cut her hair and a little of Lukie's.

I was pretty upset for a minute and she instantly felt terrible as she realized she actually made a bad choice. I did my best to fix her hair and make light of the situation because now she was mortified. It looks ok on the sides but it is a little hard to fix 3/4" long bangs! She won't be complaining about her bangs being too long for quite a while. She didn't cut much of Lukie's hair. She almost helped it because the last hair cut I gave him wasn't my best work.

My favorite part is when I went into the kitchen to see the mess she made...I couldn't find any hair. The thoughtful little girl had cleaned it up after herself and thrown it in the garbage.

She has lost her scissor privileges when I'm not around and has chosen to clean the bathroom as her punishment. Which actually will be pretty fun for her because she loves to spray the cleaning solutions.

The First One Is Gone

Abby lost her first tooth this past July! She said it was wiggling and I thought she was making it up. But then I could see that it wiggled and I turned into a dentist and started examining her mouth. And sure enough there was a new tooth coming in! She wasn't even in kindergarten yet and she lost a tooth. She was so proud of herself. She lost her second one a few weeks later.

The Potty Training

So, we are working on potty training Luke. It has been a little frustrating. The boy can hold it a really long time but just won't tell us when he needs to go. And I don't remember all the time to remind him. And when it comes to #2 he has only gone in the potty one time. Every other movement has been in be pants! The picture below is after he pooped in his pants while we were at the park. I'm thankful I had that garbage bag in my car. I was pretty upset at him but when I saw him in that garbage bag I couldn't stop laughing. He thinks he's pretty funny. Jonny didn't think it was so funny when Luke did the same thing to him at the park yesterday. And there was no garbage bag this time! Hopefully he'll figure it out soon.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Well, we bought a new home! We have been casually looking for quite a while now but when Jonny was called to be the bishop of our ward, I knew we had to move. I couldn't imagine 5 more years in our current house since we plan and having a few more kids. The week Jonny was called as the bishop a family in our ward decided to sell their beautiful 5 bedroom home. So, we bought it! The move was easy and we are already pretty settled. There are so many wonderful things about this home but I thought I'd show a few of my favorite things...

The large dinning space and kitchen with an island. I love having two ways to get in and out of the kitchen!

The spring flowers out the kitchen window.

The double oven!!!

Central vacuum

The beautiful double sided fireplace.

The mudroom - I love the space!

A sink in the laundry room. Luke is potty training right now so this is wonderful!

The huge master bedroom closet.

Double door entry.

And here is the whole thing. The previous owner left their swing set and tramp too!

We are truly so blessed and thankful to be in such a wonderful home.

The Reason the Priest Didn't Help

I was helping Lukie look at a book in Sacrament meeting recently. It was a simple version of The Good Samaritan. We looked at each page over and over again and I said things like, "The bad guys got the good guy" and "oh no he has boo-boos" and "that guy isn't helping him...that's not nice". One time after pointing out that the guy wasn't helping I asked, "where is he going?" Luke said, " Hum...maybe he has to go potty". I almost couldn't control my laughter.

Tackle

Here is Lukie playing with Mack his cousin. Luke is 2 and Mack is 7. Now Mack is just playing and not trying his hardest but you get an idea of what Luke can do. He knows how to use his weight to his advantage.

After the tackle Luke says, "I got you. I got you down." I love it.

The Cast is Off

After three weeks of a cast Rachel is finally free! After they took it off, she grabbed at her foot for a minute. That seemed to be her way of saying, "Hey where'd that thing go?" Surprisingly her leg and cast didn't smell too bad. But I was so happy to give her a normal bath. You just can't get as clean with a wet washcloth! She really seemed to enjoy being in the water again.

I just think her little cast is so cute. It is the same size as a spoon! Too bad she had to break her ankle to get one!

The bone is healing well enough to get the cast off but it isn't 100% yet. So the doc said to be careful with her. So, does that mean we shouldn't put her on the counter for another few months and then it is ok? ;) Just kidding!

My Dancing Baby

Our little lady loves to dance to music...

My Poor Little Lady

We had a little trauma on Saturday night. Jonny, Rachel, and I returned from the adult session of Stake Conference and Abby and I took the babysitter home. I walked in the door after dropping off the sitter to find a screaming and inconsolable Rachel. She had fallen from the counter. No one saw her fall except Lukie but he is only 2 and didn't have much to say when we asked him except a cute "I don't know". So, we didn't know how she landed and therefore what exactly to be concerned about. There wasn't anything obvious like a huge bump on her head. I started to loose it after I tried to feed her, which always calms her down, but it didn't work this time. Then I noticed her little foot looked red and felt warm. I pulled and twisted her ankle a bit and she screamed in pain even louder. Jonny and I were both convinced there was a problem and I was off to the ER.

The car ride calmed her down so much that she was asleep when we got there and I considered going back home. However, I got her out of the car and expected the screaming to start again but it didn't. She was happy and baby talking the whole time we were waiting and while the nurses looked at her. Again I thought I should just go home because she seemed to be just fine. The doc finally saw her and we got some X-rays of her ankle. And sure enough...the tibia was broken right at the ankle. We then had to endure full body X-rays and a CAT scan because the doc was concerned that if she fell with enough force to break her ankle then something else maybe broken also.

The whole event was pretty traumatic for Rachel. She was so tired the whole time and was often awaken right after dosing off. She was striped down to her diaper in a cold X-ray room and was forced in different positions for 30 minutes. She yelled the entire time and mama cried a bit too. I couldn't handle the look she was giving me that said "Why aren't you stopping them!!!"

We were happy to be leaving at 2 am with a little splint on her leg.

We got a little pink cast on Monday. Doc says it should heal in 2 weeks.

It is so little and cute. I think it mostly protects her leg from Luke and Abby!

You'd expect her to be miserable and cranky but honestly I can't tell a difference in her behaviour. She is just as happy and sweet as she always is. And I can't hold and love her enough my poor little lady.

Wilford Family Reunion - August 2010

We had a Wilford Family Reunion this past August and we celebrated Jonny's parents 50th wedding anniversary. It was great to have the entire family together for the first time in almost 10 years. I finally got to meet everyone! The thing Jonny's mom wanted more then anything was a picture of the entire family. While we were at it we got some pictures of just our family too.

The Elmer & Winelle Wilford Family

Our little family

Luke

Val and Jonny

Abby

Rachel

Halloween

Well I just got done reading all my sister's and sister-in-law's Halloween blog posts and now I'm inspired. Abby was a princess again this year. We didn't even have to get her a different costume. She was content with the ones she plays with every day! I was perfectly ok with that. Luke's favorite thing lately are horses with cowboys being a close second. So, he was a little cowboy for Halloween. He was so adorable and loved shooting his gun at everyone. I didn't really have a plan for Rachel and a friend had a little purple sparkly dress so she became Baby Sparkles.

For kids this age, Halloween is one of the best holidays of the year. I think it almost beats Christmas. Costumes and candy are just about as good as it gets! They loved trick-or-treating but Luke was done half way through. He just hunched down on the ground and moaned....translation....I'm done walking. So, Jonny carried him on his shoulders back home. Once at home it was CANDY CANDY CANDY.

Before and After the Haircut

I let Luke's hair get long and it got pretty curly. Especially in the back. I loved the way it looked right after a bath and for about an hour after that. Then it got a little frizzy and Jonny thought he looked like a girl. I must say it was pretty easy to put a ponytail in! But oh what a cute boy!

So, while we were in Ontario while Jonny was in New Zealand I had grandma feed Luke while I did the buzzing. He got done and Abby said, "He looks like Anson." And from the back he really did. They have the same head shape. After Luke's bath when he was looking in the mirror I ask him who that boy was. He looked at himself in the mirror and said, "Jonas". So he looks a bit like his Bernard cousins. My cute little man! Especially with his new horse and cowboy.

Naaman Learns to Obey

Here is the play we put on at Grandma and Grandpa Dame's house for FHE.

Eye of the Tiger

Well, Uncle Spencer got most of his nieces and nephews to love Eye of the Tiger from Rock Band so I had to video Abby singing it. It is so cute when she doesn't know the words. And I love the facial expressions and hand motions at the end.

I have this song on my iPod and the kids will listen and dance to it over and over and over again. Luke is getting pretty good at singing it too!

Some Birthdays

Well, we celebrated Abby's birthday a little late this year because her birthday was just one day after Rachel's. But I was able to make another princess cake this year.

We can't get this girl to wear something in her hair to keep the hair out of her eyes!

Luke's birthday came the 1st of April. He loved blowing out the candles and singing "Happy Birthday". He is such a cute little man.

My Kids

I took a few pictures of the kids over the past few weeks and wanted to share the best ones.

Rachel -- 5 weeks

Luke -- 2 years

Abby -- 4 years

Introducing Rachel Valerie Wilford

Our little girl finally arrived 13 days overdue on March 4th. She was 8 lbs 2 oz and 21 1/4" long. We named her Rachel Valerie Wilford.

She cried bloody murder the first 30 minutes of life. She was closing her eyes so tightly that her eyelids were turning inside out! Jonny and I were both wondering what we'd gotten ourselves into again. Then they brought her back from her bath. She was all wrapped up and warm and we basically haven't heard a peep from her since! She is an absolute angel! None of that crying inconsolably at night for hours and bouncing her in your arms as you dance around the room. She does love to be held but she will just be content to be in your arms as you sit on the couch.

I really enjoyed my stay in the hospital. Jonny took care of Abby and Luke so it was just Rachel and me most of the time. It gave us the perfect chance to bond. We would just lie on the bed together for hours. I would sing her songs or talk to her while she was awake. It is hard to explain but it is just what I needed to help me deal with the fears I had of having three kids. Even before I left the hospital I felt a strong bond, attachment, and connection with Rachel. With the other kids that didn't come as quickly. The "newborn stage" isn't my favorite part of being a mom because all they seem to do is eat, sleep, poop, and cry. But I find myself wanting to hold Rachel even when she'd be content to be in her swing or bouncer. That is so not like me! Maybe it is because I don't have to hold her in the middle of the night so I can actually enjoy doing it during the day! But whatever it is, I enjoy just having her in my arms. She really is a sweetheart.

Abby loves Rachel. When she hears Rachel waking up from a nap, she'll run into the room saying, "Its ok sweetheart" in the cutest little voice. Then she'll stroke her cheek and keep her happy until I can get there. She loves picking out Rachel's clothes for the day. And yes, she'll choose a dress most of the time!

Luke is so cute with Rachel. He tackles most kids but he tries to be very soft with Rachel. Well, as soft as a 34 lb two year old can boy can be! (As a side note to my son's weight, I can't tell you how grateful I am that I didn't need a C-section.) He enjoys giving her head-butting kisses, giving her full-body-weight snuggles, getting on top of her and saying "horsey ride", and sticking his pointer finger in her mouth for her to suck on. All of which make her cry except the finger sucking. That she enjoys. Mama is the one who has the problem with that.

For all my worrying about having three kids, it really hasn't been too bad. I've purposely not left the house with all three of them for the first few weeks because I didn't think I could handle it. But we had our first adventure last Thursday and it went quite well. I was pleasantly surprised and completely happy! Abby was very obedient and Rachel was asleep strapped to my body the whole time so I really only had to deal with Luke. It was a great beginning!

It has been a joy having Rachel in our home and we are all completely in love with her!