The Last Month or So...

A typical morning around here consists of bathing Leah and Jake together, but on the rare occasion that Kennedy wants someone in the bath with her, Leah is always the chosen one.  Leah loves to tackle Kennedy as she lays back to wash her hair.  She is just sure that Kennedy does that just for her.  And Leah loves nothing better (other than unloading a drawer...or ten) than towels, specifically her siblings being wrapped up in a towel and she chasing them down until she can wrap her arms around them hobbling along after saying "ahhh..." all cuddly-like.  ANYWAY, a few pics from a few days ago.

I'm so glad I happened to get a picture of Leah's cute chubby little hands.  And I love their eyes, how they're shaped the same, but different colors. 

And it just wouldn't be a typical day if Leah wasn't unloading something.  This day it was the planter pot on our patio.  Again, I'm sure she thinks I put them there just for her.  And who's going to tell her otherwise?  Let her think she has the coolest mom in the world! 

And her new favorite unloading spot, the little flip-out drawer in the bathroom.  She's just discovered she can, in fact, open it.  JACKPOT!  The Q-tips!

The situation we have now is that Jake and Leah are getting to be so close in playing-types that it's almost like having twins some days.  They think a lot alike, but with the advantage that Jake can help Leah get what she wants when she's not physically able to.  Hence, the dishwasher door:

(none of the other kids ever even tried to get on the door.  Leah is definitely her own little personality.  She isn't afraid of anything (well, except balloons right now, which is a little odd, I know.)  Heaven help us on the day she discovers she can climb out of her crib.

 So Mr. Throw-ups has been visiting our house ever since last week.  Leah started with it, then Brian, Jake, me Kennedy, and now Brian and Leah again.  Let's just say he has worn out his welcome and my washing machine just has to be as tired as I am.  But the silver lining is that you can get cute photos like the one below, of a little boy curled up on the couch just like the cat behind him (on the latest pile of clean laundry to park there).

Now the most important event going on around here lately (according to Kennedy) is her 6th birthday!  She decided this year she really wanted to head down to Utah to have a "cousin birthday", so that's what we planned.  On her actual bday we had cake and candles and a few presents, no friends really planned into the whole event.  But she's such a little social bug that two of her friends were already here playing when it was time to eat and have cake so they stayed.  Then two of her other friends came by with a gift for her, so they stayed to play too.  So lucky her, she got a friend party and she'll get a cousin party too.  Pretty spoiled, but she sure deserves it.

With her friends Tyson and Lexi.

She wanted another M&M cake this year.  Well, this one fell apart inside when I was trying to transfer it to the cake plate.  But nothing a little frosting won't fix! 

She really wanted a hula-hoop, so dad fixed her up.

Pictureka!

Doing bubbles outside with all the friends.  I really love that Kennedy has made so many friends here.  It has been a true blessing since we live so far from family.  Here is Carlin, Peyton, Samantha, Tyson, Shelby and Lexi.

 Now Jake, all he wanted was the sidewalk chalk.  All of it.

Leah had lost her pants by now to some type of food mess, but that didn't stop her from loving the great outdoors.  Who needs neat hair anyway?

So my friend Rita (who is impossibly nice and completely lovable) gave me these kids frames to use for Jake when he gets bigger.  Kennedy found them the morning we were making her birthday treats for school and put them on.  She said she had to hold up her fingers to show how old she was now.  By the way, we did the gummy-worms-in-oreo-dirt treat for school and it was a big hit.

A typical day when dad gets home.  It's a race to see who gets to him first.  I love it.

The bigger kids usually get to him first, but this doesn't stop Leah from pushing them out of her way. 

The other morning I found Kennedy in Leah's crib.  She said Leah was fussing so she climbed in and they both fell asleep.  When I walked in, Leah couldn't wait to "tell" me about Kennedy laying there in her crib!

I was sitting in the recliner the other day and looked over at Jake doing this.  He said it was his stage (notice the bucket he's standing on).  He really likes to pretend to sing into a microphone.  Should I be nervous about what might happen during his teenage years with this inclination?  I can picture him serenading girls already.

Parting shot: Leah has finally become the pusher as opposed to the pushee of the giant Tonka truck.  Time for payback for all the bumps she's taken from Jake being the pusher.  Don't worry, his head didn't actually hit the chair, but it came close enough to give him a scare!  Leah giggled the whole time she pushed him.

One reason I like doing this blog is that it lets me see all the "perfect" moments in our life.  Day-to-day life can be so busy, overwhelming, and seemingly not full of great meaning, but the small moments, taken together, make our life perfect.