Monday, February 11, 2019

we're alive and i've got a million photos to prove it!

The other day my girls started asking me about pictures of them when they were babies, and of course my immediate thought was to hop on this little ol' blog because I've documented each of their births here, and I am so dang grateful I did! After looking at each of their birth pictures, they started getting glimpses of other posts and pictures we hadn't seen in ages and the they couldn't stop scrolling and laughing and then asking for more. I quickly remembered why I created this space. It is full of so many of our sweet memories and pictures that would take me ages to find in my collection of external hard drives. So, here I am again, with a major life update because if nothing else these pictures that are just sitting on my phone need to be published here so they don't get lost in the shuffle and I can come back and just stare at these sweet faces twenty years from now.

Obviously this past year has been filled with Miss Hannah Mary Ann, the apple of all of our eyes. She will be one year in about a month. Pretty surreal.



Hannah was a bit of a fussy little thing for a good chunk of her early months. She rarely fell asleep in the car and at night would wail in her carseat in the back seat of the car until we got home. It honestly made me sweat, I hated it so much. I remember William doing something similar, but Hannah did it until she was over six months. We are all praising the heavens that phase is over. She also became a mama's girl pretty early on as well, which was equal parts sweet and exhausting. Again, grateful she's grown out of that phase too. 


She didn't chunk up quite like our other kids did, (although she did get some nice rolls there at the beginning), but honestly is tinier now at nearly 11 months than any of our other kids were. She's our petite little thing.

Hannie at six weeks. Gosh, those cheeks are as good as they get.



Louisa graduated from preschool in May. Our preschool is literally just down the street and our friend Tammy from our ward runs it. I love her so much and so do my kids. Below is Lou's preschool boyfriend, Santana. She misses him so much. My girls are so boy crazy...not unlike their mother was.



I took a similar picture when I was pregnant with Hannah, but below us is the grave of her namesake, Hannah Mary Ann Dawson Wiseman. I still can't believe she's buried just down the street from us and we didn't know it.


Three month little squish.


Summer was so much fun! Lots of backyard pool time, hanging out with friends and then lots of cousin time! Willsy in his little Euro swimsuit makes me so happy.


 Four month Han!


We went with cousins up to the lake for Lou's 5th birthday. It was pretty windy and we all almost got taken out by our umbrella, but it was so fun!



Birthday cake for Lou with family! I love how she's holding out her dress here.


I don't know what it is about Will eating, but I could seriously watch him all day. He just cracks me up.


I am also obsessed with seeing my older kids love on Hannah. I mean, it also stresses me out sometimes, but mostly I just love to see them love her.


Jeremiah's Jeep was a big hit last summer, but all my kids were terrible at driving it except Minnie. He was nice to share and luckily William was pleased to just be along for the ride most of the time.


Hannah's selfie game started getting really strong.


William and his tools, man. This kid is 100% BOY. He is a love of all things tools, guns, ninjas, swords, wrestling, etc, etc. I am obsessed with him. He was such a sweet little snuggly mama's boy up until he turned two, and then he became the wildest little tornado. I mean, the sweet side is still there, you just have to dig a little to find it. 


Bountiful car show with cousins!


Face paint that they begged for and then soon thereafter begged to take off. Story of our lives but it's generally worth it.


Father's Day 2018 with this sweet daddy-o and his ragamuffin squad. We are all so lucky to have this good soul as the main man of our house. He is a human jungle gym to these little babies and they're always begging for one more story, one more wrestle and one more tickle from him. He is the most good-natured person on earth and puts up with all of my bossiness and sass. Bless him.


Backyard baby pool days with friends. Our big yard is so much fun but is so much work and Robert and I have quickly realized we aren't the best gardeners. We may need to downsize in the outdoor space in the next house we buy.



We got season passes again to Lagoon. Our kids love it so much. Every year we wonder if we are going to do it again, and then we always do. This year was especially fun because William graduated to a bunch of the bigger rides and was in LOVE!  Minnie can also no go on pretty much every ride in the park so Robert and I enjoyed trading off taking her on some of our favorites. I love that she's such a daredevil. Lou, on the other hand, spent much of her time at the park afraid she was going to get lost and clinging to us tightly. We lost her at Temple Square the day Julia and Pete got married and she spent months after the fact working through it. Julia and Pete had come out of the temple and we were all packing up to move to the shadier side of the temple for pictures. There were millions of cousins and aunts and uncles and I had Will and Hannah and just figured the big girls were walking over with someone else. However, when we got up on the temple stairs for pictures Lou was nowhere to be found. Of course I went into major panic mode. My aunt Alison ran one way around the temple and I went the other and she ended up finding her with a woman from another group. I gave Lou the biggest hug and she just melted into a puddle of tears. I guess she had just been busy playing on the stairs or something and didn't realize we'd left. She's been much more aware ever since...and so have I.


After 5 babies for her and 4 for me, Charlotte and I finally had babies in the same year! Hannah was born in March and Harrison was born in June. Can't wait to see these two together this summer! I can't help but hate that they live across the world, but I'm so grateful we get to make memories for a month or two each summer when they head to our neck of the woods.


I barely took any pictures on my phone the day of Julia's wedding. In fact, I pretty much only took videos which I put together in a little compilation which I'll link at the end. The wedding was so fun! Julia was as happy as I'd ever seen her and has been ever since. She and Pete are an incredible fit for each other and Pete has become a very beloved uncle very quickly. My kids are in love with him.



Cousin water day! Look at that baldy baby snuggled in a towel. I can't believe how much she's changed!



Mecham party up at the Collard cabin this year did not disappoint! Good food, four-wheeler rides, a little exploring and lots of relaxing made for such an incredible day.




Bob has mastered the art with sleeping with a baby on top of him.


A little fishing day with cousins at Bountiful Pond. It was only slightly stressful with those fishing lines flying all over the place. Luckily no one had their eyes pulled out by a hook. No fish were caught but a lot of M+M's were enjoyed.



Can't even believe this crew! We've recreated this picture now for three years in a row and it's so much fun to see the changes through the years.



Love these sweetie boys who learned how to punch, wrestle and hold hands with each other this summer.


Our last night together. Always stinks saying goodbye to these guys.


In August we went up to Robert's sister Liz's cabin in Idaho. We'd gone once before and this time was equally as great. Liz honestly makes everything fun and I love to be with her. We all do. We'd just found out I was pregnant with Hannah last year and it was so nice to have her there with us this year. The place is so amazing, nestled right next to a little lake. We love paddle boarding and playing on the beach Liz and Chad have created. I'm the worst at taking pictures of everyone who came, but there was a good crew this year. These are pretty much the only pictures I got.






The next week we headed to Washington DC to go visit my grandparents. It was so much fun! We did a little exploring downtown, but also spent a lot of time just hanging at my grandparent's house. I was so grateful we got to see them. It's been awhile and I've really missed them. My girls especially loved hanging out down in the basement coloring, playing with the vintage Barbie's and playing Mario on the good ol' Nintendo. As we boarded our flight home, Lou asked me if we could go there the next year for her birthday. It was obviously a hit.



Sightseeing with kids is not for the faint of heart. It was unbearably hot and we walked a ton and everyone was just so tired. We tried to go to the WWII museum and it was a major bust. William was at his wits end and so were we. Lesson learned: sightsee when the kids are all over the age of 8.


My cousin Kathryn who also lives in Maryland invited us to join her family for a day trip to the beach. It was kind of a marathon of a day, driving about 3 hours both ways, but we hauled ourselves out to Rehoboth Beach for the day, which was totally packed, but it was still so fun and great to be able to spend some time with them.


I have such a deep love for this place and these people. My grandma and grandpa are the kindest hosts and made us feel so welcome. I told my grandma to not worry about a thing while we were there, but of course she'd gone shopping before we arrived and made dinner for us almost every night. She whipped something up with things she had in her fridge one night that included mashed potatoes and chicken and broccoli and told us it was just a little concoction she'd thrown together. Minnie was SO impressed and still talks about what an incredible cook my grandma is. She's not wrong! I love everything my grandma makes, including her famous "beer bread" that she always seems to keep a can or two of beer in the fridge for and which she made for us while we were there. I love her! I also love that in this picture we are standing by Grandpa in his element...at the table with a stack of newspapers, likely some crosswords laying in there somewhere, and either the news, Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune on in the background.



First day of second grade for Minnie in Mrs. Hagloch's class. This girl has never looked back since she was a baby. She is always ready for the next adventure and as confident as can be. She performed again in her school talent show this year, singing "You Are My Sunshine" while Robert accompanied her on the guitar. She's also in acting classes right now and getting ready to perform in "Mulan Junior" as a maiden and a hun. She's our performer through and through and I hope she never loses her confidence.


First day of kindergarten for Lou in Mrs. Barnes class. The teacher pretty much had to pry her out of my hands to get her into the classroom and it broke me a little. Lou was still really traumatized from getting lost at the wedding and really wanted to be brave but just couldn't quite muster the courage to let go of my hand. I snuck inside the school a minute later just to peek in the classroom to make sure she was ok, which she was. After about a week she was doing so much better and she now loves school so much. Such a relief!


A picture per Lou's request. She is such a ham, loves to joke and is always out to have a good time. She is truly my wild girl and that's why it killed me when she kind of lost a bit of her gumption after getting lost. Never fear, it's back in full force and we are all enjoying it thoroughly.


Hannah at 6 months! Just starting to sit up, in love with bananas and a bit of a terrible sleeper. She was born with her eyes wide open and we all laughed because she looked like a deer in headlights the majority of time up until a few months ago and it was hilarious. It was around this time that Hannah got so busy and easily distracted that she rarely nursed, wouldn't really take a bottle and only liked solids occasionally. It freaked me out because I felt like she was never getting enough to eat and was going to waste away. Honestly, looking at pictures now, I kind of feel like she has, but luckily the doctor didn't seem too concerned and now she's eating like a champ, but still tiny as can be (to a mom that's used to monster bubba babies).


I love seeing my kids playing together. My girls are obsessed with Hannah, until she comes in and starts ruining their toy "set ups."


Is it strange that I could watch William eat all day? He's just so cute! Also, we finally remodeled our kitchen and broke down the wall separating it from the living space. We love it so much. Robert and I tiled the backsplash, and as you can see in this picture, we hadn't grouted it quite yet at this point, but were just so dang excited to have a kitchen again. Because of timing between subcontractors and waiting on countertops and such, we were out of a kitchen for two months. I felt like we were camping in our own home. Praise the heavens that's over and we don't have to wash our dishes in the bathroom anymore! So gross.


I hope these two will be good friends. William was so, so gentle with Hannah up until about two months ago. I'm hoping she'll be willing to wrestle with him, because there's a good chance he won't have any brothers.


Fall in the backyard, playing in the leaves, eating apples from the tree and trying to avoid the deer poop. Pretty magical!


These two can be the best of friends or the worst of enemies, but isn't that the case with all siblings? I feel like when Minnie's at school they have the best time together, but once she's home three quickly becomes a crowd. Hopefully Hannah will even the playing field here pretty soon and everyone will have someone.


The obsession with this girl is real. I get it. I'm obsessed too. And do you see the deer in headlights?


Our Halloween super hero squad and pet cat! The kids were all very much in charge of the costumes this year. A big shout out to Costco for providing most of them.


One of my favorite pictures ever. William was SO pleased! Also, he insists he is not Superman but Superboy. He corrects us if we say anything different.


See, fun dad in action.


Cute cousin buddies in their randomly matching jammies. I think Jeremiah still considers William a baby (Will's a year younger than J) and I'm hoping that in the next year they will become good buds because Will needs a brother.


Sink baths in the new kitchen!


Christmas morning 2018! It was such a magical year with all these little Santa believers. Minnie and Lou both asked for LOL dolls, Hatchimals and American Girl dolls. Williams request was a gun and swords. Like I said, all boy. Where does he even get this stuff?


We surprised the kids with a little staycation at the Little America the week after Christmas. It was so much fun but also so tiring. I think it's a tradition we will continue year after year and I think it will just get more fun as our kids get older and we will actually all sleep at night. We went and saw the windows and the giant gingerbread house at the Grand America, took Trax to get some pizza, came back to the hotel to swim and came back to the room for candy and games and a Jazz game.


I have really made an effort to get Minnie up and going with skiing and she has done so well this year! It was a rough start after not going since she was five, but now she's rocking and rolling and it's so fun! We took William and Lou up to Park City's magic carpet to get them going too, but neither of them liked it much. Lou just kept begging to go home. I took will down with me on my skis a couple times and then he loved it. I think once he figures out how to go fast on his own he'll be hooked.



I just love these babes so much.


Hannah has become the happiest little pumpkin. She is busy, busy, busy and has been since she could control her little hands and even more so since she's been mobile. She didn't start crawling until she was about 8 months, and even then it was an army crawl. That army crawl finally turned into a real crawl and now this little monkey is pulling herself up on everything, climbing stairs and scaring the daylights out of me and she's pleased as punch. She still just feels like the tiniest little nugget to me and so I've been supplementing my milk with formula since about a month or two ago.


A bit of a better view of the new kitchen and Lou trying to help Hannah walk. Life is sure sweet. I must admit that it feels pretty daunting some days trying to meet everyone's needs, especially when they often all happen at once. Sometimes I feel like I might go batty and I hand everyone over to Bob for a minute so I can just be and regroup, but when it comes down to it this is the life I've always wanted and I'm sure these are the days I'll miss the very most when our house is quiet and toyless. I can't even imagine that. I don't want to. I guess a time and a season for everything, and I'm honest to goodness enjoying this one, even if I can't keep my eyes open most of the time.

And, as promised, here is the video from Julia and Pete's wedding. Such a good day!





No comments:

Post a Comment