Just wanted to post some more pics of our little growing family, and now that the holidays are over, I am finally getting around to doing it:)
Mariah is growing into quite the gal out here in North Carolina! She LOVES her full-day kindergarten, although Ben and I still aren't used to having to wake up at 6 in order to get Mariah to the bus stop by 6:40 every morning. She is doing a great job with her reading, and she and I are almost finished with the first pictureless chapter book that we have enjoyed reading out loud together! It is Roald Dahl's THE BFG, and it was my favorite from my 4th grade year. She could do art all day long, she loves "running down the hill" (said HEEL) on the way home from the bus stop, she loves going to workout at the "zone" at the YMCA, she loves playing makeup and jumping on the trampoline with friends, she loves torturing (otherwise known as playing with) Mitt and being Heidi's big sis. She has tried tumbling, karate, dance, and chearleading since we have been in NC, but is currently LOVING the time to just hang out at home after her long day at school!
Mitt is a kid that I wish the world could know:) I can't help but smile if not laugh out loud when I think of him! He speaks in full long sentences, and we have adult conversations ALL DAY long. Kid won't stop talking unless he is in an unfamiliar place, ie Nursery or at the house of somebody he doesn't know, where he is VERY SURPRISINGLY quiet and shy. He won't go play with the kids or even talk to anyone but me! But if you know him, you can't help but love him. Every Sunday his nursery teachers tell me how much they love how chill he is, and that they (husband and wife team in the nursery) go home after church and talk about how much they love Mitt. At the YMCA daycare, which he loves and requests daily, the workers always tell me how smart he is and how impressed they are with his vocabulary and pronunciation of words. He always gets stickers as he leaves because he UNASKED cleans up all the toys he played with, all the while singing, "Clean up, clean up, everybody do your share!" He gives me hugs all day long and always tells me I look cute, or my shirt is cute, or my sweatpants are cute, or my hair is cute, you get the idea:) He always asks me for hugs, and he is SO SWEET with Heidi-licious, which is what he calls his little sis, along with Sweetie and Darling. Moo-why-a (Mariah) is his example in everything, for good or for bad, and he LOVES playing with her, doing makeup, legos, lincoln logs, or his personal obsession, Thomas the Tank Engine. I never knew one boy could have such a love of all-things-Thomas, but Mitt does. He goes to bed everynight with his "friends" on his bed (all his Thomas engines and friends), all aligned and ready to drive on his train tracks, all his Thomas books, which he basically has memorized, all while he is kept warm and comfy by his Thomas slippers, blanket, and pillow pet. Can you tell I am crazy about this charming little boy of mine?
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Heidi Miss is the SWEETEST little baby! She laughs all day long, smiles her jack-o-lantern smile (2 bottom teeth, 1 top middle, and 2 on each side of the upper middle) at everyone, and is just a pleasure to have as my daughter! She adores Mitt, and it is so fun having the 2 of them together all day long and watching their relationship develop and blossom as Heidi is more able to "communicate" and move around on her own. She loves her beautiful big sister Mariah too, and she loves when Mariah picks her up and carries her around. Heidi is just learning how to crawl, and I am still getting used to having to watch what I put down on the ground, because she CAN get to it! I love this little girl and can't wait to continue to get to know her and see who she becomes!
Ben is doing great:) He actually enjoys being a primary teacher in church to the 8 year olds, who I work with in activity days in my calling! Work is busy, but he was hoping for that! He is starting to get back into regular running and exercise; he did (part of) my bootcamp class I hosted for the two of us this past Saturday, and he will be the first to admit I kicked his butt, but after the week he had traveling with his friend Tom, he needed (and deserved) a major whooping:) Ben travels regularly, which leaves me home in NC with the 3 littles, so we always look forward to when Ben gets back. One day Ben was just upstairs and I asked Mitt where dad was to which Mitt replied, "I don't know, he's probably on vacation." That's how much Ben is gone:)
I am loving it here in beautiful warm North Carolina! It is so warm!!!! Did I mention it is warm? After coming home to UT for Christmas and running in the 3 degree weather (it was actually awesome and not cold right Katie?????!!!), it was like summertime coming back to 70 degrees! We have even already enjoyed Ben's Christmas present, an outdoor smokeless firepit, as we roasted marshmallows and ate smores outside in the middle of January, and Mitt was wearing nothing but a diaper! I ran in the Charlotte Marathon in November, and it was BY FAR the best marathon experience I have had to date. I didn't even use my ipod, and I actually beat Ben and the kids to the finish line! Today I started my first sewing class, and for Christmas Ben got me the Canon Rebel T3 camera, and I can't wait to start with photography classes, starting in February! I miss my family and friends being so far away, but I just wish somehow all of them could come move here with us! Max dog is still the best dog in the world, and of the 3 kids, Heidi is the one who seems most taken with Max. Though he hardly ever runs with me anymore (narrow roads and no sidewalks don't allow room for him to join me), and he has packed on a few pounds, I think he is generally happy with his new little spot in the world.
