Summertime fun!

Water play in the backyard...

The aftermath of popsicles...

Budding photographer...

Naomi is thrilled to troop around the house with our camera and take pictures. And everything qualifies as subject matter. I've deleted so many pictures of toys, floors, walls, etc.!

Daddy doesn't approve quite so much of me handing off our camera to the 4 year old! This is the look he gives her when she's shooting away like crazy!

Naomi's Preschool Graduation

Naomi thoroughly enjoyed her preschool experience this year, and she "graduated" mid-May. The rest of the kids in her class will be going to kindergarten, but Naomi was a year younger and will thus be returning to preschool.

Here is a picture of her class (started out bigger but lost a few along the way to schedule changes and moving):

Here Naomi is preparing to recite her selected nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty

And here we applaud her recitation of Humpty Dumpty

The receiving of the diploma...

...the hug for Ms. Dana...

...and the offer to give the paper back if she can just keep coming to preschool. :)

This has been a terrific experience for Naomi - she really thrived in the environment and cannot comprehend why anyone would want a summer break! May she continue to enjoy her schooling this much throughout the years!!

A catch-up post

Here are a few "catch-up" pictures since I haven't posted in a bit.

This was our first round of corn on the cob this year, back in May. It seemed to jump start our summer...because don't you think "SUMMER" when you see corn on the cob??

The kids went nuts over it!

On a completely separate note, we have been using a car mat my mom has had for many years. She let us bring it home in January, and we have played with it weekly, if not almost daily, since then!

At the end of April, I had some bleeding, which, due to having placenta previa, required monitored bedrest. I was in and out of the hospital for a day while they decided what to do with me, and then I was confined to a hospital bed for 48 hours. Joy of joys. Luckily, Matt was able to be with the kids that whole time, and it was the highlight of my days when they came to visit!

And here's a cheesy grin from our little boy, to send you on your way with a smile!

Mommy Q&A

One of Matt's friends has a little girl, Cora, who filled out this Q&A at preschool. They put it on their blog and I loved it! I asked Naomi the same questions and the words in blue are her answers!

My Mom

My mom is 20 years old.
My mom is (hands held about a foot apart) this tall.
My mom's favorite food is corn on the cob. (Not true - just Naomi's favorite part of last night's dinner.)
My mom loves to play princesses with me.
My mom waits and plays games and reads books with Gabe while I'm at school.
My mom's favorite thing to wear is a dress.
I love my mom because Heavenly Father sent me to her.

Gardening attempt

Matt tried a small garden again this year (key word being small). A rabbit took up residence under our shed, though, and decimated a good portion of the plants. Naomi was thrilled to help with the selecting of seeds and planting everything, though. Even dressed as Snow White, she condescended to get in the dirt and help Daddy!

I am pained!

Naomi saw her friend Zoey use a washcloth on her eyes to alleviate a headache. So Naomi wanted to try it out. Once she realized it was a little boring, she was done with it.

Hilarious image, though...our little girl is definitely one for dramatics!

Easter pictures!

Better late than never, and too fun to miss!

Snow cones at the park...serious business!

Naomi takes some pictures (check out Gabe's mop of hair!)

I love watching these kids walk while they hold hands!

Gabe insisted on finishing every single bit of that snow cone. Later, when I removed his shirt, I discovered blue streaks all down his tummy from the snow cone juice!

Naomi's favorite present EVER.

Dinner and another egg hunt at the Slivka's.
Gabe is hiding behind Isaac and Miley.

Meetup Moms of Tucson egg hunt

Gabe experiences the Duck Pond!

When I need a break and my kids need some distraction, I set up the duck pond. Or at least I used to set up the duck pond for Naomi. It's been a long, long time since we've done this. So the other day I set up the duck pond for Gabe and let him splash away to his heart's content!

Duck pond = bins, water, floaty toys and a towel.

Duck pond usually = happy mommy!

Gabe's new tie AND a belly picture!

Since we go to church every week, I wanted some ties for our little man. I found a tutorial on how to make ties for little boys from rejected adult ties (and we had a few of those around here!).

So here is my first effort at making Gabriel a tie. I love it!
And, surprisingly enough, he seemed to like it as well.

And here's a belly picture. I made the mistake of asking Matt to take a belly picture.
The first take had Gabe lifting up his shirt to show off his Buddha belly.
And the second take had Naomi lifting up HER shirt to show off her belly!

(No worries, I never lifted up my shirt to show you my actual belly!)

As a matter of interest, I just hit 24 weeks. At 22 1/2 weeks, we had a scare when I started bleeding. Since I have placenta previa (the placenta is completely covering the cervix), this was of major concern and I spent Thursday through Saturday in the hospital for monitored bedrest. Since then, I haven't been on bedrest at home but have had some restrictions given to me by the doctor. Luckily, there has been no recurrence of bleeding - whew!

Merrell Family Upgrade

As you may have discerned from the text in previous posts, we are upgrading from a family of four to a family of five!!

This little tyke is due August 21, and I am currently 22 weeks pregnant. Here are pictures from the 20 week ultrasound.

Peek-a-boo!

We're big on high fives in this family.

Gotta love sweet little baby feet!

In case you're wondering, we did not and will not be finding out if it's a boy or girl until the baby is born. So we are in suspense, just like everyone else!

Stuntman Gabe

This morning, Gabe was a bit screechy. After awhile of trying to gently redirect his behavior, I put him in time out in his crib. A few minutes later, I heard a crash and some crying. I assumed he had thrown his books against the wall and was crying to get out. I took my time getting in there, and THIS is what his bed looked like.

Yeah, that's blood.
And he was standing over it with blood covering the lower third of his face.

The blood had also dripped off the crib slats and was covering a bigger-than-my-hand spot on the carpet below.

I took him to the kitchen where I crushed some ice and put it in a cup. Once he saw me getting out the ice, he calmed right down. Hopefully he doesn't do these things to get crushed ice!!! I am happy to provide it at times he's not injured, too!

Here he is munching on crushed ice, happy as a clam. I slowly wiped him up and then left the kids to enjoy their ice while I tackled cleaning the room.

The cleanup wipes and Gabe's pajama. I should have included my shirt, too. It required a fair bit of attention to make sure it didn't stain, too.

I think he cut or bit his tongue somehow, since I can see a cut up pretty high on his tongue. I have NO IDEA how he did it, though.

Naomi never did this. Gabe has a split lip, bloody mouth, or nasty skinned knee weekly. Hopefully he masters the moves he's working on and can market them later on as a stuntman. Then at least all this blood and craziness will be building up to something productive!

Latest creations

Naomi needed some skirts to wear this summer, so I started with this one. This is the first time I've done a tiered skirt, and it was simple and fun. The hardest part is picking out the material...I have a hard time envisioning possibilities! I'll post a picture of her other skirt (not a tiered one) when she wears it.

I suppose this isn't really a "creation", but I was very tired of Gabe's hair looking long and unkempt. I was also tired of shelling out money at a hair cutting salon for his hair to be trimmed. So I decided to experiment with Matt's clippers. This time around I just used the 4 all over; now that I know how that looks, I can adjust for next time.

Here were my tactics:
...stools
...in the bathroom
...a movie playing on the tv right outside the bathroom door
...suckers
...speed

Check out this mop of hair that used to be attached to Gabe's head!

They were good sports.

Apparently the sucker wasn't enough, and Gabe had to eat part of the stick too.

Stuff about Me (Tagged!)

I got tagged awhile ago by JD's wife Sarah (JD is my cousin on my mom's side). I don't think I've ever followed up on being tagged prior to this, but here goes! Here are things about me in groups of 4.

4 shows I like to watch (well, we don't have any channels right now. But when we did, these were my shows):

1. Bones

2. Criminal Minds

3. So You Think You Can Dance (my favorite dance is the krumping, which Matt finds hilarious since I'm a little white girl from the sticks who has no rhythm!)

4. ....hmmmm, something from the History or National Geographic Channel

4 things I'm passionate about:

1. Reading
   
2. Fitness/exercise
   
3. The Gospel of Jesus Christ
   
4. My husband and kids
   

4 phrases I say a lot:

1. "So..."(with a pause...it drives me AND my husband nuts. It's like I am establishing that I need to say something, and then I have to collect my thoughts to express myself coherently. Argh.)
   
2. "I love you!" I have great kids and a fabulous husband. What else am I supposed to say?
   
3. "Look at that!" I have small children who love to see all kinds of things (or I need to distract them from other destructive behavior!).
   
4. "What should we sing?" Refer to the points above where I note that I have small children. Also, note that the CD player in my car is broken. So we sing a lot.
   

4 things I have learned from the past:

1. Be proactive...I spent a lot of time waiting on other people before I figured out I could make things happen myself!
   
2. Listen more than I talk. Don't interrupt other people so much. My experiences are not always as cool or applicable as I may think!
   
3. Don't always trust first impressions. Great friends can come from unexpected places!
   
4. Excesses of good things are still excesses (like my occasional reading binge...sorry, babe!)
   

4 places I would like to go:

1. Scuba diving almost anywhere! I had a brief taste of this in a training pool and loved it!
   
2. New Zealand. Lush landscape, outdoor sports, and yes, LOTR sites.
   
3. Havasupai
   
4. Antarctica
   

4 things I did yesterday:

1. Researched how to modify skirts for pregnancy
   
2. Read books with the kids - always a favorite!
   
3. Took the kids to a belated Easter egg hunt.
   
4. Talked to my grandpa to wish him a happy birthday!
   

4 things I'm looking forward to:

1. Baby coming in August!!
   
2. Matt finishing his PhD and us moving beyond studenthood (probably also in August!)
   
3. Taking classes again (I'm hoping Matt will eventually teach at a regular university so I can do this at a discounted price!)
   
4. Living closer to family so I can see them much more often (although I have absolutely no idea if this will ever happen!)
   

4 things I love about winter:

1. Snow!
   
2. Christmas festivities
   
3. Soups and bread bowls
   
4. Hot chocolate
   

4 things on my wish list:

1. Cricut...I have so many crafts I want to do which would be made MUCH simpler with this tool!
   
2. Books. Some new ones I've recently read, but lots of classics and oldies which I don't have on my shelf.
   
3. Right now...skirts I can alter to work for a pregnant chick. I am, after all, going to be hugely pregnant. In Tucson. In the summer.
   
4. A new pan...my pan handle has been cracking for awhile and completely gave out today.
   

Trip to a cabin!

In late March, we spent a few days at a cabin with the Mumfords and Angie (I would say the Whitakers, except Richie was home studying like crazy for his orals, which he successfully completed!).

For the 4-hour drive, we packed Angie and Mylie into our van. Gabe and Naomi were relegated to the back seat, which they loved so much that their carseats are still back there (and we've been home two weeks!). Here's a picture of Mylie, Naomi and Gabe on the return drive. Serious thanks to Angie for pulling crying control duty!

The cabin where we stayed...we actually only saw it from this angle on the last day we were there, when we were playing in a snow fort (pictured later).

Sledding was one of my favorite parts of the trip. My kids, especially Gabe, LOVED it! I really loved going down with him time and again. (I actually haven't been sledding in years, so I may admittedly been having as much fun as Gabe...)

Love the look on Matt's face here...

Not being well versed in appropriate snow behavior (we do live in Tucson, after all), Naomi didn't understand until too late why she shouldn't sit directly in the snow for long periods of time.

There was a random snow...bowl? It was probably created by the people in the cabin before us, and we trooped down to check it out on our last day. It was actually kinda hard to get to it; I put Naomi and Gabe in a sled and pulled them down to it. I broke through the snow about knee-deep every other step or so!

See the yucky snow on the sides and the bottom? Yep, Gabe is munching on some of that. I couldn't keep the dirty snow out of his mouth all three days!

The kids actually looking at the camera at the same time...Brooklyn is in the red coat, and Mylie is modeling that awesome doo-rag. (Being a spelling fanatic, I actually googled that term to make sure I wasn't spelling it incorrectly.)

On the way back up the hill; all four on the sled did not last for long.

We had a terrific time with lots of laughing, a couple people falling down the spiral staircase (luckily it was just adults who fell and not kids!), fun in the snow and fun playing games.
What a terrific vacation!