McCrae Turns 4

Oh, McCrae...he really has become too smart for his own britches. He is such a negotiator when it comes to play time. No matter how many minutes I tell him he has left to play, he says, "but I want 60-45 minutes!" He knows the names of countless animals and dinosaurs. He is always carrying an animal, acting like an animal, or wanting to play animals-his favorite game being "Fighting Dinos." Conner is much better at this game than I, and McCrae is not afraid to tell me that either. Another favorite is playing polar bears. We lay out the minky blanket on the carpet as the bears' ice, and I sprinkle teddy grahams or goldfish crackers around the floor and he and the girlies "go fishing" and eat them up like bears. McCrae loves bugs. I can't even remember how many pet caterpillars we've had this summer. He says,"snuggle me" all the time, but doesn't have the attention span to snuggle for more than about a minute at a time. He loves his sisters and really is very good to them. He tells me which one is his favorite almost every day. This changes, of course, every day as well. McCrae has a great memory. He is getting extremely good at puzzles and practically memorizes where the pieces go. He loves to sing, has many of the Primary songs memorized (although he refuses to sing in sacrament meeting with the Primary), and has pretty good pitch. Although we're pretty sure we've spoiled him with attention as the first child (making self-entertainment and bedtime rather difficult) we wouldn't change anything about this curly-headed, underwear-wearing boy. Happy birthday buddy.

Family Pictures

Taking family pictures was an interesting experience, to say the least. Trying to get all 5 of us to look at the camera at the same time was pretty much impossible. Although we went back another night to try again, the one of all three kids expressing three different emotions may forever be my favorite family picture. We still can't believe all of these kids are ours.

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18 Months

These cute girls have gotten so fun the past couple of months. They're really growing up fast and we're enjoying them more every day. They may be twins, but they couldn't be more different. Hannah got a pixie cut shortly after these pictures were taken. She has always loved finding pieces of hair or string and running them through her lips...I always thought it was just a strange tactile thing, but since she's discovered she has hair on her head, she has been pulling it out! At first, I believe, just when she was bored. But ever since I've tried to stop her, she does it to spite me. Truly. When I won't give her what she wants, or when she's frustrated with something, she goes straight for her hair. It's so sad. But the pixie is really very cute on her. And despite this little quirk, she gives the best snuggles in the house. She loves to sit on your lap and read. She knows at least a dozen animal sounds. She loves to try on everyone's shoes and thinks she's pretty great when she can put them on herself. She is an EARLY riser-like 5:30 am early. Its terrible. But she wakes up so happy and is often singing the ABCs. We often find her in her crib without any bottoms on-she takes off her pants and her diaper and then wets the bed. We've started duct-taping he diaper on which seems to slow her down a bit.

Hannah got a pixie cut shortly after these pictures were taken. She has always loved finding pieces of hair or string and running them through her lips...I always thought it was just a strange tactile thing, but since she's discovered she has hair on her head, she has been pulling it out! At first, I believe, it was just when she was bored. But ever since I've tried to stop her, she does it to spite me. When I won't give her what she wants, or when she's frustrated with something, she goes straight for her hair. It's so sad. But the pixie is really very cute on her. And despite this little quirk, she gives the best snuggles in the house. She loves to sit on your lap and read. She knows at least a dozen animal sounds. She loves to try on everyone's shoes and thinks she's pretty great when she can put them on herself. She is an EARLY riser-like 5:30 am early. Its terrible. But she wakes up so happy and is often singing the ABCs. We often find her in her crib without any bottoms on-she takes off her pants and her diaper and then wets the bed. We've started duct-taping he diaper on which seems to slow her down a bit. She's discovered that biting really helps her get what she wants. Its been a tough habit to break but we're working on it. She loves the park and is really quite good at climbing the ladders and going down the slides. She loves music and always asks for Zootopia. "Uh uh uh uh uh..." We love Hannah Banana so much. She's a tough little thing, but has the softest little heart.

Heidi girl pretty even-tempered. She doesn't love snuggling, but she is pretty content most of the time. She sleeps like an angel. When we lie her in her bed she usually just says "nigh nigh, bye bye" and we don't hear another peep for the rest of the night. When she wakes in the morning-sometimes a full 2 hours after Hannah, she gives a big "HI!" and grabs everything in her crib to take with her for the day before she'll let you take her out. She often gets frustrated because her little arms aren't big enough to hold all of her treasures. She, too, loves the park and could swing for HOURS. Heidi loves to eat and will eat pretty much anything. She loves singing "Baaaaaaby Beluga"and starts to dance whenever she hears music. She waves goodbye with both hands high above her head. We all love Heidi so much. What a sweet personality she brings to our crazy family of five.

Virginia Beach

What a perfect trip with some fabulous friends. The beach house was perfect, the food was delicious, and I'm sure we're now officially life-long friends with the Field family.