The Fabulous Five

Today I clicked on the "Gal Pals" link on my blog.

Looking at photos of my friends brought back so many memories, but most of all it got me so excited to see these people in a few weeks!

So let's look at our friendship through the years, shall we?

 This is me in 5th grade. I played the French horn.

It is very apparent in this photo of how popular I was. 

Everybody wanted to be best friends with the girl in the oversized sweater that played French horn!

So, it was no surprise to anyone when I became best friends with two of the brainiest and most creative kids in school, Jael and Lecia.

Then I met Brityn (and Cameron).

I remember the first day I met these two.

We were in Primary at the Marana building, and I was impressed that they already had braces!

But our lives would never be the same when we met Nicole.

I mean, where else would we get the insider information on all things Frank Sinatra and Mafia?

(By the way, I totally credit this photo for launching my photography career.)

We were so awesome.

In fact, we were so cool that we made our own amazing movie and had a very fancy movie premier dinner.

If you read that last line in a sarcastic tone, then you read it correctly.

And then we said goodbye to our favorite friend/brother/crush/irksome-person, Cameron, as he left for his mission.

Lecia cried,

as usual.

Yet we continued to dance.

We even had our own exclusive dance party during Lecia's wedding reception.

I can't wait to see you guys!!

Nicole, I hope you've got a playlist all made out for us.

Easter!

 First, the egg-dying.

But what to do with cracked eggs?

This was Sabrina's reaction everytime we took the eggs out of the dye. Surprise, Sabrina! They go in white and come out colorful!

 Dad is the expert, by the way.

 Oh. A face.

  Easter Morning Surprise: Books!

(Good Night, Gorilla is for Lauren [not pictured]).

 Someone's harvest.

 Someone's breakfast.

Princess Leia Mini-Buns

 The one time I actually do my daughter's hair cute needs to be documented.

Theme: Happiness

MACRO baby

About a week after Lauren was born, I rented the 100mm f/2.8 macro lens so I can document her little details. Let's just say that there is a learning curve to using a macro lens. I only had it for two days so I didn't have time to perfect my technique, but here's a few of what I got:

 

Introducing Lauren

Lauren Joslin

March 2, 2015

7:24 pm

7 lb 10 oz

20½ in

We had a baby. She is a sweet, cuddly little newborn. Baby snuggles are amazing. She sleeps quite a bit. And by that I mean, she actually sleeps through the night (5-6 hours!), which is great for us but not so great for my milk supply. Her gray eyes remind me of Sabrina, yet her size reminds me of Sophie. All in all, I think she has a very individual look.

Here is Sophie and Sabrina's first meeting of their very red sister:

I was worried how the girls would take to a new baby (especially Sabrina) but when they first met her I could see that they instantly fell in love with their new sister. Sabrina had that happy/curious/affectionate look on her face when she met Lauren.... and then she saw I had apple juice, and transferred her enamored look to my drink.

Birth Story.
I feel like I need to share a very exciting, detailed birth story, yet really, I don't feel like there is much to tell. Dr. Holmes stripped my membranes in his office around noon-ish. I went to the hospital around 3ish. We watched lots of Castle episodes until I hated everything in the room. I didn't have an epidural and it HURT. She was delivered around 7:24. I pushed 2 or 3 times. Afterwards, I asked Dave if he had ever seen that side of me before and he said I get like that when I get gluten poisoning.

Well, like Sabrina, this little girl was tongue tied. We snipped that last week which has made nursing a little better, though we still have pain and latch problems. I don't know how I had a perfect nursing experience with Sophie, because both Sabrina and Lauren have been quite problematic!

Here is a very tired me holding a ball of snuggles:

*Confession: I actually Photoshopped out the huge bags under my eyes. I don't know why I'm telling you. I just want to be honest, I guess. But believe me, the picture looks better without them.

And now some thoughts on her name.
Dave and I had absolutely NO IDEA what to name her. Well, I mean we had ideas, but none of them were jumping out to both of us. Dave really liked the name Penelope, and we were really close to naming her that. I will tell you why. Have you seen that cute movie called Penelope? It's about a girl with a pig nose. Well, when Lauren was born she was making snorting sounds--like a pig! Also, when we found out we were pregnant we asked the girls if they thought it was going to be a girl or boy. Sabrina's response? "Pig!" So you see, Penelope would have been a great name for her!...except she just didn't look like a Penelope to me. To solve our dilemma, we asked Sophie which name she liked better: Penelope or Lauren? Obviously, she chose Lauren. And I'm glad that she did. 

3 girls. I can't believe it.

The BEST Kid Books

Let's pretend I'm Oprah for a moment and you care about what my favorite things are.

Okay. Great idea, you say.

Then let's get to it.
I love spending money on hardbound, quality children's books--the kind of books that both my kids and I will read over and over again. There are some real winners out there right now and I'm trying to keep up with all of them. So here is my current list of my most favorite books to read with my kids.

Journey by  Aaron Becker. This is a no-words picture book*. The drawings and story telling are exquisite and the girls can't get enough of this one.

*Confession: I am really bad at "reading" wordless picture books. Soph and Sabrina like me to talk over the book and I never know what to say to describe each scene! The book is still great, though.

* * * * *

Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann. I have always been a huge fan of this book. I only have a flimsy version of this book and the pages got torn out and put back in the wrong place (my doing). So now, we get to buy a new copy. By the way, everything by Peggy Rathmann is wonderful such as: 10 Minutes Till Bedtime, The Day the Babies Crawled Away, and Officer Buckle and Gloria.

 * * * * *

Anything by Mo Willems. He's a crowd pleaser and the modern day Dr. Seuss according to some review I saw somewhere.

 * * * * *

 Stuck (or "Duck" if you pronounce it the way Sabrina does) by Oliver Jeffers. This is a recent discovery and the entire family L-O-V-E-S this one.

* * * * *

I Want My Hat Back and This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen. Simple and hilarious.

* * * * *

 Adele and Simon by Barbara McClintock. This is a find and seek book that will keep little people busy looking for lost items in the story.

* * * * *

And that is my list. 

Now, if you will look under your chair you will find one of these books as a free gift from Barnes and Noble! 

Just kidding. That was me trying to be Oprah again.

What are some of your favorite children's books?

2014 Stories

I have a little magnetic notepad on the fridge. On it I write all the little silly things Sophie and Sabrina say. Here are the stories I wrote down from this past year:


At the 2013 Hancock Christmas white elephant gift exchange, Dave scored a new frilly pink apron with cupcakes on it. Later, back at home, Lindsey used it while baking. Sophie didn't really like her using it. "That's Daddy's apron!" she said.


Lindsey to Sophie and cousins Kingston and Lowe: " You can eat your cheese crisp first, and then you can eat a cookie."
Sophie: "Yeah. That's what I do. I eat the good food first and then after that I can eat the bad food."


Sophie: "Sabrina is so cute. When I get kids, they're gonna think this baby is so cute."


Sophie: " Is it not spring break anymore?"
Dave: "Nope. Spring Break is over."
Sophie: "Yea!"


As we were getting ready for church one morning, everyone was packing their bags with all their essential "church things." So while Lindsey was packing the diaper bag, Dave was gathering his notebook, and Sophie was packing toys into her bag. Sabrina came out with her bag full of little shoes. She walked out the door with the bag in one hand and another shoe and blankie in the other.


Sophie, waving the American Flag: "Happy Fourth of July!"
Dave: "Do you know what that holiday is for?"
Sophie: "Uh-huh!"
Dave: "What?"
Sophie: "I forgot."


Sophie to Lindsey: "I figured out your favorite day is sleep day."
True dat.


Lindsey asked Sophie to do something, but Sophie was playing a Lego game on the tablet.
Sophie: "I can't! I'm working!"


Lindsey was taking a poll of the family, to see if everyone thought the new baby would be a girl or a boy.
Here are their answers:
Sophie: "Boy."
Lindsey: "Boy."
Dave: "Girl."
Sabrina: "Pig!"


Sabrina slept in to almost 10am one morning, which is very unusual!
Lindsey said to her when she finally woke up: "What are you? A teenager?"
Sabrina: "Yes."


Sophie: "Mom, remember when you used to make cookies?"
Lindsey: "Um, yeah."
Sophie: "Why don't you make them anymore?"
Lindsey had made some a few days ago.


What we found in our garbage disposal after it stopped working:
2 chopped up sippy cup stoppers
7 rocks
1 beat up jar lid.


While driving through ASU campus, Lindsey explained to Sophie: "This is where big kids got o school. They can take classes to become a doctor, or a teacher..."
Sophie: "Or they can learn to drive a bus!"
Lindsey: "Yeah. I don't think they have classes on that here."

Christmas Day