AZ monsoon season

 We have gotten some great storms this summer!

 For this one in particular, we had Brooklyn over (my niece). Natalie recently developed a phobia of big storms (thanks to the extreme weather exhibit at the AZ Science Center) so she didn't want to be out there very much. I did manage to get a couple of pics though.

 The rain came down in sheets like someone unzipped the clouds. It was awesome.

 Our front walkway became a river. Every water retention basin (aka park) nearby was turned into a lake.

 Here are my timid children. I love how Natalie is holding her umbrella in the house.

It was also very windy! Look at brave little Emily checking things out. I giggle every time I look at these.

Snow in July?

 The Phoenix Zoo has a snow day every year, and since this year Katie and Ryan have a season pass they invited us along to play in some snow. Ok, I will NEVER do this again. It was SO. DANG. HOT. First of all, the parking lot was full so we had to park in this alternate lot half a mile away or so. Then we had to walk across busy roads and through a path that led to the zoo through some desert landscaping and over bridges built over dry dirt. We had only a couple bottles of water and we drank them so fast. It reminded me of this other time we went to the fair and I had to push the stroller a very long way in hot weather. At least I wasn't preggo this time around!

 So by the time we got there {pant, pant} there was just a little hard packed snow left in some patches on a lawn. We only found one lonely little glove in our house that morning so Hannah was the lucky recipient.

 The kids liked the snow though, but they were confused, I'm sure. Why on earth is this giant ice cube sitting on this grass? Lol. Without the surrounding "winter" that usually accompanies snow, it wasn't anything like real snow.

 They were good sports and tried to make some snowballs.

 After about 10 minutes of patting the ice, we decided to book it over to the splash pad. Way more fun!

 They got nice and wet, then we high-tailed it back home. We were all sweaty and wilted by the time we got back to the car, but they were troopers and worked hard.

 Whew. Why do I live in AZ again? I always answer that question in the winter when the weather is more desirable!

Outside

 This is my new favorite picture of Mark. I love how the girls are gazing at him and he's got this relaxed, happy expression on his face.

 Another pinterest idea: Mix water, cornstarch, and food coloring for sidewalk paint. The girls really liked it.

 I guess Emily thought it was clothing paint instead.

Neat and tidy squares.

The weather has actually cooled off these past few weeks. It's been amazing and we've enjoyed every minute. The first thing Emily says every day is "Ous!" (outside). Unfortunately we have a neighbor that smokes and of course has to be out there frequently. How do you explain to a 19mo that we have to go inside for 10 minutes so we don't get lung cancer? Tantrum city. Oh man.

Natalie LOVES kindergarten. She has the nicest teacher, Mrs Giannetta. She is married and has a 4yo girl, which is highly interesting to the kids in the class, being about the same age. Natalie has made some friends in her class and other classes and talks about them quite a bit. It's so weird, that she has friends that I don't know. I suppose the days where I am intimately acquainted with all aspects of her life are over. She is in half day K so I get to have her all afternoon. She likes to play with friends but we only have a few options other than the kids in her class since most kids in our ward have all day K. Luckily there is a little girl who is homeschooled from N's primary class so they play. And she has another friend from preschool who lives close and she is doing another year of preschool because of her age so they play as well. I love to listen to them play and hear them pretend to be a parent. Han and Nat sound just like me, lol. It's a good way to hear where I need to make improvements!

Wherein I try to ignore mess

 I found a fun project on Pinterest recently where you mix Elmer's glue with shaving cream and make a shape on paper, then it dries as a puffy white thing. So we did that and made ghost shapes with intentions of putting eyes on later. Well, that lasted 2.4 minutes and then all they wanted to do was play with shaving cream. I'm ok with that and have some on hand from the dollar store for just this purpose. Normally there isn't quite as much clean up as there was this time though!

 I think Emily thought this was similar to bubbles in the bath and put it on her chin and mouth like they always do to pretend to be Santa. We were all laughing so hard because her mouth was only visible through a small hole in the shaving cream. We kept telling her, "say mama!" because her exaggerated jaw movements looked so funny!

 Then she put it over her eye and I left it since she didn't complain. That was also quite funny, then she started rubbing it and that's when the tears started. She got washed up and was fine after that.

 

The girls had a random 2pm bath after this activity. And it took me like 30 minutes to remove all traces of shaving cream from our kitchen table, chairs, floor, faucets, stairs, walls, bathroom mirror, and shower. But they had a fun time and we all got some belly laughs so it was totally worth it!

Here we go

Wow, I can't believe it's been this long {slap on the wrist}. Blogger looks completely different! Since I have no idea where to even start, I am going to start with today. And recent days.

 Miss Emily has been showing signs of being ready to potty train. So we got a little potty at a garage sale (ours was loaned out to someone and I forgot who) and after many accidents, she went!

 Natalie tried to get a picture of us together. Hannah was a more willing model.

I'm growing my hair out. It's been fun. I decided I wanted some day to day variety.

So back to the potty training. We are on pause right now because last week I had a cold and didn't have the energy to wipe up her potties all over the house. And this week she has a cold. So once we are both better, I'll be putting her on that thing every 15 minutes until she is trained! They say that cloth diapered babies train sooner than disposable dipe babies, and now I know why. Because their moms are tired of the laundry! lol

Cuteness

The other day we were driving in the car listening to music. Hannah started humming while Natalie continued singing, and Hannah decided to make the arrangement official by defining it for everyone:
Hannah: Natalie, you sing while me....um....
Natalie: hum?

Hannah: No, me sing with me lips closed! 

Emily turns one!

Remember when this little sweet bug was born?

Well, now she is one year old. Um, can we just push pause for a second please? Sheesh. She just got here!

We started her special day by singing "Happy Birthday." She loved it but of course had no idea what was going on. We went to Target and she helped pick out some toys, which we wrapped during her nap and presented to her when she woke up. She had two very willing helpers to open presents with her.

 Then we got a picture with everyone smiling! Amazing.

 We headed to the park to enjoy a beautiful day. Emily loves to climb up on the bottom of the slide and then get back down. She also likes to climb up and down the little stairs.

 Natalie was doing this on purpose. I'm told it's more comfortable than it looks. She was pretending to be a penguin sliding into the water.

 Hannah is feeling brave going down the smallest slide. She has come a long way, folks.

 Both girls love to swing. Emily does too, but this park does not have a baby swing.

 So she hung out with me on the grass and ate some bread.

 Emily can stand on her own for a long time but has yet to take that first step. I'm not worried. It'll happen. I'm giving her another two weeks.

 Natalie pushed Han while Em and I sat in the grass. How nice.

 We headed to my parents house (joined there by Mark's mom) for a birthday celebration. Mark bonded with his new little nephew, Charlie (Katie's kiddo). I think he wants a boy.

sEmily with her cuz Alta. They will be friends in three years or so.

 One of the few smiles of the night. She was tired, clingy, and grumpy. Note to self: Next birthday party needs to be held on a Saturday in the middle of the day. No more evening parties for this family.

 This is the face she had on most of the night.

 Cheer up Emily! You're about to have your first cake!

I love all the enthusiastic singers in this photo.

 Hmmm, trying it out.

She liked it ok, but she was done after a lick and a squish.

Opening presents. She got some books from Grandma Simonson and Grandma Barnes (Emily LOVES books), a pull toy from Grandma B, and a ball roller toy from cousin Tommy. We got her a phone toy and a singing glow worm. Both are well played with by her big sisters. :-)

We just love this little girlie girl! Some cute things I want to remember from this stage:

• She loves to wear necklaces. She finds them while crawling around, puts them on, and keeps them on until naptime. 
• She still makes that "ish" or "Ziss" or "sss" sound all the time. We can't really imitate it precisely but she does it a lot. 
• Emily loves dogs and pants like one to indicate any animal she sees. 
• She can climb up and down the stairs like a champ. 
• She has 6 teeth with molars threatening to come soon. 
• Emily has always been so cuddly. Even now she gives me the sweetest hugs with her little arms and lays her head on my shoulder frequently. If I lie down on the floor she wants to lay on me pronto. 
• She has learned to screech if one of her sisters is doing something that bothers her. Nice. 
• She gives big open mouthed kisses and can make a kissy sound with puckered lips. But hasn't combined the two actions yet. 
• Going outside is a favorite pastime. 
• She loves to read and spends entire car rides looking at books. We keep a small stash on the floor of the car for this purpose.
• Nurses 5x/day and 1-2x at night. I'm totally ok with her dropping the night time feeds any time now! lol 

 Happy birthday sweet little Emily!