who wore it best?

stover girl

or stover baby?

stover girl

or stover baby?

stover girl

or stover baby?

mommy's buried/ bucket list:

run with the bulls in pamplona
attend the world cup
hold a church calling playing the piano
be on a gameshow
own a crafting or baking business
write a children's novel entitled 'slubs'
practice social work at the mayo clinic
go on an african safari
be fluent in spanish
own a boat
make a sizable donation to pbs and byu
visit all 50 states in the nation
be in a white-haired racquetball league with my husband

move over ABCs

stover girl's self-imposed homework was to learn to tie her shoes (just like a boy in her class can). she is so excited to surprise her coach with one less student needing help with those darn laces!

a deficit of control

with the introduction of school in the lives of stover fam, i had anticipated sheer panic with little control over stover girl's day. but what i've found instead has been panic with less control over stover baby's day. sleeptraining attempts during a busy schoolyear have brought to light the difference in environment that this third child came to. not only does she buckle up in a van that does exactly what it was made to do and often, she also came to a small home brimming with occupancy and received a much busier mother. over the past two weeks, many mommy tears have been shed wondering if i'm cheating this sometimes ignored, closet-sleeping, dragged along to errands baby. will stover baby thrive with a bit more unspecific mothering?

every time she flashes a smile before the van's in reverse, i'm reassured that she'll be okay- pacifier sleep crutch and all!

bathroom curiosities

stover boy has voiced lots of bathroom curiosities* lately. the other day, he said, 'i want to wipe my bum on my own'. i then proposed what seemed most natural- that stover boy would begin practicing wiping his bum but still asking for mom's assistance to check. he thought about it for a second and said, 'i know... how about i wipe YOUR bum?'

*others include: asking for more specific terminology than just 'privates', telling dad he thinks he would like to go to the bathroom 'that way' and multiple attempts to do so, standing on the toilet seat singing dora tunes at the top of his lungs, and sitting on the bare rim of the toilet while using the seat as a necklace.

while obnoxious and sometimes disgusting, he has yet to outdo his sister's infamous curiosity in which she was discovered mid-process in what appeared to be a rather established habit of wiping her front privates, her bum and then a swoosh across her nose in one quick swipe.

doting grandmas beware

this baby who graduated to size 2 diapers, now cries when mom leaves the room, is amazingly good at grabbing toys, smacks her lips during family dinners, spends much of her day wanting to stand, is the expert of a quick look away after a smile, and...

lover of measly 30 minute naps is officially starting sleep- training!

(yes grandmas, there will be some crying but be assured in the knowledge that this adorable photo was snapped immediately following a rather nasty napping session!)

off to preschool

stover boy walked into preschool with a humongous smile and hands protectively at his mouth. i returned to the same smile sans hands.

off to kinder

blurbs from a weird, surreal day aka stover girl's first day of school:

-she was bubbling with excitement but quiet once we arrived.
-stover girl enjoyed a full night's rest while stover mom awoke twice to stover boy standing at her beside in the wee hours of the eve before school.
-mom's first impression of her teacher was that she seemed frazzled but comfort came when stover girl's seat assignment was close to 3 fabulous, righteous influences.
-stover girl asked 'mom can you give me a kiss before you go?'
-if only i'd caught a picture of the lingering hug stover boy gave before sister left.
-stover mom cried much more in anticipation of the big day than on the actual day.
-mom kept accidentally calling baby by stover girl's name.
-allowing stover kids to have what was previously restricted as 'daddy's cereal' for a quick breakfast fill-up
-D&C 130:18 helped mom through the day
-within the first few moments of her absence, stover boy and mom realized neither of us had been the constructers of the toy car garage

-stover boy exhibited behavior void of 'acting like a stinkas' and engaged in conversation without any attention-getting uses of the word 'what?'.
-the principal seems to have gained celebrity status already
-stover girl was extremely chatty with details about problems that 'wasn't me'.
-within one hour of her return, mom was again refereeing the kids and within two hours of her return, they were playing school
-these two will now begin a friendship

-lunch worries topped the list: stover girl was overly concerned with finishing hers in the allotted time, stover mom wondered and wandered in the store trying to find the perfect items for a meal at school, and stover boy insisted on eating his lunch from a lunchbox too. in the end, stover girl ended up independently electing to eat the school's lunch!
-her initial report was 'everything was perfect' and 'can you believe i went 7 hours without going potty?'
-grateful for a morning full of well-wishes texts and phonecalls from stover fam fans

-her teacher reported 'she had a good day'
-stover girl loved recess the most and connected with a girl named sadie.
-mother was instructed immediately by student how to correctly place all papers in the school folder
-'whew... school was hard work' exclaimed at least 10 times

bear lake 2011

bear lake is a little gem that was host to many of stover dad's childhood memories. our family just spent a week there making new memories, including: hours upon hours of sandcastle building, a treasure hunt on the beach, a hopscotch to infinity, cousin bonding a plenty, lessons in driving a boat from grandpa, daily (or thrice daily) swims, and plain old carefree silliness!

of note: following tradition, stover dad celebrated another birthday while there. he was gifted with 30 text messages from loved ones recieved at 30 minute intervals throughout the day. he also splurged on a fancy tennis racquet and enjoyed daily morning matches!

thank you fellow smarty-pants

thank you to my social work friend who came over to rummage through my old counseling paraphernalia. she was kind enough to pretend i'm her mentor and listened to my 'glory days' reminiscing. she asked questions and sorted through dated materials. because of her visit, she had me jaw-dropped wondering if that progress note with my name and fancy LCSW title behind it was a fake, a plagiarism, a phony. thank you fellow smarty-pants for reminding me that beneath this mommy brain exterior, i am used to be smart!

here's smart me: (me that didn't mumble under my breath, me that didn't forget my children's names, me that didn't accidentally talk baby talk to my husband, and me that didn't bump into walls from sleep deprivation)