Happy!

Alisa and Mason were in an especially good mood this afternoon, so I grabbed the camera and took some pictures. 

Hi Mom!

Look at that smile!

And this one...this one is my FAVORITE!

She Sits!

I was feeling especially brave last night, so I took the kids to the community Christmas party and boat parade on the lake all by myself (Wil was at work). Well, we technically got there too late for the boat parade, but I think I get points for trying! 

It was a big night for Addie! My braveness must have rubbed off on her, because she was being especially brave, too! 

She went in the bounce house. She sat on her knees the whole time, but she WENT IN the bounce house! This is HUGE! She's always been too scared to go by herself, before. 

Mason had great fun watching! Alisa, fell asleep on the walk there.

The other HUGE WIN of the night...Addie SAT ON SANTA'S LAP!!! She's always been too scared before...crying, clinging, hiding, scared! But last night she wanted to sit on Santa's lap! It was a great night!

I Need to Get Jesus a Present

Today's conversation

Addie - "I need to get GG a present, GG and Jesus a present."
Me - "You do?"
Addie - "Jesus crying."
Me - "Why is Jesus crying sweetheart?"
Addie - "I dunno. I need present for Jesus and GG and Holy Ghost. I need to go there."
Me - "We can't go there and give a present to GG and Jesus like we give presents to each other, but I'll bet they would like it if we did nice things for other people. We could color pictures and make treats to take to people. I'll bet GG and Jesus would like that as a present."
Addie - "Okay...I give Mason a present."

I'm working on checking off all the presents I need to buy/make for Christmas. How could I have forgotten a present for Jesus? I'm so glad I have this amazing little girl to remind me!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Addie was SO excited to help put up the Christmas decorations this year, and even more excited to help put up the tree!

Putting the branches on the tree proved to be a bit beyond her abilities, but she was great at sorting the branches and bringing me the sizes we needed to add to the tree next. 

Addie's version of putting the lights on the tree...taking the whole clump and trying to get it to stay on a branch! Could she be any cuter???

Thankful Tree

Thanks to an idea on Pinterest, we created a thankful tree at our house this year. Each night before bed, Addie got to pick a leaf and something she was thankful for. We would write what she was thankful for on the leaf and she got to tape it to our thankful tree. I LOVED doing this!

In no particular order, here's Addie's list of the things she was thankful for:

• Pooh Bear & Minnie Mouse (her stuffed animals) & Addie
• Monkeys
• Moose (her stuffed animal)
• Car Seats to Keep Us Safe
• Blankets
• Jingle & Cherries (a stuffed animal and her Halloween costume)
• Pictures
• Uncle Arty & Aunt Jody & Andy & Lynda
• Jump Ropes
• The Car
• Bandaids
• Markers & Stickers
• Addie & Sheep (another stuffed animal...are you noticing a trend?)
• Sleepovers
• TV
• Tita & Tito
• GG
• Addie
• Lights
• JJ, Karina, Nicole, Guero & Waldo
• Mommy & Daddy
• Phones (she loves to play games on our phones!)
• Trees
• Balls
• Vivi's House, Vivi, Hazel & Xujey
• Alisa & Mason
• Babies & Froggies & Minnie Mouse & Pooh Bear (all stuffed animals)
• Elvis
• Garbage Man (I think this one is my absolute favorite!)
• Books & Sheep (her stuffed animal)

Take Time

I found a plaque in my Grandma's garage with this poem on it. I like the poem, (but the plaque will definitely be available at the garage sale we're hosting this coming weekend) so I thought I would post it here.

Take time to hold me on your lap,

To joke with me and make me laugh,

Take time, Mommy; this time will go so fast.

 

Take time to tuck me into bed,

To read that story you know by heart,

Take time, Mommy; soon these days will part.

 

Take time to exclaim over what I color,

To admire the things I make from clay,

Take time, Mommy; I'm growing up and away.

 

Take time to imagine or make-believe,

To play some childish, silly game,

Take time, Mommy; soon it won't be the same.

 

Take time to let me help you work,

To teach me the may things you know,

Take time, Mommy; enjoy me as I grow.

 

~Julie O'Brien

Happy Halloween!

Jack-O'

We carved our jack-o'-lantern tonight for Family Home Evening.

Addie had a great time scooping out the "pumpkin nuts" (I told her to scoop out the pumpkin guts and she called them pumpkin nuts for the rest of the night). She wouldn't use her hands though, that was too gross!

Alisa and Mason played with/gnawed on some big pumpkin nuts while we worked on the pumpkin.

Mason thought WE were nuts when we put him in the pumpkin for a picture, but Alisa thought it was pretty fun!

The 2013 Gonzalez Family jack-o'-lantern. We put the candle in it and turned off the lights so Addie could see it all done. She exclaimed, "Cool jack-o'-lantern!" when she first saw the finished product!

Deep Mysteries of Life

Alisa and Mason have matching pajamas. The only difference is that hers are the pink girl version and his are the blue boy version. 

They both have stripes and cute little monkeys on their bums. 

Alisa's say Mommy's Silly Monkey and Mason's say Daddy's Silly Monkey.

So explain to me why Alisa's pajamas zip and Mason's snap?!? It just doesn't make any sense!

Addie's Phone Calls

Trying to explain death to a 2 1/2 year old is not easy. The permanence is a difficult thing for Addie to understand...if GG's not here, where is she? I was young when my mom died, but I was seven, I understood what death meant so my own experience isn't completely applicable in trying to help Addie.

Four or five days after GG died, Addie had a major breakdown. She cried ALL the way home from my sister-in-law's house. A pathetic, sad, awful cry. I called Wil from the car to let him know I needed him to come home from studying. Addie needed a parent...a whole parent...to herself...not one trying to feed two babies and get them ready for bed.

Wil wasn't home yet when we got to the house. She sat on the couch and cried while I brought the babies in...then they cried until Wil got home while I took care of Addie (have I mentioned there is almost ALWAYS someone crying in my house?).

In her most accusing voice she asked me, "Where's Daddy?" It all came flooding back - my seven-year-old fear of someone else dying and leaving me. I remember my grandma telling me how the grief counselor explained it was important to always be on time to pick me up places because I would get scared when she wasn't there that she had died to.

I quickly explained that Daddy was just studying and would be home soon. I told her that it was okay to be sad and it was okay to miss GG...that I miss her a lot, too.

The Hospice social worker told me kids tend to blame themselves when someone dies. I remember that, too, from my seven year old self. I remember thinking if I had been brave enough to go see my mom in the hospital room after she died (I got to the hospital shortly after she died), that she would have come back to life for me; that she would have woken up. I guess more applies than I realize. So I told Addie that it wasn't anything that she did or that I did or that Daddy did. That GG's body was just old and sick and tired and it stopped working. That her spirit went to live with Jesus and Heavenly Father.

Addie was worried that GG was sad and crying. Wil and I explained that she probably misses us, but that she's very happy and that she gets to see my mommy and GG's mommy and that she was so excited to see them again. Addie told me that GG was very mad. No, sweetheart, she's so very happy, I promise!

So now, Addie tells me that GG went to live with Jesus and that she's happy. She asks me to watch GG's pictures (a dvd slideshow of pictures that my aunt made for the funeral) on a regular basis. And she "talks" to GG on the phone...almost every day. I'm not sure if I should be worried about that or not, but I think it's good for her right now. She had her longest "conversation" ever with GG today on the phone. She told her all about going to the fair with my aunt and uncle yesterday. How she saw the animals and the pig and played games and painted. She talked to her about Jesus. Told her she was playing and watching Cinderella. She made plans to go to lunch and then to the store, Addie asked GG to get her hot dogs and spaghetti.  She ended with "Love you, too. I wanna go play," put the phone back on the counter in the kitchen and ran off to play.

How I love my daughter and her sweet innocence, and what I wouldn't give to have that phone number!

Happy Early Halloween

Mine, Mine, Mine

Both babies LOVE this specific rattle. I'm certain we have two of them...somewhere...I just don't know where. So they fight over this one rattle.

I think it's A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E! I give it about six months, then I'm sure it won't be nearly so adorable anymore!

 

 

 

 

Till We Meet at Jesus Feet

My greatest example, biggest supporter and best friend passed from this life into the next last night. I know she's at peace and that I will see her again, but until that reunion takes place, I will miss her more than words can say.

Random Cuties

Following are many, many random photos that I love, but that don't really need their own post. Hey...it's my blog...I can do whatever I want!

Alisa is our thumb sucker! Her thumb, other people's thumbs...it doesn't much matter, she just loves thumbs!

 Mason on the other hand, likes to suck on his entire fist. The more of his hand he can fit in his mouth the better...sometimes he even tries to fit two fists in his mouth! Lately, he's been gagging himself he sticks his fingers in his mouth so far. It's hilarious.

We got some really cute hand-me-downs from a friend at church. This was Mason's first time wearing a tie. I think he looks ADORABLE! It should be noted, however, that due to his hand sucking and the tie getting caught on his hand on its way up to his mouth, his entire tie was SOAKED by the end of church!

 
No real story for this next picture. I was trying to take a nap, but this little guy wanted to play. Isn't he the cutest???
 

Alisa LOVES tummy time. She rolls all over the house and frequently gets stuck places. Mason on the other hand can only roll from his tummy to his back. He gets stuck on his back like a turtle and cries until someone comes to pick him up or roll him back over. Silly boy!

Personalities...my happy girl and my high maintenance rock star. It's not that he's not a happy boy. He's really a happy little guy...he just wants to be held ALL the time. It's difficult to get held ALL the time when you have a twin and a two year old sister!

 Mom...MOOOOOM...Mason's sucking on my foot!

Addie can't wait until the babies are old enough to play. She tries so hard to roll her ball to them and have picnics with them. This day, she was reading stories to Alisa. This picture fills my whole self with joy. Three of my favorite things...Addie, Alisa and books!

 Have you ever seen two cuter babies???

Princess Dress

Addie had the most beautiful blue Easter dress this year. Ever since we've been looking for excuses to wear what she calls her princess dress. She wore it to the babys' blessings, Hazel's quinceanera and to Seussical the Musical. We had to wait a while for GG to catch her breath while we were leaving the Spaghetti Factory, so Addie and I had a little photo shoot.

 

Seussical the Musical

My grandma and I have been wanting to take Addie to a play that she would enjoy. We saw an ad for Seussical the Musical in the paper and thought it sounded like the perfect opportunity.

Valley Youth Theater did an AMAZING job with the production! It was a cute show - although I think it ended up being just a little over Addie's head. She still had a great time though, and she especially loved the bird.

Afterward we went to an early dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. It was a great afternoon, and the perfect Addie, Mommy, GG date!

Camp Out

Our ward camp out was September 6-7 in Prescott. We were so excited to get out of the heat for a couple days and take the kids camping. People thought we were crazy, but we had so much help taking care of them was actually easier on the camping trip than it is at home!

Addie was excited all morning that we were going to go camping (not sure she really knew what camping was, but she was thrilled!). She asked about it ALL morning long as we packed and went to the store to pick up groceries and drove to the campsite. We finally pulled into the campsite and Addie said, "I want to go camping!" We explained that we were camping and she was practically jumping up and down to get out of the truck!

 Can you tell how dirty this little girl's face was???

 Addie had the BEST time! It was fun to see how excited she was and how thrilling it was to do simple things like shovel dirt into a bucket. You could see her excitement that night when she realized we weren't going home and we were going to SLEEP in the tent! She was so excited, she jumped around all over inside the tent.

 Alisa wasn't as thrilled about camping the first evening we were there, but she was SO happy the next morning!

Addie helped "clean" the tent when it was time to take it down. She is such a great helper!

This pink bucket and shovel were the highlight of Addie's camping trip. She spent all day filling it with dirt. She left it by the group fire to come back to the campsite for a minute. When we headed back, she took a shovel of dirt and carried it with her to put in her bucket. All the dirt shook off her shovel before we made it back to the bucket, so she simply knelt down, got another shovel of dirt and kept walking.

Some girls from our ward took her to play and she came back with beautiful flowers for her bucket!

Oh yeah, Mason went camping, too! We realized toward the end of the trip that he had been sleeping during all of our pictures. So...we took one of him napping just to prove he was there!

 

We had a blast! I'm so glad we were able to go and that the twins did so well! We're looking forward to many more camping trips in the future!

Three's Company

My three loves!

Swing Me

Addie kept asking me to swing her. I had no idea what she was talking about and couldn't figure out what she wanted me to do.

Then Wil explained. She wanted me to do this...

 

Yeahhhhh, pretty sure that's going to remain a special daddy daughter activity!