Naomi is a Texan!

Well, we have officially moved and are in Texas!!  Naomi has had a harder time moving this time than she did last year.  And I don't blame her!!  It's because last year we were home and she was surrounded by all of her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins!  She had an army of friends and loved every minute of it.  This move has been a bit tougher.  It's hard because we don't know any girls that are her age.  All of the girls we know are a year younger or a year older.  So it's been hard trying to find a place to fit in.  I'm so proud of her though because every time we go to a play date and meet other little kids, I encourage her to play with new friends, and she does it!  Some days are easier than others, but she pushes herself outside her comfort zone and tries to make new friends.

Thankfully, we were able to go back to Idaho for 3 weeks after we had been in Texas for a month.  I could tell as soon as we got back to Idaho she felt like she was home.  She was so happy and relaxed.  I totally felt the same way.  She had a blast playing with her cousins and being with her grandmas and grandpas.

Naomi has really grown up these last couple months.  She decided on her own that she was going to learn how to swim!!  I wasn't able to get her in swim lessons since we were moving and everything was all filled up by the time I looked into it.  I've been able to take the kids swimming almost every day out here in Texas.  One day we were heading to the Summit's swim pool and she told me she wanted to swim without her puddle jumper.  I didn't think much of it.  But we got to the swimpool and she jumped in and just started swimming!!  She does really good for figuring it out herself. She still needs to take swim lessons and figure out how to do the different kind of strokes, but she does pretty good on her own.

Naomi also got a haircut while we were in Idaho.  We cut off about 4-5 inches!!  That haircut really made her grow up.  She looks older now, and I can't believe it.  It's so cute on her and I love it!!  It's a lot easier to do her hair now too.

Naomi has always been really good about helping me in the kitchen, but it's even more fun having her be my little helper when I make dinner.  She can get things out of the fridge by herself and is really good at following directions.  She helped me get dinner and dessert ready today after church.  We put on our aprons together and she let me know that her apron was cuter than mine haha.  And I don't disagree.  Grandma Rhodehouse really did an amazing job making her apron and it's adorable!!

A few of Naomi's favorite things these days include makeup and talking!  She LOVES putting on makeup and will let me put LipSense on her anytime I say yes.  She wants to wear it every day!  She also loves to tell stories (which isn't new. She's been like this since she was little).  She will talk your ear off.  Then she loves to follow up her statement with a question by saying, "Right?"  She has to hear you confirm everything she says.

Naomi starts kindergarten in a couple weeks!  I can't believe our baby is starting school.  I don't want her to go, but I know she is ready. She's been talking about it since she finished preschool in May.  We took her school shopping in Round Rock at the outlet malls this weekend.  We found her the cutest wardrobe and she is all set to go.  Then we ate dinner at Fuddrucker's and got Round Rock Doughnuts afterwards.  It was such a fun day together as a family.

I signed Naomi up for a ballet/tap class this fall.  I am so excited for her to start this class. She is our little dancer and it's about time I got her in a class.  I was able to sign her up with two other little girls from our area.

I'm sad to see our little girl growing up, but I'm so proud of the beautiful girl she is becoming.  I love her so much and am grateful Heavenly Father sent her to us.  We love you Naomi LaNeal!!

 Ice cream for Nana's birthday.  We had just barely made the drive back to Temple after spending 3 weeks in Idaho.

 My make-up/LipSense loving girl.  She wanted rainbows!!  

 Cousin time is the best time!!

 Boating and Big Juds!!  So much fun!!

 24th of July celebrations!

 Lori Mackert gave Naomi her first haircut!!  She's getting so big.

 Our drive back to Texas.  It was a full 25 hours.  The kids were such good sports and did really well.

 Our little swimmer!

 Saying goodbye to Nana and Papa at the airport.  So grateful for their help in getting us to Idaho and bringing us back to Texas!!

 Best little cook around!

Adjusting to Idaho

We moved to Idaho in June and since then it feels like we have been running 110 mph.  I have been so busy with volleyball.  Plus with Bryce being gone in July, August, and October it has been a crazy year. When we moved here in June we were living with Grandma and Grandpa Bartschi. Then in October they went to St. George and we finally had the house to ourselves.  There were so many changes that happened and Naomi has handled it like such a champ.  I really have been so impressed with how she has handled everything. She has just rolled with the punches and been a sweetheart.  I'm so grateful she's been able to adjust well.  At first, she would get sad and ask for her old home.  That would break my heart, especially because we were all thinking the same thing.  It was hard to come to Idaho and not have our own home and to be living with grandparents.  It's gotten better now that we've had the house to ourself and she hasn't asked as much for her old home.  Rex has been really hard, and I am grateful Naomi has done better.

We have Naomi in a preschool class with Karolyn Clark in St. Anthony.  There's about 11 kids in her class and she goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  She really enjoys it and has a lot of fun.  Karolyn does an amazing job and is so sweet with Naomi.  I'm also doing a Joy School with two other moms and I take Naomi and Rex on Monday and Wednesday mornings.  Naomi can write her name extremely well.  She is getting really good at identifying letters and knowing the sounds to each letter.  She loves to watch Youtube videos on princesses when I do her hair.  And these princess videos range from home videos of girls playing pretend princess scenarios to people opening up princess toys.  It's kind of funny it entertains her so much, but she totally loves it.  Naomi loves to help me out in the kitchen or with Violet.  Sometimes she gets in Violet's face too much and won't give her personal space, but she's getting better.  She used to poke and prod Violet till she cried and it was frustrating.  But she is doing better.  Naomi loves to read her book about the stars, planets, and galaxies with her Daddy.  She's going to love astronomy just like her dad.  They both cuddle up by each other and go through the pages together.  It's cute to see them so engrossed in learning about the stars.  Naomi and Rex play pretty well together for the most part.  There are times where they end up fighting and hitting each other, but for the most part they have fun together.  Naomi's favorite thing to do with Rex and me is to play hide-and-seek.  We have a lot of fun playing that, especially in grandma's house.  It's big enough and we have a good time hiding in the sun room, behind chairs, in the pantry, bathroom, or playroom.  There's just so many options and we have a great time running through the house hiding from each other.

I love this girl so very much.  I can't believe how big she is getting, and yet, she is still my baby girl.  She is such a smart girl and is my right hand girl.  She helps me out and I love her company.  Naomi is a beautiful, sweet, funny, crazy, spunky girl.  We love her so much!

Halloween 2016

Halloween was a fun night with our kiddos.  Naomi wanted to dress up as Aurora from Sleeping Beauty.  We got her a beautiful pink dress from Amazon.  She was able to dress up for preschool and then for the night of Halloween.  After her hair was curled and she was in her dress, she really looked a lot like Aurora.  She was so beautiful.  I dressed up like Maleficent and that was fun to be dressed up with her.  Naomi had fun going around to the houses and saying "trick-or-treat!"  She was so sweet and nice.  I remember when I first took her and she was too shy to say anything at the door.  This year she was so brave and outgoing.  She went right up and knocked on the door.  They would give her candy and she would say, "I'm Aurora!!"  And then she would thank them for the candy.  It was really cute.  We trick or treated around Nanny and Poppy's neighborhood.  Then we came back to Nanny's and had dinner and treats.  Heidi and Eric were at the house with their kids too.  As soon as we all came back from getting candy, the kids dumped their candy all over the floor and organized it into different piles haha.  They had taken Naomi's bucket and dumped it too.  When we were leaving she didn't have any candy and was pretty upset, but her cousins were so sweet.  Scout, Kenzie, Kapri, and Cannon all started picking up candy and put it in her bucket.  I'm so grateful we get to be home and surrounded by all our family.  It's so fun to see them interact together and take care of each other.

Little Princess Turning 4

Naomi turned 4 three days after we had Violet.  Thankfully, Nana and Papa were here to help make the day special.  I was able to come home on Saturday, and it was Naomi's birthday Sunday.  We put her hair in curlers the night before, and she looked like a princess with such cute curls the next day.  Naomi opened her presents in the morning, and then everyone went to church except for Violet and me.  We sent treats with Naomi to church and she shared them with her sunbeam class.  After church, we had a delicious dinner my dad made and then had ice cream and cake.  It was a pretty low key day, but so nice and wonderful being together as a family outside of the hospital.

Then Monday, Naomi was in charge of the snacks for her preschool class.  Dad and I took her to preschool and sent little cupcakes as part of her treats.  She was so excited to be the snack helper and have everyone sing to her.  She felt pretty special!

I really wanted to have a party with Naomi's friends since everyone is moving away after this year. Since we had Violet so close to her birthday, we had to wait a few weeks till I was feeling up to it. On April 30 we had a princess tea party with all of her little girl friends her age.  It was a blast. We had Emma and Maggie Garner, Sara Merrill, and Paisley Gardner come over. We had all kinds of little tea party treats.  Then the girls played Kiss the Frog, Mermaid Races in garbag bags, and then we had a dance party.  The girls had so much fun and it was really cute to see them all dressed up in their princess dresses.  I'm glad we were able to have a little party for her before we all moved away.  It brought so much joy to see her playing and enjoying her little friends.  We have been so blessed to have such great friends out here in Des Moines.  We will miss them lots!