March M's

Mourning

What a month! I start this entry with mourning (it gets happier so don't be discouraged) because my world stopped or held still for probably a week in March. On March 15th, I got a phone call from my mom that my cousin, Skyler, had committed suicide. Now I won't go into the details that led up to this tragedy, but I will say that I have learned a lot from it. I have mostly learned that everyone out there is a person that has someone (or multiple someones) somewhere that loves them dearly. Everyone deserves to be given the benefit of the doubt and a second chance. Everyone has their struggles. And everyone needs to know that they will be missed. I have learned compassion and I hope to be no respecter of persons. I have been reminded that you, nor I, are the Ultimate Judge, so be kind. I spent a lot of time the week of March 15th on social media and on the phone mourning with family and friends over Skyler's death. I also spent much of that time shuffling through fond memories of my cousin. We have also spent most of this month "mourning," you could say, a change in jobs. As I worked through the emotions of this family tragedy, Shawn worked through the emotions of leaving a job he likes to a job that seems like a better fit for our family. He was sad to do this, but felt it was the best move for us. It was interesting to go through these experiences together. We feel blessed to have each other to lean on through life's journey. Now onto the cuteness that we call our kids.....

More Snow???

Yep, and Lanie continued to love every minute of it!

"Mixca...Mixca...Mixca!!!"

This what Lanie says when she helps me 'mix' ingredients in the kitchen. She loves to bake and assist, especially in the kitchen. This project was our attempt at homemade chalk. Pinterest fail! But we had fun while being trapped inside (yep, still have snow)!

Mobile

He's discovered crawling, standing, 'crawl-standing', climbing, and stairs. All of which keep us on our toes when he is on the go!!!

Misbehavin'

These would all be pictures from church. 1. Mav on top of the coat rack...Why??? Because he can't sit still in sacrament and ends up with daddy in the halls. 2. Mav sneaking into nursery. He is not old enough, but he fits right in, and with mommy as the leader, he gets special treatment. 3. Lanie's poor hand after being bit (for the 3rd time) in nursery. We ask her on Sunday mornings if she is excited for church and she'll list all of her friends, including this boy, and she'll conclude with, "He eats my arm!" She doesn't seem too traumatized by it. And 4. Lanie passed out on the bench during Sacrament Meeting (1-4pm block time is not good to our little family of toddlers).

Massachusetts Solar Projects

This is why we are here; Shawn's job! Shawn really enjoys the Solar industry and here are some of the jobs that he's been part of. Lanie understands when daddy is at work, but sure loves when daddy comes home (I mean, begs for it ALL DAY LONG). We started the month of March working for Vivint.Solar and ended it working for Solar City. Yep, we changed companies!

Morning girl!!!

 This chica wakes up at 6:12 every morning!!! She plays hard and sleeps hard. Keeping her entertained is not hard and yet a challenge at the same time. What I mean is she loves TV which makes things easy, but keeping her off of it is the challenge. Good thing she he also loves to play. We try to find a balance between the two. She also was sick with a stomach flu this month. No fun! 

Munchkins

These two little Tykes adore each other. They play well together, as long as Lanie is not mauling Mav. She often hugs him to the point that they fall over and then says, "Maverick is saving me!" He is learning to go with it. I love this picture of them holding hands, because when Lanie did it she said, "And they lived happily ever after!" Too cute! We are lucky to have these two little munchkins!

Maverick Mitchell

 This is our guy!!! 

He is into everything, curious, happy, and cautious. He loves his play time and enjoys company while he plays. He just makes us smile every day and brings so much craziness and happiness into each and every day.

Motivated Round 2 of Potty Training

After taking a 7 month break, we jumped back on the horse of Potty training. We approached it completely differently and have seen absolutely different results. All in all it has been a great experience and we hope to get this mastered in the next few months. We are so proud of this little girl for being brave and trusting us! Lanie has loved getting stickers for her sticker chart and counting them every time she goes "wee-wee." She also gets a chocolate 'rock' (chocolate chip) treat and food coloring in the toilet. All of these incentives have kept her motivated!

Mall Time!!!

 

Lanie's reward for such a great week Potty Training was to go see the Easter Bunny at the Mall. She was so so so excited (and so was I). It was fun! The kids played in the little play area for awhile and then we took them to sit on the Easter Bunny's lap. Lanie was timid (the anticipation of going was way better than actually sitting on his lap). Mav on the other hand loved it. He was smiling, laughing, and kicking his legs in excitement. Lanie very much enjoyed the Easter Bunny's Garden which was cute since we have been teaching her about watering and taking care of a garden. We sure wore the kids out with this outing. It was a lot of fun!

EASTER

Mega Highlight

 

 

Not much needs to be said...the pictures tell the story. We had a very relaxing Easter. We missed family of course, but we made the best of it. Sunday morning, the kids played with the eggs and their basket goodies. Lanie kind of went on an Easter Egg Hunt by her daddy (she didn't really get it), the kids played outside (slightly warming up), and then we dyed eggs. Lanie more just wanted to eat the egg with the shell still on it. Weird. Anyways, we started a tradition of reading the story of Easter from the Bible and each egg contained a symbol of Christ's final days. We want to keep the meaning of the season clear. Our Easter/church attire was all purple. I was too preoccupied with getting the kids ready for church after a busy morning, that I forgot to get a decent picture of us all. But we looked stinking cute! No question...Haha!

March really did feel like Madness. Between the family tragedy, Shawn changing jobs, potty training, and Easter, we somehow kept our heads screwed on tight. Just tight enough to throw Mav's 1st Birthday Party just two days after Easter. But that will come in an April post! Hope you enjoyed the journey through our March M's.