2nd Update!

Addie's Dance Recital .... We were lucky enough to have my parents and Uncle Tim here for the girls' recital this year. The Maile girls were FANTASTIC! Addie was such a delight to watch because of her love of the stage. To think that she was TERRIFIED of being on a stage several years ago, and then to see her up there in front of a large croud having the time of her life.... She's really come far. It's almost as if she's transformed from her mom's personality to her Dad's. My kids are constantly surprising me..... Well done Addie!

Update #1

I THINK they are pictures of Jax's soccer team at his last game. They should also be new candids of Gray at his Preschool Program. He did fabulous. Not a lot to tell but LOVED these pictures.

What is different about today?

Towards the end of our evening yesterday, Grayson really wanted to ride his scooter around the block. We really try to make an attempt to have our Sundays be different from our weekdays so that our kids recognize that we are at least trying to observe the Sabbath day.

Well, when he was told no to riding his scooter he got REALLY mad. Matt sat him down and asked him, "Gray, today is Sunday. What do we do different on Sunday than the other days of the week?"

This is the answer we got -

"We listen."

Awesome - now I know to not tell my kids anything important unless it's Sunday - cause that's the day they listen to me...

Jax's Birthday

If I were a little boy turning 6 - then I would have had the best birthday ever.

Jackson is amazing - he is incrediby smart, sensitive, sweet and thoughtful. We were remembering the stressful moments surrounding his actual "birth"day and feel incredibly blessed and grateful to have him here in our family!

Jax decided to invite all of his friends to go swimming, go figure, and we had a chance to see that others think he is just as wonderful as we do! He had 17 friends come to his party. What a crazy party that was... He said the best moment of his day was going golfing with his dad.

Grandma and Grandpa Davis - he has been on his rollerblades EVERY possible second that he is allowed to be outside.... Thank you!

Emma...

Our last and final baby is not a baby anymore! Emma turned one on the 29th and I cannot believe the year has flown by. I can remember EXACTLY how I felt a year ago when I was admitted to the hospital. We cannot believe that our mischievous adorable Emma is a walking talking machine. She gets into EVERYTHING and isn't afraid of anything. Perfect. She had the best tempermant for the baby - she just putts around behind everyone else and does her own thing - except if you take her food or blanket away....
We stuck to tradition and gave her her own cake to eat out on the deck. I put one picture in here of me holding her because she was grabbing for hit and had some in her hand already - before I could get her outside.... Stinker. Love you Emma!

The last two pictures are throw-ins.... because Addie scored her first goal! Her competitive Brousseau, um maybe Davis side, is coming out. She got a taste of scoring and hasn't been the same since. I had a picture of her happy face after she scored, but thanks to what felt like being in my own episode of Everybody Loves Raymond episode, the pictures got erased by my helpful husband. He felt awful - I'm just giving him a hard time... And although when her hair is down she has a mullet- Emma's hair fits into pigtails finally! Had to take a picture of it....

10 Year Anniversary

We did it! We made it to 10 years - 4 kids later, 8 different apartments/houses, a lot of laughs, definitely highs and lows. Definitely more good than bad. We feel old.... and onto the next phase of our lives. I surprised Matt with a trip to Las Vegas to see Phantom of the Opera (which was amazing...) We had the best time - that was the first time we'd truly gone out of town without our kids since we were married. . . Why did we wait so long again? It was so much fun! We were excited to come back and missed our kids, but just a little part of me hated to come back to reality.... Thanks to those that stepped in while we snuck away. Love you babe!

Sorry about the dorky pictures - Matt informed me that we never take any pictures with me in them... There's a reason for that. The statue of liberty in one of the pictures is 100% candy - took that one to show our kids. The picture of us by the Phantom Poster is funny. We needed a new one of us together (although we are taking new family pictures in June) and we both think we look funny. I love it though. Matt's suit jacket hung back behind him and doesn't give him justice of his skinny self and I am NOT pregnant contrary to to what you may think.... I can't wait for the next trip! My kids say it's to Disneyworld....Hm...

Parenting Moments

You know those moments when one of your children does something that makes you so boiling mad that you physically need to take a step back or you will say all of these juvenile mean things to your child that you really want to? I just had one of those moments.

THANK GOODNESS I was able to take a deep breath and realize that my daughter's self esteem and her learning moment was more important than taking the verbal cheap shot I SOOOO felt like doing. I need to be the parent, material things are not as important as my relationship with my daughter. (I kept saying that to myself over and over and over again.) And you know what? We were able to calmly talk about why you DON'T paint your toenails with BRIGHT red nail polish on the carpet. Because it spills, and can spill for a while before you notice it. It can spill long enough to dump almost the whole thing so it seeps into the carpet pad.

And THANK GOODNESS that I have a mother who answers her phone when I call at any time to give me the sanity, calmness that I needed, and tips on how to get nail polish out of carpet. I call today a success. Addie knows that I love her and where exactly to paint her nails next time.

Here is a picture of our Mother-Daughter Activity Days lunch date. Each daughter was supposed to pick a piece of their Mother's clothing to wear in a fashion show. And we did their makeup and made face scrub. It was really so much fun - I can't believe my first baby is at this point.

See her fashion face pose? She wanted to look serious.

My cute Emma with her Dad at my work's pool and hot tub. That girl is a riot... Thanks cassie for the ponytail advice - I actually got it into pigtails in the back No more mullet!

During spring break we had an animal theme somehow. The aquarium, Farm at Thanksgiving point and the Zoo. At Thanksgiving point they had a small jail for kids to play in... Look at which of my kids wandered in there - Go figure.

BTW, Gray had his first true golfing experience today in a polo shirt and all. He, of course, insisted on having his shirt collar turned up, to keep the sun out, why else? He also liked to dive out of the moving golf cart, again, not surprised!

Spring Soccer has arrived! Jax is playing with the 7 and 8 year olds and having a blast, scoring around 3-4 goals a game. He LOVES it out there.

I just feel completely and overwhelmingly proud of my children right now. Our lives feel hectic and I worried that I would lose touch with them with how much time I am out of the home now... They are fantastic kids and I adore them - even when things are frustrating....