Dear Carston

Dear Carston,
You are growing up.  This last year, Dad and I have noticed a change in you as you have started to mature and just act, think, and feel older.  It feels like you are leaving your childhood and entering a new stage of life.  It is exciting.  Every so often, I feel like I get a glimpse of who you will be as an adult.  And I like what I see.
I like your kindness.  You are nice to all of your friends.  I never hear you putting them down or saying anything that would make them feel bad.  There have been a few times where there was trouble, and it just about killed you.  You love to be on good terms with everyone and that is a good quality.  All of the times you had to be the new kid, those have given you compassion.  I remind you to look for others who need a friend or to be included, but you are often already doing it on your own.  I love that you are developing that habit because it will bring you and Heavenly Father great happiness.
You are developing quite a humorous streak.  I'm going to say that comes from your dad :)  You can make me laugh.  One of the things we are working on though, is knowing when it is appropriate to be funny, and when it isn't a good time.  You're learning :)
School this past year went really well.  At the beginning of the year, you were coasting.  You had a "good enough" attitude that didn't sit very well with me.  It didn't help that your "good enough" lack of effort still gave you a high ranking.  We had some talks, and you actually pushed yourself to excel.  It was awesome.  I want you to always push yourself in every area to see what you are capable of: physically, mentally, spiritually, and socially.  We are here to progress, and that doesn't happen without exertion.  You brought home perfect scores in writing, science, and other areas, but what really mattered is that you were giving it your best effort.  You are capable of amazing things if you put in the effort.  God has blessed you with a quick mind.
I love that you are curious and want to experience new things.  You did competitive soccer last year, which you loved.  The time commitment was daunting though, considering that you still had to play basketball and baseball.  Double sports each season was NOT ideal for the family, but we did it.  When it came time for tryouts again, we decided to all pray about it.  You decided yourself not to do it.  And Dad and I felt the same way.  I love how the spirit works like that.  It tells us truth.  I am excited for you to continue having experiences with the spirit and learning more about how he can guide you and direct you.  Back to wanting to do it all.  Your latest thing is golfing.  And you want to do tennis.  And fencing.  And guitar.  And a million other things.  That's a good thing :)
You just went away for 5 days to summer camp.  I about died.  I thought about you all the time and was counting down until you came home.  Dad doesn't know how I'll survive your mission :)  You absolutely loved it.  You haven't stopped talking about how fun it was.  I can't believe that the little boy who made me a mom all those years ago is old enough to spend five days away from me all on his own.  ]
You still love anything army (Dustin just hooked you up with a duffle bag).  You like to play any sport.  You love hanging out with friends, staying up late, watching Angels' games with dad, playing games, reading, drawing silly pictures, eating treats, playing MineCraft, having airsoft wars, and playing night games.  You don't like eating beans (your worst enemy), when I make you go to bed before 10, when people mess up your legos, or when none of your friends can play.
I love you so much Carston.  You are an enjoyable person to be around.  What I want for you more than anything is to develop your own testimony of the gospel, to have a relationship with Heavenly Father, to develop your talents and gifts, and to then spend your life serving God by serving the people around you.  For me, that is how you find true joy in life.
Love, Mom

Dear Hadley

Dear Hadley,
You are the most adorable baby.  It is hard to imagine our family before you were born.  We all love you so much and can't get enough of you.

Right now, you like to think you can walk down stairs.  Needless to say, this doesn't always go so well :)  Your other new obsession is putting on everyone's shoes.  Add that into the stair mix and things definitely end poorly.  You are a busy, busy girl.  You are always moving, always exploring, and always wanting to try things yourself.  That usually results in lots of messes and lots of crying when you don't get your way.  You LOVE being outside.  Absolutely love it.  You love going for walks in your push-along car Grandma and Grandpa got you for Christmas.  You love baby dolls and stuffed animals.  When you get out of your crib in the morning, usually courtesy of Macy, you head for Avery's room and choose some stuffed animals to lug around for the morning.  You also love real babies.  When your cousin Connor was here for a month in the summer, you couldn't get enough of him.  You did your best, but he definitely got clobbered a few times when you were loving on him.  Everyone loves to watch you dance in the car.  You shake your head and wave one arm around.  It is pretty adorable.

After our experience with Avery being allergic to dairy, we had our suspicions since you stopped nursing.  I put you on a different formula and that seemed to help.  When you turned one, we tried milk and it did not go over well.  We decided to put you on Almond Milk instead and that has worked out much better.  No screaming and writhing in the night, no trouble with your poops, no nasal congestion, and no flushed, rough cheeks.  The only downside is that most kids get their fat from dairy.  You didn't gain weight the last three months, so the doctor and I are keeping an eye on that and I'm trying to pump you full of other fatty, non-dairy foods.  We will see how it goes.  You are an excellent eater and you eat a TON to make up for all those missed calories most kids drink.

Since we took you off dairy, you sleep through the night like a champ.  I am very grateful to you for that!  That makes it a lot easier for me to be a happy, calm mother.  We tried to train you from the beginning to be an independent sleeper and you seem to have the knack of it.  We just put you in bed with your blanket and bear and you go to sleep.  We took away your binky when you first turned one. That was only hard for a couple days.  We decided to do it because when we got home from a trip, no one could find your binky when it was time for a nap.  Kate found one the next day, but I figured we were already halfway there so we would tough it out.

You love reading books.  Or should I say, you love bringing us books and looking at a few pages before dashing off to grab another book.  You absolutely are in love with your baby cousin Paige.  We all think you'll grow up to be good buddies.  She seems to like you too :)

Your siblings all love you.  They are always anxious to make you happy and none of them, Macy especially, can handle it if you are crying.  We love your sweet loves and kisses.  I love how whenever I carry you, you hang on to my arm with no intention of letting go.  I also love when I'm putting you down for a nap how you snuggle into me for a bit before you go down.  Your smile and ensuing dimples melt my heart.  Your laugh is contagious and makes it difficult for anyone to ever stop playing with you.

I love you so much sweet, little Hadley.  I am so grateful that I listened to the promptings of the spirit and went through another rough pregnancy.  You were worth every single second of awfulness.  You are a testament that God's plan for us is always better than our own plan.

Love, Mom