The Randalls

We are going to be blessing Piper on Sept. 7th at 1:30 pm in our ward building in the Relief Society room. We have Stake Conference that Sunday and my parents are in town so that's why we are not doing it during a Sacrament Meeting. Any who read this post are welcome to come. If you need directions to the building just leave a comment and I'll email you. See you there! Oh, and we will do some sort of food gathering afterwards because what is a baby blessing without food afterwards? Let me know if you'd like to come to that as well, so I can have a count of people.

My baby started Kindergarten today. She was so excited to be going back to school. The last two years she has gone to preschool in the afternoon so I was worried she might not like going in the morning. It actually turned out well. Now she won't be bugging me all morning wondering when it's time to go to school. I'm the one that has to get used to the morning routine and having Téa go to school every day.

Téa on the way out to the car for her first day of school.
Love this picture. Mark went in late to work so he could be there to take Téa to her first day of school.
Mark was able to snap a picture of Téa before going into the classroom. She had no problems about going in and leaving Daddy. She had tons of practice with 2 years of preschool.

These kids used to play together often when we had playgroup during the summers. Trevor, Téa, Dax, Calista, Brookie, Tucker and Andrew.Michelle, Steve and Meghan chillin' in the shade.
The girls! Carrie, Me, Michelle and Meghan.
Macie rolling around on the floor.
Steve held Piper for a while and got her to smile. The camera was too slow to catch it.
Calista and Brookie.
Tucker (with the evil smile) and Andrew finding some shade. It was hot that day.
Parker is Carrie's youngest and didn't make it in the group picture.

OK, just so we are clear, the post's title does NOT refer to ages. I'm referring to people I've been friends with for a while. Well, technically it's only been less than 3 years, but I feel like we've all been friends forever. On Friday Meghan and I planned on going to The Ranches to check out Carrie's new place they bought. So jealous they have a place of their own that they can paint the living room hot pink if they wanted. (Another point to make clear...I don't really want to paint my living room hot pink, but the point is that I could if I wanted if I owned my own place!) Just before leaving Michelle called and said her father-in-law's surgery was postponed until the next day so she wanted to get together. Michelle and her family moved to Idaho a year ago and the four of us girls were all in the same ward. We now all live in different places, Michelle being the farthest away. So the Harrison's were down to be with family during the surgery and I'm so glad we were able to see them. So we all got together at Carries and it felt like old times just hanging out and letting the kids wreak havoc. There were ten kids in all. Thankfully two of them were Macie and Piper so they pretty much stayed in the car seats. We had a picnic at the playground across from Carrie's place and let the kids play with Steve (Michelle's husband) while the girls got to catch up. Thanks Steve for pushing all the kids on the swings. I'm too lazy!

It's me again. I was able to get away from Mom for a few minutes. Just wanted everyone to see my new picture of me sitting on the couch. As you can see, my cheeks are still getting bigger. Must be all the formula. I'm still a big eater and I still love to sleep through the night with only one brief feeding. Hey, I need my beauty sleep, right? Other than that, there's not much else going on.

Love,
Piper

So we chopped Téa's hair again and it's probably the shortest she's ever had it. I love it. And so does she. I got tired of hearing her scream every morning when I'd brush her hair so Mark asked if she wanted a hair cut before school starts and she agreed.

Here are "before" and "after" pictures.

I had to post about this very cool book because my sister-in-law is the author! How cool is that?! I read it to the kids and they loved it and they also thought it was cool that there is a picture of their aunt on the back inside cover. It's a story about a girl who lives in Utah in the late 1800s. She has a doll made of wheat that she loves and is her best friend. She loses her doll after a storm and she is very sad. She searches for her doll and eventually gives up but after the winter months pass she makes a special discovery. It's based on a true story and it's a great book. The pictures are also very beautiful. So, everyone get yourself a copy and I can get it signed by the author herself if you'd like. If you are interested, you can buy it here.

I came home from Meghan's house today to find a package on my front doorstep. It turned out to be this really cool cookie bouquet. Yum! If you can't tell from the photo, all the cookies say "thank you" in a different language. I had no idea who it would be from so I read the card and it was from Mark's bosses. It said thank you for letting Mark travel. I think they knew how hard it would be on both of us for Mark to travel with Piper being so young. They obviously know how to butter me up. Food is always a good thing. The sugar cookies are yummy. So, Jay and Amy, if you even read this blog, thanks for sending the cookie basket. The girls loved it too. I won't even bother to save any for Mark.

Just a quick entry to let everyone know that we are officially pre-approved to buy a house! Those who know me well know that we are totally psyched to get out of this dump of a neighborhood and into a house. Those of you who I see (or talk on the phone to) get to hear my complaints constantly of this place we live in. So, I'm happy to say that the ball is rolling and hopefully within a few months we will be first-time home owners. I'm so excited to start looking. I love looking at floor plans and seeing how houses are laid out. Every time I'm in a new home I always ask for a tour. Anyway, I can't wait for Mark to get back from Budapest so we can start looking. Woo hoo!

Calista loves to hold my hand all the time.

Piper, here. I thought I'd give a run-down of my life so far. My life is the best. I get to eat, sleep and cry whenever I want. My mom and dad cater to my every need (Nonna does too, since she's been here since I was born). I have two big sisters who keep me entertained and I now have them trained so that when I lose my plug all I have to do to get it back in my mouth is cry just a little. Usually Calista comes running first. I've got those sisters wrapped around my little, itty-bitty finger. Téa likes to feed me occasionally but her favorite thing is to pick out my clothes for me. Calista does a good job of letting Mom know when I'm awake or asleep. Sometimes I get woken up to her saying (really loudly) "Mom, Piper is sleeping!" Then I have to try and fall back asleep. I really like sleeping in my pack 'n play during the night but I like taking my naps during the day in my bouncer. I guess all the noise from my big sisters helps me fall asleep. I guess I'm weird that way.

I realized recently that Mommy is much happier when I only wake up once in the night time. I don't know why that is, but I guess I'll keep that streak going. I guess I'll try to continue that since no one is awake in the night to play with me anyway. I've become Mom's roommate for the last 5 nights so that Nonna could have a bedroom all to herself. I really like it because if I start to whine just a little around 6 am, Mommy will put me on her bed in Daddy's spot so she can sleep just a little bit longer. I've got her wrapped around my finger as well. I might kick Daddy out of his bed to the couch. I like sleeping on their bed.

Did I mention that my Daddy had to go to Budapest on Sunday? I miss him so much. Every night we had our bonding time. He would stay up late with me and we'd play soccer together on the Nintendo or conquer some civilization in Age of Empires III. He won't be back until Wednesday of next week. That's the reason I'm posting this entry. I wanted Daddy to know what I've been up to. I know I've changed since he left. I grew a double chin and I'm filling out my clothes nicely. Did I also mention that I LOVE to eat? My mom just doesn't understand that I need to eat every hour from 5 pm to 9 pm. I'm just trying to fill the reserves so I can make it to 3 am and give her all that sleep time. Sometimes I just have to keep crying until she feeds me more. She eventually gets it.

My mom thinks she's gotten things somewhat under control now with three kids. I think it's only because Nonna is here to help a ton. Nonna has been here since I was born so I've gotten to know her pretty well. She even got up once with me at 3 am to feed me. We had some nice bonding time then. I'll miss her when she leaves in three days. But Grandma is coming on Monday, so I can start working my baby magic on her and have her wrapped around my finger. Ha ha ha! Well, I've gotta go rest now. It's getting past my bedtime and Mommy needs to check her email.

LIFE IS GOOD!