Cousins

Kiley Kerns, EllaRose Frewing, Kilynn Waite

Lydia Kerns, Marji Waite

Andrew Kerns and Myra Waite

Marji is 8!

Yesterday was her birthday. What a sweet eight years it has been with her around! Marji has such a sunny personality. She is very secure with herself. She looks for the good in others, and engages them (even older people) in conversation easily. Somewhere, she has seemed to learn the art of asking people about themselves to get them talking. Her laugh is infectious but also ear splitting at times. She is very good at giving out compliments. She is developing her talents in dance, fiddle, piano, and her physical goal this year is to become a better swimmer. She has the "mean" teacher this year that is notorious for making her students cry, but Marji loves her and she loves Marji. Marji can get along with anyone. Marji seems to be excelling in all academic areas. She has a goal to read the Book of Mormon this year and is excited for her baptism next week!

Kilynn is 10!

I'm really beginning to realize that time is running out! Kilynn has less time left at home now than she has lived with us thus far! That makes me so sad to think about! It also makes me feel overwhelmed! There is still so much to teach her and experience with her!

The poor girl was very sick through Thanksgiving and her birthday (Nov. 29th.) She was sick for a long time and said she didn't want to celebrate until she felt better. We finally opened presents and had birthday cake on Dec. 8th.

Kilynn is wonderful. She has been so helpful these past several weeks with Myra. I was sorry to see her return to school. 

and isn't she beautiful? She has such a good sense of humor, and is such a good friend, sister...and cousin! She especially loves her cousins. They are her best friends and she is constantly writing letters to them or trying to steal my phone so she can text them.

and super creative! We often see her like this:

She's a fun girl to have around. We love her!

Last year was Kilynn and Marji's first experience in dance. Kilynn didn't enjoy it (even though she was good at it!) so this year, she opted not to participate. Marji continues to enjoy it though. I missed Marji's Nutcracker performance this year due to Myra's birth just two days prior, but Joseph took some pictures.

Sweet Brother, Sweet Boy

On the evening of Myra's birth, Grandma and Grandpa Waite brought the kids over to meet their new sister. They were all excited about her and wanted to hold her. All but Ezra. He was very stand-off-ish. when asked if he would like to hold her, he said, "I will when she is one." For the next couple days, that was always his answer when asked if he wanted to hold her. Finally, after three days, I thought of making a bottle for one feeding instead of breastfeeding and asked Ezra if he would like to feed her the bottle. He was excited about that idea and finally held her while he fed her her first bottle.

Ezra has been much more comfortable around Myra ever since and asks to hold her frequently now. He seems very protective of her and I think he initially was just worried he would break her! He worries about her a lot. If I lay her down and she whimpers at all, he is right there to let me know. If she looks at all uncomfortable in any way, he is right there to let me know. As soon as he comes in the door from school, he heads right to the bathroom and washes his hands so he doesn't give Myra any germs that he might have picked up from school. He tells me he even washes his wrists and around his fingernails. This weekend, he became very sick. He looks so miserable and I just want to hold him and snuggle him, but he keeps worrying about giving me germs and me getting Myra sick. He keeps asking me, "What if Myra gets sick?" 

He's such a sweet boy.

In other recent Ezra news that I'm reminded of as I look through pictures...
He was excited that his new (hand-me-down) swim shorts match the colors on a swim shirt he already had. Then he noticed that they matched the colors in some socks and a hat that he already had as well. He felt pretty cool when he put the outfit all together.

On Christmas morning, he drew this picture on his new drawing tablet thingy and told me it was a picture of me. I had just been through a wild night, and I thought he captured what I looked like perfectly!

Naming Baby Myra

We knew throughout the whole pregnancy that her middle name would be Blossom. Her Grandma Waite's middle name is Blossom as well as her Grandmother before her.

The first name was a little more difficult. My favorite names were shot down by Joseph, and Joseph's favorite names were likewise shot down by me. One name we both agreed on was Ada. For the majority of the pregnancy it looked like we would name her Ada. However, I started having second thoughts about that name and started looking for other options towards the end. 

Less than a month before she was born, I was looking through baby name ideas online and came across the name Palmira. It made me think of Palmyra New York and I thought it would be a neat name with some church history significance, especially since she would be born near Joseph Smith's birthday and we are headed into the year of the 200th anniversary of Joseph Smith's first vision that occurred near Palmyra NY.

Actually, I didn't much care For Palmyra, but I loved the name Myra! I had never thought of it or heard of it before, but I texted the idea to Joseph right away and he agreed! Then I looked up the name Myra and loved it even more! The name apparently means Myrrh which is very appropriate for this Christmas season! It is my understanding that Myrrh is a sweet smelling oil used for perfume and medicinal purposes. That makes Myra or little sweet smelling Blossom! It is my hope that just as Myrrh was a gift for the baby Jesus from the Wise Men, Myra will lead a life that will be a good of service for her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Kilynn dressed her in one of her "My Life" doll's dresses!