New Tricks

Jack is now 5 months old. Here are a few tricks and new things he is learning.

Blowing spit bubbles.

Hanging out in his bouncer. He hasn't mastered it yet. He kept pulling his legs up.

He can stick his whole hand in his mouth. (front view)

(side view)
Doing the laundry.
Sitting with some assistance from his boppy.

Grandma Sandi's

We took advantage of a three day weekend and headed over the hill to Grandma's house. We thought it had been too long since our kids last saw their Great Grandparents. We also had the opportunity to see Uncle Brandon and Auntie Melody. The trip was kind of up in the air until the last minute as Mother Nature wasn't too cooperative. We had wanted to leave Friday night, but the snow kept falling. We were so glad when it tapered off and the roads were open without controls, Saturday afternoon.

The house was sure full of a lot of little kids, eight from age 9 down to 5 months. Everyone got along great. Cali is in love with Noah and declared he was her favorite cousin and as always, Chelsea and Zoe were best friends. The weekend was full of late nights and early mornings. I wished we all lived closer, it was fun watching all the cousins get along. Four of them even got to be in the same primary class on Sunday. I also loved that my sister in law volunteered to cut and color my hair. I love having such talent in the family.

Here are a few highlight:

Story time with Uncle Dan. "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," that included real food falling from the sky.

Watching movies.
As always Grandma sent us home with lots of goodies. These time they were very educational.

Jack getting a head start on his computer skills.
Noah practicing his writing.

Valentine's Day 2011

What a difference a year makes. Last Valentine's Day I was so sick. I had a bad cold and couldn't take much of anything for it, since I was pregnant. On top of that, my morning sickness was in full swing as well. However, this year I have no complaints. It was a rather fun and eventful day. I got to spend some time in Noah's class helping out. My kids loved their gifts. My husband surprised me with dinner. The kids made me the cutest card, all by themselves. I am amazed at how artistic Noah is these days and how much patience he has with his sister. He is so good about coming up with pictures for special occasions all on his own and he knows it is important to include her. I so wish I would have taken a picture of it.

Here is one of the decorations. I also made wooden "Be Mine" blocks, as well as "Love" blocks.

The dinner, he knew it was impossible to take me to a sushi restaurant. He even apologized that it wasn't my most favorite, "Spicy Tuna Roll". I thought it was a nice surprise. We also had egg rolls. He even brought home a Red Velvet Cake for dessert.

My little valentine's and honored dinner guests.

Noah and Zoe's new tents. These have provided hours of enjoyment and creative play.

100th Day of School

Noah recently celebrated the 100th day of school. It just so happened to fall on Valentine's Day, so it was a day full of celebration. My friend, Circle, was willing to watch Noah and Zoe so I could help out in Noah's classroom. I arrived just in time to help them make their crowns.

This was the first time I have been able to help out. Noah was really excited that I could make it. Some of his fellow classmates were so excited to see, "Noah's Mom." A little boy named Hayden said,"I knew it was Noah's Mom because she is so beautiful." I have to admit this made my day. I gained a great respect for his teacher, Mrs. Hoover, she has several students in their with learning disabilities and behavioral issues. I don't know how she accomplishes so much in the short amount of time she has them each day, with all the different levels of abilities. It also helped me to understand why Noah comes home so frustrated some days, when things don't go according to his plan. He has a thing about everyone following the rules or doing what they are asked to do and some days it just doesn't happen. I also got to put faces to the names of some of the kids he is always talking about. I can't wait to volunteer in his class again. It was a lot of fun. I'm also glad that he is so proud of me and that he would want to share me with his friends.

Here is what 100 cheerios look like pasted to a piece of paper.

His class wearing the "100th Day" crowns.
Noah's valentine's.
Enjoying some hot chocolate and candy.
The two of us.

Just Chillin

What a way to spend a Saturday afternoon. We kidnapped Erik for the morning, as his mom was still recovering from the swine flu, and took the kids to Lowe's to build heart shaped music boxes as part of their ongoing building workshops. I was so glad Dan was able to join us after his worldwide leadership training meeting. He is so much better at interpreting the directions and has more patience too. The kids weren't ready to go home yet so we did a little exploring. I guess they decided they needed to take a little break.

I so want one of these for the patio I am determined to get in my backyard this year.

Brothers

As you can see, Noah is still pretty proud of his baby brother. He always wants to hold him before he goes to school in the morning and as soon as he gets home. He is the first one to get a good morning and the last to get a kiss good night. Noah is always on the look out to find matching clothes for them to wear and loves that people think they look so much alike. I hope this friendship lasts.

Solids

We finally took the time to get Jack a booster highchair so he could join us at the table. Let's just say meal times are enjoyable once again. He is so happy to be part of the action and my hands are free so I can eat with less mess. We noticed during dinner that he was really interested in food and starting to follow fork and spoon movements with his eyes. He is 4 months old, which means we can start introducing solids at anytime. Daddy couldn't wait to introduce him to rice cereal. As you will see below he didn't really like it. I was surprised that he knew what to do with the food. My other two would always push it out with their tongue, so it takes a couple of attempts to get them to swallow anything. Since he didn't seem to be too eager we decided not to be in a hurry either. I want him to stay small forever.

Some fun pictures...

I'll give it another try in a month. We might have to skip right to baby food. None of my kids have seemed to like rice cereal. They preferred more complex flavors.

Awards Night

Noah received an invitation to the First Semester Awards Evening at Cottonwood Elementary School. We wondered all week what out of the possible 4 awards he would be receiving. We made arrangements for Daddy to get off work early in order to attend the special occasion with us. Noah was full of anticipation and got a little anxious and irritated as the evening progressed and they hadn't called his name yet. His friend Erik had already received

his award for good citizenship and Felicity's name had been called for hardest worker. We had to calm him down and convince him that he really didn't want to receive the Most Improved award. We were relieved when they finally handed out the Attendance Awards and he was recognized for only missing one day. He looked so small walking up to the front to receive his award. We are so proud of him. For his love of school and all that he is learning.

Another look at the happy recipient...

The Award...

He was so excited to see his name and picture in the local paper.

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I thought I'd finally post a copy of his school pictures taken this past fall (10/10).