Four Months Old

Tommy is four months old now.  He is smiling and laughing so much - except when he's crying.  He can roll over back to front and front to back all by himself.  He loves to look at books.  He is reaching for things and pulling hair is his new specialty.  He sleeps through the night most of the time.  We think it's time to start him on cereal to see if it helps him stay asleep longer.  He is drooling and chewing on anything he can get into his mouth.  He might be an early teether.  He is still vocalizing a lot.  He says ooh and goo and da.  Gripe Water is is favorite thing in the world.  If you have a baby and have never heard of Gripe Water....just trust me.....pick some up at your drugstore today.  I don't know how much he weighs, but his doctor appointment is this Wednesday so I can post his stats next week.  We gave him his first real hair cut with the clippers this week because his hair was just too long and out of control.  Now his hair is much better behaved.  He is a handsome and cuddly little one and we are so thankful to have a little man in our family.

July 28, 2013

Not a lot happened this week.  Just the usual family stuff.  Jeremy did get July 24th off for Pioneer Day.  So we took a day trip to Pocatello to visit Don Aslett's Museum of Clean.  I know it sounds a little strange.  It is a cool place filled with all kinds of modern and antique cleaning paraphernalia.  Don Aslett himself was there and gave us a tour.  Tommy was tired so I sat it out to feed him.  Jeremy and the girls were gone for over two hours checking out all three floors of the interactive museum with their famous tour guide.

 Before kids enter the museum, they get vacuumed and practice cleaning a window.  Window cleaning is how Mr. Aslett got his start in business.  Lily liked the vacuum; Annie....not so much.

 Mr. Aslett showing us a super fast vacuum.  The girls got a few turns putting a piece of fabric in the vacuum so we could watch it zip through the tubing.

 Texas sized wet floor sign.

 Lily and Annie lifting "weights" like Uncle Brady.

 Two adorable chimney sweeps.

Mr. Aslett showing us his NASA trash compactor.

We had so much fun here - it took half a day to see and play with everything.  We will go back for sure.  Plus while on the tour, Mr. Aslett gave us one of his best-selling books and a baby toothbrush/teether for Tommy.  We're suckers for free stuff!

 This is what I found in the bathtub one morning.  The night before, one of the girls shoved poor Tinkerbell up the faucet.

 We painted the girls room pink - Lily chose the color - and got their beds assembled last month.  Here is a picture of the final result.  We're hoping Lily will get brave enough for us to put them together as bunk beds to free up some space in their room.

 Lily working hard at gymnastics.  Feet together...toes pointed.....legs straight....

 Lily reading a book to Tommy.  He really likes to look at books.

 Silly littles!

 Lily in the weed patch with her dump truck!

 Annie decorated her foot with stickers and wanted to show Puna.

 Sad Tommy and Daddy after church. Tommy cried for the last two hours of church while I was trying to play the piano for the Primary children.  I tried to soothe him during my breaks but as soon as I would hand him off to someone the tears would start again.  I really hope he doesn't do that again. 

Lily and Mommy making chocolate zucchini cakes.  We made two cakes and 24 cupcakes and we haven't even made a dent in the zucchini supply.

It was great to have a quiet week at home.  Jeremy and I even got to get out for a date night.  We bought the kids a swimming pool to help beat the heat - and wouldn't you know it - the next two days after we bought the pool we had thunder and rain storms.  Hopefully next week we'll get to use it and post some pictures.

July 21, 2013

I'm not gonna lie.  This was the hardest week I have ever experienced as a mother.  We were all suffering from post-vacation blues big time.  Tommy was having digestive troubles and stopped sleeping through the night.  Annie was acting out and aggressive and totally contrary.  Lily was emotional and exhausted.  Daddy had a lot of catch up to do at work (although Daddy was the happiest of the bunch this week).  And Mommy just plain lost it while trying to get well from a horrible chest cold, while getting the family back to our regular schedule, while dealing with three little people who all needed more sleep, more snuggles, and more discipline after playing so hard for a week - all on minimal sleep since Tommy was waking two to three times a night.  I yelled a lot, prayed a lot, and tried to be a happy mommy.  We all cried a lot (except for Daddy).  And finally by Friday we had turned a corner and restored peace to our home.  Daddy was so patient with his emotional little brood and helped Mommy so much.  It feels good to be back to ourselves.  Next year we're going to enforce a regular bedtime for the kiddos at the family reunion because it took us a whole week to catch up on sleep and get them back to normal.

Due to grumpy circumstances I didn't take a lot of pictures this week.  But since we were feeling fine again by Saturday we ventured out to a church Pioneer Day activity.  Members of our church celebrate July 24 to commemorate the arrival of the first Mormon pioneers to the Salt Lake valley.  In our area we did a huge breakfast, a 5k run, and a children's parade.  Lily and Annie wanted to dress like pioneers, so I pulled out clothes from our trek last year.  I didn't have bonnets, but they wore straw hats and looked adorable riding their bikes in the parade.

 Annie in the parade

 Lily riding with Claire 

 Lily and her buds after the parade

 I didn't forget about Tommy.  He is rolling over like a champ and only wants to sleep on his tummy.  He is so precious when he's snoozing.  I know tummy sleeping is a big no-no in today's parenting but he sleeps better this way - so what's a mom to do?

I've been meaning to post this picture of his nursery for a while.  Once he started sleeping through the night we assembled his crib and finished decorating his room.  I couldn't fit the whole room in the shot so here's the cutest part - the crib.  Tommy is almost back to sleeping through the night again and his tummy is feeling much better now.  He will be four months old next week.  Time has really gone so quickly since March.

July 14, 2013...a little bit more

 Whoa!  Look who is sucking his thumb!  We keep trying to prevent him from finding his thumb and he manages to get it in his mouth anyway.  He accepts pacifiers reluctantly and I often go to his room in the morning to find him sucking his thumb.  It is so darn cute but we'd rather he take a pacifier.

He is also rolling over from stomach to back already.  I remember the girls not trying that until about 4-5 months old!  This boy is going to be a busy one.

After church we had a dance party in the living room.  Lily changed into her favorite dancing clothes and the girls showed us all their moves.

Then after dinner Lily decked herself out for a wedding.  Jeremy asked her who was getting married and she said "I am!".  When we asked her whom she was marrying she said "I don't know!".  I suppose the party is more important than the groom at this point.  And Daddy and Mommy are FINE with that.

July 14, 2013

What a busy week!  We traveled to Boise for the Hall Family Reunion and got to spend a week at Grammy and Grampy's cabin near McCall, Idaho.  Lily pretty much lived in her swimming suit.  Tommy got so much attention from all his cousins that he was a little overwhelmed.  Annie enjoyed getting one on one time with Mommy and Daddy while sister and brother were playing with cousins.  We didn't sleep much, so by the end of the week we were all exhausted.  But it was worth it to create new memories and see our family (minus one brother who is currently deployed).

 Annie in her "superhero" floatie suit.

 Lily's favorite ensemble for the week - messy hair, swimming suit, no shoes

 Some of the girls making bead bracelets.

 Annie showing off her bracelet.

 too...much...fun...one....tired....baby....

 All dressed for swimming!

 Annie loved being on the water.  She loved the jet ski, the tube rides, and sitting at the very front of the boat.  She kept insisting that she wanted to waterski and was upset that we didn't have any skis or boards to fit her.

 Lily had an adventure without us.  She took a boat ride with aunts and uncles while we stayed behind to prepare dinner.  Unfortunately, the boat ran out of gas and they were stranded for over an hour because our walkie-talkies weren't working.  Lily was scared and cried a little, but they were eventually rescued and made it back to us.

 How cute are these two?  This is Lily and her cousin Madilyn.  They are only two months apart in age and they were inseparable the entire week.  They like the same toys, foods, activities, etc.  They are a match made in Heaven.  Madilyn left a day early and Lily wandered around that next day feeling a little lost without her buddy.  We hope they can get together again next year.

 Annie played so hard every day and never took a nap the entire time because she wanted to keep up with the big kids.  She was totally beat by the end of the trip.  She really liked getting to spend individual time with Mom and Dad while Tommy and Lily were with cousins.  She has grown so much and is such an adventurous girl. 

 Our girls loved this walking can toy.  They both mastered it pretty quickly.  We worried they would fall off the cabin deck, but we managed to avoid any injuries.

 All the Hall grandchildren - minus Justin's four.  We sure missed them this year.

And here's the whole family.  Thank you Mom and Dad Hall for such a fun week in such a beautiful place.  See you next year!