10 Months!

Our little Bubba is ten months old today!  Hard to believe he's been with us this long already.  His handsome little face and beautiful brown eyes still melt my heart and stop traffic everywhere we go. 

Tommy got his first arcade experience this month.  All the sounds, lights, and laughter were exciting for him.  He was most interested in the Skee-Ball game.  Maybe he'll be really good at it like his Papa.

I love this picture because it doesn't even look like Tommy.  He was making mischief and he knew it!  You can see it all over his face.  His new favorite activity is opening all the drawers and cupboards in the kitchen and emptying them.  He smashed his toe with one of my heavy stainless steel pots.  Apparently it didn't hurt enough to stop him from exploring the other cupboards.  Daddy is going to put a few locks on the doors for me.

Tommy is finally eating dry solids.  He especially loves Mommy's homemade bread, Nilla wafers, and graham crackers.  It makes a mess, but he can feed himself now.  That is a big help at dinnertime.

Still loving bath time and still only two teeth in that precious little mouth.  Such a cute little smile!

Winter and teething have been hard on Bubba's skin.  Once in a while he gets a little deep moisturizing facial to help with the chapped cheeks and dry forehead.

He is our sunshine, our Tommy sunshine!  Crawling, drooling, cruising, exploring, he's ready to conquer the world.  We love you little man.  Happy ten months!

January 26, 2014

We started of the week with a high point for the girls.  Monday was a holiday so Daddy did not have to go to work.  We surprised them with a trip to the movie theater to see Frozen for the second time.  They were on cloud nine!  They even dressed up for the show.

Can you see how excited Annie is?  She was absolutely bursting!

They found their favorite characters on the poster! Again....look at Annie's face.  That girl was EXCITED.

They sang a long to every song they knew - which was basically every song in the entire show.

Daddy and Tommy weren't nearly as excited as the girls were, but they were good sports.

They were so adorable and well behaved during the movie.  They wanted to sing out loud but managed to sing quietly so they wouldn't disturb the other moviegoers.  Some teenage girls thought our princesses were so cute, they asked our permission to take pictures of them and with them.  Lily and Annie felt like celebrities.

After the show we let them play a few arcade games.  Tommy loved all the sounds and lights.

 One tired Queen of the Ice.  Lily crashed when we got home.  She said it was the best day ever.

Annie wrote her name for the first time this week during Family Night.  She was so proud to show us.  Sorry the photo is blurry.  It is a little hard to make out the A N N I E.  It is there.
 

 Thursday I organized a playdate at the library with six of the kids' friends.  We haven't been to the library for a while.  It was great to go and play.

Mommy and Daddy got to go to the temple for a date night.  It was a gorgeous night and a great chance to get away.

Here's Princess Annie passed out on Mommy and Daddy's bed.  She played really hard with friends all day on Saturday and crashed at 3:00 p.m.  I love how she kept her ring out from under the covers.  A true princess never hides her jewelry - even at nap time.

Lily had her first falling out with friends this week.  It was hard for her.  She cried a lot.  But she learned from the experience and will hopefully handle a future similar situation without so many tears.  Lily also had her first experience falling out of the bunk bed.  She and Annie were playing on the top bunk and Lily was leaning over the guard rail.  She put too much weight on it and stripped the screws that were holding it in place.  She went tumbling over the rail and fell straight to the ground, followed by the rail.  She was shaken up for a long time, but ended up fine.  Only a bruised shoulder - thank goodness!

That's all for us.  See you next week with more Shenanigans.

January 19, 2014

 Lily was excited to wear this new polka dot dress (given to us by a friend) to church last Sunday.  She asked me to curl her hair too.  She said she felt "so beautiful".  We sure love our gorgeous girl!

Tommy is a real pro at holding bottles for himself.  But he still likes the comfort of being with Mommy or Daddy for feeding time so, he usually wants us to hold him.  Mommy doesn't mind.  Now that he's nearing ten months, I realize that the moments he'll want to be held will be very few all too soon.

Tommy charmed all the nurses at the pediatrician's office during his nine month check up.  Those huge brown eyes and long black lashes melt everyone's heart.  It helps that he didn't need any shots so he arrived and left a happy boy.  

After sickness, vacation, and sleeping through last week's class, Annie was FINALLY ready to hit the gym for tumbling class again.  She was happy to use the big trampoline and show off her jumps.  She's been working on three types of jumps: tucks, straddles, and tornadoes (spinning in the air).   She loves every minute.  Go Annie!

We bought the soundtrack to the movie "Frozen".  Every afternoon the girls' friends join us for a "Frozen" karaoke and dance party in the basement or our kitchen.  I love watching them all sing and dance without the pressure of looking cool.  Just total joy and noise.  Makes my heart happy every single time I hear them.

Annie is now old enough to start learning the computer.  We've been letting her explore the games on starfall.com.  She is learning her letters and some early addition and counting.  Mostly she's trying to figure out how to use the mouse with her tiny hands.

Jeremy has been busy this week with the trim and closets in the basement bedrooms.  It is hard to get work done with our three little "helpers" always trying to "help".  But things are coming along and we're hoping to get the office done so we can finally unpack all of our books and give our office furniture its permanent home.

 I moved some furniture to mop the kitchen floor one afternoon.  The kids took advantage of the opportunity or use the dining chairs as a train.  They all dressed as princess (and one prince) explorers and took turns driving the train and choosing their adventures.  It was great to hear their imaginations in action.

Annie volunteered to help me make bread Saturday afternoon.  She carefully scooped the flour into measuring cups for me.  Then she made piles and mountains with the remaining flour in the canister.  She made a huge mess, but she was so happy to be by my side cooking.  And she was very proud of the bread.

Couldn't say goodbye this week without one more picture of this cutie-patootie.  Bath time is still his very most favorite time of the day.  He is always happy in the tub and loves to splash around in the water.

We enjoyed a short visit with Grampy this Saturday.  His Aunt Sharon celebrated her 80th birthday this weekend.  Grampy and his brother Clark came over for the party and stayed with us Saturday night.  He took us out to dinner too!  Thanks for the short but nice visit Grandpa and Clark.

Mommy's training for the half marathon is on schedule so far.  On my rest/cross train days I do Zumba or strength training.  I went to a Zumba fundraiser for Special Olympics and won a free month of Zumba classes.  AWESOME!  All this exercise is helping with my weight loss goals too.  Down three pounds last week and my clothes are already fitting better.  I'll take it.  Bye bye baby weight - and the other 30 pounds too!

Mommy started a food blog this week.  It has only been up for five days and I've already had 200 pageviews!  Every month we establish a food budget.  To try and help stay within the budget I make a monthly meal plan that includes all our dinners for the month.  That way I know exactly what I need to buy and I never have to come up with something last minute for dinner.  It takes a lot of initial planning but saves me every night.   So many friends have been asking for our family meal plans; I just decided to put them online and include my own recipes or links to the websites and blogs where I get my recipes.  It is fun for me to share what is working for our family and help my friends at the same time.  If you want to see what's cookin' in my kitchen for January click on the link: http://clovescooking.blogspot.com/

 See you next week!

Nine Months - December 27, 2013

 

 Tommy finally made it in for his nine month check up today - a little over two weeks late.  He is healthy and growing and such a joy to our family.  He seems to be over his cranky infant phase and has blossomed into a social, happy little guy.  He weighs in at 18.3 pounds (10th percentile) and is 28.3 inches tall (40th percentile).  He has gained 10 pounds and grown 8 inches since birth.  Just before Christmas he was showing signs of separation anxiety, but after two weeks at the cabin with lots of cousins, grandparents, aunts, and uncles to occupy him, he seems much better about being separated from Mommy.

Tommy loves to eat.  He tries sippy cups from time to time.  We have a hard time getting him to eat anything dry like Cheerios or crackers.  But recently he started eating Nilla wafers and buttered toast.  His favorite baby food is carrots.  His second runner up is a mango baby dessert made by Gerber, but it makes very messy diapers so Mommy only pulls it out when Tommy needs a good distraction.

He got to celebrate his first Christmas this month.  The Christmas tree was a constant temptation for him.  the lights and shiny decorations were just too hard to resist.  He loved unwrapping presents and playing with the paper and ribbons.  His most favorite thing to play with is an empty box - close seconds are: the little potty in the girls' bathroom and toilet paper rolls.

He still has only two teeth, but the drooling, blowing razzberries, and constant runny nose tell us more are on the way.  Just after Christmas he had his third hair cut.  He is still cruising along furniture but will now reach across gaps in the furniture and try to move from one piece to another.  He can't stand on his own but he is getting better at balancing.

Tommy is still in size 4 diapers and wears 9-12 month clothes.  He is saying ma ma, da da, daddy, and lots of other babbling noises.  He seems most interested in "g" and "ng" sounds right now.

His favorite song is "Eensie Weensie Spider" and his favorite book is "Bubbles, Bubbles".  He sleeps through the night - when he wants to.  Thanks to his new sleeping schedule 8 p.m. to 7 a.m., Mommy has been able to get up and exercise in the mornings before everyone else gets up.

He is a total ham for the camera and smiles when he sees it - even when he's grumpy.  Unless we just made him get out of the dishwasher - apparently nothing can get him to stop crying if we don't allow him to play in the dishwasher....except for a bath.  Bath time is still his favorite time of the day.

Tommy is such a snuggly boy.  He loves to bury his face in his blankets and give slobbery kisses.  He loves to be involved with family activities.  He is always crawling through our puzzles and board games and trying to be in our arms or on our lap so he can see what's going on.  We love our social little boy!  Happy nine month birthday Tommy!