Never too big?

Nate was my only formula kid.  He was too busy to nurse and I had enough of the fight and we started formula when he was 9 months old.  He really liked the bottle.  He was also my only kid who liked cow's milk from the start. 

He really liked to snuggle in on the couch and drink his "boddo". 

I decided to wean him before Jason was born.  It went well, but as soon as there were other bottles around the house, he wanted his again.  So, now he drinks a full bottle of milk in the morning instead of using a sippy cup.  I haven't wanted to fight the battle just yet.  All that info was just in case you were judging me as you see that huge kid drinking a bottle :)

Now, onto the point of the post.  This was too cute not to share.

 Jason was having his morning soak in the tub to remove all the night's vomit and pee.
Nate was in position at his side, drinking his morning bottle.

 I got Jason out and was towelling him off when I heard the unmistakable (and very familiar) sound of Nate taking off his diaper.  He wanted a bath too.

I couldn't believe it as I saw him wedge his body in that tub.
Then he asked for his "boddo" and made himself comfortable.

I love that he still wedges his free hand into his arm pit.

The crazy kid lounged in the tub long after the milk was gone and cried when I pried him out.

He cried again when the next day, I emptied the water right away.  I was on to his tricks and as cute as it was the day before, I didn't want it to become a daily routine.  To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't start trying to cram himself in with Jason.  He is a huge fan of crashing other people's private bath/shower time.
Love that kid.

Things I don't want to forget...

Watching the snow plow.

 

 



Monster Trucks!

When Jake and Allie were little, I took them to the Lowe's Build and Grow clinics every other week.  We still went when Nate was a baby, but we haven't been in a while. 
The kids have been pretty bored on Saturdays lately (their friends ski), so I decided to take them to build a project.  It was a monster truck, so I knew Jake and Nate would be thrilled.
It was a bit of a nightmare.
Nate thought the store looked fun and was constantly on the run.  His little hammer kept him happy for about 2 minutes, but then he heard a screaming table saw and had to investigate.  I never knew Lowe's could be so dangerous!  Leave it to Nate to show me all the hidden dangers. (like big carts that can knock over piles of lumber.)
Jason wasn't a fan of all the hammering and his sadness reminded him that he was hungry and he just couldn't get the thought of being at home eating out of his mind.
Jake was in the zone and getting things done without my help, so he was totally sad that I was yanking him away from his project to go home. 
There were two sad boys in the car on the way home.  One that was sad because he was hungry, and the other was sad because the hammers at home are "just too big to work on a project like this".  Nate was oblivious to the upheaval he caused and was just excited to see all the falling "snowman" outside.  That same "snowman" was making the roads incredibly slick and I had a white knuckle grip on the steering wheel.
Allie was home because she wasn't feeling well.  If she had been in the car, I'm sure the questions of why we had to go would have been endless.
Safe at home, we continued building the truck with our big hammer, and it seemed to work just fine for the project :). 
Jason was fed and happy and life was back to normal. 
In the end, the kids were completely happy with their monster trucks.

They are laughing because Jake just went "toot toot!" as Nate would say.

 

After an hour or so of play, Nate couldn't find his monster truck.  He was trying to take Allie's and that was causing problems, so we went on a hunt to find the missing truck.  I did have one clue...he was drinking from a sippy cup that I didn't give to him. 

 



 

He traded a truck for a drink.

 

 



4 Months Old!

Jason,

I don't think I'll ever tire of saying that I love you.  I don't think I'll ever tire of looking at your sweet face.  You make the funniest faces.
You are growing right along.  You eat every 3 hours and are still a great sleeper.  You sleep better at night when you have had good naps during the day.
You tend to puke up much of what you eat, and that isn't fun.  We are always pretty stinky.  You, because you are doing the barfing, and me because I am the one you barf on.  I select my clothes with that in mind and never wear the shirt in the day time that I want to be barf free in the night time. 
I love to nuzzle into your neck and give you kisses, but if you have been particularly active in the barf scene, I tend to nuzzle you less :)
You don't have much free time to just lounge on the floor, so you don't roll over much.  Nate sees to it that you fear the floor.  He doesn't intentionally hurt you, but I'm sure it's scary to have a crazy giant looming over you all the time.
He loves to point out your eyes, "mouf", ears, and nose.  You put up with it all very patiently.

You love bath time.  Sometimes you just relax and enjoy it.  Sometimes you splash and squeal. 

I can't get enough of bath time.  I love looking at your perfect little body. I know that sounds creepy, but I don't mean it in that way.  Who wouldn't love looking at those perfect little toes?

 

I love your high pitched squeals, and the low coos. I love that when you get startled by a loud noise, you search my face for signs of distress and if I look calm, you are fine.  If I look angry, you start to scream and cry a really sad cry that is hard to comfort.   

I love that when someone comes into your line of sight, you take a second to process who you are looking at, and then reward that person with a smile.  You smile easily when you are happy.

 

 

I love that you are content with the craziness of your older siblings.  They all vie for your attention, and you don't seem to mind.

 

 

 

 

 

I have been waiting to hear you laugh.  We have gotten close a few times by playing "patty cake", but still nothing more than a little growl.  You really like Jake and growl when he plays with you. 



 

 

You just fit with our family.  You are easy going and easy to please.  I love each stage of your life and look forward to seeing you continue along this path of learning and growing.  You make me smile and I am so glad that you are mine.

 

Love,

Mom

 

 

If you want to see the others at 4 months...click HERE.

Stuff and Things

If you have noticed, I have been posting a lot lately.  Here are my reasons.  For one, I made a goal to take a picture a day this year.  I think I was already a pretty regular picture taker, but this has made me more regular.
I have a cousin who made it a goal to blog about a picture a day this year.  I have checked in on her blog several times now, knowing that I will be rewarded with a peek into her family's life.  It's been fun.  I don't know how many people read my blog anymore, but I thought I would at least give those of you who do something to look at :).
I also started making my blog into a book.  I used to think that I would just print the pictures and make scrapbooks, but that just hasn't happened.  It's not that it will never happen, but it just hasn't yet.  So, I looked into printing my blog, and although it's expensive, I think it's something I am going to do.  As I got my blog ready to download, I got stuck reading old posts.  I can't believe how much my kids have grown in the few years that I have been writing about them on this blog.  I am so grateful that I wrote as much as I did because I have forgotten so much.
So, the point of this post...
I will be trying to post more often, maybe just a picture a day like my cousin, but it should be more often.
I am also going to have lots of entries that are "Things I don't want to forget..."  I have realized that it really doesn't take much time to post a blog entry, but it creates a memory for me forever.  So, you'll be seeing lots of those. 
I also feel bad that Nate and Jason are dominating the posts these days.  Fact is, they are who I see the most of.  Allie and Jake got plenty of posts when they were small.  It doesn't mean that I have thrown them to the side of the road as I enjoy the "cuteness" that comes from my small ones these days.  This picture a day challenge has made me get more creative in the pictures I take of them too.  So, I'll try to post more about them.
I don't really know why I wrote this post, other than to try and inspire you to take more pictures and write more about the little every day things.  I have been glad for what I have done.  Now that things are digital, it doesn't cost anything to take pictures.
I also keep a file for each of my kids on the computer and when they say something funny, or just need an update, I type out a page in Word and save it in their file.  I hope they'll be grateful for it some day.
So there it is...there was a time when I thought I would just quit writing in my blog because I didn't think anyone read it anymore, but then I realized that I was really doing it for me...so off I go again...

Conversation at the lunch table...

The scene...
The kids were eating lunch and talking about summer.  Allie craves the warmer weather.  They started talking about the kids that ride skateboards down the hill by our house.

Jake: Why are teenagers so crazy sometimes?
Allie: Well, not all teenagers are crazy, Stockton (neighbor) doesn't act crazy.  He's a teenager now.
Jake:  He is crazy when he is skiing.  But why are teenagers so crazy?
Me:  I don't know.  We'll have to wait till you're a crazy teenager and I'll ask you.
Allie: Jake, will you wear your pants down low so we can see your underwear when you are a teenager?
Jake: (very seriously) No.  I always try to keep my pants up.

Little Candy Thief

I thought the candy was safe up on this shelf.  Clearly, I was mistaken.

 

Jake's 100

When Jake's class celebrated 100 days in school, they did this cute little journal thing.  I love seeing things like this in his back pack.  It's so much better than all the other stuff they bring home each day. 

I thought this one was so fun that I just had to share...

 

If I had 100 video games, I would play them all day.

 I do not doubt that.  There are some slow Saturdays when it's easier to let him play than figure out something else for him to do.  He doesn't even move from the couch unless I make him.  I guess it's good that those days are rare.

If I had $100 dollars, I would buy a monster truck.
 

Sorry, buddy, I don't think 100 dollars would get you a monster truck, unless you are thinking about the toy, and in that case, you could buy lots of them.  I love that he still likes monster trucks.

If I had 100 legs I would climb the empire state building.

 I love the way he draws people.  He calls them "signatures" (I have no idea why), and they have looked like this for years.  It makes me smile.  Love the extra legs :)

If I had 100 friends I would play all day.

If I had 100 mosquito bites, I would go crazy...aaaaa

 When Jake was telling me about this book, he reminded me that when he went fishing with Mike once, the mosquitoes were attacking him and he did end up with almost 100 bites.  We are not fans of mosquitoes around here...

If I could have 100 of anything, I would have 100 brothers and sisters because they are so very fun.
 

This one made me so happy.  Lately, I feel like my time is really getting split into all sorts of directions and I hope I am meeting everyone's needs.  Jake has said before, "___ is lucky because he's an only child and he gets anything he wants."  I'm glad that he really likes his siblings and would have 100 of them if he could. 

Things I don't want to forget...

...cute little fingers picking out the mangoes first.

This morning I had a luxurious 5 minute shower.  I washed my hair and everything...

On the plus side, I showered alone, which is a rarity when Nate is awake.  He also helped me clean up the wipes and it didn't take long either.  I will be annoyed every day when I go to use them to wipe a bum and they will be all crammed in the container instead of coming out one at a time as designed, but that's okay.  I had a 5 minute shower.

Sharing the spotlight

These boys are destined to be pals.  I really worried about how things would go when Jason was born.  Nate was so wild and crazy that I just hoped Jason would survive.  Then Nate surprised me by being really soft and gentle.  He never hurts him on purpose.  He does, however, sometimes make him cry by trying to give him "uggies".  Jason is rarely on the floor on his own.  Nate always wants to join in the fun.

On this day, I wanted to take pictures of Jason in the outfit that the others wore.

 

Then Nate wedged his way in there.

 

 

Jason doesn't seem to mind sharing the spotlight.

 

I think Nate is getting more use out of toys like these than he ever did when he was a baby.  He didn't have time for stuff like that then.  He was busy learning how to move. 

Church Stuff

I am in the Primary now, so I get to see all the cute little kiddos of our ward every week.  A few weeks ago, I taught my very first Sharing Time ever.  I think I helped do one once when I was first in this ward, but I don't think it counts because I didn't plan it.

Anyway, it was about the Plan of Salvation and I talked about my cute little Sam boy and how much I love my family and want to be with them forever.  I got all choked up and everything :)

The lesson suggested that we let the kids color pictures about what makes them happy.  When kids looked stumped, I suggested that they draw their families.  

The lesson must have really sunk in for Jake because this is the paper he brought home...

 So proud of the boy.

Another funny one that came home in the church bag was this gem...

Joseph Smith's example eh?  I can live with that!

This last picture is my favorite.  We were sitting on the bench and Allie asked me how to spell Jesus.  I pointed it out on the Book of Mormon and she thanked me and returned to work on her paper.  When she was done, this is what she showed me...

I love it.  As far as I'm concerned, she has learned the most important thing.  She is loved.  Jesus loves her.  I am so glad that she knows that.  It will help her throughout her life.  

I know that Jesus loves me.  I am so grateful for that knowledge.  

It feels like a bit of a circus act getting to and from church these days, but it's worth the struggle.  Nate is happy with nursery now and goes without complaint (I was worried for a while).  Allie and Jake may be silly little restless kids in Primary, but when I lock eyes with one of them and they smile with complete joy at having me in there with them, it makes it all worth it.  They are getting something out of it, and I get even more.

I caved

I think Jason was about 5 hours old when Allie first started to ask if she could hold him.  I tried giving her limitations from the start.  I told her she had to sit on the couch with him, but she reminded me that she held Nate while standing up when she was only 5.  It's like it was her life's ambition to be able to stand and hold the baby.

The first words out of her mouth most days when she gets home from school is "can I hold Jason!?!"  She is utterly disappointed when he is sleeping or eating.  

Nate picked up on her "holding" excitement.  Now he says "ah hold im?" when Jason is in sight.  He's so demanding that it's almost as if you have to drop what ever you are doing and let him hold the baby, or he'll just get louder and louder with his demands.

Back to Allie, I shouldn't really complain that she wants to hold her baby brother all the time.  She does pretty well with him.

But she's always pushing the limits.  She sees me squeeze his cheeks and talk jibberish to him and does the same.  But she doesn't have the soft touch...so Jason cries.

She sees Mike help him stand on his lap and she wants to do that too...so Jason flops all around and comes perilously close to falling on the wood floor...and then he cries.

So when she started asking 10 days into Jason's life, if she could put him in the toy stroller, I always said no. To appease her, I agreed that she could do it some day.  Well, she decided that now is the time.

I still cringe when I hear the stroller wheels zoom across the wood floor at break neck speed, but so far we have come through it all unscathed.  (fingers crossed, knock on wood, whatever we gotta do to keep bad things from happening.)  I am a broken record with "slow down Allie" playing all the time.

You ask why I allow it in the first place, and I answer that Jason seems to like it.  Allie takes him for rides around the house as I am getting dinner ready and there aren't squawks of complaints coming from either one of them.  In fact, they spend quite a lot of time together.

 Jason endures wardrobe changes with a smile.

He really does look at her with complete trust and love.  They are good pals.  So, we'll let this little game continue for as long as they are both happy with it.  It's pretty cute if you ask me.

100 Days

Allie's class celebrated 100 days in school last week.  This year more than ever, I am glad that we are on the downhill slide toward the end of the school year.  I don't want to wish away the days, but I sure do like having the freedom of summer.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Allie reminded me that the last few years they have woken up to a trail of hearts and a little treat in a box on the table.  In the haze that is my life these days, I had forgotten, so was glad of the friendly reminder before it was too late.  Nate didn't have a cute box yet, but he will for next year.

 Check out that morning hair.  He was mad that I took away his treats.

 They enjoyed their pancakes for breakfast and were soon off to school to enjoy the day.

Jason was having a lie in (isn't that how the British say it?), but Nate made sure to make his morning happy.
Wet kisses straight from the shower.  Have I mentioned that kid is obsessed with showers?  He pounds on the door as he attempts to get all his clothes off and begs anyone to take him in.

He's a cutie.
Anyway, the real point of the post is this story.
I didn't get to the store to buy the boxed Valentine sets, so I just cut out a bunch of hearts on my Cricut.  Allie addressed all her cards earlier in the day and I gave Jake his set while I was cleaning up dinner.  I guess I didn't explain what he was supposed to do with them and as he sat there looking as if he were stuck on a particularly hard math problem, I told him to hurry up.  I reminded him that he didn't need to write first and last names, just get it done.  He returned to his finished pile and said that he hadn't put names on them yet.  I was confused, so I looked over his shoulder.  He had turned the paper hearts into conversation hearts, but hadn't addressed them yet.  I thought it was cute as I read the first few..."U R Awesome", and "Best Friends".  I patted him on the back and said that it was cute, but he didn't need to take all that much time on them because he still had homework and other stuff.  So after that, he just put names on them.
I go through all this explaining so you can understand why these hearts turned out the way they did...and why I couldn't call myself a good mother if I let him take this to his class today.

 I was so shocked at first that I laughed and asked Jake if he had kissed Mason.  He said "No!  That's gross!  I was just making those heart things that we like to eat."

He filled out the messages first and then added the names, but that sweet innocent boy doesn't know the repercussions of giving those to boys :)

He was able to keep some of them and they all made me smile.  It was a creative thought all on his own, I just didn't want him to be the creepy kid in class :).  Can you blame me?  If Jake came home with a Valentine that said "First Kiss" on it, from a boy or girl, we'd have to chat.