My brother ate my homework!

When Jake went to the school library for the first time, he came home lecturing me about the proper care of library books.  It cracked me up to hear him tell me the rules of reading library books.  As if I would ever let him eat pizza then turn the pages of a book.  As Jake has grown older, he is developing some of my attributes.  He can't stand to lose things and he doesn't like to break the rules.  So he is responsible about library books for sure.
I was playing on the floor with Nate while Jake did his homework.  Now that Nate is everywhere and anywhere in our house, I have tried to teach the kids that if they leave something out, it's going to get eaten or drooled on.
Nate spotted Jake's homework folder and headed straight for it. 

 I stopped him a few times and told Jake to move his things.  He wasn't very quick about it so I decided I'd just let him go.

Jake thought it was funny, but oh he was stressed out that Nate would drool on his book.

The boy does drool a lot.  Check out that shirt!

But he is so cute!

While we are on the subject of Jake and Nate, I wanted to say that Jake is so sweet with Nate.  He is soft with him and patient.  He loves to make him smile and he is a really big help when I need it.  He might stress out about a wet and soggy homework book, but he sure does love his baby brother.

Family Pictures?

Here's a preview of our family pictures this year...

Random

I was looking through my picture files today and found a bunch that I want to write about, but it would take too much time.  So I'll throw them all into one post.   The weather is changing and I suddenly feel like I didn't take advantage of the warm weather.  It's good that the kids are out there every day. 
I went out one day and found Allie and Lily making bouquets out of some of the flowers that were left.

They also picked all the remaining carrots in the garden.  My garden was a flop.

 Nate is everywhere.  It's super cute, but we have had to block off the stairs and get all the tiny toys out of his way.  The other kids didn't go after my plants as often as he does, but they have all loved the volume nob to the sound system downstairs.

It cracks me up to see him eat.  He loves food.  Dinner time is easier now that he can get it into his own mouth now.  He gets things to stick to his hand and then he sucks them off.

Jake made some model magic turtles that he sculpted and then colored.  It was pretty cute to see him pick the project and do it all on his own.  He is getting more and more independent each day.

Allie came up the other day in Nate's Halloween costume.  She cracks me up.
I got this costume a few years ago after Halloween for 5 dollars.  I am so excited to see Nate in it.  I love it.

It's fun to see these pictures.  He picked up some sort of a bug and has had a fever the last few days.  It's totally sad to see him laying around instead of on the go.  The poor kid doesn't even want to eat.

I'm afraid this winter season is going to be a bad one for Nate.  He puts everything in his mouth.  He attacks people's fingers and eats all sorts of stuff that he finds on the ground.  I have tried not to worry about it so much, but now that he is sick, I have to be better about protecting him.

I am ashamed to say that I went on a mommy daughter trip with Allie, my mom, my sisters and nieces and I didn't take one picture.  Can you believe it!  I dragged my camera all the way to St. George and never took it out of the case.  I did take pictures with mom's camera though, so one of these days I might get those pictures on the blog.  I have to say that it was a great trip though.  We went to The Little Mermaid at the Tuachan theatre in St. George.  The scenery was beautiful and Allie loved every minute of it.  She sat on my lap and we snuggled.  She loved having me all to herself for a few hours (Nate was in their daycare...catching the bug that he has right now).  Allie kept asking about the costumes and wondered what was real and what was fake.  When things were scary, she reminded us all that they were just pretending to be mean and weren't really mean.  She was fascinated by stage floors that would drop below the floor and the way they made things appear to be under water.  It was a fun adventure.  Thanks mom!

Last week I canned a bunch of grape juice and this week we'll make applesauce.  It's nice to get the kid's help on that. 

Well, that's it for now!  I still have lots to write about.  We'll see if I can find the time.



Shots!

I took Allie and Nate both in for well baby/child appointments.  They both came away with shots.
Allie is growing right along.  She is in the 50th percentile for both weight and height.  Nate is 50th percentile for weight (really!  he's a chunk!  there must be some really chunky babies out there) and 75th percentile for height.
They are both doing well developmentally.  Such a blessing.
Allie got her shots first so she could show her little bother how tough she could be.  She was tough.  Five shots earned her 5 suckers and 2 sore legs.

Nate was tough for the shots too.  As tough as a 6 month old baby can be.  Poor kid...

He didn't want to hold still for the bandaid picture.

Allie didn't do so well on her vision test.  They recommended an eye exam at an eye doctor.  I wasn't sure if she was just being shy or if she really can't see.  Have any of you had issues with vision in your kids?  I wonder if we should wait for school to see if she is having trouble or if it's worth taking her in now.  Any advise?

Conversation in the car

On the way to preschool...

Allie:  Sage.  I'm not supposed to tell anyone that I am sick, but I'm sick.
Me:  You are not sick!
Allie:  That's what you said to say, but I'm still coughing.
Me:  You don't have a fever or a snotty nose.  If I kept you home because you coughed a few times today, you'd never go to school.  You aren't sick.
Allie:  I think I'll just tell my teacher that I'm not sick because that's what you told me to tell her.
Me:  Allie...just don't say anything about it at all.
Allie:  Sage, I had the pukes.  Daddy had to help me puke in the toilet in the middle of the night.
Me:  Allie!  You did not have the pukes!  That was so long ago that I can't even remember it.  You do not have the pukes!  You are going to make your teacher think I am a terrible person sending you to school sick with the pukes.
Allie:  So I shouldn't tell my teacher that either?  Should I just whisper it to my friends so they won't sit by me and get sick too?
Me:  Allie!  No whispering...you aren't sick!  Just think about something else to talk about.

The boy child

Jake and I went to parent teacher conference together.  We sat in the hall and waited for our turn.  We ended up having a long time to wait (45 minutes).  I read him books and we looked at all the art work in the halls.  We held hands, and it was a really nice experience.  I wasn't too frustrated with the wasted time waiting, because it had been too long since I have been able to hang out with Jake like this. 
It was finally our turn, so we went in to chat with his teacher.  She had all sorts of good things to say about Jake. She kept saying that he had really good "skills".  My mind wandered at that point and I laughed to myself as I remembered Napoleon Dynamite listing off his skills: "nun chuck skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills.  Girls only want boyfriends that have great skills".  If you are wondering what the heck I am talking about, you obviously haven't seen Napoleon Dynamite enough :)
Here I go wandering again...anyway, I was glad to hear that he is nice to people and that he is a great student. Then she handed me his journal. Oh, it was cute...
I scanned the pictures in, so they might not be too easy to read.





My friend Carson and me like to play in the river




I love my sister.  We play stuffed animals.  We love to play with Nate.  We like to watch t.v.  We Like to play the wii.  We like to play outside.




My brother is 0.  He is fun to play with.  Nathan.

 Oh, the whole thing was so cute!  Page after page was making me happy.  Then I came to this one...



My mom is lazy.

Really son?  I know I like to sleep in, but lazy? 

He cracks me up.

Allie vs. mobile Nate

Allie loves babies.  She has always loved to make little "nests" for her toy babies.  She makes them comfy with blankets and pillows and any other stuffed animals she thinks her babies would like around them.  I think she was dreaming of "playing" with Nate the way she plays with all her babies.  When he was smaller, I was constantly watching to make sure she was gentle with him.  She could put blankets around him, but I wouldn't let her carry him around like one of her little babies.
He finally started to get big enough and strong enough that I let her hold him more often and she loved it, even if he didn't.

Nate started crawling at 5 and a half months.  This has put a serious wrench into Allie's plans.  She wanted to make him little nests, but he won't have anything to do with it.  She sets up a home for him, puts him in it, and he is crawling away before she can get him settled.
 

 If I ever leave her alone with him (like for a shower), I hear grunting and annoyed cries coming from Nate.  And grunting and plea's from Allie.
Allie:  Please, just lay here for one second while I get this blanket on you!
Nate:  UAHAH!!!

Allie: Just lay down!

Nate:  UGHAH!!!

 Allie:  I will make you so comfy!  Just lay down and snuggle with this blanket!
Nate:  WAAAA!!!

 Allie:  Maybe if I lay next to you, you'll stay.
Nate:  Maybe if I pull your hair, you'll go away.

She doesn't seem to remember from day to day what makes Nate scream and what makes him happy.
She is right there to "help" after bath time.  She spikes his hair up with lotion.  Sometimes he doesn't mind, sometimes he hates it.

He may be getting too mobile for her to "play" with, but he will always be her little brother.  That means, she'll always be able to help him with his style.  She can teach him what kinds of things look good together, and help him get dressed for the day :)

This girl loves her brothers.  She will make a good mommy one of these days. She's getting lots of practice!

Comparisons

When I was down in Orem last, I pulled out my mom's old scrapbooks.  I wanted to see if Nate looked anything like me.  As he has gotten more hair, I have seen a little of me in him.  My mom said we both had the same color of hair and type of hair.  I thought it was fun to see me as a 6 month old...

The book said I was rolling from front to back and back to front at this age. 

Mike think it's pretty annoying that I always have a camera in our kids' faces, and I know sometimes it's a little much, but my mom took lots of pictures and I am so grateful for it.  It's fun for my kids to see me as a baby.  Anyway, there you have it...that was me, and here are some of Nate...

Bread Making Day

It was a bread making day.  Allie wanted to try her hand at keeping Nate entertained so I could get the bread made.

 She dressed him up like a "handsome prince" and fed him any time he squawked...

She was a great helper.  Nate loves her when she is in his line of sight and when she isn't trying to pick him up and carry him around.  I wish she could see that he is a much happier boy when she isn't playing steam roller with him or yanking his arms out of the socket. 

More body art

I'm not sure if skin art will ever lose it's appeal to Allie. 



"Mom, do you like her braces?"



That's actually impressive that she can write her name from that angle.

She also taught her friend Lily to decorate her body right before their family pictures.  I'm so proud (insert sarcasm).