Haircut

When Kate did this. . .
We decided the clippers needed to have a meeting with Elijah.

Much better.

Totally Two

One day around Eli's second birthday while I was feeding Henry, Elijah was doing his usual. . . Find some way to get attention from mom routine. He picked up something off the ground and said, "Eeewwwww gross!" Then laughed hysterically as soon as I looked over at him.

Then he found the stool (his new favorite way of getting anything and everything) and carried it over to the sink and started grabbing everything he could and throwing it on the floor before I could stop him. Then he laughed some more. At that moment I wondered to myself, "Where did my baby go? How did he grow up so fast?" Shortly after that I thought, "I really need to hide this stool or get rid of it." I'm sure removing the stool will somehow thwart his development. But it's become his #1 tool for satisfying his curiosity sans parental supervision.

Elijah turned two on December 9th. He is so very entertaining. He's saying (or trying to say) so many things. He's recently added, "Barf" to his vocabulary. I have no doubt one of the big kids taught him that but no one is telling who it was. Although he's super cute, he's also quite a handful and if you turn your back, watch out. In just a few moments he has likely colored on himself or something else (thank you to the inventor of washable markers!),

snagged one of the older kids' toys or gotten a hold of a treat and he's quietly trying to confiscate the evidence, like he did with this banana bread.

It was whole and sealed in the bag at the back of the counter before he snagged the aforementioned stool and went to town.

Each time my kids have reached this age and their curiosity levels rise to the height of teenage hormones I am amazed at the things they do and the things they understand and the ways they try to get what they want. I struggle with thoughts that I am obliterating any creativity he might have but, we have to have some semblance of order don't we?

Happy Birthday Elijah!

The Past Few Months

So I had a baby and stopped doing everything that wasn't absolutely necessary. Truth be told I even stopped doing some of the necessary stuff. I have heard this a lot during the past few months, "Mom I don't have any clean (insert any article of clothing you like here)!" I'll never be able to use the excuse, "I just had a baby" ever again so I figured I had better make the best of it.

But I am determined to climb back on the wagon that is my life so now we'll have regular meals, clean laundry more often and a whole bunch of posts in a row. :)

This fall our family watched or played a lot of soccer. During that time I mostly stayed home and lactated or slept with Henry. But I did make it to a few games late in the season.

We went to Disney on Ice for Free! I love free! The first half was fabulous, the second half, not so much.

We celebrated Halloween with cousins. Oh how we love the cousins!!

Henry was blessed on a gorgeous November day. Thanks to all the family who joined us!

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving in Boise, ID with my family. Here's my Mom and Dad enjoying the meal. Does my Dad look like he might not be happy that the next day he turned 59 (again)? Happy Birthday Dad!

Kate and Ethan played in their winter piano recital. Here they are with their teacher, Shirley Ransom.

Jason turned 38! Wowza. You go babe! This picture tells me two things. #1. You are one awesome Dad and husband since you held our sweet little bundle for many nights in the wee hours so I could sleep just a little longer. Thank you so much! #2. Staying up half the night with a newborn in our late 30's is WAY harder than it was in our 20's! I do believe this picture was actually taken just after 8 pm. :)

I have struggled like crazy to keep up with life and at the same time slow down and enjoy every single second of my time with little Henry. Knowing he is our last has made me want to stop the clock. Seeing how Ethan has grown up so fast reminds me that I won't be holding Henry in my arms for long and I want to savor it. I have done as little as possible around here and Jason has been extra nice about it. Besides feeding kids and changing babies and sort of keeping up on the house I managed to get out of the house for a super fun Christmas party dressed as an elf named Beaker Sparkly Toes.

Ethan had his first ever orchestra concert and he had a short violin solo. He was very, very nervous but did wonderfully. He's loving music right now. He also made a very cool hatchet for a school project.

Kate turned nine! She had a cupcake party with her friends at a little bakery downtown and then we made this cake at home for her. She loved putting on and eating the terrible sugar cube candies that spelled out her name. This girl has a terrible sweet tooth. My mother would say she inherited that from me.

Nathanael turned 7 and had a crazy boy birthday party and lost his two front teeth. Sadly his permanent teeth were already coming in pretty well before the primary ones fell out so he never had a toothless grin.

Elijah has become uber naughty and extra cute. Bad combo for me, good for him.

And finally our wonderful bundle of joy has gone from this. . .

to this. . .

to this. . .

to this. . .

Kate

On October 21st Kate turned Nine! The older my kids get, the faster the time goes.

Kate has changed a lot from the darling little blondie who had me sing, "You Are My Sunshine" to her every night for a good two years straight. Of course she's still darling, but in a more grown up sort of way.

She used to love having her fingernails and toenails painted. Now, don't even think about it. She's not interested. She used to have a fit if I wanted to put her hair in a pony tail. Now, she asks for one every day. She used to love to dress up. Now, she's not really interested. In case you think she's lost some girly tendencies, never fear. She's very melodramatic, she cries and giggles several times a day (love that emotional roller coaster!) and she is loving the color pink (which she never used to).

Kate loves the babies and helps a ton with them, especially Elijah. She takes great pride in telling us that Eli likes her best of all. She loves making people happy and is very compassionate. She's enjoying reading more and more every day and hasn't complained about math for a month. Yay! She's working hard at piano and just started basketball.

She's the perfect compliment to the boys. We love you Kate!