Faith

Leah, age 6

"We no chat Jesis is reell"

Translation: "We know that Jesus is real."

Audrey, 9 months: Predictions and Observations

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that my nine-month old baby has her own personality. She is nothing like her brother and sister.

Let me elaborate.

I have made the observation already that Audrey is mischeivous and stubborn. At five months old, she figured out how to twist her way out of the baby swing and climb out of the bumbo. And at 8 months old, she flipped herself out of the excersaucer. If left alone too long, she will twist out of her buckles in the high chair and stroller. Neither of the other kids did that. Does this mean she will be climbing out of her crib at eighteen months?

Her latest trick is pushing her legs against the kitchen table during mealtime. This means that she either tips her chair back, or pushes the table away. It is only a matter of time before she tips her chair all the way over!

Audrey is opinionated and outspoken. If she doesn't want to do something, then doggone it, she will simply not do it. She went on strike last month while cutting her first two teeth, in which she refused to nurse, take a bottle, take a binky, or take a nap. There was a lot of tears involved in this, and not just from her. Sleeping at church is out of the question. She cries instantly when I put her in the playpen, or (heaven forbid!) leave the room. She is very social and does not like to be alone. I'm sure this has something to do with being the third and never having been alone to begin with!

Don't get me wrong, she is a very sweet baby, and generally eats and naps very well. She is (finally!) sleeping 10 hours at night. When her needs are met she is a charm and full of smiles! But if she is not feeling well, and if the circumstances are not perfect for sleeping (like, being in her own bed...) she will make sure everyone knows about it.

Developmentally she is right on track. Yesterday she weighed in at nearly 17 pounds. She is a very fast crawler and is pulling herself up. She uses the pincher grasp for picking things up, she can wave and clap (so cute!) and she reaches for mom and dad. She knows the signs for milk and more. She says MaMa, NaNa, LaLa, BaBa, and Ga, but her favorite is DaDa. Another favorite noise to make is a throaty two-tone growl, which she employs constantly. (I'm trying to get this on video...) Audrey loves taking a bath in the big tub. She loves to crawl around, and spashes like there's no tomorrow! She loves peek-a-boo, and is starting to pull the blanket on and off her face by herself during the game.

She has very delicate features. Her face is round and smooth and her eyes are wide and full of life. She has dainty features, with her long curly lashes, and a sweet, contaigious smile. While her hair doesn't stick straight up anymore, it is still quite long and reaches all the way to her eyes. It is still soft like feathers. She smiles when I blow my breath on her forehead.

Oh, how I adore this little girl!

Playpen

So far everyone is getting along. And the big kids seem to be enjoying the baby toys.

Da Da

Audrey, 8 months old.

Christmas Traditions

I love the traditions of my childhood and I am enjoying passing those traditions on to my children. And of course, establishing new traditions in my own home. Here are some traditions from my childhood that I am passing on to my children:

We always got a new pair of pajamas on Christmas Eve before bed. This year I sent my kids down to get their PJ's on and they were amazed that new pajamas had "magically" appeared on their beds! It was fun to play Santa's advocate.

On Christmas Eve, after a Family Home Evening lesson with the account of the Savior's birth in Luke 2, we always played board games, had a fire in the fireplace, and ate goodies. It is such a cozy memory. We did that this year as well. We taught the kids how to play Sorry and it was so much fun to play it with them now that they get how! What a fun age!

This Christmas we also discovered the magic of "The Polar Express" with children who truly believe. We discovered how much fun it is to get gifts for our children and help them pick out gifts for one another. It was fun to decorate Christmas cookies and have a game night with friends.

Other traditions include a dramatic reading of "The Grinch," and coffee cake for breakfast on Christmas morning. Everyone stays in their pajamas all day long, right? It was so fun to watch the kids go from one new treasure to the next all day. Audrey looked like she really wanted to just roll in the piles of wrapping paper all over the floor...that paper looked so TASTY!

The kids received so many fun and thoughtful and generous gifts: Hungry Hungry Hippos was the request of choice from Santa (Whew! That was only $13!). The kids also got nerf guns, new gloves, new coats and shirts and pants and socks, Build-a-Bear stuffed animals from a secret Santa, books, coloring books, puzzles, and so much more! I got some new kitchen items including a scale, new silverware and Chris got me a dock for my iPod! I suppose my new haircut counts as a Christmas gift as well. I am one step closer to being back to my original hair color. Oh yeah, and Chris himself installed a new (used), WORKING, and free dishwasher for me on Christmas Eve! I love having a dishwasher again! And I thought on a new budget, we would be having a simple Christmas.... Not so! We are too blessed!

December

Its been awhile and I have some catching up to do. Here are some happenings from the grand months of November and December.

Leah had her first visit from the Tooth Fairy. The tooth pulling experience was apparently very traumatic, and now she will not allow any force to be executed on future teeth, which must come out by themselves. She is planning on capturing the tooth fairy to use it for pixie dust, and is devising traps and fairy houses, so you'd think she would want the tooth fairy to come back again soon...

Speaking of teeth, Audrey has two. They are sharp. She is fulling crawling and pulling herself up and has quite an appetite. We all love her; Love to give her kisses and hugs and make her smile. She did not care for Santa.

Leah turned 6 and finally got a Rapunzel Barbie. We also had a birthday party and did crafts and made playdoh...I managed to underestimate (yet again) how much work it is to have that many 5 and 6 year olds at the same time. I also made the ugliest pinata known to mankind. If you can tell what it is supposed to be, please enlighten me. It took me over a week to make that thing out of newspaper and flour and glue, and we were happy to beat it to a pulp in the end (but it was surprisingly sturdy and Chris had to get out his baseball bat).

Samuel is always ready to strike a pose and make a silly face. He keeps us smiling. And brimming with pride. But he usually forgets what he meant to do in the bathroom and we find him 30 minutes later playing in the sink water with his lower half stark naked.

We've had several visits from our favorite friends, the Swensons of Las Vegas. It is a fun, noisy crowd! That Samuel and Anna get along really well...remind me to keep an eye on them when they are 14.

Chris and I went on a "field trip" with my coworkers to see a fellow TA perform in "Savior of the World" in Salt Lake, and it was fabulous. It was so great to spend a night out (without kids) and in the company of great people!

More coming soon!

Tightening the purse strings

Here are some top signs that money is tight:

Red box is too expensive
Kraft Macaroni and Cheese is a luxury of the past
You are eating the end slices from the loaf of bread
Today's plate scrapings become tomorrow's baby food
You leave the baby's diaper on until it is completely saturated
The kids have more in their piggy banks than you do (that 5 dollar bill is soooo tempting...)
Your daily Dew fix has been replaced by a healthy dose of Excedrin
You take the whole family to Sam's club when the free samples are aplenty and call it lunch
You turn away the canned food-seeking Cub Scouts empty handed
You start buying fattier milk because it costs the same but has more calories
Cracker sandwiches, endless possibilities. Who knew?
You start eyeballing your furniture wondering what it would fetch on Craigslist
You plan on doing your Christmas shopping at the Dollar Store

See and believe

In case you needed proof that my six-month old is crawling.

How did she get to be six months already?

And as Audrey is about to get her first tooth, Leah is about to lose her first tooth!

This week at our house

Halloween in a nutshell

Here is our unruly bunch. Leah was the most proud and the most practiced Rapunzel since Mandy Moore. And Samuel was a cute little pirate named Jake. All we are missing is the cowlick. Audrey was my little Dalmation this year, as was Samuel when he was that age. I am pretty impressed with myself for sewing Leah's and Samuel's costumes, the Jake vest I made without a pattern. I did Jake for $0 and Rapunzel for about $15 (except for the hair...that was pricey). I also did a couple comissioned costumes this year--pictures coming soon, but that is why I didn't have time to make a costume for myself. Oh, well, it was fun, and we have 365 days to get ready for next year....



At our house we have the law of candy consecration, which means that all Halloween loot goes into one candy bucket from which all can pick their one peice after dinner. This serves a couple purposes: it helps us monitor the candy, it eliminates posessiveness and "fairness" of who got more tootsie rolls or pixie sticks, and most importantly it give the grown ups equal access to the candy.