It's Time to Catch Up

2013 has come with more than its fair share of excitement for our family.  It has been so exciting/overwhelming/busy/crazy that 9 months have passed since I have made the time to journal or write down anything.  So to begin the catch up process, here is what we've been up to.

We began the year contemplating purchasing a home.  We started looking and seemed quite discouraged at the beginning, but suddenly found ourselves in discussion to buy a desirable home in the area we wanted for a price we were comfortable spending.  We were truly blessed and have since found ourselves often talking about how lucky we are.  So after 8 years of moving, we are really here for good.  We signed papers in June and Eric moved all of our belongings into the house in July while the kids and I were visiting California.  We have loved having our own space and especially our own yard to play in.

Eric is as busy as ever.  Work has been going well and keeping him plenty busy and worn out at the end of the day.  He finished the winter and spring semester of school and was grateful for a short break before he began again at the beginning of September.  When he's not working or studying, he's filling his time on new house projects and playing with the kids.

Savannah finished off kindergarten with a bang and I'm not sure she was happy to stay home for summer vacation.  She was thrilled to move on to 1st grade and even more excited to have her best friend in class with her again.  They sit next to each other in class, which seems like a horrible choice, but they are so quiet and obedient so that they do not get into trouble.  Savannah has been amazing at helping Vanessa become adjusted to school.  She is always writing letters to people, trying to be helpful or reading.  She breezes through 2-3 chapter books per day.  I can't keep up with her requests for more books!

Vanessa is growing up so quickly.  She finished off preschool and was happy to stay home with her mom every day of summer.  She participated in a dance class this spring which she enjoyed until recital time.  We were all quite apprehensive about her beginning kindergarten, but there have been many little things that have made the transition bearable and even enjoyable.  She colors a few hours each day, designs beautiful drawings and loves to play all sports.  She worked incredibly hard to earn enough money to purchase her own doodling book and razor scooter.

Ethan has turned into the sweetest monster in the whole world.  He turned one, started walking, running and climbing and loves to tease.  He is a comedian at the dinner table and especially loves to pat you on the back while he gives you a hug.  He loves to torment his sisters and can yell like the best of them.  He can say dog and banana, but otherwise uses a nice or not-so-nice "uuhhh" to get everything else he wants.

I am just trying to keep up.  In February, I was called to serve as the Young Women president in our ward which was quite the shock, but I have enjoyed getting to know the young women and learning from their strong testimonies.  My Sundays, Tuesdays and many weekends have been filled with lessons, meetings, activities, a triathlon, youth conference and girls camp.  At the same time, I decided to begin teaching a children's program called "Let's Play Music."  The following months were full of training, studying, practicing and recruiting.  In August I began teaching 19 students in 3 classes and it is FUN.  We play, sing and learn tons of music theory.

And to top it off, we are adding a baby girl to our family.  I am very confident that she is coming with a distinct purpose and needs to be on the earth NOW.  She has left me sick and tired most of the summer, but we are excited to meet her and especially find out her hair color!  She will debut (sometime before) February 2.  I hope she has a name by then.

Dog Bowl Discovery

That was the water bowl.

Redecorating

We decorated the Christmas tree with our family on Sunday.

Eric and I put hooks on the ornaments,

Savannah and Vanessa put the ornaments on the tree

and Ethan tried to get into everything.

 The girls worked hard to cover the tree with every ornament that we own

and spent the remainder of the evening admiring their work.

It's a good thing they enjoyed decorating because

Ethan has pulled the tree down twice in 3 days

leaving most of the ornaments on the ground.

  The girls will be able to redecorate the tree every day!

10 months and counting

10 months now...

Ethan is already 10 months old.

He still doesn't crawl full time.  He can get anywhere quickly by army crawling.

He has started saying ma ma and da da.

He also likes to talk in a whisper.  He thinks it's funny.

He loves to watch TV... football... cartoons... wii games... loves it.

He tries to wink at you when you feed him.  It's more of a long blink.  He thinks it's funny.

He has started pullling himself up to stand. On everything.  He thinks it's funny.

He can not get down once he has stood up, which is not so funny.

 He loves his blue blanket.  He sighs and lays his head on it when we give it to him.

He loves the bathtub more than anything.

He thinks he is cool... and funny.

Books

I have a love-hate relationship with books.

Savannah often runs late in the morning because she has paused to read.

 I can no longer take the girls to the library myself...

I can't carry all 105 books we are able to check out at one time.

There are opened bookmarked books all over my house.

Ethan is not nice to books that are left all over my house.

Savvy "corrects" my reading constantly.

The girls don't hear me when I call them because they're reading.

I find piles of books in Savannah's bed when I check on her at night.

Savvy doesn't mind getting in trouble or going to time-out

because then she can read without anyone bugging her.

But...

I love that my girls have inherited Eric's love of reading.

And I'm ecstatic at reading has opened up a whole new world for them.

 

I'll just have to start taking a rolling suitcase with me to the library.

Thankful

We decided to take a quiet trip to St. George for Thanksgiving this year,

knowing we would be able to see Eric's parents and

our great friends, Stan and Lindsay, from Denver.

We ended up seeing a few more family members,

which was a great surprise.

We were invited to dinner with Stan's family

and lucky for Savannah, they also had horses.

 

  The remainder of the weekend was spent relaxing,

hiking, playing games and spending time with people we love.

We learned that the girls are mountain goats who love to run and climb.

I had to have a few morbid talks with Savannah about the risks of running up to the edge of cliffs.

I did learn that I can become claustrophobic,

especially when I am stuck in this crack

and my friend, Lindsay, asks me to stop for a picture.

 I sure am lucky to have sweet family.

9 Months

I am just amazed at how quickly these last 9 months have gone by...

definitely faster than the 9 months I was pregnant.

Ethan has just been so much fun to have in our family.

He encountered his first cold this month, a few days of major diaper rash and is now (hopefully) finishing up a fever-- all of which have wreaked havoc on his normal sleep schedule.

He's rocking on his hands and knees and has started lifting up a knee or a hand.  He army crawls to get to everything that he shouldn't be in.

He get to pretend to be 'Ethan dragon' or 'Ethan monster' whenever the girls play princesses and he gets in the way.  

He claps and waves, but now when you ask him to wave, he does a little of both motions and smacks himself in the face.

He rocks his head, headbutts, and bangs his head on everything.  He has bashed his own face many times and then looks at us as if we caused his pain.

He likes to yell to get his daddy's attention in the middle of the night.  He just gets so excited to see that his buddy is home to play with.

He dressed up as a skeleton for Halloween and is still just as happy as can be.

 

And now he's 8 months old...

That went fast!  Ethan hit the 8 month mark yesterday.  

 

He is such a fun little guy to have around our home.  His two bottom teeth stick out every time he smiles at us and he loves to rub his tongue against them.  His hair is growing in darker and darker, which makes me the proud parent of 3 children with hair of 3 different colors.  His normal weight gain of over an ounce per day has slowed down (my arms are thankful).  He's sitting around 24 pounds and wearing size 18-month clothes. 

 Ethan got into the markers yesterday and was able to get the blue lid off, draw all over his hands and color his mouth.  I find him tangled in cords, under chairs, stuck by the couch and laying on top of hard toys all the time.  He still rolls, scoots on his back, rotates on his belly and uses his feet to push himself forward.  No crawling... that big body is too heavy to pick up!  He sits up for long periods of time, but only falls over-- Vanessa is a pro at surrounding him with pillows to soften the blow.

He is happiest when someone is talking or singing to him, and he gets angry very fast if you walk away from him.  He talks to himself when he sees his reflection in the mirror and starts squealing and yelling when the girls are acting crazy around the house, almost like he's asking them to include him in their fun.  Any silly noise or goofy face makes him laugh.  He joins in by throwing his chin up as high as he can and sharing a big cheesy grin.  He thinks he is a big boy.

He sleeps like a champ.  He likes to be rocked to sleep most nights, but you can also just lay him in his bed with his binky and blanket and he'll fall asleep. We've started feeding him some table food which he loves.  He also loves to have yogurt, vegetables, apple sauce and pears.  Really, he just loves to eat.

Ethan is still as friendly as ever to strangers, but he leans in toward me and holds on tight as he smiles at them now.  Momma is his favorite person and I'm okay with that.  I really just can't get enough of him.  He is just a joy and constantly reminds me to quit worrying about the busyness of life and enjoy my children. 

Savvy is 6

My sweet, crazy, smart, loving Savannah turned 6 years old. 

She spent the day at school, playing at home, eating pizza and riding her new scooter!  The following day, we visited a ranch nearby, which was like a dream for Savvy.

Savannah is doing a fantastic job at school.  She goes all day long and has plenty of stories to share when she's done.  I am so proud of her for making many new friends at her new school.  She has been doing great academically and is reading a ton.  She reads so much that I've had to start implementing rules at home about reading so that I am not completely ignored all day long.  She can recite any story or song back to you after hearing it once and currently likes talking about the continents on the earth.  Everything Savvy does is done 100%.  She is an intense child and has nothing but intense love to share with everyone.  She is a great helper and can still (barely) carry Ethan around to take care of him.  She has taken it upon herself to teach Vanessa how to write the letters of the alphabet and help make dinner each evening.  She is becoming very independent, but she consoles me by saying, "I'm growing big, but I will still always need my mom."

 

Someone is Seven Months Old

Can you believe it?!  I can barely stand the fact that Ethan is already seven months old and growing like crazy.  I keep having to remind myself that he is big enough to try new things and move and do more than just lay on the floor and smile at me.

Ethan is weighing somewhere around 24 pounds.  He is wearing 12- month and 18-month clothes and looks rather handsome in them too.  He still nurses like normal and then eats puffs, rice rusks, green beans, carrots and rice cereal.  He has also nibbled on baked potato, root beer, pasta, avocado, french fries and paper, which he especially loved.  He gives us funny looks every time he tries something new, but then practically crawls out of our arms trying to get more.  I don't think this growing boy will reject much of anything.

Ethan sleeps like a champ.  He's happy to go to bed around the same time the girls go down.  Sometimes he wakes up a little before I'm ready to peel my eyes open, so I bring him into bed and lay him on the pillow with me.  He loves to turn his nose toward mine and then hold onto my face while we get a few more minutes of sleep together.  Last Saturday he fell back asleep until 9:00... it was wonderful for both of us!

Ethan is a mover!  He can roll anywhere... to get into anything!  I am amazed at how quickly he is able to roll where he wants, how often he gets stuck under the furniture and how easily he terrorizes the girls by destroying whatever they have left on the floor (including Savvy's homework!).  He occasionally pulls himself up into a crawling position, but I think he knows he can get anything by rolling, so he hasn't tried to crawl much.  He can sit up really well now and enjoys looking around at his surroundings.  He has discovered the dog and is enthralled by her, so I often find him covered with dog hair while sticking his hands in her face.

Ethan is a happy baby!  He loves to watch the people around him and smile at anyone who will make eye contact with him.  He gets pretty vocal when no one is close by to talk to him and his shrieks and screams are ear-piercing!  But as soon as you talk to him, he smiles and laughs.  He's a little happier in his car seat (thank goodness) but that is mostly because he can see the girls in the back seat and they are usually happy to sing to him.

 

 We call him Ethan, E, Mister, Boy, Tank... His favorite song to hear is Patty-Cake... His first tooth broke through this week...  He laughs the most when you tickle his back and under his arms... He's started making silly faces when you smile at him... He is just so fun to have in our family!