Daddy Date

Brian took the kids on a date the other weekend to the space museum. They had fun and enjoyed the special attention from Dad. He treated them to a picnic and ice cream!

 Zoey got her first haircut at a "Salon".. she loved it! She even got to pick a bouncy ball!

Pi Day and other Spring Happenings

March 14 celebrates Pi Day (3.14). We made a banana cream pie, which barely made it to the table in individual dishes. Calvin approved of the finger licking goodness…

I celebrated St. Patrick's Day by making green eggs and ham for breakfast, outfitting the kids in green, and planting some green house plants for my bathroom! 

Zoey's love for crafts keeps me hopping. Yesterday she wanted to make hats and this is what we came up with for Zoey and Eli (spring flowers and a nest). They showed them off to our neighbor Betty who said they were cool and gave them a cookie...

                  

I did a ladies craft night with my mom and sister and some other gals last night and we made these fun Easter signs. I got all my Eater decorations out and I'm ready for Spring!!

Grandma Gray came to visit the other night with temple shaped sugar cookies. Brian was out of town and she helped with the other kids while I put Isaac to bed. Jackson wanted to draw his own temple and made this rendition with tulips in front. He's a great artist and thinks of the details! 

We started sleep training Isaac last weekend. he had started waking 4 times a night. I've noticed lately that when he wakes up at night, he's not really hungry, he just wants help to get back to sleep. As I was working with Isaac the other night to calm him down, his cry seemed to sound like he was whimpering "why? why?" It was so sad. It's so hard but he's ready.  SO the hard decision to move forward with sleep training was made! A few days in and he can make it until about 4am. I'm hoping withing another month or so he will cut that feeding out as well. He's a happy baby and has been laughing and smiling a lot more lately! 

Isaac had an allergic reaction to something. He was covered in hives and his eyes were practically swollen shut. Poor Guy. We're thinking it might be peanuts coming through in my breast milk? I've been eating more than usual lately a post-run snack, other than that nothing in our diet or household has changed, so I can't figure it out. I cut the peanut butter and he was better within 3 days...who knows! Zoey was the most concerned about his new look and asked if I still loved him. Ha ha! I had to explain it was only temporary, but of course I would still love him even if it wasn't. We had a talk about how love is not an expression because of the way we look...but about the way we feel about who someone is. 

Isaac's Blessing Day

Today was a special day for our family! Brian was able to give a name and blessing to Isaac. We love having him in our home and enjoyed the spirit of the meeting. It was a special blessing and special day. We were glad to be surrounded by family and friends who could make it.

 Last week was our first time in over 12 weeks to attend all 3 meetings together as a family. It was a rough winter of sickness, having a baby and recovering, and more sickness!  I was (still am) overwhelmed with the idea of having all 5 kids at church, with our oldest only 6 years old and wondering how we will manage it. So here marks the first of many Sundays ahead of us as a complete family…I wish my future self GOOD LUCK!

Isaac is almost 3 months now, smiling tons, catching a few laughs here and there, starting to roll over and not sleeping very well at night yet (although we plan to get that resolved soon)!

February is Over!

Grandma and Grandpa Gray are some of the coolest grandparents around! I hope we have spunk like this for our grandkids! They threw a party celebrating the coldest part of the year being over! It was fun to have a party for "no reason" although I think getting through winter is plenty enough of a reason to have a party! We are so looking forward to Spring!

It was a Hawaiian themed party and we all dressed up in our Hawaiian garb and swimsuits. Zoey said it felt like we were really going to Hawaii! The kids are saying "aloha" in the picture!

 Grandma and Grandpa have a hot tub in their garage, so we were able to enjoy a nice warm soak. It was nicely decorated.  The kids are looking forward to pool days and suntans now...

We ate Hawaiian haystacks for dinner with Hawaiian fruit on the side. The kids enjoyed special pineapple cups, and my mom had a Hawaiian beach themed cake for dessert! Eli had 3 servings! He ate nonstop!

 Calvin enjoyed getting out of the house. We've been hunkered down for the winter with the newborn and Calvin hasn't been out much. The older kids get to have a break at school or running errands with dad sometimes, but poor Calvin has been cooped up for way too long! he liked being somewhere new. It was a fun evening!