5 months!

Eli is now 5 months old, I can't believe it! He has started eating solid foods, which means I have started making baby food. I am excited about this, it was one of my resolutions to make/puree/freeze baby food this year, and I think it will be better tasting, healthier, and cheaper. He likes carrots and bananas and rice cereal so far. I am going to try sweet potatoes and butternut squash this next week. He is ravenous for food! Loves it!

You will also often find him doing this:  

He loves his hands and tries to fit his whole fist into his mouth, but particularly his thumbs...which has me a little worried. Since he was born "tongue tied" he had to have his tongue clipped. But since then, he has been exploring the new freedom his tongue has and often reminds me of a lizard or snake. His tongue is constantly on the move, in and out, in and out....

He will have nothing to do with a bottle or binky. He sleeps well, and is really happy. He is my first baby to be "smiley" to strangers. He has the most interesting laugh i have ever heard. I love the uniqueness of it. When he gets really going on his laugh, he makes himself cough, which makes the family laugh even harder. 

Eli is also rolling now and will get on his knees and rock back and forth, so I'm sure crawling is just around the corner...as well as teething. 

SO far his eyes are still mostly blue, but they are starting to change, speckles of green and brown are appearing. I am always so sad when the eyes change....I wish they could stay the same forever. Not that he won't have beautiful eyes in another color, but I do feel sad that the eyes I have known for the past five months will be different. It's a sentimental thing of a mother, I guess. 

In a nutshell, he is awesome!  

New Calling

I was released as the Activity Committee Chair a few weeks ago and was enjoying my brief reprieve of having no calling at all. A first in my adult life! I had a feeling that the bishopric was looking at me for some new position, so I tried to avert any contact with them, but they soon caught up! I have been asked to serve as a secretary in the Primary presidency, and I'm actually quite excited about it. Jackson is in Sunbeams now, so I get to be with him (and Zoey will be joining next year, so I'll have two of our kids in Primary). I think it's a great stage for me and this calling.

Anyway, I share that because I received this e-mail from one of the former Primary counselors and thought it was so cute I had to share it. I always wondered what Jackson was like in his church classes!

She says:  " I'm so excited for you to be working in Primary. I've LOVED being there while my children started as Sunbeams. It's the all-time cutest thing to watch. So today, the Bishop was teaching about Faith and asked the children what faith was, got lots of odd definitions, none of them even close. Then the Bishop was trying to explain that most people haven't actually seen Heavenly Father and that believing he's there w/o seeing him is Faith. He asked if any of them had seen Heavenly Father. Jackson raised his hand. Then Mark, not to be outdone, raised his hand even higher. Then Daphne, then all the little kids have their arms shooting up in the air. So funny. I hope you have a great time in your new calling. Jackson is an absolute doll and he is so well-behaved in there. "

How cute! I'm glad he got the whole primary involved!

Just a phase

Some phases last longer than others. I think Zoey hit her "terrible two's" at 12 months and continues to linger there. It's the phase of  I want to do it myself and I am going to say NO to anything you ask and I want to be the boss... We remind ourselves it's just a phase and try our best to enjoy the bulk of it.

Brian and I have captured some random pictures of Zoey lately that just typify her personality.

 A little potty training accident ended up with her bathing in the sink...she really is cute in spite of the mess she made! I just love her pudginess! All morning long I had asked her if she needed to go potty, which of course she said 'no' to...and then I found a puddle!

 This is a shot of Zoey wanting a snack and as she says, "I want to get it all by my own!" There is a reason our snack food is on the 3rd shelf, but it doesn't deter her from trying!

Zoey wanted to eat lunch without her pants on- who knows why, but why not! Some things aren't worth the argument. I just can't understand why she'd want to sit on a cold wooden chair without pants on! I just sigh and say, that's Zoey!

But as difficult as the toddler years are cut-out to be, there are some priceless moments that I really enjoy. Even the frustrating ones.

Morning

As a new mother, I use to complain when my day starting at 6:45am. Now, I've just gotten use to the fact that my kids are early risers! No matter what time they go to bed, they wake up early! So I have had to adjust my schedule so that I can enjoy those early morning hours, rather than feeling like a hibernating bear getting out of bed each day.

Eli's day starts at 6am. I can't complain too much because he sleeps 12 hours through the night, but it's an early start. I take that time to kick on the fire to get the downstairs warmed up, read my scriptures and say my morning prayers, and spend time with just Eli. It's the only time of day that I have to be with just the two of us and I really enjoy it. 

By 8 am the rest of the house is waking up. Jackson ALWAYS begs to hold Eli before he goes back to bed for his morning nap. Jackson loves his brother so much. Then I get breakfast started and the kids dressed while Brian showers and gets ready. Zoey's favorite part is to help Brian shave, notice the shaving cream on  his nose! She'd put it all over his face if he let her!

By 9am Jackson heads off to school...and I feel like going back to bed! But the day has only begun. While he's gone, I clean house and get showered myself. Then it's time for lunch and afternoon naps. By 3 o'clock I'm wondering where the day went and wishing I could get a nap, hoping Brian will come home early (not likely), and pondering what to do about dinner.

Of all the daily routines, morning is my favorite.

 

Park Roke City

Brian had a business conference in Park City (which the kids call Park Roke City- maybe a mix of Park City and Salt Lake City, I don't know why they call it that). Anyway, since he was going to be working all week, but close enough to home, we decided to tag along. The kids had fun just being somewhere new. The hotel was a new and exciting experience, so getting them to sleep was a challenge, but we enjoyed our stay. Hotel Park City is VERY nice! It was like being in a condo with a full kitchen and two bathrooms and lots of living space. We watched movies, fed ducks, played in the snow, and had a visit from Aunt Christina and cousin Gavin! We were going to stay one extra day and night, but Jackson had decided the newness of being in a hotel was wearing off and begged to go home on Friday, so we packed up and left. It was like any vacation- good to get away, but good to get home! 

  

 Feeding the ducks

 Zoey eating the duck food...so typical!

having fun in the snow!

3 months!

Our handsome Eli! He is now a little more than 3 months old. At 14 pounds and 26 inches, he is in the 75th percentile in both weight and height (our smallest baby yet!). But he is also our HAPPIEST baby yet! We love him!

Good things come in small packages

One of my favorite outfits to dress Eli in this season is this onesie that says "Good things come in small packages." My sister sent it to us when he was born. Last night I had an experience that made me appreciate that statement even more!

Eli is cursed with hiccups daily, and sometimes more than once a day. I think it bugs me more than it does him...just the fact that he gets them so frequently is an odd phenomenon I think. But this is how that phenomenon blessed our lives....

I was having a pleasant dream about him and then I randomly wake up with the hiccups in the middle of the night. I haven't had hiccups in what seems like years! What's even more weird is that they came randomly in the middle of my sleep! I thought, "That's odd. I was just dreaming about Eli, and then I wake up with the hiccups like he usually does." Then something told me to go check on Eli. I'm glad I listened to that voice. Eli had wiggled himself into the corner of his crib and was face down in the sheets, unable to move his head from left to right. I knew he wasn't getting any air. I immediately adjusted him and could hear him suck in a deep breath. I know he wasn't in that position for long, otherwise we wouldn't have had such a happy ending, but I'm grateful for the blessing it was to wake up with hiccups in the middle of the night, for the voice that prompted me to check on Eli and for the timing of it all! Timing was everything last night. I usually sleep through the night so long as my kids are sleeping, and I never would have thought to check on him otherwise. I know Heavenly Father is watching out for our little family, even as we sleep! I have a line in my patriarchal blessing that says I will receive promptings from the Lord, and that I will know that they come from the Him and they are not accidents and those promptings will be a blessing to me if I listen. I'm so grateful for that!  

I have to say Eli is more than just a "good thing" in our lives.

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Christmas is less than a week away and I feel like the season has gone so quickly that I'm not ready for it to end. We have had a WONDERFUL time celebrating all month long. I have been keeping a "December daily" journal to record the little things we have done each day to make our Christmas Merry. Here's a little recap: 

 

 Picking a Christmas tree...Jackson had the final say on his favorite!

Taking the kids to temple square to see the lights. They LOVED it!

 Enjoying Hot cocoa with Zoey.

 Making a snowman with Jackson. He named him "Santa"

 Brian making snowman blueberry pancakes

Jackson and Zoey belting Christmas carols at the breakfast table all season long. A favorite line is "Glory to God! Glory to God in the highest. Peace on Earth good well to men!"

It's the little things each day that make this season so special. They have been such a treasure to me that I just want to freeze time and soak it all up! Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Christmas at our house...

For months, Jackson has been asking for a car transporter. All summer long I kept telling him "Maybe for Christmas"...

In October, I found a good deal on one and ordered Jackson's Christmas present online. But when the UPS guy delivered the box to our house, Jackson got to it before I did, opened it up and found his Christmas gift inside.

Christmas came early for him, but I took it away and hid it, hoping he would forget.

Nearly three months later, as we were writing letters to Santa Clause, Jackson was giving me a list of wants that were not what he had asked for a while ago (and what he was going to get from Santa). I tried to re-direct his thoughts to some of those gifts he had wanted, asking him things like: "What about a car transporter from Santa?" to which he replied, "No, the mailman already gave me one!"

So... he hasn't forgotten about it afterall, but he has been patiently waiting for Christmas!

Other sayings you would hear around my house this season:

"Mom, don't check the elf to see if it's on fire." (long story) "Maybe the North Pole can fix him"
"I'm going to play with the activity (nativity) set. I'm going to be the farmer (Joseph) and Zoey can be the camel."
"Dad, I love Jesus." Awe. Melt my heart..."But dad, I love Santa more!" Burst my bubble.
"Jackson, too much candy will make you sick." "I WANT to be sick, mom!"
Analyzing my Nativity arrangement, Jackson said, "The Angel is suppose to look down upon them!" (where does he pick up that language-"look down upon them"?!? I mean he's right, smart guy)
Also bits of songs like "Silent Night", "Jingle Bells", "Far, Far away on Judea's Plains" (they like the "Glory to God part"!), and "Up on the Housetop".
It's a wonderful time of year! We are enjoying the season so far!

Our hallelujah Chorus

Zoey is potty trained! Hallelujah.
I decided to make good use of staying home with sick kids and get her potty trained (Yes, all three kids and myself have been sick the past week). She picked it up really fast and is doing wonderfully. In fact, she likes it so well she refuses to wear a diaper any more. During her naptime/bedtime I had been putting a diaper on her 'just in case,' but when I would check on her, I would find the diaper tossed across the floor of  her room. Apparently, she prefers to sleep naked than with her diaper!
She gets so excited to use the potty. The other day she announced she needed to use the potty and I said "Hurry run!" So she ran, and ran so fast she couldn't stop herself in time to make the corner and ran straight into the wall. It was hilarious! But at least she made it to the potty in time! She loves the potty so much that she will stay on it for about 10 minutes after she gets the job done and will tease me that she's going to fall in "I'm going to fall in mommy! Just teasing you!" It's such a novelty right now. She's cute about it.