normal days

"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are."

-Mary Jean Irione 

 

M playing with his friend from the neighborhood.

LEGO time

 Just making some "slush muffins" in his kitchen.

Showing cousin K and his friend how his new toothbrush works. (Thanks again, Grandma & Grandpa B!)

 M showing me the letter 'C' story from the book, Once Upon a Story. He bends over laughing every time he tells anyone the story.

Baby J checkin' out big brother's car. She can't drive it yet, just sits for a minute or so.

Storage bin rides!

Just playing!

M showing little sister the ropes. They were having a ball until they got stuck in the car. 

sweet baby J

This little girl is almost 9 months! Things have been so crazy that I haven't done a good job of recording those 9 months. I don't want to forget, so here are some random things about those first 9 months: 

* she is incredibly sweet! She is just oozing with sweetness. Such a sweet, sweet girl. 

* she is sweet, as long as she is fed. She goes from being content to being hungry in a matter of minutes! And when she is hungry...she is HUNGRY! 

* the poor girl had a rough start in life as far as eating was concerned. A few weeks after she was born, we discovered she had acid reflux. We tried so many different things to help her: medicine, special formula, combinations of both, special bottles, etc. After a myriad of different things, and many tears from mom and baby, we finally figured out what worked best!

* because of the acid reflux, she was constantly spitting up /vomiting. She wore a bib constantly for about the first 7 months of life. Around 6-7 months, the reflux finally seemed to clear up. So thankful for that!! 

* along with eating troubles, J had ear infection after ear infection. I believe she had 4 ear infections by the time she was 6 months. The last few month things have been much better, so we hope they stay that way! 

* she started crawling at about 7.5 months. Before then she was doing a one-armed, army-type slide thing. She finally got up on all fours, though, and has been moving ever since! Within the last week or so, she has learned how to stand up on her own by pulling herself up on surrounding objects. 

* she enjoys her big brother, as long as he isn't right in her face, which unfortunately he does quite often as he shows her excitement and affection towards her. 

* she has started to clap, which is so so cute to watch! 

We love our sweet baby J so much! 

a Christmas break hike

"we are so blessed!"

M loves flashlights--like a lot! He has about six or seven of his own flashlights he has gotten over the years as gifts. He loves to carry them around, play in the dark with them, and sleep with them. He is scared of my parents basement (which isn't scary!) and will not go down there alone. However, if you turn off all of the lights downstairs and give him a flashlight, he will play down there for hours! 

Well, the other day some of M's primary leaders stopped by the house with a little baggie of goodies for his up-coming birthday. In the baggie was a tiny purple flashlight. Needless to say, he LOVES the flashlight! After they left he went and gathered all of his flashlights to be in the same spot. After a few minutes of playing he said, "Mom, we sure are blessed to have all of these flashlights!" Yes, yes we are little one.

Here he is sleeping with some of his flashlights--too cute.

Love this kid.

the night before Christmas

Jake had to work Christmas Eve, but thankfully he was finished by around 2 pm. That morning the kids and I ran to the store to get a few last minute items. After the store, our good friends Raechel and Randy stopped by to stay hi; they were passing through the area. We convinced them to wait until Jake got home from work, so they ended up staying for a few hours. It was fun to have them! 

After they left, Jake and I worked on Christmas Eve dinner. We had ham, "funeral" potatoes, rolls, salad, and sparkling cider. This was the first ham Jake and I have ever bought/made in our marriage... Let's just say we learned a lot! The ham wasn't a total disaster, but it definitely wasn't Martha Stewart worthy either! I think our biggest problem was that we didn't have a roasting pan that was big enough...I kind of didn't think that one through until it was time to cook the ham...woops. Live and learn!

After dinner, we had a little lesson on the true meaning of Christmas. Here is Jake explaining the Christmas story using our nativity scene.

The kids opening up their pjs from Jake and I. 

Sweet baby J hangin' out under the tree

M was pretty excited to leave out cookies for Santa!

It was a wonderful Christmas Eve. So thankful to have spent it with Jake and the kids!

Christmas pj round-up

There are few things better than a fresh, new pair of pjs at Christmas time!

Christmas Eve pjs from Mom and Dad

Thanks Nana and Papa! 

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa B! 

december

M got to decorate the tree in his room all by himself.

I think he loved it! 

Mom and M putting up our tree. 

Baby J wearing her new pj's from Grandma and Grandpa Pete--thank you!

We had the Droubay family over for dinner. After dinner, we watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. (Blurry, but the only picture I got...) M was pretty excited to sit between these two.

 

Baby J and M posing for a picture! 

M telling Santa what he wanted at the ward party. He told Santa, "I want a dump truck that drives itself, all by itself!"  That was a new request for Mom and Dad to hear!

We went with the Olsons to look at the lights in Ogden. They were really fun! They had this cute little train for kids to ride. M is in the front in the blue coat. He LOVED it! 

M wanted a picture with R. He loves her! 

While vacuuming, J was playing in her saucer. M yelled to me, "Mom, look at J!" I looked, and saw the saucer tipped on its side. "AHH!" I thought. I ran over there, and J was just playing happy as can be on her own like shown, only her leg was stuck in the seat. M!! He just thought she would like to be tipped over, he said... 

So thankful for the small, yet good, moments in life.