6 months

I can't believe that my baby girl is already 6 months old. Where has the time gone?

I will update with cute baby facts later. :)

I am really late in posting these facts. Sorry.

*18 lbs 10 oz.

*26 3/4 inches long

*Rolling around everywhere, she can get wherever she wants to go by rolling.

*starts cereal and likes it at first and then doesn't. We also tried sweet potatoes and she didn't seem to like those. We waited a week or so and tried again and she likes to eat okay. She has had rice cereal, squash(she seems to like this the best), sweet potatoes, carrots (doesn't seem to like these), and today peas.

*still not sleeping all night.

*rocks on her hands and knees

*takes 1-2 good naps a day in her cribs

*she has a hard time falling asleep anywhere but at home. Started off the month being able to fall asleep on her own in her bed and now only seems to fall asleep nursing.

*loves going outside

*Zach can really make her laugh while playing hide and seek and making funny noises

*started saying mmmmm mamamama and bbbbabababa

*likes drinking water out of a sippy cup or momma's water bottle

*likes having zerberts blown on her tummy, cheeks etc..

*flaps her arms and legs when really excited and just when happy too

*went to the swimming pool and loved it (water was cold too!)

*very squirmy now with diaper change

*smiley happy girl but still doesn't smile much for the camera

*can sit up now, was really wobbly at first b/c she couldn't sit still, had to flap those arms

*very busy!!

*just started crawling a few days ago,she can army crawl and is now up on her knees crawling slowly

To my mom...

Happy Mother's day!! I love you so much! I am so grateful for your wonderful example. I wish I could've spent the day with you. I'm so lucky to have you for a mom and a friend. I hope you had a fabulous day!

(I tried to upload this yesterday but my computer was malfunctioning)

Tender moments...

Ethan had his tonsils and adenoids out yesterday. It has not been an easy recovery for him so far. He is so little and doesn't truly understand why he is experiencing the pain that he is. My heart is aching for him. I so wish I could take it away from him. Yet I can't so I have to have faith and trust that Heavenly Father will help him through this. This whole experience has been a growing/learning time for me. It has been in the quiet tender moments with my sweet little boy that I have truly undestood God's love for His children.


This picture is after he finally got his IV out. He was able to relax and go to sleep.

This picture was last night when he was happy and more alert. He sat at the kitchen table and ate posicles with Hannah and Zach. Today, he has had a fever all day and pretty lethargic. He hasn't been off the couch but a few short minutes. I am hoping and praying that tomorrow he will start feeling like himself. (please excuse the bad photo quality, but his cute smile was too adorable for me not to share)

My family

It seems as though it is always really hard to get a good picture of my whole family together. Either Mark is still at church when we are all dressed up, or the sun is too bright, or my memory card ran out of memory. So, this is our picture and it's far from perfect but I love it!

Zach's special day

This past Saturday Zach was baptized a member of our church. It was such an awesome day! We were so lucky to have our friends and family there with us. He was also able to share this day with his best friend who was also baptized. I hope it's a day they both will always remember. I know that I will. :)

5 months...

I am as always late on posting 5 month stats. I am just happy I get them done before she turns 6 months. :) This little sweetheart is such a joy in my life. She puts a smile on my face and in my heart. I often wonder how I can slow down time as it seems to constantly be on fast-forward. It has only been 5+ months since Ashlyn as joined our family but it is already hard to remember what life was like without her.

* I don't know how much she weighs this month but she is heavy! She's got the cutest chunky thighs I have ever seen.

*Is wearing 3-6 and 6-9 month clothes. I think she will be out of all 3-6 month clothes soon.

*Naps in her bed. I can lay her down and turn on the lullaby cd and she will go to sleep. Sometimes she fusses and sometimes she doesn't. I am still half swaddling her. She usually kicks her feet out. She likes to sleep with her hands above her head still.

*When on her her back, she almost immediately flips over onto her tummy. She isn't quite sure yet, what she should do once on her tummy.

*Hands are always in her mouth and always wet from being in her mouth.

*Isn't a big crier (never really has been) but is great at complaining when she is unhappy.

*Still doesn't sleep all night long every night.

*She has been waking up really early in the morning. Like around 6:15-6:30. Luckily the last couple days she has slept in a little bit. Mark has been really sweet and takes her so I can get a few extra minutes of sleep.

*Grabs at anything within her reach. Grabs hair, glasses, toys, anything she can get. She always really wants it and then wants to test it out by putting it in her mouth. She also liks to grab our faces. Hannah thinks she is trying to poke her eyes. :)

*I think she is really smart as she is so aware of her surroundings. She is so curious and has to look around to check everything out. She is arching her back and putting her head back if she is trying to see something.

*Has started saying a "G" consonant sound.

*Loves to smile. She will most always greet anyone who talks to her with a big smile. Once the camera comes out though, the smile is gone. I think she is fascinated by the camera and is concentrating very hard to figure out what it is.

*Loves my water bottle and likes getting a drink from it. I bought her a sippy cup and she likes trying to get water out of it. The funny thing is, she wants the water so bad but doesn't know what to do with it once it's in her mouth. It usually ends up all down her shirt.

*Had her first bottle(of mommy milk) from her daddy this month.

*Really likes going outside. Got mad one time when I walked over by the door and didn't go out.

*Stares at us while we are eating. I am curious what she will do next month when she actually get some food.

*Likes it when momma wears her in the mei tai.

*Likes playing in the exersaucer.

*Gets really excited and flaps her arms and kicks her legs.

I know there is more but that's all I can think of for now.

Happy Birthday Zachary!

Happy Birthday to our sweet millenium baby. It is hard to believe that 8 years ago I was getting ready to have our 2nd child. I remember being scared and worried. Hannah was only 2-1/2 and I loved her so much. How in the world would I be able to share the love that I had for her with another baby? I feel silly for even thinking that. As soon as my sweet boy was placed in my arms, I was in love with him. My heart was filled with love for both of my children. He was and is such a blessing to us.

A little bit about the day that I had Zach. I woke up in the morning with contractions for a couple of hours. It was 2 weeks before he was due, so I just chalked it up to false labor. Well, all day long I was leaking something. Finally about 4:00 in the afternoon I called my dr. and he told me to come in. I called my friend Rita, who was going to watch Hannah and she advised me to bring a bag with me. When I got to the dr. he confirmed that I was leaking amniotic fluid and to go next door and check myself in the hospital. I started pitocin(b/c I had been leaking fluid for over 12 hours and no active labor) around 8:00 p.m. and had Zach the next day at 1:21 a.m.

Zach's birthday is special all in it's own b/c of him, but he also shares his birthday with another special person in my life. He was born on my Grandma's birthday. I have been thinking a lot about her lately. I so wish that my kids could've known her. Zach was only 2 when she died. She was so awesome. I am going to do another blog post soon, just about her.

A few fun things about Zach:

*He has the best smile, and right now it is really cute b/c he is missing his top tooth.
*Is always willing to help
*Gives to others without being told or asked to by his parents
*Loves to play tetherball
*Loves anything electronic...video games, computer games, you name it he loves it!
*Is good at math and reading
*Great at drawing
*Likes all sports
*Is good at sharing a room with Ethan(this is no easy task)
*Has lots of good friends
*Likes to chew gum :)
*Is good at putting things together(especially if a screwdriver is involved)
*Can make his baby sister laugh...he loves her so much!
*Likes music and listening to his MP3 player

We love you Zachy! We are so blessed to have you in our lives.

Taggie blanket

Just wanted to show this little taggie blanket I made for Ashlyn. It's not really a blanket that she can be covered up in, just one she can hold and suck on. It is 11x11 inches. One side is cotton fabric and the other minkee. I pulled all the ribbon out of my scrapbook stash. I also got to use my new walking foot! It was fabulous for sewing with the minkee. I maybe spent $2-3 for supplies on this. I saw them being sold for $15-20 on Etsy. I want to make her another one that will be bigger than can be used as a blanket if she wants. :)

A chewdy kiss and other funny things...

A chewy kiss is what Ethan told me he wanted from Ashlyn the other day. When Ashlyn kisses us, she is basically sucking on our faces and it is quite slobbery. Ethan thinks it is funny of her.

I have been trying to focus on the funny things that Ethan says and does. On Saturday he wanted to go upstairs and get dressed. He won't go up or down the stairs without someone with him. So, the rest of the family was in the kitchen finishing up breakfast and all the sudden we hear Ethan yelling to us," WILL SOMEBODY COME UPSTAIRS WITH ME. HEY, WILL SOMEBODY COME UPSTAIRS WITH ME?.....HE-LLOOOO? I think you had to be there to hear his Hello, but it was the funniest thing and gave us all a good laugh.

Okay, he said something else funny that same day and now I can't remember it. I will come back and update this post. He is such a sweet boy and is always good at entertaining me.

A trend I would rather not follow.....

nor do I want anyone else in my family too. The other night I got a phone call after just barely leaving the house letting me know that an accident had occured at our house. Zach slipped and fell while getting out of the shower and hit his mouth on the side of the tub. His top two teeth were lose and we had been trying all week to get one of them out. Well, hitting his mouth on the tub did the trick. It did such a good job of knocking out the tooth, that it is nowhere to be found. We are guessing it went down the drain. Zach didn't even know it was gone until Mark told him so. He also got a very fat bloody lip with it. Poor kid. Zach did leave a note for the tooth fairy asking her to still give him money even though the tooth was gone. He also asked for extra money since it got knocked out from falling. I think she obliged him. ;) He was so brave and doesn't seem to be affected by it! I thought maybe it would be hard to eat or he would be embarrassed by his fat lip, but he wasn't. His gums are bruised as is his lip.
Later that night when I was going to bed, I found my Hannah girl still awake and very sad. It seems that Zach's accident was a little too much of a reminder of what had happened to her almost a year ago. The sweet thing is, she was worried about how sad her accident had made her momma. She told me she could still see my sad face when I walked into the nurses office. What a thoughtful girl!
I sure hope that no one else in my family follows this trend of hitting their mouth and knocking out their teeth. :) I am truly grateful though that neither of my kids were hurt worse than they were.

Then and Now

This little guy just cracks us up. As a baby he always had his tongue sticking out of his mouth. And now 4 years later, he still sticks it out when he is really concentrating on something. What a funny boy!
p.s. LOOK at those eyelashes!! They are amazingly long!

4 months

I am a little bit late but wanted to post 4 months stats on my little sweetie.

* 16lbs 8oz

* 25 3/4 inches long

* still wearing 3-6 month clothes though I did move her to 6-9 month jammies

* sleeping in her crib at night, no longer in her bassinet

* no longer sleeping through the night, up around 2am to eat

* going to bed earlier...around 9:30pm

* still napping in her swing

* has this funny little fake cough

* going to Grandma Peterson's 2 times a week while momma goes to the gym

* likes playing in the exersaucer

* is grabbing at everything!! she loves grabbing her sibling's faces and hair :)

* wakes up happy and singing or blowing raspberries

* likes it when we sing to her, also likes when we read her books

* is happy in her carseat now :)

*loves it when sister and brothers interact with her...she will laugh and giggle at them and with them

* wants to eat the remote, cell phone, telephone etc...

* scoots around when on her back under her activity gym

* is taking a pacifier more than she ever did, but still not too often

* hardly spits up at all, her siblings were all HUGE spitters! she drools like there is no tomorrow though

* can grab her toes now(and pull her socks off)

* always has her hands in her mouth

* is very ticklish

I have to add for my own information as well that her 4 month shots were hard on her. She was so distraught by them. Hours after they were done, she was still wimpering and sad about it. She even woke up the next day wimpering. Poor baby!

She doesn't like to do any one thing for very long. I sometimes struggle with knowing exactly how to entertain her. I feel silly about that b/c I have 3 other kids, you would think I should know by now.

She is such a joy and a blessing in my life and I am so grateful to have her.

I was tagged....(my first one)

10 Years Ago...
I was living in Chicago with an almost 6 month old baby girl. I was just trying to figure out the parenting thing.

5 Things on my To-Do list today
* Change baby, feed baby,
* go to the gym
* Change baby, feed baby,entertain baby
* keep Ethan entertained while I change baby, feed baby, etc..
* get some things picked up


Snacks I enjoy... I rarely eat snacks anymore so this was hard to come up with.
* cheese with pretzels or triangle triscuts
* chips with queso (I don't eat this very often)
* cereal
* roasted almonds or peanuts
* celery with peanut butter

Things I would do if I were suddenly a billionaire...
* Get out of debt
* find some land and build our dream house (see previous post about wrap around porch houses)
* go to Hawaii with my family
* pay for college educations, missions and weddings
* have a housekeeper/cook

3 of my bad habits...
* Disorganized
* surf the net too much (ebay!)
* Don't read my scriptures like I should

Jobs I've had...
* I was a bagger at a grocery store...I can't remember the name of it(Mom or Kristi do you remember?)
* McDonalds
* Nanny in New York
* La Petite Academy..I worked in the Infant room
* Building Blocks Daycare..same as above and also had a preschool class

5 Things people don't know about me...
* When I was pregnant last year, Mark made me a malt every Tuesday night. We ate them while watching Biggest Loser...how is that for irony!
* I took piano lessons for 12 years and I can't really play
* I don't really like meat that much. It started when I was pregnant with Hannah. I still can't cook or touch raw hamburger
* I want to be a professional photographer someday.
* I lettered in High School for being a swim team manager. 2 years in a row.

I don't really have anyone to tag, so if you see this on my blog and want to play. Please do!!

7 random facts about me.

Kristi posted on her blog about doing 7 random things about me. I have been thinking about it for awhile. I don't even know if I know 7 random things about me. I am going to give it a try though.

1. I can't ever eat my fruit by just biting into it. It has to be sliced. Especially bananas. I also have to slice my oranges rather than peel them and eat the sections.

2. I have only had 3 cavities in my life. One after each baby. I am curious to know if I have one now after having another baby. The ironic thing is, I was horrible at taking care of my teeth as a child. I am guessing that those sealants did their job!

3. I am losing clumps of hair each day. This always happens to me 12 weeks after I have a baby. With Ethan and now Ashlyn it is really bad. I am finding my hair everywhere. It is grossing me out. I read that a normal person loses 100 hairs a day and that after having a baby it can be about 500 hairs a day. Ugh!

4. I am very anal about having clean hands. My hands have to be clean or I go a little crazy. My hands get pretty dry and I can't bother putting lotion on them after I wash them b/c I will just be washing them again in a few minutes. (I do try to put lotion on at night though) I also can't stand when people want to hold my baby and don't wash their hands first.

5. I cannot start a conversation with someone to save my life. It can make for some very awkward moments.

6. I have this dream about having a house with a wrap around porch. I am lucky that my husband shares this dream with me. This house is really cool looking. Unfortunately where we live wrap around porches aren't very popular. Maybe we need to move to the south?

7. We had a park right behind our backyard when I was a little girl. There were some swing sets back there and I remember going out to swing with my favorite doll. ( I would never let me kids do something like that now by themselves) When my mom called me for lunch, for some reason I left my doll there. She was gone when I came back out. I was heartbroken. I still think about that doll today.

Spring?

We have been having very spring like weather this past week. The kids are on spring break and have really been enjoying it. They have enjoyed being able to get back on our trampoline as well. Hannah told me today that it was too hot. Silly girl!
Ethan has been so happy to have the "kids" home to play with him. Everyday that they are in school he says to me, " Let's go pick up the kids now." He just loves his brother and sisters!
Zach got a tether ball set for Christmas and has been happy for warm weather so he can go out and play with it. As you can tell, the sun was pretty bright when I took these pictures. Poor Zach is pretty sensitive to the brightness.