Pumpkin Patch

A week ago Lillie, Henry and I ventured out to the pumpkin patch with the moms and kids from our ward. It had been really rainy and so we were lucky that it was actually sunny in the morning although the rain did roll in later that day. Lillie had a blast playing on the Combine slide and wooden train as well as on the hay and pony rides. Henry was such a good kid, he sat in the front carrier or slept in the stroller. We had a fun time and left when the rain started.

TRIP 2 WA

So... for three weeks in September, Lillie, Henry and I crashed at my parents pad while Eric studied for NBDE part 2. And we're elated to say that he passed!!! In order to give him the time that he needed to focus on the test, we headed up to Washington to be entertained by my family. It was hard to be away from him but we had a great time playing with grandparents, cousins and enjoying life on the farm. We even were able to visit the local fair, an indoor waterpark and a couple yummy restaurants. I had to majorly edit down the number of photos because I am sick of uploading them to blogger.

Here are some of the grandkids on the rollercoaster. I love the look on Lillie and Macey's faces!

Cowgirl Lillie

Spunky Macey, we really miss this girl!

These girls got into lots of mischief together. I specifically remember an incident with markers that left them covered in colored ink.

Henry and Reggie, arm wrestling. They're two weeks apart in age.

I cannot tell you how many times this happened. Lillie had a hay day in the mud.

Front yard view of the farm

Backyard view with a shot of the horses. Ahhh, I miss these wide open spaces.

Henry slept through a lot of the indoor water park. It was so hot and humid in there that he couldn't keep his eyes open.

Lillie loved playing in the kids area. She's been so good about being in the water this year.

Henry and cousin Reggie are gonna be great friends!

Henry and My Dad. A LOT of people said that Henry looked like my dad. We pulled out some old photos and it's true!

Grady and Lillie got along so well. Lillie was often overenthusiastic about playing with him. One time after arriving at Grandma's house and seeing Lillie, he said, "Oh no, not him!"

Getting two kids ready for bed by myself was not my favorite time of day. We really missed Dad.

My nephew Brandt had his Star Wars birthday party while we were there. My sister and I made the Jedi robes and she made their light sabers. She seriously goes all out and it turned out awesome!

Lillie went over to the dark side

Hayley, Grady and Lillie playing in the mud. I did so much laundry.

I am so grateful for my family, especially for my parents for putting us up for such a long time. Lillie LOVED being on the farm and surrounded by little cousin playmates. She was so happy to play outside for hours and hours. I felt so guilty taking her away from that. It was a wonderful break for us, I love going home.

Grateful for Dance

I am grateful for many things.

But today, I am especially grateful for a little girl's dance class. I am grateful that her teacher teaches the class about confidence and strengthens the relationship between child and parent more than she teaches technical steps. I love that she asks us to hug and kiss our little dancer about 5 times in 45 mins because most days Lillie doesn't get more than one, even though she deserves a million. I just get too caught up in the craziness of life. I am grateful that Lillie loves to shuffle step and dance around as much as I do. I love seeing the joy that it brings her.

Oh and I'm grateful for a little boy who sat contentedly in his carseat watching the group twirl and skip around him.

Hank's Crib

 

I FINALLY finished Henry's bedding. I started working on it about the middle of my pregnancy so it's been at least 6 months since I started it. And it was a big weight lifted off my shoulders when I finished. I wanted to have something that would coordinate with Lillie's quilt, since they're sharing a room and I worked my buns off to finish that when I first found out I was pregnant with Henry. So it's not the most manly, oh well. Hopefully we'll have a third bedroom next year and Henry's room will be decorated with trucks or trains or sports, something all boy. But until then... I am proud of being able to just work this all out on my own. Ta da.

Now if only he would start sleeping well at night...

My Tiny Dancer

This week, Lillie started her first dance class. It's a ballet/tap combo, although it's more freestyle, and Lillie loves it! It is so fun to see her getting her groove on. She did such a good job, I think we might have a little dancer on our hands. It requires a lot of parent participation and I didn't know this. Henry makes things interesting for me, but I think we'll survive, thanks to our baby carrier. I'm just not able to run and hop and bend over like the other moms. We both cannot wait for next week!

The pictures were taken at the end of the class because I had to be so involved, I couldn't take pictures like I wanted.

Lillie's dance class. Lillie is raising her hand in the picture.

Lillie is getting a pumpkin sticker for a job well done!

Look at that sweet little girl!

Running to show me her new flair.

And the survey says....

We went to the doctor today for Henry's 4 month visit. Everything looked good and he was so excited by all the attention from the nurses and doctors, until the shots. He's still a big boy, no surprise there, although his weight percentage dipped 9 percentage points.

Height: 27 1/4th inches -- 98th percentile

Weight: 17 lbs 6 oz-- 90th percentile

The doctor thinks that the reason that he's waking up more often at night than he was a month earlier is because he's a hungry kid and that breastmilk soon won't be enough, hence the drop in weight, and that starting rice cereal in a month will help. So there's at least one more month of less-than-ideal sleep for me. Ugh, it's really starting to get old. I'm TIRED. I'm not ready to let him "cry it out" until he's on rice cereal and I know hunger won't be a factor and more coordinated with his hands so that he'll learn to put in his own binkie. That's when Lillie finally slept through the night, at 6 1/2 months.

I tried the "cry it out" method when he started taking 40 minute naps and it didn't work because he became a very unhappy, distant, insecure and REALLY jumpy. I want a happy, calm baby (which he has become again) ... even if it means less sleep for me.

I am so thankful for two happy and healthy kiddos!

Momentous Occasion

Today something happened that I have waited for the past YEAR to occur. Lillie and Henry played together! She would jump up and down and pull on his arms and he thought it was the funniest thing ever, laughing and squealing. She loved that she could make him laugh and ended up giggling right along with Henry. Because, come on, the whole reason we had a second kid is so that he'd be able to entertain Lillie and it wouldn't have to be us all the time. :)

4 Months

This handsome little guy turned four months yesterday. He has hit some major milestones in the past month. He can grab toys, suck on his fists, grab his toes and roll over (front to back)! Henry is a happy guy who loves to talk and laugh. He's a big boy who adores his big sister and is coming closer to weighing as much as her. We think there's about 8 lbs that separate the two and a half year difference. We love him!

Cat Napper

So I know I have said that Henry is a champion sleeper. And he was... but lately he does not take naps longer than 30-40 mins.
He does put himself to sleep with help of a pacifier, but after that sleep cycle is up, he's up. I'll go in to put his pacifier back in after about 5-10 mins of crying (hoping he'll go back to sleep on his own), but no go, he won't go back to sleep.
Sometimes I'll go in immediately (hoping he's not fully awake) and stick it back in and it doesn't work either.
I can't even rock him back to sleep or if I put him in his swing.
He's still swaddled.
I've even tried to get him to sleep on his stomach, but he doesn't like that either.
I've tried keeping him up longer in between naps (2 hours after a feeding, one hour before next feeding) and I've tried putting him to bed earlier, about a half hour to an hour after he's been fed, two hours before his next feeding. Either way doesn't matter.
He's on a schedule: 7, 10, 1, 4, 7, 9, 4.
This means that he only sleeps about 1 1/2 hour to 2 hours during the day. This cannot be healthy.
Usually only wakes up once a night, sometimes twice.

I couldn't find anything different online than what I've already done. Has this happened to any of your kids? What did you do? What should I do?????

Happy 1/4th Birthday!

Today my little chunk is 3 months old! I cannot believe how fast time has gone by. We are so lucky to have him in our family, can't imagine life without him! At 3 mos, Henry can:
--coo like nobody's business, I'm afraid we might have another chatter box, folks
--flash some gummy grins
--giggle, especially at his Dad
--sleep from 9-7, waking up once
--put himself to sleep
--bats at toys dangling in front of him
--suck on his fists
--cuddle with his Momma in the glider
--and last but not least, grow like a weed!!!

Love you, Henry!

For the Love of Books

What is up with last books of series?? They're pretty much always lame. Breaking Dawn was pure agony for me to read, way back when, and Mockingjay wasn't much better. It had a slow start followed by a pretty good middle leading to an abrupt, anticlimactic end. I hated that Peeta was brainwashed or whatever. I hated that Gale's story just dropped off at the end. There was all this hullabaloo about the war and killing Snow and then boom the war's over and Snow's captured. It seemed like the writer ran out of steam at the end and just quickly tied it up. Lame.
I needed to wait until someone, who's taste in books I really trusted, read it and then decided whether or not it was worth the effort to read. Cuz, c'mon. That book convinced me that I need to take a little break from reading. I had invested myself too much in the book before it even came out and it left a bad taste in my mouth.

Okay, enough venting. I loved the series overall and will read them again. I'll go see the movie when it comes out. Seriously, The Hunger Games was amazing, so was Catching Fire and I think it was a high standard for Mockingjay to live up to.

Mom and Kids

You'd never believe how many takes it takes to get a shot with everyone looking at the camera.

These were just the tip of the iceberg...

Dapper Henry

I finished making these pants this morning for Henry. We are hoping to get some family pictures done soon and I couldn't find any pants that I liked. So I made these for about $6 out of some nice herringbone suiting material. Can't beat that price. I love his little hat too. I found it at H&M for 5 bucks and I think it's worth every penny. It's a touch too big right now so I'll need to adjust that, but I love it! Hopefully we can figure out someone to take our photos.