Bouncing Baby Boy

Avery LOVES his little bouncy seat. It hooks onto the door frame and he bounces...and bounces...and bounces! I wish I had one of these with the other three when they were babies. It is honestly the thing that keeps him calm the longest. He seems to love that he can bounce himself and just by turning his head one way or the other, it turns his whole body to face that direction. It's really cute. I wish I was smart enough to figure out how to make a video clip and post it here because it's adorable!

"I Have Style!"

Confidence is one of the most confident children I've ever met. She is sure of herself and her abilities. She dresses and does her hair in whatever way she feels looks good. Even if I tell her that something doesn't match, she says that she likes it and that's good enough for her. In fact, last year (3rd grade) when I told her that something she was wearing didn't look good she told me that she had style and that if I had any I would know she did look good! So, I pretty much let her wear what she wants and fix her hair in whatever way suits her because - well, I don't have style! I figure these are things that aren't worth fighting over and I do think it's important for children to learn to act for themselves instead of just doing whatever their friends are doing. Perhaps a bit of independence in these things will help her in the long run.

Six Months and Sitting Up

Look how big our little Cutesome is getting! He loves sitting up now that he can do it without continuous help. He can reach his toys easier and see what's going on all over the room which certainly helps him be more content. And hopefully the flat spot on the back of his head will begin to go away!

Grandpa's Home From The Hospital!

Grandpa came home from the hospital Tuesday after having back surgery. He's been in considerable pain for some time now and was excited for surgery in anticipation of relief. We hope the surgery is perfectly successful and that he'll be good as new soon!

It's All Down Hill From Here (just kidding)

Today marks an occasion that women everywhere can recall - I found my first gray hair. Yep, I'm 31 years old and found a gray one - well, it was actually more like white - while I was wiping my baby's spit up out of my hair. Memorable.

Vivacious

My cute little Vivacious always waits in the van with Cutesome until I come get him out. The other kids pile out as quickly as they can, but Vivacious doesn't want him to be alone - even for a minute - so she stays there with him while I take the first load of stuff into the house. I just think it's so thoughtful!

Family Home Evening

Last night Confidence and Vivacious asked if we had a lesson planned for Family Home Evening. We hadn't planned anything yet so they requested that they be allowed to give a lesson on Responsibility. They wrote out the agenda on one side of the A-frame (pictured above) and used the opposite side to write down what they talked about. Dynamite didn't want to be left out, so he ran to his bedroom and got two pictures of Jesus and held them up through the lesson for all (Dreamer and I) to see (umm, yep, Dynamite is wearing Dreamer's old shirt as a night-shirt).

After the opening song and prayer, Dreamer gave a scripture, then the girls talked about what it means to be responsible. They then made a list on the chalk board of each person's primary responsibilities. Then they made up a game for us to play. We concluded with a closing prayer and song and brownies. It's so nice that they want to participate in Family Home Evening. When Dreamer and I try to get away with an informal FHE (i.e. doing an activity as a family or skipping it), the kids always want something more formal.

New Food Storage Shelves

Dreamer built these FABULOUS shelves in our storage room for our food storage. One night I drew out what I wanted and the next day when I showed him, he went to work and cut them out and installed them shortly thereafter! The purpose of these shelves is to make accessing and rotating short-term food storage easier. The long-term food storage will be put in a less accessible storage spot. Our kitchen pantry is really small, so having shelves like these in the storage room is very helpful. I also drew out two other sets of shelves and drawers I wanted and he is working on those as well (I'll post pictures of those when they're finished). It will make better use of the space in our laundry/storage room and will make it easier to get to the things we store there. I am so grateful that Dreamer has this great skill, has the equipment to build what I want and was willing to spend his day off making them for me! What a guy!

The Best Husband Ever

I have to mention here, for those I haven't already told, how wonderful Dreamer has been since Cutesome was born. Cutesome is a high maintenance baby. If it's not one thing upsetting him, it's another. For the first couple of months (yes, MONTHS) Cutesome didn't sleep. What I mean by that is that he wouldn't sleep unless we were holding him just as pictured above. Because neither Dreamer nor I sleep well with a baby lying on our chests, we didn't get much rest.

I was at my wit's end one night when Dreamer took care of Cutesome from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. I felt so refreshed and wonderful after getting 4 whole hours of consecutive sleep! I went on and on about how much I appreciated him for taking care of the baby for those hours so I could get some much-needed rest. Well, lo and behold he started taking the 10:00 to 2:00 shift every night! From then until Cutesome finally started to sleep longer stretches, Dreamer took the 10-2 shift every night. Not only did he take care of Cutesome's physical needs, but I also heard Dreamer talking to Cutesome in his baby-talk voice, saying cute things.

He helped (and still helps) get the other 3 kids ready for school in the mornings and helps drive (all 3 kids go to either different schools or go at different times). He has been such a life-saver this time around. This is not to say he wasn't helpful with the other kids, only that this time he has really stepped up to the challenge which we call Cutesome. This time he knows as much about the baby's likes and dislikes and what helps as I do. And all this in addition to continuing to provide for our family!

If only every husband knew how good it is for a marriage when they are helpful beyond our expectations of them, especially when we need it most! I feel so blessed to have Dreamer as my eternal companion and friend. I cannot imagine that there is anyone else in the universe that is better suited for me than he is.

I like the way this kid thinks

A minute ago Dynamite came over and hugged me and said I was the best mom ever. I told him he was the cutest boy ever. He said, "What about Cutesome?" I said that I had the two cutest boys ever and he said that I should say it like this instead: "I have the cutest boys that Heavenly Father sent to me that I borned", and then he added, "because you don't know if you're going to get more boys".