James's new favorite talent is grabbing things. He grabs my face when he's mad, when he's sad, when he's happy. As if boohooing wasn't enough to get my attention while I'm holding him.
He's still working on my favorite milestone: picking up cereal and feeding himself. This is always a game changer in keeping a baby occupied for long periods of time and it's the skill I push the most. (Crawling? meh.)
He can kind of sit up if he's propped up pretty well. This is my second favorite skill since it promotes keeping oneself entertained. After awhile he kind of gets all slumpy and won't hold himself up at all so we try again another day.
He watches me like a hawk and gets nervous if I step out of the room or even behind his closet door to get more diapers. He always wants to know what I'm doing and where I'm going and when I'll be back.
Likes: outside, falling asleep in his car seat, slobbering on things, sucking on apple slices
Dislikes: pureed sweet potatoes, not being held, being alone, staying in one spot for more than 4 minutes.
He takes 3 naps per day although his third nap in late afternoon doesn't really count. Either he sleeps for only 20 minutes or he snoozes while I nurse him. Most days one of his naps is 2+ hours so that's nice.
He sleeps pretty good most nights. We've had a great stretch of him being asleep by 9:00 and sleeping until 6:30 or 7. I'm working on cutting down his bedtime routine from 2 hours (nurse-fall asleep for 10 min-wake up for 20 minutes-nurse-fuss-nurse-sleep). This week I began being mean and nurse him for 40 min or so until I know he's full and drowsy and then lay him down. He fusses for a bit but winds down in a half hour or so. I did it his way, whatever he wanted for 6 months (2 hours!). Now he can just go to sleep like a normal baby.
He's kind of an ornery kid. And I mean that with all the love in my heart. I think I got a little spoiled with Henry and Erica; they were much more easy going and didn't need to be held all the time. He's 2nd orneriest child (no baby in the history of babies could beat Sarah on difficulty), 3rd best sleeper, 1st with strangers, and tied for 1st on cuteness with all the others.
I mean, c'mon. Look at those eyes!
We marked the occasion by finally getting out the highchair. I got it out at 4 months with my other kids but I wasn't in a hurry to take up so much space in my kitchen.
Any baby with two older sisters has it pretty good.
It didn't take him long to figure out how to rest his toes under the tray. Dye baby trademark.
Lifetouch sent home this snazzy photo in hopes that I'd buy the whole package. Nope. But I will take a picture of the picture.
These are my boys and I love them and they love each other. Henry is surprisingly good with James. If I ask him to keep James happy for 10 minutes while I'm trying to finish something, Henry will gladly accept and get James giggling. I hope they always get along.
Erica kind of likes James. She thinks he's interesting and cute but mostly gets grossed out by all the slobber. She freaks out if he sucks on her toys "James is chewing it up!" He doesn't have any teeth, sweetie.
This is somewhere up Diamond Fork Canyon. Something "creek" maybe? We asked the kids if they'd like to go to the river trail, to Utah Lake, or on a hike in the mountains. They voted to go to Utah Lake but Justin and I each have two votes and out-voted them and took them on a hike. Our family is not a democracy. They whined about it but tough noogies.
They had a blast, just like we knew they would.
Henry found lots of hillsides to slide down. I've accepted the fact that none of his jeans are going to survive for James to wear.
Henry has a healthy stack of Pokemon cards attained purely through begging and trading with friends. "Mom, what's this one called?" Ugh. It's not a word! You can say it however you want.
Aside from motivating him to further his reading skills, I cringe when he starts talking about "damage" and "upgrades". Justin said it best: "I know we should try to be like Heavenly Father and care about what our kids care about but I just cannot care about Pokemon."
Inspired by a friend's son and his interest in basketball cards, Sunday evening I asked Justin to find his basketball collection from the 90's. Man it was funny to watch him and the kids look through it. Justin totally dated himself that night. My favorite quotes from the evening"
"A lot of these guys are on television." -Justin (or they just got fired from ESPN)
"Hey I know that guy! He's on Space Jam." -Henry
"This guy here, Dell Curry, he's Steph Curry's dad." -Justin
"He doesn't play anymore. None of these guys play anymore." -Justin
"Who's this guy, Dad? What did he do?" Sarah and Henry 89 times each.
"Can I have this card Dad? He played for Duke and you don't even like Duke." -Henry
On having 42 Grant Hill cards: "I kind of put all my cards in the Grant Hill basket." -Justin
This is my favorite card: glamour shot of Ostertag.
The evening was a total win because now "basketball cards and binder" are on Henry's birthday list. (And I told him my money would never be spent on anything Pokemon. Ever.)
And look how stinkin cute Henry's homemade Michael Jordan card is. He made it for Justin and I was jealous. He knows Justin loves UNC so drew him in that jersey.
"Michael Jordan 1992-1993. Upgrades. For fun he was the team's top passer."
Justin let it slip that something surprising was happening this month and I pestered (and pouted a little) all evening long to tell me. How torturous to say something like that but give me no hints! Either he couldn't handle the anticipation anymore or I guilted him into giving up the surprise. The next morning he gave me a new Dutch oven!
The one on the left is the one I've had for a few years and is the workhorse in my kitchen. It's a cheaper brand and it was showing it's age, especially inside. Plus it was beginning to be on the small side now that I have kids that actually eat. Loved it but not my dream Dutch oven.
My dream one is the one on the right. It is heavy and large. It's been on my stove all week long because I don't have a cabinet big enough for it. And because it's so pretty.
I told Sarah that they will all fight over this when I die because it will still be cooking like a champ in 50 years.
And then later that day Justin picked up a new picnic table that I had wanted for a few months. It was like my birthday. Or early Mothers Day/Anniversary.
Erica had her Anna dress on but the headband reminded me of Cinderella. She disagreed. "No, I'm Anna."
Erica hit a favorite milestone on mine on Monday. No more diapers! Woohoo! She had to wear underwear at night and keep it dry for 5 nights in a row to earn a big treat. She had one bad night, then three nights of diapers because she didn't want to try, but then 5 perfect nights in a row. I knew she could do it once she wanted to, She picked gummy worms.
How cute is my baby and how big is his hair?
How tall can it grow before it falls over?
Erica has some amazing hair of her own. Check out this bedhead.
I fed James some sweet potatoes for the first time. He was not a fan.
Since uploading videos is kind of a pain, you know that only the truly great ones make it to the blog. This is so funny to me. She's such a goofball.
Easter Sunday marked 16 weeks of no chocolate. Or marshmallows. Or ice cream (still haven't). Or caramel, cake, frosting, sprinkles, doughnuts, or anything of the like. 16 weeks! Sometimes it felt like a really long time but the last month flew by.
I had mixed feelings about eating treats again. I wasn't craving them and I felt great and feared not feeling great if I ate Easter candy or dessert. I abstained all day long but then I decided I was over-thinking it all and ate a Cadbury egg and chocolate covered marshmallow late that evening.
Ending this treats fast, I felt like an alcoholic leaving rehab. Can I resume my normal life without going crazy. Can I eat in moderation? I sure hope so or I might have to do this again and it was no way to live.
Here are my goals and how I did.
1. No treats from New Years to Easter. I did great.
2. Drink tons more water. Eh, kind of failed that one. I'm just not a thirsty person.
3. Exercise 5 days a week. Awesome. I missed one day due to crazy early-morning doctor's appointment for Henry and my elbow really hurt that day too.
The main purpose of this was to lose baby weight without dieting and I lost 14 pounds which I think is pretty good. Here are some other health benefits I observed: My teeth feel so clean at the end of the day. My face looks clearer and less dry. My mood feels more controllable (this is probably mostly due to post-pregnancy levels slowly balancing out). My energy level stays more constant throughout the day. I don't think I had even a mild stomach ache that entire time and or digestive discomfort. And I never went to bed thinking "I shouldn't have eaten that" or "why did I eat a second one?" Nope, none of that. No more food guilt or regrets. At first everything I ate was a mental exercise of "Can I eat this? What can I eat?" but after a few weeks I thought about food less than I ever had before.
Big shout out to Justin who did this right along with me. He didn't want to but because he loves me and knew I wouldn't be baking anything good anyway. Plus my sisters and brother that participated as well and put up with my sporadic check-in emails. I don't think I could have done it without their accountability and commiseration.
The rest of 2017 will be the Year of the Cookie. Each month I will be trying out a new cookie recipe and I will let you know how they turn out.
This month: Peanut Butter Cadbury Thumbprint Cookies.
On Sunday,I took this recipe and instead of squishing in kisses, I put in a Cadbury egg. It made 57 of them so if you are lucky enough to be visit or home taught by Justin or I, you got a plate full of them.
I thought they turned out great. They aren't as soft as my regular peanut butter cookies but that's the point. These held up to being squished with candy while my regular recipe falls flat every time.
Man, it's only April and I'm having a tough time coming up with a 4th post in this series. This month I tell you all about how much I plan.
I plan out just about everything. Yesterday I made a list of things I like about summer so that I can look forward to it instead of dread it. (I've been pregnant and/or sick the last two summers so I'm hoping I realize it's not as bad as I remember.) #1 on that list: Costco grapes. Pretty sure I spent $100 on grapes last summer.
See this notebook right here? I've had it for years and write down all my birthday and holiday and ward activity planning inside. My kids reading this notebook would pretty much ruin their belief in Santa.
I love making bucket lists for summer and Christmas activities. Christmas is a planning entity all of it's own. Gift lists, neighbor gift lists, cookie and treat lists, etc. Planning a trip is almost as fun as taking one.
I make timelines, preliminary budgets, and to do lists. There's a list in here of repairs and cosmetic fixes we need to make if we ever put our house on the market.
Up on my magnet board are the to do lists and hopping lists. I even have a "desserts to make" list.
I even make lists of lists I need to make. Plus I write down just about everything that's going to happen on my calendar. I don't think I'm a forgetful person but with a family of 6, I have a hard time keeping it all straight sometimes.
I've always been a planner but I think it's getting worse (or am I getting better?) Here is a list (I couldn't resist) of why planning every.little.thing works for me.
1. If I don't plan it, I most likely won't do it. If I write "clean bathroom" on a post-it and stick it to my cabinet, I'm waaay more likely to do that most hated of all chores just because I love crossing off items as done.
2. But it may be more to do with the fact that it takes me a good day and a half to gear up and wrap my mind and commit to actually doing it. I don't do well on the fly. I am not spontaneous or impulsive. Thus I plan.
3. It's a coping mechanism. I don't know if you know but having 4 kids is caaraaazzzyyyy. There are so many things I can't control but making lists and checking them twice gives me a sense of control---albeit sometimes a false sense.
Still not sure if this counts as "doing something right" but it works for me and keeps me sane.
Here is the only picture I took during all of spring break. Justin was too busy at work to take much time off so we stuck around doing things like the park and playing with neighbors, going to the library, more table tunnel and I don't remember much else because it wasn't all that memorable. On Friday, Justin took the day off and we went to the reservoir in Springville. Since it was kind of a blustery day, only a few other people were there. The kids had a great time digging in the sand.
My kids got the "dough is delicious" gene from their father. I was making pizza dough this day and every time I stopped the mixer, Erica would ask, "Can I taste it?" Ew no! It's only yeast and water. Once the dough was done, I let her lick the dough hook. (Still makes me gag a little to think about it.)
And then she made quick work of the rubber scraper.
So much to love in this picture. Messy face, big blue eyes, itty bitty freckles.
Sarah wanted a new bike for her birthday but when I told her it would be the only present she'd get, she didn't want to do that. So I made her a deal that if she would save half the money, I'd give her the other half. She picked one out at the store and did chores and saved all winter long. Then we had to order it online since it was no longer at the store. She was so excited to come home from school and see it mostly assembled in the living room (I had to have Justin's help finishing the seat.)
It's pretty incredible since it was like last week that we bought her this trike and she wouldn't even try the pedals.
Easter Saturday we had lunch and a few Easter festivities and Justin's parents' house. First the kids dyed eggs in the basement. (Erica insisted she do her hair herself.)
Check out Henry's new haircut. He thinks he's pretty cool.
Sarah was a serious egg dyer.
And James munched on his bib
After lunch it was time for the Easter egg hunt! Cute kids with cute baskets.
You too, Justin! That's his basket from his childhood. So cute!
James just got to watch this year.
And now the Easter Sunday church clothes porch pictures. I can't decide which is my favorite.
Love love love Erica's smile and James's smirk in this one.
Now we can see Sarah's face better but James isn't looking at the camera.
All good except James is looking away again. Sigh.
It's really hard to get Henry to wear new clothes to school but he was all over new church clothes.
Erica's dress had been in her closet since February so she was "so excited" to finally get to wear it to church.
James wears whatever I put on him, no complaints. But he does drool all over it.
And Sarah picked out this fabric and I made her a skirt and then we bought a shirt to match.
After church we did the yearly Easter egg hunt with my family. Here's the cousin picture.
And then they were off. I mostly tagged behind Erica.
Last year she wanted to stop and eat every candy. This year she wanted to coo over every cute egg.
I got Henry a new basket since last year he complained that his football basket didn't hold enough eggs. This year he complained his basket was getting too heavy.
Last year Sarah was relegated to the big kid section of the yard which she said had less eggs so this year we didn't separate the kids by age. This year she over-filled her basket and used her shirt for the extras.
I told her to go put some back for the toddlers and she did.
