Perfect 10 Baby

Ten months old this one. Ten things he is doing as of now...

1. Saying mom-FINALLY! He doesn't say mama-he says MOM-he screams it from his crib, he climbs up my leg and looks at me and says it when he wants me to pick him up, and when he's hungry he yells it. He started saying it on the 3rd. Happy mom.
2. In addition to his other words mom, dada and Hey!, He now says baba for several things-ball, bye bye (which he waves now) and bottle.
3. He is completely weened as of last month. A little sad for me, but with him being so early and having to take a bottle to get all the extra calories for so long-he just never was the great nurser that my other kids were. On the other hand, having other people be able to help feed him while I tend to the other kids-super helpful.
4. Takes a bath without his bath chair. Straight to the big boy tub with big brother-this kid is a fish.
5. Sleeps through the night in his own bed, in his own room,(until Tyler wakes him up getting ready for seminary). This is something that was not a regular thing until about 15 months for my other kids because of the whole nursing thing. There are some advantages, that I am not under appreciating.
6. Has 3 almost 5 teeth-hence the drool.
7. Can cruise around the furniture and kids play loft going mock 90 pulling everything off every table, shelf, chair. A true boy.
8. Can get from one side of the house to the upstairs in the time it takes me to pull out the vaccuum to clean up from his lunch. He is speedy and wants to spend all day upstairs with the older kids, and he knows when mom isn't looking.(Thankfully, we just borrowed a gate from a friend! Thanks Sara!)
9. He eats EVERYTHING! Always the first to the table, and always the last to leave-and literally can out eat every single one of us. We're pretty sure the kid does not have a stretch receptor in his stomach (thanks Chad for the medical terminology-your education is totally paying off!).
10. Steals our hearts with each goofy little grin and pouty lip. We love you P-Sam!

There is Beauty All Around...

When this girl is around.

Fiesta

It has become one of our favorite holidays to celebrate, good ole Cinco De Mayo-Hurray for pinatas, fajitas, virgin margarita's, good friends, Mexican train dominoes and some Santana playing in the background.

We all had a lot of fun hanging out after our long weekend of siesta's it was definitely time for a good old fiesta!

I think Tyler had one too many margarita's though...

Rainy Days and Mondays

My 2 older kids have spent most of their young lives living in Portland, so they are no strangers to the rain. Just like mommy and daddy-they love it. When other kids look at the forecast and moan, mine are grabbing their umbrella's and running out the door. I am glad it's been raining a lot, it's making everything so green, and reminiscent of Portland, it makes me a little 'homesick'. It smells so fresh out, and we get to snuggle up under our down blankets just a little bit longer. I have to admit though, I am really looking forward to the sunshine to come. Maybe it's just because I've been sick and really want to get out and soak up some sun, and get out of the house a little bit more. Also it'll mean that we are just that much closer to summer and get Chad back for a little bit of the week, (I hope). Still...the rain has it's purpose, and to me it will always be beautiful.

We Have Mice!

Our kids got snacky on Sunday. Chad was sleeping, recovering from an all nighter at work. I was sleeping, because I had a bad case of the swine flu, (not really-but oh I was sick and out cold). So the kids helped themselves to the cheese. With their teeth. Chad told me we had mice. I about died. He was joking. Whew.

Cute Little Block Head

He loves blocks.

He thinks they taste good.

He LOVES to knock them over-he thinks it's hysterical to knock over anything Topher and Bekah build.

Luckily so do they...most of the time.

These have absolutely got to be his most favorite toy right now.

He usually has one in his hand or mouth at all times.

He's my block head.

Cute little block head.

Men at Work plus on Tough Chica

These 3 hotties were out all day yesterday starting the long process of building a fence in the Appah's backyard to keep their little escapee confined. Chad and Jason were using this big contraption to dig holes for the posts, and when April and I saw them and all their rippling muscles doing manual labor, we thought it was pretty hot and had to get out our cameras. But what's hotter than our 2 hubbies sweatin and working in the sun? When they can't get the thing out of the ground and ask for this tough chica's help. Beauty and Brawn-the whole package! I hope we can still be friends after she see's this post-hee hee! Love ya April!

Spaghetti Pop!

Some of my favorite pictures of all my babies are their spaghetti face pictures. No different for this kidd-o.I think it just makes their gorgeous blues eyes just POP in these pictures (thanks Chad-I married you so that you could pass those beautiful eye genes on) .

Did I mention that his favorite new thing to say is "Hey!", it is really funny and when we say it back, he thinks he's the man-he gets a huge grin on his face....like this.

Seriously.

This is one cute kid.

Pat on the back for me and my baby bakin skills!

And I guess I can give props to Chad for that eye gene thing.

Dang-he's cute!

Backyard Surprises

It is no secret that we love having our HUGE backyard. There are lots of fun spring time 'surprises' right now-like the apple blossoms... ...and the visiting birds.This is not a story about them though, this is a sappy story and life lesson I learned that I don't want to forget. The other day, Bekah wanted to have me come outside and see the surprise she found in our backyard. I was busy doing something, but she didn't let me forget about it all day-so when I finally had a chance to go out... ....she took off on a dead run towards the back of the yard where one of the apple trees is. She started twirling all around and said, "Isn't it beautiful!?! It's like our own flower garden!" There were dandelions everywhere. She knows that they are weeds and she was quick to point that out, but she said "it looks like a flower garden, right?"

Of course it did, and it made me want to be more child like and instead of griping about the overabundance of dandelions and other weeds in our yard to see the absolute and pure beauty in things the way she does.

As I stepped back and watched my beautiful and wise daughter twirling in the weeds like she was in her own magical secret garden I was overfilled with crazy love for her and her brothers.

For the last few days I had been pondering if it would be worth it to go back to work, I haven't worked for the last year since we moved here. I worked for the last 3 years from home as an apartment manager, and even though it was working from home, it was still work-and I was not a full time stay at home mom like I am now. I just didn't have all the time I have now to give my undivided attention to my babies.

There are times, I think it would be easier to go to work and have a life outside of my mommy bubble. There are more days than not that I think how much easier it would be financially to have an extra income.

Then I stepped back and looked at the bigger picture, I could see clearly that my children have beautified my life, and this last year I have really got to spend a lot of time with them and really get to know the little people they are, and you know what I discovered? They are really cool kids, I genuinely like them and I am so grateful to have them, every moment of every day.

Lesson learned.

I need to be at home with my kids right now, no matter how tight money is.

The grass may be greener on the other side of the fence, but I prefer mine covered in dandelions.

That's More Like It

This sweet boy got another tooth in today, and has a couple more in the works-he has not been a happy camper or napper for that reason. SO when he fell asleep in the swing today, it took all I had to not just leave him there and let him sleep. Christopher kept messing with the swing though so I had to move him, and sure enough-he woke up as soon as I unbuckled him. He is doing better tonight, so I might bring him to book club... where we will be eating this...

I couldn't just forget how un-pretty that last cake looked, so I had to make it again. Much better.