February Family Happenings

Well onto another month of happenings for around here.  It was a fun months of firsts for John and we did a lot of things.  Probably more than I should have but that is okay.  Keeping ones self busy is good.

 

I finally got all three of the boys quilts sewn together.  I don't like how the print is crocked on the one but that isn't my fault!  I have to keep telling myself that and I also tell myself it gives the quilt a kind of movement to it too.  I just need to find a way to make it a little wider so it will fit the standard size of a twin.  Not sure how to do that yet and still make it look good too.

One morning daddy made a smoothie and the kids decided they needed it too.  For some reason they all got straws instead of the clean cups I had ready for them.  Oh well, fun moment.

Who wants a milk mustache when you could have a butter one?  I even goes great with her bandana too.

Sometimes I really wish I could look this cute and good when I'm a mess in the morning.

 

Well I couldn't stand not being able to go to church any longer so I dressed up Mr. Man for his first Sunday there.  It was even more special because this was the first time that he wore shoes too.

THIS is the boys room special project.  My husband is making a bunk bed.  That way in the baby is moved into the boys bed we can move his brother James out of the crib and onto the bottom bunk.  We are going to have Seth sleep up top. 

This is the ladder for him to climb.  When it wasn't attached we let him do a little test climb and he can go up just fine.  The spacing was perfect.

My mother wanted some cute updated pictures of the kids and so I decided to try and do a little photo session.  I was doing each kid by themselves and with another sibling and what not.  I had them all matching as close as possible.  Seth, of course, just had to hold "his" baby and give him kisses.

John started to get fussy so Seth tried really hard to calm him down.  James was like whatever.  Sarah on the other hand was so grumpy that I only got one picture of her where she isn't screaming.  I couldn't figure out what was up with her until later that night when she threw up.

All of the kids looking festive for Valentine's Day.  I just love dressing them up and they did AWESOME with letting me get a group picture too.

 In our family we have a tradition of heart attaching the kids doors.  Each day they get a new heart that tells them something we love about them.  This was John's first year so I had to get a picture. 

 

 James was pretty happy with the loving words on his door too. 

 

I finally got Sarah to smile for a picture and that took a long time.  Good thing those hearts are up there so I can remember what I love about her.

 

I just love how excited Seth was every morning to see a new heart and have me read it to him.

 

 Another special tradition that we have is that I like to make a little plaque with their footprints on it for their first Valentine's Day.  It didn't take me too long to know what I wanted to do for him.

For your first Valentine's Day you also get a book.  Each kid has a book series that is just theirs and 'Duck and Goose' is Johns.

 

Even with still recovering I like to get out for some fresh air.  It is nice to even just do a little slow walking.  I was thinking that now with four kids only the younger two would be able to ride in/with the cart.  Well not at Wal-Mart or at least since they got this kind of cart.  The thing is huge but it works great.

I like how I can see them all but the only thing I hate is how far the baby is away from me.  I also don't like that the older three kids can kick each other easily.

This month is also Hope's birthday.  Yeah!  She is such a great and wonderful dog and I know life for her has change a lot and quickly too but she has born it all well.  I am so thankful that she is a part of our family, even when she drives me crazy sometimes.

Still loving wearing grandma's hats.  They like to pretend to be that animal too.

 

 Sometimes Seth just amazes me with how he thinks and how patient he is.  I had to leave the room for a little while and when I came back he had made this masterpiece.  What is so amazing is that the table is not level so the fact that he was even able to do this is pretty grand.

 

He is so getting into trains and starting to pretend really well.  I always have fun listening to the stories that he comes up with.

 

A big new thing for James is that he now is sleeping with a pillow.....well at least we gave him a pillow now.

 At nap time he likes to use it.  (Although now a days he can't sleep unless it is totally covering him.

 

 With another month gone by for John it was time to get out the growing buddy and show how much he has changed.......yeah, I know it really isn't that much.

 At least with snoopy he looks bigger.

 

 This big boy now gets to be forward facing since he is so BIG! 

 

Just for fun our family went into a Ranch and Home store to look at the baby animals they had just gotten in.  The kids loving seeing the chicks, ducks, and baby turkey's.

Another must/traditional picture is when you get to go on your first walk.  I like to get a group shot to remember how we went on the walk.  Thankfully daddy came this time and we weren't going far because the older two had a hard time.

Since you couldn't see him so great in the group picture he got his own photo. 

Joys of Boys

This is the last of what happened in January that I wanted to share with all of you.  It is all special to me (thus why I'm sharing it) but I know it looks like just ordinary life too (which it is for us).

 

With all of the birthday's and Christmas finally over we now have a completely set of Paw Patrol plush puppies and Rider too.  Seth knew right away that they needed to ride in their cool car he got from his grandparents.

A simple blanket fort and nothing else sure can make this kid happy.

 

Although he loves to play with every toy and finds ways that make it different and interesting too.  Not how I like the books to be used but to him this had a very particular order.

With it being a new year and him old enough he is now able to go to Primary in our church.  YES!  I wasn't able to go to church yet but daddy was sure to take a picture for me to show me how good he was about sitting in his chair.

Since James is no longer the baby in the family it means time to learn how to do some chores to help around the house.  Daddy thought vacuuming would be a good place to start.

He just turned one and already he can reach the door handle!  I am so screwed!!!

 

Even though I can't lift him that doesn't mean he can't climb up into my lap/arms and be held.  I don't think he has slept so well since before I went into the hospital to have John.

Sadly his little prison for the next several weeks.  He was happy when I took this picture because he didn't know what it meant.  With all my family help gone I had to trap him in here so he wouldn't get into something that he shouldn't and I'm sure it would be something that I couldn't lift him for.  I was suppose to have someone in our ward once a day come over and help but that didn't happen as much as I needed it so he ate lunch in here and took naps in here too.  I couldn't step over the thing so we made sure it had a gate I could go in and out of to change his diaper.  It was really tuff for both him and I to deal with for so long but we managed somehow.

A free baby with every box of diapers.  That is how it goes right?

 

John meeting buddy of his.  I can't wait to see them grow up together.  I can just imagine all of the trouble they will get into too.  (At this point we were still waiting for the third musketeer to be born).

I just laugh when I see this picture because the binky looks huge.

 

Our loving mother/big sister dog keeping baby safe while he was doing tummy time on the floor.  She always tries to act tuff and like she doesn't care or like the kids but we know that she really adores them.

This is the life, a baby's life.

 

 First time outside in the backyard.  Oh the fun we are going to have there this summer.

 

It is his first boutonniere and it looks as big as his head almost. 

 

Okay, I shared a picture of all of the kids with their hats that grandma made but I just love John's so much because of how perfect it is that I had to share it again.  Our mighty lion!  Look at that cute roar.

Here he is with his growing buddy.  Still a very little guy but it won't be long before he passes him.

 

YEP! A second growing buddy.  Kind of crazy I know and there is a story behind why too.  My oldest sister saw the cross-stitch that I had made for him and told me that we needed to get a snoopy for him that we should use as his growing buddy.  Well we found one and are using it just for her.  I think it is pretty interesting to see the perspective on how different he looks in size when you compare the two buddies.

A Merry Januaray

FINALLY!  I get to post about stuff that actually happened this  year!  YEAH!!!  I have gone through several pictures and I can and can't believe all that we have done.  It is way to much for our young family but somehow we have done it.  So here is the long awaited beginning of the year.

 

With baby John home now I had to get a picture of all the siblings together.  I tried hard to color coordinate and it worked out okay for what we had.

 

 I am so grateful that my parents came to help with the baby while my husband had to go back to work.  It was so nice to have them here and the kids really enjoyed the visit too.  Although I think, my poor dad, because he had to be the one to discipline the kids when they got out of line because I was still having a hard time moving around and hurting a lot from my surgery too.  My mom also has her own health issues so she couldn't do it either.  Still I'm sure they will never know how thankful I am that they even came.

 Some special men in my life.

 It is always hard to say goodbye.

 

 Now, why a picture of flowers?  Well, like I said I was still hurting a lot so my husband wanted to give me something pretty to look at so he got me these.  It was a very sweet gesture.

 It is a good thing the kids like to read books because mommy and baby needs it quite at times.

 

 It was such a sweet moment that I had to share.  She is going to be such a good mother one day.

 

 My first fur-baby missed me a lot while in the hospital and so she made sure to stay close by me.  I also think she knew I needed it with not feeling so great.

 The first birthday of the year for our now 2 year old. (I'll post more next)

 

 Who is in those masks?  Well it is my mother-in-law and my hubby working on a special project for the boys room.  They would go out there after kids were in bed or napping and all was calm.

 Now my mother-in-law was very generous and took some time off of work to come up and help with the kids after my parents left.  She stayed for quite a bit and helped more than she will ever know.  I know it must have been really hard to do all that I had done and then also deal with an emotional daughter-in-law but she bore it well.  The kids had a great time with her.  When it was time for her to head back home Michael's father and brother came and got her. 

 

I bet you won't believe this but she made these amazing animal hats for the kids.  THEY ARE SUPER CUTE!!!  I totally think she could sell them too.  They just love wearing them and I love it too.

 

 I just love the generation pictures and I wasn't going to miss my chance at a fun first one either.  Well at least for new baby John.

 While Michael's dad was here he got "convinced" to help him work on the boys room project (that took up my garage for awhile).  Once done they too were off and it was now going to be just me and the kids.

 It is for funny but Seth still likes to be close to his brother the way he did when I was still pregnant with him.

 Even with it cold it is nice to get outside for some fresh air.  Both the kids and I needed it.

 Alright I know this picture is a little strange but let me explain.  It hasn't even been a month after the baby was born and I am not allowed to do much of anything.  I am told I can only lift the baby and nothing else (standard).  However, even sometimes doing that was too much for me.  Well because of the crazy health issues during pregnancy and all the appointments I had the yard was a complete mess.  So while I was outside letting the kids play and run around I started to cry over how my yard looked.  Seth noticed and asked me what was wrong.  I told him the weeds made me sad so that sweet boy of mine got down and started to pull weeds around this tree we have in the back.  As he was working hard Sarah noticed and came over to help.  It was the sweetest thing ever done for me and they were so proud that I took a picture.

 The entire families first car ride together.  This is a big moment.

 

 Our little burrito babies.

 

 I MUST BE CRAZY!  Just had a baby, got invited to my best friends baby shower (who is having her 1st boy) and I MUST make a quilt.  Now the important thing to know is that I had been saving this fabric for her since I first meet her.  I knew I didn't have a lot of time to make it but I was beyond determined.  Thankfully my husband is so supporting that he would set up my sewing machine and work area so that all I had to do was just sit down and sew (nothing that I would get in trouble with doctors for). 

 This is the back.  I did the same style of chenille blanket like for my other friend.  I am sorry but I didn't take a picture of after I washed it which is when it does that cool effect.  However I think it still looks pretty good like this.

 Just another picture of how big brother must be with baby brother.  He just had to hold his hand.

 

 Oh the trouble a husband and son can be when allowed to go to the fabric store without me.  I sent them to get something very simple and ONLY that thing BUT they come back with this blue shark fabric that Seth just had to have.  He wanted it to be a blanket.  Okay, the print is crazy busy so figuring something out took a bit.  My husband thought that I should make all three boys matching blankets to enjoy.  In my mind that means using/getting more fabric.  I didn't want to buy more so I checked out my little stash that I have and lucky for me I found just enough to make all three boys twin size quilts.  This was the pattern that I decided would work. 

 Dad now getting the kids involved with the special boy room project.

 

 

 Sometimes she just needs a quite place to rest and there isn't a better spot for her than on someone's bed.  Well today Seth's bed won the contest.

 Getting the older kids ready for church and Seth had to come and check on baby brother before they left.  He thought he looked lonely so he put in a wrapped up baby doll for company.

 He just loves to help so much and wanted to feed the baby so I let him.  I really can't wait to see what their relationship grows into as they get older.

 

 I made this into a pre-birth announcement for doctors and a few friends.  How cool is it that they all match?

Finally Seth reading John a story.  He can't really read but he does such a great job spoiling him with love.