Spring Break

The kids had all of last week off for Spring Break!  I felt like a lame mom and didn't plan much to do, but it turned out ok and we still had some fun.  The kids spent lots of time playing outside whenever it wasn't raining.  When it was raining we stayed inside and watched movies, played video games and Legos, and even crafted a bit!  Alright, maybe the term "crafting" is a bit generous, but we did do the boys' melty beads craft that they got in their Easter baskets.  It was right up their alley.  They had extra beads after doing the kit design so they each did a couple of their own designs too.

I spent an entire day cleaning and organizing.  I went through all of the toy bins and organized the boys' bookshelf, desk and closet.  I found this little literary gem in the boys' desk.  I'm pretty sure this is about a year old.  Pretty hilarious.

We went to the dinosaur museum one morning with our next door neighbor buddies.  It was kind of crowded since it was Spring break but the kids had a blast!  We have the best neighbors!

I was a little overwhelmed having all of the kids home for a full week while Ian worked lots and lots of hours so this made me laugh instead of cry.  :)

Ian came home one night and we took the family out for bowling and pizza.  It was really fun and Talia's first time bowling!  She loved it.  We had to constantly remind her to keep her dancing little self in our own space though.  Weston bowled without using the ramp for the first time and did great (he didn't actually get any strikes though; that was a scoring error).  I love that Talia beat all of us.  That figures.

One morning we met up with friends at the little neighborhood park and Talia loved riding her bike!  Speaking of bikes, Ian spent all of his free daylight minutes working with Weston on learning how to ride his bike without training wheels.  He is getting better but still has a lot of practice to do.

Friday night Ian and I went on a date.  We got sushi (I got orange chicken), got my ring cleaned and did a little shopping (I got a super cute denim skirt and green top on great sale), and saw The Host.  I loved the book.  I had pretty low expectations for the movie and it was maybe a tiny bit better than what I was expecting.  Certainly not great but definitely not horrible.  And I liked that it stayed as true to the book as possible.

Spring break finished up with General Conference weekend!  Ian had to work all day on Saturday, but I watched Conference with the kids.  They were all really good.  They colored and played quietly while we listened.  During the afternoon session the little ones napped and Weston played outside.  I listened and dozed while Davin played quietly on the ipad.  Then he was my snuggle buddy for a bit.  It was a nice day.

He was pretty happy to be watching Baby Einstein

Sunday morning Emilee and the Bowles cousins came over to watch the morning session and visit.  They will be moving all the way to Florida soon so we are glad we got some time with them before they are so far away.  Talia and Ivy were so cute playing together.  Noelle was pretty shy, but as long as she was close to Emilee then she wanted to play with the toys too.  They built block towers with a puzzle and had a tea party.  We even managed to listen to most of the General Conference talks while the kids played.  After we ate lunch we all went for a walk around the neighborhood.

It was a warm Spring day and we enjoyed the weather and our family time at home listening to uplifting messages from our church leaders.  Now it's back to school and our routines.  At least for a couple more months until summer!

Easter Weekend!

Holy moly it took me a long time to sort through all of the pictures from the weekend just to get ready for this post.  Sorry it's a few days late.  We had a wonderful, fun, warm Easter weekend.  The festivities kicked off on Friday evening with some egg coloring!  This was Talia's first year to actually participate.  She loved it and threw quite the fit when I told her she was all done.  She also wins most egg dye splattered all over the table and most eggs cracked.

Saturday we had our friends, the Bayles', over for lunch and an egg hunt.  The boys totally knew what was going on and Weston had a harder time reining it in, but everyone got plenty of eggs and had a fun time hunting.  We had absolutely gorgeous weather too.  After the hunt we hung out and played outside in the warm sunshine.

Saturday evening we relaxed and recovered from our busy day!  The Easter Bunny was busy that night too.  He hid the kids' Easter baskets all over the house in some pretty silly places.  Davin found his in the game cupboard and Weston's was stuffed in the dryer!  It took about 30 minutes and a couple of hints before everyone had their basket.  The kids loved all the fun surprises in their baskets and the gifts from their grandparents.

We had a nice breakfast of omelets and cinnamon rolls and for once were grateful for 1:00 church.  I also spent a lot of the morning prepping our Easter dinner while the kids played.  Eventually it was time to get ready for church.  Talia wore her new Easter dress from Grandma B and Grandpa Bob and I wore my new Spring outfit from Downeast. The boys didn't have new things but sure looked handsome in their Sunday best.

After church we came home and I started putting food in the oven.  Mel and Brad came over for dinner.  We had ham, cheesy potatoes, baked carrots, and deviled eggs.  We watched Wreck It Ralph and Mel made Frush (sherbet with sprite) for dessert.  We had such a nice day and I am (again) so grateful to have Mel and Brad living close so we can spend holidays with them!  It was such a wonderful holiday weekend.

Don't let the plethora of photos fool you.  I am very aware of the actual reason that we celebrate Easter and I think it is just the most beautiful time of year to celebrate the hope Christ offers.  I am so thankful for my knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who died for us and then was resurrected.  He broke the bands of death, giving us each the gift of immortality.  He lives and loves us.  So hopeful, so comforting.  Happy Easter!

Hair, Teeth, and Shots

I have been wanting/needing to get my hair done for weeks now but hadn't been able to find a time that works for me when my stylist was available and Ian was home until this last Saturday.  I knew it was cutting it a little close with Davin's birthday party, but I made the 1pm appointment anyway.  It actually worked out really well.  After the party I put Talia down for a nap, dropped Davin off at another friend's birthday party and went to the salon.  I hadn't gotten my hair cut since October so it was long overdue.  I also decided to get it colored.  It's been a long long time since I did color.  

It was so nice and relaxing at the salon.  It was quiet and I just chatted with my stylist and enjoyed my shampoo/head massage.  After she colored and cut it I asked her to style it curly and teach me how to do it since I have been wanting to do my hair curly but don't really know how.  It was really helpful.  She told me the whole time what she was doing and how doing it differently would make the curls look different.  She told me a couple other techniques I could try too.  I really liked how it turned out.  I need to get a new curling iron, but I'm excited to try it myself one of these days!  And I love the color!

After I got my hair done I did a little solo shopping and grabbed some great deals.  I started at Michaels where I got matching white wicker Easter baskets for all 3 boys, a couple bottles of bubbles, and a St. Patty's Day garland for $25.  I am still on the hunt for a coordinating basket for Talia.  Next stop was Kohls.  I got a long sleeve shirt/beanie combo and a sweater for Weston, a summer outfit of khaki shorts and a pink rainbow shirt for Talia, adorable Carter's winter boots for Talia, a pair of gray skinny cords for me, and a shirt for Beckett for $35 after Kohl's cash and coupons.  Not bad!  I really needed a break and it was a fun afternoon for me!

In Beckett news . . . he has not been sleeping well.  I finally decided to take him to the doctor on Friday because I thought he might have an ear infection.  He had a little bit of a runny nose, wasn't sleeping, and was being more fussy than normal.  Alas, his ears were clear.  The doctor chalked it up to teething and felt bad I had dragged 3 children to the doctor for nothing so he gave me a bunch of free samples of baby Advil and Motrin with instructions to give Beckett a dose before bed.  

I never really believe the teething thing until I see a tooth popping through, so I was not very consoled that he was going to sleep any better over the weekend.  Beckett just turned 6 months and every single one of my kids have gotten their first tooth at 7 months, so I really wasn't expecting him to get his first tooth yet. Sure enough though, as I sat with him on my lap during Relief Society on Sunday he was chewing on my thumb and I felt a tooth!  I could see it too.  I couldn't believe it!  Beckett broke the mold with his first tooth at 6 months.  I can't believe my baby is big enough to have a tooth.  He is just growing so fast. 

Yesterday I took Davin and Beckett to the doctor for their well visits.  Well, actually I took them on Monday, but got there only to realize that their appointment was on Tuesday.  Sigh.  It was kind of an off day.  So, Tuesday we went for real.  Davin had to get his Kindergarten registration form filled out which meant he had some vaccines to get.  Beckett had several as well.  They were both really good boys.  Davin was brave and only cried a little after the 3rd poke.  He calmed down quickly and was excited about his Captain America bandaids and the funny book they gave him ("Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed" by Mo Willems).  Apparently this pediatrician's office gives books at well visits.  Beckett got a board book called "Smile."  

Everyone is healthy and growing.  I was mostly concerned about Davin's size.  He is just so small, but the doctor showed me his growth curve and it's completely normal, just under the percentiles.  He wasn't even at all concerned about Davin's weight because for his height he is proportional.  He's just a genetically small kid.

Davin's 5 year old Stats:
Height: 39 inches

Weight: 30 lbs

My main concern with Beckett was his skin.  It has been dry and patchy for the last month.  It started when our water softener ran out of salt.  It has since been fixed but his skin is still not better.  I also ran out of Dreft and started washing Beck's clothes in the normal detergent (which is All Free and Clear, but apparently that's not as mild as Dreft).  The poor baby screams whenever we lotion his back.  :(  I got a prescription for a steroid cream to get the dry patches under control.  I should be seeing results from that within a week.  Beckett is growing and seems like such a chunker these days but he's really not.  

Beckett's 6 month Stats:
Height: 26 inches, 25th %ile

Weight: 14lbs 6oz, 5th %ile

Head: 16.7 inches, 15th %ile

I'm so grateful to have happy, healthy, smart, cute kids!  I am a lucky mama!

Davin Turns 5!

Davin's birthday weekend kicked off on Friday at preschool with his Student of the Week spotlight!  I went to his class for the last 15 minutes to help him with his presentation.  We made this fun poster all about Davin for him to show his class.  He also brought his favorite book and his teacher, Miss Mikki, read it to the class.  Then he got a birthday certificate and the class sang to him.  He handed out ring pops to all of his friends.  It was a fun school day.

Saturday morning was his big skeleton birthday party!  I had been a little worried about how this was all going to come together, but it was great.  It looked great with the scary skeleton banners and glowing eye skeletons on the walls.  Davin picked out the purple plates and cups, the snacks, and insisted on the party hats.

Once everyone was here we had snacks at the table and worked on making silly skeletons with these great sticker pages I ordered from Oriental Trading.  It was a good activity to keep them busy while they ate.  We had such a polite group of kids!  They were even raising their hands to talk.  It was adorable.  They were also pretty quiet.  Maybe they were all just concentrating on their sticker pages or maybe Davin just gravitates towards quieter kids.

After food, we played a couple games.  We started with a skeleton hunt.  I had cut out the bones of a skeleton and hid them all over the house.  The kids had to find the bones and put together the skeleton on the wall.  I forgot how limited kids' knowledge of the human body is because they had no idea where the bones should be.  It was still fun.

(Davin and his little buddy Benson goofing off at the end of the party.  Aren't they so cute?!?)

Next we played a balloon game.  The kids took turns trying to hold as many balloons as they could in 30 seconds.  The high score was Weston with 9 balloons!  It was pretty funny watching them scramble and chase the balloons.

We finished up games with a pinata!  Davin loved this.  I had really hoped to be able to do the pinata outside, but we woke up to 6 inches of snow on Saturday so we did it in the basement.  Luckily no one got whacked in the face.  All of the kids got a turn to hit the pinata and then Ian finished it off.

Finally Davin opened presents.  His friends gave him such fun gifts!  A couple of Lego sets, a Skylander, some fun Spring toys like a water gun and bubble wand, and a car and truck toy.  He was really excited about all of it.

We ended the party with cake.  I tried to make a skeleton cake and this was the best I could manage.  I thought it actually turned out pretty cute and was really easy.  I just frosted the 9x13 with chocolate frosting then piped the skeleton on with vanilla frosting in a baggie.  For the red heart I used actual writing frosting.  Davin thought it looked cool and that's all that matters.  He had a really hard time blowing out his candles and mostly spit all over the cake.  I ended up having to help him blow them out before they burnt all the way down.  I really think we need to have a family tutorial on candle blowing. Sheesh!

I'm cracking up because this is like his 9th try to blow out those five little candles!  It was getting ridiculous!

The party was only an hour and a half so it went pretty quickly.  I kind of liked having it shorter.  Parents started coming right as we finished cake and everyone was gone by 12:10.  Davin played with his new toys for a little while then got on his shoes and went to his friend, Andrew's bowling birthday party while I went to get my hair done.  It was a busy fun day!

Sunday was his official birthday.  He spent all morning playing with his new things.  I let him play Wii in the morning before church so that was pretty special.  Davin gave his first talk in Primary on his 5th birthday.  He did a great job.  He spoke loudly and clearly and didn't even stumble on the hard words ("example" and "respected").

Sunday night I made him his birthday dinner of tuna biscuits, salad, and fruit.  He was so excited to open his presents that he didn't eat much of his dinner.  He had been asking to open them all day and I'm mean and made him wait.  So as soon as we were all done eating he ripped into his gifts.  He was SO funny.  Every time he opened something his eyes got all big and he jumped around saying "I reawy reawy wanted this!"  He got spoiled!  We gave him a Lego Batman set, 3 Skylanders, Epic Mickey 2, a Batman mask, and a Webkinz.  He also got 2 more Skylanders from his grandparents and a cool superhero shirt from Aunt Aly and Uncle Ryan.

We did everything early enough that Davin had time to play some Skylanders and start building his Lego set before bed.  I think he had a good birthday.  I sure love Davin and I am so grateful he is part of our family.  I can't believe he is getting SO big!

First Foods

Beckett has not been the best sleeper.  He has been up 2-3 times a night still for the last several months. I had tried letting him cry when he woke up the first time then feed him the second time but then he would wake up again just a few hours later.  It was frustrating and I was hoping maybe he was just hungry and it was time to start solids.  I really really dislike starting solids with babies.  It's time consuming, messy and expensive so I always wait until they are 6 months old.  

It worked out that I had planned to try rice cereal with Beckett last weekend and my mom was here!  She loves being a part of these kinds of milestones, so I let her feed him his first solid meal.  Since none of my kids have been big fans of plain rice cereal I mixed it up with a tablespoon or two of carrots.  He ate it up like a champ.  At first.  Then he started shuddering every time he swallowed.  Finally he gagged on a mouthful and threw it all up.  I'm pretty sure there were two contributing factors to the yakking.
1. The carrots. Too many flavors too soon.
2. The texture.  I think it was too thick.  I have thinned it a little more for his subsequent feedings this week.

Poor kid was sad.  We gave him a bath and a bottle and put him down for a nap.  It was semi successful.  The next day I tried again but mixed the rice cereal with plain water and he did just fine.  He has been eating every day this week and is getting better and better at it.  He eats almost his entire bowl!

Sadly it has not helped with his sleeping so far.  Yesterday was his official 6 month birthday!  I can't believe how fast that went.  He wanted to keep the party going all night last night and was up every couple of hours.  I'm so tired!  I suspect he may have an ear infection and I'm taking him to the doctor this afternoon.  We shall see if my mommy intuition is right.  I kinda hope it is so that we can get some meds and get this kid sleeping!