~David found his feet! He doesn't put them in his mouth much (it's been too cold lately to have his socks off very often) but he likes to hold them and grab his toes.
~David is getting 6, yes SIX, more teeth. He's been a champ with them, barely crying or fussing, and no fever. He's already cut 4 of them.
~The kids enjoyed multiple Easter egg hunts over the weekend. James came up to me yesterday all excited that he found another egg (plastic one) in the backyard. Mark mentioned tonight that he had seen it on Sunday, but was wanting to save it for another day. Who knew he was already able to scheme like that? Hannah, on the other hand, had to be guided to the locations of the eggs just to be able to see them.
~We enjoyed a lovely Easter. I was able to sing in the choir for Good Friday and Easter Sunday. David spent a little time in the nursery for the second time in his life. Mark, Hannah and James enjoyed a special Easter breakfast at Steak and Shake eating pancakes.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
David update: a lot is happening with this little 5.5 month old!
~I totally forgot to add this major update of about a week ago: David found his voice! For us, that means that he is becoming a super loud kiddo. He loves it so much, he even makes noise breathing in and out-especially when he is nursing.
~David is cutting 2 more teeth-his top eye teeth. This will look hilarious if he doesn't get his front ones in soon, since his bottom front ones are already in.
~David tried to creep today and is working out the coordination of his legs to get himself moving. The baby proofing is beginning already!
~Also, Bethany, Adam and Isabel arrived safely in Australia! The flight went much better than expected and Izzy slept 11 hours. They are currently enjoying being on the ground and getting a little bit acquainted with the city and time change.
~David is cutting 2 more teeth-his top eye teeth. This will look hilarious if he doesn't get his front ones in soon, since his bottom front ones are already in.
~David tried to creep today and is working out the coordination of his legs to get himself moving. The baby proofing is beginning already!
~Also, Bethany, Adam and Isabel arrived safely in Australia! The flight went much better than expected and Izzy slept 11 hours. They are currently enjoying being on the ground and getting a little bit acquainted with the city and time change.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
More firsts!
~Last Wednesday David went in a pool for the first time. I was nervous about how he would like it and if he would get cold quickly (I never had my other kids in a pool this young). He really liked it and never got cold. The kids all had a fantastic time going down the slide and floating down the lazy river. Mark was able to join us since he took the day off of teaching to be with us before he flew out of town later that afternoon.
~Mark went to Boston from Wednesday through Sunday to guest lecture at Harvard. He stayed with Beth, Adam and Izzy (for one last visit before they left for Australia) and met up with some colleagues and friends. I had my first extended time alone with the kids and we did pretty great. The trickiest part was bedtime since I depend on him a lot so that I can feed David and get him to bed at the same time as the other kids. While he was gone, we spent some time meeting new friends for dinner and a playdate and went to James' school picnic another night.
~David rolled from his back to his tummy! He did it Thursday, but I didn't see him in action until Friday.
~On Saturday Mizzou hosted an indoor science and arts fair for kids/families. James LOVED it. He soaked in so much. I literally had to drag him to the door to leave. He was VERY interested in the microscopes looking at germs, the chemistry experiments, and the fossils and rocks. The kids (even David) made (well, not David) and received antennae of different bugs (colorful pipe cleaner twisted onto a headband) and Hannah and James learned how to make a golf stroke. James especially liked the tiger mascot that was there and actually started to get him annoyed since he was slightly obsessed with pulling his tail. Hannah, on the other hand, was terrified of the tiger and cried and clung to me every time he was in sight. When he wasn't in sight, she then talked about how she didn't see the tiger and how she knew that he was a nice tiger. Poor girl. David slept for a lot of the fair, which was nice.
~The kids loved seeing Mark take off and land at the airport. They waved to the pilots when he came home and they came in and gave them all treats. It was especially neat to watch the planes get ready for takeoff and then prepare the passengers to deplane.
~Bethany, Adam and Izzy fly to Australia tonight for a 2 year stint in Sydney. We are preparing for the adjustment and quite emotional about it all. We are excited for them and their adventure, and I am looking forward to visiting the Land Down Under, but we will greatly miss the frequency that we have been able to visit in person and talk on the phone/skype because of the distance/time difference.
~Mark went to Boston from Wednesday through Sunday to guest lecture at Harvard. He stayed with Beth, Adam and Izzy (for one last visit before they left for Australia) and met up with some colleagues and friends. I had my first extended time alone with the kids and we did pretty great. The trickiest part was bedtime since I depend on him a lot so that I can feed David and get him to bed at the same time as the other kids. While he was gone, we spent some time meeting new friends for dinner and a playdate and went to James' school picnic another night.
~David rolled from his back to his tummy! He did it Thursday, but I didn't see him in action until Friday.
~On Saturday Mizzou hosted an indoor science and arts fair for kids/families. James LOVED it. He soaked in so much. I literally had to drag him to the door to leave. He was VERY interested in the microscopes looking at germs, the chemistry experiments, and the fossils and rocks. The kids (even David) made (well, not David) and received antennae of different bugs (colorful pipe cleaner twisted onto a headband) and Hannah and James learned how to make a golf stroke. James especially liked the tiger mascot that was there and actually started to get him annoyed since he was slightly obsessed with pulling his tail. Hannah, on the other hand, was terrified of the tiger and cried and clung to me every time he was in sight. When he wasn't in sight, she then talked about how she didn't see the tiger and how she knew that he was a nice tiger. Poor girl. David slept for a lot of the fair, which was nice.
~The kids loved seeing Mark take off and land at the airport. They waved to the pilots when he came home and they came in and gave them all treats. It was especially neat to watch the planes get ready for takeoff and then prepare the passengers to deplane.
~Bethany, Adam and Izzy fly to Australia tonight for a 2 year stint in Sydney. We are preparing for the adjustment and quite emotional about it all. We are excited for them and their adventure, and I am looking forward to visiting the Land Down Under, but we will greatly miss the frequency that we have been able to visit in person and talk on the phone/skype because of the distance/time difference.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
It's been busy around here
~The kids and I went to a friend's place a little while ago to see their baby lamb. They have a hobby farm and a number of animals. James and Hannah each took a turn to feed the chickens and the goats and sheep. James especially loved feeding the animals (I wonder if he might end up being a farmer one day he loves animals that much!)
~Hannah got her second ear infection of her life. Hannah was off for about a week after Faye, Andrew and Ainsley left, and we thought it was just because she was growing. She did grow a lot though-one whole inch in a little over a month!
~David cut his second tooth. He is also very close to rolling over onto his stomach from his back. He has been working very hard at it and gets everything over but his shoulder at this point. We also were lent an exersaucer recently from a neighbor and he is really loving it. It has all of the bells and whistles and keeps him quite entertained when I am busy with the other kids or housework.
~James has become really great at drawing people. He has almost all of the main body parts now (even some you wish he wouldn't add).
~I gave James and Hannah our old film camera and both of them love to "take pictures". James always wants to show you what the picture looks like after he's taken, like with a digital, even though there is obviously nothing to see. He has also had a chance to try out taking some "real" pictures with the digital. He really likes it and is pretty good. I need to work myself up a little to let him have more chances with this since he enjoys it so much.
~Hannah moved up to the older Sunday school class and managed to transition pretty well. This is a very big thing for her since she doesn't cope well with the unknown or separation from me generally at all.
~James and Hannah played in the sand at the playground recently too. James made friends with some kids there that we digging. When I went to see what they were up to, he told me that they were digging up "ancient roots, coins and other stuff". I love to hear the good influences that older children have on my kids. James looks up to older boys that show an interest in him.
~Mark's parents came for a visit and then Bethany and Isabel came too. Mark's parents were here for 10 days and Bethany and Izzy were here for 4 days.
~The weather has been fantastic lately, which also means that we have had a lot of thunderstorms and ups and downs in temperature. Mark's parents arrived during a snowstorm and a few days later it was 80 degrees. By the weekend when Bethany was here, it got up to the 90's, which we thoroughly enjoyed and spent as much time outside as we could.
~While Mark's dad helped us with some yard work he discovered a toad keeping residence on our property. James and Hannah have named him Thomas, or Tom for short. James loves to hold it and Hannah and James are very interested in locating it almost every day. James has proclaimed it to be his pet since he can't have a dog right now. I did mention that he begged to have a spider that he found on our window sill as a pet, right?
~We all really enjoyed our company coming. Thanks to Mark's parents babysitting services, Mark and I were able to go out, in between David's feedings, for a couple of short dates and I was even able to have some time by myself, with just David and with just Bethany. We all enjoyed playing games and just spending time together. James and Hannah loved visiting with Grandma and Grandpa so much that they packed their suitcases and waited at the car to join Mark's parents for the ride back to their house. James even got in and sat there completely determined to go with them. Hannah cried for quite a while after they left.
~Hannah had quite an emotional relationship with Grandpa while he was here. They both sort of played a game where Grandpa would "scare" Hannah and she would get upset and cry. Grandma would then scold Grandpa and Hannah would like it. She was so good at being upset (sometimes I think that it was pretty legitimate although he was being extremely mild) that we were impressed with her acting skills.
~Bethany and Izzy came to see us one last time before they head to Australia. We cherished the time to visit, share time with Izzy, and give the cousins a chance to play together again. I/we am really going to miss her and our frequent visits. Hopefully in the future she won't have any more epic journeys through too many airports and significant delays like she had leaving here. We would have loved it if she has stayed an extra day and avoided all of the headaches.
~The day that Mark's parents left, the kids and I headed out to a city event called Tons of Trucks. We met up with some friends there and the kids had a blast climbing in almost every kind of truck you can think of. They even got to pet the mules for the MU Veterinary School wagon. The highlights were sitting in a massive scoop, "driving" a tractor trailer tow truck and the Health services truck that had beds and even a bathroom.
~Yesterday, we took the kids to a Corvette Cup event (James loves race cars and such so we knew that he would really enjoy this outing). We saw many corvettes on show ranging from the 1950s to the present day models. The standouts were: one had a mural painted on the interior of the hood; one that had the doors open like a Lamborghini; Indy 500 pace cars; and a 1962 car that the owner told us the story of how he acquired the car. The kids were amazing with looking and not touching.
~I feel blessed to have discovered a lilac tree blooming in my backyard today. Lilacs were my mom's favorite flower, and are mine as well. I especially LOVE the smell they give off.
~David went to his first choir practice this evening. It was the first time I had been to a choir practice since James was born. Our church has assembled a choir for the Easter services. It is so wonderful to be back singing. It has been a long time and I really miss it. David did really well, smiling at everyone and even singing a little bit with us:)
~Hannah got her second ear infection of her life. Hannah was off for about a week after Faye, Andrew and Ainsley left, and we thought it was just because she was growing. She did grow a lot though-one whole inch in a little over a month!
~David cut his second tooth. He is also very close to rolling over onto his stomach from his back. He has been working very hard at it and gets everything over but his shoulder at this point. We also were lent an exersaucer recently from a neighbor and he is really loving it. It has all of the bells and whistles and keeps him quite entertained when I am busy with the other kids or housework.
~James has become really great at drawing people. He has almost all of the main body parts now (even some you wish he wouldn't add).
~I gave James and Hannah our old film camera and both of them love to "take pictures". James always wants to show you what the picture looks like after he's taken, like with a digital, even though there is obviously nothing to see. He has also had a chance to try out taking some "real" pictures with the digital. He really likes it and is pretty good. I need to work myself up a little to let him have more chances with this since he enjoys it so much.
~Hannah moved up to the older Sunday school class and managed to transition pretty well. This is a very big thing for her since she doesn't cope well with the unknown or separation from me generally at all.
~James and Hannah played in the sand at the playground recently too. James made friends with some kids there that we digging. When I went to see what they were up to, he told me that they were digging up "ancient roots, coins and other stuff". I love to hear the good influences that older children have on my kids. James looks up to older boys that show an interest in him.
~Mark's parents came for a visit and then Bethany and Isabel came too. Mark's parents were here for 10 days and Bethany and Izzy were here for 4 days.
~The weather has been fantastic lately, which also means that we have had a lot of thunderstorms and ups and downs in temperature. Mark's parents arrived during a snowstorm and a few days later it was 80 degrees. By the weekend when Bethany was here, it got up to the 90's, which we thoroughly enjoyed and spent as much time outside as we could.
~While Mark's dad helped us with some yard work he discovered a toad keeping residence on our property. James and Hannah have named him Thomas, or Tom for short. James loves to hold it and Hannah and James are very interested in locating it almost every day. James has proclaimed it to be his pet since he can't have a dog right now. I did mention that he begged to have a spider that he found on our window sill as a pet, right?
~We all really enjoyed our company coming. Thanks to Mark's parents babysitting services, Mark and I were able to go out, in between David's feedings, for a couple of short dates and I was even able to have some time by myself, with just David and with just Bethany. We all enjoyed playing games and just spending time together. James and Hannah loved visiting with Grandma and Grandpa so much that they packed their suitcases and waited at the car to join Mark's parents for the ride back to their house. James even got in and sat there completely determined to go with them. Hannah cried for quite a while after they left.
~Hannah had quite an emotional relationship with Grandpa while he was here. They both sort of played a game where Grandpa would "scare" Hannah and she would get upset and cry. Grandma would then scold Grandpa and Hannah would like it. She was so good at being upset (sometimes I think that it was pretty legitimate although he was being extremely mild) that we were impressed with her acting skills.
~Bethany and Izzy came to see us one last time before they head to Australia. We cherished the time to visit, share time with Izzy, and give the cousins a chance to play together again. I/we am really going to miss her and our frequent visits. Hopefully in the future she won't have any more epic journeys through too many airports and significant delays like she had leaving here. We would have loved it if she has stayed an extra day and avoided all of the headaches.
~The day that Mark's parents left, the kids and I headed out to a city event called Tons of Trucks. We met up with some friends there and the kids had a blast climbing in almost every kind of truck you can think of. They even got to pet the mules for the MU Veterinary School wagon. The highlights were sitting in a massive scoop, "driving" a tractor trailer tow truck and the Health services truck that had beds and even a bathroom.
~Yesterday, we took the kids to a Corvette Cup event (James loves race cars and such so we knew that he would really enjoy this outing). We saw many corvettes on show ranging from the 1950s to the present day models. The standouts were: one had a mural painted on the interior of the hood; one that had the doors open like a Lamborghini; Indy 500 pace cars; and a 1962 car that the owner told us the story of how he acquired the car. The kids were amazing with looking and not touching.
~I feel blessed to have discovered a lilac tree blooming in my backyard today. Lilacs were my mom's favorite flower, and are mine as well. I especially LOVE the smell they give off.
~David went to his first choir practice this evening. It was the first time I had been to a choir practice since James was born. Our church has assembled a choir for the Easter services. It is so wonderful to be back singing. It has been a long time and I really miss it. David did really well, smiling at everyone and even singing a little bit with us:)
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