She looks a little like a rooster. A very very cute rooster! Love that little sleepy face. What can I say? My girl's got some pretty sweet volume!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Bedhead
Every night before I put her to bed, I carefully comb Josie's hair. It looks so lovely and flat when I put her to bed and, without fail, this is what she wakes up with every morning:
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Josie
Josie is almost 9 months! I can't believe she's that old. She's changed so much in the past month I almost can't believe it. You'd think that since she's my third kid I would be prepared for how fast they grow. I'm not.
Things she's doing now:
-Clapping
-Crawling
-Pulling up on things
-Cruising around (she's not fast yet, but she does it)
-Blowing spit bubbles
-Making fish faces (which I wish I had a picture of, but I don't)
-Waving 'bye bye'
-Eating rice cereal, stage 2 fruits and vegetables, pieces of bread
-"talking" (I love the little baby babble)
-Dancing (she bounces and flaps her arms when we turn on music)
Facts about Josie:
-She has her two bottom teeth (has for about a month now)
-She LOVES it when we sing to her
-She eats paper. I try to keep it away from her, but she's taken bites out of books, eats any little scrap that falls to the floor (I swear she has eagle eyes), and has totally eaten my visiting teaching list. I swear we try to stay on top of it, but if it falls to the floor even for a second, she's ON IT!
-She follows the boys around like a puppy. Clayton LOVES it, Noah does not.
-She prefers to eat vegetables to fruits. Specifically, she likes the green vegetables best. Weirdo.
-She's very smiley and easy going most of the time.
-She has a very feminine voice. It's very high pitched and delicate. It's amazing how different it is from the boys.
Here are a few pictures of her:
Who wouldn't like to see this first thing in the morning!?! I love going into her room every morning and being greeted with this big smile.
We had to take her mobile down right after these pictures were taken. She's getting so big!
Her hair is long enough now for curlers. I don't do it often, but I think it's so cute every time I see her with curlers in her hair! (Please excuse the runny nose, it's winter and she's teething, double whammy.)
I actually prefer the sponge curlers to the velcro rollers, they stay in her hair much better and are much more effective.
She LOVES it when I load/unload the dishwasher. Seriously, like a moth to a flame. I open the dishwasher door and two seconds later, Josie magically appears. I turned around to put some cups away and when I turned back around, Josie was in the dishwasher. I don't think it'll be too long before she's climbing stairs (heaven help me). She looks mighty proud of herself though, doesn't she!
A few pictures of my big girl standing up. Justin and I think that at the rate she's going there's a good chance that she'll be walking by her first birthday.
Love that sweet smile! Yes, it's a mess behind her, but that's because...
I've started packing! Eventually we'll move all our boxes down into the basement, but until we can do that, all our stuff is going to live in our living room. It's a little annoying, but everytime I look at it, I just get so happy! (That med school is almost over, that we put our house on the market - February, that we can start thinking about a bigger house, that I'm being proactive and getting rid of SOO much junk, etc. etc.)
Anyway, Josie is getting so big and I am grateful every day that she is a member of our family. We all love her so much and when I see that big smile on her face, I'm pretty sure she feels the same! I love you Josie!
Things she's doing now:
-Clapping
-Crawling
-Pulling up on things
-Cruising around (she's not fast yet, but she does it)
-Blowing spit bubbles
-Making fish faces (which I wish I had a picture of, but I don't)
-Waving 'bye bye'
-Eating rice cereal, stage 2 fruits and vegetables, pieces of bread
-"talking" (I love the little baby babble)
-Dancing (she bounces and flaps her arms when we turn on music)
Facts about Josie:
-She has her two bottom teeth (has for about a month now)
-She LOVES it when we sing to her
-She eats paper. I try to keep it away from her, but she's taken bites out of books, eats any little scrap that falls to the floor (I swear she has eagle eyes), and has totally eaten my visiting teaching list. I swear we try to stay on top of it, but if it falls to the floor even for a second, she's ON IT!
-She follows the boys around like a puppy. Clayton LOVES it, Noah does not.
-She prefers to eat vegetables to fruits. Specifically, she likes the green vegetables best. Weirdo.
-She's very smiley and easy going most of the time.
-She has a very feminine voice. It's very high pitched and delicate. It's amazing how different it is from the boys.
Here are a few pictures of her:
Who wouldn't like to see this first thing in the morning!?! I love going into her room every morning and being greeted with this big smile.
We had to take her mobile down right after these pictures were taken. She's getting so big!
Her hair is long enough now for curlers. I don't do it often, but I think it's so cute every time I see her with curlers in her hair! (Please excuse the runny nose, it's winter and she's teething, double whammy.)
I actually prefer the sponge curlers to the velcro rollers, they stay in her hair much better and are much more effective.
She LOVES it when I load/unload the dishwasher. Seriously, like a moth to a flame. I open the dishwasher door and two seconds later, Josie magically appears. I turned around to put some cups away and when I turned back around, Josie was in the dishwasher. I don't think it'll be too long before she's climbing stairs (heaven help me). She looks mighty proud of herself though, doesn't she!
A few pictures of my big girl standing up. Justin and I think that at the rate she's going there's a good chance that she'll be walking by her first birthday.
Love that sweet smile! Yes, it's a mess behind her, but that's because...
I've started packing! Eventually we'll move all our boxes down into the basement, but until we can do that, all our stuff is going to live in our living room. It's a little annoying, but everytime I look at it, I just get so happy! (That med school is almost over, that we put our house on the market - February, that we can start thinking about a bigger house, that I'm being proactive and getting rid of SOO much junk, etc. etc.)
Anyway, Josie is getting so big and I am grateful every day that she is a member of our family. We all love her so much and when I see that big smile on her face, I'm pretty sure she feels the same! I love you Josie!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
That boy ain't right...
Noah is a child of extremes. He can be the sweetest, most loving, snuggly little boy imaginable one minute and then a holy terror the next. He's opinionated, loud, stubborn, independent, funny, sweet, loving, and tender all rolled into one skinny bendy package. I love him and cannot imagine what life would be like without him (quiet and dull I imagine).
We've been having a lot of power struggles with him lately. As he becomes more independent, he wants to do things his way all the time - no exceptions. This could be anything from putting on his pants to using knives to combing his hair to taking a nap. It's his way or the highway. Obviously we can't have that. It's such a difference from Clayton, who is so submissive and obedient (Clayton reminds me a lot of my dad). Justin and I have been trying - oh how we're trying - to get him to understand that, essentially, we want the same things. We want him to be an independent person who likes to 'color outside the lines', but he needs to understand that certain things (like not wearing pants and using steak knives) are things that we as parents are the bosses of right now - until he is capable of making the right choice. Anyway, we're trying. Some days I think we're making real progress and I go to bed so pleased with how the day went only to have the next day be a complete nightmare. Sometimes I'm convinced that he makes a choice that even HE doesn't want to make because he knows it will make me crazy (I can't prove it, but I think it).
So the good days are wonderful and the bad days are nightmares. But we plug along. Today was a good day. I was snuggling with him for a bit and thinking about how much I love him and what a blessing he is - attitude and all. I get a smile on my face whenever I think about the man that he has the potential to become. Confident, powerful, persuasive, firm and undeterred in his beliefs, a man of conviction. I see that when I look at Noah. I know he has greatness inside of him.
Anyway, as we were sitting there I started thinking about some old pictures of him that I'd never posted but always intended to because they are pretty good indicators of who he is. I decided that, once he was done snuggling, I would post them. They are pretty funny (which is also a big character trait of Noah). These are not really in any order:
Playing outside, in the snow, with no coat, hat, or gloves. Wearing Clayton's rainboots (on the wrong feet). Yes, I did make him come inside and get dressed appropriately, but he didn't see anything wrong with this.
No, it's not one of the members of the Village People. Noah spent a whole day wearing no shirt and that dang tool belt. It made it difficult to use the bathroom, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices for fashion!
For New Year's, the boys and I made 2010 hats. He put his on and came up to me and said, 'I'm the Queen!'.
Justin had taken them out to play with a friend and Noah fell asleep on the way home. He WOULD NOT wake up. So I laid him on that chair. At one point Enoch came over and was sitting on Noah's lap and yet, Noah stayed asleep. That's determination!
.JPG)
What, you don't eat lunch with your shades on?
He loves sunglasses. He thinks he looks so cool. I had to let him wear them to Sacrament Meeting one Sunday (hey, you pick your battles).
There are an infinite number of things I love about this picture. My favorites though: 1. You can't see Noah's mouth but you can see how happy he is. 2. Rick looks just as happy about it.
He is always trying to be sneaky and get me to photograph his toys (see the 'Percy' video from the last post). I've learned that if I really want to take a good picture of him I need to let him think I'm taking a picture of a toy.
Seriously!!!!! I found him asleep like that one morning when I went to wake up Clayton. How is that comfortable!!! He's SO bendy and contortionist-like. I wonder if he'd be a good gymnast. (Yes, he's on the floor. Sometimes he sleeps there as an act of defiance. Defying what? No idea.)
Finally, Noah started Sunbeams at church on Sunday. It's going to take him a while to get used to it. He definitely loved Nursery with all the toys and snacks. He loves the idea of being a 'big boy' though so I'm hoping that once he starts to associate himself with the 'big kids' in primary and not the 'babies' in nursery things will go smoother.
This is his, 'take the picture already mom, I'm tired of smiling' face.
I'm not sure what I'd do without this kiddo. Saying that he keeps me on my toes is an understatement! I could do without the tantrums, and fights, and his strange desire to live in the bathroom (pantsless of course), but when he smiles at me and get close to my ear and whispers that he loves me I melt! This is one special kid!!!
We've been having a lot of power struggles with him lately. As he becomes more independent, he wants to do things his way all the time - no exceptions. This could be anything from putting on his pants to using knives to combing his hair to taking a nap. It's his way or the highway. Obviously we can't have that. It's such a difference from Clayton, who is so submissive and obedient (Clayton reminds me a lot of my dad). Justin and I have been trying - oh how we're trying - to get him to understand that, essentially, we want the same things. We want him to be an independent person who likes to 'color outside the lines', but he needs to understand that certain things (like not wearing pants and using steak knives) are things that we as parents are the bosses of right now - until he is capable of making the right choice. Anyway, we're trying. Some days I think we're making real progress and I go to bed so pleased with how the day went only to have the next day be a complete nightmare. Sometimes I'm convinced that he makes a choice that even HE doesn't want to make because he knows it will make me crazy (I can't prove it, but I think it).
So the good days are wonderful and the bad days are nightmares. But we plug along. Today was a good day. I was snuggling with him for a bit and thinking about how much I love him and what a blessing he is - attitude and all. I get a smile on my face whenever I think about the man that he has the potential to become. Confident, powerful, persuasive, firm and undeterred in his beliefs, a man of conviction. I see that when I look at Noah. I know he has greatness inside of him.
Anyway, as we were sitting there I started thinking about some old pictures of him that I'd never posted but always intended to because they are pretty good indicators of who he is. I decided that, once he was done snuggling, I would post them. They are pretty funny (which is also a big character trait of Noah). These are not really in any order:
Playing outside, in the snow, with no coat, hat, or gloves. Wearing Clayton's rainboots (on the wrong feet). Yes, I did make him come inside and get dressed appropriately, but he didn't see anything wrong with this.
No, it's not one of the members of the Village People. Noah spent a whole day wearing no shirt and that dang tool belt. It made it difficult to use the bathroom, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices for fashion!
For New Year's, the boys and I made 2010 hats. He put his on and came up to me and said, 'I'm the Queen!'.
Justin had taken them out to play with a friend and Noah fell asleep on the way home. He WOULD NOT wake up. So I laid him on that chair. At one point Enoch came over and was sitting on Noah's lap and yet, Noah stayed asleep. That's determination!.JPG)
What, you don't eat lunch with your shades on?
He loves sunglasses. He thinks he looks so cool. I had to let him wear them to Sacrament Meeting one Sunday (hey, you pick your battles).
There are an infinite number of things I love about this picture. My favorites though: 1. You can't see Noah's mouth but you can see how happy he is. 2. Rick looks just as happy about it.
He is always trying to be sneaky and get me to photograph his toys (see the 'Percy' video from the last post). I've learned that if I really want to take a good picture of him I need to let him think I'm taking a picture of a toy.
Seriously!!!!! I found him asleep like that one morning when I went to wake up Clayton. How is that comfortable!!! He's SO bendy and contortionist-like. I wonder if he'd be a good gymnast. (Yes, he's on the floor. Sometimes he sleeps there as an act of defiance. Defying what? No idea.)
Finally, Noah started Sunbeams at church on Sunday. It's going to take him a while to get used to it. He definitely loved Nursery with all the toys and snacks. He loves the idea of being a 'big boy' though so I'm hoping that once he starts to associate himself with the 'big kids' in primary and not the 'babies' in nursery things will go smoother.
This is his, 'take the picture already mom, I'm tired of smiling' face.
I'm not sure what I'd do without this kiddo. Saying that he keeps me on my toes is an understatement! I could do without the tantrums, and fights, and his strange desire to live in the bathroom (pantsless of course), but when he smiles at me and get close to my ear and whispers that he loves me I melt! This is one special kid!!!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Christmas
Christmas at our house was great. Clayton had really gotten into the spirit of Christmas this year and had brought Noah along for the ride with him. It was so fun to share their excitement and see their faces on Christmas morning. As has been my theme this season, I'm lacking in pictures (sorry Anisha) but I did manage to get the videos up so hopefully that will make up for my lack of photos!!
Noah got a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and some new pieces for his train set.
Clayton got a microscope and a remote controlled Wall-E.
Josie got a pink Silkie (which Clayton gets really excited about), some clothes, and a couple of really cute dolls.
Although she prefered the boys toys (go figure).
Plus, how cute is she in that Santa hat!!
Once we'd opened the gifts it was time to start breakfast. Growing up we always had crepes with strawberries, vanilla pudding, and whipped cream with some fresh fruit and scrambled cream cheese eggs. We only ever had it once a year and it was so special. I have taken this tradition and started it with my family. My boys love it. It's like dessert for breakfast. Noah especially loved helping me cook it this year. We had our good friends, the Weeches, over for breakfast. I'm going to miss seeing them at our table next year!
Josie and her Silkie. She's pretty cute with it. I'm probably going to regret getting this for her at some point, but right now it's just so adorable!!
After breakfast we headed over to the Finlayson's for more food (I swear I've gained a million pounds this month), a really fun Christmas game, and some rock band. We spent the rest of the day hanging out at our house enjoying our gifts, each other's company, and a visit from the Zinke's.
Our Christmas was full of fun, friends, and food. I can't think of a better way to spend a day! As part of my Christmas gift to my family, here are a few videos that I've been waiting to upload.
Christmas Day:
Clayton's Christmas Song:
This video cracks me up because Noah really wants me to videotape Percy (Thomas the Tank Engine's friend). I love how Percy randomly appears in this video. Plus you can (sort of) see how Josie crawls:
And here's a better one of her crawling (although Clayton does make a brief appearance at the end. Apparently my kids really like being on camera:
I have a few other videos but I'll post those another time (mostly because they aren't posting right now and I need Justin to do it).
Noah got a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and some new pieces for his train set.
Clayton got a microscope and a remote controlled Wall-E.
Josie got a pink Silkie (which Clayton gets really excited about), some clothes, and a couple of really cute dolls.
Although she prefered the boys toys (go figure).
Plus, how cute is she in that Santa hat!!
Once we'd opened the gifts it was time to start breakfast. Growing up we always had crepes with strawberries, vanilla pudding, and whipped cream with some fresh fruit and scrambled cream cheese eggs. We only ever had it once a year and it was so special. I have taken this tradition and started it with my family. My boys love it. It's like dessert for breakfast. Noah especially loved helping me cook it this year. We had our good friends, the Weeches, over for breakfast. I'm going to miss seeing them at our table next year!
Josie and her Silkie. She's pretty cute with it. I'm probably going to regret getting this for her at some point, but right now it's just so adorable!!
After breakfast we headed over to the Finlayson's for more food (I swear I've gained a million pounds this month), a really fun Christmas game, and some rock band. We spent the rest of the day hanging out at our house enjoying our gifts, each other's company, and a visit from the Zinke's.Our Christmas was full of fun, friends, and food. I can't think of a better way to spend a day! As part of my Christmas gift to my family, here are a few videos that I've been waiting to upload.
Christmas Day:
Clayton's Christmas Song:
This video cracks me up because Noah really wants me to videotape Percy (Thomas the Tank Engine's friend). I love how Percy randomly appears in this video. Plus you can (sort of) see how Josie crawls:
And here's a better one of her crawling (although Clayton does make a brief appearance at the end. Apparently my kids really like being on camera:
I have a few other videos but I'll post those another time (mostly because they aren't posting right now and I need Justin to do it).
Friday, January 1, 2010
Christmas Eve '09
Christmas Eve this year was wonderful. Since it's our last Vermont Christmas I wanted to make sure it would be special and memorable and I think it was! Ever since we moved here, we've stayed for Christmas. While we certainly miss our families it's so nice being able to build our own traditions and I really think it's helped us grow closer as a family.
We started out by going to a party in the afternoon with some of the other med student families in Justin's class. I am sad that I didn't take any pictures, but it was fun and the kids loved seeing all their friends. Each family did some sort of performance. Fortunately for us, Clayton's school had had it's Christmas concert the day before (insanely cute by the way) so Clayton represented our family by singing one of the songs that his class performed in the concert. Of course there was also really good food and I ate WAY too much!!
After that we went home and rested for a bit before heading out to the Bessettes. They are a couple in our ward that we have been spending Christmas Eve with since we moved out here. Every year she invites more people and it has become quite the party!! There is always a delicious dinner (and tons of it), sledding, and great company. It seems to be a theme with me this year - forgetting to take pictures. Fortunately, Vanessa had her camera and she was kind enough to share some of her pictures with me. So here's what I have (courtesy of Vanessa because, let's face it, I don't take pictures this good):
Stills of Clayton again performing his Christmas song (I do have it on video and if I can ever figure out how to upload it to the computer, I'll post it). The lyrics go like this:
December is a time for 'ho ho ho'
December is a time for love
December is a time for lots of snow
December is a time for love
Sing joy
Sing joy
Let everyone sing joy
Sing joy
Sing joy
Let everyone sing joy
December is a time for 'ho ho ho'
December is a time for love
December is a time for lots of snow
December is a time for love!
We started out by going to a party in the afternoon with some of the other med student families in Justin's class. I am sad that I didn't take any pictures, but it was fun and the kids loved seeing all their friends. Each family did some sort of performance. Fortunately for us, Clayton's school had had it's Christmas concert the day before (insanely cute by the way) so Clayton represented our family by singing one of the songs that his class performed in the concert. Of course there was also really good food and I ate WAY too much!!
After that we went home and rested for a bit before heading out to the Bessettes. They are a couple in our ward that we have been spending Christmas Eve with since we moved out here. Every year she invites more people and it has become quite the party!! There is always a delicious dinner (and tons of it), sledding, and great company. It seems to be a theme with me this year - forgetting to take pictures. Fortunately, Vanessa had her camera and she was kind enough to share some of her pictures with me. So here's what I have (courtesy of Vanessa because, let's face it, I don't take pictures this good):
Stills of Clayton again performing his Christmas song (I do have it on video and if I can ever figure out how to upload it to the computer, I'll post it). The lyrics go like this:
December is a time for 'ho ho ho'
December is a time for love
December is a time for lots of snow
December is a time for love
Sing joy
Sing joy
Let everyone sing joy
Sing joy
Sing joy
Let everyone sing joy
December is a time for 'ho ho ho'
December is a time for love
December is a time for lots of snow
December is a time for love!
What would a cute kindergarten song be without actions!
Every time he sang, 'sing joy' he raised his arms in the air. I need to figure out how to post the video. It's priceless!!
I could squeeze Josie's cheeks all day!!!
Please ignore how I look in this picture and focus on how adorable Josie and her friend Sophie are (with their color coordinated outfits and matching bows)!
Noah has a strong aversion to pants lately. Whenever he goes to the bathroom (especially outside of our home) I have to camp out by the bathroom and catch him before he barrels out into company naked - it's sad that his nakedness doesn't even phase our friends anymore, they've come to expect it from him. Vanessa camped out with me and this is the picture she took as I was putting Pootie's pants back on. Doesn't he look so cute and happy with himself for being pantsless!?!
Rick and Vanessa brought English Crackers for Christmas Eve. Each one contained a crown and a little toy. Everyone had fun popping their crackers and wearing their crowns. Justin and I are trying to look regal - not really a look we can pull off...
After the Bessettes we headed home to open Christmas Eve gifts. This means a new ornament for each family member and pajamas for the kids. The boys (and girl) were pretty exhausted and didn't fight us at all about going to bed. Justin and I were looking forward to bedtime as well (we were also trying to figure out how we were ever going to be able to eat again).
As always, it was a special and memorable Vermont Christmas Eve. I'm sad that it was our last one but I'm excited to carry some of our traditions on to a new home and perhaps create a few more!!
Coming up (hopefully) soon. Christmas Day!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)