Easter Celebrations 1,2, and 3

I guess the good thing about having both sets of family close is that for each major holiday, we get three different celebrations: one at home and one at each sets of grandparents. We celebrated first at the Goodrich's. It's tradition to dye eggs with Grandpa and then hunt for candy-filled eggs hidden in the yard.At my parents we hunt for eggs as well. It was soooo cold and windy that day so the kids hunted inside this year. Grandma always includes a toy in their baskets.And at home this year the Easter Bunny came and hid baskets for the kids. Stockton's basket was in the dryer and Molly's was under the computer desk.

Family Pictures

(All pictures are still unedited...)

11 adults, 9 kids, and 1 dog

Not bad. At least we are all looking, even the babies.Now 2 adults and 9 kids. Classic. Hilarious. I really, really love this one.Later Molly told us she was sad because Justin and I weren't in the picture with her. We tried to explain that Grandma and Grandpa wanted one of them with their grandkids, but she thought it was "family pictures" and we are her family.

It had been a while since Justin and I had had any family pictures done. Molly was 9 months old. 3 years ago. Wow.Stockton became fascinated with sucking on his bottom lip that morning so we have a lot of pictures with him doing just that!
These are all pretty cute too.The mommas and the babies. 10 weeks from the oldest to the youngest.Family pictures...what an adventure! I think I know why we wait for so long in between!

9 months!

Oh, how times flies. Cliche, I know, but so true! At the doc, Stockton weighed 18 pounds...he dropped from the 19th percentile to the 11th. He just goes and goes and goes. Our trip to the doctor this time was humorous. Stockton would not sit still (surprise!) so he was crawling all over the little exam room. He was back and forth and was very interested in the doctor's shiny shoes. Then Molly started singing, and when she sings, he sings. And they were loud. Good thing the doctor has a sense of humor...and five kiddos of his own! He just laughed and said, "I see that you have your hands full with that one." He sent home a paper with us..."Normal Development: 9 months Old." Some of the things that a 9-12 month old might begin doing...

-continues to enjoy banging, waving, and throwing toys
-may resist diapering
-may pull self to standing position
-stands holding on to furniture
-may try to crawl up stairs

Stockton has proven to be excellent at all of the above. Justin's brother asked us what Stockton's favorite pastimes were and this is what we came up with: crawling, putting anything in his mouth, pulling mom and sister's hair, standing up, pulling things off of shelves, eating, and singing with his sister.

A few other pictures of Stockton in his 9th month...

His first time on a swing. He liked it! Although I couldn't get him to sit back so he looks very uncomfortable. Mostly I like this picture, because he is cute in his hat. Bathtime...not as easy as it used to be. He still loves the water but as soon as I put him in the tub he stands up. So I sit him down, and he stands up. It's like a game. I usually end up taking him out shortly after I put him in. He prefers to stand on the outside and watch Molly play. He's usually soaking wet by the time they are done playing.I forgot how good babies are at getting into things...he loves to pull everything off of anything. I'm constantly putting books, magazines, diapers, and Tupperware away.Stairs! One day I ran upstairs to get my shoes. I was gone for mere seconds but Stockton managed to make it to the 4th stair. I definitely underestimated him there. I have since bought a baby gate.After many, many ear infections, the doctor recommended tubes for his ears. So we did that a couple of weeks ago. Stockton did great! He couldn't eat anything after midnight and I was a little worried I would take him in and he'd been screaming and hungry but he was happy and smiling at anyone who looked at him. They also told me that he'd be too frantic and stressed after the surgery to take a bottle or let me rock him. But they brought him to me, I gave him a bottle and within 10 minutes he was sleeping peacefully. Glad to have it over and done and hopefully his little ears won't bother him again! (Did you know they made hospital gowns small enough for babies?)Since he started standing up, napping and bedtime is a bit more difficult. Stockton has always been pretty good at putting himself to sleep, but now...forget about it. If he's even a little bit awake, he rolls over, stands up, and cries. We're still working on this.Stockton definitely keeps me hopping each day, but we sure love having him as part of our family! I am enjoying watching him play with Molly each day and am anxious for when he can walk and talk. They are already the best of friends and play together in her room for long periods of time. She is still just the sweetest sister and is never mean to him. For that, I am grateful. Life is good.

St. Patrick's Day

Having kids makes the smallest of holidays super fun. Like St. Patrick's Day. Growing up we always had green breakfast (green eggs, green pancakes, green milk, etc). Well, I didn't do that much but I did remember to quickly change the milk green before Molly woke up. When she did wake up I told her that a leprechaun had snuck into our house while we were sleeping and changed the milk green. She couldn't believe it. It was magic, and the rest of the day felt a little like magic to her too.

She got quite upset when Justin pinched her while she was wearing her purple Tinkerbell pajamas and we quickly made a rule that pajamas don't count. But she wasn't going to take any chances and quickly ran upstairs to change. Green underwear, green skirt, and a green shirt. Also red tights, ballet shoes, and a "colorful-ish" headband.All morning long I heard, "I can't believe that leopard changed our milk green!" or "Can you believe that leopard changed our milk green? What a silly thing to do!" or "How did that leopard do that?" And finally, "What was that animal called that snuck into our house and changed our milk green?" So I explained that it was called a leprechaun...a little man rather than an animal.

Molly also asked me, "Mom, why do we have to have the word 'Saint' in St. Patrick's Day?" And before I could answer, "Oh I know! 'Saint' is probably just another word for green! Because we have to wear green!" Such a smartie!

We went to the grocery store that morning and Molly pointed out every person who was not wearing green. "They are going to get pinched...but not by me!" She thought she was extra special when the checker told her that she had a perfect St. Patrick's Day name...Molly is an Irish name, after all.

At school we made St. Patrick's Day cookies and green playdough and all her friends had to have a sample of her green milk.

That afternoon, "Mom, do you know what my very favorite color is? Green!" (On any other day, it's purple.)

After school we picked Justin up from work and headed to Park City where we met my parents, shopped around at the outlets, and then went to dinner.

Grandpa didn't even wear green, and Molly thought Grandma's shirt looked more blue than green. Sorry Grandma! But our family was all decked out in our green...
On a side not, going to dinner is something that we are not doing for a very, very long time. It was very chaotic with our two kids. The waiter was very relieved to see us go, I think.

On the way home, "Do you know what my very favorite holiday is? St. Patrick's Day!" I'm wondering if she thinks that dinner with Grandma and Grandpa is what we will do every St. Patrick's Day. Hmmm...

A problem solved

The problem: Dad's birthday balloons are out of reach. The strings are a tangled mess.Solution #1: Stand on a kitchen chair. Still out of reach.

Solution #2: Stand on her little table. Still out of reach.

Solution #3: Stand on a pillow on top of her table. Still out of reach.Solution #4: Stand on a couch cushion on top of her table. Close, but still out of reach.

Solution #5: Stand on two couch cushions on top of her table. That was the trick.Success!! It was fun to watch Molly solve this problem. She did it all on her own while I just sat back and watched.

God Speaks to Prophets

Molly gave a talk in Primary a couple weeks ago. After a shaky start, she did great. She's a little silly in this video, but you get the general idea...
(I have no idea why this video is so big!)

What the kids are up to.

Hiding
This is Molly's new favorite game. Anytime I leave the room, she thinks it is an opportunity to hide and quickly does so. We hide from dad as soon as we hear the garage opening when he gets home and we hide from him at night when he comes upstairs for prayers. It's quite funny, really, because she's not great at finding hiding spots (unless she has help)...like the other day when I was doing the dishes and she says, "Mom, get off the rug, I'm trying to hide from you." Then she hid under the rug...right next to where I was standing.
Outfits
The first thing Molly does everyday when she wakes up is pick out an "outfit" to put on. It usually always consists of a pair of tights-red, brown, pink, or black-her polka-dot skirt, a shirt-preferably with puffy "Cinderella" sleeves-and shoes. If we don't go anywhere I let her wear it all day long; if we do go somewhere, I make her change. And then there's always those days that I just really don't care. Like when we went visiting teaching a couple weeks ago and she was wearing her Ariel nightgown with sweats with red hearts underneath. Cute!
Crawling, etc.
Stockton has been crawling for a few weeks now, and he is getting so fast! He is enjoying exploring, with his favorite place being under the computer desk. All those cords are so fascinating! He is now pulling himself up on things. Consequently, we've had a few tumbles and he is now sporting a nice purple bruise on his forehead from one particularly nasty tumble. He's figured out how to pull himself up but he has not yet figured out how to get back down. He's just stuck until he falls or until mommy rescues him. This is under our table.He broke his first tooth last weekend...on top of an ear infection and a nasty cough...it was a rough few days for him. But his smiles and giggles are finally returning...

In the eating area, I am at a loss. He doesn't enjoy sitting in his chair for longer than a few minutes, he will not eat baby food, and he won't let anyone feed him. He wants real food and he wants to feed it to himself. So I feel like I'm a little limited in what I can feed him...we stick with peaches, pears, bananas, peas, cheese, and bread. Any other ideas? I need something that he can pick up easily as well as something that will go down easy since he only has that one little tooth.

I'm enjoying this stage. I've finally figured out Stockton's napping schedule (finally!) which means I have more time to spend with Molly and keep the house clean! At the end of the day, I actually feel like I accomplished something. And that's a great feeling!

Meet Jacob.

Born July 31, 2009

Adopted February 9, 2010Just like his mommy says..."Adorable, chubby, blue-eyed, and bald like his dad..."

We are so happy for Eric and Heidi and their family on their newest addition!

Add one more baby boy to the mix and that makes 4 boys in 10 weeks. Wow!

Two brothers and their boys.Keep in mind that Jake is one month younger than Stockton.

January, Part 2

Some of the videos that I captured...

Stockton loves to shake his head. He thinks it is so funny!

Rough-housing with Dad. Watch the first trick closely...

Our baby is mobile. Argh! He has mastered the army crawl and has since moved on to regular crawling.

The monkey is at it again. When mom is busy and can't get what she needs, she just gets it herself instead of waiting! This is a re-enactment of what she had done earlier that day.

January

After a busy November and December, it felt wonderful to have a relaxing January. We didn't really go anywhere or do anything. I never even felt the winter blues set in, I was just happy to be home with my family. Here's a glimpse of some of the things you might see at our house on any given day...

-We often call Molly our monkey. It's because she climbs and jumps and does all sorts of tricks. Like these:-Playing in the crib. Molly loves to listen for Stockton to wake up from his nap so she can go play with him.-Feeding Stockton. Green beans, yum.-Watching football. Like father, like son.-Making up fun new games. This is Molly making a "bed." Really, just a baby bed upside down and filled with blankets.-Haircut #3. Justin got to the scissors this time and he went short! It made him look so different, much more grown-up and less baby-ish.-A whole lot of dressing up. When we don't go anywhere, Molly chooses her clothes. When she gets bored of dressing herself up, she moves on to her brother.-Baby Einstein movies. Stockton will sit in the swing for maybe 15 minutes and watch a little TV, if it's Baby Einstein. Molly thinks that since it's a "baby movie" she needs a "baby seat" to sit in while she watches it with him.-Bare baby bums. Why do babies love being naked?Oh, he's going to love that picture when he's older!