Birthday Boy

My oldest offspring sneaked yet another birthday in on us (and I do promise this is the last "my children are getting so old" lament for awhile - at least a month).  Nine big ones.  And although the pathetic quality of the swimming pool pictures makes it look a bit dreary, we had a great time celebrating.  I'm not sure how many years we've been celebrating with a hotel stay in Salt Lake, but I doubt this will be the last. 

 

Happy Birthday Cole.  I hope it's a great year.

And Happy Anniversary, Floyd (12!).  That was sure a great present I gave you 9 years ago, wasn't it?

Cinco

So she hasn't stopped yet, this little angel.  She had another birthday.  I might say it until she hits her teens, but this is just such a fun age.  I just love watching her big brothers and sister adore her and it has been so much fun having a baby around.  I was a little worried that our family was getting too old, but it has been really rewarding to watch the relationships between all of the kids.

 

So here's the scoop on our little Molly-pop at 5 months:

-She went to the doctor at about 4 1/2 months and she's still a little pint-sized.  She weighed just over 12 pounds.  I think Cole was like 19 pounds by this time.  I must have fed him cream and she's getting skim or something.

 

-She tried rice cereal this month.  She's a reacher and a grabber, so we gave in and let her try some cereal.  She also takes a sip of my water whenever I take a drink while holding her.  She starts kicking her legs as soon as I reach for the glass.

 

-She also tried swimming this month (well, technically it was a couple days after her birthday at Cole's party).  She neither loved nor hated it, but seemed pretty content and was definitely the most adorable thing at the pool in her little swimsuit.

-

-She can roll over both ways and she is starting to sit up.  She doesn't last too long, but so far she has laughed every time she falls over, so it's all good.

-She has sparkly eyes.  Maybe it's the Christmas lights always catching them, but her eyes honestly just sparkle when she smiles at you.  She's a happy one, this babe of mine.

-She just seems to be growing up before my eyes.  She babbles a bit, she grabs her toes, she catches your eye from clear across the room and really she is just practically perfect.  Love you little Baby Cakes.

The Tree

Funny thing, there are actually no pictures of the tree taken during our annual tree hunt this year.  We managed to find two nice little forest Christmas trees.  And now they are making my house smell like Christmas.  We also managed to have fun sledding, skating, snow-angeling, and donut-ing whilst hunting for the tree, so all in all - success!

 

 

Autumn Days

 

 So, a storm is moving in and by tomorrow I'm sure I'll be complaining about the weather.  Before the complaints start rolling, let me take a moment to say, wow.  This has been such a great fall.  Beautiful leaves, sunny days, a little chill in the air.  Really, it's been perfect and we've tried our hardest to eat it up.  Here are a few pieces of proof:

Farewell, Autumn.  We'll miss your beauty and your easygoing days.  You treated us well this year.

"Child be glad for all that lives, but forget not God who gives."

Scouts

 Between my calling in church and having a Cub Scout, you'd think I would be a scouting pro by now.  Nope.  I still need "Scouting for Dummies."  Nothing makes me feel less intelligent than being in a scout committee meeting with scouting lingo thrown about here and there.  

But.  We did figure out enough to help Cole earn his Wolf (with two months to spare!).  I had to triple-check that it was his Wolf not his Bear that he received, but a couple of years ago I didn't really know there was a difference between Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts.  So.  Baby steps it is.

 

Cole has always been a little unsure about the face painting when other boys passed (achieved? earned?) a rank, but in the end he decided to let Brother Huntsman paint him.  

Our pack meeting activity that night was a veggie derby, which was surprisingly (to me) very fun.  Cole's racer made it to the championship round.

 

So, on to Bears it is!  Right after we earn a few arrow points.

Halloween

 Yeah, it happened.  We had fun.  We got lots of candy.  And there are even a few pieces left.

Dad's in charge of the make-up.  I am terrible at it.  Poor Cole had to go to school with my creation.  It wasn't pretty.

 

This guy was a John Deere Gator for the second year in a row, which was a-okay with me since it took more than a couple of hours to build the costume.

 

And look at this sweet kitty!  I thought she was teasing me when she told me she wanted to be a kitty cause my kids totally love teasing me about cats.  But nope.  She was serious.  And the only kitty I adore.

Awwww....here's our pumpkin  We want to eat her up.

 

Hopr your Halloween was fabulous!

 

Cuatro

Four!  Can you believe this little darling is four months old already?  Four months of joy for us.  I tell everyone she is our family's new toy cause we all love playing with her.  

She is quite a little laugher and there is just nothing in life that compares to making a baby laugh. 

   

She has really discovered her hands this month and almost always has them in her mouth or folded snuggly and tight together. 

She loves to be face-to-face with people and tries so hard to talk with you.  Her favorite thing is to lay down on her diaper changing pad while she kicks like a soccer star and squeals at you.

Almost every day, she hangs out in the sink while I get ready.  It's kind her happy place.  And don't worry, Grandma Rose, the hot water is turned down below 120 degrees, so we won't be burning ourselves during this activity.

 

We haven't started solid foods just yet (minus the occasional sneaks from Dad and that one Sunday dinner when Mom was feeling crazy and let everyone sneak her a lick of potatoes off their fingers), but she is quite interested in whatever goes in our mouths.  Won't be long.

 

She is quite adored.  The kids still fight over whose turn it is to hold her and it has been so rewarding to watch all of my children develop a relationship with her.  It's good for my heart.  

 

Sure love you, little Moll-serati.

 

Heavenly Birth Order

I read an article about sibling birth order last week.  It was really nothing new - oldest over-achievers, second-born free spirits (which label, being a second-born, I prefer over "wild child"), on down to youngest children who tend to be a little lazy (my apologies to any youngest children reading this - don't shoot the messenger).  I thought about it related to my own siblings, questioned how on earth it might play out in a family like my mom's with 10 - 10!- siblings, and then reflected on my own kids for a bit.

 

While I have no real doubts that birth order can influence personalities, these reflections made me wonder if maybe researchers are a little short-sided.  I pictured my own kids waiting in heaven for their chance to join our family on earth.  If you know us even a little, you will have no trouble picturing an  intense  Cole lobbying hard to be the oldest.  And I'm glad he won.  Heaven help the unsuspecting soul foolish enough to mess with Cole's little brother or sisters - every family needs a loyalist like Cole.  Annie, the peacemaker that gives her seat to her brothers every time there is an argument, would probably acquiesce her claim with a quick shake of her head and say, "That's fine.  I'll go next."  Happy-go-lucky Ben was probably too busy working and playing and just being busy to bother with the discussion and was fine with whatever arrangement was made.

  

And sweet Molly?  Smiley, happy, giggly, snuggly, bright-eyed little Molly?  If forced to choose just one adjective to label her with, I'd pick "content."  She cries when she is hungry or tired, but otherwise she seems perfectly content with life, even when three older and more vocal siblings steal attention that should rightly be hers.  I'm pretty sure she was content to wait in Heaven while her siblings joined our family here on earth.  Let's just call "lazy" "content," shall we?  Cause while she might be content with life, I don't think that means she won't do great things.  

This little family synopsis is far from definitive.  Their personalities certainly have more depth than this portrays.  Cole's intensity sometimes hides his incredibly tender heart and Annie's peacemaker status at times gives way to a stubbornness that catches us off-guard.  I have no doubt that they'll continue to surprise me at times. I suppose what I'm trying to say here is that maybe there is a little more to birth order personality traits than just what we see play out on earth.  Maybe we developed these traits long, long ago and a very wise Heavenly Father places us in our families where we fit best.  It's hard to say, but I myself am content to see how their little traits come together to make our family dynamic what it is.

Tres

Another month, another birthday (a few days late).  These milestones sure come fast the first year.  Miss Molly's accomplishments this month include laughing, squealing, and holding on to things.  She is starting to hold on to me when I carry her and loves to be held so she can stand up.  I love little milestones like that - hugging back, reaching arms out, eating toes.  They are a lot funner than "first eats solids" or "sleeping through the night."  Not that a baby in our house has ever reached that milestone, so I suppose maybe that is a fun one.

 

She definitely belongs in our family.  It's such a familiar feeling to hold her.   Whether that's cause she reminds me of my other babies or because she's part of our eternal family is hard to say - probably a little of both.   But I do know this - we just can't get enough of her.