Torah - 31 weeks old

This week, some friends of mine (whose babies are no longer babies) were out shopping and found these adorable little girl dresses. They were so sweet to think of Torah & buy them for her.

And Torah was more than happy to model them.

Emma taught our Family Home Evening lesson on Monday. Part of it required each family member to wear a costume item. This was Torah's assigned piece. I think I prefer her bald. I'm not ready to have THREE girls' hair to wash/brush/braid.

Torah also had some more "Big Girl" moments this week:

She's finally sitting! For some reason, she does especially well in the grass. This was a nice, warm day, so I stuck an ice cube in her little sucker thingy. She loved it! I love how she is curling her toes. :-) I wanted to keep the sun off her bald head, but this was the only hat I could find. I need to get her a sun hat.

She & Adana are such cute friends.

She got her ears pierced. Can you even see it? It's so tiny.*

And she sat in a restaurant high chair for the first time. We were eating lunch today at Dos Tacos. She lasted for about 5 minutes, until she realized that she wasn't being held.

*No, of course I didn't pierce her ears! Geesh, surely you know me better than that. Emma & her friend put little sticker earrings on her. She did look pretty stinkin' cute, though. :-)

7 Month Birthday

Month 7 Notables:

• We tried solids for about a month - rice cereal, some carrots, peas. They just weren't agreeing with her poor belly. So we're taking a break - just a small dish of rice cereal each day - and we'll try again in a few weeks.



• Have I mentioned that she is a Happy Baby!? She is constantly drawing a crowd with her sparkling smile and engaging expression.



• She is starting to sit on her own, especially on the grass. She LOVES the grass.



• This baby is obsessed with animals. Holy smokes - if she sees a cat or dog or bird, she goes bonkers! Ohhh, I hope she doesn't start begging for a dog. I really don't want a dog. (Hush, Jessica. I know that there are MEAN parents out there who flat out refuse to give in when their poor kids are begging for a pet.)
  

Raising Adana

Adana stood beside me, hands clutched together against her belly. She was giggling uncontrollably.

Me: What's so funny?
Adana: I look just like you now!
Me: (sighing and wishing that I actually did look that adorable) How do you look like me?
Adana: See! I have milk things too!

She reaches up her shirt and pulls out two tiny little wads of tissue paper, each about the size of a cotton ball.

Adana: When I put these in my shirt, I look just like you!

Torah - 30 weeks old

Torah has a cold and is even more clingy than normal today, so just a few quick pictures from this week:

I love her smile. She is one of the happiest babies I've ever known.

Another childhood milestone: she can now ride in the kid seat of a grocery cart (as long as she is buckled in). And yes, she is wearing "boy jammies" with a dump truck on the front. Hey, they were 2 bucks at the thrift store.

This is the only way that I'm able to get my own shower these days.

Torah - 29 weeks old

Well, this week marked Torah's official initiation into childhood: she got her first owie. She was sitting on Nathan's lap at our desk, and she lurched forward and bonked her head. Thankfully, it wasn't a bad bonk (you can barely even see the mark in the picture - it's over her right eye). But boy howdy! You should've heard her scream!



We also discovered God's Gift to Baby Snacks this week . . . . Baby Mum-Mums!!! Why, oh WHY, didn't they have these with my first 4 kids!? They're not sweet, they're easy to hold, they dissolve quickly, and THEY AREN'T MESSY!! I'm talkin' Eat-em-in-the-car-on-your-way-to-get-pictures-taken NOT MESSY! And she loves them!

This is what happens when a mean sibling someone takes her Mum-Mum away. Trauma!

Phew! She was not about to let that happen again.

The most common question that I get asked these days is, "Is she sitting up yet?" Technically, no. However, she is pretty close, and she can do it in her bouncy chair.

This looks like she is in mid-fall, but she is actually holding herself in that position.

Same here. Talk about abs of steel!! (And yes, she has a soccer ball rattle. We truly are a soccer-obsessed family.)

But the biggest news of the week was that Torah had her first taste of ice cream. Of course, we couldn't give her just any ice cream. Only the best for our girl: MORA'S!!!

I didn't take a picture of what happened when the ice cream ran out. But if you thought she freaked out over losing a Mum-Mum, you haven't seen nothin' yet!

Mother's Day video

This is an adorable video that was shot by one of our ward members, Garrett Gibbons. He is so stinkin' talented. It was supposed to be a surprise for our congregation on Mother's Day, but they couldn't get the sound system to work. So instead he emailed it out. I'm glad that we were able to see it this way, because I think everyone would be laughing so loud we wouldn't have been able to hear it in the chapel.

(Hint: have your volume turned up loud enough to hear the speaking, but not too loud or you will get too much crackling from the wind.)

Moms (2011) from Aderyn Productions on Vimeo.

Mother's Day 2011

I had a lengthy essay all typed up, expounding certain "issues" that I may or may not have regarding Mothers Day.

But I deleted it. Instead, I want to pay tribute to my amazing kids. In particular, I want to always remember how my boys made this such a special day - weekend, actually - for me.

Nathan & Emma were out of town this weekend. And, as usual, it was a busy one. Our family really only seems to have two kinds of weekends: Totally-Booked-to-the-Max weekends and Totally-Booked-to-the-Max-&-Dad's-Out-of-Town weekends.

By Saturday evening, I was wiped out and desperate to get a run in. Both Torah & Adana were taking naps, and Micah was crashed on the couch with a fever. So I left Jared in charge, promising to be back in an hour & a half.

My run was perfect; I felt totally renewed. But it was nothing compared to how I felt when I walked in the front door and found this:

While I was gone, Jared had ridden his bike up to the store (in a huge hail storm) to buy some flowers & candy for me for Mother's Day.


He picked out a beautiful bouquet, then fancied it all up in a vase.


He bought some yummy treats! The boy has good taste.




And he & Adana made a couple signs.

PLUS, he had the house picked up & kitchen all clean when I got home. The next morning, Jared & Micah worked together to make me a fabulous breakfast in bed - an omelet, toast, sliced strawberries & cucumber, and chamomile tea. Then they made breakfast for Adana & Micah cleaned the kitchen.

I'm so thankful that I get to be a mom to these wonderful kids.

Raising Adana

Background: Safeway recently had a Buy 2 Get 2 Free sale on Kit Kats. Dark chocolate Kit Kats. So I just happened to have 4 Dark chocolate Kit Kats in my kitchen the other night when I went out to dinner with Nathan. But I was pretty sure that no one knew that I had them. And besides, they were tucked away out of sight on the highest shelf in a high cupboard of my kitchen. Totally safely hidden away, right?

I walk in the house from my date and immediately go to check on Adana. I find her lounging in the family room, watching Jetsons and (here's a shocker!) happily munching away on a Dark chocolate Kit Kat.

Me: Adana! Where did you get that Kit Kat?!?

Adana: (with seriously the most non-chalant, dripping-with-innocence expression I've ever seen, as if she was asking someone if she could pet their puppy) Soooo . . . am I allowed to climb up on the counter?

I have to admit, though, that I completely adore my free-spirited little girl. Today, the moms were invited to preschool for a little Mother's Day celebration. The kids served us muffins that they had made, then we had music time with Silly Miss Heather. As I watched Adana and all of her classmates participating in the singing & dancing, I was struck by how NATURAL Adana is in her body. She laughs and dances and twirls and sings with complete abandon. She really isn't a "naughty" child; she is just very impulsive and very very very self-assured. She loves life and people and play. She is physical; she is emotional; and she is frighteningly bright.

I would love to be more like her.

Torah - 28 weeks old

This week, Torah tried a couple new foods.

Popcorn POOFS. This is probably my all-time favorite thing to feed my little ones. I air-pop a batch of popcorn (none of that chemically microwave nastiness!), and I nibble off all of the rough, husky parts. All that's left is a soft, poofy ball of yumminess.

It immediately dissolves when it hits her slobbery mouth. You can see the evidence of her slobber in my pants. Ugh. Feeding a baby is a messy job.

ESPECIALLY when they start eating sweet potatoes! She treated me to a great big raspberry right after I snapped this shot. I need to remember to wear an apron when I feed her.

Raising Adana

Background: We have a very strict family policy of Quiet Time on Sundays. Church gets out at 1pm. We come home, eat lunch, then it is mandatory Quiet Time (nap time for the younger kids & parents) from 2-4pm. Even though we have been doing this for 14 years, the kids still grumble & groan about it, and try their darnedest to get out of it.

Adana has been a bit of a $#it at church lately. She hates sitting still; she gets bored; she's hungry/thirsty/has to go to the bathroom. So yesterday, as I pulled into our parking spot at church, I gave her "the lecture."

Me: I expect you to behave at church today. I expect you to sit still, to leave your brothers & sisters alone, and to be reverent. IF YOU'RE NOT REVERENT, you will have NO FUN for the rest of the day! NO FUN movie this evening. NO FUN playing with toys. NO FUN playing outside. (It was a beautiful sunny day.) If you can't be reverent during church, you will have NO FUN at all today. Do you understand?

Adana: (without missing a single beat) I think naps are fun.

Me: (well, actually I said nothing. My mouth just hung open, trying to process what she just said.)
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When I started this whole "Raising Adana" thing, I really had no idea how many of these posts she would provide me with. I gotta go refill my Coke Zero.