Time Flies

I realized tonight as we are about to bring in a new year, how fast time moves with this adorable little baby of mine. He is quickly approaching the 9 month mark. We set up the Christmas decorations in our house around Thanksgiving. At that time Devin scooted around on his tummy(army crawled) and giggled and babbled and could sit up by himself. Now about 5-6 weeks later he is pulling up on everything, crusing everywhere, crawling on his hands and knees, clapping and starting to climb the stairs. I know it is all normal and wonderful, but I am still overwhelmingly amazed... I am so so so grateful for this little baby boy!

Dinner

Last Friday, David and I went out to dinner. We actually went to a sit-down place where there was a waiter and everything. My in-laws came over and they and David convinced me to leave Devin at home for a couple of hours.

Why do you ask is this blog worthy?? Well, I'll tell you.

While we were sitting there eating we realized that to our knowledge, that night December 10th, was the first night in the year 2010 that we had been to a restaurant by ourselves. With the death of grandparents, open-heart surgery on the 3 year old, the birth of a new baby, and funds being extrememly tight with medical bills and the job change--it's been a looooong year. It was so nice to step away for a couple of hours...

Seeing the Big Guy

Well, we made our annual treck to our friend's house (they live about 3 minutes from us) to see the big guy in red, this year. True to form, Kylie screamed and Devin followed right along with her. Why do we torture our kids???--because it's FUN!! Ok, well the older two had their say and promised to be good--so we'll see, they only have a couple of weeks left!

Merry Christmas!!

Baptism

My little lady was baptized yesterday! It was a beautiful ceremony and everything went exactly as planned. We are grateful for her goodness and her willingness. She is amazing! The dress she wore for the baptism has been passed around many times and is the dress a good friend of mine's mother made for her. Emily was the 27th little girl to wear it in the United States and Europe.


My mom made her this dress that she wore after the baptism. She looked like an angel.

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My little Emily is 8 years old!!! I can NOT believe it. I remember the first time she smiled at me and how she fit inside my lap when I sat on the floor. I remember when she cried and cried and cried and kept me up night after night after night...I digress.

Even though she was a really difficult baby she has turned into a superstar of a young lady. She is the wish of every parent--sweet, loving, thoughtful, smart, beautiful and kind. We love her to pieces.

Well, my little ladybug turned 8 yesterday and she planned out every meal--in detail. We started out with number 8 shaped pancakes, then I brought WhatABurger to school and ate with her, then we had pizza bagels and strawberry cake for dinner and dessert. We all took vitamins don't worry. When she got home from school I asked her what she wanted to do and in perfect Emily fashion, she excitedly ran to her room and read her latest library book from cover to cover. I had to drag her out when my family stopped by to wish her a happy birthday and when aunts and grandparents called. Anyway she had a great day and we are all looking forward to Saturday when she is baptized.

Showing off the new birthday outfit


David's attempts at making 8 shaped pancakes--he did great!


The surprise sign at her school--she was so excited!

Her cake, she wanted 8 and eight on it--weird??

Opening her first set of scriptures

There she is with the new scriptures case

Soccer

Well soccer has ended, the kids recieved their trophies and they are begging to play again. I have absolutely decided that I enjoy watching soccer games a million times better than watching t-ball. There is a lot more action that is for sure. Dallin ended up with a few goals, Emily didn't. However, she improved a ton and worked so very hard. We are proud of both of them. Here are some final pictures.

Happy Halloween

On Friday night my three oldest went to my parent's ward trunk or treat and then on Saturday night we headed to our trunk or treat and carnival. On Sunday we went to Church and then headed to my in-laws house so they could play with their cousins on Halloween. Lots of fun! Too much candy! Too much staying up late and Monday morning it was darn near impossible to get the kids off to school! However, we are all recovered now and we postponed family night to tonight, to have an early bed time last night.

Also, random, but Dallin is star of the week this week, so I went and had lunch with him today. He was surprised and very excited!

Ok on to Halloween pictures. We had Dorothy, a ninja (he was a ninja at 2 years old too), a Japanese Princess and a skeleton. Also, don't mind Devin' extremely red face. With weather changes and introduction to food, if I don't keep it well hydrated it turns red. The doctor says it's because he's so crazy fair skinned. I forgot to lotion up his face on Saturday--oops!

Also, we tried to get the three boys (Weston, Jake and Devin) to all be happy and look at the camera but that didn't work so well. But they were super cute skeletons!

Pumpkins

My sweet friend Allie let us come over last night and use her cute pumpkins for pics of the kiddos. Devin really wasn't all that into it. It was cold and wet and he was hungry and naked, but who doesn't like to torture their kids right?!?!

Ok Pictures Pictures Pictures!!




Devin and Weston (they are one day apart)

Always screaming...

And the annual pomeroy pumpkin carving

BOO!

This morning...

I woke up in a great mood this morning. I went to go get Kylie out of bed and what do you know? She pulled her tube apart. In the bath she goes, while David was changing her sheets and I was bathing Kylie, the other kids woke up. While I was dressing Kylie and getting her ready to get on the bus, David got Devin out of bed only to discover he threw up in the night. Aughh! Bath number two for this morning. Now don't forget I bathed them both not 12 hours before. I finally got everyone off to school and work and then went up to change Devin's sheets only to discover that the kid who puked in his sleep (he never cried or anything--and he is acting terrific today) decided to puke on the edge of the bed. That means the bumper, the sheets, the crib skirt, the drawer under the crib, the rails of the crib and the carpet all had to be washed and scrubbed...

Well, here' to a better afternoon...

6.5 months

I have to add one serious picture of Devin (I have so few of them) he's always smiling!!!

Today Devin went in for his six-month check-up and whaddya know, he's doing great, yea!!

He is sitting, rolling and scooting forward. He just started scooting yesterday and he's already going everywhere! He squeals and screams and coos and melts my heart. He really really prefers me to baby food, but we will get there. He sucks his thumb and is so darn cute doing it. I am making my own baby food this go around and it's working well. He sleeps through the night and naps great. He has two teeth on the bottom and is working on one up top. He loves his squeaky giraffe. Honestly, I am smitten and have no complaints!

Alright here are some stats:
Weight 18lbs 11oz (70%)
Height 26.5 inches (45%)
Head 18 inches (90%)

Short and chubby with a big o' head! That's the way we breed them around here! :)

Formula

Ok, so Kylie is on a soy formula, (meal replacement). She currently takes 2 8oz cans a day and we are trying to up her to 3 a day. This formula is $8.59 for 6 cans at Kroger. Add it up and that is well over $100 a month, plus her soy milk, plus her baby food, and don't even get me started on her diapers and doctor's appointments...

Anyway, we started this formula after her heart surgery, because a nutritionist at the hospital told me about a soy formula. All the other meal replacement formulas (like pediasure) are milk based and she really seems to struggle with them--even the elemental ones (predigested). Also, she had lost weight continuously over the last year and a half. Now, she has gained three pounds in 6 months, which is HUGE for her. Also, with all of her puking issues I have been taking her to see a GI pedi specialist a couple of times. I spoke with his dietitian and to make a very long story slightly shorter, we tried several formulas, and landed right back on the soy one that we started with. However, this time insurance is paying for most of it. YAY! We tried to get our old insurance to pay for it, but they flat denied it. This new insurance is wonderful and they are covering it 90%, plus her feeding supply company is delivering it now, (we got our first shipment yesterday). I am so excited. So, now for a mere $15 a month we have the bulk of her calories taken care of. I realize of course that none of my dear readers can really relate to this (feeding tube issues), but this is wonderful news for us. :)

soccer, ties, siblings and pets

Alright, we have had a busy last few weeks as we are settling into the school year and new routines. Dallin and Emily are both taking piano lessons and soccer is starting it's third week. Also, for those of you wondering, Devin and I are doing much better from the strep, (well except for the lovely diaper rash Devin has developed from the after effects of amoxicillin). Also, when we went to the doctor when he was sick last Monday, she found his first tooth. So cute!

Anyway on to a collection of pictures. This is Dallin out on the soccer field. He really has a great handle on things and is doing well.


Emily is still pretty scared of a ball heading in her direction, (too much of me in her), but she is improving. This is her first attempt at being goalie and she actually blocked two balls, which is awesome. See video.

And just the irony of her being a big grown up goalie and then coming home in the afternoon and crashing holding "pink baby" the doll she has slept with since birth.

Dallin really wanted to dress like Devin last Sunday, the ties didn't match, but the overall look was there. So, here are some good ones of my two cute boys.

There is about an hour each day (when Kylie gets home from school) that the two younger ones are on the floor together. Kylie is slowly warming up to Devin and interacting with him from time to time. She smiled and laughed with him for a few minutes the other day before scratching his forehead and knocking him to the ground. I am glad that I got a picture of the sweet part and not the brutality. :)

And lastly the kindergartners dressed up as community helpers last week and Dallin wanted to be a veterinarian. He wanted a blood spot on his dog, so he could "fix him" and a doctors coat, (which we fashioned out of one of David's old t-shirts. He had a really good time with it.

Well, that is it for now. Conference was great and uplifting. Also, it was so nice to have a Sunday just to stay home...thank goodness for cable. :)

Strep Throat

Strep throat for a 5 month old and his mom really stinks...

Yum Yum

Well, the time had finally come for my sweet little Devin to try something off of a spoon, so last night was the designated night. It is so much more fun to feed a baby his first food, with the older kids so excited too. Devin loved it and all of the attention too!

Notice the silver spoon. The same spoon that my sister, Emily, Dallin, Kylie and I used for our first bites. Devin slurped down all his rice cereal like a champ! We let Emily and Dallin give him a bite too, which they loved. I am also on a kick to make my own baby food this go around. Wish me luck!

Also, on Wednesday morning, my birthday, we woke up to large construction equipment on our front lawn. The kids were ecstatic. They are replacing the sidewalks on our street. It's been a very noisy couple of days around here.

Galveston Weekend

So, a week ago we headed off to a fun weekend to Galveston. Obviously, that is only an hour from home and the beach is brown, but it was FREE!! Well, mostly. When David was interviewing for a new job, one of the companies sent him a thank you note and included 4 tickets to Schlitterbaun Galveston and a 2 night stay at a suite. So awesome. It was a little sad that he turned them down, but great for us. We did decide to hand Kylie over to her very willing/loving grandparents and we pulled the kids out of school for a day and headed off. Having two non-walkers would have made it almost impossible, and Devin is a nursing baby, so lucky Kylie, you got the weekend away from your parents.

We spent Thursday night at the hotel and woke up Friday morning and spent some time at the beach and then came back and spent more time at the kid pool at the hotel. Then while Devin was napping (he was so exhausted David just laid him on the top bunk and he crashed immediately--and yes the kids loved having bunk beds!!) David took the older two across the ferry to Boliver's Peninsula. They just went and came back, but the kids had never been on a ferry before and loved feeding the seagulls.

Sorry the pictures are a bit out of order and I really don't feel like fixing them... :)
The candy store

Friday night we went down to the Strand, (just rows of little old fashioned shops) and spent some in this great soda shop/candy store. Then we went to the Rain Forest Cafe for dinner. The kids were overwhelmed. They loved the noises and excitement. It was terribly sad, however, because they have a signature dessert there called a volcano. They would yell "Volcano!!" every time they brought it from the kitchen. It has a sparkler in it and everything, but of course it had milk in it, so we couldn't get one. However, David did get the waiter to give us a sparkler so, now I need to keep my promise to make an "Emily approved" one here some time.

Notice the snake hanging from the ceiling about to eat my baby!!!

The beach--there were mountains of sand that they were using for cleanup from the last hurricane that hit down in mexico and brought us tons of rain.

Seagulls seen from the ferry

Saturday we got up leisurely and ate and packed up and then head to Schiltterbaun. We all had a blast. David and I would switch off sitting with Devin and then riding slides with the older kids. During one of those times, David had Devin and so he put him in a double kid float, (so that David is in an inner tube connected to Devin's, but Devin's had a bottom on it.) Anyway, Devin curled up in the float and the waves of the lazy river just knocked him out. He looked just like an Anne Geddes picture.

They also had a place where you can practice surfing/knee boarding. David and the kids all tried it while I took some pictures. My little Emily was the only one (out of David and Dallin) that got up on her knees and rode that way for a few seconds. My little daredevil.

Well, we had a blast and enjoy the pictures. We didn't really get a vacation this summer with David starting a new job, tons of money going to open-heart surgery, and having a baby, plus just having an infant is hard enough, so it was nice to get away and have some fun for a weekend!

Schlitterbaun (Dallin)

Emily (didn't get a picture of her on her knees, but she did it and looked fabulous)