Christmas 2013

"Wrapping" Presents

Eli spent the week before Christmas "wrapping" presents for people. Mostly for Carter, Kate, the Grandmas, and Uncle Tanner.  So, what he did was take a little toy car and twist a piece of paper around it and then put it under the tree.  We had dozens of these nice little packages laying around the house.

As the week progressed he started to fancy it up a little by actually folding the paper and then requesting that I tie a ribbon around it. Such a funny little boy.

Wolf Badge

For the last several months, I have been the Wolf Den Leader for Cub Scouts. These little boys have been so fun.  They have a lot of energy. Like a lot, A LOT, of energy but they are sweet as can be and always run up to me with a big hug.  They were sad when I told them I had been released. I was sad too. Trust me. Anyway, this was our last Pack Meeting and our Den did the "Invisible Bench" skit.  It turned out so cute.

Carter had also earned his Wolf Badge and I was able to present him with that. Then he pinned the Wolf Pin on me. So proud!

Sick Baby

Poor Lydia is 10 months old today and very sick.  She's been sick for 5 days but was worse this morning  and I was worried about how she was breathing so I ended up taking her to the doctor.  I knew she was sick but now we know that she has double ear infections and bronchiolitis.  The doctor said her right ear is bad enough that the ear drum may rupture.  Poor little thing.  We did a breathing treatment at the office and they drew her blood to make sure she doesn't have pneumonia.  Her blood work looked ok and the breathing treatment helped so it is probably RSV that is making her so sick.

She's just wanted to be held constantly but has slept ok at night and now that I know how miserable she really is, I am amazed that she has still been so sweet and good.

We are now the proud owners of a nebulizer and doing breathing treatments every 4 hours.  Yay! What fun!

Four Years Old!!!

Eli turned four years old this week!

He has loved monster trucks this year and wanted a monster truck cake.  So, I did my best to make that for him with a sick Lydia on my hip!

He got the monster trucks on his cake and a remote control car from Chad and I. Grandma Reynolds gave him a little Ninjago Lego guy that he's been wanting, a windup flashlight for night time, and a new Skippy Jon Jones book with CD.  Lucky little boy!

For his birthday dinner, Eli wanted to go to the "pizza restaurant" and get his own pepperoni pizza. But with a sick baby, we stayed home and ordered Dominos instead.  Eli did get his very own pepperoni pizza though and he ate all but two pieces of it!!!

At four years old, Eli weighs 36 lbs.  He hasn't had his checkup yet so I don't know all his stats but he wears a size 4T so he seems right on track.  He loves dinosaurs lately (if they're small, he calls them "tinysaurs"). As always, he loves to play with trucks and cars. If everything is quiet, I don't worry that he's in trouble, he can almost always be found looking at books in the playroom or laying on the floor playing with cars.  He loves to watch Dinosaur Train and Daniel Tiger when Mom will let him.  He already has such a strong testimony and frequently tells me things about Jesus and Heavenly Father.  

We love our sweet, funny, and full-of-personality Eli!

Gobble Gobble

Thanksgiving 2013

This story starts in NH 2011 when I met a wonderful lady named Trisha Sorber.  Trisha was in the RS Presidency and was my VT and was my first friend in NH.  She and I have a lot in common (minus the fact that she is a professional marathon runner) and our families became dear friends.  In July 2012, Trisha and her family moved to South Carolina.  When we said goodbye, we cried, and I said something like, "Let's make sure we find each other in the Second Coming" because I thought we would never see each other again.  Fast forward to summer 2013 when we relocated to Georgia and now we only live 90 minutes away from the Sorbers!!!  So, we've had dinner together and then we decided to have Thanksgiving together.  We are so thankful to be able to see each other again and so thankful for the Sorbers for inviting us for Thanksgiving!

Kate, Jane Sorber (isn't she cute?!) and Eli at the "kids" table.

Ok, I think this is Maren Sorber (she has an identical twin that isn't in this picture) and Carter.

And here are Trisha and Jacob Sorber.  Some of the best people you'll ever meet!

It was a happy and delicious meal spent in good company.  We are so thankful for all our many blessings this year!

INK

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving I took the kids to INK (Interactive Neighborhood for Kids) which is a children's museum nearby.  We went with our friends, the Cottrells, and had a wonderful time!  My friend, Ari, has 6 kids and the youngest 3 are the exact ages of my oldest 3 so it works out perfectly for everyone to have a friend.  It was a cool place mad to be like a little, child-size town with a dramatic play stage, a beauty salon, a bank, a restaurant, a grocery store, hospital, dentist office, a veterinarian office, a music room, a toddler room, and an indoor playground among other things.  Carter spent most of the time at the bank getting fake money out of the ATM. Kate and Eli loved it all but Eli really loved the indoor playground. 

Kate and Eli on the dramatic play stage.

The kids all loved the little grocery store.  The first time they went in, they made a huge mess though because they ran through like a tornado "buying" groceries.  Then Ari and I got to spend 1/2 hour putting it all back.

They were all so worn out by the end but didn't want to leave.  Now, 5 days later, Eli and Lydia are both sick. Probably from all the germs from all the kids.  Five years ago I NEVER would have gone to a place like this during flu and RSV season.  Now, I have 4 kids and I am a little more relaxed since I can't just keep the kids in the house all the time. Sigh.

Zoo Atlanta

We went to Zoo Atlanta for a family adventure yesterday.  Even though it is November, it was a beautiful day and not very cold.  Much better than going in July when it's broiling hot!

Everyone was really excited to see the Pandas.  There are two babies but you can only see them via the "Pandacam" for now.  Eventually, they'll get big enough to come out and we'll go back to see them.

They also had a living tree house to climb in that had all kinds of beautiful birds and a really cool reptile house with all kinds of reptiles and amphibians.  Carter was totally glued to the Black Mamba exhibit watching the snake devour a rat. Wonderful. Actually, it was pretty cool.

Our sweet little baby birds.

Pics from the Carter cam. of various animals.

We didn't get a lot of pics of the animals because I mostly want pics of the kids.  I do wish I had taken a picture of the Naked Mole Rats though because they were so freaky and ugly.  Very weird animals and kind of funny just because they're so ugly.  

Kate took this picture of the giraffe.

Eli took this masterpiece for us. 

It was a fun day and Lydia was so good the whole time.  When I was tucking Eli in bed last night, he asked if the "swingydings" were going to bed too?  It took me forever to figure out what he was talking about but eventually figured out he was asking about the orangutans.  Silly boy.

Nine Months!

 

 

Lydia is 9 months old! I know I say it every month but seriously, time is going too fast! Oh my goodness I just love this little girl.  At 9 months old, Lydia weights 19 lbs 12 oz (67%) and is 29 3/4 in long (97%). So, she is a long, skinny girl!  She has cute little chubs on her too though.  In fact, the kids' nickname for her is "Chubbos."  We also call her "Lyds" and Eli calls her "Smyds." 

She is my earliest teether and actually has her bottom two teeth now.  She babbles a lot and also yells a lot.  Probably to be heard over her siblings.  She is a good eater but has learned the trick of blowing - like blowing out candles- so she does that when we're trying to feed her sometimes.  Not cool.  She loves bath time and loves to eat shoes.  I'm constantly taking shoes away from her.  She crawls everywhere but hasn't learned to do stairs...yet.  She stands up to anything that will support her weight and will probably walk in the next month or two I imagine.  So, basically, she's perfect and right on track development wise.  We sure love our little baby girl!

Happy Birthday Carter!

Today is Carter's 9th birthday!  How did he get so old?  Carter is so responsible, smart, loving, strong-willed, tall, and all-around awesome.  I'm so grateful to have him as our first-born.

Eli is such a good helper. He, um, pretty much thought that the presents were for him.  He was actually kind of heart-broken.  It was sad.  He'll get a turn in a few weeks though!

Getting really serious about opening presents.

This lucky boy received Legos and some new books from Grandma R., money from Bohn Grandparents, and a volcano kit, lego kit, and a new sweat shirt from Chad and I.

Carter wanted an Oreo cake for his birthday.  My friend, Ari, gave me a delicious recipe for this cake.  It turned out great and was very yummy.

Happy Birthday to our sweetheart!