Gavin: eight months

Sweet, silly Gavin! He is happy little guy... IF he's within three feet of his mommy! If not, all bets are off and good luck to you!

He's a super fast crawler now. But he prefers to be standing, so just crawls either to me or between objects to pull himself up onto. He's cruising along the furniture, and the little daredevil will even let go and try to take a step.

Gavin still doesn't eat any real food, but he thinks it's funny to feed me so he may be getting more interested soon (fingers crossed).

I don't know if it's considered "sleeping through the night" yet, but he's getting 6 straight hours of sleep now. And I will take what I can get!

And he is always chewing on those fingers! Still just the one tooth, but more are coming soon!

Cabin Fever

-I was beginning to think we were going to get through this season without any snow, but it finally hit us this week! We got the first dump Monday night. It was enough to get school canceled all week! I was expecting not to have school Tuesday and Wednesday, but I thought Thursday and Friday was a bit excessive. All our roads were fine, it's just that our district extends to some crazy rural areas that I guess never get plowed. Then it snowed again all day Saturday, so church was cancelled Sunday.

We got the shovels and sleds out Monday night. Jenna and Liam had fun practicing inside, then loved the real thing with Daddy on Tuesday!

When you have an older sister, sometimes you get stuck wearing girly hand-me-downs. Gavin is wearing Jenna's old hat, and Liam has got on her old gloves and boots.

Then we had hot cocoa and homemade brownies with cookie dough frosting.

It was just as delicious as it looks! Mmmm, I want to make it again!

-The kids took turns waking up crying in the middle of the night this week. Sunday and Monday was Jenna (nightmares), Tuesday was Liam (growing pains?), Gavin took Wednesday, then Liam again on Thursday. They were quickly consoled, it just reminded me of Jim Gaffigan's bedtime joke:

"There's always one awake. Like they're taking shifts. Alright, I'll annoy them from midnight to 2, who wants 3 to 6? Now let's lie down and practice kicking them in our sleep."

If you have a few minutes, search Jim Gaffigan on youtube. He's hilarious!


My pity party

 It's hard to be a mommy and be sick. Thankfully, I hardly ever get sick (at least the kind that makes you not able to move your body) but I did this weekend. My worst day was yesterday. Paul had to work all day. So, even though I barely had the strength to lift my baby I still had to be awake, change diapers, make meals, stop fights, breastfeed full-time, give baths, do the dishes, and get 3 kids to bed on time.
Today is Paul's sick day. Jenna is at school, I've got the boys upstairs, and he is snuggled under his blanket sleeping on the couch. I know it's not his fault, but it just doesn't seem fair!

But, let's end on a positive note...
Yesterday, Jenna asked us to stay upstairs so she could surprise us. She spent over 20 minutes downstairs cleaning the table, putting away dishes, straightening the living room, practicing the piano, and making our bed. What a sweetheart! Love this girl!

Be mine!

-The weather was so amazing last Sunday! We're so glad that we just switched from 1:30 church, so we had time after to get outside and enjoy the sun.

Consequently, Liam learned how to say "heart" this week :)

-With our first two kids we never felt the need for a baby gate, but now that we have a long, hardwood staircase with hardwood floors at the bottom, right next to the playroom, and this is happening...

...we got us a gate! I love Liam's reaction when he first saw it the morning after we installed it:

I sort of hated it at first, because it's pretty hard to open. But then I realized that is kind of the point, so I like it now. It's really nice not having to worry if Gavin is heading toward the stairs while I am changing Liam. And I love being able to keep them contained while I get dinner started.

-On Tuesday we had the Sister Missionaries over for dinner, and then I got to go out with them again! Both of the appointments they had set fell through, so we took our chances visiting some potential investigators in the area. We encountered several people who were politely not interested, one woman who not-so-politely told us never to come back, and a young couple who is very interested and made an appointment to hear more! I'm excited to see what happens with them!
After being out with the missionaries a few times now, I can totally see how the work can be so rewarding, but also potentially frustrating! It's hard when people cancel appointments or say they're not interested, when you know it is the most important message they will ever hear!

-Jenna really enjoyed making her school Valentine's and her "love house" box:

She decided that she wanted to make personalized cards for everyone this year. She drew pictures of things they like and wrote a sweet note or joke for each student and teacher, and we attached a small sheet of stickers inside. It took her all week to write them all, but it was such a sweet idea! My Jenna is just the cutest!!

-On Valentine's Day Paul got Jenna and I flowers and chocolates and made a pink heart-shaped pancake breakfast. He and the kids played with some Disney Infinity characters that I got for them, and then he had to go to work.
The kids and I had a low-key day; we played, ate too much chocolate, and made each other Valentine's cards.
Then Paul got home shortly after the kids went to bed, so we were able to have a romantic steak dinner at home.
I sure do love my four Valentines!!

-One day last week I was planning to feed Gavin and put him down for a nap, so I asked Liam if he wanted to watch a movie. I was trying to get him to watch pretty much anything except for Curious George, but he was insisting on "Oooo-oooo!". I was holding my ground, until he walked over and gave me a kiss on my cheek. What could I do?! He got to watch Curious George.
So now whenever I say he can't have something, he just gives me a quick little kiss, smiles, and asks for it again. Oh, these boys of mine have got me wrapped all around their little fingers!
I mean, come on! How could I not be?!

Quiet weeks

I haven't posted in the last two weeks, mostly on purpose, because not much has been going on around here. Especially since Gavin's morning nap put a damper on us going out most days.
I've pretty much just been sending Paul and Jenna off in the mornings and spending the day quietly with my boys until it's time for homework, piano, and making dinner.

Random happening from the past few weeks:

-Gavin is trying his hardest (and doing a good job) to keep up with his big brother! He is Liam's little shadow. These were taken in just one afternoon:

-Liam, probably as a direct result of the aforementioned shadowing, has learned to say "Mine!"

-Jenna got to be the Little Red Hen in a classroom skit:

-I've used some of my quiet time for organizing, planning, and trying to make good use of my new command center binder. I planned out January and February dinners and shopping lists at the beginning of the month, which made my 4 o'clock hour everyday a whole lot easier!

-Jenna is completely in love with books, and is an excellent reader. She could stay at the library for hours. My boys, however, are a different story. This is what they always look like at the library:

-Paul and I each got colds, but the kids are healthy as can be! We're hoping to escape flu season without incident! Did I just jinx it?

-Jenna continues to put herself in charge of Liam's education. She says she doesn't want us to have another baby because she'll have to teach it everything as well. Haha, poor oldest child ;)

-Jenna had her first play date over at a friend-from-school's house. And her first time declining a party invitation because it was on Sunday. Must the years go by so quickly?! It's crazy to think that learning her ABC's used to be my biggest worry. *sigh*