A New Bike for a TOO BIG boy!

One day about a month ago, E began to refuse to ride his bike. He loudly protested that it was "TOO SMALL!" and he was "TOO BIG" for it! It was true, he is almost 5 1/2 and was riding on 12" wheels. Since bikes cost a lot and it wasn't his birthday or Christmas, we hesitated to just up and buy him a new bike. So DH looked around and found a not-too-rusty one at DI. We replaced the seat (cost more than the bike!) and took it to him for a surprise. He had been at my parents' house so I could get some rest, so we took it to him there. He was VERY excited! He rode all over and his little legs only had to peddle about 1/2 the time as they did with his old bike.

He had fun riding it in our neighborhood's children's bicycle parade. I dropped him off at the starting point and drove back to near our house to watch the parade. I got a call from DH asking me to come since he had fallen and was hurt. I quickly rushed back and applied 2 band-aids and several kisses and he was off to join the rest of the kids, who had just taken off. No sooner had I gotten back to my spot on the parade route than I saw E WAY out ahead of the rest with 1 other boy. I guess he was worried about being left behind and tore off. DH came along WAY later and was hanging back so E could find him. He didn't know that E had been done with the parade for a while!

E way out ahead of the pack

M riding next to the scouts (red helmet, blue shirt)

DH bringing up the rear looking for E!

A visit to Grammy & Pops'

In July. I know, but I feel like I wanted to document some more of our summer. We visited over Pioneer Weekend, which meant the Snake River Stampede was going on, and we all went! It was my first ever rodeo and the second for M & E. They had been to the Days of '47 last year with DH. We also visited the Boise Nature Center, along with cousin B, and enjoyed lots of swimming, and had a dinner and fireworks for the 24th. DH and I even got a night out with some friends. It was a fun time and a great chance for the kids to spend time with their grandparents.

The nature center:

Legos are a hit wherever we are

The Downtown Boise Farmer's Market

Snake River Stampede

Enjoying the Fireworks with cousins

While we were there, C received his quilt from Grammy. As is the tradition for our family, it was a barbizon quilt hand-quilted with a unique design. M's is blue with Curious George, E's is green with Circus Elephants, and C got a cream-colored one with race cars. They are all darling and according to M & E, they are "magic" and make it so you're not scared at night. Awesome! Since they take them everywhere, they got theirs out to take pictures on with C and his new quilt. My kids sure are spoiled with quilts from their grandmas (and mom!)

C is 8 mos!

I know I am still trying to catch up on the rest of July and August, but I had to post this today because my baby is 8 MOS OLD!!

I can't believe it has gone by so FAST, it is absolutely crazy! He is so fun and brings so much to our little family and we love him a lot.


He is doing so much, especially in the past few weeks. Gone are the days of him being content to sit and play with toys. He is not very content anymore unless he is moving and getting into everything. He drags his body with his arms, so he's getting quite the workout, because he is 23.9 lbs. He walks around furniture and goes from one piece of furniture to the next trying to eat computer cords, pull off keys and eat them, slobber remotes, and get his hands on anything that doesn't look like it's for a baby.

We had to move his crib down to the lowest since he was standing up in there and leaning out. We also had to take down the co-sleeper in our room that he could stand up in and get to my shelf I use as a nightstand to try and break lamps, glasses and things. I need to get a gate up to keep him from the stairs now. He is a typical sleeper for our family (probably in between M and E in his sleep habits) and I can live with it okay. I'm glad he likes a binki and will start out the night in his crib. I don't know how many times he wakes a night, because I don't really wake up enough to be aware, but it's more than one, and generally ends up sleeping with us for part of the night and part in his crib. He takes 2-3 naps per day and will still sleep in his carseat most anywhere.


Another thing he LOVES to do is scream. He is VERY loud and will just let out a huge bellowing scream randomly. Mostly when he's happy.

As you can see from the picture, he has 4 teeth now, and is probably working on more. That's why the necklace. I ordered it here, you can read about what it does if you're curious. He is a very effective biter now.

He likes food and will eat most things. I have given him cereals fruits, veggies, and some finger foods (cheerios and puffs and such) He is on an antibiotic for a sinus infection so I am trying to give him yogurt to help counteract and he has done fine with it. He is not huge on green veggies, but we'll keep trying. He prefers to feed himself but will be fed. Sometimes he spits it out all over just so he can fingerpaint with it. Today when he was gleefully spitting pureed carrots all over my white shirt I told him "no" and made a stern face. He burst into tears! I am not used to having sensitive children, so if this lasts it may be a challenge for us.

He will still snuggle when he's tired or not feeling well, and he still likes to nurse (though is a stinker about it if we're not lying down in a quiet room these days) He is a little sweetie and generally happy and his giggles are to die for. We are having fun with all his stages, but are wishing he could stay little longer, he seems in a hurry to catch up to his older brothers, whom he watches mimics and adores!

Separation Anxiety

My little E is having a hard time since school started yesterday. He has separation anxiety. No, not from me. No, not while he's at school.


The problem starts when he gets home from morning Kindergarten. Yesterday I went and picked him up, and before I could ask how his day was, he asked "when does M come home?" Yes, he is NOT loving being separated from his brother, who has been there with him since he was born and is his rock in this world. Can't do anything about it, I'm sure he will adjust.

Seems like just yesterday I was standing with my backpack and new lunchbox ready to start first grade!

So excited to be going to the same school!

I hope the excitement of wearing a uniform doesn't rub off too soon, 'cause this kid can be stubborn!

M is in the same class with a few of his best friends- lucky!

On the rug and (though nervous) telling me to "go now mom!"

The first day went well overall and M is doing great so far with all day and eating lunch and all that stuff that goes with 1st grade. E seems to take school the way he does most of life- it's a mixed bag and easily swayed by his emotions which he doesn't always share. He will find his way.

I for one am grateful to have some sort of structure to my day and be able to exercise and run errands and work in (sort of) peace. Don't worry, I still get in plenty of playing time with this little ball of energy!

4th of July

Okay, it's August 11th. I've been a little busy, but better late than never, right?

First, a cute picture of C in his "my first 4th" outfit:

This crazy celebratathon actually started the night of the 3rd (or 4th-of-july-eve as M called it) when we went to dinner at my parents house and did some fireworks. Burns on our arms and legs left us questioning the safety of the newly-legal arial fireworks. A fun time was had overall though.




The next day, we decided to attend the parade for the city we actually live in. I know, novel idea, right? I guess I feel like sort of a parade connoisseur, choosing a different parade nearly every year and always finding something lacking. I don't enjoy the long, overly commercialized and soggy Kaysville Parade. The Centerville is nice and early and pretty decent, but I've never lived there so no connection and plus it's a bit of a drive. Hyrum is the traditional parade for us overall, but we have begun to make that long drive less often as we have more kids & ties to our community. (so sad to miss those old cars and Miller's trucks) That left the hometown parade, Layton. It was earlier this year, so we decided to set out some blankets the day before and give it a try. I have to say I was pretty impressed. It didn't reek of opportunistic business owners, very few were trying to shove coupons in your face, and I didn't see a single souped-up truck advertising it's chrome specials. We actually had a few chances to honor our local military (the air force base is here) and there were schools, churches, and city organizations represented. It wasn't overly long and didn't have too much candy. I liked it.





After the parade, we enjoyed lunch out and then had some time to rest and get ready for that night. Along with my family, Aunt Noelle and Uncle Patrick were coming for our dinner, and it was her birthday, so we had to make a cake! We had a great dinner with kabobs, salads, and 4th of July jello. The cake was fun to make and turned out cute.




We did some fireworks outside (this time remaining unscathed) and said goodbye to Patrick & Noelle and headed to some big fireworks in a parking lot nearby. The kids must have had it because they just grumbled the whole time and drove us and their grandparents crazy. We were happy to get them to bed and try to recover from the whole holiday! We are happy to live in this country where we get to choose how to live our lives- happy 4th! (just a few weeks late)