Another month older!

It is hard to believe our baby girl is seven months old.....still a baby but growing and changing ever so quickly. She still is really petite for her age. At six months she weighed just 13lbs 14 ounces......8th%......so she really is still just a tiny little girl!

In the past month she has learned to sit mostly unsupported.......she can sorta move around a bit, not really scooting but I have seen her try to scoot and she gets herself to move and turn around a bit to get something she wants. One thing that is different from her brothers is that she has shown little interest in baby food. She would rather suck on apples, cantaloupe, bananas, and cheerios. she takes two great naps a day that last for 2 hours each. She still wakes up two times a night to eat but it isn't so bad since she doesn't give us a hard time when we put her down for bed! She knows when it is time to sleep.....I nurse her, swaddle her and put her in her crib and she will cry for maybe 10 seconds and then she goes to sleep....and this is the same little baby that would only fall asleep if her daddy was holding her!

She still loves to watch her brothers play and she even laughs at them when they throw a temper tantrum.....its kinda funny to watch! She loves to grab anything in her sight and of course she takes things right to her mouth. I really have to watch what her brothers give her to play with! I also have to watch Jack because he thinks he is helping me by trying to pick her up......sometimes by the neck! She loves to look at the wondrous world around her and lets us knows what she thinks of it! She can be quite vocal at times from all the ooooooooo's and ahhhhhhh's, the giggles, and the crying. She is growing more and more red hair....it's still not tons but it is a lot for our babies!

Even though she is growing and changing so fast, sevral things remain unchanged, she is still our cute baby girl, baby doll, love, sweetness, cutie wootie, ava bo bava and our little princess!

Birthday Party for Daddy!

My dear sweet wonderful husband turned 29 years old on Tuesday June 9th. We were woken up at 5:40 am to our wonderful crying children. Just the way to start off your day! While Jake was at work the boys and I made some decorations for his little party. We made a long paper chain.....Samuel thought it was pretty cool to make a long chain......Jack just wanted to play with the glue and glue strip after strip of paper onto another piece of paper! After we did some crafts we went in the kitchen to attempt to make a cake. Now I am NOT a cake maker......I usually just make it from the box but this time I decided to make a layer peanut butter cake that I found on the back of the cake mix. It turned out fine until my two little helpers decided to sneak some pieces of cake off the side and then after that it wanted to fall on the one side! We decided that the cake might not look the greatest but it sure did taste good!

We had a nice day with our husband and dad as he came home and ate lunch with us. One of the nice things about being here in Vernal is everything is close.....he works about 5 minutes away so it is easy for him to go home for lunch. When Jake got home from work in the afternoon the boys wanted to open the front door and yell SURPRISE....which they did and then we showed him our decorations, cake and present. After that we went out to eat to one of the very few restaurants here, came home and sang happy birthday and ate our yummy peanut butter cake and ice cream!

I originally was going to give Jake this picture I found for Fathers Day but was too excited to give it to him so he got it for his birthday! He knows I love sentimental gifts! Plus he already told me he didn't need anything for his birthday since he already bought himself a dirt bike! He loves his dirt bike as there are many places out here to ride it! Back to his birthday gift....I found this picture by Liz Lemon Swindle titled "Even Superman needs a Dad" It shows a boy walking down the street in his superman cape and he dad walking with him spending time together and talking. It is a really sweet picture that shows the love a father has for his son and the love a son has for his father! This is the story behind the artwork.....I thought it was so beautiful so I thought I would share.

Even Superman Needs a Dad

Driving through a parking lot, I saw a boy and his father coming out of a store. The boy was imagining himself as a mighty hero, but he looked at his father with more admiration than any hero is likely to receive. Right then, I knew I had to paint "Even Superman Needs a Dad."

This father took an interest in everything his son had to say. Every moment seemed magical. While this little boy looked a bit out of place dressed in a Superman cape and red cowboy boots, his father could not have looked prouder. Who was the real Hero? Who was more in awe of whom?

When I look around at the thousands of Supermen who play alone each day it breaks my heart. Looking at these two I remember a wonderful father who took the time to be there for me, who taught me by example what a father should be.

I enjoy watching someone look at the painting for the first time. Their gradual smile tells me they understand the feeling that brought about this painting. For a brief moment they forget there are bills to pay and work to do. They forget their worries and remember for a moment that life is wonderful. That is the joy in painting.

When I look at this painting I can see Jake walking down the street with our "superman/superwoman" children in hand, loving them, listening to them and being their hero!

I love you Jake and I feel so blessed to have met you in our history of rock and roll class at the University of Utah! I think the world of you, I look up to you, I admire you, I am so grateful for your willingness to provide for us and to also be the fun loving husband and father you are! Happy 29 years old babe!!

Blowing Bubbles!

A couple weeks ago we went back to Salt Lake for a couple days and were able to visit with our families. Here is Samuel blowing some bubbles at my parents house. He is actually starting to figure out how to blow bubbles and not just pop them!

A visit to the fish hatchery!

A couple weeks ago we decided to take the kids to a fish hatchery close by. The boys loved watching all of the fish swim and jump up to eat food. At the end of our little excursion Jack decided he didn't want to hold my hand anymore so he turns and me and asks in all seriousness "Mom can I hold my OWN hand?" It was so funny to hear him ask if he could hold his hand instead of mine. There really wasn't anyone else around so I told him it was ok if he held his own hand as long as he stayed close by me. I couldn't get over how cute he looked walking by himself holding his own hand!

Beautiful surroundings!

The past couple of days we have been playing and doing yard work outside. Today I happened to notice a butterfly land on one of our flowers so I ran inside to grab the camera. Looking at these pictures it makes me feel so blessed to live in this beautiful world our Father in Heaven created for us! What a wonderful time of year it is......the warm sunny days, the beautiful flowers, the beautiful butterflies and the sweet sound of birds. We are loving theses nice long sunny days......the boys.....and even Ava love being outside!

Mom, I've got big foobs!

I just had to write down something Jack told me tonight. I was getting him dressed into his pajamas just about ready to zip them up when he stops me from zipping them up. He turns to me as he is pointing to his chest and says "look mom I've got big foobs!" It took me a second to realize what he was talking about and then I realized that he actually was trying to say boobs (pardon my language) I realized right then and there that I need to be careful about what I say in front of my children! I am sure he has heard me talk about those to Jake as I have been nursing Ava. Kids sometimes are just so funny in the things they say....they are very honest and tell it how it is!

She has teeth!

I was finally able to capture Ava's two little teeth she has on camera. It has taken me a couple of months to capture that cute toothy smile!