Asher, right now

The time goes faster and faster and I can hardly believe that two months with this little sweetheart have passed.  He is a darling little man and we are all in love. At two months our little Asher:

• sleeps long stretches as long as he is swaddled and in his crib.  
• is not a fan of the car seat, swing or bouncy seat. 
• has just become interested in the play mat and its toys.  He smiles and coos at the little animals that hang down.  He's started to bat at the little animals that hang down. 
• is the most popular member of our family.  His brothers adore him and love to hold him, sing him songs and admire his little hands and feet. 
• still struggles with reflux.  This has been an entirely different experience for Nat and me.  He requires a fair amount of soothing and holding.  I, for one, am glad to have an excuse to hold him a little more and let a few more things go around the house- except when the episodes occur in the middle of the night.
• loves his big brothers.  He smiles the most at them and they love it.
• loves to stare at the ceiling fan. 
• makes it hard to capture a smile with my phone or with the camera as the smiles are fleeting and pretty squirmy.  
• has eyelashes that seem to grow just a little more every day. 

I am so taken with him and feel so blessed to have had him in my life for two whole months. 

Back to School 2015

 The pictures are pretty self explanatory.  I have three children in elementary school.  I'm still trying to figure out how this happened.  I was filled with angst and longing all day.  I can still recall the timid kindergarten Luke heading off to a school where he knew no one.  It was quite the contrast to fifth(!) grade Luke confidently greeting friends as he made his way to his classroom, anxious to say good-bye to me.  I can also remember a crying Noah, clinging to me while I tried to drop him off at a preschool right after we arrived in Utah.  Isaac should still be a babe in arms, as far as I am concerned.  These boys are growing faster than I am ready for.  So there's that.

On the other hand, I am finding that I really like these little men that they are turning into.  I find that I genuinely enjoy their company.  Luke has especially grown into an age where he is fun to be around, aware of others and good at interesting conversation.  They've grown into (mostly) polite gentlemen that I really enjoy.  I am trying to focus on that, finding joy in their growth and celebrating the people they are becoming.  I also find that I love having a variety of ages around.

 Isaac is five going on fifteen.  He's independent, bright and determined.  I am often in awe of the way his mind works and the problems he's able to solve.  He somehow knows how to count to 300, count (and find) money and sound out most words.  He's also super strong physically.  We tried to run with the boys a couple of times a week all summer and I loved watching Isaac.  I am excited for his kindergarten adventures but I'm sad to lose my side kick.

Noah is a little joy (until he's not which always catches us off guard).  He's a social guy, always wanting to be with his friends and is a peacemaker among them.  He is bright and engaged in whatever we're doing as a family.  One of my favorite things this was watching him while we were camping or hiking.  He's quick to find a weed or stick and then spend time exploring it and learning about it.  He gets everybody interested and soon we're all having a discussion about the bug tracks under the bark on the stick he just found.  He's also my little worrywart.  He's terribly concerned about following the rules and convinced that he might just break one on accident.  We spend a lot of time reassuring his worried, sweet little heart.  He's so tender and it's part of what I cherish about him. Second grade has never known a sweeter boy, always concerned about others. 

 Luke, my oldest boy, is a the best big brother for all the boys in this family.  He wants so badly to be good.  I love that this is the example that he is giving to the boys around here. He also wants to be grown up.  I've spent a lot of time talking about the joys of childhood and telling him that there's no need to rush it.  He remains unconvinced.  Luke is a talker.  He wants to talk about his feelings and experiences and he wants to be heard and understood.  When I remember this about him he is easy to parent.  He's still a voracious reader, which I love.  Fifth grade promises to be a great year with a wonderful teacher and his best friends in his class.  

Here's to the 2014-2015 school year being our best yet!

Christmas 2013

It's been long enough since I sat down and blogged that I had to give myself a pep talk about starting up again.  I've been feeling overwhelmed at all the events that I neglected to record.  I might get around to blogging about our trip to Disneyland or about my trip to Vermont to see my dear friend Chelsey get married.  I might.  Then again, I might not.  I might have too much laundry to do, too many dishes to wash and meals to cook.  What I can tackle, though, is today- Christmas 2013.  I can take a minute to capture the magic of today. 

This picture was taken this Sunday before we headed off to our second to last one o'clock church meeting for three more years.  I thought the boys were rather dashing in their Christmas sweaters and, in a miraculous turn of events, Hyrum sat still long enough to get a picture of the four of them.  When I look at this picture I see these boys and I can't believe how blessed I am.  Four boys.  Healthy, happy and wonderful boys grew inside me, made their entrance into this world and continue to thrive and amaze me on a daily basis.  I am blessed. 

 

We started our Christmas celebrating at my mom's house with a little dinner and my dad was kind enough to snap this picture. 

After dinner with my parents we loaded up and went to temple square, as has become our Christmas Eve tradition.  We love the lights, the music, the nativities and that temple.  This year was a little more crowded than years past but the boys were good with the exception of Hyrum who kind of lost his mind.  He's two though and it's forgiveable.  There were some really sweet moments while on temple square that I wanted to capture. 

• At one point I was walking hand in hand with sweet Noah and we started talking about the temple and how Nat and I were married there.  When I told him that the temple made us a forever family he squeezed my hand and melted into me a little bit.  
• We took the boys to see the statues of Joseph and Hyrum Smith and they all got really excited at Hyrum's statue and tried to get Hyrum as excited as they were.  He remained a little confused.  
• I was praising Luke for always setting such a good example in public for his brothers and I could tell that it meant a lot to him.  He cuddled up into me and thanked me for noticing. 
• Isaac was really sweet and quiet the whole time we were there.  I could tell he was really taking it all in.  He's a pensive little one who notices everything.

We didn't stay as long this year on temple square.  We were tired and the boys were claiming to be hungry so we headed home for cookies and cocoa.  After a snack and setting cookies and carrots out for Santa we sat in front of the fire where the boys took turns singing Christmas songs for us.  They then surprised Nat with their recitation of Luke 2.  We've been working on it in the mornings before school and we memorized about half of it.  I was particularly impressed with Isaac.  I didn't even know he'd been paying attention but he had large passages committed to memory.  I thought that it would be fun to fall asleep in front of the Christmas tree and then carry the boys up.  They had a different idea though and just wanted to get in their own beds.  Fine with me.  I fell asleep next to Isaac.  Nat made several attempts at waking me up and I finally went down and laid on the couch while he got things ready.  

Luke and Noah snuggled up and fell asleep in Luke's bed.  I'd like to think there were visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads but I'm pretty sure neither one knows what a sugarplum is.  I am not entirely sure that I know either.  I could google it but I am sure it would take the intrigue out of it for me.  I took this picture after stockings were stuffed and Christmas was all set out.  This was done mostly by Nat while I struggled to stay awake and help him locate Christmas.  I am not a night person.

Then Christmas morning was all too quickly upon us.  The boys got up about 6:30 and were itching to get downstairs.  I made them pose for the stair picture and got these hilarious results.  Noah and Isaac managed some cute expressions but Luke and Hyrum took turns looking pained instead of excited.  Luke was the most animated about coming down and discovering Christmas.  They opened their stockings and played happily with the contents while we prepared breakfast. 

 Every boy got a few toys in their stockings.  Isaac, not surprisingly, latched onto his toys and tried to carry every last one of them everywhere he went.  After stockings my parents and brothers arrived and ate with us. 

After breakfast the present opening ensued. The boys were darling and grateful.  They were especially excited about the gifts that they gave each other.  This is one of my favorite parts and they always manage to know exactly what to select.  Noah wins the most enthusiastic award. Everything was exactly what he wanted and he let us all know it.  

 I-guy just made me melt all day.  He was so happy and sweet.  He just about burst with pride when I opened the present he'd made me at preschool.  He's been so excited for me to open it all month.   Being the mom at Christmas gets better and better.  These boys fill the day with wonder and magic. 

Fourth Grade!

Fourth grade!  It seems unreal to me that this guy is a fourth grader for a number of reasons, including the fact that just yesterday he was a babe in arms.  Fourth grade seems like a milestone-- he's an upper elementary student.  He was ready (unlike his mother) to head back to school.  He's especially excited about the daily trips to the library to keep him in books.  (I tried over the summer to make sure that he had something to read but he reads way faster than I can get to the library.) Some of his best friends are in his class and he came home from school the first day and told me his teacher was , "Awesome."  He's excited to head out the door every morning and really likes having his brother at school with him all day.  I, on the other hand, am struggling.  I feel like the summer came and went before I really had a chance to soak up my time with all my babies at home.  Their childhoods seem to be flying by and I can barely enjoy one stage before they're on to the next one.  Here's to a great school year!

The first day of first grade

This little guy left my side Monday morning to join the ranks of kids whole stay the whole day at school.  He's now packing a lunch and learning to eat between chatting with his friends.  I knew I needed to sit down and capture the magic of his first day before the memories left me for good.  He's been thinking about first grade all summer long and asking me questions from time to time about how things work and wondering if his teacher would be nice.

The first day was exciting for him and he actually told me that there was no need to walk him to class, he could just go with his friend Jake who knew where he was headed.  I insisted on walking him to class, helping him find where to put his lunch and then took a picture of him at his desk.  I was then dismissed with a little wave and an "I love you, Mom". 

He's come home cheerful and excited every day and loves his teacher.  He's made friends with the other Noah in his class and loves to list the kids that are in his class that were in kindergarten with him last year.  

I'm pretty smitten with him.  He wants to follow the rules, works hard and is genuinely concerned for others.  He's reading well, loves to color and do worksheets and is interested in Math.  

While I miss my wide eyed little guy during the day I am excited for the adventures he's having in first grade.  

My boys

Smart boy

This little man knows how to use my phone, undo the child locks and get down whatever he's after.  His latest trick is climbing out of the crib.  He was napping yesterday and I ran to get the mail.  When I came back in he was in the kitchen enjoying a snack of craisins. He keeps me running.  The wonderful thing about a forth child though is that I find myself delighting in his accomplishments, knowing that the busyness is just a phase and that the persistence he is demonstrating will take him far.  There's also a lot of other people in this house to help me keep him alive.  The other boys know to pull him out of the bathroom when they catch him in there.  Also, isn't his bedhead in this picture just adorable?