Zander's Picky Palate

Zander started eating solid foods about a month ago. We started a little late (he was 8 months old), but figured it was no big deal. Well, we've tried all of the cereals, and a bunch of the vegetables, and here's what he will agree to eat:

1. Barley cereal
2. Gerber graduate puffs
3. Any piece of dirt, lint, or paper off the floor
4. The salt off the pretzels Bronson spilled all over the kitchen floor
5. The red M&M he found on the floor tonight (again, I suspect, courtesy of Bronson)

He looks like he enjoyed the M&M, doesn't he?

Dog Groomers are the Best!

So, yesterday we broke down and took the dogs to the dog groomer. It's one of those little things that makes life so much easier, but is difficult justifying paying for when you have at least 3 kids who could bathe the dogs. But, Pippin and Daisy are both shedding like mad, and every time I picked up my crawling baby, he was covered in dog hair. So we decided perhaps it was time for the professionals. Ninety dollars later (ouch!), they're both gorgeous. I swear Pippin (above) lost about ten pounds of fur.
And Daisy with hair bows was hysterical. She scratched them out as soon as possible, much to the disappointment of Annika and Marissa.

For those of you who don't know, Daisy is actually Melissa's dog. So Melissa, these extra Daisy pictures are for you.

Sunday Best

I took this picture because Marissa was having such a good hair day. Sadly, you can't see her hair. But Zander looks good in his tie. And of course, they're all adorable.

Mike Told the Kids No Dresses

The kids recently found this picture of Marissa when she was 6 months old. So they did this to Zander:

Personally, I think a better comparison to Marissa is her 9 month picture:

But that's just me.

Happy Birthday, Connor!

Today was Connor's 7th birthday. He woke up and yelled, "Happy Birthday" to himself. Then he came in the kitchen and gave me a big hug, hugged Zander, and then hugged Annika who defensively threw herself back away from him because she thought he was trying to wrestle with her, and looked shocked when she realized it was just a hug!
After stake conference we went over to Richard and Maralee's for his birthday party. We had steak and favorite potatoes at Connor's request. All of his cousins who live in the state came, and Connor had a great time.
This is his Indiana Jones cake. I used to make elaborate cakes for my kids' birthdays, but then they figured out that ordering a cake from Target means they get more toys. Smart kids.
Connor blew out all of his candles, and then had ice cream. He told his Uncle Matt (Mike's brother) that he wanted all of the kinds of ice cream (there were 4) and ended up with so much ice cream he didn't have room for cake. Not that he cared. Like I said, the cake is just a vehicle for toys.

When we got home he told me it had been a good birthday, which is really all you can ask for.

Sleep Deprivation Causes Memory Loss

Here's a picture of Zander today.

Mike just tracked down this picture of Zander yesterday.

I only vaguely remember that. And it's only been 5 months.

Marissa's Coming For You, Aunt Melissa!

Mike faithfully measures the kids on their birthdays and half birthdays. Today, Marissa was 11 1/2 years old, so Mike pulled out the measuring tape. She grew a whopping 2 1/4 inches in just 6 months, which means she is now 59 inches tall. That's just 1 inch shy of 5 feet, and 3 inches shorter than Aunt Melissa. So, Melissa, you'd better watch your back!

It's Been a Long 4 Months

Zander was born 4 months ago yesterday. To celebrate, we got out the exersaucer (which he loves), and went to the doctor. Sadly, not for his well baby checkup. He has RSV (bronchiolitis) again. Luckily, he's 6 weeks older now, and seems to be handling it better. So am I. Although, he slept more than 7 hours straight last night, I did not. I was awake every couple of hours to make sure he was all right. Of course, I was sleeping right next to him, so it wasn't very hard to check.

And, for anyone who's interested, here are his 4 month stats:

16 lbs. 11 oz.--83 percentile
25.79 inches--81 percentile

Marissa the Babysitter

On Sunday, Zander and I were late to church. It was Zander's first time at church (other than his blessing). Now, I'm one of those people who doesn't believe in bringing the carseat into church with me. I figure, the baby won't stay asleep forever, and then you are stuck carrying both a baby, AND a carseat. So, when I sat down next to Annika, it was with Zander on my lap. He was in a pretty good mood, smiley, happy, and after a few minutes I suddenly realized, I don't have to hold him. I have two little girls right here with perfectly good arms and laps. So, I dropped him on Annika's lap. She lit up at the chance to hold her baby brother. Marissa was sitting on the other side and immediately started cooing at him. And I sat back and listened to testimony meeting until he got fussy.

There are lots of things about having 5 kids that I am finding pretty difficult. The difference in ages can be a big disadvantage when you consider all of the school projects and activities that have to be taken care of for the older kids, while taking care of an infant who can be pretty demanding. But, it's a big plus having kids who are old enough to be trusted holding and watching the baby when I need some time to get things done. Marissa is a great help. She holds him when I need her too, she's figured out how to put him to sleep, and if he cries when she holds him, it doesn't seem to affect her at all. She knows how to feed him a bottle, which is helpful when we have some place we have to be and he is hungry. She knows to give him his binky when he gets fussy. Now all I need to do is teach her how to change his diapers, and she'll be all set--to get paid for watching other people's children while Mike and I stay home wishing we had a babysitter.

Zander Rolled Over!

Yesterday afternoon, I was working on my book shelves, with Zander and Bronson on the floor behind me. One minute Zander was on his back, the next, he was on his belly. And pretty mad about it too, since he's not a big fan of laying on his belly. Sadly, I had my back turned, and although Bronson was right next to him, he was busy reading a book. So, no one has actually witnessed Zander's newest skill, but I'll post pictures (or video, if I can figure that out) as soon as I have some.

Magical Sourdough Start

This is a picture of my magical sourdough start. I got my start from Karen, one of the lovely ladies in my ward. The directions tell you to keep it in your refrigerator and then take it out and feed it every 5-7 days. Now, anyone who knows me can see that eventually, that was going to be a problem. I started out feeding it on schedule. After feeding it, I used it to make bread, rolls, and yummy cinnamon rolls.

But then I got pregnant. So I didn't feed it for a couple of weeks.

I pulled it out to make cinnamon rolls for Annika's baptism last May.

But then I didn't use it again until July. I had to feed it twice to get it all foamy, and to the point where I could use it, but it came right back. I was thrilled! Wow, you don't have to feed it every 5-7 days, but it will work anyway!

I tried to tell one of my friends who has a start (there's a whole group of us in my ward) that it was unnecessary to take it on vacation in order to ensure it didn't die while she was gone, because look how long mine went. She told me that she killed one of her starts after just two weeks without feeding it. Which explains why she takes it on vacation.

Meanwhile, I fed mine in July and didn't feed it again until last week. That's right, I went 8 MONTHS without feeding it. As you can see from the picture, it recovered just fine. So, the only conclusion that I can come to is that my start is magical. So, if you think you would like a magical sourdough start, let me know, because I have a tendency to forget I fed it, so I end up feeding it three days in a row before I remember to make it into dough. So, I always have extra to share! And seriously, it makes delicious rolls.

Easter

I decided it was finally time to blog about easter. Here are my cute kids coloring easter eggs. This year I just boiled the eggs, the girls did everything else. It's so nice they are getting older! I fully expect that by next year, I'll have them boiling the eggs too!





Here are the kids Easter morning. We make them wait until everyone is up before they can go check out what the Easter Bunny brought them. That means the early risers have to rub Mike's back until we decide it's time to go.

These are the kids with their baskets. If you look carefully you can see the mobile that Zander got from the Easter Bunny. Connor put it together for him, and Marissa and Connor attached it to the crib.
The kids had a great time, and so did I!

This is for Mom

Ned, Melissa, and Lucas came to stay in March. Before they got here, I promised my mom that I would take lots of pictures and post them to my blog. That ended up being only 6 pictures, and most of them aren't very good (sorry, Mom!)

Lucas loves the dogs and can't take his eyes off them. Usually, Pippin doesn't sit still long enough to be caught, but Lucas managed to catch him when he was distracted.

This was Kate's birthday party (well, one of them). Lucas is trying to get in on the cupcakes with the big kids.

Lucas and Ben with their cute daddies.

Those cupcakes were really good. Bronson, Kate, Rebekah, Connor, and Annika.

This time they actually knew I was taking the picture. That's Marissa up top.

Ned, Ben, and Matt checking out Ned's cool new phone. Or maybe it was Matt's cool new phone.

Other partygoers not pictured: Melissa, Emily, Zander, and me (obviously). Mike can't technically be called a partygoer since he spent the night in our bedroom trying not to die from pneumonia.

It was so much fun getting together! Melissa and Ned, come back soon!

What?!

So, here's the conversation I had with Annika on the drive home from school today:

Me: So, tonight you, Connor, and Marissa are going with Grandma to a ballroom dance thing at BYU.

Annika: Another dance thing?

Me: Well, yeah. Uncle Mark works with the dance teams so--

Annika: I KNOW that.

Me: --so he can get us tickets for free. Otherwise we'd have to pay for them.

Annika: Otherwise we wouldn't go.

Me (starting to feel the tiniest bit defensive): You don't think we would go? Don't you like--

Annika: We wouldn't even know about it!

Leaving me to spend the rest of the drive wondering, did my 8 year old just call me an uncultured hick?!

So THAT'S What Those Are For!

On March 21st, Zander started using his hands to bat at his gym. He was thrilled that it turned on the lights and music.



Bronson couldn't let me take pictures without getting in on the act, but he sure was cute about it.


Sorry, I still haven't figured out how to turn pictures. If you know how, email me!

On March 27th, Mike excitedly told me that Zander had turned on the music for his gym. Apparently, I was excited enough to take pictures, but not enough to tell Mike about it. Oops!

On a different note, isn't he cute in his Baby Legs? Thanks, Jenny!

Playing Catch Up

So, I've been taking pictures and planning posts in my head, but I haven't gotten in the habit of posting frequently. So, rather than skip all of my posts for the last couple of weeks, I'm posting them now.

This is Annika's knowledge bowl team. The competition was on March 15th. Annika prepared for it by going to school an hour early 3 days a week, starting after Christmas break. The topic was Science, and Annika's areas of expertise were Heat, Plants, Matter, and Light (they divided it up by topic so each team member had an area they specialized in). The competition to just make it on to one of the three 3rd/4th grade teams for her school was fierce, with only half of the kids actually making the team. Annika not only won a spot, but was on the only one of her school's three teams to rank in the top ten for the district! She did a great job!
Here's the team, it consists of three 4th graders and two 3rd graders (one of which is Annika).

Typical Annika.

The team can confer on the answers to the questions.

The thing that makes me the most proud is how much she learned. Three nights ago Mike and I were helping her with her homework, and while trying to help her understand one of her spelling words, Mike asked her what convection was. In exasperation I started to tell him she didn't know that, but was interrupted by Annika explaining what convection is. Mike just looked at me and asked me what I thought she was learning all those mornings. Yeah, good point.

This is for Ned

Now that Zander is over having RSV, I decided it was time to figure out how to use the new digital camera that Mike gave me for Christmas. So, a couple of days ago I got it out, plugged in the battery and waited. Yesterday I took pictures. Today, I got a comment on my blog from Ned about what a digital camera is and how to use it. Thanks Ned! Obviously I needed the help.

I tried to get Zander to smile, but he kept trying to figure out what the camera was doing.

This was closer.

He was being so cute with Mike, talking and laughing. Then I showed up with the camera and ruined their good time. (Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to rotate the picture)

Zander is the Best Baby in the World!

My sweet, angelic, 10 week old slept from 10:30 last night to 6:00 this morning. I am rejoicing today. And Zander is allowed to be as high maintenance as he wants, because just for today, he's the best baby in the world!

Spring Break

This morning at Family Council I asked the kids where they wanted to go for Spring Break. This is what they said:

• Disneyland
• Disneyworld
• Mexico --because it's fun and you can swim
• California
• Texas--to visit the Hopkins
• Chicago--originally identified as "the place where Ned and Melissa live"
• New York--to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
• Washington, DC--to see the white house and the statue of the guy sitting in the chair (Connor and Bronson learned about Lincoln this week), oh, and Aunt Karen
• Boston--Annika "We could see the Liberty Bell!" Me "You mean
• Philadelphia
• France--We've promised we'll take them if they learn french
• Mobile--to visit Mimi and Granpa
• Florida
• Nevada
• Edmonton--there's a cool mall there with a swimming pool
• Hawaii
• Africa
• Brazil
• Japan

As you can see they have big plans. I'd been thinking Wayne County, Utah, home of Capital Reef Monument and only a few hours away. Or better yet, finding a Holiday Inn with an indoor pool and miniature golf course. Although, I've never been to New York . . .