Early Riser

We are still struggling to set a schedule for Zoe. Honestly, I am not trying very hard at all. My other two children seemed to set their own schedule and it worked well for all of us. They slept through the night and got up when I did. I am sure these memories are EXACTLY how Dallas and Chelane behaved as babies and is in no way affected by the time that has elapsed.

Zoe is a bit more sporadic. Her time of falling asleep is a bit more variable and she sometimes wakes up in the night. She almost always wakes up between five and seven in the morning, sometimes she falls back to sleep.

This Friday was one of those times she didn't.

She was getting so squirrely in the bed with me that I, not being ready to greet the day just yet, put her on the floor by the bed and rolled over to go back to sleep. Zoe entertained herself by exploring the two-by-three square of carpet by the bed, and bit of carpet under the bed.

Taken 6:53 AM Friday, March 23, 2012

With Solid Food

Zoe was not happy. I think she was hungry or bored and needed something to distract her. I was indisposed and asked Dallas to grab the cheerios and give Zoe a couple to eat. I was expecting three or five on the floor and came out to this:

Zoe concentrating very hard on the cheerios

And this is just the living room. There were a few in the hall and in the kids' room. I am sure there would have been more except we don't have any other rooms!

She had a heck of a time trying to get them in her mouth and didn't have a high success rate, but it sure kept her busy!

Zoe

Since I took that break from Blogging I have decided this is a very good way to keep track of the growth and changes my children make. That being said, I have a lot of catching up to do including the introduction of Zoe.

Zoe at birth. She had a fight with the birth canal and doctor, but that is another story!

Zoe was born in September. She is currently five months old and so much fun! She has figured out how to roll from front to back (she was doing this late two months) and then from back to front and is now army crawling around. I don't think she is satisfied with her mobility. She will pull herself up on to hands and knees. She loves playing with her siblings toys and looking at (and slobbering on) books.

Zoe around two months old.

Last night I was giving a family night out of the nursery manual. Zoe was a few feet away from me and the kids. We were all on the floor. Once I pulled out a picture and held it for Dallas and Chey to look at, Zoe started making her way over and soon was looking at the picture and gumming my knee. She really loves to be involved.

Dallas, Chelane, and Zoe a few weeks after she was born.

She doesn't take a pacifier and isn't fond of a bottle. She was fed from a bottle for a day six weeks after she was born; the day I had my gall bladder out. Luckily, she took the bottle for Cameron that day. She has discovered her thumb and, when she is really tired, will plug herself with that and drift off to sleep. Note that she only does that when she is REALLY tired and SHE has to plug herself with it, she doesn't take kindly to me trying to plug her!

Zoe and her thumb.

Now I preferred my thumb so much that I sucked mine until Kindergarten. So I am a bit worried about the thumb sucking. However, Chelane likes her binky. In fact until we lost it she sucked on it ALL the time. Even now she will sneak a Zoe binky (since they aren't being used) once and a while. Apparently they can both be addictive!

She has also started on some solid food in the last week. We have done cream of rice, cream of wheat, mushed banana (all these mixed with pumped milk) along with bread, white rice, and even waffles right off the table. She seems fond of eating like the rest of us.

Zoe on February 13th, almost five months old.

She is growing and changing so much everyday. She is such a joy to us and we love her!

The Many Faces of Chey

I want to remember how much of a goof and spit-fire Chey was as a pre-schooler, just in case she decides to change :)

She was potty training in these pictures with the power of her new Agent P shirt from "Phineas and Ferb," one of the kids' favorite TV shows (and I will admit I like them as well). To commemorate the beginning of potty training I asked her to smile...

Christmas! (almost two months late)

We actually celebrated sometime during the first full week of January. While it wasn't a up to full Christmas standard - it was after all the first time we celebrated with just our own little family and it was right after a move - it was great for a first go.

A few days before we celebrated (and about three days after we moved in and were mostly settled) we set up the tree. I put hooks on the ornaments while the kids were free to put them anywhere on the tree. I think next year we will have a talk about balance and distribution...

As you can see there are a few clusters of ornaments. In fact, once when tell Dallas to put one on the tree I specifically said to not put it on a branch with another and to spread the ornaments out, so he put it on the branch right next to it instead

Ok, I admit it! I put some of the ornaments on the tree...

We had a nice Christmas Eve dinner of meatballs, mashed potatoes, asparagus, and corn with strawberries and grapes to finish it off and sparkling apple, peach, pear, and grape to drink. (Chey likes to call it "sparkly juice")

I have found my kids love asparagus and I am extremely happy about it.

Also note the festive tablecloth (that is still on our table to this day). I am growing leaps and bounds in homemaking/interior decorating

This is about where the story ends however. Neither Cam nor I remembered to pull out the camera Christmas morning... I told you we are still learning!

Something Dallas got for Christmas/his birthday was a bike and he enjoys new challenge (he has never ridden a two-wheeled bike before... don't get too excited, it has training wheels).

The first time it was ever ridden was to the park. I realized after we started that the way to the park is on a slight incline the entire way. Dallas had to climb that learning curve fast! Then on the way home he was given the chance to work on braking. While at the park he got some practice on the mostly flat pathway.

On the trail in the park. Chey was walking faster than he was riding.

On the sidewalk heading home, he starting picking up speed. He is still wary of going much faster than a run but he sure loves it!

You may notice the weather in those pictures looks not very wintery. We had a week or two of fairly warm, dry weather in beginning/mid January. Since then the snow, rain, cold, and wind have all shown their face and it is no longer very good bike riding weather.

Halloween

Halloween this year was some carving pumpkins, trunk-or-treat at the ward party where Dallas also tried his hand at eating a donut on a string (he gave up after two nibbles), and the Children's Museum "Enchanted Woods" event.

The "Enchanted Woods" was done in the middle of October. The children gathered at the entrance of the museum where King Aurthur sent them on a quest in search of the Golden Rose (if you ask Dallas what they were looking for on their quest, he will still tell you, "the Golden Rose"). They were to ask those they met for assistance and to give them any assistance that they could, because the kids were knights (Aurthur knighted them before they embarked on the quest) and knights always help those around them. The children traveled through the museum meeting Robin Hood, Long John Silver, Humpty Dumpty, Dorothy and the Scarecrow, and many other storybook characters. They helped everyone they met and in return the kids got information on where to find the Golden Rose (if the character knew anything) and a little treat (donated to the museum by local businesses: some small toys or coupons or candy... one stop gave them all schoolboy apples from a local farm). It was very fun for the kids and taught them a few good lessons as well. I have no pictures from that day... not good planning on my part.

Dallas' favorite song is "What's This" from Tim Burtons "The Nightmare Before Christmas." Dallas has never seen the movie, but he loves that song (and can sing most of it himself). When it was time to carve the pumpkin we went online to glean ideas from free pumpkin templates. One template was Jack Skelington, the main character, and singer of "What's This", on "Nightmare Before Christmas". Dallas was sold. He wanted a "Jack" pumpkin. So I gave it a whirl.
Unfortunatly, Jack has a stitched mouth which is fairly difficult to carve into a pumpkin, but it all worked out, although Jack is missing a few teeth...


The ward night I again didn't bring the camera with me so you don't get to see Chelane wearing her Trick-or-Treat bag around her neck and pointing to it when asking for candy or Dallas trying to eat the donut on a string. We must be content with pictures in really bad lighting instead...

Dallas got to be Woody this year and Chelane was stuck using his old Buzz Lightyear costume from last year. She did love being Buzz, although she was mistaken for a boy a lot.

These pictures are after the Trunk-or-Treat. Chelane wanted her face painted, which she didn't hold too still for and didn't keep her hands off afterwards... oh well, I should have seen that coming! Dallas has a Chinese yo-yo in his hand. He LOVED playing with it until he (or his sister) pulled the paper off.

The kids weren't the only one who dressed up. I came almost straight from work and didn't bother doing anything fun. However, Cam went all out. He grew out his hair and sideburns since mid-September when Dallas mentioned he wanted Dad to be Wolverine from X-Men for Halloween. Cam visited a local cosmetology school right before the Trunk-or-Treat to get the hair right.


He finished the look off with a flannel, jeans, his leather jacket, and old army dog-tags.

Please excuse the deer-in-the-headlights look, I really have no idea how that happened! This may be a costume we just improve upon every year, Cam had lots of fun dressing up!

The Wild Locks

Chelane was cursed blessed with fine and wispy hair that also has a loose curl. The fine/wipsy part forces her hair to do very odd things when slept on, and doesn't allow for easy styling; while the 'loose curl' part gives her hair wave with no determinable direction. Put these together and you have a volatile combination.

If left to its own devices, Chelane's hair makes her appear to be a homeless child of seeing-impaired parents. Unfortunately I don't have a picture to prove my point... or perhaps the lack of pictures does just that.

Before I started working, I put effort into Chelane's hair... once and a while (see object 1). Her hair would be very cute for approximately 15 minutes after I put it up (again you will need to trust me, I never took pictures of the ruined product).

Object 1: Cute hair Chelane

After moving to Utah, I have no time in the morning to do Chelane's hair (not to mention I am often gone before the kiddos awaken). However, on days off I attack Chelane's hair with a renewed vigor. Since it had such natural curl, I decided to force it to work in our favor and broke out the defuser.

Just like her mommy's hair, while Chelane's hair has an abundance of curl in the back, the front will not curl to save a life; so I pinned it up. I honestly believe the end product is amazingly cute (but I am bias) and wish I could make her hair do this every time.

Chelane was very unhappy at being subjected to the hair dryer. We had to console her with her binky. But oviously the binky wasn't consoling too well...

A less accusing Chelane. See all the curls?

From the back.

Of course I dolled her up so we could go out. By the time we reached out destination, Chelane had mushed most of the curl out of her hair. Oh well, at least I have pictures to prove it was cute.

Dallas's Mad Skills (lots of pictures!)

Girls like guys with skills. You know like egg-cracking skills, acting skill, photography skills...
(Yes, I shamelessly took that from Napolean Dynamite, a movie I don't really like.)

Dallas has some hidden talents. First, he likes to take pictures; pictures I did not know about until I was loading my pictures onto the computer. I did delete some of his less than complimentary work, but here is (most) of the rest in all it's glory.

Dallas and still life:

The Buzz lightyear beachball. I really feel he captured those little Green Men...

I call this one: Vacuum Over Couch

A picture of Netflix. Looks to be Bugs Bunny and the Road Runner.

Dallas and Portraits:

Chelane less than willing to allow her picture taken. I believe she is practicing for her future diva days... oh, wait she already is one

Chey and Daddy


I think he really captured Cam in this one


Say, "Cheese". Dallas taking the picture of a friend.

As you can see, not only does he take these completely independently, he is quite good at getting the item of interest in the center of the picture. Not bad Dallas!


Second, Dallas acts... sort of. As I mentioned back in this post, Dallas has started "acting" in some "partici-plays" at the local Children's Museum. Here is a picture of him as the "Woodcutter"


In this play there was a bit of standing and sitting and a few lines; not much acting. Dallas would jazz it up a bit by falling to the floor or other oddities. That play wasn't nearly as exciting for him as the play where he was the Big Bad Wolf. Unfortunately, I only have phone pictures for that play, but here they are:

I am sorry if they make your head hurt. Focus and crispness are not the forte of the phone pictures...

Dallas in his adorable Big Bad Wolf costume waiting to start.

Dallas just blew the house made of sticks down! (You can see the employee (in blue) moving the house as it "blows down")

Dallas trying to "huff and puff and blow" the third little pig's house down (his little lips are puckered and his cheeks are full of air... you can't see it with the phone-picture, but he is).

Dallas did so amazing with that part. He was attentive, followed directions, and LOVED trying to blow all the houses down. It was great fun to watch.


Third, Dallas has gained some culinary skills. Back in June, I bought some alphabet cookie cutters, so one lazy Sunday afternoon Dallas and I made sugar cookies and spelled the names of everyone in the house with the cookies cutters. Dallas had great fun and I learned that sugar cookies need to be a bit thicker than, say, pie crust...

Anyway. That day Dallas asked me if he could help crack the eggs. I gave him a short tutorial of what to do, helped him crack an egg, and thought nothing of it until we moved. A month ago, he asked to eat German Pancakes, a recipe that takes 6 six eggs. Then he asked to crack them. I gave him the bowl, and the eggs and watched:

Sorry that is is sideways and small.

I was pretty amazed. He did all six eggs and I haven't cracked many eggs since. Later I showed him how to cut up potatoes one day while making soup. He was able to cu them himself and safely. Daddy got quite nervous seeing Dallas with a knife, so I haven't continued to nurture that skill.

Yesterday, Dallas also helped my clean and carve a pumpkin. The wonders of this kid never end. More to come...

Photo Shoot

Some family pictures! These were taken back in November (so the kids have grown up a little bit since then) but they are still as cute. It was also SUPER cold that day, so the kids were pretty cranky and a little runny/red nosed. However, thanks to the talents of Carrie Stroud, you can't even tell!

Dallas and Books

Dallas has always been a go-go-go sort of child. Even when he was little(r) he wanted to be down on the floor moving, not held and cuddled. He started rolling over, crawling, and walking fairly early. In fact his speech delay could probably be fully attributed to his lack of slowing down. He wouldn't sit still and watch us when we talked to him, he wasn't figuring out how to make the sounds with his mouth (plus the signing - talking by moving - was right up his alley).

Now-a-days he is still a go-er and do-er with one exception: books. He really loves books. And he sits still to look at them. Naptime and bedtime, better known as "quiet time" around these parts, always includes books for Dallas to look at, and often me reading to him as well. His taste is leaning towards longer and longer books.

The other day I read him Pooh's Heffalump Movie Book word-for-word and asked him questions about the pictures ("Who is hiding?" "How is Tigger feeling?") making the book take close to fifteen minutes. He wasn't the slightest bit ansy, even at the end. If you have had the pleasure of experiencing Dallas first-hand, you know him sitting still that long is a pretty big deal.

I hope when I check on him at night in the future I will be greeted by more scenes like this.

Christmas PJ's

I have a sometimes bad habit of taking pictures of things with the intent to blog... and then it doesn't happen. I happened upon this beauty:



It is a family tradition (like in many families I am realizing) to make (or purchase) new PJ's for Christmas. This year Cameron and I braved the early morning Black Friday at JoAnne's Fabric (where we spent two and a half hours, split between the cutting line and the register) to buy flannel at $1.50/yd.

Dallas has been into rockets and things "blasting off" ever since this summer. It may have had something to do with launching homemade model rockets on the Fourth of July... even though, at the time, the sound was very scary to him.

Cam and I count to three after we ask Dallas to stop doing something before we enforce (you know, the time you give the child to make the correct choice on their own... or maybe it is the time you give yourself, silently pleading that they WILL do the right thing on their own so you don't have to get up and clean up yet another mess...). At times Dallas will end our stern "three" with a "blast off" or a blast-off sound.

So when we were in JoAnne's and I found an amazing spaceship/rocket/outer-space themed flannel print, I was ecstatic.

At home when I pulled all the flannel out and started making Chelane's pair, Dallas moseyed over and saw his print. He didn't let go of it for well over an hour.

I was thinking "SCORE!" If only I can be this in tune with what he likes once he hits his teenage years...

Happy Birthday Chelane!

This did happen back on September 30th but with being in Canada, I am just now getting around to writing and sharing pictures about it. (sorry the pictures are pixely or something, they do look better if you click on them and view them full-sized)
Here is the ever-happy birthday girl with her birthday cupcake. I remember Dallas and my little brother's first birthdays both ended in tears and un-touched cake (unless someone making them touch it counts). Chelane was completely different.


As you can see she adored the attention.


And couldn't wait to dig into the cake. (Yeah I started to freak a little too with how close she came to touching fire and hot wax; but, hey, that is the hazard of having a birthday party... we live on the edge).


Big brother Dallas approaching an oblivious Chelane. Yes, he blew out the candle.


After the candle and paper was removed Chelane began to inspect the sprinkle laden cupcake.




Either she really inhaled it that fast or I stopped taking pictures... It reminds me of my first birthday picture (apparently I liked the cake so much I tried to eat the plate). Such a happy girl on her birthday!