Thanksgiving

Here is a story Jacob brought home today. This is word-for-word, punctuation, and capitalization as is. I couldn't help but pass it on. Who knew my first grader could write so much!

on thanksgiving morning mom wakes up me, kyle, alyssa, and Zachary. we pack up are stuff and go to my grandmas house. It takes us half an hour to get to my grandmas house when we get there we sit down at the table we say are prar. then we eat dinner. there is always a lot of food. sometimes I eat to much food. I really love the turkey. then for desert we have cherry pie. grandma's cherry pie is awesome! then we sit down on the couch and we watch foot ball. grandmas couch is really comfy. we watch the bears Play daddy is really happy when the bears get a touchdown. my grandma has a crawl space. she has a chair to get in the crawl space. In the crawl space we play hide the easter eggs. Its a game where someone has a basket of easter eggs and he hides the easter eggs there is always time for every kid to get a turn to hide the eggs. grandma's crawlspace is really big so there are a lot of places to hide the eggs. we take turns to let everybody got a turn. Kyle finds the best hiding spots so it takes us a long time to find the eggs. then before we leave we hug and kiss each other. my mom has a cold so we cannot kiss her. then we get in the car to go home. i sleep in the car on the way home because it had really bissy day. But it was really fun.

It's not all true, but I still love reading it. I am more and more amazed every day with the progress that he is making, and although you cannot see it, the handwriting is beautiful! I can only hope it continues!
B

Time Away

My first babies are leaving me tomorrow.

Now before you start to worry, let me clarify that Jacob and Kyle are going to my in-laws for 5 days. They love to go and are totally looking forward to it.

I'm looking forward to it as well, but it also still makes me a little sad.

See, I have lots of friends whose children will not leave their parents to play at my house. It makes me sad, but I end up sending my children away from me since they are perfectly fine without me. Does that make me a good mom or a bad mom?

See, my in-laws have graciously offered to take the boys for a few days every summer since they were one and I never let them go until they were three. It has nothing to do with the quality of care I think they will receive, it has everything to do with me trying to hold onto them. I want to be the most important influence in their lives, but I also want them to feel comfortable when I'm not around. Since they are so comfortable when I am not around, am I losing that influence over them that I so desperately want to have? Have I swung the pendulum too far one way?

I try to remember that I get to have time alone with just Zachary and Alyssa. We are going to go to the lake for the weekend and that means that they also get to have time alone with my family. These are good things, I just keep reminding myself of that. That, and the fact they when they come home, they talk my ear off about all the cool stuff they did at Grandma and Papa Iowa's house!

Have fun boys! But know that I will miss you!

Love you!
Mom
B

The Lake

A week ago Wednesday, my mom and I took all four kids to the lake and we stayed until this past Monday evening. My sister joined us Thursday afternoon and my dad came for the weekend.

We had a blast! There were so many new things, lots of old, and so much fun!

Alyssa started off our week of new things by wading chest deep into the water. Previously, she never wanted to be in the water, she just wanted to stand on the pier and hand you bottles to fill with water so she could dump them in buckets on the pier. She loved this little Nemo that swam around. She kept putting it under the pier and Zachary loved to chase it for her.

On Friday Jacob added his "new" thing. He swam to the raft all by himself. Previously he had been going out, but one of us had to be there to help just a little. Friday he did it with no one needing to touch him. He loved jumping off and swimming back. His freestyle is really getting good too! (Jacob is in the blue suit and Kyle is in the green one)

On Sunday, Kyle, not to be outdone, also swam to the raft all by himself. He had actually been the better swimmer, but was nervous when he got where he couldn't touch. My sister, who by the way is a great swimmer, got him to come out with some help, but then got him to swim in all by himself. I didn't even get to see it because I was inside giving Alyssa lunch. But then I got to watch him swim back out. It was amazing! He discovered that he also loved jumping off and swimming back. However, he must have been a little nervous because he clenched his teeth so hard on the jumps that he knocked his first tooth out. The one next to it is loose as well. However, neither one was ready to come out so I hope that it's all okay. We have a dentist appointment next week to check it out.

Zachary didn't have any huge breakthroughs, but he loved this slide that the neighbors have next door. They have been so nice in letting us use the slide whenever we want and they weren't there for a few of the days. He was very sad whenever his brothers would go to the raft. He so wants to go so he started really working on swimming, but he's just not there yet. We'll do some more swimming lessons over the winter and hopefully he'll get there next year. Just since we've come home, he's able to go down the slide at the pool and swim to the side. I'm sure he'll get there next year, which is a whole year younger than his brothers were, but boy does he want to keep up with them!

We also went blueberry picking. The kids are great blueberry pickers. Still not sure what I'm going to do with the rest of the berries that we picked.

On the way up we stopped at the "I Love Toy Trains" store. It was pretty cool, but it was really small. I did get Zachary a video and a CD--one for his birthday and one for Christmas--not sure which will go where yet.

We went to the Loft for pizza and ice cream one night. The boys (and Alyssa) love to run around the miniature golf course they have right outside along with a wooden train they can climb on.

The boys also played a lot of catch, trackball, and went on boat rides. Jacob and Zachary love the paddleboat and we had Alyssa in the speedboat for the first time.

Alyssa had a couple of rough sleeping nights, but all in all did pretty well. Everyone was up early (like 6 am) but we were able to keep a pretty good nighttime schedule. Jacob did fall asleep on the pier Monday afternoon while we were packing up to go home. A perfect end to a perfect week!

B

Alyssa Update-9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 months

Oh my, where has the time gone? I was really hoping to post every month and get a good snapshot of Alyssa's first year, but here we are and I am 9 posts behind. So, I am going to try and catch up, maybe give you a couple sentences and a picture for each month. So, here goes...

9 months-Alyssa has been crawling for about a month and a half and pulling up and letting go for about a month, so I wasn't surprised when I looked over at the ottoman where she was standing, saw her let go, and take a couple of shuffle steps. She has also figured out how to navigate the single step from our kitchen to our family room. By the end of the month she was able to walk about 7-8 steps on her own. She also has started pulling everything out, she got a little purse and she empties it, her diapers all come out, she pulls Zachary's trains out of the box. It's a great game! She's still very smiley. She takes 2 good naps a day and we try to fit them in around the boys' school schedules. It's a fun time!

(November '09)

10 months-Alyssa has learned how to stand up from just the floor--not needing to pull up first. Once she figured that out, there was no stopping her. About a day later, she has chosen to walk exclusively. She now only crawls if it is absolutely necessary! I feel as if she is going to talk any day now, but we'll see. She wasn't as interested in Christmas as I thought she would be, she was just happy to walk around looking at everything. She is starting to roll over in her swaddle during her naps, so I know it's time soon to get rid of it. 10 months--I didn't even know it was possible to swaddle that long. She's doing better at night, but is still often up a couple times for a pacifier or who knows what. I am hoping that still gets better!

(December '09)

11 months--As you can see, we are still working on getting hair. I can't believe that she has stayed bald for so long! Zachary had so much hair, and even the boys had their first haircut at 11 months. She got this rocking horse for Christmas and she loves it! She can really get it rocking and she loves the song it sings when you push its ear. Her other new fascination is scarves. She is always reaching for mine on my coat. She loves to put it around her neck and walk around with it. She comes over to me with this amazingly proud look on her face. We also got rid of the swaddle and she is actually napping very well. She will nap for at least two hours in the morning and I will often have to wake her up to take Zachary to school. It's fun because then I get to spend all the time Zachary is at school with her and she is awake for all of it. Sometimes, she will take another nap before everyone is done with school and I have a neighbor who is in middle school come over off the bus and watch her (translation-sit in my quiet house while she sleeps) until I get everyone picked up. It's great!

(January '10)

(January '10)

12 months--Oh my, a whole year has gone by already. As you can see, we still have no hair, and we still are not saying any words, but just recently, she has really started to understand what we are saying. It's fo fun to ask her, "Where's your pink blankie?" and to have her start searching the room for it. She is still sleeping really well for her naps. She still wakes up at night, but maybe seems to be getting a little bit better. All in all, she is such a joy. She is still a peanut. She weighed in at 19 lbs. at her one year check up. We hope to hit 20 lbs. soon!

(February '10)

13 months--Ah, the weather finally warmed up enough to get outside a little. As you can see, we still have snow, but Alyssa got her first real pair of shoes and she wanted to get outside in them! She is loving walking around with her new "pink" push toy that Grandma just thought she had to have for Christmas!

(March '10)

14 months--As we start to head into the warmer months, Alyssa just keeps on growing. She is now pretty much eating everything that we do. As you can see in this picture, she especially loves chocolate chip cookies (or maybe this was an oreo--this is the problem with doing this so much later). Anyway, she eats most everything that we put in front of her. She likes spicy chicken a lot and lots of veggies as well. She has all 8 teeth in the front and by the way she is chomping on her fingers, I would gather that we will be getting some molars soon!

(April '10)

15 months--We finally got into May. That's always one of my favorite months. School is getting ready to get out so the kids are excited and we get to go to Pella for Tulip Time. Alyssa wore the same top she wore last year. However, this year she needed a skirt to go with it. She looked just darling and loved looking and touching and smelling all the tulips. I love this picture because I think it's hilarious that the tulips are taller than she is. She is getting ready to wean down to one nap, but with Zachary starting preschool at 12:45, I just can't give that to her yet, so she will take one big long nap from 10:30-12:30, and then I try to put her down again when the boys get home from school, but with soccer it makes it really hard, so she has been a little tired this month. She has been sleeping pretty good at night. I'd say about half the nights we don't hear from her at all and the other half she will cry out, but we don't often have to get up with her anymore. Hopefully we're getting there!

(May '10)

16 months--Wow! This is when things really start to get fun! I love this age. When my children get to this age, this is when I start thinking, "Gosh, I'd like to have another one!" However, we won't! :) Did I mention we are addicted to the pacifier still. I guess I'll try to start taking it away around 2. She is really good for the most part and we keep them in the bed. As you can see, she still can manage to sneak one on me every once in awhile. In the picture, I had been drying my hair, so she went in her room, grabbed a pacifier, and climbed up in her recliner to read! She loves books (the teacher in me is so proud!) and loves to be read to as well as read them on her own (even if they are upside down!). Her hair has started to fill in and it's been fun to put little pigtails in them. She has become a climber as well. I don't remember any of the boys being able or wanting to get up on things like she does. We'll just have to see where that gets us! She has transitioned seamlessly to one nap. Really, she has been the easiest of the four. She will sleep for about 2.5-3 hours each afternoon, but I'm not sure where I'm going to get all that time once school starts again! She has now gotten three of her four molars and seems to be working on the fourth one. I love watching her little brain work and I'm still waiting for the day when words just pour out of her mouth. So far, we have mama and dada--I think.

(June '10)

17 months--And that brings us to where we are! Here you can see my little fish up at the lake! She is loving summer! She aches to be outside and I can't keep her still once we are. She loves to put her suit on and seems to think that swimming diapers are for pooping in (if only they weren't so expensive, potty training-done!). She loves to interact with her brothers and all of the sudden we are starting to get some real words! She says, mama, dada, no, I don't know, uh-huh, ball, book, bug, bee, and sometimes Cassie (Grandma's dog). There are other things that she will say on occasion, but I wouldn't call them words yet. Although I can do pigtails in the back, I am still waiting for some hair to grow in on top. I want to do ponys on top of her head! Hey, she's my only girl, let me have my fun! :) Anyway, she is a very bold and brave little girl. Just yesterday I found her sitting on top of the kitchen table. I wish I had run for my camera! I'm sure it will happen again. She gets knocked down often, but only lets it bother her when she is tired. As I pass through each of these stages for the last time as a mom, I am trying to treasure each one and hope that I have enough pictures to help me remember each of them. Each child has been different, but fun in so many ways!

(July '10)

B

Busy Social Calendar

We went out to dinner last week Friday, as per our usual custom since school has started. On the way there we were discussing what we were going to do the next day. Zachary has learned how to ride a two wheeler, but doesn't really want to do it. I wanted him to see that if he keeps going, he can go on a bike ride, just like his brothers. So, I started talking about all the places they could go Saturday, the bike path, the park, etc. It was supposed to be beautiful so I thought it was a good day to be outside.

Kyle takes in all the conversation, and then says, very boldly, "That sounds like fun Mom, but I don't think I can go. I have a playdate with Reece tomorrow."

Excuse me, what?

I have not been informed of this playdate, so I say to him, "Honey, I haven't talked to Reece's mom to see if he can come over."

Kyle says, "That's okay Mom, I'm going over to Reece's. I just need you to tell me how to get there."

Well, at that point, Kyle and I had to have a serious talk about how playdates work and how I have to talk the the other child's mom and so on. Anyway, fortunately, the next day was beautiful and all his friends were outside playing and he kind of forgot about it. However, I did talk to Reece's mom and she said that Reece woke up saying, "What time is Kyle coming over?" So it was definitely planned between the two of them.

I'm having trouble adjusting to him getting so big and being so social and I'm starting to feel left out. Reece's mom said that she would love to find a day to have Kyle over (that was just not a good one) and if/when that happens, I won't be staying and that will just be another part of his life that I don't know everything that happens. Letting go is getting harder and harder and while I'm ready in some ways, I'm definitely not in others. I want to make sure I can still guide him, we all know he still needs it. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep it altogether, both physically and emotionally. What a big boy he is!

B

I'm Thankful For...

Yesterday in school, Zachary had to color a turkey and on it his teacher wrote all the things that Zachary told her he was thankful for. He turkey read like this:

"I am thankful for my trains, my cars, Kyle, my mom, my dad, and my baby Alyssa."

When I talked to him later, I said, "I think you forgot someone."

He replied, "No, Jacob is not my friend."

A little sad, but I found it funny too because every day after school Zachary just can't wait to play with Kyle while Jacob is usually throwing fits because he is so tired. Jacob usually wants to play with a grown up or gets mad at Zachary for every little thing they do together. I can understand why, at this point in time Zachary might not consider him a friend.

Little does he know that he has three friends for life, and I am so grateful for all of them!
B

The Sweetest Thing

I was telling Alyssa's birth story the other night to some friends and I had a memory that I had forgotten about. I wanted to write it down so that I don't forget about it again because I think it is just about the sweetest thing that my mom has ever said to me--not that there haven't been other sweet things, but this has stuck with me.

My mom was supposed to be with me for the birth of Alyssa--my only daughter, my last child, I wanted my mom in there. However, due to the speed of her birth, my mom didn't make it. She arrived about 10 minutes or so after Alyssa was born, around 10:00 or so. She stayed with us and hung out through my recovery time and through the move to the postpartum room. My mom has this intense fear of being over-present in our lives so she tends to go a little too far in the opposite direction and I wish she was around a bit more.

So I kept waiting for her to feel like she was intruding and say she was going home to get some sleep, it was after 1:00 in the morning by now. However, she stayed, and I don't remember exactly what I said, but it was something like, "You don't have to stay if you don't want to, but you are welcome to." Her response was something that just struck me and I don't think I'll ever forget it. She replied,

"I'm not ready to go yet."

I don't know why I love her so much for saying those words, but it makes me tear up just thinking about it and picturing that night. It just reminded me how much Alyssa and I are connected to her and how much I want my daughter to grow up to be just like her. She is so strong and seems to need no one, but at that brief moment in time, I saw that she needs us, maybe not as much as we need her, but some, and that meant all the world to me.

B

Sleep

Okay, so those of you that know me know that when it comes to sleep, I am a bit of a fanatic. The one thing I cannot stand is an overtired child, especially my own. I find that this is when a lot of behavior problems occur and my children especially struggle when they are tired. Now, this doesn't mean that I won't occasionally skip a nap or stay out late for something special, but in general, I protect my kids sleep with my life.

When my children are napping, my house is generally quiet. There is often the general noise of a household, but I don't let the bigger kids play upstairs, I usually send them to the basement. Zachary often gets to watch a movie during Alyssa's naptime.

Today I am stressing out big time! I have repairmen here who I desperately need here. I have not had a washing machine for over a week and a half and they are here to fix it. However, I know that Alyssa is not going to get the nap she needs. Add on that I can feel a tooth getting ready to pop through, so she hasn't been sleeping as well, and I am preparing myself for one cranky child for the next couple of days. This makes me so sad because Alyssa has always been such a happy girl and I find myself just wanting to cuddle her so that she isn't so cranky. Well, that's not working so well. Did I forget to mention that she pulls up and is constantly letting go and standing on her own for 5-6 seconds at a time? This means that even cranky she wants down and wants me to sit by her while she does this and then cries when she falls.

Last night she was up three times crying. One time she cried for 10 minutes, but the other two times, it was a couple of cries and she went back to sleep. I know that this is not helping her situation either.

Ah, this too shall pass!
B

Alyssa Update-8 Months

Since our beautiful baby girl is going to be eight months old tomorrow, I think I will skip seven months and go right to eight. So much has happened these last few weeks, I don't even know where to start! I guess that the big milestone is crawling. The video that I posted below shows the progression over the last month of her getting to crawling. She has been crawling for about the last two weeks. Then just a few days ago, I found her like this:

She still can't pull up on the couch or things like that, but I know that it is not far away. Her crawling is very purposeful. She doesn't just crawl to explore, she only crawls if she thinks it will get her somewhere that she can stand up. I don't know if this means she will be a early walker or not, but she definitely knows what she wants. She often crawls to me and reaches for my hands so that she can pull up. She does it pretty easily with me compensating for her balance! You can also see in the video that she has started to bang toys together as well. Soon she'll be clapping! If you listen closely (not to me of course-yuck!) you can hear her babble some too. She likes the gutteral sounds--you'll hear guh, guh, guh.
She is a very good eater. She especially loves finger food. Here she is starting to hold her own sippy cup as well. She still has cereal for breakfast, yogurt for lunch, and fruits & vegetables for dinner. Someday she will start to grow hair, although she leaves hats on her head and lets me put cute headbands in, so I am hopeful that she will leave bows and barettes in as well!

Alyssa continues to be a very go with the flow kind of girl. However, my hubby has agreed to work from home Mondays and Fridays so that I don't have to wake her from her afternoon nap at 2:45 to go get all the boys. I also have a neighbor who is in 6th grade who comes on Tuesdays and Thursdays when she gets off the bus from middle school at 3:20 so that I don't have to wake her then either. Both situations have helped me be more at peace with everything. I was feeling so cruel constantly waking her up. This photo is from Wednesday when I have to wake her up twice, once for gymnastics in the morning and then to get everyone from school in the afternoon. I still swaddle her for naps and here I even took the swaddle off and she was still sleeping. She is so peaceful, I hate to have to wake her, even if it is just one day a week.

The video is about three minutes long. I tried to keep it short. I am hoping to post another video soon of Zachary making her laugh. It makes me laugh to watch it. I hope you get the same reaction.

Alyssa still loves her pacifier. We are getting better about not having to go in at night and give it to her, but we still do if we have to. I am already dreading th day that we have to take it away from her. She also still loves her little pink blanket. For those of you who know what I am talking about, we haven't lost it yet! I was given some fabric to make more, but just haven't called the right people yet.

All in all, I continue to be in disbelief at what a good baby she is. She is still a peanut, but developmentally is right where she needs to be. I said to my hubby the other day that it is all going too fast. She is no longer an infant, now she is just a baby. While is some respects, that's great, some parts of babyhood can't go fast enough, others I would like to linger around for a bit. It just seems like we are always in a rush. For example, on Wednesdays, her day literally goes like this: wake up, nurse, play while mommy dresses, high chair for breakfast, dress her, stroller, bed, car seat, maybe play for a little while, nurse, car seat, lunch, car seat, drop Zachary at school, car seat, bed, car seat, pick Zachary up, car seat, pick boys up, car seat, bottle, play a little, dinner, nurse, bed. For the most part, she just does it, but I always feel for her. I know that she will get her time, but I guess these are the pitfalls of being a youngest!

I love you Alyssa Diane!

B

Happy Birthday Zachary!

Well, here it is, a whole nother year has gone by. The little boy who at this time last year was my "baby," has now been replaced and has become a big boy four year old! Happy Birthday Zachary!

ZACHARY

Age: 4

Personality: Lovable, Happy, Independent, Stubborn-When you have your heart set on something, you have to get it, everyone else, beware!

Favorites:

Food: Anything that you consider a snack--even PB&J can be a snack if we eat it at a different time or away from the table, chocolate milk, ice cream, cake, peas, bananas, pasta, meatballs

These are pictures from Zachary's birthday dinner at the train restaurant. There are two sort of close to us-he really doesn't care which one we go to, so long as we go!

TV Shows: Dinosaur Train, Thomas, Sid the Science Kid

Movies: Awesome Trains, ABC Trains

Toys: Thomas trains, GeoTrax, Matchbox cars, Big Wheel

Games: Hi Ho Cherrio, The Number Game, I Spy

Dear Zachary,

You seem so grown up to me. I can hardly believe that you are four already. You have learned so many new things this year. You can count to 20 without skipping any numbers, you are starting to learn all the sounds that go with your letters, and you can almost ride your bike by yourself! You are as stubborn as your mom, so it's no wonder that we butt heads sometimes (er, often!). You continually surprise me at how fast you can learn something. You recently moved to a booster seat in the car and you can already buckle your own seat belt. You really didn't know hardly any letter sounds and now that you have been in school for a month you are not only learning them quickly, but you can remember them when I ask you about them. You are starting to have friends and it is a joy to watch you play with them. You can be so considerate in making sure that your friend has enough toys to play with (however, as long as they are not the ones you want!). You have a very special relationship with your brothers-I can tell you love them very much. I love how you always want to hug and kiss Alyssa before she goes to bed. I love to hear you say, "Good night! I love you!" She really loves you too. You have become the brother that can really make her laugh. You two will be very close as you grow up. You still love trains-not sure how long it will last, but for now other interests are few. I can't wait to see what happens in the next year--just know I'll be watching and loving you every minute of it!

Love,
Mommy

B

That Mom

Today I became "That Mom." You know, the mom that everyone is always looking at and talking about. The mom that I swore I'd never be, and yet, no one in my family is any worse for the wear, in fact, some are even better off! Let me show you...

First of all, today was Wednesday. That means that school starts 10 minutes later so that the staff can have a full hour before school of professional development time. I don't mind, I just don't always remember to send them later and we wind up wating outside the doors, and waiting with five-year-old boys is never good.

So, therefore, we don't get home from walking them to school until almost 9:30. By the time I get Alyssa settled down and down for her nap, it is almost 9:45. At 10:45 when it is time to take Zachary to gymnastics, just 5 minutes down the road at the community center, she is still sound asleep. I don't have the heart to wake her up for a ten minute adventure, after which we would be right back home. Enter my wonderful neighbor. I call her and she agrees to "babysit." This means that she gets my monitor and if Alyssa wakes up, she will use my garage code to get in my house and get her up. Then they will go back to her house until I come home. To me, this is a much better solution to a sleeping baby than waking her up for little reason. So, Alyssa stays asleep and I end up still having to wake her up at 11:40 to go and pick Zachary up. Alyssa got almost another full hour of nap this morning. Yet, the idea still makes me feel like, "that mom."

Then after gymnastics, Zachary, Alyssa, and I head to the Burger King by his school so that he can get a quick bite to eat and be at school on time. Since Alyssa had just woken up, I figured that I would nurse her there and then give her lunch at home after we dropped Zachary off. Well, Alyssa wasn't so sold on that plan. She wanted to eat, since the rest of us were eating and I hadn't brought any of her food. So, then again, I became, "that mom." I was finished, so I sat Alyssa on the table with her legs hanging off, facing me (I was right there, she wasn't going anywhere) and started giving her bites of french fries. That's right. I gave my seven-month-old daughter french fries. It totally worked too because she never moved and just kept right on eating. I think I gave her 4 or 5 fries in total. She couldn't get the bites in her mouth fast enough. It was actually kind of fun to watch her. Then we took Zachary to school and I brought her home and I did give her some yogurt and what not.

So, all in all, Alyssa actually benefitted from me being "that mom" and now I can completely understand why moms do many of the things they do. If you had asked me why 5 years ago, I would have just shrugged and shaken my head. I am learning--do what's best for your family, even if it means you have to become "that mom."
B

Alyssa Update-Six Months

Okay, so again, I know that she's going to be seven months tomorrow, but I didn't want six months to slip away--yet another thing that's getting away from me!

Anyway, Alyssa continues to be a very happy, very flexible baby. I am always amazed by the way that she can get herself from one nap to the next to bedtime given the confines of our schedule. She can't go down until about 9:30, after I get the boys dropped off at school, and she has to be up from her second nap by 3:15, and 2:45 on days when Zachary has school so I can get everyone. Then on Tuesday and Thursday nights, she has to get an early bath and then hang out at Jacob and Kyle's soccer game. This means that she cannot go to bed until at least 7:30. And through it all, she is rarely fussy and just loves to see all her brothers.

Kyle continues to be the one who can get the biggest belly laughs out of her. However, she has started to take a real liking to Zachary-since he is now the only one home with her all day. She loves to watch him run from place to place-especially if it if right past her.

She started sitting right before she turned six months and by now I would say she is a pretty proficient sitter. She has also started to try and get on her hands and knees. Look for a video soon. I'm not sure how much time I have until she is crawling.

Just in the last couple of days she has started babbling, so I'm not sure if we would consider her doing this at seven months, but it is so cute. She just talks to all her toys and it certainly sounds like she has something important to say.

Right after she turned six months we again started letting her cry at night (not going in and giving her the pacifier) and this time it worked great! She now goes down between 7 and 7:30 and sleeps until about 6:30 or later--one day as late as 8:15! We still do hear her cry at night every once in awhile, but it's gotten so much better. She will only cry for a few minutes and in the morning I often find her with a pacifier in her mouth-and not the same one she went to bed with! She is taking two great naps a day and I really couldn't be happier with her sleep.

She has also started eating three meals a day. Her breakfast is some kind of cereal-rice, millet, oatmeal, etc. mixes with some avocado. Her lunch consists of yogurt with fruit mixed in-usually pears or bananas. Her dinner is usually two vegetables or a fruit and a vegetable, whatever we have on hand. She loves her food and can get cheerios and puffs in her mouth all by herself. I can't wait until she can expand her food choices a little more!

Here are a couple of pictures from her last four weeks. She seems to be changing so much by the day!

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Bouncing Baby Girl

So, we just got a new computer and we're hoping that the videos will load better now. Thought we'd try it on this. A six month post is coming, but here is something to keep you coming back!

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Alyssa Update-Five Months

Wow, I can't believe that she is already five months old. She all of the sudden seems less like a baby. She is starting to sit on her own and today rolled over for the first time. See the video below. It's not a great video, but it gives you the gist.

Alyssa is really becoming very intertwined with her world. She especially loves her brothers. Kyle can really make her laugh, but all of them can definitely make her smile. She usually takes one two hour nap a day, and sometimes more than one. We aren't doing much better at night yet, she is still up anywhere from 1-6 times to put her pacifier back in. I am wondering how that will change now that she is rolling over.

She can consistenly get toys into her mouth, and her hands are always in there. She drools like a madwoman. My mom thinks there are teeth coming soon, but none of the boys had teeth until at least 8 months, so I'm not holding my breath.

She has wonderful smiles and you can tell that she is proud of herself just to be alive and be able to do all the things she can do.

She went to her first Cubs' game in the middle of June and luckily the Cubs won, because she did not particularly enjoy it. She cried every time the crowd clapped and cheered, and since we went to a Cubs-Sox game, that was pretty much every batter. She did finally go to sleep, but I think we'll wait awhile before she goes again.

Alyssa Update-Four Months

Okay, okay, so I know that she is going to be five months tomorrow. But, I missed three months and I didn't want to miss getting down on paper (or in cyberspace) what she was like at four months.

Alyssa continues to be our little peanut. She weighed in at 12 lbs. 1 oz. at her four month check. She was also 24 3/4 inches as well. She is in the 60th percentile for height, but only the 10th for weight.

Milestone-wise, however, she is right on track or maybe even a little ahead of the game. She has no desire to roll over, but I think she could if she wanted. She has found her feet and her hands just immediately go for them if she is laying on her back. She has even gotten them to her mouth a couple of times. She holds herself really well and the doctor thinks that she will be sitting by the time she goes in for her 6 month check.

We still are not sleeping all that great. As much as I love that the pacifier makes her a happier baby, it does give us problems at night. We are up anywhere from 1-5 times a night to plug that silly thing back in. We tried for about two weeks to let her "cry it out" and not go in and put it back in, but it never got any better, so we are putting that all on hold for a month or so. She is still going to bed late at night (around 9:30 or so), but she feeds around 4:30 or 5:00 and then goes back to sleep until about 8:00.

All in all, she is a very happy baby. She has discovered that she knows her brothers and Kyle can get her laughing like no one else can. She started laughing just after she was three months old.

Here are some pictures that I took right after she turned four months. She was getting tired by the time they were actually ready for her so her smile is not the best. She has this wonderful smile. She has a huge mouth! There are others on the JC Penney's website. Here is that info: Go to https://www.smilesbywire.com/home.asp?AC=LTPP0250111481JCP and then enter my first and last name as the customer name. You should be able to see them all.

Can't believe how quickly it is going by! We love our little peanut! All five of us!

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Tulip Time

Okay, so I'm a lot late in posting, but these last two months have just seemed to get away from me. At the beginning of May we went out to my in-laws in Pella for Tulip Time. We love to go every year and my mother-in-law has even made Dutch costumes for all the girls and manages to find wonderful costumes for all the boys. This year she even made Alyssa a costume that matches mine. I hope that she knows how special that was to me. It is such a wonderful time--all of my hubby's family finds a way to be there together. We come from Chicago and Denver and it has become more of a family affair than Christmas and it's very speical that way. Anyway, after much eating and parade-watching, here are some of the pictures that were taken.

Doesn't Jacob look extremely excited to be scrubbing streets?

Kyle did a great job! Maybe I should hire him permenantly!

Zachary pulls the "I'm too cute to work" face!

This is the Dutch costume my mother-in-law made for Alyssa. She looks so happy to be wearing it! Hopefully it will fit her again next year!

Here is the best picture that we have of the whole family. It's pretty good!

Looking forward to next year!

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Overheard

Zachary: What kind of shower talks?
Mom: I don't know, what kind?
Zachary: A TALKING SHOWER!
Mom: Oh, of course.
Zachary: That was a joke.
Mom: Oh, it was, huh?
Zachary: Was it funny?
Oh Zachary, not as funny as you are telling it!
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Overheard

Not sure if I remember the words exactly, but the conversation in the car this week went something like this:

Kyle: Mom, what happens if Dad dies before you do.
Mom: Well, I don't like to think about it, but we would be okay, I guess.
Kyle: Then I could marry you.
Mom: Well no, we don't marry our moms.
Kyle: Then who am I going to marry?
Mom: Well, I'm sure you will find a nice girl to marry someday when you are a grown-up.
Kyle: When I am 18 then I will be a grown up and I can get married.
Mom: You can get married then but most people don't get married until MUCH later than that!
Kyle: (after thinking for a minute or so) Mom, how will I find someone who has the same last name as me?

After a little giggle in my head, I explained that girls usually change their last name when they marry boys. Just another example of how my boys are growing up in the world and trying to understand it!
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Alyssa Update-Two Months

Well, officially, Alyssa will be two months old tomorrow, but since we were at the pediatrician today, I thought I would go ahead and give you all the update. She weighed in today at 9 pounds, 12 ounces, and was 22 3/4 inches long. Both of those put her at the 25th percentile, so the doctor thinks that we may just have a cute, little peanut on our hands. She has been hitting all her milestones. She loves to smile at us and has started to "talk" to us as well. However, I think she smiles and "talks" more to the star that lights up and plays music on her playmat than she does to us. Here is her most recent picture. I took this yesterday.

She has also continued to be a pretty good sleeper. The last two nights she has slept over 7 hours, so we have been able to start feeling a little more normal around here as well. Hopefully that will continue. Now that she has discovered that there is a world outside of her, she is less enthusiastic about taking naps, but will sleep for a couple hours in our arms. Oh well, they're only little once and we will never have another one this little again, so I am just trying to go with the flow. Before long she will be up and walking and walking away from me. Right now, I will just try to hold onto her while she is little.

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P.S. Here is one more picture. This was taken at 6 weeks, right when she started smiling.

Baptism Memories

We baptized Alyssa on Sunday, March 22. It was a wonderful weekend of friends and family. My hubby's family all were able to come in. They all stayed at our house and it was fun playing games and chatting. The weekend seemed to go by very fast and it left us counting the days until we see each other again. Zachary and Carson (my 2 1/2 yr. old nephew) especially loved playing together. Here are some of the memories that I have from that day.

This is Alyssa in her baptism gown. It was made by my aunt, my mom's sister, and worn by both my sister and me. It was still beautiful. It was perfect.

Afterwards, we were taking pictures and this was the closest that I could get to a smile. Her hair looks really red here too. It's not that red.

Here are three generations of Brown women (my mother's maiden name).

Here is my family.

Here is my hubby's family.

Afterwards we had a brunch in the fellowship hall of the church. We fed between 75 and 80 people. We just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been so supportive to us over all the years. We know that we are truly blessed.

This was the food table. My sister here is just testing the food to make sure it tastes good.

My friend Ann made these cute centerpieces for all the tables.

My mom got the cake and was so excited to be able to order something pink!

It was a wonderful day. One I will not soon forget. As she grows, I am so proud that I am able to show her how many wonderful people she has in her life that love her. Her "family" is truly huge! Thank you to all who were a part of it!

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