solids!

 i finally caved and busted open the baby cereal, that i bought a few weeks ago, i couldn't open it....i don't want to admit how fast jo's baby year is going!

she was all smiles!

 and chomped down!

she did really well, the best out of all the kids, id say she ate about a tsp, the rest she spit out and drooled. hahaha

im thinking ill do the rice cereal twice a day for a week to get her use to it then move her onto more textures. sob sob i know in the long run it will be easier on me to start to line up her feeds to the other 2 and not make like, 3 different meals 3 times a day....yeah.....anyways!

my baby is growing WAY too fast!  love her! 0 comments

Posted by mel at 4:22 PM

winter walking!

 jo is in full on teething mode. no teeth yet, but drooling, sucking and munching on everything.  teething has been a nonevent in my house, so im expecting the same from jo. she is adorable!

i put jo down for her nap and took the older kids out for a winter walk. it was a bit chilly, the wind was nasty (chris was home working so i had him listen to the monitor, i didnt leave jo jo on her own!) 

ellie lead the way, she looks so big! sob sob

 into the woods we went to explore

 nate built a fort with the sticks he found

 i stood and did not freeze!!! in my new, amaze balls coat!  it was SO warm!  i can not believe how i didnt get cold!  LOVE this boxing day jacket!

 then nate showed ellie how to properly crunch ice. i love how he took her hand and showed her

 crunch!

 nate was convinced this was an ice fossil

 so fun!

i dragged them home to grab lunch. they would have stayed out for hrs! 0 comments

Posted by mel at 4:18 PM

copper bopper!

 jon and jess came yesterday for a little visit/shopping trip, i went along to chill my my copper dude.  he is so adorable!  look at the cheeks! the lips! the nose!!!!  i see my brother big time in this little fella!

 my ovaries!

 love his sleep position

 after a nursing session, i got my snuggle my copper bopper.

 he was sharing his life story with me, i listened to each word. 

 love scrunchy face man

 nothing more adorable than a baby yawn! the chin!

and that good old baby smell. i am working on a way to bottle it up and save it forever.  until next time cop!  we love you 0 comments

Posted by mel at 4:12 PM

boxing day!

 ellie put the hat on herself ursi and showed me her new pretty.  she even stopped long enough for a picture!

 adorable!

mom and dad came for a little visit on boxing day until sun, then they took off for a much deserved rest/vacation!  we got to spend sometime with them!

 jo jo loves her nana and papa!

1 comments

Posted by mel at 4:07 PM

our walk!

after gift opening, ellie and i took a walk in the +16 weather!  these are the moments that remind me of how amazing it is to be a mom to a toddler. ellie delights in everything, the simple, the moment. she enjoys just living. she was waving to me to hurry up! then grabbed my hand to go walk with her

talking the whole time!

"look! i see a light!"  "i see snow!" "i hear a sound, did you hear the sound? lets go find the sound!" "i hear water! do you hear water! look! there is water! lets go see the water!"

she heard the sound of the water running in the gutter and went to see
ohh the water!

then she was off to find a dog that she heard

and home to jump, because she loves jumping!

and being outside

and swinging and talking

thank you jesus for my delightful girl.

this is what she wanted (i let her) sleep with at nap time

my little monkey turkey, i love her!

i cant wait to discover more of johana's personality!  will she be like ellie? or nate? or her own little person? 

i was cleaning up after lunch today and i said to chris "children really are a blessing!  they are a blessing of laundry, dirt, sticky floors, messes! and more patience learning lessons than i can handle. har!
merry christmas everyone!....the girls are napping (i have them nap at the same time!) and im gonna go enjoy the quiet.....or not.....as nate comes yelling MOM up the stairs!  0 comments

Posted by mel at 12:01 PM

christmas!

we surrounded the tree, coffee in hand to enjoy our first christmas as a family of 5!  we let nate open his big gift from nana and papa first, so i could feed jo and ellie.

nate was thrilled!

then we hit up the tree. ellie got her elmo. she was so thrilled. she could not believe she was holding elmo and he was talking to her!

funny story, you squeeze elmo's tummy and he says different quotes, one was "elmo is your best friend"  well yesterday ellie was sitting beside me pushing his belly and he said "elmo is your best friend" and she said "no!  no elmo best friend! yaya (nate) is best friend!"  my heart!

her elmo

jo jo says a HUGE thanks for new (desperately needed) clothing!  yeah!!!!!

ellie with her leap pad. she loves it!!!

nate was stoked about having his own box of chocolates!

i love this little fella from swissland, ive taken it for myself

muetti gave me this. so fitting!!!!  love it!

little miss maya made me this, i know its for the fridge but i took it up to my desk so i could see it more. its so cute. i love home made gifts from my nieces and nephews!

a hat ursi made for ellie. SO cute!

so this christmas we did something ive never done. i spend more on my nieces and nephews than my own kids!  i cut way back, and i mean way back on gifts!  nate got 4 gifts from us (under 60) and ellie got 2, elmo and a book, jo got me. haha.  i was a bit concerned over nate's reaction about the small size christmas, i chose his gifts carefully and made sure he would like them...

his reaction?  he was undeniably the most grateful and thankful he has ever been. he was thrilled with his little pile and told us over and over how this was the best day of his life. 

i am so glad we did this, not only was clean up, well, almost nonexistent. ha. nate got gifts that he wanted, that fit him and most important he got that materialistic things are not the point!  its family, love and our savior's birth!

we had a simple dinner of eggs, ham, bacon and toast. the kids napped 3 hrs (chris too) and we spent the night driving around looking at the lights.

so thankful for the small, quiet, enjoyable christmas!  it was the best christmas of all! 1 comments

Posted by mel at 11:54 AM

christmas eveness!

why hello there baby jo! welcome to your first christmas eve!

she's in deep thought

bawahhh love

and back to her hand for some more chewing, slobbering and discovering

the 3 kidlets

jo trying SO hard to get into the action with the bigger kids

we let nate open 1 gift Christmas eve, i picked it out especially for him

a new board game!  called scabs and guts....its actually quite fun (and educational score for home education. haha)  and nate WON! he beat us both, i came in last. ha

jo stayed up and supervised the game
 then we put the kids to bed and enjoyed the evening in quiet! can i say halleluiah!

0 comments

Posted by mel at 11:42 AM