How is it July already?

I for one am shocked it is July and guess what?? I haven't blogged in a looooooooooong time again!! What is wrong with me? Besides being busy with 4 kids, a busy real estate business, leading a small group from our home, home schooling the kids and, and, and... So, wow, I guess the blog is a low priority and doesn't need anything from me!! (If the blog starts bickering with its siblings or calling for help in the bathroom, I will be very concerned...) :)

Here's some pictures of the cuties that we did for Eric for Father's Day!!

These boots were made for walking...

Just a fun time outside in our boots!

Grace's PINK 1st birthday party!

Grace turned 1 on September 24th! We celebrated with a pink party! Lots of friends and family joined us and we had a great time together!! Did I mention it was pink?? :)

Elijah's 5th Birthday party

We spent the evening at Chuck E Cheese in Tacoma for Elijah's 5th birthday party on October 10th. We all had soooo much fun playing and doing games (and of course eating pizza and cake!)

Elijah couldn't have been more thrilled with the celebration! What fun!!

Samuel's 7th Birthday

We celebrated Sam's 7th birthday at IHOP with lots of family and friends! What a fun day!
We also continued the Christmas Eve morning tradition, so he gets to celebrate on his actual birthday!! Fun times!

Sammy Hammy

It's funny how sometimes you don't know what pictures you have taken until you get around to editing them at home!

I took this picture of Sam in December at his cousin's birthday party. I was just snapping a bunch of them playing and sliding and bouncing and having an all around great time! It wasn't until last night that I was finally editing pictures from all of December's events, that I finally saw this one!!

I LOVE it! I just love the light on his face and the brightness of the colors! I also love that's he's happy! Of my 4 children, Sam can often be the one who's not having fun or ready to leave from something. So, seeing him genuinely happy and having a blast is awesome to me!

365 Project

Last year I challenged myself to take at least 1 photo everyday and this year I'm doing it again! I'm changing it a bit to share more of them with everyone else though! For 2009 I did print each one and have them all ordered and in hand (shocking I know!) but I still need to put them into a 2009 album! For this year, I'll still do that, because I like to have a book to look through and show the kids and all, but I'll also upload them here and/or on Facebook. Because if I take all these photos, but don't share them with our adoring fans, you all miss out on the little moments that make up our life! So, for now, I've started the 2010 "365 Project" album on Facebook and hopefully soon here I'll get them up on the blog too. In the meantime, feel free to check them out there and let me know what you think!! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=139887&id=630408463&l=506d833293

He's making a list, checking it twice...

As many of you know, my Dad has been a Professional Santa for the past 4 years now! It's fun to have the kids visit him and get pictures whenever there's an opportunity!

Wordless Wednesday!

Slacker.

Yes, I am a blogger slacker. I admit it.

I'm sorry!

This summer has flown by, we've had lots of fun and adventures and I haven't shared a single bit of it with YOU!!

I hope to make it up to you somehow... if you can find it in your heart to forgive me for being so bad at posting!

OK, now that we've officially made up, here's a few pictures for you!! :)

More pictures and stories to come! I promise!!

Sitting Pretty!

It's Official! Grace has started sitting up on her own. She's happy about it and she might be just a tad bit proud of herself! :) Here's a million pictures to prove it! She also is making more and more funny faces, so I threw those in too!

Grace is now 9 months old; HOLY COW, where has the time gone?? At her check-up last week, she weighed in at 16 pounds and is looking good all around!

More updates and pictures to come of other exciting happenings around here, including lost teeth, baptisms, bandanas, Father's Day, 3 boys, fish, 4th of July and much more! Stay tuned my faithful readers!!

Wordless Wednesday.

Ok, just a few words...

Cousins Maddie and Abby came over to play for a few hours the other day.

No more words, I promise.

Baby Food

Another milestone in our baby's life has come this week... starting solid foods! Woo hoo! I dug the highchair out of storage this week and cleaned it up a bit. (Apparently it didn't get properly cleaned when Luke was done with it, because I found food under the seat that was nasty!!)

Anyway, we've purposely waited on starting Grace on baby food for longer than the "norm." I faithfully started Sam and Elijah at 4 months, like their Dr. said to. Can I just say, while it was fun for awhile, it was mostly just a hassle! They didn't need solids yet and, in retrospect, they weren't ready. Because of Luke's health issues, we decided to wait on starting solid foods until about 8 months old. It was a great decision for him and for us. He could sit up mostly and participate and had the whole swallowing idea down better!

So, because of our night and day experiences waiting with Luke, we decided to also with Grace. She'll be 9 months next week (which I cannot believe and also am slightly sad about,) so this seemed like a good time to start!

We had some jars in the cupboard that my niece Abby is done with, but I can see that I'll quickly need to start making my own again, because Grace is a BIG EATER! At her first meal, she ate 3 jars; 2 of squash and 1 of sweet potatoes!

I also remembered something that I've done with the boys... use the highchair tray to pin their hands down, so they won't grab for the spoon. :) It was no exception for Grace either; she did get her hands out a few times though!

Another reason I waited is that I'm still nursing. Sam and Elijah, moreso Elijah, kind of weaned themselves once they started solid foods. I want to nurse Grace until at least 12 months, so I knew it'd be harder to meet that goal, the earlier I started her on baby food!

So, what kind of food will I make and how will I make my own baby food, you ask? I'm glad you asked. Pretty much everything I learned about this subject, came from my Mom and the book, Feed Me, I'm Yours, by Vicki Lansky. I think my Mom had this book when we were babies too. Anyway, to start with, I'll buy vegetables and fruits (probably organic,) boil them, if necessary and blend them up. I either fill up old baby food jars, of which I only have a few right now, fill up ice cube trays or, my favorite, plop spoonfuls on wax paper and freeze them. Once frozen, whether in the jars, trays or plops, then I just store them in the freezer and they're ready for defrosting or a quick microwaving for mealtime.

For foods that don't blend and freeze well, like bananas, I also have a little food mill that works wonders. With this, I can grind up most table foods that we're having and not have to worry about making something seperate for baby.

I (we) hope you have enjoyed our very informative post on baby food and feeding. Now, I have a suprise for you! It's very exciting...

I have found, in the archives, photos of the other 3 kids eating in their highchairs. (Yes, it's the same highchair! We got it from my parents as a shower present when Sam was born.)

This first one is Luke at 14 months old...

The second one is Elijah at 17 months old (before we owned a digital camera, so we had borrowed a friends to use for Luke's birth.)

The third one is Samuel at 8 months old (taken using my Mom's digital camera.)