First Haircut

He looks bald now!!! It wasn't supposed to turn out that way, but the long hair had to go. He is such a big boy now! I will miss the curly hair, but it just had to go...

Cleaning the garage

What would you say if your 6 yr old came to you and said "Mom, can I scrub down the garage floor after you are done sweeping it out?" "Uh, yes!!!" My very own little Cinderella!!

**awk

Max has improved in his speech during the last few months. He still says the end of most words, and not the beginning. We are trying to work on that. For example, the following words have similar endings. Max litterally uses the same word for all of them and it is up to me to figure out what he is saying. And I try to do it quickly because he repeats himself till I get it right getting louder and louder as his frustration builds because I don't always understand, and it sounds like I am letting my little boy walk around with a potty mouth. Because he puts his own beginning sound on the word(s), which I cannot repeat here...

**awk=

walk
dark
milk
park
shrek
work
talk
fork

Potty and M&M's

He did it for the first time! Max went potty in the toilet. I am no where near potty training, but he slept for 13 hours last night and woke up dry. I knew he must have had a full bladder so we tried, and succeeded!!! Off to the store for some m&m's to put in our cool dispenser that he gets to give one turn for each potty!! And he did it after his nap too!! Ahh, maybe potty training will be in our future. No rush. We'll just go after bed and naps for now. That's what we did with Peter, with no real talk of potty otherwise, and one morning he didn't want to put a diaper on after his morning potty and was then potty trained in less than a week. His decision, and it was so easy. So we're trying it with Max... Warming the pot...

Na-Na

It's official. The boy can speak!!! We heard the wonderful word today for the first time!!! We are so proud of our little Gavin!!!

President's Address

So Pres. Obama had his speech to the children today. I kind of wish they would have broadcast it so we could watch it as a family. But I guess this way they could make sure ALL the kids watched it. I haven't read it yet. Sophie's school opted not to watch it, and so only Peter - my kindergartner - watched it. I plan on listening to it at some point, just haven't gotten around to it yet. So after school I had a few questions today.


Me:Did you watch the President speak today at school?
Pete:Huh???
Me:Did you watch TV at school today?
Pete:Yeah...
Me:Do you know who that was?
Pete:No.
Me:He is the President of the United States of America, where we live. His name is President Obama
Pete:Oh, I didn't know he had chocolate skin, I thought it was whitish.
Me:Nope. That's him. He is the leader of our country. What did he talk about? Can you remember?
Pete:Ahhh, he told me to wash my hands, but I didn't.

And that was that, he ran off to play in that instant. Bored with my line of questioning.

Here's a link to the speech he gave. I know there has been a lot of hype about it, but right now I am middle grounded about it. Maybe I'll feel different after reading it. At least Peter got to see who the president was. We don't exactly have his picture hanging on our wall. I was a little disappointed that his teachers didn't point it out enough for Peter to remember who spoke. But then again, they probably did their best. Seriously what 5 yr old is going to pay any attention to a speech that took 4 pages to print out. I can only assume it took 1/2 hr or more to watch. How did those kids sit still that long listening to a speech of any kind?? Oh well, it's all over now. No big deal in my books.

Eeew

I just killed 9 flies in my kitchen!!!!

And there is a 10th one that is as fast as a cheeta, I can't seem to catch him. His crazy flight patterns are too much to keep up on and I can't always see where he lands. But before the day is through he will be mine!!! Talk about gross! How do they keep getting in and multiplying the way they do? Is it just to get my goat? I hate these little critters. And since I told my kids that flies eat garbage and dirt, we have a household of fly killers. They used to try and catch them, now we all reach for the fly swatters and whack away....

Putting Max Down for a Nap 101

Step One.




-Carry him in your arms up the stairs




Step Two.



-Let him turn the lights off/on at the top of the stairs




Step Three.



-Say goodnight to the picture of Jesus in the hall, and he likes to count His owies now. And give Him a kiss.




Step Four.



-say goodnight to the picture of the Bountiful temple


Step Five.



-say goodnight to the picture of mom and dad







Step Six.

-say goodnight to the pictures of the babies. Name and count them. Baby Fo-ee, Baby Dee-der, Baby Me, Baby Ga. Max counting: ahh, choo, fee, faw.

Step Seven.

-Grab two gees (binkis) out of the binki box







Step Eight.



-Make sure to fill up wawa Pip, or other water bottle he may have grabbed. Today it was wawa Bob (the Builder)

Step Nine.

-Give hugs and kisses (the real kind, not the chocolate variety, though I am sure that kind would be gladly accepted too!!)

Step Ten.

-Close the door behind you.







Sounds complicated and long, but Max is a creature of habit. And a little OCD when it comes to almost everything. But when this routine is followed with patience and love; this is the happy result every single time :)






Ahhh, sound asleep for a nice long afternoon nap!

After more than 2 months of absense I am repenting and catching up on my lack of posts. So, here's a little now, and then a little later, but not too much later. I promise.

Jetta and Gavin

We babysit cute Jetta every week and love having a little baby girl around the house. Don't worry, it's not giving us any ideas or anything... But she is so cute with her big chubby cheeks and all!!! We only have a problem now and then when Gavin moves over her way and tries to steal her binki or bottle or something. She doesn't like that!! Just had to share our cute friend! She is around 2 months younger than Gav. So sometimes it feels like I have twins when she is here!!! At least I have figured out how to have them nap at the same time in the afternoons!

Gavin's Big Birthday

One Year Old

What more can we say that hasn't been said. Gavin is in the best family in the world. We love him so much. He makes life challenging, in a joyful way. I think you know that we all need you to be a happy baby, and you are. Gavin is such a blessing to our family and we are so grateful that Heavenly Father has placed him in the midst of our crazy family. He is such a wonder, and he makes me smile everyday.

Fifty Two Weeks

Gavin is such a fun boy. And he is a lot like his brothers. Funny, and sugar hungry! I can't believe his birthday is tomorrow!! He doesn't seem old enough.



The things of Gavin:



-He still doesn't crawl



-Just this week did he walk the length of the couch for the first time, holding onto it



-Gavin doesn't like any vegetables



-Gavin likes all fruits



-Gavin loves PB&J sandwiches



-Gavin wears a smile on his face almost all the time



-Gavin loves to imitate noises and sounds you make



-Rich thinks Gavin means Dad when he says dada. I think he is just babbling



-Gavin gets spoiled by everyone in the house



-Gavin can swim/crawl over to Grandma's house so quietly that no one notices, just to say hi.



-Gavin loves to look out of and bang on windows. Especially the one in mommy's room where he can see the horses.



-Gavin will walk around holding onto two hands of a grown up, but he doesn't really like to.



-Gavin loves attention


-Gavin doesn't ever wear shoes. Have you seen his feet? They are as round as little balls with nubby toes sticking out of them. So cute.


-Gavin is often called Maxwell, by others and us too. Sorry kid. that's the break of being last of the pack.


-Gavin likes going on walks and bike rides, after they have started. He doesn't like the process of getting ready and into the stroller.

-Gavin makes the best baby noises. Goo goo gaa gaa anyone?? Melts my heart because I know he is really saying I love you mommy!

On the Water

We had so much fun with family today out in the hot sun!! Highlights of the day
-Setting up the old sun tents and watching Cyndi and Rich use a rock and a lot of luck to get those rusty poles to go up!
-Trying to knee board for the first time, and failing
-Driving Jon's boat! Wow! It made me want to buy one it was so fun!
-Getting kicked out of our pavillion, we didn't know it was reserved. And then being allowed back under
-Being allowed to use the snowcone machine the neighbor hut brought for their party!!
-Forgetting charcol for the grill and having to get it!
-Watching the kids live it up in the water. It was a blast!

Birthday Cupcake

Oh the exploration of an early birthday cup cake... Mmmm

Lagoon

Fun Boy Cousins

Joe, Peter, Justin, and Caleb riding the rides


Joe, Peter, Hyrum, Caleb (and usually Justin too, he is absent in this picture) playing xbox.

Justin and Peter being creative with a cardboard box and some markers and some guys.

Hours of fun

Peter, Hyrum, Jacob (in back), Justin, Derek, and Max having summer fun!!