Snow!

It snowed today which was good because the ground was more bare than not. Recently we've had rain and Chinook winds that have melted what snow we did have and left a layer of ice on the ground. We could see green grass which is weird because I'm pretty sure the grass is supposed to be dead this time of year. Anyway, we finally got a few inches of snow today. Viva asked to go out and Jake said he'd go with her. We had to coax Bentley away from his book. He said he'd only go outside for ten minutes, but once out he stayed there for a long time. Lincoln didn't ask permission, he just went and got his boots and coat. Kara helped him get ready. She switched the coat for a snowsuit.

Lincoln loves doing stuff with the big kids. Earlier this week I took the trio to McDonald's Playland and we brought Lincoln along even though he's too little to climb any of the equipment. He loved being there. He ran around the lowest level and followed around another little boy his age. It was his nap time when we went, but he never slowed down or became cranky.

Lincoln: 18 Months

Can you believe it? Lincoln is 18 months old. It's been a busy 18 months and I regret that it's gone so quickly. He's such a good-natured little guy that you just want more time with him. Unless, of course, he's hitting you to get you to do the animal cards with him...yet again. He sure loves those cards. We tell him the names and make the appropriate animal sound, but still his animal sounds are all growls. Do dragonflies growl?! Do giraffes? What does that matter--18 month olds growl! He can pick out the cat card if you ask him, but the other animals not so much. It helps that we live with a cat.

What else can I tell you about Lincoln? He still wakes up earlier than most of us. He's especially happy in the mornings. He likes Evan a lot and joins him whenever he can. I.e. whenever Evan is on the couch or floor rather than in his playpen or in his swing behind a locked door. We have to monitor their time together because Lincoln will smother Evan with love. He throws blankets over his face or sometimes he climbs on top of him to give him a brotherly hug. This makes Evan scream for help. 

Lincoln likes to throw things. He has small lightweight balls that it's okay to throw, but we do not allow him to throw the wooden blocks. When he does I slap his little hand. Sometimes this makes him unhappy; other times he holds out his other hand to be slapped. I'm confused. Is he confused, too, or is he playing me? He's a very smart child and I don't doubt that he can play me. He is always taking advantage of his older siblings by grabbing something they have and then screaming loudly until an adult comes to investigate. Often his older sibling is told to just give Lincoln the toy--who cares if they had it first? Lincoln is the baby.

He likes books. He likes music. He likes his green blankie.

And we all like him! A lot.

Party Time

This post could also be titled "Fun with Frames, Part 1"....

A couple of weeks ago my Dad helped out with pictures at a birthday party my cousin's husband threw for her.  They took a whiteboard and a two picture frames to see what type of fun shots they might get.  Here's some shots of Bentley, Jake, and Viva from the party.

Viva with her party face:

She wrote the board, but she didn't want her photo taken with it.  She warmed up a bit later:

The kids were told they could make funny faces.  Yikes:

Bentley did a nice picture, too.  He's getting so big!

Lastly, all three:

Big Hand, Little Hand

Catchy title, right?

A shot of Opa and Evan.  I am obsessed with pictures of Evan's hands and his feet - they are so tiny and perfect and I know that they will get big all too quickly.

Viva, Sunset, and Twilight

I think a while back we discussed Viva's dolls and mentioned that they don't have names.

Breaking news!  About a month ago she gave baby doll a name.  The name settled upon after much contemplation?

Sunset.

Huh??  Strangely enough, until today I didn't think to just ask her WHY she named her doll Sunset.

For Christmas Viva received another doll - an American Girl Doll, Marie Grace to be exact.  Viva likes her (and I myself find it strangely soothing to brush her hair... !).  I figured that since the doll came with a name that would make it easy on Viva.

But Viva doesn't do easy.  She told me that she wasn't going to call her Marie Grace.  Her name?  Twilight.

I didn't ask, again.

Until today!

Tonight she was dressing Twilight and I said:

"So... are you still calling her Twilight?"

"Her full name is Twilight Sparkle, but I call her Twilight for short."

"How did you come up with the name Twilight?"  (I was thinking she's a bit young for the Twilight vampire books, but that sure is the first thing that pops into MY head when she says Twilight!"

"Because it goes nicely with Sunset."

"And how did you come up with the name Sunset?"

"Because my mind is a good thinker and my thinker is a good mind!"

I laughed so hard.  Then I told her to stay right there, I'd be back, and I ran to write the conversation down.  I love this girl!

Lincoln Photos

Lincoln eating and wearing yogurt. He's a real hands on eater. He even has yogurt in his eyelashes, but at least he didn't drag his hands through his hair...this time. Like Viva when she was little, Lincoln likes to smear soft food on the table. Jake and Bentley were much too fastidious for that type of behavior. 

Lincoln playing in the sink. He doesn't get to do it very often. Bentley spent hours playing like this. Jake and Viva--maybe never? Life is not fair. (I think Grandma Karen let Viva play in her sink?)

Lincoln grabbing for the markers stored up high on the white board. Nothing is out of reach if you are determined enough.

OUCH! Lincoln holding a cold washcloth to his owie. He too often sports a bruise from his overactive lifestyle. He careens off walls and into cupboards. This bruise was from a dining room chair that fell on him when he was crawling under it or pulling on it.

Lincoln vacuuming. It's hard to vacuum when Lincoln's around because he insists on doing the job himself. He's not very fast.

Lincoln stealing the colored balls from great-grandma's Colorku game. Great-grandma tries to keep him away, but he's fast. Fortunately she finds him amusing even when he's misbehaving.

Lincoln jumping for joy. We are blessed to have him in our home making our days happier.

Photo Dump

I am emptying my desktop photo folders of all the photo gems from the past month that I have not posted yet.

Viva's response to "Can I take your picture please? You look so cute in that outfit!"

Evan was much more cooperative. 

Bentley wearing his new fire hat while doing a computer math game. 

Lincoln helping Bentley do his computer math game. Don't they have beautiful heads?! 

Here's another pair of beautiful heads. 

This is Jake's latest Lego house. Each one gets a little more elaborate in the details. There's some custom designed furniture inside. 

Viva working on one of her cut and tape creations. This one was a tree. Great job! 

A last photo to show you that although we haven't taken many photos of Jake lately, he's still uber cute.  

(I've saved the Lincoln photos for a separate post tomorrow. Lincoln is Mark's and my favorite photo subject because he's always up to something new. And, of course, he's photogenic, too!)

Goodbye for a Night

The trio overnighted last Thursday with Grandma Karen and Grandpa Tim. I can't explain it, but when they spend the night away I feel quite sad. Kara feels the opposite. She's happy to have a few less responsibilities on her plate for a few hours. I live with them; you'd think I'd want a break now and then. And I do...but I still feel sad when they leave.

Fashion Sense?

It's been too long since Lincoln has had his picture on the blog and that's just criminal.

Sportin' yet another hat and looking too cute for his own good.  Even if nothing about this outfit really works together.... he picked it all himself and I dare say he could make anything look good.  :)

Can you see the inner imp shining out through those eyes?  This kid is crazy!  Stubborn, passionate, opinionated, full of more energy than the rest of his housemates combined... we sure do love him!

Evan's First Triple Digit Day

100 days old today.  He seemed excited when I told him the news a little bit ago:

What a big handsome dude he is!

Time flies on.  We'll be at 1000 days before I know it I'm sure... !

Sickos

Jake-o almost manages to make being sick look good, right?

We have, once again, been hit by a stomach bug around here.  I cannot believe our luck this flu season - it has been one round of nastiness after the next.  I'm not sure if I should conclude we were just very blessed to avoid so many of these darn bugs in past years, or if this year there are more different viruses than normal out there.

Either way?  Enough is enough!  I hope this is the last we see of "puke buckets" for a long long time.  Good riddance, and my fingers will be crossed (a prayer wouldn't hurt either I'm sure!).

Brotherly Love: Bentley and Jake

A rare shot of the older two guys in their Sunday finery. They posed *so* nicely and I particularly love the Star Wars socked modeled by Jake...

Nonetheless they look happy and chummy and that's worth quite a bit!  They don't always get along perfectly but they do get along pretty darn well.  Bentley likes to tease and Jake is an easy mark.  I keep telling Jake that if you don't respond to teasers than they quit.  For some reason my sage advice has not penetrated yet.  And Jake's squeals of rage are music to Bentley's ears.  Alas, not to mine.

I've read some books about raising boys and they discuss the differences between boys and girls.  Little girls nurture each other and talk and play dolls to show each other they are friends.  Little boys hit and shove and rough house their friends - part of the process of helping each other become stronger or something like that.

They play nicely too, of course!  But there are plenty of moments where running and shrieking and tussling occur.  And that's okay.  I'll just keep reading the books that tell me that is normal and healthy.   :)

Evan's Official 3 month Photo

I have to confess - when I posted Evan's 3 month post I cheated!  I used a picture from sometime in the past week, but not a shot commemorating the actual big day.  Crazy, right?!  It wasn't my first plan, but my (and Evan's) personal photographer is allowed out of the house sometimes.  And he was out at a party doing pictures for family so I figured I'd have to make do with what I had available!

Luckily for me, Opa did find time in the evening to snap some shots.  Apparently the shoot was going well until Evan discovered that there were little bears sewn onto the feet of his sleeper at which point he decided to stare intently at his feet and his attention could not be recaptured.

So it goes with three monthers.

:) Thanks for the picture, Opa!

P.S. - his eyes match the couch beautifully.  They are a lovely gray/blue color right now.  I suspect they will turn more hazel but we'll have to wait and see!

The Christmas Puzzle

We didn't get around to doing the puzzle until four days after Christmas. Where does the time go? I want it back so we can do more fun Christmas traditions. Unfortunately it does not work that way. I will have to wait another eleven months for the next holiday season to start.

Baby Tricks

I can ride Rody, the bouncing horse:

I can sit in my Bumbo without swinging my head around like a crazy man:

I even know how to use the iPad (although Mommy doesn't let me have it often enough as she says babies aren't allowed to stare at screens):

I'm getting so big!  Lincoln is starting to respect me too, I think.  Today he smiled at me and we had meaningful interaction.  If I could just figure out how to get around I think our relationship would really take off!

Bentley's Favorites

The Primary sent me a little questionnaire to do with Bentley that they're going to share with Primary on his birthday - so I thought I'd post it here too.  Double mileage for one "task" - score!

Fave color: Blue & Green
Fave food: Steak & Pizza Bread
Favorite Primary Song: Follow the Prophet
Favorite Book: Dragon Rider (which happens to be the most recent read, I think there may be a correlation... !)

Who knows--maybe I will be inspired before the end of the month and come up with some more questions to ask him.  There's always a chance I'll get around to it!

Oddly enough I've been thinking Bentley's favorite color is orange because he's always asking for the orange cup and the orange plates at eating time!  So I've been diligently working on buying him orange shirts.  When I inquired why he's always after the orange eating ware he told me it's because the orange matches his chair best not because orange is his favorite color.

Of course, silly me!  :)

Uncle Ty

Uncle Ty has been back in town, on break from college life, and the kids have enjoyed seeing him!  He's good about coming over to play with them and they also get to hang out up at Tim & Karen's place.  We enjoy modern technology and the chance to have some fun Face Time conversations with Ty and Un while they're gone, but it's good to see him in person too.

My Little Man at 3 Months

Our littlest is 3 months old today.  It seems like he has been here with us longer, in some ways, but in other ways I can't believe how old he is and how quickly he is growing on me.  I don't want him to be tiny forever, but I will still miss snuggles with my little baby.

Evan is very cheerful, when you catch him at the right time.  He has a great giggle, and loves to talk.  He also has a short fuse!  He lets us know, right away, if he's unhappy.  He's happy to play on his own, for a time, but when he is done he is done.  And he lets us know in a loud way.  I guess that's what you have to do when you're the youngest of 5 and you want to ensure your needs are met in a timely manner!

Despite the loud voice he is still adored by all.  Lincoln is always ready to hold out his hands to take baby brother and cart him off to play.  Not that I hand him over!  It doesn't stop Lincoln from hoping that maybe the next time he asks he'll get a different answer... :)  Poor Lincoln, he needs Evan to be just a bit bigger already!

Jake adores Evan, and tells me all the time that he's just the cutest little baby.  I agree.

Viva likes to hold her brother and is my biggest helper when it comes to bottles.  She has a knack for convincing Evan to finish his bottles, and to do so nicely!

Bentley continues to be a great older brother.  He's not quite as over the top in his adoration as Jake is, and is not as into baby feeding or holding.  But he is willing to put in the time/play with Evan when asked.  And he enjoys coaxing smiles and conversation out of his littlest brother.

We love you, little guy!

Christmas Babies

We started out in 2006 with a gorgeous almost 1 year old at Christmas time, Mr Bentley:

Our photo backdrops were not what they are today, but we tried:

In 2007 some super cute twins joined our family:

We waited a few years, and added the adorable Lincoln to the mix:

And this year we wrapped it all up with our youngest Christmas time baby yet, Evan the beautiful:

We are so blessed!  How lucky we are to be entrusted with these precious gifts to raise.  There's nothing better!