Thirteen

Kind of a funny picture of John from Scout Camp this summer!

Where has the time gone?!?! Today our oldest boy is 13 years old! It seems like just yesterday I was bringing him home from the hospital, I remember it so well. Sometimes I feel bad for the oldest child of a family. You learn and experiment on how to be a parent with them. Hopefully I haven't scarred John too badly with my mistakes. He's been a wonderful son and I'm grateful for the genuinely good boy that he is. I'm a lucky mom, that's for sure. John is such a great example to the other children (and his parents), especially when it comes to trying to do what is right and being a diligent church member. I hope he always stays this way.

To celebrate, John is having some friends over tomorrow night for a "late over" (where the friends don't sleep over, but their parents pick them up at 10 or 11.) Mark is going to take the boys to the Haunted World. Then on Saturday and Sunday we have some family parties lined up. Should be a fun weekend for him.

Happy Birthday John! We appreciate all you do and are very proud of you. We love you so much!

Goodbye Snagletooth Ella

Here she is. It sure makes her look older and tags her as a definite 1st grader.

She had her hair in braids so it would be wavy the next day.

Ella has had this top tooth that's been loose for a long time but just wouldn't fall out. Half of the time it stuck out much farther than her other front tooth and looked so ridiculous. She wouldn't let us pull it either. I should have got a picture of it. On Sunday, Cooper was rough housing with her and knocked it out. She wasn't hurt at all, so it was actually a good thing. She is very proud that she can still say the word "syrup" (I guess her teacher told her that's hard to say with missing front teeth). Now she starts the stage of looking awkward for a while, being either toothless or having big over sized teeth. Just in time for school pictures on Friday, ha! The tooth fairy has forgot to come 3 nights in a row now! What's her deal? Maybe she's a little sleep deprived.

Great Grandma

A good picture of my grandma but a funny one of Cole.

Last week for FHE we went to Kuna to see my Grandma where she lives in an assisted living home. She is only 72 years old but is in very poor health. She was diagnosed with Colon Cancer a month or so ago and they weren't able to remove all of the tumor during the surgery and the pathology came back that it is the most agressive type of cancer. She's starting some radiation and a small dose of chemotherapy, but has lots of other health problems and isn't strong enough to undergo some of the other treatments.

So, I've been trying to see her a little more and appreciate the times I do see her. I also want the kids to spend a little more time with her. Not everyone gets to know their Great Grandparent. It was fun to introduce her to little Cole and to get some pictures. It looks like he might have some of her strawberry blonde hair. She is the last left grandparent on Mark's and my side. Kind of a sad thought.

I lived with my Grandma some of the time growing up. I appreciate all she has done for me. She is a unique and special person. If you remember, mention her in your prayers. Thanks.

One Month

Big brother holding little brother.

Cole at one month (almost)

In his polo shirt for church

The kids building a fort w/ the banana chairs and blankets

The finished product

Just so you know, Seth loves fly swatters so much we bought him his own, so it's unused.

Well, tomorrow our littlest sweetheart is one month old. It's hard for me to believe. Overall, I think we're all adjusting to our new addition and routine rather well. This has probably been my best week, week 4 post delivery. I've had more energy and have got a little better sleep (I consider a 3 hour stretch a luxury). I've actually got the kids to piano, scouts, etc. and managed to run some errands, visit teach and go to church and a presidency meeting. I consider all of these accomplishments these days. Not to go into too much detail for those who don't care to know, but Cole won't nurse and I really want him to get the benefits of being nursed. This means that I pump and then feed him from a bottle, which takes longer. It gets a little tricky sometimes to revolve your daily schedule around when you'll next need to pump. It's all worth it though and I'm holding out hope that he'll pick up on the nursing thing eventually.

Mark's doing great. He helps w/ Cole so much, even in the night. He's working on our lawn (we've neglected it lately) and trying to get it back into shape. He even managed to make it to early morning basketball at our stake center once last week.

Dalana's info is in the first paragraph.

John is anxiously awaiting his b-day, which is next week. Right in time for turning 13, he's started showing some attitude lately. The other day I asked him a question and he answered me w/ a, "Duh". If you read this, sorry John. Posterity needs to know, though. This has got me scared for the teenage years. Having teenagers and a newborn at the same time is a tricky combination.

Cooper has had a cold and been upset that he can't hold the baby more. He loves Cole when he's around, but is mostly playing w/the neighborhood kids outside any spare minute he has.

Ella loves having a baby around. She's one of the best babysitters I have. She holds him so good and tries to do what she sees me do. She's very careful and sweet with him. She's a good little mommy.

Seth, as you can tell from the outfit he's wearing in the picture holding Cole, has been a little neglected lately I'd have to say. I let him fend for himself some of the time. He loves Cole and has named his baby doll Cole, too. He is having a good time w/ all of the baby stuff around. He thinks all of the bouncers, car seats, etc. are for him too. We've had to call poison control this week. The first time that I remember ever having to call them. Seth got the bottle of Flinstone Vitamin Sour Gummies and had more than his fair share. Thankfully, they didn't have iron in them, so we were okay.

Cole continues to be as sweet as ever. I think the past few days I've started to get some real smiles from him. There's nothing better than those first few smiles.

Well, that's about how our month has gone. Hope yours has been good too.