back from the dead =)

It seems like an appropriate time of year for this little blog of mine to come back to life.  My computer was out of commission for months because my sons broke the cord and I never made time to order another one.  We have a tablet and smart phones, and Kevin has his laptop that he brought home on weekends, so I just got used to living without one.  The only real casualty was this blog because it requires lots of typing, which takes too much time on a tablet and weekends go by so quickly that I never thought to post while the laptop was home.  My sister-in-law offered me a cord that belonged to a broken laptop of theirs, so here we are again.

Where to start...? 

Jane is 8 months old today. I really hate that I've missed out on recording her little babyhood.  She is so great.  She was sortof difficult for the first few months, but has since become very easy and sweet.  Not a great sleeper, though I blame that entirely on myself.  She's not a bad sleeper.  She usually wakes twice a night to eat, but then just goes right back to sleep.  She's a petite little thing, but is loving real food, so I think she may start to bulk up a bit.  My mother-in-law is a tiny woman, so maybe Jane will be too.  Austin continues to love her, but she's gaining more fans around here as she comes to life more and more.  She wants to crawl and looks like she's doing yoga as she tries to figure it out.  She does manage to roll/scoot wherever she pleases, just not as quickly as she'd like.

Adam is two and is talking more and more.  He's got quite the personality, though he can't quite express it fully with his limited language abilities.  He makes up for it in spade with his facial expressions and body language.  He's a little naughty.  Really, quite naughty.  Austin told me we could give him to a different family and yesterday Jack declared him the naughtiest boy on earth.  Kevin responded by saying that it wasn't so.  He had read about a boy in Mexico who really was the naughtiest boy on earth.  Of course the boys wanted to know all of the naughty things that boy did, so we spent the next fifteen minutes listing off whatever naughty thing came to mind...cutting every cord in the house, bashing the TV with a hammer, hiding his dad's keys in his diaper, putting paint in the washer...the boys were loving it, and I think it helped them see that Adam really isn't so bad after all.  He doesn't do any of those things.

 

Austin just turned four and, well, he's a puzzle of extremes at the moment.  Take his birthday, for example.  I only had a few little things for him to open throughout the day because I hadn't been organized enough to decide on and purchase a main present.  He was thrilled with it all.  He was grateful and he shared with his brothers all day.  We took him to Walmart to pic out something bigger gifts that night.  He found a pinwheel, a glowstick, a ball, and a $5 gumball machine and he thought he'd died and gone to heaven.  He had a huge smile across his face and said "this is the best birthday ever!" many times. I was so pleased with my grateful little son.  BUT...The next day Kevin's parents came over to bring him a gift.  They'd called in advance to find out what he liked.  We'd told them how he likes to dress up as superheroes.  They were nice enough to buy him two great masks.  The gifts were nicer than any we had purchased for him.  He unwrapped them and immediately scowled and said he didn't want them and that he wouldn't wear them.  He threw them on the ground and cried.  When it was time for Grandma and Grandpa to leave, he gathered up the masks, pushed them at my mother-in-law and said "You take these to YOUR house, I don't want them!"  I was so embarrassed!  Fortunately, he is generally neither amazingly good or horribly bad, but you just never know for sure what you'll get from him.

Noah is so great.  He is chipper and sharing.  He has quite the knack for peace negotiating and he really just wants everyone to get along.  He may be a little too fun-loving :)  We recently assigned daily chores to the four older boys.  Noah, almost without fail, will say "What!?  I have to do this again!?  Every day I have to do this and it's the hardest one!..."  And then he acts like it's killing him.  It takes FOR.EV.ER. and a dozen reminders to actually get it done.  They each have their strengths, right?  He's starting to read and I think he'll breeze through kindergarten next year.  I will miss him something terrible.  I love that little guy.

Taylor is enjoying his Kindergarten year.  He is a funny little wonder.  Taylor is complex.  Some days he is just so hard.  He is the source of the most conflict in our home. He is stubborn and unyielding.  I shouldn't say UNyielding.  He's much more yielding now than he was a few years ago.  He sometimes gets it in his mind how things should go, or how they shouldn't and transitioning out of that mindset is difficult for him.  But not at school.  At school he does great.  He's quiet and content.  I don't really know what to think of it.  I should add that he is also my most grateful child, and is the opposite of Noah when it comes to cleaning.  He does his job thoroughly without complaint or a reminder.  And he is also my most lovable child and would cuddle with me for hours if I wanted.  And he is the best at getting us all laughing. Like I said...complex.  I don't know who he'll turn out to be, but he just gets better every year.

 Jack is growing up.  He'll be eight in June.  He's gone for hours every day and I feel a little more distant from him in general, though it's easy to reconnect with him over a game of Yahtzee or a good book.  He's going to be baptized this year and I feel like he is gaining some maturity beyond his years.  We're reading the Book of Mormon as a family and are set to finish on his birthday.  He pays attention and asks thoughtful questions.  He can be a little sulky at times, but he's generally pleasant.  He tells me every day what he really wants the most for his birthday, and it changes almost that often.  Yesterday it was a violin, the day before it was a bike.  With a few months still to go, I'm not going shopping quite yet =)

And us.  Well, we're good.  I've been busy at home, wishing away the winter. The weather today has been so nice and I am in a good mood.  It has been a LONG winter here in Utah and Kevin has big plans for a modest tree house and I may attempt a tiny garden...if I get brave enough this year.  Nicole and I are itching to go out yardsaling again.  Mikelle and Jeff got married in February and are living down in Provo, so we still see them weekly, sometimes more if we're lucky. 

And that pretty much sums it up. whew! =)