Random Happenings from December ~ the Zoo, Pascal and more!

Thomas is such a great helper with Adam! I know with 10 years' age difference, they will have a different sibling relationship. I think they will share a special bond! 

One of the rare moments I was able to leave the house without Adam- for a trip to Costco- this is what I came home to. Adrian is so awesome for holding down the fort while I was gone. It's so nice to get away! 

I celebrated another birthday in November. I was invited to a blog event for Cafe Zupas- so Adrian and I were able to go on a dinner date- for free! We had a great time! 

I'm trying to take more pictures of our lives, which means most often it's with my phone, so while the quality isn't awesome, the object of the photo makes up for it! Here's Adrian showing off one of the Christmas crafts the kids and I did while he was at work. 

I'd love to say Adam is just the sweetest, easiest baby on the planet, like all 5th children should be... but yeah, he's not! He's actually our most high maintenance child. It's exhausting sometimes- this moment I captured was one of those times- but I know this part will go by fast...

It's a good thing he's cute- or he'd be out on the doorstep with a postage stamp on his forehead. I think my mom needs a bit of company in Alaska...

We've gotten quite a bit of snow this year- even though it's been 15-20 degrees outside, the kids LOVE playing in it. We got these snow toys that certainly help-  getting snowballs flung on the windows is a small price to pay for their happiness... 

When Adam falls asleep it's like, "Don't move! Don't adjust him in any way or he'll wake up!" Oftentimes where ever he falls asleep is where he naps!

As the kids were home from school in December, we were able to have a turn pet-sitting Hailey's class pet, Pascal the chameleon. He was fun to have around for a week- low maintenance, no smell or shedding. Sign us up next time! 

Our church ward had a really cool Christmas party this year- a Polar Express theme. Can you guess who played the part of the conductor?? Doesn't Adrian look fantastic?! His costume ended up being a hodge-podge of items from neighbors, co-workers, family, etc. It all came together well though. The kids had a blast. We even had little neighbor kids come up to Adrian, wanting to take a picture with the conductor. It was a fun night. 

Here's the room in the church that was transformed into a train car on the Polar Express. 

My mom and Michael got the kids a Zoo membership for Christmas, so we took advantage and went to the zoo a couple weeks ago. We literally went hours before the next storm was about to hit, but the weather was PERFECT! A little chilly of course, but not enough to make Thomas wear a jacket. ;) It was a fun outing! 

One of the highlights of the zoo trip was me nursing Adam standing up in the Reptile House. ha! I couldn't find a warm place to sit down, so I had to improvise. Good thing he's a fast nurser! While I was feeding him I heard Thomas mumble, "I can't wait until Adam doesn't need to nurse anymore. " Ha! Me too buddy! 

The next day another storm hit and this was our backyard! 

Leah likes to color. The guilty look on her face had just cause- do you see all the coloring on the table she did?? We're still learning to color just on paper. At least it wasn't on the wall though- the table is SO much easier to clean up! 

Christmas, 2013

Keeping with the theme of the last few months of the year, we had a low-key Christmas. Really though, it was fun and not very stressful at all- I should do this every year! It was Adam's first Christmas and funny enough I got just 1 random picture with him in it all day. Oh well. I did get a picture of him with Santa- I don't have it yet though, so I'll post it later. 

The kids all enjoyed their stockings and toys from Santa. Thomas' favorite was a Lego set- surprise, surprise! Hailey got a CD player this year, along with some CD's I made with her favorite music- I had no idea she'd love the gift SO much! Needless to say, our home has been filled with music lately! Colin got a soccer ball, complete with goals that Adrian made himself. Those will come in handy once we no longer have 3" of snow and ice on the ground. Leah got a new doll, but I think her favorite part of the whole thing was the little candy canes and pieces of candy she got in her stocking. Adrian and I keep finding her with sticky fingers and sure enough, she's managed to find another piece of chocolate to eat! Adam got a tub of rice cereal and a small toy. He was wide eyed while the other kids opened presents and conked out soon afterward. 

Adrian and I exchanged small gifts- the highlights were a couple sweaters he got me (which I will return, but hey, it's the thought that counts!) a pen that plays the BYU fight song, PJ's for Adrian and a BYU business card holder for his desk at work. Each year I get him something else BYU- it's getting to the point where his cubicle looks like a fan store! It's awesome. 

I don't have a lot of pictures to share but it's because I was too busy being in the moment with everyone, as opposed to having them smile at me behind the camera. Sometimes it's nice to not really worry about taking pictures! 

Christmas Cookie Decorating

Since the kids are on Year-Round school, they have several short breaks throughout the year, instead of one long summer break. We are on track "B" this year, which means the kids were off the entire month of December! I was a little nervous at first- what am I going to do at home with all 5 kids all day, other than go completely insane?? Really though, we're nearly at the end of their break and it's been great. So nice to not have to deal with school and homework in addition to getting ready for the holidays.

Raz and I planned some fun activities for the kids-- here they are decorating sugar cookies. So much fun!

Colin wastes no space when decorating his cookies! 

Have a little cookie with your sprinkles, Leah! 

I love her face after we dusted some of the sprinkles off for her to eat it! Ha!

Adam~ 2 Months Old

I'm determined to blog about Adam each month- even if it's a few sentences and a picture. However here I am at 2 months and I'm already late! (Adam will technically be 3 months old next week!) Oh well, better late than never!

Really, I think subconsciously I delayed blogging about Adam's 2nd month because, well, he's really not that different than his first month, lol! I guess that's not true- he smiles all the time and laughs, which is super cute. He's starting to follow toys and people with his eyes. He's a very alert baby. He just doesn't sleep any better. As in, he still wakes up every 2-3 hours throughout the night. He still wants to nurse all the time. So put those two together and I still feel like a zombie most of the time. As a matter of fact, he just woke up... again... after just a 1 hour nap. Sigh. It's a good thing he's cute!

Adam's 2 month stats:
13 lbs 9 oz (95th%!)
24" long (85th%)
head circumference, 16", (75th%)

These are classics...

Adam's Blessing

Adam was blessed on Sunday, November 17, 2013, when he was 6 weeks old. It was a fun day- we had lots of Adrian's family come to spend the day with us.

He was blessed by Adrian at our church at 9am and then we went over to Christy and Keoki's house after church for lunch. In the car on the way to church Thomas announced that "Adam was going to scream the whole time." Ha! Luckily, that didn't happen- he was perfectly awake and quiet. He did however completely fill his diaper upon our arrival to the church- so much so that it leaked out onto his darling little blessing outfit! Ahhhhh! I had a minor meltdown in the church bathroom, but luckily, a little soap and water cleaned it up for the most part. Before leaving the house I opted to layer outfits- so the white onesie underneath was a lost cause, but thankfully it took the brunt of the blowout- without it his little outfit would have been ruined.

The lunch was fun- lots of family came and we all had an enjoyable time. (We did have fun- even though Colin's face in the pictures shows otherwise!

I found this cute little sweater outfit at Target! (Actually, I found it when Adam was only a week old, so I called Raz and had her run to Target to see if they had it- she's such a great friend!) Christy made this darling quilt for him too, so I thought it'd be fun to take pictures of them both!

Leah's 2nd Birthday

We all celebrated Leah's 2nd Birthday this year in mid-November. We didn't do anything spectacular, but then again, anything remotely out of the ordinary is spectacular for a 2 year old!

Leah had special birthday pancakes and then we opened presents with just our family the night of her birthday. A few days later, we reserved part of Adam's Blessing celebration for a little Leah birthday cake. I think she enjoyed herself!

Leah is a spunky little 2 year old! Her favorite food is cheese and cookies (or anything sweet, really!) and she loves to sing and dance. The "terrible" two's hit a few months ago- this girl can seriously throw a tantrum. Luckily tantrums seem to only occur at home- when we're out and about she's a little angel! I think she enjoys the stimulation that comes from going somewhere. She loves to play on the play ground and try on everyone's shoes. Her favorite person besides Mom and Dad (and sometimes I think we're even overshadowed!) is her Auntie Raz. Honestly, her face lights up when Raz walks in the room and she runs straight into her arms. She's pretty territorial when it comes to who gets to hug or sit by Raz too. It's cute.

Her blankie is still one of her best friends and her bed is loaded with all sorts of baby dolls, books and soft toys. If I'd let her, I'm sure she'd also take a snack cup of fish crackers and raisins to bed with her. This girl enjoys her food!

Leah is 25 lbs (45th %) and 34.5" tall (65th%) with a giant noggin that's in the 95th%!

I took some pictures of her on her birthday- these are the results!

Halloween 2013

With Adam making his grand debut on October 3rd, Halloween was super simple this year, to say the least. Simple as in, we didn't even carve pumpkins and the only pumpkins we even bought were the tiny ones we got on Colin's preschool field trip. I was worried the kids would be super disappointed, but as it turns out, they think carving pumpkins is rather disgusting, so there you have it.

I keep the kid's costumes from each year in a big tub and when Halloween rolls around, I have a general rule: either wear a costume we already have or pay half the cost of a new one. Some years everyone wants a new one. Other years we recycle costumes. So, if you think you've seen my kids in some of these costumes before, well you're correct! Although we do have a couple new ones I got at a kid's consignment sale. ;)

Thomas is Darth Vader, Hailey is a witch, Colin is Spiderman and Leah is a pumpkin. Even Adam got into the spirit this year- he's sporting a "My First Halloween" onesie. Fun!