Sleep!

Thank you Grant! Mommy needed some rest. Daddy and I decided that its time for you to sleep in your crib since you have out grown your co-sleeper. I was reluctant but I knew you would eventually sleep better once you agreed to sleep in your room. Last night you went to bed at 11:30 and slept in there until 3:30 then I put you back at 5:30 and you slept until 8! It's a great start and I'm proud of you!!!

Craft time

Crafts are always a big hit around here so I have been spending some time on Pinterest looking for some new ideas and came across a sock caterpillar. Cutest little creatures ever! Veda and Grayson, the two of you really enjoyed this project. It was a lot of work for mommy because the felt was hard to cut and well.... The hot glue gun is hot so I glued everything but it was still a fun time. Next time mommy is handing over the scissors and I will just glue everything!

7 Months

Grant, In your 7th month you are becoming an avid scooter...trying very hard to get up on all fours..I am pretty certain you will achieve the actual act of crawling this month. You have begun trying to pull yourself up on mommy and daddy when we are on the floor with you. You are still unsure about food. You would rather indulge in mommy's milk but we continue to offer new foods to you everyday. In fact, we went to one of mommy's favorites restaurants just the other night and you enjoyed some guacamole and re fried beans. I wasn't going to offer but you kept trying to stick your hands in my plate! I couldn't get them in your mouth fast enough. Tonight we had roast for dinner and you loved the carrots and potatoes. You seem to need a lot of flavor in your foods, nothing bland is appealing to you. Maybe you will be my best eater yet and not so picky. So far you still only have 2 teeth and I don't see any others making their debut at this time. You have started taking big boy baths in the bath tub, even though its much easier in the sink and much less stressful for mommy. Grayson was eager to join you and the two of you have a blast splashing each other and laughing. Pure joy for mommy! I can't wait to watch your friendship with Grayson grow as the two of you grow older. You are still co-sleeping and wake up many times each night. Mommy and daddy are very tired but I try not to complain too much (daddy might say otherwise) because I know that someday I will miss this. Please try and slow down a bit, I want to enjoy you being a baby as long as I can! 

Veda is 5!!

NO NO NO!!! Did it really happen? 5 years has slipped away so fast? It has. I cannot and will not be sad. Its been a fabulous 5 years. Veda, you are precious. Can I just bottle you up and keep you little forever? That is not unreasonable is it? Seriously, I cannot believe that you will soon enter Kindergarten. That is surely going to be a struggle. I often hear moms say that they cannot wait until their kids go to school so they can have a break. I can honestly say I do not feel that way. I love having you home with me and listening to you and your brother play. What will I do without your endless conversation? The boys and I will be lost without you home during the day. Sad for me but Kindergarten will be a wonderful adventure for you! You will shine!


This year you had two birthday parties. The first was on your actual birthday. The night before, I decorated the kitchen, in everything pink of course and made you a birthday cake. Daddy bought you a beautiful bouquet of flowers and we added some pretty balloons. You gleamed with pure Joy as you announced your birthday to me in the morning. You leaped from your room with an ear to ear smile and you were wearing a birthday crown that was given to you at school, you didn't take it of all day!I wish I would have captured you on video prancing around in your crown. It was awesome. You are so grown up for a 5 yr old and those moments remind me of just how small you still are. I love those moments when you act small. I want to bottle them up and be able to hit a replay button!


After breakfast mommy took you and your brothers to Sylvania Playland to meet Michelle, Carrie, Max, and Drew for some celebrating. They brought you more ballons and another bouquet of flowers. What a loved little girl you are! I tried to take you to McDonalds for lunch but the play area was closed. This brought many tears. A milk shake fixed this....mommy doesn't allow tears on your birthday!


The evening of your birthday Nana, Papa, Skip, Grandma, and your friend from preschool, Keira joined us for Taco's (one of your favorite meals!) and cake and ice cream. You received some new clothes, My Little Pony's, Paper Dolls, and kits to make your own bracelets and rings. You had a fabulous time!


It was decided last year that we were going to try and go to Kalahari each year for our winter babies birthdays since its so cold and there isn't much fun to be had outside this time of year so this is what we planned.We went on a Sunday afternoon and your friends Miley, Hannah, and Tara joined us along with your cousins Karleigh, Chase, and Connor. You really enjoyed the big slides and daddy even got you on one that you were probably an inch too short for! You have no fear. You would have gone down every slide if they allowed you too! You spent just as much time in the wave pool as you did the slides. You rode the wild waves on an inner-tube and I was terrified watching you. Everyone had a wonderful time, it was a very memorable experience and I look forward to going again next year. I could do without the germs that follow us home though. I'm writing this post 2 weeks later and you and your brothers are still coughing and spreading snot everywhere you go! yuck!


I still can't believe my baby girl is 5 but I can't turn back the clock so I will just enjoy you everyday as you continue to grow before my very eyes. I love you to the moon and back Veda!

New Year, New Goals

I am usually not a person that makes a new years resolution for the simple fact that I do not want to be let down or dissapointed if I fail. This year is different. We have aquired an amount of debt that is unreasonable and it needs to disapear quickly! So there you have it! I have a plan to eliminate our debt, as much of it as I can. We will live frugaly and do whatever it takes to eliminate it for good! I am really looking forward to the day that we can really start looking for a new home, a home with an abundance of closet space, a big kitchen, lots of room to play, and a BIG back yard! In order for this to happen I have to get busy paying off bills. Now that I have said it here, I have to stick to it right? I don't want to look at this years from now and say...."man I wish I would have stuck to that plan"

6 Months!

Grant finally had his 6 month well visit last week....and yes he is nearing 7 months! Time is just flying and needs to slow down a bit...doesn't the universe know this is my last baby and I need him to be a baby forever????

He continues to to be on the top of the scale for weight, in the 93rd %. He is 21lbs 8oz and 26 1/2 inches long....34%. I am sure he will follow in Grayson's shoes and remain near the same weight from here until around 18 months and thin out as he becomes more mobile. I just love my chunky baby!

Did someone say mobile??? I think Grant heard me! In his 6th month he has decided that he needs a little independence and he will get that toy all by himself! On all fours? Nope. He likes to scoot, and man he is getting quick!! I am not ready for a mobile baby. I'm nervous for all of the little parts that belong to many of the older kids toys. They are learning to help me keep these things away from Grant since I explained the dangers of it to them.

Grant continues to nurse like a champ, I think we will make it a whole year, which is my goal. I often get asked how long I plan to nurse him...why people are interested I am not sure??? I promise he will not go to college without being weaned ;) Its important to me that he receives all the benefits of nursing. I have attempted to nurse all 3 of my children. Lack of education and support caused me to give up nursing Veda when she was just 4 weeks old and as I sit here catching up on the blog she is coughing and sneezing, and battled quite a fever last night. Yes, my other children get sick with fevers and other illness but she is by far the most sickly of the 3. So, as long as Grant continues to nurse, we will nurse and hopefully we will meet our goal!

We have started solids and he isn't real thrilled with the whole idea of it. He has tried avocado, carrots, green beans, peas, squash, bananas, and apple sauce. The only thing he actually seems to enjoy is the apple sauce, bananas, and squash. We will keep practicing everyday and hopefully he will eventually accept some veggies into his diet! The pediatrician was very happy with his growth and explained that the breast milk was all that was necessary until age one but to let him explore with different foods now for texture and he will eventually start enjoying it.

And here he is! His 6 month photo shoot was so much fun!

Christmas

Christmas came and went in a flash as it always does. Why is it that everything amazing, exciting, and fun takes so long to return but is gone in a jiffy?!

Christmas eve was at Aunt Bea and Uncle Rob's house as it always is.Before we leave for the evening the kids sprinkle reindeer food ( oatmeal, glitter, and carrots) in the front yard because the reindeer will be starving of course! Once we arrive at Rob and Bea's, we eat an enormous amount of delicious food and enjoy the family chaos. The kids gather in a large circle on the kitchen floor and open their gifts together. This year we started with the littlest kids first since the turkey wasn't quite ready to eat.....Uncle Rob makes the BEST deep fried turkey! As you can imagine the kitchen was then filled with lots of toys and wrapping paper! It was great practice for what was to come on Christmas morning. 

We got home really late this year....10ish and the kids were excited and exhausted all at the same time. They chose a few cookies to put out for Santa, I filled his glass with milk, and to bed they went!!

Christmas morning came and mommy, daddy, and Auntie were all awake before the kids....I am always just as excited as the kids! The kids finally woke up around 8 so we called nana and papa to join us in opening gifts and eating breakfast. The kids loved all the gifts they received and enjoyed playing all morning. Veda is really into dolls this year and received alot of them. Grayson was excited to receive lots of spiderman toys and Grant was happy with wrapping paper! Although he did receive a few infant toys that he enjoys!