Baba

So, I pretty much have exclusively breastfed all of my children. They got an occasional bottle, but never when I was there to see it. I don't even think they had one often enough to be able to hold it on their own. But Max, he is my constipation champion, so he still really needs 4 ounces of pear juice daily. (a daily dose of beans has been helping as well.) Lately, he's been holding his own bottle, and I just think it's adorable. It's just something that babies do that I never really saw mine do before.

My favorite part is when he takes it out to smile at it...
and talk to it (he's working on a /b/ sound, I think it would sound more like a raspberry if I had very drooly kids).
Oh, and look, even cooler than being able to look around while you eat is the ability to grab cool toys like the vacuum cord while eating.
See, got it!
Love my sweet almost nine month old boy! Even if he does think a bottle is WAY cooler than snuggling and nursing with mom!

More Cousins

Maxi and Sidon have been having good times. This is them at Sidon's blessing, which Max slept through (thank goodness). That's why he's in jammies and Sidon is all dressed up.

At this age everything goes in your mouth. Even your cousin's nose.
This was them today in their matching outfits from Grandma. They really are both sweet smiley mellow boys. Lucky for them actually, as they are both # 3 they don't really have a choice.

No, he wasn't sad, he was pooping. Which we deem a great accomplishment.
Happy boys! Sidon was even happier later on when Max got his fingers in Sidon's mouth... I was just about to tell Max that Sidon doesn't want Max's fingers in his mouth, when I noticed that he was happily sucking away on them. We think they had Mighty Bites cereal residue on them. Yum. That cereal is from Trader Joes and is super organically healthy, but it makes Max always smell sweet like a muffin. After this incident, Sidon smelled a little bit like a muffin too:)

Hula

The Hulbert and Taylor kids spent quite a lot of time together today. This morning, the girls saw me making my kids do some yardwork and thought it would be fun to join. Then Pearl got to play with them at Grandma's house while I took Sammy to a birthday party, and then they all stayed there so I could help Jared with the garden (which I'm pretty sure will take forever. My poor seedlings!).

This was one of the results of the dress up fashion show play. To be fair to Sam, there really aren't a ton of boy dress up options, he could have done much worse. Just think Maori warrior, right? He did spend much of the rest of the day playing space rangers from Buzz Lightyear Star Command (but Cumorah hasn't see that movie, so she was a fariy space ranger).

He actually does have pretty impressive hip movement! So glad Maryann had her camera:)

The Taylor Family

Baby Sidon was blessed recently and I got to take pictures of the Taylors. Here are some of my favorites (PS this post is for Lora. It might take Maryann a while to post pictures, she's a bit busy...)

Why is Cumorah raising her hand? Well, it's because to get them to smile I asked who thinks Aunt Amy's the best... apparently I have a fan:) We'll see if she still likes me tomorrow, since I turned down her request for a caramel corn refill this evening:)
I love this picture of them because it's so romantical and Maryann is a romantic. I'm pretty sure if I saw a picture of myself doing something so cheesy I wouldn't like it, but Maryann looks cute. It's them. They just love their boy.
Adorable, no? Yes, Brian, you got a boy. And someday he'll fix jeeps with you. And this makes you happy (and us too... we're glad he's around)!

Justification.

I was thinking today and have come up with a list of reasons which justify my having a housekeeper for my tiny house. Here they are:

1. I have three kids (some of you know exactly what I mean. Enough said.)

2. She changed the sheets on Sam's bunk bed last week. They had not been changed since I was forced to to kill scarlet fever germs. So having her around gives Sam a much more hygenic life

3. I started cooking again. Which is not only healthier, but it saves us from going out to eat at least one if not two nights a week - which, if you think about it, pretty much pays for her. Tonight I am grilling a whole chicken rubbed in fresh herbs, onion, and olive oil with steamed artichokes and roasted butternut squash, fingerling potatoes, and brussels sprouts on the side.

4. I haven't bought clothes since she started. Why? Because I am actually able to keep up on laundry. I am no longer thinking the kids don't have enough underwear, because I am so on the ball now they only need like 3 pair. Seriously. The load of laundry I folded this morning mainly consisted of the clothes we wore yesterday. We have a lot of clothes. I just didn't know it before because they were sitting in the dirty mountain of laundry that I liked to ignore. Now I can admit those clothes actually exist.

5. Jared said the other day that I have been happy lately. It's true. A constantly clean house makes me happy.

6. Sometimes I wander around the house and feel like I have nothing to do. So, I organize a drawer. Or Bissel that spot on the rug that has been bugging me for a month. This makes me happy and relaxed, practically tripling my patience threshold, which is good for the whole family.

7. I am no longer defined by housework. I have a manageable amount to do every day, but I have time for other things. Now, instead of feeling like I should make time to play with Sam, I actually HAVE time to play with Sam. We did hooked on phonics yesterday. And painting. And cutting. I actually sat with Max today for 30 minutes and did my therapy color boxes with him. He mostly ate them, but I think he liked the attention. You know, the good parts of being a stay at home mom. In the end, the really important parts. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy those things.

Totally worth it!!!! Thank you Ernestina!

ADoRabLE!!!!

The Hutchison's came up to swim today. Super fun, so glad Tim could finally make it up to swim with Jack. All the kids enjoyed the swim time. This is Max and baby Scott - how cute is that? He really is so lucky - a boy AND a girl cousin on each side within months of his age.

Yeah for family close by! I wouldn't trade that for anything!

Cousin Love

Max and Sidon have spent some quality time together. This is pretty much how it goes.

First, Max is really excited to see Sidon. Sidon (rightfully) is a bit cautious.

Then Max claws at Sidon's face. It's all fun and games at first...
But then it goes a bit too far...
I'm sure they'll come out of this phase at some point. For now, it's just fun that they're interested in each other, and that poor Sidon gets some boy time in:)

That's a lot of kids.

6 kids. That's what Maryann and I have in between us, all living on the same property at the moment. Pearl is the oldest, and Sidon is the youngest (just a few months younger than Max). That's a lot. It is so fun that they are here and can be so close, though it does get a bit crazy when we get them all together! We're still working out seating at Grandma's house... so far our plan of putting Cumorah and Sam together at the kid table only works so well - they don't eat much anymore (who wants to waste time eating when you could PLAY!!!)

Sam asks to go play with Cumorah frequently. It's because she has a play fish bowl full of fishy things including 3 stuffed sharks. Yup. That's the drive. That's ok, because I think the reason Cumorah loves my house (besides the big tv and the barbie movies and the chocolate milk) is because we have an Elmo costume. Go figure:)

Do you have any idea how hard it was to get them even looking in the same direction?
Come on out, Maya! Come play with us!!!

Chuckie Cheese

Ok, last post for tonight, just trying to get caught up...

On Friday I had a longer than usual work day, so when I finished at like 2:30 (I know, it's not really that long) we decided to go have some fun. So, off we went to Grandma Weir's house to meet the cousins to go to Chuckie Cheese.

Max got to ride the merry go round. It was a semi- hit, Grandma had to tickle him to get a smile for the picture.

They stamp your hand with this number so you leave with the same kids you came with... all I can say is that's good because it is nigh unto impossible to keep track of Sam in an arcade!
Grandpa wore Max for me. I think it was some serious bonding time for them. Plus, it saved my back!
This is the "take a picture with Chuckie" ride. And Pearl, of course, is cheesing it for the camera!
It was fun that Annie, Jack, and Scott were there:)
Ok Pearl, try not to smile and have fun on the little kiddie ride...
Lizzie and Katie
Max was hysterical... Grandma was hitting this button to shoot a basketball on a game and Max thought it was so funny... I have a video somewhere... they were all having a good time!
How appropriate - the cowgirl rides the horse!
This was the virtual rollercoaster... mostly they just sit there and veg. It was the end, they were tired.

Fun trip! I think we'll try it for Sam's birthday:)

Baby Chicks

We got baby chicks again this year. I can't believe I didn't get a good picture of Pearl with a chick, but she was so busy helping Sam and her little cousins Cumorah and Rivers enjoy the chickens, we just didn't get a shot. We shared them with the therapy kids and all of our cousins. It was fun, now they're out in their coop. Living in the country certainly is a different kind of experience!

Easter Portraits

So, this was my attempt at Easter portraits last week before church. It wasn't the best timing as far as lighting was concerned, but, I judged rightly that they would not still be neat and clean by 6:30 that evening. In fact, right after this they ate lunch and Sam smeared mustard all over his sleeve. So, there you go.

Max wasn't happy (he was hungry, oops) and it was windy, so this is actually the best one I got with all three. I think Max is looking at her so strangely because she is forcing a laugh for the camera. Pearl is so difficult. That cheese smile is permanently in place as soon as she sees the camera. Oh well. I was a little sad because Jared and I have coordinating outfits too, but he's in Korea. So we'll have to try again in a few weeks anyway. Better luck to us next time:)
Poor Max! So much for my easy smiler:)
We put Pearl's hair in hot rollers - it made me think of high school when I did that every day. I'm actually kind of surprised I kept them around, since my hair has been to short for that since my second kid. She thought they were pretty cool.
What a mischievous, fun little boy!
At least these two looked good!
And, now Max is DONE!!!
And, we all fall apart.... This is real life, my friends!

4th Annual Easter Egg hunt

I have so many pictures to blog... we got baby chicks this week, I attempted easter portraits... but they're not ready... so I'm going to blog today's pictures first anyway.

Well, we did it. The 4th annual easter egg hunt. I'm getting better at it... I know what to ask people to bring, I think we got the parking, table placement, and hunt schedule down perfectly this year. I really wasn't going to do it... I have therapy 4 days this week, Jared is in Korea, and it was supposed to rain on my one day off. But, people were so disappointed that I found a way to do it anyway. It meant I was doing a session as people were coming to set up, but everyone was so helpful, it worked out just fine.

The kids were SO EXCITED to get started!!! This is the second year we've got these three in their bunny ears... I'm sensing a tradition coming on...
Sam was hilarious. He wasn't that interested in getting eggs, and I was thinking, what a weird kid, until I realized that he had been grabbing handfuls of candy out of the strategically placed decorative candy bowls all morning. Why work for it when it's just sitting around waiting for you to grab it? He got in trouble for it at like 8:00 this morning, so the rest of the day he was holding handfuls behind his back whenever I came near. Oh yeah, Sam, I have no idea what's going on when you do that!
Just a shot of the big kids... I would say this was about 1/3 of the kids total. There were a ton! It was really fun.
The big kids had an extra challenge - not only were they hunting in the tall grass up on the hill, I had my teenage helpers hide about 30 hard boiled eggs that if they found, they could turn in for a full size candy bar. Let me tell you, that was a HIT!!!! They hunted forever!
There was some concerns - the hard boiled eggs were REALLY hard to find. Luckily, Sister Larsen came to the rescue. She helped those girls until they all found hard boiled eggs. Yeah for Sister Larsen!
It's hard to get good candids of Pearl, but here she is with some of her first grade friends. Such good girls!
And, this was Max's hunt experience. He woke up when it was all over to eat some yogurt and pose for the camera.
Happy Easter!