Last Thankful Thursdays

November is almost over, time is flying by! For this last week of Thankful Thursdays, I am especially thankful for:

1. An understanding that God's timing is not our own, and that we can expect all righteous desires to come to us, we just don't always know when. Even though this is sometimes hard for me, the control freak that I am, letting go of my timetable is something that I am working on.

2. Marrying someone who is my opposite in many ways - it is both wonderful to be with someone who balances out your weaknesses and frustrating to be with someone who does things so differently from you, but at the end of the day I wouldn't have it any other way.

3. Having teaching opportunities with our children. I love watching them learn something new, and realize that they are smart enough to figure things out on their own. Matt has started doing the "Your Baby Can Read" program again with Miles and he is already picking up on several site words. Claire is now reading our emails, the scriptures, and letters sent home from the teacher. Plus she had her training wheels taken off this week - she isn't riding just yet, but she wants to try even after falling down. And Penelope? Her next adventure is crawling. Guess we better get the house ready for a mobile baby.

Latest Stats

We just had Penelope's 6+ month check up and Miles' 3 year check up on the same day. luckily Matt and I were both able to go while Claire was in school because it was a bit chaotic. Both kids were pretty good though - and Miles was very happy to not get any shots, just the flu mist which he sniffed up like a champ. Poor Penelope wasn't so lucky. Out of all 3 kids, she reacts the worst to shots - very cranky for a day or two afterwards.

 

Penelope is 18.1 lbs - dropping to the 50-75th percentile. Still in the 90s for her height though. I wonder if her slower weight gain is because we are still doing just milk or a milk/formula mix - cereal just a few times a week at the most. We can start to give her more food besides cereal now so maybe that will be a bit tastier for her.

 

At 6 months Claire was 18.2 lbs and also had two teeth. Miles weighed 16 lbs but he was kind of a little guy, still catching up.

 

Miles is 38.1 lbs - he is in the 90-95th percentiles for height and weight. He has grown so much in the past year - I feel like I have to buy him new clothes every 4-5 months. I think this is a taste of what's to come. He is going to be a tall boy. And a class clown. I love this photo of Miles and Claire - that is a classic Miles face.

 



Tree Lighting Ceremony

We braved the crowds, parked and walked a mile down to the Main Street, Placerville tree lighting ceremony the day after Thanksgiving. They close the street down and the stores stay open late for everyone who waits for the large tree across from the court house to light up. Vendors are set up on the street and they have live music too.

I admit I was grouchy about the crowds and the long walk at first, but it was fun to see the town come together. The kids liked the tree lighting countdown and they even saw Santa. I hope we are creating some fun memories for the kids - it's why I take pictures and do this blog. It will help them remember that we tried to do fun things with them, even when it was sometimes a challenge with young kiddos and strollers and diapers and tantrums.

Visit with Erick

We had a short visit with Erick and his ambulance before he got a call and was on his way again. He was stationed up near the church on Thanksgiving so he came over and gave the kids a tour of the ambulance. Miles especially liked it and wore his firefighter badge most of the day.

 

 

Thanksgiving in Placerville



We took a road trip to Placerville, California for Thanksgiving this year, a location a friend from Las Vegas recently told me was in an episode of Full House. They broke down there on their way from San Francisco to Tahoe - we're famous!

The kids were good in the car for the most part - as best as can be expected. They aren't old enough to fully appreciate my "when I was a kid road trips weren't about watching movies" speeches. I did get them to sing some Christmas carols on the way home but Miles is still not a big fan of singing so we only did a few. We had fun as usual, and the kids loved being with their cousins and playing basketball, volleyball and soccer at the church building. We reserved it for the family so we could all play games, ride bikes and have plenty of space.



Penelope loved Duke and my parents' other dog Porter from afar - she would smile every

time she saw one of them.

Angel baby with Papa and Kenny

 

Penelope and Beau hung out together while we cleaned up - they were rolling over in sync,

it was pretty funny.

All the kiddos after playing for hours - Claire's face gets so red, just like her mama.

 

At a park in Folsom

Thankful Thanksgiving Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving! We are so grateful for many things - and happy to be with family this year once again. We are taught to thank our Heavenly Father for all that we have in our prayers before we are to ask for any blessings that we might need. Sometimes our list is long as we thank Him, and I am so happy when Claire adds her own touches of gratitude in her prayers. She is grateful for her school, her bed, her blankets, her books, her friends, her cousins, and her family - she mentions all of us by name and also mentions herself, which I always like too.

Miles is thankful for prayers, trees, games, May and Papa, going to California, his blankets, Duke, and MeMa and Papa.

I am incredibly thankful for the health of my children and their physical, mental and spiritual development. And though I am working on my own fitness and finding motivation to lose weight, I am also grateful that I can walk, run, play sports, take the kids to the park, and have the independence to drive myself where I need to be each day. I am reading the book "Heaven is Here" by Stephanie Nielson about her near death in a small airplane accident. I cannot imagine how it would be to have your own health taken away so suddenly and not be able to care for your own children. I can't put this book down - it is helping me to appreciate parenting during times of frustration with my young family.

Baby Leg Warmers? Yes Please

Tooth Fairy Pillow

She came! She finally came!

 

Thankful Thursdays

This week I am especially thankful for:

The support of family, both here in Las Vegas and in California, and also in Utah, Idaho, Texas and Kansas. It is comforting to know there is someone to help us with our children, to provide advice, and to be a safety net for us should we ever fall.

The opportunities created by education, and the desire to achieve a higher education, no matter how long it can sometimes take... still working on Matt's degree.

Love notes from Claire, and her artwork that she gives to me almost every day. My Grandma Ray framed a drawing I did when I was about Claire's age and it was always on her wall when she lived in Sacramento. That always made me feel special, even as an adult when I visited her house. Here are a few of Claire's recent drawings:

Six Months!

Six months already! In a blink of an eye really. Penelope will only be a baby for six months more, then we will be in toddlerhood. She has her check up in a few weeks so I don't have her stats, but she is off the charts on the adorable scale. See below.

Surprise Visit!

Stephanie and I have been friends for going on 30 years - 30 years! Steph decided to come out to Vegas from LA for a last minute Veteran's Day weekend trip. We have only gotten our kids together one other time. Traveling with kids is so hard, so I admire her for being so brave to travel by herself. We didn't get to hang out as much as we'd hoped, and of course didn't take a picture of the two of us, but here are the cute kiddos.

Thankful Thursdays

So I missed the first Thursday in November but luckily there are five in the month this year so I can make up for it a bit. I like this tradition of writing a few things I am thankful for each week.

This week, I am thankful:

1. That Penelope is such a happy baby. She is almost always smiling or laughing and she really only cries when she is hungry (or teething). When she is fussy on occasion, people say - wow, that's the first time I've heard her cry!

2. That the weather has finally turned and we have some cool temps. I miss having four distinct seasons, so these two weeks (I'm being generous) of Fall weather that we get each year are my favorite. I love sleeping with the windows open at night and even though it freezes Matt out, he lets me open them.

3. For a job that gives me flexibility and independence. I don't think I could survive punching a clock somewhere after being a consultant with my own hours and now having a job where I can work some days from home and spend time with my kids, working during naptime and at night. I am also grateful that they don't mind if I have to come in early to leave early, or come in late and stay later to get my hours in each week. As long as it all gets done!

Claire Bear Update

Claire had her five year check up this week and she was very relieved to hear she doesn't need to get any shots until she's 11. She distinctly remembers getting 5 shots last year, one was a make up shot and one was a new required one I guess. Ouch.

She is in the 95th percentile for her height and weight. The doctor said something that plays right into my "Law and Order" fears - she said that we will need to protect Claire from people who think she is older than she is because of her height. Like my paranoia needs any encouragement...

 Anyway, she is healthy and growing as she should. Her new tooth is already coming in. I am glad we got a few recent pictures of her with all her baby teeth, like this one from her kindergarten school pictures. The big kid teeth change their smile and their looks so much.

Wrangler Readers

 

Claire and Matt went with Easton and Steve to a Las Vegas Wranglers hockey game this week. They had so much fun! I guess there were a lot of fights in the game, and they had second row seats with an up-close-and-personal view to the craziness. Claire wasn't so sure about the fighting, but she has been cheering for her own imaginary hockey team up in her room this week. I heard her saying - "Come on Wranglers! You got this!" She is a fan.

She will get tickets to another Wrangler's game if she finishes a six-week reading program at her school. She loves reading and I have to make her stop reading and go to bed almost every night. Her teacher found out she is a good little reader and tested her reading level this week at school. She got 100% on the first grade reading test. Of course my next question was, well at what level can she read then? The teacher said they are only allowed to test one grade level above her current grade. Hmm. That makes me a little frustrated. Any teacher friends out there know how I can test Claire to find out her appropriate reading level so I can challenge her with the right books?

Big Girl!

First high chair experience, appropriately enough, at Cafe Rio. She did great - sat quietly through the whole meal. Our kids may act crazy at restaurants sometimes, but I think it's good to get them used to eating out. Hopefully it will help them be polite someday... :)

We Rock!

For the record, this says "Me and Mom Rock!" Not "Mean Mom" as I first thought it said. :)

Here's something else that rocks - Claire's first story for Kindergarten about the Fall. Matt has been trying to help her space her words out and she is doing much better. We weren't allowed to help her spell any of the words - she had to sound them out by herself. I especially like how she tried to spell trash - chrash. Sound it out - it makes sense. :)

Rejected

Penelope boycotted nursing for almost two days this week. I was freaking out. If this is my last baby, then I want to stop nursing on my own terms! I was not only sore, but sad - nursing can be so tiring in the beginning, but I was enjoying this stage of fewer feedings, the quiet time with the babe, and just getting to snuggle a bit. My kids aren't really cuddly - as soon as they are mobile they just go, go go. I know I only have so many months left with her as a baby before she is quickly off to toddlerhood. Nursing is also my connection with her even when I'm at work, so I didn't want to give up.

So, I pumped, fed her a bottle and cereal, and kept trying to nurse. She gave in and nursed again. I could seriously see a look like, "Fine mom, you win this time," cross her face.  Who knows, she might turn on me again. This girl who was so stubborn and wouldn't take a bottle for a month may now prefer the bottle to me. Sigh.

May the Force Be With You

Halloween was so fun! We went trick or treating with the Nielsen's again, and got a ton of candy in my aunt's neighborhood. We didn't go to too many houses, but the kids got a lot at each house. We had them go through their stash and only keep their favorites. They had quite a few full size or even king sized candy bars. Jackpot!

Claire told me that Halloween is her favorite holiday. I said - what about Christmas? She said, "Oh yeah, well Halloween then Christmas." It's also the one day a year she gets to wear make up in public, so that's another reason she likes Halloween.

Star Wars family came together nicely - I love my theme costumes, but I'm afraid the themes might not carry on much longer. Claire will be too opinionated to go with the family, I'm sure of it.