sweet home

Our baby is 7 months old today!
She is:
busy
busy
busy
in constant motion


rolling around still, no desire to crawl yet
grabbing everything
putting everything into her mouth

not really into food, likes Mum Mums ok if desperate
very intense
babbling all the time, mostly still says "hiiiiiii" or "hey" but some bababa too
very cute and squishy

not sure about Lewis' facial hair (but let's be honest, who is?)
growing some cute blonde hair, but her cowlick is stressing me out because the one in the front goes in one direction and the one in the back goes the other direction
enjoys rough play-- when Cate was dragging her down the hall she loved it, she loves "wrestling" with the kids
hard to get a picture of in bad lighting because she won't sit still
tolerant-- great at putting up with going everywhere with us all day long and patient with the kids wanting to hold her all the time
good sleeper
naps getting more regular
goes with the flow
loves her siblings, fears Cate though
licked by the dog (who can blame her)
tasty
squishy
adored.
We love you baby Teluga!

She totally blew my mind and took 2nd place in her class bee which made her eligible for the school bee.  It was for all of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders who took 1st or 2nd in their class bees.  She did a great job and made it to the 3rd round, going out on the word "faithful" which she actually knew how to spell, but nerves got to her and she missed the "i".  It was so fun to see her do it and overcome her fears.  She is a great kid! Way to go A!

{Blush} Thanks Lew! I think you're pretty terrific too.  Maybe absence makes the heart grow fonder.  Come home sometime, ok?


This is awesome.  Ok, I fell off the wagon with my gratitude posts but I had lots of good excuses.   :)  Maybe I'm just not really grateful.  Just kidding! Calm down!  We had a Thanksgiving feast here and then Grandma Dee came so we've been busy having too much fun with her.  But I am still grateful.

Nov. 23 was one year since my mom passed away.  It was sad but I managed to hold myself together.  Lewis called and told me not to make dinner and we went out to this awesome AUTHENTIC Chinese restaurant with   pigs feet on the menu.  It was yummy.  Then we sent balloons up to heaven with messages for my mom.  I was thinking this would be a nice, happy thing to do but it turned into a total cryfest ending with everyone sad and bawling our eyes out.  Another one of my great ideas.... (Hey-- anyone want to ride the Trax up to temple square to see the lights?!?!?)

So I am grateful for memories.  So glad that I have a million great memories of my mom.  Of her laughing at all my dumb jokes, shopping with me, talking to me about me, seeing how much she loved my babies, I could go on and on.  Thanks mom! You're the best.


Nov. 24 I am grateful for my siblings.  Mostly for my sisters.  (My brothers most likely don't even know I have a blog so they don't mind me saying that).  We don't have our mom here any more, but at least we have each other.  I'm grateful for their love and support.  And that they remind me of my mom.  Jackie is sensitive like her and Jordan is nice to everyone like her.  And she looks like her.  They keep my mom alive to me but they don't laugh at my jokes.  Hmm...

Nov. 25 I am grateful for terrific in laws.  When you get married you take a risk on what you're going to get with the outlaws.  Mine are so great.  They are kind and generous and hard working.  Also, they have always been good to me and put up with me and my craziness.  It can be hard living so far away but sometime we'll all be together again! Dan, Dee, Clinton(and Chaliese and kids), Tiana(and Jason and Zoe), and Candace thanks for being so great! 

Nov. 26 I am grateful for sweater weather.  The summers here are so long and hot there are some days that I just dream of being able to have lots of covers at night and wearing sweaters when I go outside.  We've had a few of those days this year (snow flurries for about 10 minutes this morning) and I am grateful for the changing seasons.  Even if they aren't very extreme this time of year.


Nov. 27  I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life.  I am grateful for the knowledge that He has reorganized his church on the earth again.  We don't go to the church we go to because it is close by, because they have the best gym or children's ministries, or because we like the preacher.  We go because we know that it is where we learn the truth that God has restored to the earth.  I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and that He loves me and has a plan for me.


Nov. 28  I am grateful for a comfortable bed.  Have you ever slept on a terrible bed?  I love my bed.  It's big and soft and there's room for lots of kids to climb in at night.  We love having them all in there for about 5 minutes.  Then the party's over! But I am really grateful for my bed.

Nov. 29 I am grateful for music.  Right now Taylor Swift is blaring on the computer as I type and I love that my kids love music too.  They really love Justin Beiber too.  And all the stuff we make them listen too as well.  I'm glad that lots of times in the evenings when I've reached the end of my rope and Lewis is nowhere to be found we just turn on some tunes and rock out and everyone can get their crazy energy out and move it.


Nov. 30 is tomorrow but I'm posting today because I'm a slacker.  I'm grateful for the opportunity to create.  I'm not super crafty or anything but I know that when I get to create a craft or quilt or saw the bottom off a dresser to make it a buffet for my dining room or whatever it just makes me feel good.  Having a creative outlet makes me calm down (unless I am trying to sew and then I just get frustrated) and gives me a chance to express myself a little bit.  

Just a quick random/rare post by me to say how thankful I am to have a great wife.  She is always by my side (even when I am seldom around), and she is a great mother.  The kids and I are thankful for all she does for us.  I know that in all the years I have been married to her (almost 12!), she has always put others (myself, kids, friends, family) before herself.  I truly feel thankful for being married to such an example of service, kindness, dedication, and compassion.   She is what I am the most thankful for!

 I love this pic of J and D.
 J loves to take reach-and-shoot pictures of us when we go out on dates.




Bonus picture of her after finishing a recent 5K which also made us proud.

 I am grateful that we live so close to the zoo.  Since it's only a few miles away it's easy to just go over for an hour or so and see what we want to see.  I won't even talk about the fact that we're in t-shirts two days before Thanksgiving!  I love it! But I am beginning to wonder if we'll even need our sweaters this year....

Brooks had a way with the lorakeets:
 The kangaroos were sleeping, but the mine is awesome:
 Success! The anteater was out today:
 Cutest lion:
 My cubs looking at the 5 lion cubs that are about the same age as Abs:
Yesterday we went to the McWane Center and I'm grateful for it too, it's nice to have these kid friendly places so close so we don't get "SO BORED"!

 We just love our baby.  She is pretty amazing.  These pictures make me want to go pick her up out of her crib and hold her and squeeze her chubby body! Is she the cutest thing you have seen all day or is it just me?
 At 6 months I think she is the busiest baby I've had.  She can grab a handful of the kids' hair as they are walking past (if I am holding her facing out which she much prefers to facing me). She is rolling all over the place and has been for about a month.  Brooks used to roll all over the place too and it reminds me of him as a baby when I hear her yell and find her tangled up in some funny place (like under the chair she is in for these pictures). Today at church we had our chairs in a circle and she was just rolling all around inside the circle.  It didn't seem to be distracting the YW so I just let her roll and roll.  She was loving it! This reminds me that I need to get the gate at the top of the stairs back in working order before she rolls right down them.  Oh, that's a scary thought I will add it to my to do list tomorrow! 
 She loves to blow bubbles and make funny noises. She babbles a lot and mostly says what sounds like "hey" or "hi".  For the most part she is a great sleeper.  She likes to be in her crib to fall asleep and hardly ever cries about it.  (Just moved her out of my room and into the "big crib" this month.  It was much more traumatic for me than for her.)
 Here she is looking very concerned.  "Um, what are you doing Cate?" 
 Abigail is sitting up really well.  She really enjoys the exersaucer.  Which is good because she's going to spend a lot of time in there whether she likes it or not!  It's just so convenient for me.
 She loves her toys, but she loves paper more.  She would eat and tear paper all day if she could.  Baby food is not her favorite yet, but she likes Mum Mums and thinks she wants to eat anything I am holding.  She loves to play with and eat her feet.  But how can you blame her?
 Cate never wants to let me take pictures without her.  I hope these two will be great friends.
 Her drooling has pretty much stopped as has the goopy eye.  I have been trying to massage her tear duct every day and I think that has helped with the teary goopy eyes.  She weighed 15 lbs. 3 oz. at her 6 month appointment and was 25 inches.  These were both about 40 to 50th percentile.  Her head was 70th percentile. She gets that from her father. :)
 This last picture is classic because this is what she looks like when she sings.  And when I say sings I mean squeals like a little cat or mouse or something that squeals.  It's the cutest.  She does it whenever we sing to her or if she hears music:
I think I'm most surprised by everything she is doing because Cate was such a laid back and slow to do anything baby.  She was really a BABY for a good year and wasn't motivated to do anything.  Ever.  She was content to just sit and be carried or carted around.  Abs on the other hand is always ALWAYS moving and grabbing for something.  Her arms and legs are constantly flailing and moving, it reminds me a lot of how Aiden was as a baby.  She is just so busy.  And so cute.  Tasty, huh?  We love this sweet baby so much.  What a gift it is to have her in our home. 

 I'm grateful that my kids have the whole week off for Thanksgiving.  Keep in mind that I am writing this on Sunday night BEFORE the week off starts and I have every right to change my mind as soon as they start fighting, whining, complaining, making messes, and generally stressing me out. 
 But honestly, who WOULDN'T want to spend a week with these guys?
 (Plus, I don't have to get up and out of bed as early.)