Moo. Quack. Roar. Baa.

Zoo time is here!  We get a pass every year to the zoo, and it's so nice to just be able to take a last minute trip whenever we find ourselves with some free time.  I always say that since we go so much, that this time, I'm not gonna take any pictures...I just want to relax and have fun.  I'll take my camera every time just in case something extraordinary happens.  Like, I don't know...maybe something along the lines of a lion escaping, the monkeys start throwing poo, the gorilla starts attacking...or you know, my kids just being extra cute and whatnot. :)

Yeah, that's Isaac kissing the sheep.  So relieved, because you know, it's way better than what Elijah did last year...by licking it.  and not just licking it. oh no.  that's not enough.  he licked the thing's rear end.  yeah. cansomeonepleasetellmehowtohandleboys

He has blue eyes!!!!  EEEEeeee!!  I'm beside myself with happiness about this! =)

Poor thing tuckered out right before the sea lion show was about to start.

And I'll throw one more in here of my littlest man for good measure.  I mean, I don't think I posted enough of him already. ;)

He was all set for the zoo in his safari gear and all!  The rockin' safari kind.

Zoo animals are ambassadors for their cousins in the wild.

~Jack Hanna

Baby food and baby feet

I hate to cook.  really hate it.  Hate is not a strong enough word for it, honestly.  I do it, obviously.  My family deserves for me, the wife and mom, to do the cooking....but...I'll tell you the truth...if there were another way to feed my family, I'd be all for it.  But since we don't have all kinds of money at our disposal, we don't have a personal chef (that would honestly be one of the first things I would get if we were ever to come into a large amount of money...before anything, even the new house.  He'd be cooking right here in our modest little 3 bedroom home.)

All that to say...even though I hate cooking, I LOVE making Jett's baby food!!!  I don't know why I have this strange fascination with it, but I do.  I'm always thinking about new recipes, or which foods I already have in my fridge that I can combine.  Maybe the love for this will carry over into the normal cooking I do.  Doubtful, but maybe.

Here's some of what we have stocked in the freezer right now.

In it we have:  sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, apples, pears, apple/blueberry combo, apple/carrot/parsnip combo, chicken/apple/carrot combo, banans, and green beans.  He just ate the last of the peas.

This is way more fun than what I thought it was gonna be!!!  He hasn't had bite of baby food from a jar! 

-----------------------------------

Another thing I'm not so fond of is feet.  I know, this is really nice to talk about food and feet in the same post, but it's what's on my mind.  Sorry. 

I do, however, love baby feet.  And little kid feet.  Not so much with the adult feet though. 

Really, how could anyone not love these little piggies?

These cute kiddie feet property of:

I could just smell them and nibble on them all day.  =) 

This I pray, that God above

Shall protect you with His love,

And shall guide those little feet

Safely down life's broader street.

~From the book "Rhymes Of Childhood"

7 Month Jett

Jett's 6th month was very busy!!  He learned so much in just one short little month! 

~ He can now crawl.

~ He can sit up without falling over.

~ He can sit himself up from a crawling position.

~ He's starting to pull up on things that are low to the ground (ie. the bottom part of the coffee table, the toy basket, chair legs)

~ He likes to imitate what we do...like when I cough, he forces out this little baby cough/scream type thing.  It's the cutest thing ever. :)

~ He sleeps without his wrap!!! YAY!  I thought we would never see the end of the wrap era.

~ He still loves his binky, but usually only takes it when he's sleeping.

~ He's eating solids 3 times a day, and his favorites are still the orange veggies.  I made some apples with blueberries, and he loves that too!!  He nurses anywhere from 6-8 times a day.

He's still so happy and snuggly.  I love him more every day!

"Sometimes", said Pooh, "the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."

Watch out world, here he comes!

Wow, I really didn't think I could have a child that could exceed the energy level of one Elijah Scott, but I think it has been done.

Meet Jett.
The never calm, never still, never content-with-just-doing-nothing child.

He's crawling.
And trying to stand himself up.
And climbing out of things like, oh, the exersaucer.
I placed him in it and left the room to put away laundry.  When I came back, there he was...laying on the floor, fussing, and probably wondering what the heck had just happened, and why mommy wasn't there to keep it from happening.

He's 6 months old.
Chloe didn't even crawl till she was 9 months. 
And I'm thinking even Elijah didn't crawl this early.  If he did, I'm pretty for sure that he wasn't doing the sort of circus sideshow stunts that Jett is attempting.  Oh my.

And for your viewing pleasure, here's the first video of him crawling. 




When my kids become wild and unruly, I use a nice, safe playpen. When they're finished, I climb out. ~Erma Bombeck

Mom

These 5 little people made me a mother.

And my life is better just because they're here.

Here's what they picked out for me on Mother's Day.

The card on the left reads:

"Mother's Day is a chance for us to treat you like a queen!"

inside: (something like this)

"A queen with really lazy subjects who don't listen."

Chloe picked it out, and read it to Mike, followed by the statement,

"That's kind of like us, huh, Dad?"

:)

My mother's day was wonderful.  I got all I could ever ask for.

And I have the best mom in the world.  I don't know what I would do without her.  She is my hero.

Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs in my field, since the payment is pure love. ~Mildred B. Vermont

ps. I do realize Mother's Day was over a week ago. What can I say? I'm a procrastinator.

Say what?

A few funny things the boys have said recently:

Elijah was looking at the box of Cheerios while I was making breakfast, and he said "Mommy this box of Honey Nut Cheerios says it makes everybody sweet.  You know why?  Cause everybody chokes on them."

Elijah (after bumping his knee on the table):  "Mommy, my knee doesn't have power anymore!"

Isaac (sitting on the couch, looking at his feet):  "Mommy, I have toes!"

We were at the store, and I told Elijah he could pick out some cookies.  Isaac was sitting in the front of the cart, and hadn't said anything in a while.  Elijah finally chose some chocolate chip cookies, and tossed them into the cart.  Isaac turned around, looked at the cookies, then turned back around to me and said "Darn it!  I don't like those kind!"

Elijah has close to a million hot wheels.  Possibly over a million by now.  He knows which ones he loves and which ones he doesn't.  Of course, when Isaac wants to play with them, Elijah kindly hands over the ones he's not so fond of.  When I ask him why he likes some better than others, it's usually because they either roll better, or they look more like race cars.  The funniest reason I have ever heard from him is that some have funnier faces.  Yeah, hot wheels have faces...didn't you know? 

For instance, this hot wheel car:

is making this face:

(sorry it's so blurry...I took it with my phone)

He's a funny kid!

My boys keep me laughing all day.  You know, when they aren't driving me to complete insanity! :)  Although, I have to admit, this chaos is what I've always hoped for!  Boys are awesome!

A child enters your home and makes so much noise for twenty years that you can hardly stand it: then departs leaving the house so silent that you think you will go mad.

~John Andrew Holmes

Jett's Spring Pictures

And an extra little outtake:

Funny.

The other 4 kids have not been forgotten.  I would love to take them to Loose Park in KC.  It's actually the same place I took these pics of my beautiful niece!

Not everybody trusts paintings but people believe photographs.

~Ansel Adams

Sister, Sister

I love having girls.  I love spending time with them and hearing about their dreams, their friends, their worries, their thoughts, their love for animals. 

It's so wonderful to think that they will have each other growing up, and that they'll most likely be best friends, and share everything with each other.  

This bracelet is from Laney's other best friend, Annika. 

Oh, how I love my baby girl's personality!  She's so lively and colorful and free-spirited!

Sisters.  They just love being together...when they're not at each other's throats, of course.  It's so precious to me how much the pain of one affects the other.  It's a pretty common occurance around here for Chloe to start crying when Laney is getting in trouble, or for Laney to dramatically tell a story of how Chloe was hurt by a friend at recess.  So much love and so much pain mixed together in her voice when she's repeating the tale of Chloe's misfortune.  They love each other so much, and it shines through the most when they're playing together, just enjoying each other's company. 

Of course, they will always have their own friends, their own lives, their own dreams and aspirations.

But forever, they will have each other.

And that's beautiful!

A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life.

~Isadora James