Gray's 4 month appointment

Yesterday Gray had his 4 month appointment with Dr. D. I seriously cannot believe that it has been four months already. Time sure flies when life is crazy! He is doing really well. Here are his stats:

Weight: 16 lbs 7 oz - 90%
Height: 27 in - off the charts

What a big boy. This is just one of my favorite stages. Gray is always happy and smiling. He is starting to giggle and try to "talk" to us. He loves his blanket and loves to bite it! Over the next 2 months we can start cereal and veggies/fruit. I am hoping that time just slows down so I can enjoy every moment.

What is wrong with this picture?

As we arrived home from Luke's soccer game, Nash was standing by the door. I was looking at his shorts/capris and wondering where he had gotten them. As I got closer I realized that they were not his. Joey had gotten Nash dressed in Gray's 3-6month jeans. I could not stop laughing. Joey blamed me for this because they were in Nash's drawer. I guess I got a little mixed up the last time I did laundry. So funny. I knew Nash was thinning out but if he can still fit in 3-6 mo clothes we had better give his pantry privileges back!
*Love this face. He does not seem to be bothered by the clothes mix-up!

Bringing it Back

Thanks to Uncle Don's willingness to watch the kiddos (brave man!) Joey and I were able to go on a date. I am bringing back the date nights! Since we are going to be in St.George for Joey's birthday weekend, I thought it would be fun to go to lunch just the two of us. He chose Goodwood, which was what I thought he would choose. Not my favorite place but not my birthday. It was so nice to be able to eat and talk without being interrupted. Boy do I love that man! He is such an amazing husband and so my best friend. I love our time alone and I look forward to more dates to come!
*Since I am always thinking of blog possibilities, I wanted a picture of the two of us together. Joey is not always the most cooperative with the pics. Here are our attempts. Third time is the charm!

1st attempt- great face Joe! Luke was our photographer and was cracking up after the first picture. Now I see why!



2nd attempt



3rd attmept

G*I*R*L*S

Like I mentioned in a previous blog, Luke is very old for his age. I cannot believe I am saying this but "girls" are already an interest. Does this really happen in first grade? On Thursday night while I was teaching dance, Luke asked Joey: "Dad, can I tell you a secret?" Joey said yes and Luke continued by saying "Riley has a girlfriend and her name is Dylan." This sparked my interest so yesterday I was asking him all about the girls in his class. He told me that he thought Aniston was cute but he was not going to marry her. Then he started talking about Mia. He said that he thought she was really cute but was not going to marry her. But then he said he would just like her at school and maybe kiss her. Then he said "Riley, turn your head. Mom, I am going to kiss her like this!" Then he puckered his lips and made a cute kiss sound. I seriously cannot believe we are having this conversation. What a cute boy! I cannot wait until parent teacher conference and I can peak at Mia's picture that Mrs. Grimes posted on the wall in her room.

Guess who is getting more sleep?

For about the past 5 days Gray has decided to make our lives a lot easier. He is sleeping through the night! What a champion! He usually goes to sleep between 7:30pm and 8pm. He then does not wake up until about 6:15am. It is such a dream. I am feeling like I can function again. Thanks Gray for being such a great baby!

First Day of Dance

Today Harlee had her first day of dance class this year. She is taking again with Becky and Callie. She was so excited to go. We had a bit of a struggle getting her to wear the flower on her headband. She only agreed to do so if I wore a yellow headband and she got to wear her yellow shoes. I guess I really wanted her to wear the flower. After I picked her up today she said "Mom, I love dance!" Could anything sound better to my ears? A dream come true.
*Here is a picture of her yellow princess shoes! Too funny!

Caramel Apples

Well we are almost officially in the FHE habit again. I guess 3 weeks makes a habit so we have one more to go. Last night we read from the children's Book of Mormon and then made caramel apples. They were definitely a hit. The kids loved them, especially Nash who loves to feel like he is just as big as his brother and sister. Love this picture.

"COOL"

Who knew that when you were six years old you would be concerned with what was cool? I guess six is the new 10! I don't think I worried about cool until I was at least 10. Yesterday Luke insisted on wearing his new jacket zipped all the way up. He said that this was "cool". Then he told me he was going to only wear his backpack on one shoulder. Nevermind the fact that it was falling off, but Luke said this was "cool". He is so old for his age. Six going on sixteen! I sure love this guy and he never ceases to surprise me.

Harlee's new hobby

I had the camera out taking a few pictures of Gray. Harlee begged me to take some pictures. She could have done this all day. Here is her best shot- if only Gray was looking! Besides a few that were of way off center and one of her finger, she did a great job!

A Childs Habit

When Luke was little he had a blanket that he called "favorite". He always had to have "favorite" when he was going to sleep and he would always bite his blanket. We thought this was kind of funny. What is even funnier though is that each of our other children has had the same biting habit.
Harlee with her pink blanket

Nash with his blue blanket

and now Gray with any blanket he can find

This definitely supports our one mold theory.
*I wanted a picture of Luke pretending to bite his blanket but he would not do it. He was afraid Riley might see our private blog!

No More!

Yesterday was the big day! I have been wanting to get Nash off of the bottle for a few months now. But since it did not happen before Gray was born, I wanted to wait a little while so that Nash did not feel like everything in his world was changing. So we gave him a sippy cup of warm milk and he loved it! He is such a big boy and we were so proud of him. Next step... get him in his big boy bunk bed.

Who put the "FUN" in FHE?

So thanks to Uncle Don FHE was a hit! He let us borrow the "Just Dance" Wii game and we all had so much fun. There are many different songs to choose from and then you follow the dancer on the TV. Luke and Harlee had so much fun doing it and so did I. I am not sure if we burned more calories attempting the dances or laughing at the attempts! At any rate, we had so much fun playing this game as a family.
*Our bad attempt at a family picture

No more snaggletooth!!

For about two weeks Luke's front tooth has been hanging on for dear life. We have been referring to it as his "snaggletooth". About a week ago I convinced him to let me tie dental floss around it and try to tie it off. Not so successful. The only thing that happened is a little blood and now it hung even lower in his grin! So on Saturday we were eating Olive Garden pasta. He took a bite and it caused his tooth to twist. He was freaking out a little bit and after much coaxing he let Joey pull it out. He was so afraid it would hurt and when Joey was done he was shocked. "That did not hurt!" he shouted. So he put his tooth under the pillow and was rewarded with $2. He had suggested that the tooth fairy bring him $3 since it was a "bigger" tooth. Guess the tooth fairy was not up for negotiating. I reminded him that Mom and Dad maybe got a dollar with each tooth if we were lucky!
Before

and After

*So cute with his toothless grin! Love that boy!

Should we be concerned???

Chalk it up to having an older sister, but Nash loves Dora. Tonight he went and got a comb to do Dora's hair. I had to take a picture for blackmail when he gets older. I would worry but he had just gotten done playing with his car toy upstairs. He is such a funny kid. He is very much into figuring things out. We call him our little engineer. If there is something to be put together, he will sit for long periods of time figuring it out. He also loves books and is happy as can be if you will read to him. There is a little bit about our Nashie. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out!

Luke Face

Ever since Gray was born I have thought that he really looks like Nash. The other day, Gray was sleeping in his car seat. I looked over at him and he was making a face that totally reminded me of Luke. It was like I was seeing him six years ago. What cute kids they all are and what lucky parents we are.

Another Surgery

About 2 weeks after I had my appendix out I had a really bad attack. It hurt so bad that I went to the emergency room. They thought it was my gallbladder but after the ultrasound showed no signs, we did not know the answer. So I went to Dr. Rashband. She at first thought I might have diverticulitis that may have been caused by my appendix surgery. After 10 days of antibiotics and still having attacks, she figured it was my gallbladder. I was sent for a HIDA scan which showed I had a hyperactive gallbladder. Anything about 60% is high and mine was at 93%. The surgeon said that every time my gallbladder was starting to work it would cause a spasm that was making me sick. So he decided it would be best to remove my gallbladder. Friday was the big day and I was so excited. I have been feeling so nauseous and sick, not able to eat very much. So Friday morning I checked in at 5:45am and was on my way home around 2pm. The surgeon told Joey that the opening to the valve that the bile comes through was so narrow, almost closed. He also said that my gallbladder was really inflamed. He said this is why I was feeling so sick. Makes me feel like the surgery was the right decision. I am still in a lot of pain but look forward to being able to eat and not feel so sick. I think I have earned a week of eating whatever I want!
*Check out that swollen belly! At my 2 week appointment he read me the pathology report. It said that I had chronic inflamation and gallstones. Who knew? I write this down since gallbladder removal is usually hereditary. Hopefully none of the kiddos have to go through this!

Harlee's First Day of Preschool

Today was Harlee's first official day of preschool. She woke up so excited to go and felt like the morning was taking forever. She wore her cute new gray dress and looked adorable. She told me that she had so much fun. They worked on writing their name and a few craft projects. I was so glad she was not worried to go and so glad that she really enjoyed it.

3 Months Old

Time sure flies and I cannot believe that Gray is already three months old! On one hand with all we went through in the beginning, it feels longer. But on the other hand I cannot believe how quickly he is changing and growing out of the newborn phase. Gray is such a good and happy baby. He is sleeping so well and usually gets up only once in the night. Gray does not like to go in the car. Almost immediately upon getting in his car seat he is unhappy. Should make our upcoming trip to St. George a real treat!! Guess he has to have one flaw! We all just love him so much. Harlee loves him so much that she wrote a song about him. She always sings to him: "Graby (the nickname we all call him) Who's the rock and roll baby!" It is so cute. What a little rhymer! Well I want to stop time from going so quickly but we sure are enjoying every minute with this little guy!
*When I was taking Gray's picture, Nash insisted I get a few of him! He loves to take pictures so he can see himself on the camera. Too cute!