Happy #7!

Today is Brady's birthday. We celebrated last week with a Magic School Bus party, which was so much fun! At first I was so nervous about the cake and then I made it and I was so happy with how it turned out. It is my favorite cake that I have ever done and didn't want to cut it, way too cute to eat!

His party included science experiments: tornado tubes (thanks sis for all of your connectors, you are the best auntie!), Mentos in 2 liters of pop and hurricane tag, perfect for outside and thankfully it was a beautiful day!

When I sit down and think about my oldest I cannot even fathom the fact that he is 7! Wow, time sure has flown by! He is such a joy to have in my life.

I love watching him play with his siblings and how much he really does love to be with them and "create" games with them.

He is very thoughtful to those around him. If there is a kid who isn't playing with anyone, he will go to them and invite them to play with him.

He is a great example of the gospel to me, he knows it is true and does what is right.

Of all of my children, he is the most sensitive to what is going on around him, especially when it comes to me. If I am having a hard day he is the first to come up and give me a hug and tell me everything will be okay.

My sweet Brady bug, I love you and all of the things that you teach me on a daily basis. What an amazing young boy you are. You are so much fun to be around. I know that next year when you are of age, that you will be ready to be baptized. I am blessed to be your mother and to have the opportunity to have you in my life, you are a keeper! I love you 10 olives!

More then meets the eye

Finally, my Halloween post! We some fun things to celebrate this year, the Thursday before there was no school so I had a Halloween party and I didn't even take any pictures of it! It was a lot of fun. My favorite part was the cooking for this, it was a lot of fun and I got all of my ideas from here:

OurBestBites

We had mummy dogs, monster apple teeth, witches wands, pumpkin shaped sandwiches and candy corn shaped sugar cookies (those were my favorite no frosting needed or cookie cutters!). We did a simple Halloween craft and then just let the kids play in the backyard, it was a perfect day.

Friday before Halloween there was no school due to Nevada Day so we went into town and did Keller's Hawaiian baby pictures to add to my wall. While we were there we met up with dad, dressed the kidlets in their costumes and went to Springs Preserve. It was fun, everything was decorated with witches, ghouls, ghosts, monsters... black lights and "spider webs" everywhere. There were stations for trick-or-treating. It started at dark so it made for a very late night!

We didn't get around to carving until Saturday night and we had fun with that and surprisingly Bryce did too! He hates carving but now that he found this tool to add onto his drill to get the guts out of the pumpkin he was almost excited!

We had Super Mario bros. this year, a pretty witch (as she called herself) and a cute little Dalmatian puppy.

Bryce's creation, our compromise for Brady he wanted Optimus, uh, no!

Mine on the left, Leilani's on the right

Ready to go!

He hated the hat but he loved the collar

It's a Grand Ole' Flag

Every morning at Brady's school they have flag ceremony. This includes all of the grades, even Leilani gets to attend.
Well, the first graders were asked to lead flag ceremony. Brady came home and was so excited to tell me he held the flag and then on another day he lead the school in their 30 seconds of silence.
It brings a smile upon my face to look at this picture and see how serious he takes holding the flag.

Maybe being a cub scout leader when he was so little had a lasting effect on him? He did know the Cub scout motto when he was 2! We are a little over a year away and he will be a Wolf, it is crazy!
What a good kid I have!

Happy 6 months!

My baby Kel is officially 6 months today. Wow! It has been a crazy ride thus far and I wouldn't trade it for the world, even the sleepless nights and some side-effects from nursing.

He is:

My brown baby from head to toe, which makes him oh so different. I love his brown eyes, hair and skin so much fun!

He is so calm and mild tempered, unless he is hungry, watch out!

I would guess he is probably 18 or 19 pounds idk since he has not gone to the doc for his check-up.

He is tall for his age, since he is a solid 6-12 month in clothes and well on his way to 12-18!

He finally sleeps through the night, since we put him in his own room. Living in a 3 bedroom house this was interesting, we put Carter's crib in with the 2 oldest. That was an adjustment but we have survived!

He loves his veggies! Squash seems to be a fav!

He is a roller from back to front and not quite sure what to do once he gets there.

He does his "crunches" everyday trying to sit up, working on his 6-pack!

He is a babbler and recently really likes to laugh, which is fun.

He is adored by all in the house and the center of attention. We have to make sure they share him with each other before he gets hurt!

Happy half birthday baby boy! I love everything about you!

Giggles

Keller is officially 5 months as of 2 days ago. I recorded this video last week and the sound didn't come through but my sister saved me, thank you!

Here is what he is up too:

He is 17 pounds (about 75%)

27 1/2 inches (95%, so big, he is in 12 month pajamas, because of the feet)

He rolls from back to front

Loves his Bumbo and saucer

He is grabbing things with his hands

Crazy, but he has started to take the pacifier!

He is starting to eat solid foods tried peas the other night and loved them.

He has also decided to start not sleeping through the night it's been about a month since he started this, not a lot of fun for Bryce & I. Especially when he seems to like our bed better than his crib even though I keep trying and trying his crib. I think he feels it is necessary to be able to feel mom all night!
He slept last night for 7 hours in his swing, guess that will be his "crib" for awhile!
Our waking hours are great and he is very smiley and happy.

He loves his sister & brothers and puts up with them wanting to carry him around!
This little guy is such a joy to have in our home. Every time I walk into the room he gives me big smiles. What a blessing to have his spirit in our family.

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for 50% of my children. Brady started first grade and Leilani is a peer model for the Early Childhood Preschool offered at the same school as Brady.

This morning everyone in the house decided to wake up before the sun rose, that was so much fun! 5:30 am, this is just not right! It was either nerves or excitement, probably a mixture of both.

Brady was a little nervous and asked if he could hide his teddy in his "secret pocket" in his backpack. He said, "I won't take him out and I won't tell anyone mom, please?" I told him only for this first day can teddy go to school with you, he seemed okay with that. Once we got to school he found his best friend and off they went, after he gave a hug & kiss to everyone in the family.

Leilani was more excited then nervous. She hugged me and was off to the playground with no looking back. When I picked her up her teacher told me she did great and she told her teacher she would not be returning tomorrow! In the car, she told me that she will go back tomorrow, yeah!

The baby boys and I got absolutely nothing done this morning. We went to the grocery store, came home, fed Keller and went to pick up Leilani. I figure Monday's will be shopping day and the rest of the week should be productive, here's hoping!

Leilani, ready for school

Brady ready for school, he had to have this shirt, cracks me up!

Brady & Leilani ready to go

Monty Four

At 4 1/2 months Kel got his first taste of solid food. After seeing an episode of 19 kids and counting and Anna making her own rice cereal I decided to give it a try, so easy! Cannot believe that I have never done it before and it is so much healthier then the paste of white rice cereal!

I ground up 1/4 cup of brown rice (I have a spice grinder, you could also use a blender) should be a powder texture, added 1 cup of water and simmer on the stove for 10 minutes. Let cool and serve. You can also make up larger batches, pour into into ice trays and freeze for later use.

Here is a great website I found for making homemade baby foods: http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/cereals.htm

Here is the finished product.

Kel was a fan, not a lot of spitting out, until Lani fed him! We will try again tomorrow. He is such a big baby that I felt that he needed to be introduced to something more then just milk.

Leilani wanted in on the action, my little helper.

Liquid Laundry Detergent

I have no idea why I was so nervous to melt some soap on the stove and add water, but I was! Ridiculous, I know! After becoming lazy on making the powder soap, I bought some detergent from Costco, fairly inexpensive but after making it for so much cheaper, it killed me every time I used it. I decided to try this recipe and I have no idea what the breakdown of the price is but I am pretty sure it is about 1 cent per load? I have used it for the last 3 months and I still have half of the bucket left.

4 Cups - hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Bar of Dial
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax

- Grate both bars and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel) I didn't do this for the first few batches, it seemed too watery.

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - I have found this at Lin's. Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!

Christmas 2010 Sewing

For Christmas this last year I decided to do a lot of sewing, a lot for me anyway! A few years ago I attempted to make an apron for Brady, it turned out awful! I have since done more sewing and thought I would attempt this again. I am still a non-sewer and only dabble, but the more I sew the better I get. Here is what I made this year: reversible aprons for the 3 kids with matching chef hats and a bunk bed tent. I had a lot of fun making them, especially the chef hats!

Love Brady's face! Probably not his favorite gift, but he likes it now, thank goodness!

Leilani with her hat, didn't get a picture with her apron on.

Carter ready to cook!

The bunkbed tent I wish I would've reinforced the windows like the tutorial suggested but I was a little done by the time I made it and finished right before we left for Ogden. I used a queen size flat sheet, which worked perfectly! I didn't need anymore fabric then that. I modified the straps from the scraps, I should've also added a strap in the center, it would stay up a lot better then it does now. I would've made the windows a little bit smaller, since the first time I put it up Brady thought it would be great to climb through it and it ripped slightly. You can never quite guess what kids are going to do, the unthinkable really!

I cannot take all of the credit, here were my resources:

Apron/Chef hat: http://www.michaelmillerfabrics.com/Blog/Classic_Apron.pdf

Bunk Bed fort: http://alemonsqueezyhome.blogspot.com/2010/06/bunk-bed-fort-tutorial.html

Pioneer Day

In celebration of Pioneer day our ward had a breakfast and a little "parade" to get to the church which is a whopping 1/2 mile or so? The kids rode their bikes and the little ones got a nice little ride in our double stroller. Breakfast was pancakes, eggs and sausage. The kids played a game of chasing a chicken from one side of a dirt field attempting to get the chicken to go around a pole and then back, this however was unaccomplished since the chickens were not very cooperative! It was hilarious that on the second attempt the chickens laid down and didn't not want to move at all. Afterward the sprinklers at the church went off and lo and behold my kids wanted to run in the sprinklers with the other children. It was a lot of fun watching them enjoy themselves and when the station they were playing stopped they whined, then the next station went off and the hoorays were so cute! The simple joys! My kids told me that was the best part of the day.

As today is the actually Pioneer Day it is hard to imagine what the pioneers actually went through on their trek west. I cannot even comprehend what it would've been like to load all of their possessions into this small wagon or handcart and not know what may be on the other side. To have such faith and follow the counsel of their beloved prophet and trust that their lives would be much safer and they would be allowed to worship freely without the persecution.

Brady was asking me if we had any pioneers and since I don't know the history of Bryce's side very well I proceeded to tell him what I know of my side. I had a Scottish Grandmother (great-great) who joined the church and left her family in Scotland to head to Zion. She was 19 years old. There was a family that took her under their wing and she came across in the Martin handcart company. What faith she had to have to leave her family and all that she knew because she believed so wholly and completely in this gospel.

I pray that I may have that kind of faith and trust in the Lord and be willing to make sacrifices when I am asked and not murmur. That I will learn from my trials and be stronger as a result. I pray that I will be able to teach my children that and teach them where they came from, that it will give them strength to endure their own trials.

Summer Swimming

Our summer has been crazy busy with swimming lessons. Each session lasted 2 weeks and we did 2 sessions. The hardest part about it was sitting in the sun for 2 hours 3 days a week. Not a lot of fun to entertain a 2 year old when he can't go swimming and to nurse a baby in the heat, yeah fun! I am so glad it is over!

I signed Leilani up for preschool lessons, since they won't let them advance until they are 5. After she passed preschool and was terribly bored throughout the session, they pushed her to Level I for the next session. She passed with flying colors! She is now where Brady started this summer and is 4, I am proud of her. She now is gaining the skills to back up her no fear of water.

Brady started with Level II, passed and moved on to Level III. I was very excited when he overcame his fear of the diving board and the deep end. He now has the confidence that he needs to swim anywhere in the pool. I am still debating about doing the last session, we shall see. We are going to Idaho for a family reunion at the end of July, so that decision will be made later. I suppose I love torture!

Keller asleep during the lessons, sometimes!

The 3 ready to swim. I have to say that Leilani looks so beautiful to me in the this picture, even if she isn't smiling. Notice Brady's big gap on the top?!

Carter wore his swimsuit every day, even though he couldn't go in the water.

Hands

Keller is 3 months old and has discovered his hands. It is the cutest thing to see how much of his fist he can get into that little mouth of his! I love this age of discovery.
Hands
Feet
People
Laughing
Smiling
Standing

We pulled out his saucer to stand he loves it! I love it too, because it gives him some leg strengthening and also a break for mom!

I love having a baby in the house, besides the wee hours of the morning when he thinks he is hungry, no you are almost 15 pounds! I raved about his 10 hour sleeps but he seems to not want to follow that as much lately. He was consistently sleeping that length for over a month but lately seems to be giving me 6 hour increments about every other night. I would rather have consistency don't tease me one night and then take it back the next! My body doesn't adjust well to this back and forth stuff.

We recently went to the doctor for his 2 month check-up, I am never good at keeping up with this, besides the fact that I have skepticism of all of the immunizations they require all before the age of 1 year. They are so small, so I always push it back, but I do love the weight check to see how much he is growing.
He weighed in at 14 pounds which puts him at the 75th percentile.
He is 26 1/2 inches long which puts him at the 97th percentile.
I don't remember his head size just that it was in the 35th percentile.

Nice healthy baby boy. Such a sweet little guy! I wish I could capture his adorable smile but he is not very cooperative when the camera is in his face, why ever not?

When he is wrapped for bed he looks like he is in a cocoon, so I call him "Caterkeller"

Here is a smiley face, too bad it isn't a little clearer, love those cheeks!

Keller 2 Months

Keller at 2 months:

He now weighs 13 pounds and is 23 3/4 inches long.
He is in 3-6 month clothes, but not for long! I would guess in the next few weeks he will be in 6-9 months.
We have also switched over to cloth diapers, which is the earliest I have used them. I love them though, never thought I would say that when Brady was born!
He is a smiley little baby and such a joy!

I think I say this about all of my babies, but he truly is! He is amazing and sleeps through the night, last night he slept 10 hours!

Everyone thinks he looks like Brady, but I think he has his own look, different then the rest. To me he looks like my sister, dark hair, dark eyes, dark skin, even down to his nose, which I think is my dad's side, unfortunately he says. I love every little thing about him, right down to his monkey toes! Sweet little guy. The kids call him Kel, or KelKel. I catch myself calling him Mr. Keller, which to me is endearing, reminds me of my uncle's and they are and were great men! I hope he grows up to be like them.

My friend gave me this onesie, a little tight but we got a pic of it on! A matching burp-cloth too, what a fun gift!

He's smiling with his tongue, too cute!

Easter Photo Shoot

Here are some Easter pics of the four. The batteries ran out when I was trying to get the boys, bummer! They were so handsome in their matching ties, courtesy of petitepeanut on etsy. It is crazy to have 4!

Montierth 4

Big Sissy & Keller

Bug-bug with Keller

Cartay & Keller

Leilani Janae

Yee-haw!

Last weekend was the fair and our kids love to get dressed up in their hat and boots and head up to the fair. This was the first year that Carter was so excited, so we found as close to a cowboy hat as possible and put on his way too big boots. Since we don't have a real horse, Bryce sat him on "Arnold", named after the horse next door.

Here is our little cowboy, just too cute not to share! And Leilani and Brady enjoying their merry-go-round horses.

Leilani Janae

I am once again amazed that another year has passed and my baby girl is 4! I feel so blessed to have her in my life. This past conference a talk was given by a seventy (I do not remember his name) and he said that there are children in your life that will bring many challenges that may be hard to deal with. He said remember that you need them in your life as much as they need you in theirs. There is a reason they were sent to you. I am finding this to be very true with my daughter. We have our challenges, but I learn from her on a daily basis.

She is so strong willed and independent, yet so is her mother! Why would she not be like me?

I admire those qualities in her and her desire to stand up for herself and to truly know what she will and will not do. This is what I would teach my young women and she sure has decided this at her very young age.

What a blessing she is! It has been fun to watch her grow in Primary and see how much of the gospel she really knows. She is learning so fast and developing at such a fast pace. She seems far beyond her years. I pray that I will be able to "guide" her in the right direction and give her the tools that she needs to be successful and happy in her life. I love her and cherish my only daughter. I pray that we will always have a sweet mother daughter bond and she knows how much I love her, to the moon and back! What a sweet blessing my sweet Leilani is, Happy Birthday baby girl!

Four years old

Three years old

Two years old

One year old

Baby Leilani