11 Months old on 11/01/11!

Sweet Baby Jensen is 11 months old today.  What?  Where did the time go?

The greatest accomplishment that happened during the past month is that he started sleeping through the night!  Hooray!  He has also mastered going down the stairs.  Scares me to death but my malfunctioning baby gate wasn't keeping him away any longer so we taught him how to navigate them.  While he has perfect balance and can stand up whenever he wants he still hasn't started taking steps- which I'm totally okay with because he's growing up faster than I can stand anyway.  I have been very nostalgic the past couple months remembering that this time last year I was anxiously awaiting his arrival.  He has been an absolute joy and I am thankful for this sweet guy!  Though it isn't always easy being a mom to a teenager on down to a baby it sure is worth it.  I think Jensen is helping me get through Ben's teenage years by reminding me what it is all about.  Mischief and all - I wouldn't change a thing.

All dressed up!!

Here are the kids all dressed up for Halloween!

Jensen was a "Mischievous Monkey"

Mitchell was a "Ninja"

 Sydnee was "Super Sydnee"

Makenzie was a "gypsy"

Ben was a "?"

Our neighbor took Ben and her son Isaac to Walmart after school so they could get some stuff to create a last minute costume. They had a little too much fun scaring their little sisters- and I hope they didn't scare any of the cute kids in the neighborhood when we left them home to pass out candy while we took the little ones trick or treating.  Needless to say he had fun posing for his pictures.

Happy Halloween!

 

Pumpkin Carving 2011...

On Sunday we spent the afternoon carving our Halloween Pumpkins.

Mitchell and Makenzie did a great job carving their own pumpkins

I carved a "2 tooth" pumpkin just for my own little "2 tooth" pumpkin. :)

They looked great all lit up on the front porch on the eve of Halloween.

Sydnee turns 5!

Our sweet little Sydnee celebrated her 5th birthday in September.

She awoke early and anxiously waited for her sister and brothers to get up so she could open her presents.  She got a scooter and a zebra pillow pet along with some new clothes.  After presents, mom spent the rest of the morning preparing for Sydnee's very first friend birthday party.

When the guest arrived they all gathered around the kitchen table to create their "princess crowns"  it was so fun to listen to them chat with each other as they carefully made their crowns.

Here are all the adorable little princesses in their newly made crowns.  We are so lucky that Sydnee has so many sweet girls in our neighborhood to be friends with.

 We read  the story "The Princess and the Pea", played pin the kiss on the frog, pass the slipper, and a princess matching game.

After the friend pary we took Sydnee to the mall where she got her ears pierced.  We ate dinner at Terra Mia, and returned home and enjoyed cake and ice cream before putting a very tired birthday girl to bed.

Sydnee you are a very fun girl.  Your laugh is contagious.  Your smile is beautiful.  You are a sweet, social, spunky, sassy little princess.  We sure do love you!  Happy 5th Birtday!!

Jensen is 9 Months Old!

Sweet baby Jensen is 9 months old! He weighs 17 lbs (5 percentile) and is 26.5 inches (4 percentile) he may be a little guy but he is an active guy. He has been on the move since he was 6 1/2 months old-he started out doing the army crawl and in recent weeks has mastered the hands and knee crawl. He is also standing up to everything and occasionally letting go and balancing for a few seconds before setting down. He was my earliest crawler so maybe he will also be the earliest walker. He brings so much happiness to our home. He is always smiling and happy!

Back to School!

The summer has come to an end and the kids are back in school. I enjoyed the break that summer brings but it feels good to have a bit of a routine going again. Here's Ben ready for 9th grade-his final year in Jr. High. (I may be starting to freak out that I'll have a kid in High School next year)!
And darling Makenzie is in the 6th Grade this year- her final year of elementary school.

Mitchell is in 2nd grade this year.

And little Miss Sydnee is in her final year of preschool! Looking forward to a great school year!

Juggling

Most days are something like this..... but then some days are like this......specifically today was a day like this.

so now that everyone is asleep....I think I'll attempt some damage control for a few hours and hopefully tomorrow's juggling act will be a bit more organized.

No Foolin'......my baby is 4 month's old!

I can't believe it has been 4 months since Jensen was born. Jensen is such a happy, smiley, good natured little guy. Though I struggle to capture that smile on camera-he just doesn't seem to smile at me when I'm holding a big black thing in front of my face.

Just this past week he started to roll over from his back to his stomach and I love that he sucks his thumb- though I may not love this as much in a few years when I want him to stop :)

My oldest boy and my youngest boy. Happy 4 month old birthday Jensen!

Jensen's Blessing Sunday

Yesterday sweet baby Jensen was given a name and a blessing. We felt very blessed to be surrounded by our family for this special occasion. My heart was full of gratitude to my Heavenly Father for this sweet precious baby boy that has blessed our home for the past three months.

My heart was also full of gratitude for my 4 other children and my loving, supportive husband and for the knowledge that through the blessings of the temple they will be my family forever and forever.

My heart was also full of gratitude to my wonderful parents who I love and admire more and more with each passing day. Bless them for driving 3 hours here and 3 hours back to show their love and support to us on this special day. And to my beautiful sister Paula whom my children and I love so much!

My heart was also full of gratitude to the most wonderful in-laws in the world. Thank you Gene and Dorothy for raising such a wonderful son. Thank you for all that you do for us!

Jensen, his dad and his grandpa's. Three great men to look up to and to love.

We had a wonderful afternoon eating, visiting, laughing, loving, and enjoying the company of Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Grandparents. Thank you all for sharing in this day with us.

Jensen we love you!

Mitchell turns 7

We celebrated Mitchell's 7th Birthday last week. Mitchell chose to eat dinner at IHOP. He ate Eggo's for breakfast and pancakes for dinner! Mitchell loves breakfast food. He'd eat it for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner anyday of the week.

Besides his love of breakfast foods these are some of the other things that make Mitchell-Mitchell:).

• He is an early bird. He is usually the first one awake and if he sleeps past 7:00 am that is sleeping in for him. Maybe it has to do with his excitement to eat breakfast?
• He is a good student. His teachers have nothing but nice things to say about him. His teacher has a color coded behavior chart for her class. Each day all the students start out at green. The very best color is orange. Mitchell has gotten an orange mark all but one day this year when he had a green.
• He is orderly. I rarely have to ask him to clean his room because he is very good about keeping things in there proper places.
• He has a tender heart. He is quick to comfort me if he senses that I am upset.
• He has an inquiring mind. He is always thinking and asking questions.
• He is the best brother. He has been so sweet with baby Jensen. He asks to hold him several times a day and is always eager to help tend him when I ask.

We sure enjoy having Mitchell in our family. Happy 7th Birthday!

Time is flying by...Jensen is growing up way too fast....these are a few pictures from the first couple weeks. The first week we enjoyed having daddy home to help us. We were planning on Matt taking time off from work when Jensen was born and we were thrilled when we learned his company gives 1 week paid paternity leave.
Having a newborn during the Christmas Season was wonderful. Snuggling with a precious newborn amidst the twinkling of Christmas Tree lights was perfection! And having two weeks off from school and after school activities really helped this super tired mom.
Jensen is such a good baby. He hardly ever cries - unless I ignore his hunger signals too long.( for a mother who has had colicky babies this is a big deal).
He weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz. at his 2 week check-up.
His brothers and sisters love him and are always willing to hold him.
This past week Jensen has started to smile. My heart melts when he looks up at me with his bright blue eyes and smiles.

Jensen will be 7 weeks old tomorrow and while I do desire a night of uninterrupted sleep, I'd like to freeze time because I am having way to much fun cuddling this sweet precious little baby.