Before I forget

Paisley finally gave us a real laugh early this week. It was wonderful. It is still wonderful.

Henry 18 months!

My funny little Hank,

You are 18 months old today and I have to say that I absolutely love this age! For the most part that is. I love the size of your little body. I take great pleasure in watching you waddle around in it. It seems the perfect size for your silly little dancing and your funny little stomp walk that you do. It looks like some sort of gansta' strut because you stomp one foot along while walking completely normally with the other. Your dancing includes a lot of spinning. You love to spin until you are so dizzy that you can't walk straight. Sometimes you will begin wildly swinging your head back and forth at which point I chant "wiggly head, wiggly head". Now if you are stationary and I say wiggly head, you kindly comply with my request.

There are so many other fun things you do. You love to clap when something is exciting or praiseworthy, especially if it is directed at you. It is so adorable how you reverently fold your arms during prayer and exlaim "May" (amen) at the end. You have a wonderful smile that I honestly cannot look out without breaking into a huge smile of my own. You are adventurous and slightly naughty. You push the kitchen chairs wherever the wood floors will let you. Usually you remain in the kitchen, climb onto the counter, open the medicine cabinet, shake a bottle of pills at me and say "nandy" to which I always respond that those aren't candy, it is yucky medicine. You have yet to give up on that though. Sometimes you will go as far as to push to chair all the way into the master bathroom where you either climb onto Trent's counter and take the electronic toothbrush of your choice and turn it on, or onto my counter where you explore my make up and occasionally even put some lipstick on.

You throw fits. You are my only child that has done this, so far. It is sort of funny. You used to yell, run to the closest wall, and throw yourself to the floor. But lately your fits have become even more laughable because now you scream and run backwards. I have no idea why. This usually results in you running into or tripping on something, making you even more mad.

Your feet seem to move faster than your brain can adjust and you generally have at least one bruise on your beautiful little face.

You are becoming very vocal. You can say many words and even more partial words. Your most used words are: Mama, juice, please, thank you, mine, ball, balls, "may" (amen), poopy, no, I know, "nandy" (candy), "nuck" (milk), and nigh-nigh (night night).

You also loved to be held. You are no respecter of persons either. You will lift your arms to any stranger in church requesting to be held. Usually at home when you want to be held it is so you can flip the light switches on and off or push the buttons on the washing machine. You love buttons. That is another one of your words. You don't show much interest in the Signing Time videos yet, but you can do the signs for the words more, milk, all done (which you do whenever you are finished eating), and food. You also blow kisses with a wonderfully loud "mmmm-ah" sound.

We love you so much Henry. I can't describe the amount of joy and laughter you bring to this family. I know you will brighten up this world every day you are in it. I hope I can always be there to help lift you where you want to go.

Love,

your very dorky mom

crap

Apparently my other email address has been shut down. So anyone who emails me, please change in your address book to my robinrooster(AT)gmail(dot)com address
Thanks

Just thought I'd ask

At Costco yesterday I bought some delicious looking Pesto. I have never made anything with pesto before and would love anyone to send me a pesto recipe. Email me at robinrooster@gmail.com or comment with a recipe or a link to a recipe. pretty please.

This morning I ordered Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred DVD. Has anyone tried it? The reviews were good and the workouts are short, so I hope it can help me unfattify myself. At least start anyway.

Paisley 4 months

My chubby little Paisley,
I can't believe you are 4 months old. It seems that I was just barely feeling your first kicks inside of me. You are such a wonderful and happy little baby. You are just what a mother of four young children prays for. You eat well and sleep well and enjoy lying for periods of time looking up at your links. You roll easily from your tummy to back and you are so close to rolling from back to belly. You haven't quite given us a real belly laugh yet, just sporadic squeals that are almost a real laugh. Your hair curls right up after your bath. You haven't lost the hair on the top of your head like your other siblings did, just the rubbed off spot in the back. You have the large round face that cannot be resisted for kissing. You have the deepest neck rolls that have to be wiped often to keep milk from stinking in there. Your eyelashes that started out so thin and short have grown long and lovely. You charm everyone wherever you go and it is no surprise. You love your little bath. As soon as you touch the warm water you begin your powerful kicking that sends water splashing in large waves over the sides. You are adored by your siblings and you love them back with that wide grin. Your dad has taken to calling you his "little Pastry". A fitting nickname as we all love to nibble on you. I feel like you have completed our family and I am so excited to see the relationships with your siblings grow. I know you will do great things and continue to befriend all you meet. We love you and hope to soak up every little stage you enter.
Love,
Your doting mother

sweet siblings

Seeing how sweetly Charlotte and Henry were playing together this morning brought tears to my eyes. They were walking around the house holding hands, it was adorable. When I finished rocking Paisley and laid her down it was too late to snap a photo.

Later this morning Gina sent me a picture of the two of us and said how she missed me. More tears in my eyes. Why can't I find another neighborhood friend like her? It was so nice to feel missed. I have been feeling quite down lately in my fatty fat fat state.

My darling friend Amanda took some family photos of us. She sent me this sneak peek last night.

Stuff has been going on

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But for now just enjoy these pictures. And maybe soon, if I ever catch up on dishes and laundry, I will post about Charlotte's birthday.

As for New Year's, I think we were in bed around 10:30. Other than that, Tucker is back in school and we are back to some sort of schedule and miss having Daddy around so much.

Trent: Super Husband

My husband has been so absolutely wonderful the past few days. Wednesday he took the 3 oldest kids with him to Christopher Creek for the day. It is pretty common for him to take Tucker along when he goes there for work. Sometimes Charlotte too. But I was so surprised and grateful when he took Henry as well, without me asking or anything. It was a wonderful day off for me to only have Paisley and myself to care for. He has also just been more thoughtful the last couple of days. He has been mindful of things that I need. Something as little as packing the travel swing in the car before we go to his mom's has made my life easier and made me feel so happy because he was thinking of me and how he could help. He has been doing the dishes in the mornings and helping with laundry, which is not entirely unusual. I am just feeling especially grateful for my sweet husband today, who at this moment is at the park with Tucker, Charlotte, and Henry, playing and launching the rocket he got for Christmas. What a lucky girl I am!