10 weeks old

10 weeks old now...

Let's see...this week he is really starting to focus on and bat at things--as you can see in the little video below should you choose to view it...I'll warn you it isn't terribly exciting but he's definitely working those arms and watching those rattles.

This week also we combatted a serious case of cradle cap--I think all my babies have had it but his was the worst case by far...thick & scaly over his entire scalp, ick! I gave his head a good massage in baby oil, left that on for a good 30 minutes or so and then washed it 3 or 4 times to clean out that oil...then combed those scales out as best I could. Poor guy was not happy about it but it did help...I'll do it again in a few days so it doesn't irritate his scalp too much.

In his Nike duds...it's about time to move out of the 0-3 mos sizes, how sad!

Yes, those are Nike shoes, appropriately enough.

He's not really lifting his head too much yet...

He does have enough core strength though that we pulled out the Bumbo and have had fun propping him up in it. I only do it for a few minutes at a time since he's still so little.

And here he bats away at the rattles (while Christopher & Benno "read" Dinotrain together in the background.)

Blue & Gold & the Man

Blue & Gold Banquet...mmm, it was good--pulled pork sandwiches...

Get a look at Christopher's plate there...yup, he loaded his plate with potato chips, both normal and rippled, and that's all he ate.

The cake theme was the 100th birthday of Scouts...hence the 100 on Anthony's festive cake (Katie, see our fondant??? Nothing too exciting design-wise but it worked & it was yummy!)

Anthony's cake among some other creative cakes (which are supposed to be made just by the dads & sons, but I think some moms helped with some of these....)

Now here's the funny part of the night, which never made it to the banquet. George was supposed to make a 'pin-the-nose-on-the-scoutmaster' as an activity for the night and this funny man took way too much time and effort for what he was worth...(Aaron gets the credit for that fabulous face & the bald spot/comb-over hairdo. And before you ask, "What was all the hard work for--he doesn't look that involved..?" You forget all the items to be pinned on...we made all kinds of patches for the uniform, a hat, a mustache, etc, etc, etc!)

...and after all that toil & effort, as we were rushing out to the cars to get to the activity on time, George had stuck the man up on top of his car while putting things & kids in, and guess what? Yes, he left the man there and drove off and the man ended up in the street. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

We couldn't find him that night but the next day when the boys were riding home from school on their bikes, they finally spotted him and brought him home.

Time to re-prioritize

So I've been feeling a little blue lately but I don't want to go into why exactly as really, lately my life has been nothing short of amazing (and I don't need to go into that if you've been reading my blog...it speaks for itself) so I have every reason in the world to be grateful and happy.

I had written out this big old post...which really was kinda therapeutic in a way--sorry you don't get to see it, but I hate "airing dirty laundry"...but once I had it all out, I realized that I really just need to re-prioritize my life in a few important areas. I need to get back into habits of scripture reading, visiting the temple, and especially in treating my husband & boys the very best I can (in spite of lack of sleep--hard not to be grouchy but I can rise above the "natural man".) Not that you need to know any of this, but it just makes me feel better to put it out.

And now it's up to me to act on it.

Globetrotters Live!

George scored some Globetrotters tickets from work and we saw them Saturday night!

The tickets were for the Nike suite...I guess we got there too late because a bunch of people were there already sitting in all but one of the seats, so we watched a lot of it standing up. Can't complain too much though, we were still in the suite!

We laughed so hard at this character that came out at one point in the show...personal favorite was his dance to Chumbawamba's "I get knocked down"...the guy fell flat on his face each time they sung that line, hahahaha!!!

This was cute too...every now & then they'd pull someone out from the crowd and play around with them. In this one, a 6 year old boy was challenged to shoot a hoop to earn a team jersey...he kept missing and each time, they'd call out more guys to give the boy more luck...finally they had both teams AND the ref and the boy finally got it in! So cute.

And I liked that there we could watch the Olympics at the same time, ha!

Benno was inspired by all the action on the court (and I'm sure seeing so much of gymnastics and Olympics lately has played a part too...all the popcorn all over the floor of the suite would be my boys' fault!)

Arctic Rush 2010

Another meet on Saturday, this one was the Arctic Rush...phew, that was 3 meets 3 weekends in a row...thankfully there's a little break before the next one.

George took the boys and I stayed behind with the little guys this time. It was killing me not to be there myself, but there's no way I could have taken the boys myself with it being a 2 hour drive away and me being so sleep-deprived. And we were not about to take the whole family again, thanks to our darling 2 year old. : )

It was a good yet not-so-good meet. George neglected to film Anthony on Vault but something went wrong--Anthony says he slipped and fell or something like that and ended up with a score of 12.0, which is way below normal!

Both boys did great on Rings, so here they both are--they both earned a score of 15.1 for their performances here. Aaron actually did better on the rings but didn't stick his landing, so that evened them out. Had he stuck the landing, he could have had a better score than Anthony!

Aaron:

Anthony:

Aaron came away with his highest All-Around score yet at 80.3, coming in 6th place in his age group--YAY Aaron!

And even with Anthony's catastrophic score on Vault, he pulled off another 1st place finish! Not bad! And the team came in 1st again. Yay boys!

9 weeks old

9 weeks old (we just hit the 2 month mark, time is flying!)

The most notable thing about this week for me is that I have completely transitioned back to sleeping in my own bed and gave Anthony back his twin mattress!

(For the first 2 weeks, he was in my bed with me...then I transitioned him into his own crib with me in the twin on the floor next to him...it's so much easier for me to do it that way and this time especially, I had to get Benno used to sleeping in the same room so it really smoothed that transition too.)

I left this photo untouched to show how miserable this poor baby is--he's caught a cold so he's all congested & coughing. Can't you just see the congestion in his face? I know that's about how I look with a head cold too. Poor guy!

Ever since they stopped selling cold medicines for babies, I've relied on the most wonderful product ever--the Gentle Vapors from PediaCare... It works so well on those poor little congested noses! I use a saline spray too but those Gentle Vapors are surprisingly effective without having to squirt anything in his little nose.

A Fun Run for Bronson

Just spreading the word, especially for those of you in Utah--

See more about it here on my friend Megan's blog. Also if you would just like to donate money to help defray the costs of the medical expenses for Bronson, they have a Wells Fargo account set up and info for that is here.

MAC Open 2010

Gymnastics Meet #3 for us this season was last Saturday at the MAC.

This is a big meet--gyms from all over participate in it...and I mean all over! There were teams there from as far away as Alaska, California, Texas...and Canada! They do a really nice job, and I like the venue. I especially like that you can watch from the track above, which is where Zachary & I camped out for the entire meet along with another team mom.

(George stayed home with Christopher & Benno...it was SO nice NOT to have them along this time--I mean the little boys, not George, ha! George will get to accompany the boys at the next meet.)

The only part of this meet that was a tad difficult was that while my 2 boys are both level 4 gymnasts, they fall into 2 different age groups--one is 6-7, the other 8-9--and so the team was split into 2 separate rotation groups, which means that while one was on rings (for example), the other was on vault, so I had to keep my eye on both at the same time for every apparatus!

I'll just include a couple videos of some apparatus that I haven't posted yet.

Here is Anthony on Pommel Horse. Not quite as clean as last week's performance but still a good job!

And Aaron on Vault. At this age, vault is not especially exciting...the most important thing is to land on your feet & stick the finish, which Aaron did!

Here the boys sit, waiting for the next rotation to begin--if you can see, Aaron's in the group sitting at the top left side, and Anthony is chatting away with the group at the bottom right since their team was split age-wise.

And I love this meet because they do recognize each participant individually--they all get their moment to stand on the platform and be cheered AND get a medal! Aaron came in 26th out of 69 boys with an All Around score of 78.1.

And Anthony finally got his big moment of recognition as they announced,

"And now, our champion coming in 1st with an All Around score of 90.2 is Anthony ____"!

He was loving every moment of that but if you ask him about it, he's very humble...what a good little guy he is! (But you know I'm a proud Mama!)

The team took 1st again--it's 3 for 3, both for Anthony & the team! Let's hope they can keep it up all the way through State!

Great job boys!!!

Olympics Mania

This is where you will find us firmly planted for the next couple weeks...

Go Team USA!!!

Happy Birthday, Pres. Lincoln

I haven't done a contest in a while and I think it's time I did again...so here it is, in honor of Abraham Lincoln--I'm challenging you to memorize and recite the Gettysburg Address. Video yourself reciting it (with your eyes closed so we will know you're not reading it) and either email it to me or post it to your own blog by March 4th to enter in to win a fabulous prize. : )

(Why March 4th? Well, first because with the Olympics starting tonight, if you are like me, you'll be completely engrossed in that for the next 16 days and won't be memorizing much before that ends...but secondly, March 4th is the date of Abraham Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural Address, his favorite of all his speeches. I'll give you a bonus if you memorize the last part of that one too. *On second thought, maybe I should offer a little more time...Mar 4th comes quickly after the end of the Olympics...stay tuned.

Also, as far as a prize...I was considering offering a signed copy of my book, but so many people have already bought themselves a copy that that may not seem all that exciting of a prize and I'd lose participants...so I'm thinking up something wonderfully enticing and worth the effort, beyond your own personal sense of accomplishment.)

Just think, you will SO impress all your friends & family at your Memorial Day picnics with these! : )

Good luck!

The Gettysburg Address:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate...we can not consecrate...we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government: of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

And the bonus portion of the 2nd Inaugural Address:

Fondly do we hope — fervently do we pray — that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether." With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan — to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.

8 weeks old

8 weeks and growing in cuteness daily!

2 noteworthy things--

1, I started to think I had lucked out with a non-blow-out baby because he'd only leaked onto his clothes ONCE (his first week at church, of course) but this week put that silly idea to rest with some pretty extraordinary explosions that had us both changing our clothes.

2, and the best yet, on the night of Feb 10th (see, so important to me that I noted the date!) this wonderful baby slept for 6 hours straight!!! Which of course meant that I got my longest stretch of sleep in 8 long weeks and it was WONDERFUL!

Sadly, the next night (last night) was not a repeat...but the schedule was thrown off a little by a Relief Society activity so I'm hoping with a return to the normal schedule, so will he.

Progress is still progress!!!

Boys love their baby brother!

*Smooch*

I stripped him down to the onesie for a peek at those cute chunky thighs!

Oh how we love you, sweet baby boy!!!

What is it about babies that sends our voices up into high pitches?

I love the boys trying to coax smiles out of him while he coos in reply.

Then the boys interviewed him. The quality of the video is not the greatest but get a load of that adorably sad little bird-perch frown Zachary displays...

PRAYERS ARE ANSWERED!!!

As a follow up to my post last week asking for your prayers on behalf of my friend's nephew, if you haven't already seen for yourself, check out the latest with baby Bronson--get the tissues handy because I guarantee you will have (happy) tears streaming down your face!!!

*And update* they (and you who have followed it too!) were on the news tonight!

I laughed.

I didn't see any of the Super Bowl. Too busy visiting with my friends. But I've gone back and watched a bunch of the commercials (a marvel of modern technology!) and this one is definitely my favorite. It so perfectly illustrates the absurdity of the entire 'green' movement. (Unfortunately, living in Oregon, the nanny state, the 'green police' is not too far from reality here.)

Weekend festivities

Aside from Saturday's meet, it was a very full and fun weekend here... Our really great friends Peter & Angela were in town & so was my sister Katie! We packed in as much time as we could with all of them...a Friday night out at the Rock Creek Tavern, Katie joined us at the meet Saturday morning, a Saturday luncheon & Sunday dinner.

Me & cute Katie

Katie & Scott...I don't want to jinx anything so I'll leave it at that. : )

Everyone was here at our house both because Peter & Angela were here but also because it was Superbowl Sunday... This makes me laugh...we have a bigger TV but thanks to the fact that we use an antennae, we couldn't tune in CBS on the bigger TV and everyone was forced to watch the game on our tiny little TV. I didn't see any of the game myself but I laughed each time I peeked in here and all the guys were trying to watch that little screen!

Peter & Angela...who used to live right around the corner from us but now live clear across the other side of the country...we miss them so much!!!

Me & my girls Angela, Shelley & Wendy...love these great friends!

Fun, fun weekend...

John Lanz Invitational 2010

It is meet season... And Saturday was meet #2 for the boys.

Sorry if the videos bore you since it's the same routine as before...I love to see them though. I just wish we'd caught Anthony's Pommel Horse on video this time as he came away with an almost impossibly perfect score of 15.8! (15.0 is as high as you can get without bonuses--with bonuses, the highest possible is 16.0!)

Aaron is improving...he makes me laugh. He's just a little unrefined and still is forgetting parts of the routine, but he's new to it and doing great anyway!

The boys finished with Anthony #1 and Aaron #11 in the All-Around! And their teammates took 2nd & 3rd places too...so no surprise then that the team took 1st!

Way to go boys! (And so happy this time there were awards!)

Could you spare a prayer???

Hey friends & family...

This is the nephew of a friend of mine--he's clinging to life after drowning in the tub a week ago and they could use all the prayers they could get, so if you've got a moment, would you say one for this sweet boy & his family? See more about him here.

7 weeks old

Here we are at 7 weeks...and I see a chunky monkey!

This boy is putting on weight like a champ...I stepped on the scale with him and he's a good 12 pounds already!!! (He started at 7 lb 11 oz!)

He's already beginning to outgrow his 0-3 month clothes,...cry!

Poor guy has really sensitive skin...I notice it flares up if someone holds him who has any kind of perfume-y smell, whether it's perfume or the fabric softener on their clothes...

The other notable thing about this week is that he got his first haircut! The long hair over his ears and down his neck was bothering me so I trimmed it up a little...but don't look too closely as he was a wiggle worm and the jagged cut reflects that!

And I played with this photo a bit to try to get his eyes to appear the right color. They really are blue and I'm praying they'll stay blue since all the other boys have chocolate-y-brown eyes. This is close but still not quite his eye color...I'm not able to capture it with my camera.