4 months!

Our little boy is already 4 months old!  He is so much more smiley and social this month.  He loves to be talked to.  He is still so easy to please.  He is happy to be held, happy to be chilling in the hi-chair and observing his sisters, happy in the carseat, happy to be here.  He has started sleeping through the night more consistently (to bed between 7:30 and 8:30 and waking up around 6:30) and he takes little catnaps when we are on the go in the mornings and snuggles with me to take a longer nap in the afternoon.  His eyes are definitely blue and he has his Daddy's long eyelashes.  He loves his binky and while he keeps trying to find his thumb, I keep trying to take it out and keep him a binky boy.  We'll see what happens there :).  He is swaddled for bedtime and is so snuggly.  He loves bathtime and is starting to splash around.  He is our big boy--16.12 lbs (64th percentile), 26.5 in (94th percentile) and we are loving watching him grow!

March 1

March 4--4 month birthday

Mantel Pictures

I hadn't updated the pictures above the fireplace since Candy was about 6 months old.  It was time to take some new pictures!
I love these kids.  I'm so glad I get to be their Mom and spend so much time with them everyday.

Jack on Mar. 1, a few days shy of 4 months old

Candy on Feb. 23, 2 years and 7 months

Brooke on Feb. 23, 4 years and 7 months

Megan on Feb. 23, 6 years and 4 months

I learned another new hairstyle in February.  I tried it out on Brookie and her best bud on Feb. 27.

Valentine's Week

Dan and I had an AWESOME Valentine's date on Feb. 7 to a fancy French restaurant.  We dressed up and thoroughly enjoyed being together and trying some delicious new food. Valentine's week itself was a little lonely this year as Dan was in Utah for work.  It was the first time in a long time that I stayed home the whole time he was gone (instead of going to visit my sister).  It wasn't so bad--things don't feel as empty when there are four kids in the house with me!

While Dan was gone, Jack tried out the doorway bouncer for the first time (Feb. 12).  He seemed happy enough there, but after a few minutes began sinking lower and lower so we called it a day. 

Sweet Brookie.  At 4 1/2 she can be challenging at times, but very capable and fun overall.  She has a special spot in her heart for her brother.  I love watching them together.

Oh that Candy.  She's definitely acting like a 2 year old these days but she keeps us laughing.  She also loves her brother but has to be constantly reminded to be gentle.

Look at that face. What Mom?  I wasn't going to swing him...really I wasn't!

Dan's sister posted a picture of a cute Valentine's hair-do, so I copied her for Megan on Valentine's day.  Then, when I was watching our best buds in the morning, I did it 4 more times.  It was fun :).  Ashley watched my kids later in the day so I could go enjoy Megan's friendship party.  I love watching her interact with her classmates.  She is always so excited to show me where she sits and what they have been working on.  She is very comfortable in her classroom and loves her teacher.  I'm so glad she is happy there. 

Candy, 2 T girls, and Brooke.  Pretty cute.

I keep trying to get a picture of Jack smiling at bedtime, but it's been a challenge!  For some reason, anytime I try, Dan is not home and I can't keep him smiling AND looking at the camera.  Ah well.  Our best try from Feb. 15.  Dan made it home after church on Feb. 16.  Yay!

100th Day

Megan's 100th Day of Kindergarten was on Feb. 10, 2014.  It got pushed back a bit after our two "ice/snow" days a few weeks back. 
All the kindergarteners needed to wear a shirt with 100 of something on it.  Megan decided she wanted a peacock with 100 feathers.  Her primary teacher last year would wear these peacock feather earrings and Megan thought they were the coolest things ever. 
I think the shirt turned out pretty cute.  I printed a peacock out and traced it onto the shirt with a pen and then went over it w/fabric paint.  Then I cut a piece of felt the same size as the feathers of the peacock and sewed 5 rows of 20 feathers onto it.  Then I just safety pinned the felt piece with all the feathers onto it (so I'll be able to remove it for washing). That's a lot of feathers in a little area! 
I think it's amazing how much she's grown up since August.  She had a great 100s day!  They did a parade in their shirts, wore "100" glasses and a "100" hat and colored a paper with 100 things on it.

Meanwhile back at home, Jack was smothered with love from his sisters.  Brooke especially has a soft spot for her baby brother and loves to hold him.  They were both kissing his little cheeks, but I couldn't catch them at the same time :).  

"Chatsick"

Candy has been extremely fascinated by my makeup lately.  She almost always finds her way into my bathroom when I'm getting ready and asks for her own "chatsick".  So I wasn't too surprised when she'd been quiet for a few minutes and came out looking like this on Feb. 8.  She was pretty proud.
 And I was reminded of when Brookie did the same thing a while back.

Aquarium

A new friend in the ward is homeschooling this year and set up a homeschool field trip to the Downtown Aquarium.  She invited anyone who wanted to join in.  And for the field trip rate of about $5 per person, I couldn't miss it!  We carpooled down with our good buddies the T fam and had a blast (though we did miss our Megans who were at school--poor things).
We walked through the indoor exhibits and then went outside (the weather was perfect!) for lunch and to go on rides.  Ashley and I traded off riding rides and sitting with the babies and it was a blast.

Brooke (who hasn't smiled for the camera in a year and a half) was in a rare posing mood and was actually a willing photo participant.

This is some sort of rare African cat who was out on a leash for the kids to look at.  A little random for an aquarium, but Brooke and Kenzie happily sat for the photo opp.  Candy actually did go sit for about a second and a half but her fear of animals kept her from sitting for too long.

We rode the ferris wheel that overlooks downtown and the freeway.  

Candy (who pretty much hates rides) clung tightly to my neck the entire time, occasionally peeking down that the ground before burying her face again.

 The carousel was definitely the favorite.  I think the kids went on it about 10 times. 

Jack's spot for most of the day.  Little cutie.

Brooke and her best bud, Maddie.

Candy and I.  Candy is NOT a fan of sitting on a giant fake animal that goes up and down while spinning in circles.  But she would sit with me holding her tightly on the stationary bench on the carousel.

Brooke the scuba diver!

Candy wasn't tall enough to get her face up there, so I took her pic behind it :)

Riding the train...

Even the babies got to go on the train...

A little dance session during lunch when "Call Me Maybe" was playing.  The video is even better.  Those girls were really jamming.

Sleepy boy as we got ready to leave.  I love those little toes.  

Happy New Year!

We partied hard with the T family for New Year's Eve and didn't get home until after 1 am! Whew!  So we were dragging and so thankful that the kids slept until 6:30 am and we didn't get out of bed til almost 8.  We had a low-key day.  We watched some of the Rose parade, watched some football, and had a picnic at the park in the nice weather.  It was a great way to start 2014!

We finished out Megan's Christmas break with a trip to Kemah on Saturday, January 4.  It was a little windy but the we had fun walking around and watching all the boats coming and going. 

The girls loved watching the roller coaster go by.

6 years old.  Seems like she's growing up fast.

2 1/2 years old--spunky describes her to a T.

Brookie at 4 1/2--posing for pictures is just TOO much to ask.

Our sweet boy on his 2 month birthday.  He is the happiest, most easygoing baby.  We LOVE him.