All Caught Up

A little over a month ago we took Isabel in for her four month check up. She weighed 10 lbs. 12 oz. and was 23 inches long. This puts her in the third percentile for weight and the 33rd percentile for height. Needless to say we got a lecture from the doctor about feeding our little darling. Isabel had rolled over at this point, but it seemed to be more by luck than anything, she seems to be to mellow to want to do anything more than just lay there. Anton and Zackary were well practiced at rolling over by three months, they aren't as mellow as Isabel. She is smiling, talking, laughing and is just a great baby. How blessed we are to have her in our family. Here she is at four months.



A few weeks ago I decided to get a picture of four generations while we were at our weekly visit with my Grandma. We go there each Sunday before church. It works out well because we don't have church until 1 pm. The boys enjoy the treats that Grandma shares with them and Grandma enjoys the hugs the boys share with her. (We just have to watch out and not get chocolate on their white shirts.) Before we need to leave to get to church on time my parents show up to visit Grandma after they get done with church. The perfect opportunity to get a photo. So, here it is: My Grandma, my Dad, me and Anton, Zackary and sleeping Isabel.



Uncle David at my Grandma's house.



Some other fun things we have done the last few weeks include spending time catching up with friends. We were able to enjoy visits with lots of friends. Unfortunately, I forgot the camera. We truly are blessed with MANY great friends that we love. They are great company and a great support. We need to organize our lives better so that we can spend more time with all of them. The kids all seem to have fun playing together and I know that I relish the time I get to visit and catch up. Thanks to all of our friends for your friendship, support and time.

Zackary decided to share Anton's sunglasses with Isabel a few weeks ago. It was too cute to not get the camera out. Luckily she still had them on by then.



Last Thursday we went with my mom down to Logan to visit Grandpa and Grandma. We had lots of fun visiting and playing games. The kids did great on the drive and also had fun playing. While there I decided to get a picture of the four different generations. So, here it is. My Grandpa, my Mom, me, and my children. My grandpa is 92 and still has great health. Hopefully he will be with us for a while still.



Grandma Arlie with Anton and Zackary. (Sorry for the backlighting. If I was really ambitious I would edit the photos before posting them so they looked better.) She made us a delicious lunch while we were there. We had a great visit and would love to be able to spend more time with Grandpa and Grandma. Grandpa had fun tickling Anton and listening to the boys run around. Grandpa and Grandma also really enjoyed holding Isabel. They stated she is an easy baby to hold because she isn't very wiggly like most five month old babies.



Isabel is now five months old. It is hard to believe they grow up so fast. One week before her five month mark we had to take her to the Pediatrician's office for a weight check. They think she is too small and doesn't weigh enough so they have us bring her in for weight checks every few weeks to scare us into feeding her instead of starving our baby. She weighed 11 pounds and 11 ounces. Yeah! She gained almost a pound in less than a month. Maybe after her 6 month check up we won't need to worry about the weight checks.

In addition to weighing over 11 pounds Isabel is the cutest, sweetest, most mellow baby ever. She can roll over, but because she enjoys just laying there chillin' she hardly ever rolls over completely. She rolls onto her side all the time, just never onto her belly. She is now tolerating her tummy time a lot better than she did before. I think that she doesn't roll over more often because she doesn't like tummy time. She can roll from her stomach to her back also, but chooses not to do that either. She LOVES watching her brothers play and having them play with her. Her laugh is adorable. She is discovering new sounds she can make all the time and loves talking with Mom and Dad. Her hands are starting to cooperate with her more and more as she plays with her toys and reaches for things to put in her mouth. Some of those things include her toes. I think Isabel's favorite thing is to be held. She loves to cuddle. Here she is at five months.



In this picture we see: Matilda, Zackary, Isabel, Anton and Franchesca. (Matilda and Franchesca are the dolls. Anton and Zackary insisted they were in the picture, also. And to Linden's delight, Anton and Zackary have also been insisting that they sleep with their dolls. He LOVES the fact that his sons have dolls!)



We are almost done with our third week of Zackary wearing underwear. No more DAIPERS for this 2 1/2 year old. Zackary agreed that it was time to give them to Isabel. He has gone through fewer pairs of underwear in three weeks than Anton did in his first three days of potty training. We still have to remind him to go use the potty, but he is doing really well!! Within the first thirty minutes of the very start of potty training he earned three stickers. He decided he liked getting a sticker to put on his chart so he made sure he used the bathroom about every ten minutes successfully! It is wonderful to not have him in diapers. It hasn't been any work at all to get Zackary potty trained compared to the year and a half of torture for Anton and I until Anton finally decided to be a big boy. I think I could have started with Zackary a few months ago, but with Linden being out of town and having a brand new baby it wasn't the ideal time for me.

The first week after Linden left (clear back in May) Zackary would run back to the bathroom, take his diaper off, move the stool to the toilet, put the seat on the toilet, do his business, put the toilet seat away, flush, move the stool to the sink and then wash his hands. He would then run out of the bathroom naked because he couldn't put his diaper back on by himself. I would have to interupt Isabel's feeding to get Zackary diapered again. (He always waited until I was feeding Isabel to use the bathroom and I know that he was successful when he did.) I don't know if that was his way of getting more attention or just his way of saying he wanted to be a big boy.

Zackary is becoming more and more of a tease all the time. His nursery leaders ask why he is so shy and quiet. I wonder if they are talking about Zackary because he is everything but shy and quiet at home and other places. He is our little spitfire. He is talking more and more all the time, learning new words, and becoming more and more independant. Like Anton, he LOVES Buzz and Woody. He isn't my baby boy any more. At least he still likes cuddling with mom for a few minutes after he first wakes up.

Zackary, check out my muscles!



Anton is now 4 1/2 (almost). His absolute favorite thing is Buzz Lightyear. We went to Toy Story 3 a few weeks ago (thanks to a gift card we had). Anton and Zackary both were completely enthralled with the "giant, really big TV." They love the movie. I know what we will be getting the boys for Christmas this year. Anton has become very helpful. He loves to help me cook and clean most of the time (although he really isn't very HELPFUL). One fun thing that he has started saying when I ask him to go get something for me or do something he is supposed to do is, "My kids will do it, Mom." Huh?!? "My kids will do it!" My only guess is he thinks he now has children that do stuff for him and play with him. It is quite cute when he talks about how his kids play soccer with Uncle David or how they are tickling Isabel. However, it is frustrating when I ask him to go get his pajamas and get ready for bed and he tells me that his kids are getting his pajamas for him. Luckily he still likes his cuddle time with mom, also.

Anton, To infinity and beyond!!



I am now officially all caught up with my blog as of this morning!! Yeah. We will see how long it lasts. Thanks for sharing our journey through life with us.