March and April (pics and videos)

Obviously, I've been posting less and less lately. Facebook-itis. But I wanted to make sure that the grandmas (and any other interested persons) who don't use it still get to see pictures, so, here we go. :)

I made this blanket (it's quilted along the lines) and embellished the pillowcase for Jamie. Did I already post this? If I did, sorry. 

He especially likes his "J pillow." :) When he saw it, he said, "Hey, that's a 'J' for 'Jamie'!" Then he said, "Can you make a 'L' one for Luke?" He's such a sweet boy.

This simple set of magnets I made has been a big help. He gets a star for every day he does them all, and when he has a week's worth of stars, he gets a prize. After he got a month's worth, he got a big toy airplane.

On our anniversary (Mar 9) last month, in the afternoon, we went to a "rodeo." There was almost no action going on yet that was truly rodeo-ish (that happened in the evening, after we left), but there was this little "petting zoo." Jamie had fun petting all the animals.

Luke is a big fan of balloons.

I love this picture :)

Grandma and Grandpa Yarwood sent Jamie this really fun scooter. He likes it, though he hasn't gotten the hang of pushing hard, then riding--he just keeps pushing with one foot, over and over, so he gets tired out. But he'll get it eventually.

Obviously, I love this one, too :) I do love it when I get to snuggle my babies, but both at once is the best :)

Luke's birthday turned out kind of odd. I'd made these muffins (they're sugary enough--I'm not into giving babies regular, crazy-sugary cake with frosting), but Luke slept through dinnertime and past bedtime, and we didn't want to do the singing and candle without Jamie. So this is him eating a preliminary birthday muffin, while Jamie was in bed, without fanfare--but he didn't seem to really care for it! Rrrgh. 

This was FOUR DAYS LATER, when we finally were able to sing, have him blow out a candle, and he ate some pudding I made. Maybe not so traditional, but it worked and he was happy.

I left the cleanup to Daddy.

In fresh pjs, ready to open presents.

Big brother found it very difficult to restrain himself from "helping." :)

Here you can see that we've been working on staining our bench and chairs. Only one of the chairs is finished, and everything else needs at least one more coat, but we've been using them until we get time to finish them up. And I LOVE how much better they look!!

I just heard Luke calling from upstairs, done with his nap. But there's not too much to say, really. Jason is almost done with his Master's program!!!!! That's our biggest news. His graduation ceremony is May 8, and I can't wait to see him in his special regalia, that he (and we! ;)) have worked so hard for almost three years now to attain. I'm so proud of him! Pretty soon we'll be seeing where life will take us next. Very exciting, a little scary. :)

I'm just plugging along about like usual, taking Jamie to preschool, trying to exercise more (I have about three pounds to go until my first goal, which is the weight I was when I got pregnant with Luke). I've been going to Zumba two or three times a week, and really enjoying it. Experimenting with new recipes, making a blanket for my new NEPHEW DANIEL!!!! that I can't wait to show off, but it will have to wait a month until we visit CA and actually give it to him.

Aaaand now I hear Jamie bellowing at me, too. Better go. Videos are uploading to You Tube and I'll add them later.

One year older and wiser, too!

A year sure has flown by (or at least it seems so in retrospect). I know these are all cliches, but this baby boy is an indescribable joy to us, and it's so strange to think there was ever a time when we didn't know him! Our little family's happiness has multiplied so much since he become a part of it. Happy 1st birthday, Lukity-lukity-lu!

A few facts about Luke at 12 months, mostly so I can update the baby book from this later:

He has six teeth--four on top and two on bottom. For a few weeks, he had the funniest snaggletooth smile--he had his two bottom teeth, his top middle right tooth, and the little one next to it, and that was it (if that makes sense). But a couple weeks ago his top middle left and then the one to the left of it finally broke through, a couple days apart.

He can blow a wooden whistle that makes a train noise, and is very proud of himself when he does it.
He can clap on command.
He's a fast crawler--especially when someone forgets to close the baby gate that blocks off the kitchen (and consequently the cat food he loves to get into!), for which he has built-in radar.
He would much rather press buttons on the tv, DVD player, and VCR than play with baby toys. We have all sorts of barricades in front of those, bookcases, the computer, my craft stuff...when we're being the most conscientious, our house looks pretty nuts. He's a busy boy!
He loooooves solid foods. Cheese curds are a special favorite. The baby puffs don't interest him much.
He wants to be a big boy in so many ways. Grabs the big cup I rinse him with in the bath and tries to drink from it (and ends up coughing and spluttering, usually), loves to feed himself, loves cell phones, remotes, computers, etc.
He wears size 3 diapers. I'll find out at his doctor appointment Friday, but I'd guess he's 20 pounds by now.
Size 12 mo clothes usually fit him, but sometimes are too small.
He usually takes two naps a day, about two hours each, and is usually awake for two hours at a time also.
He still drinks 7 1/2 oz of formula at most feedings, but doesn't always finish it.
He says "da-da" a lot, along with "ma-ma" and "ba-ba" some. (It sometimes seems like he only says "mama" when he's upset or calling to be taken out of bed.)
He's VERY smiley and babbles adorably. He charms people wherever he goes, and is a big distraction to the 12-year-old Sunday School class Jason and I teach at church.
Last month I bore my testimony in church (on the first Sunday of each month, members are encouraged to fast, and anyone who wishes may go to the pulpit and share their testimony with the congregation), and I was holding him at the time because Jason had taken Jamie out. I was told afterward that Luke was making the funniest, cutest faces, and it was hard for people to keep straight faces while I was sharing my feelings. :)
He loves to play with Daddy and Big Brother. When they start playing on the floor, tickling, Jamie climbing over Jason, etc., Luke will squeal with delight and plunge right into the middle of it. 
He might be a planner. He'll throw his food on the floor, then go back for it later.

Overall, he's just an incredibly happy, healthy, delightful little baby. He has his cranky times, for sure. But for the most part, he definitely lives up to one of his nicknames--smiley little peanut! And oh, how we love him!

I'll try to add more photos tomorrow. His actual birthday celebration (candle, presents) got delayed until then because he fell asleep at 5:30 p.m. and didn't wake up until 9. :)

Six Amazing Years

Me: Jamie, did you know that 6 years ago today, Daddy and I got married?
Jamie: Yeah, we all went to the temple, and we all got married!
Me: Well, you weren't there--you were still with Heavenly Father.
Jamie: Oh--yeah. I got-forgot. I got married to somebody else a little later.
Me: You did?? Who did you marry?
Jamie: Umm...Jina!

Happy Anniversary to my amazing husband, Jason!

(Jamie is still available, as far as I know!)

Jamie's 4th Birthday

It's now been four years since this crazy, happy, big-hearted boy came into our lives. He's not always easy to deal with, probably because he's so much like me, but he's a joy to us. He loves to laugh and have fun. He's so smart, it shocks me sometimes. He has most of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas memorized, along with Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? as I just discovered at naptime today. (That book has a different word for each animal sound, such as "bellowing" walrus, "fluting" flamingo, etc, and he remembers just about all of them.) He loves Legos, and pretty much any kind of art project. His favorite color is black (second is blue), favorite animal is an elephant, and he wants to fly a helicopter when he gets big. He also wants to get big so he can "climb a ladder like Daddy." ...

I'm not sure what Luke just pressed on the keyboard to make everything a little bigger, and to disable the click wheel on the mouse...little stinker.

I am VERY happy to report that Jamie is no longer considered underweight!!! He had his 4-year checkup yesterday, and he is 30.8 pounds and in the 8th percentile for weight. I know that's still low, but it's an improvement, and we've worked hard to achieve it. He attended feeding therapy for a few months, and incorporating the techniques she taught us has helped.

A few of the funny things Jamie says:

"Breh-fixt" Breakfast
"Back and forth for the July" Fourth of July
"I got-forgot"
"Mackenroni and cheese"
"Mine's"
"Only helicopters live on hos-i-pitals. Not airplanes." A small hospital near us has a helipad and an emergency helicopter on top.
Last night he wouldn't accept something I was telling him, and I said, "Whatever you say, Jamie," with a sigh. A couple minutes later, he was trying to tell me it was still his birthday, and I said "no, your birthday was a few days ago." He disagreed, I said it again, and he sighed and said, "Whatever you say, Mommy."
The other day he asked one of his baffling questions, something like, "Daddy, why is there a keyboard and the stuff that doesn't go on it all the day for us?" Jason said something generic, like, "We keep the keyboard clean so it doesn't give us germs." To which Jamie replied, "Salsa?"

He's definitely in the "Why?" stage. I'm not a fan. I've tried telling him he's out of Whys, and guess what his reply is?

Now, on to the birthday pictures.

Monday, his actual birthday. Do you like the shirt? I made
it for him and gave it to him to wear for the day.

Birthday lunch at CostCo. We're high-rollers.
(The look on Luke's face is to die for, no?)

It actually turned out to be a "two bites of pizza and  a lot of frozen yogurt" lunch for Jamie, if you can call that a lunch.

He was already devouring when we remembered candles :)

Today's party--was supposed to be at the park, but it rained, and  most of the guests couldn't make it--but the ones who did were awesome! (Is little Chelsea a cutie or what?)

Blue lips!

Luke, of course, had a good time watching all the big kids.

More Legos! We'll soon be drowning in them!

Best I could get, trying to get them all to look at the camera at the same time :)
L-R:Tosh, his sister Chelsea, Jamie, and Quinn.

I didn't take a pic of the cake--this is the Lego "4" I made to stick into it as decoration. Much cooler than store-bought numbers, right?

Put them all together, and you might have one perfect picture :)