9 months old

Happy 9 month birthday, Sarah! Jordan thinks we should have a party. With cupcakes. White cake and white frosting. With sprinkles. Skittles are okay, too. Just for Sarah, of course. As you'll see below. She looks a whole lot like her brothers!

Sarah, 9 months

Just for a little flashback fun. Here's Tyler at 9 months. It was Easter at #36 Sachem Village. We lived by our good friends Dave and Laurel Gibbons. Johnathan was just a little older than Tyler. Jason was in his first year of med school. We were planning to go to Kansas City for a family medicine conference and to spend the summer in Nevada where Jason would work with Dr. Christensen at the clinic/hospital in Ely.

This one is a 9 month old Jordan. Now, we're at #122 Sachem Village (how many times did they move us? Jaime, how about those times over at #21-#22? A community center now stands where our luxurious duplex once was. The duplex that was CONDEMNED because of toxic materials 5 months after we moved out!! Scary. So scary. Jason was in the middle of 3rd year rotations and we had the deepest snow I can remember. The entire playground was buried. There wasn't much room between our roof and the snow on the ground. Jaime and Emily, remember the stick-on linoleum? The mice? We were so cool. Micaela and Jordan were buddies. Connor and Jason were fun playmates. Ah...kiddie sachem. How many times did we walk around that circle and up Oakridge??

Not too long ago, the 9 month old Carter. It was Christmas. I decided to sew costumes. I don't sew. At all. My mom showed up just at the right moment and helped me sew all the Christmas super hero costumes and maintain my sanity during Jason's intern year. I will never forget how helpful and wonderful she was. We were in the house we now live in. It was such a wonderful Christmas. Thanks, Mom!

Fun, cute babies and good times!! We feel so blessed to be able to live here and have all our little ones in such a beautiful place with wonderful people.

then. now.

Time flies. We have great friends-old and new. We are all connected somehow. Life is good.

We got a fun reminder of all these lessons this weekend. Mike Schueller, his beautiful wife, Sarah, and his adorable kids, Ellison, Henry, and Josh came to visit us. Jason was a freshman here at Dartmouth when Mike was in his first year of medical school at DMS. 1994 was the year and from what I know, those were some adventure-filled times. :) Mike and Sarah now live next door to our mission president and his wife and they brought greetings from them. Mike made the trip back here to attend his 10 year med school reunion. Our mission president met them at the airport on the way to his 50 year med school reunion. Like I said. Time flies. We had so much fun!! Thanks for a great visit!

Mo, Mike, and Jason just before Jason left on his mission.............

Mike and Jason with all their kids--Tyler, Jordan, Carter, Sarah, Ellison, Henry, and Josh. So good to see them!

Junk for Joy!

Here's the creation for this week's school project. It's a windmill. Rules for the project: totally recyclable, use only junk from around the house, has to be a real object--preferably something that moves. We all know the student must complete all work independently, but for those of you with elementary school kids--do these things not become a family affair? He had two weeks to complete the project so, of course, the night before the due date there we stood with a kitchen counter piled with "junk", an excited Tyler, two hungry/tired younger brothers, a fussy baby, and two left-brained parents. No joke. We stood there just staring for 2 hours. I even called my mom for help. (No, mom, I'm not calling you because I think you have lots of junk--just wanted to pick your right-brain. Ugh.) Finally Tyler picked up a few pieces and just said, "Windmill." That was it. Yeah!! Way to go Tyler!



He's very proud of his windmill. He should be. He did a great job and got a perfect score. So now, how to display it in the house. Hmm....A romantic bedroom piece? Conversational coffee table item? Top shelf dust collector?? Right now, I'm thinking of ripping my microwave off the wall and tacking this up in it's place. Or possibly tearing out my dishwasher and seeing how this windmill looks under my counter! I really shouldn't have started writing about pieces of junk. I'm done now.

home.

It seems we're running around (actually driving around) a lot these days. Plenty of fun things to do with friends, school, soccer, lessons, scouts, birthday parties, playgrounds, and activities. Nothing feels better, though, than just being together at home. Jason just finished a long rotation away in Concord. We're so happy to have him home. We love to spend every moment we can together just playing in our house. Wrestle matches, Uno, Sorry, and front yard soccer are the current favorites.

I love being at home with Carter. This little boy is my best buddy. He's such an easy going kid. All day while the kids are at school we draw and color, put puzzles together, and ride scooters outside. I feel so lucky to have him at home with me and Sarah.

Carter likes to dress up every morning. Of course, he prefers that Sarah dress up, too. Fortunately, he hasn't asked me to sport a wonder woman costume, yet. :) Anyway, here's Sarah's supergirl garb--complete with cape and teeny-tight spandex. Aunt Tawnia and Uncle Kory gave Sarah this super cute gift when she was born. It was such a great idea!! Any time the kids play super heroes Sarah is always in the mix. Thanks again, Tawnia and Kory for the super suit.

Sarah Bear

Yeah, that's what we call her and we just can't get enough of her! She's just a little over 8 months old right now and I just have to stop and take note of all the fun baby things she's doing. Nobody really has to read this long list. I just feel like I need to be better at recording all the little things that make our lives so wonderful. I've forgotten to do this on and off with my other kids and I regret it. So, here's a few little personal things that make living with Sarah so incredible right now. (Thank you so much for the pictures, Sarah-the Merrill Sarah of course!)

I just checked on her in her crib and I almost couldn't find her with the pink sheet, pink pjs, and pink blanket. That happens after your household has seen a lot of blue. She always sleeps on her tummy-head down, knees down, bum up. This sleep position never varies-nap or night. She is so, so soft and she smells so, so good. She does the classic bye-bye wave. She looks like a tiger cub when she crawls because her arms are so spread out. Her eyes twinkle when she sees her brothers and her dad and the wind blowing in the trees and birds flying in the sky and the neighbor's kitten in the yard and pinwheels at the store and whatever is new and interesting every second of the day. She doesn't cry when she goes to "strangers". She just lowers her eyebrows and stares with searching eyes and emotionless lips. After about 10 seconds she decides to accept or reject. If she accepts she will put her forehead in the person's chest and smile. If she rejects she dives for familiarity. Sorry, Uncle Matt.

When she's been away from me and then I hold her again she can't stop rubbing my face, staring into my eyes and giving me tons of "kisses" and then repeating that over and over until she's sure I'm not going to put her down again. She likes squash, peas, sweet potatoes, bananas, and pears and anything she finds on the floor (I'm trying to keep things clean!). Her favorite food still comes from her mommy and I'm thinking she's not giving that up any time soon. She reserves her giggles for special times with brothers and dad but she smiles all the time. She will stop at nothing to get in the bathtub when she hears the water running. She is only waking up twice during the night, now. Until about a week ago the number was 8 or 9. But, honestly, I love all the cuddle time we get when it's just the two of us in the quiet night. It's the next day around 11:00 am that I mind it a little.



She's got such a pleasant little personality. So easy going--and that's good because we are always going, going somewhere and she doesn't seem to mind at all. She just likes hanging out with us with whatever we are doing. When she's finally tired she just lays her head on your shoulder. At that point she's happy to just go to sleep in her bed. But, it's just too hard to lay her down. We just want to hold her and let her sleep all cuddled up close and warm for as long as we can. She doesn't get worked up very easy. She greets us with a smile even when we pull her from her bed every morning to take the kids to school. She likes to play pat-a-cake with her toes and gives her brothers high fives. Her smile melts us and brightens every moment of our days and nights....

Mommy of the Year

I was just a wee bit late picking the kids up from school. Must have been why I was daydreaming about something or other and mindlessly tailgating the poor guy in front of me when I hear Carter's quiet voice, "uh. mom?" I instinctively look in the rear view mirror and catch a full view of Sarah's goofy grin looking smack back at me. AHHH!! Scared the beejeebees out of me! Of course I forgot to latch her in. Of course she flipped over, stood up, and enjoyed a forward standing thrill-probably for about 15 minutes!. Of course Carter waited to tell me because he thought it was neat. Of course I felt terrible (but took a picture anyway). Look at her face. Of course she knew she was up to something. :)

Off to the beach.....

We live in a beautiful place with treasures all around us. Lake Sunapee is one of them! Kara lives right on the beach and we finally took her up on the offer to spend a day in her neck of the woods. It couldn't have been more perfect. The water is a great temperature. Everyone was out with their brightly colored sail boats (Jason was so jealous!) The kids just can't get enough of the sand and water. Now that September has arrived we definitely soaked it all in!

Sarah even had a buddy and a new pink hat....

Skipping rocks, building sand castles, chasing seagulls, and having a perfectly relaxing day. Too bad it is back to the grind on Tuesday.

Holiday Cruise

THANKS, CAPTAIN KARA!

We went on Captain Kara's famous cruise of Lake Sunapee. We all had a great time. Clear blue sky and even brighter blue water, nice breeze, great snacks, and a fun tour. Each of the kids got to be Captain of the ship for a while--drive, honk the horn, and be announced as the captain. What a perfect day for our family!