Theo is growing up fast. He started eating baby food last week and can easily get up on all fours. He gets around like crazy. Remember when it took Thomas a year to crawl?
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Theo is getting big!
Our 6 year old!
I can't believe it's been 6 years. This precious angel, our sleeping beauty brings joy to my heart everyday. She is quite the athlete. Excellent soccer player. She is brave and loves to jump off things and climb trees. Tatum just got her own room a few days ago and is loving it! For her birthday she got Play-Doh and some magnets to paint and a swimming suit and white chocolate Hershey bar.
Plasma cars!
These have been so fun for the kids to play on because of our awesome basketball court. They are so fast and they cruise in and out of each other, it's really entertaining to watch.
Swimming!
Tatum Truman and Thomas are taking swimming lessons from one of the most sought after instructors in utah. We were on the waiting list for nearly six months! They are taught how to survive if they fall into a pool. They float on their back then turn over and kick then roll to their back repeat til they reach the side. It is amazing the transformation I have seen with my kids in only 2 weeks. They can all jump off the diving board and pop up to their back by themselves!
Another go
So now it's Tatum turn to try Portuguese immersion. Our school a block a way has a program so we might as well give it a go. Tai did this for one year than I home schooled the next year so it didn't work out. You can be sure I won't be homeschooling again any time soon... Boa sort Tatum.
SOCCER!
May and June had the Tabla crew playing soccer. I got to coach Tags team reluctantly since there were no other volunteers. They were all very cute: Truman with his finger in his mouth, Tatum and her quickness and Tag and his hard work. I think Tatum scored every game.
Sunday, May 1, 2016
averages and percentages
(I wrote this a couple of months ago but I forgot to post it so it has changed mostly truman and Thomas have switched roles)
- 5 hours is the average sleep in a row that Theodore gets at night.
- 14 is the average number of diapers we change in a day.
- 5 is the average number of loads of laundry I do a week.
- 4 is the average number of times I sweep the floor a day and it is still dirty!
- The number one quote in our family is "I want cereal", and the number one quote that Mark says in his best robot voice is "After you eat your oatmeal you can have cereal"...an average of 25 times a morning.
-Truman hits Thomas an average of 21 times a day
-Thomas hits Truman an average of 12 times a day
-Tai has watched 99 percent of all Studio C youtube videos
-not counting the hours from 2am to 6am about 5 percent of the time we do not hear any crying or screaming.
-Tai gets "hurt" an average of 3 times per day with a rating of very low pain tolerance
-Tag gets hurt an average of 1 time per day with a rating of high pain tolerance
-Tatum gets hurt an average of 2 times per day that results in crying
-Truman gets "hurt" an average of 15 times per day with a very low pain tolerance
-Thomas gets hurt an average of 9 times per day with a very high pain tolerance
(notice the quotes)
Trees
Did you know that trees have blossoms? You know like flowers on trees. I never realized this. It is awesome. They are absolutely beautiful. Spring is my new favorite season. I love the sights, the smells, the newness of life. Branches reaching toward God. I can see trees becoming my new hobby if I had time. We have some pretty awesome trees on our property that I will post soon. These ones though are from around our neighborhood.
peach trees
a real live popcorn tree. Growing up in Arizona I thought they were a fairy tale and I didn't know why we sang about them.
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Insights
This is Theodore and a few things about him. He is now 2 months old and finally starting to recognize us and sometimes with a smile. He has the faintest dimple in his cheek. The most common sentence I've heard in the last 2 months is "Look at all that hair!". In which my response mostly in my head is "not as much as my other kids". Theodore is adored by his brothers and sisters, especially Truman. I will catch Truman just staring at him admiringly with a very cautious soft pet of his hair. Tag stays his distance and thinks Theodore doesn't like him. Theo HATES the car. I've never had a baby like that. He screams bloody murder every time we need to go in the car and by the time I can get him out he is drenched in sweat from screaming so much. I hate it.
Theodore is usually fussy from 9 til midnight then has to fall asleep right next to me in order to not wake up. It is rare when he stays down in his bassinet for more than a few minutes. I know, I know...this is not the way to train a baby. But I don't care because I want to cherish being able to snuggle with him since he is my last.
We are so happy to have Theodore as part of our family. He is so comforting and loved.
Here is Tatum. Our sweet Tatum. Everyone else thinks she is sweet too as I will get comments from her teachers and moms just how sweet she is in class at school. She loves to embellish everything. For example when she is doing her homework instead of just writing a number she will write the number with all sorts of curly q's. She is artistic and not perfectionistic. She is not serious but enjoys each moment. She has a special way with her younger brothers, she can get them to do something by being very sweet and nice. She rarely gets frustrated. But when she does she is very stubborn and nothing will crack her. She is NOT ticklish and can win a staring contest easy. She makes parenting enjoyable!
Truman. Our almost 4 year old we still consider a baby even though he is clearly growing up. He just barely started being mildly manipulating and is not very good at it yet :). He is very much like Tai in personality. Very independent, moody and prideful. But he also has a lazy streak frequently claiming he is "sick" so he can't walk from one place to another. He loves to be outside on his 4 wheeler. He is a natural driver. He loves cars. He plays in our old van and tries to "fix" it. He was mesmerized when he got to look inside at the engine. He hates Primary and cries to go back to Nursury where he can play with the cars. He loves to help in the kitchen and cook with us. Like any typical boy he loves any kind of vehicle. He also has been enjoying watching the houses being built across the street.
He still has a love-hate relationship with Thomas. He loves to sneak and steal my phone and watch Kids You Tube with this one particular kid doing all sorts of fun things.
Our beautiful Tai is growing up way too fast. I truly consider her an adult. She is so responsible. She can cook, clean and take care of her brothers and sisters. But the one thing she won't do is change a diaper. I don't mind because she truly helps her parents more than we could ever ask for. She enjoys helping and doing those things. She is absolutely terrified of spiders! Like a total freakout when she sees one. I don't get it! She absolutely loves her teacher this year Mrs. McEwen a 20 year old newlywed who just found out she is having twins. Tai was so excited.
Tai has tried many things. Recently guitar and basketball. She rather enjoyed basketball and was a fierce defender and scored her fair share. Like all coordination sports though she is not a natural. She wants to get better so she works dilligently to improve. She likes basketball more than track she says. It was fun to watch her games this season. But boy oh boy I couldn't help but yell out cues a few times like one of "those" moms. It was utterly painful yet hilarious to watch these girls play basketball. Tai is definitely starting to go through the pains of teen-hood. She is still into hair, clothes and recently make-up and boys! What? Why oh why! I just can't believe I am that old to be a parent in these situations. Heaven help me!
Tag very much dislikes to get his picture taken, to the point of crying. So I don't have any of him alone. What a good boy he is! I am amazed at his LACK of pride. I'm trying hard to understand it. But oh how grateful I am to be able to watch and learn from him. One example from today. Tag has been working hard on the piano to learn a certain piece now for months. He finally got it down pretty good. Well, Tai got a little jealous that Tag could play the piano so well so she started learning the same piece that Tag just learned. Over and over Tai is practicing this piece. I'm flabergasted that Tag is not one bit upset that Tai took his piece. He is not threatened by that at all, it is not in his make-up.
He is also incredibly spiritual and has tremendous faith. I am blown away by his prayers, how he pays the up most attention during scripture reading, by his personal scripture study and how he does the right thing at the right time.
A few months back when I was at work he was at home recovering from some asthma attacks so he was not at school. Mark had a seizure and all the kids (except Tai who was at school) saw it. It is a scary thing to witness a seizure. Any one who has will attest to that. Well, Mark had bit his tongue and was bleeding all down his face. Tag tried to call me but I don't keep my phone on at work. He then tried to call grandma but to no avail. So he gathered up all the kids in his room and said a prayer blessing daddy. Right after that Mark started to come back. Tag attributed that to his prayer. What is heart wrenching is that a few days later I listened to my phone messages and could hear some of what happened right after the seizure. Tag didn't know how to leave a message so it just ran for a few minutes while the kids were trying to figure out what was going on. They thought Mark died! I could hear Tag leading the little children to his room. He was calm and collected even in the midst of stress. Yes, heart wrenching. But I am very proud of him. And yes, I learned a few lessons as well, one of which to prepare my kids better for situations like that.
He isn't perfect though. He likes to sneak treats and hide and eat them. He also recently took money from me in which he felt horribly bad. He is lazy every once in a while. But hey, who isn't?
How am I doing you ask?
Well, I am definitely feeling my age. My back is always hurting: mid upper back from an old injury, lower back from having so many babies? and now mid back right on the spine and I don't know why. I'm sure you want to know all my aches and pains right? Ok. Well, after 16 years of no allergies I can assuredly say they have returned. I guess my body has finally acclimated to Utah. Time to move to another state! This is miserable. Dad and Sky you know what I'm talking about!
Adjusting to 6 kids? No, not really. It is getting a bit easier. But WoW! Church is fun when 3 kids are crying at the same time. At least that week from hell is over when the baby was just over a week old and everyone in the family was sick except for me and Theodore. Mark was -can't get out of bed- sick so I was taking care of everyone and trying not to get me or the baby sick. Sounds easier than it really was. I about died. But don't worry I let all of my stress out by being really mean and ungrateful. Regretfully.
Sounds like I'm a debbie downer doesn't it? Enough of that...
Here is another take on it.
LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL. I am learning so much! I am grateful almost everyday for my very breath. LIFE is SHORT. Who knows what will happen tomorrow? I have a beautiful family full of love. We have been so BLESSED. There are so many great people in the world and especially around us that teach us how to GIVE. The Lord is my LIGHT. He is my STRENGTH. He is the WAY and the TRUTH. Why should I fear? Have FAITH. BELIEVE. Will we choose the greater Light? I want to! SHAKE OFF the chains that bind us down. The LORD can set you free! LISTEN then LOVE.
A Sunday Afternoon
This particular mid March Sunday was the Provo Temple dedication. So afterward to fill the day we decided to head to temple square. It was a lovely afternoon. Perfect weather and very enjoyable.
It is rare when our sweet little Tatum is difficult. On this occasion Tai had made her mad so she refused to join in the picture...at least that's what she thought.
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Newborn Cuteness
one week old on the airplane to AZ.
BIRTH DAY:
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