More Updates

Here is a little bit of what everyone in our family has been up to lately. Sorry about the huge run on paragraphs:

Lily:
Lily is now almost 12 weeks! She is a very sweet, good baby. She likes to be held and talked to. She now sleeps 8-11 hours at night (nice!). I haven't been as good about getting her on a schedule as the other babies, but she is getting there now. She spends her time watching her siblings, swinging, sitting in her Bumbo chair, and cooing with Mom and Dad. She is loved by all on our house. She is so feminine, even her cute little cry. I could spend the whole day cuddling with her. She loves to make eye contact and give big smiles. I still look at her and feel so blessed. What did we ever do without her? What could ever be that bad with her in our lives?

Carter:
What a busy boy! He loves to follow his siblings around and be involved in everything. He can climb anything including out of his crib. I recently bought our first crib tent! Sorry buddy, you are way to young to handle a big boy bed and bed time is crazy enough as it is. Carter is really starting to talk a lot, but not too clearly yet. He even says some three word sentences like "Want milk please." He speaks so quietly that I am constantly surprised by how many words he already knows because I just don't hear him all the time. He whispers most of the time. Today I picked him up and he said "monster truck" (he was holding one). Carter loves going to nursery at church, but has missed it a lot lately because he has had one cold after another for the last few weeks. He likes to come and hug on me throughout the day, but then quickly wiggles down and is off again to play.

Tanner:
Where do I start? I think someone put a teenager in a 3 year old's body. Tanner has so much attitude that it is hilarious. He still takes everything so literally. If you call him something other than Tanner he gets so offended. It makes it even more fun to tease him. Yesterday I was hugging him and told him he was such a good teddy bear. He looked at me and said "Your kidding me, right? I am just Tanner." Other times he likes to be called by something else, but only if it is okay with him. Lately he likes to be Sponge Bob, and carries a toy spatula everywhere. He also loves his collection of Pixar's Cars and can't leave home without them. But of course Thomas and all the other trains are still the most important thing he owns. Whenever Tanner meets a stranger he asks them what their name is and is not shy about telling them what is on his mind. He is very bold. He can be random too, like yesterday when he was the last one awake upstairs. He came down to my room and so I let him come crawl in bed with me for some one on one time. We cuddled for a minute and talked and then he said "Mom, you can't go outside the buoy!"(he went for a boat ride recently). He is so silly, just don't tell him that. He is in Primary now, but I think he would have been content to stay in nursery and play with toys. On Sunday, 3 separate primary workers came up to Peter and said "Wow, that Tanner sure has a lot of personality!" and "He sure does have a big vocabulary!" I guess he is very talkative and not afraid to tell someone to "Get out of my way!" I promise, I really do try to teach our children to respect adults. Like I said, a teenager in a little body.

Eden:
Girly girl. Eden's favorite thing in the world is having a clean room and spending time there. She organizes her toys, dresses her dolls, puts them to bed, and makes lots of play food picnics. She is totally a Mommy's girl and is very protective of me when Peter teases me(ha ha). She has always liked to color, but recently she draws all the time. She is getting pretty good for her age I think. She has this interest in common with her older cousin Miranda so she has really learned a lot from her. I currently have about 10 pictures above my bed that she taped up for me. Eden loves clothes, shoes and makeup. She accepts my fashion advice still, but is quite capable of making her own outfits. Some are rather interesting but she always makes sure that her colors match. Eden is my most reserved child around other people. She is quiet and well behaved in public. At home she is VERY bossy to her brothers and is one of the loudest. Rightfully so I suppose, it is three to one odds since Lily can't play yet. Eden is very good at pretend play and when Dallin is at school she and Tanner make up plenty of role playing games. She is always telling me long stories of things she thinks are funny or interesting. She is working on learning to read and writing her letters at home and loves preschool time with Mommy. She is also really excited to go snow skiing for the first time this year. We weren't really planning on that, but she has asked several times so I guess she is ready.

Dallin:
Dallin is doing so much better. We are giving him extra motivation from home of things to work for so he is really excited to be a good boy. School and Church are going much better. He is very interested in building right now. It is fun to watch his interests change. He comes home from school every day and goes outside to "work". Rain or shine he is out there working on some kind of project. He loves to go to work with Peter too. He has gone a few times to the shop and even to a little job one time. He is very involved and eager to help. He told Peter that he REALLY wants to be a builder when he grows up. We drive down the street and he sees buildings and stores as things he will build some day. Peter asked him what kind of builder he will be and explained different fields of construction. He said "I want to be and Electrician and work with you and Grandpa." I don't doubt that one bit. I know Dallin can be whatever he wants, so I think we have a 4th generation electrician on our hands. Dallin is always asking questions about the earth and how things work like gravity, space and how Jesus made things. He is so curious. He has some leadership qualities with his siblings that I try to encourage. I just love his vigor for life. He wants to experience it all, and is so animated that it makes everything we do so fun.

Cilla:
I think I am finally starting to feel good! The rash is almost gone, I have been migraine free for several days, and I am getting more sleep thanks to Lily. I am spending most of my time adjusting to life with 5 children. Holy cow, going from 4 to 5 felt like doubling the load for some reason. It just became so much more responsibility and going in so many directions all the time. I think I am beginning to adjust to the new normal now and I am thinking I am gonna make it. I am trying to get the house and family organized and planning many fun home improvement, gardening, craft and photography projects. Maybe not all at once though, I'll start with the getting organized part. Life with no TV is good. I enjoy reading a lot so I have been doing more of that. I also love reading blogs. it is like enrichment night every night with all the crafting and such that is going on out there. I get way too many good ideas in my head. I love being in my own house again. Especially since we had already made many changes to work for our taste and needs. It's like the baby bears pooridge, this one is juuuust right! I am hoping to feel well enough to start exercising again right away. I have those last 10 pounds of baby weight to work off (more would be nice too) and I am eager to get my strength back.

Peter:
Peter is now fully into his dream job. I wish I could say business is booming. There is a little too much down time at the moment, but he is spending it fixing up the shop and estimating so he stays plenty busy. He is very motivated to be a great success in this field and I am excited to see how far he can take it. I think he wishes his wife would stop getting sick so he could focus more though. He has also been running a lot since he is training for the Hood to Coast with his friends and siblings. Everyone logs their miles and times on a blog so that is very motivating for him. He fell into a ditch running at night the other day though so he makes sure to take a flashlight now. When Peter is not working or running, he is a fully involved daddy. The kids love it when he comes home and they look forward to it all day. He works on the house too, fixing little things and organizing his home office. Last week he and his dad even installed some canned lighting in the basement, Yay!