Happy 7 Months Emmy & Tommy!!!!

 Oh Tommy Boy!!  This baby boy is FULL of smiles these days!  He use to be more serious and now he can't stop smiling and we LOVE it!!!!  We are also loving his cute blonde hair!  Look how blue his eyes are.  I can't believe that 3 of our 4 kids have blue eyes!  Mine and Bryant's are hazel.  He's sitting up like a pro these days!

 Here are the two peas in a pod! I kiss those four cheeks all day long!  They still can't get enough of their toes!

It's Emmy Doll! Here's our pretty little girl.  Her hair is more grown in on the top so now we can sweep it over with a clip.  It doesn't always have to be in a curled mow hawk!  She still spits out anything I put in her mouth, but I am obviously not worried about her nutrition.  She loves sitting up as well and she is rolling over constantly to get something she wants.  She gets her hands on everything and into everything.  She is so good at grabbing!  She is the sweetest little thing ever!!

 Here is the reality of my day all around me in full exposure!  It isn't always this messy, gratefully so, but some times real life just happens and we love it all the same!

 They are getting soooo big!  The three of us are really filling up this chair now!  Emmy's eating her zipper.

 Tommy is helping me feed Emmy.  I love it!  He is good at holding onto his bottle now.  He's trying to show Emmy how to do it.

  I love this view.  The bald heads on the back are priceless!

 Here they are staring at each other and smiling.  They started grabbing at each other's faces after this shot.  They were pulling noses and poking eyes, smiling all the while.

 I love this shot not to admire my big nose, but because of the eye color contrast.  Look at how blue his eyes are!

Happy Happy 7 month Birthday Emmy & Tommy!  It has been a wonderful, busy, heavenly, exhausting, fun 7 months with you!  You bring TONS of happiness into our lives each day.  We can't imagine our lives without you and are glad we don't have to.  We love you so much!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Bryant!!!

 HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY to BRYANT!!!!!!!!!  He got this Luke Sky Walker light saber as one of his gifts and he loves it!  Yes, he still loves Star Wars.  This obsession has hung on the longest!  He doesn't like cake or cupcakes or anything like them.  He just wanted vanilla ice cream for his birthday.  So, here are his seven candles in a carton of vanilla.  It reminds me of my birthdays.  I always just wanted ice cream and this is how Mom did it for me.  I'm not sure why Erica is standing in front of it instead of Bryant.  He got over there before we were done singing!

 Here's our Birthday boy with some chocolate syrup lingering on his face from his chocolate milk he drank at dinner.  Here are 7 things you should know about Bryant:
1.  He has a loud voice and he loves to use it!  He loves to talk and socialize!  My neighbors are always telling me the funny things Bryant tells them!
2.  He wears that watch on his wrist day and night.  He only takes it off for a bath.  He loves to be the time informer.
3.  He is a very picky eater, but he is getting better at eating other things with age.  His favorite food...chicken nuggets and french fries!
4.  He loves to laugh and if he can make you laugh, even better!
5.  He loves games - board games, computer games, wii games, arcade games, all games!
6.  He is very good with electronic things.  He is constantly impressing us with his knowledge.
7.  He has a kind and gentle nature.  He loves hugs and I hope that never stops.  In fact,  if I go for a high five with him he says, "Remember Mommy, I give hugs instead."  I'll hold onto that as long as I can!

 YUM!!!

 I told Bryant to give me his best toothless grin!  He keeps the Tooth Fairy poor and his bank rich!

He loves Emmy and Tommy so much!  When they would smile at him on his birthday he would say, "They are saying Happy Birthday to me!"

March News

I feel like we've had such a healthy winter overall.  Sure, maybe Erica or Bryant or one of the twins had a little runny nose a time or two, but nothing that slowed anyone down.  However, March has come and we have been hit with stomach stuff and horrible colds and coughs and Emmy had it the worst with double ear infections!  I feel like we are finally on the mend around here. 

Poor Emmy really did have it so bad with fever for 6 nights in a row, it was a bad virus, then at the end of it her ears got infected.  She had two trips to the doctor, an antibiotic and lots of Advil for her fever.  Thank goodness for Advil, seriously!!  Mike and I have both had an ear infection as adults and we both hurt so so bad.  Now when one of the kids gets one we feel soooooo bad for them, it's awful!!  Erica had lots of ear infections as a baby and she ended up getting tubes, which worked so well, they saved us all!  I tried so many home remedies on Erica like warm tinctures in her ears and peroxide in her ears and healing oils rubbed on her ears.  I never knew if anything was really helping because she couldn't talk and she always had to have an antibiotic so who knew what was helping!  So when I got an ear infection I tried all the home remedies I had tried on Erica and after all of it,  I decided the only thing that gave me relief was Advil and of course, an antibiotic.  So, there are my two bits on ear infections.

In spite of sickness we have had a great March.  It is getting so warm and sunny here!  The kids are playing outside again, yea!!  There are a LOT of family birthdays in Feb and March so we have had lots of parties.  My birthday is in Feb and Bryant turns 7 on March 18th.  I can't believe it!!!!  Mike and I have enjoyed a few dinners with friends.  Bryant is loving his indoor soccer season and Erica's outdoor season starts in a week.  The babies turn 7 months next Monday.  AHHH!  I really wish I could freeze them, they are so dang cute!!!  At their 6 month check up they were the same as the 4 month in that Emmy was one inch longer and one pound heavier than Tommy.  Tommy is 60% for height and Emmy is so tall she is off the chart for height.  She wears 12 month clothes because she is so tall, her legs go forever!  Right now Tommy weighs 17lbs and Emmy weighs 18lbs.  They are healthy growing babies, moving all over the place by rolling and wiggling.  I love this stage!  Now for the pictures...

 Oh I love these smiles.

 They both love their toes so much!  Emmy can get hers in her mouth.

 They're eating solids!  Emmy doesn't enjoy them much, she spits everything out.  On the other hand, Tommy eats until he could pop!  It's so fun to feed him!

Her eyes are looking so much bluer to me.  They gray is leaving.  I love them.

 Erica is the best with these babies.  She really loves to help out and she is so responsible!  She is sounding and looking and acting so grown up these days.

 Bryant thought this hoodie was the cutest thing ever.

 Tommy got his first haircut.  Now it's growing back in it just sticks up everywhere, so cute!  He is so blonde which we love!

Here's Emmy right after her bath, she could play with her toes all day.

 These guys love their exer-saucers, oh, and so do I!

 This isn't a great pic of Tommy but there is a terrible snow storm out the window if you can see it.

Our four munchkins!  Look at Emmy and Tommy getting each other and Bryant loving up Tommy.  I love this picture.  Emmy and Tommy are getting even cuter with each other, always laughing and smiling and just grabbing each other.  They're at the stage where they suck in air when they get excited and they do it all the time now, especially when they see a family member they haven't seen for a while.  It's the best!

Pics of These Growin' Babies!

 Look at that hair!  Everywhere we go people can't get over Emmy's hair.  Everyone LOVES it!  I hear over and over again, "How did you get a red head, we wanted one and never got one and red hair is on both sides of the family!"  Emmy is a big baby, very tall and also on the hearty side.  She has her first two bottom teeth already, which is about a month earlier than our other babies.  Her personality is easy going, but at the same time, if she has something to say, we all hear it!  She is loud when she cries, loud when she talks and she likes to growl, it's a dainty growl.  When she was smaller she use to "meow" and we called her our little kitty cat.  She is super social and loves new faces to smile at.  She is really fun at a party because she goes around smiling at everyone.  She easily entertains herself but loves to be entertained.  She is aware of everything around her.  She is very very interested in Tommy and tries to grab at him and check him out and smile at him every chance she gets.  On the other hand, Tommy is only semi interested in her.  Sometimes he'll smile at her if their eyes cross paths, but otherwise he's doing his own thing.  That's our Emmy Doll!

 Look at those blue blue eyes!  Tommy's eyes mesmerize me and he loves to look at and focus on faces.  He will look right at you with good concentration for a very long time, as if he is having a little insight into your soul.  It makes for a sweet feeling of connection with him.  He is my more demanding, but mild baby.  His personality is a little more serious and perhaps quiet.  He LOVES to be held and always prefers it.  I think he has a brilliant little mind.  He seems to already have an understanding of how a tantrum works and he pulls them from time to time.  It makes me laugh because he is so little!  The other day he was in his bouncy seat but he wanted to be held, so he let out his best tantrum, stopped, then looked right at me as if to say, "OK, now you know what I want, let's see it happen!"  Mike and I cracked up!  That said, he has a sweet calm nature about him.  He likes to laugh, but Bryant can get him laughing harder than anyone.  When he "talks" it sounds like he is trying to carry on a conversation with someone, it's the cutest thing! That's our Tommy Boy!

 I couldn't get these two to smile at the same time today, so I had to post two pics of this one.

Babies and Vivi

Emmy loves this little seat!  She has outgrown this outfit.  She and Tommy are 5 months and wear 9 month clothes now!!!  Tommy can still wear 6 month clothes but Emmy can't...she's soooo long!

 This was from Christmas and I never posted it.  It's not a great pic but kind of cute in their Christmas outfits.

 Emmy's arm is trying to get Tommy.  They love to get each other.  They are getting so wiggly and moving more.  They will wiggle around until they get their feet or hands on each other.  It's so cute!  Tommy love love loves his hands.  I think he really wishes his mouth was bigger so he could stuff both hands in!

 Emmy's under the Christmas tree here.  She loved it so much!  People can't get over this red hair wherever we go!

Bryant and Tommy are just hanging out.  Bryant and Erica love both babies but overall Bryant favors Tommy and Erica favors Emmy.  I'm so happy that Erica got a sister and Bryant got a bother.

 This is Vivi!!  She is my life saver.  She cleans house for me once a week and she also babysits for me here and there.  She is a college student at LDS Business College.  She is from Brazil!  I adore her.  She is so good at cleaning my house and watching my kids.  My kids love her too!  We are grateful we met Vivi and that she is a part of our lives. She had her 30th birthday and so my Sister-in-law, Ruthie, and I threw a little party for her.  She lives with Ruthie right now so she is close to their family too.

Happy Birthday to Vivi!!!  My kids are on the left.  Ruthie's three kids are on the right.  That's Ruthie standing in the background.

Erica & Bryant being Silly!

The other night before bed Erica and Bryant got silly and so I pulled out the camera.  I'm lovin' Bryant's mismatched pajamas.  And what is that face he is making?!  It looks like he just bit into a lemon!

Bryant says that this is his boxing pose.  I wouldn't want to meet him in the ring!

Look at that great hair! It's not from me that's for sure!  I think it's thanks to Grammy J.

These two are hilarious!

These guys made homemade soft pretzels together.  I helped a little but let them do as much as they could.  They shaped them into a CTR which stands for "Choose The Right".  It's a saying they learn in Primary class at church.

 You can see that Bryant has lost his two front teeth!  Emmy helped him lose the second one.  He picked her up and her head slammed into his mouth and knocked it out!  It was very very loose.  Emmy wasn't hurt, but Bryant put her down and went running for a tissue. 

This is a bush in our front yard.  Sometimes Bryant likes to get inside it, which I don't prefer.  But I thought I may as well take his picture while he was in there!

This is Bryant's "Club" that he made with some help from Erica.  It's under the stairs.  We have a table and spare chairs stacked in here but there was some empty space in the back of the closet that the kids got to by climbing through the chairs!  This day we were using the table and chairs so I got a shot of the club.  They spend a good amount of time hanging out in here!  I got in it once, through the chairs!!!  When I finally made it out I decided that was my last time to venture in!  Whew!

Happy 5 Month's Old Emmy & Tommy!!!

 AHHH!  I can't believe they are 5 month's old!!  That means in another 5 months they will be pushing a year!  I wish I could freeze them right now.  They are such good, cute, fun babies!!!

 Look at those faces!  I could kiss them all day.  I'm realizing they get lots of camera time in these little zip up outfits that coordinate.  I must think they look so cute in them that I start snapping shots whenever they are in them!

 Here are the four of them!  This is Emmy's hair flat, I think I like it better up!

 Erica is the best big sister to these babies.  She adores them.  She is soooo helpful and willingly helpful with them!  I am very grateful for her.  Some moments I couldn't do it without Erica's help.

 These bumpo's are the silliest chairs but Emmy & Tommy both like them.  Emmy's in my bathroom watching me get ready for the day.

 This and the next two shots are professional, taken of them at 4 months old.

 I LOVE this naked picture!!!

 Bryant's lying on my bed here.  The babies both look stunned!  I think they are figuring out that when my camera is pointing at them any minute a bright flash is going to blind them.  Poor kids, they learn young!

I love a baby in a onesie.  I just took this picture of them today.