7 months and so many milestones

Amelia turns 7 months old on Tuesday. Slow down it is going way too fast for me. The last couple of weeks have been big adventures in her life. This is how I found her today. She can crawl around (usually in search of paper) and tries to decide if she wants to crawl on her knees, her belly, or sometimes her feet. But now she can push herself up to a sitting position from crawling by herself. She will crawl somewhere and then sit up to look around and check out her next direction.
She also had her first ear infection and sickness at Christmas time. That one was not so much fun though.

AND...a few nights ago we found a tooth. It is a bottom tooth and I was very glad to have a reason to blame on the constant crying. She won't let us get a good look at it and just moves around with her little tongue stuck out as she feels her little tooth. Can you see that drooly slobber just dripping off her chin. I think she has the perfect amount of chub and everyone says she looks like a little dolly.

She also started doing "the scrunch face" When she is looking at you or smiling at you she will scrunch up her little nose at you and give you the funniest looks. We took some hilarious pictures trying to capture her look. It is so much fun to interact with her and see her darling personality.

She is starting to notice this little creature. She will sometimes crawl over to check him out. He doesn't know what to make of her and usually just ignores her. I think they will be great friends.

I love all the stages with this little one, even the crying (okay not really). We love you little one.

Santa Came to our House

I guess my kids were pretty great this year because Santa definitely stopped by and left a few surprises. We told them it would be a smaller Christmas but they were still spoiled and got so many great things. I think my favorite moment of the day was when Clint and I opened our presents to eachother at the same time. We both got eachother waffle irons (and then returned them both). Here the kids are waiting to go downstairs to see what Santa brought.

Crazy hair...even Amelia was excited.

Susanna and her pillow pet sitting on her pink and yellow plasma car. Her Christmas list was very specific.

Eliza got her tent and wanted to keep all of her stuff inside of her tent. Here is Amelia's one toy. She is still a little young but Emily has one and I have always thought it was a fun toy for kids.

Justin wanted a unicycle. He has practiced and practiced and can ride it pretty good now. It definitely took some trial and error.

Nathan wanted this new toy called the Sole Skate. He is pretty good at it and looks like a typical stay cool teenager here. He is getting ready to rip off his tear away basketball pants he loves (which were junk and have to be returned...that's what you get for trying to save some money).

Clara's pink motor scooter.

Twin elephant pillow pets.

Eliza got a water baby. She is darling holding it here but she really doesn't play with dolls much. She is much more into digging in the dirt. I almost got her a box of dirt. It is her favorite things and she hates it when dad won't let her dig because her pile of dirt is mud.

We had a very relaxing casual Christmas. Mom even waited til the day after Christmas to put all the decorations away. Usually by Christmas night I can't stand it anymore. Merry Christmas to all.

Christmas Eve Traditions

We have very set traditions on Christmas Eve and our children will not let us change them. We always go to the same restaurant and every year we say lets change. Then we're off to see the temple lights. We used to be more bold and one year Nathan walked out to the wisemen and we used to always take a picture with them inside the fountain of blue lights. I guess we have matured and try not to break as many rules. We just took the simple picture this time.



I told them to act excited for Christmas and this is what I got.

My oldest and youngest. i love seeing them together.

Eliza picked this purple tree to pose in front of. She was very excited.

Three of my favorite people ever.

This is Eliza's favorite way to travel.

After the temple lights we head home for our traditional nativity puppet show (thanks aunt jenny, it is always the perfect length). Then the kids open up christmas jammies and a movie to watch. This year it was despicable me and Eliza was so excited. I was also smart and bought most of the jammies last year on clearance for super cheap. They have pajamas coming out of their ears but you can't mess with tradition. So excited for the next day.

Family Christmas Party 2010

We had our annual Christmas party this year. It was very strange without mom and dad, we missed them. It was also wierd to host and not just show up. I hope everyone had a fun time even though it broke tradition a little. We used our pool table as the buffet table, it was kind of a nifty little setup (thanks Susan). We had lots of yummy food.

Grandma has done gingerbread houses in the past but I tried something different. We made these candy train ornaments that I used to make when I was little. They were a hit and Susanna had fun helping organize and run it. Maybe we can find a new little craft each year that is simple like this.

April helping her boys finish up, doesn't even look pregnant. She is such a trooper, I was done by this time in my pregnancy. I heard she went on a 3 mile hike right before she delivered, ugh.

I was so busy I didn't get many pictures but I did get one of the talented family. The Jones played some great music and was super. There were piano numbers on our horrible piano, dance moves, guitar solos, and other fun talents.

But then the real fun started...Grandma and Grandpa called in and Benjamin set them up on skype or gmail or whatever. The kids all started performing for them. We did our traditional nativity song (you would think by now we could just learn the song, it is so sad and I think I am the worst) Little Eliza just kept following the computer around and smiling at it, so darling. I think it was fun for everyone to see them and feel like they were there. They all got worry dolls and a Guatamalan ornament (a little animal) They loved them, I even heard Jack loved his dog so much it is not getting put away with Christmas this year. It's fun they managed to be there even when they weren't.

Merry Christmas...We love you Grandma and Grandpa.

Amelia was 6 months old today and I had to put in a picture of her. Life has gotten more busy and I haven't posted enough or taken enough of her. She is now scooting and crawling and is happier and happier every day (I guess until the teething starts up)