Samuel 10 months

10 months old. And totally not feeling well in case you can't tell by the grumpy face. Its been a long week! I hope my happy baby will return soon. It never fails that everyone gets struck down by a nasty respiratory virus in January. Keira missed 4 days of school. Kids are still grumpy and congested and coughing. Hoping that everyone is back to normal next week.

Snowy Saturday and our best snowman yet

 The snow flakes were huge and the snow nice and sticky and perfect for snowman making and snow balls.

6 year old sweetness

 Hanging in Mike's car right next to his steering wheel is the cutest little note

 " for daddy I love you daddy you are the best daddy in the world. from Keira " it says.
 We have become those lazy people that drive their kid to the bus stop because well its January in New Hampshire and at 645 am its dark and COLD and well you never know if you will be waiting 0.02 seconds for the bus or 15 min so until it warms up we are driving. Our little artist started off scribbling on random pieces of paper she found in her backpack while waiting in the car for the bus. Mike was kind enough to get her a pad of paper and a special gel pen and she recently stashed a box of crayons in the glove box. And while we wait she writes the sweetest little notes.

 for Mom I love you

 for Mommy. Love you Mom! Merry Christmas mom you are the best mom in the world.
Be still my heart!!!! I'm going to miss this sweet little girl as she grows up.

 for Israel I love you from Keira

 for Mom I love you mom                       Like my blonde hair???? :)

for Nairi I love you. When I asked her where Samuel's note was she said he would just eat it because well paper is his favorite thing to eat and the kids know that well.
Makes me feel awful when she hands me the note and hops on the bus and I know the morning has been crazy and I may have yelled at her for the 18th time to just please"" HURRY  UP AND EAT YOUR BREAKFAST ALREADY!!!""

Standing

There is alot of this going on at our house. Crazy! Yes another one of my kids is growing up.  Hoping his balance catches up with his sense of adventure or the kid is going to get an awful lot of bumps and bruises.

Pray for Cecilia

 This is Cecilia with her mom Alexis. Cecilia is the 1 month old ( born Dec 6th 2013) daughter of one of my best friends. She is battling a very aggressive cancer. Please please pray for her and for her mother and father and 3 older siblings, Sarah, Maddie, and Benjamin.
You can follow her journey here http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ceciliaanne
And if you feel so inclined you can donate money to help pay for gas to drive back and forth to Boston Children's Hospital ( a little over a hour from their home in NH), parking, and medical expenses not covered by insurance.   http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/help-cecilia-harrison-fight-cancer/124064

Happy New Year with lots of photo's.

We enjoyed a fabulous Christmas season. I know I know its still the Christmas season technically but its mostly back to reality. Mike has gone back to work after over a week home. Last year he saved up some vacation time and was home for several days and it made Christmas time so much more fun and relaxing to have him home with us. So this year despite using vacation time for Samuel's birth and a week at the beach he was able to save some for Christmas. We so enjoyed having him home and I was even able to finish a whole book. That is no small feat for a mom. :o) The kids really enjoyed having him around to color with them and read them endless stories and play lots of board games.  He  also kept the fire place stocked with a roaring fire which is a nice change from reality as well. Usually we only use the fire place when we have company over or on Sundays. 

But back to reality. Keira goes back to school Monday and its January ( my least favorite time of the year) and its bitterly cold out. Its going to be -25 with the wind chill tonight. Winter storm Hercules just made his departure and dumped several inches of snow on us. Yeah its definitely January. I am dreaming of warm weather and lets be honest Spring doesn't start officially till mid March and well its usually not even spring like for several more weeks. So on to the pictures

 Israel "snow blowing" in perfectly straight lines just like his father.  I can definitely see a touch of perfectionism in him. His coloring skills are amazing and he always wants things just so.

 His favorite toy from Christmas- an antique Aries Snow Blower. He loves it! Thank you Ebay I mean Santa.

 He was proud of his tower. I took the picture as evidence of his perfectionism. See his perfectly lined up colors??

 Ohh Nairi. She is actually smiling. She spends more time scowling and growling and pouting about things then she does smiling. We love her dearly but she is such a moody, passionate little thing. I just have to get this off my chest. I feel bad for the man she marries. She is such a tough cookie.

 Samuel has the beginnings of his first tooth I think. You can feel it ever so slightly. I'll know for sure when its popped totally through his gum when I feel it and no I don't mean with my finger. He doesn't stand yet but has begun to pull himself up to his knees. He mostly still army crawls with his arms but is beginning to crawl for real. He is in such a fun stage where he tries to copy everything we do and say. He tries really really hard to say "Uttt ohhh!!" Its adorable. He will also say " Ma ma ma ma" with purpose as he crawls around looking for me if he is hungry or wants to be picked up. He tries to clap and wave and its hilarious since he doesn't quite have it down pat just yet.

 Since Keira has been home the last 2 weeks she is the organizer of all things play related. She definitely has the best imagination in the house and starts elaborate pretend games and gets the other two involved as well. When not playing with her siblings she has been reading alot ( I love when she reads to Israel and Nairi) and making lots of bracelets with her Rainbow loom.  She never says she is bored and I love that about her and the age she is in. She is boarding on the age of reason and we can see that in her. She is very concerned with fairness and making sure everything is equal.

As the kids get older and their toys get smaller ( think PlayMobil, Squinkees Legos and Polly Pockets) I have yet to come up with a good solution that allows them to play with their toys at will but keeps them out of the Samuel's mouth. So for now the gate us up to keep Samuel out.  Anyone have a better solution? I am not a big fan of gating the baby out. The dining room table is not a good solution because we eat Sunday dinner in the dining room and they can't play in their rooms because they share and younger ones nap.