Recent Photos

Some of photographer Sarah's latest photos of our clan

Photo of the three kids

How Megan helps with chores

Sarah and Megan playing together.  They get good mileage out of that Pooh couch!

Shepherd Matthew

Megan holding her throw up bowl.  (Sarah brought home a stomach bug from school and shared with several of us.) 

Sarah pondering the meaning of life

Sarah's face painting from the Spring Fling at her school.

Easter

We had a nice Easter.  We attended Stake Conference and had a family lesson on the Resurrection using Easter eggs.  We also had a visit from the Easter bunny.  We went to some friends' house for dinner and had another egg hunt.  Sarah ended up with a TON of candy.  Good day!  Here's some photo highlights:

The many poses of Sarah in her fancy dress

Easter photos of the three kids. Sarah is wearing a different outfit because she changed Megan's diaper and accidentally sat on the wet diaper.  I'm including two photos because all three kids are looking at the camera in both.  Amazing!

Easter Egg hunt at our house.  The Easter Bunny left a note for Sarah because she wanted to know who hid the eggs--the Easter Bunny, daddy or Thumper.

Pictures from the hunt at our friends' home

16 Weeks 3 Days

That is how old Matthew is today.  What is so significant about that?  Well, when Megan was 16 weeks 3 days old, she became a big sister!

Here are comparison photos of them with me at about the same age.  (I like how I'm even wearing the same shirt!)

Crazy how time flies!

Sarah in a Box

We bought some humidifiers a while back to help with all our sickness.  Sarah has had lots of fun playing with the boxes. 

Sarah standing in the box

Sitting in the box

Right after we got the humidifiers, I got to play a game: there were the three humidifier boxes, each with a prize.  I don't remember what was in the first two, but the last one had the best prize of all: Sarah!  It's amazing that Sarah can completely fit in the box with the lid closed! 

She enjoyed it so much, she wanted her brother and sister to join in the fun.  Megan liked it ok, Matthew not so much.

Megan in a Box

Unfortunately, the humidifier boxes are no longer with us.  Although they are lots of fun to play with, they are not exactly made for holding a 40 lb girl, especially when that girl is being bounced in the box by her dad who is pretending to be going on a treacherous trip.  The good news is that no one was hurt when we made this discovery.



Yum!

The other day, I gave Matthew a toy to play with while I fed Megan.  He's not really into toys much yet, but since I set it in the Bumbo right in front of him, he grabbed it ok.  When I looked over a few minutes later, this is what I saw:

Yes, he was licking it!  I guess this shouldn't be surprising since he loves his tongue!  Apparently he's also been taking lessons from Megan as he also tried to eat it:

Megan was very interested in the fact that Matthew was so into this toy.  As soon as she got close enough, she grabbed it and stuck it in her mouth:

Sure glad they get along so well:)

And He Rolls!!!

Yesterday when Matthew rolled over, we figured it didn't really count since he was lying next to dad on the bed and had a bit of a slope to help him out. However, when he repeated the feat today while on the floor, that counts. Especially since he did it two more times when I flipped him back on his tummy. I think he was saying, "Hey! Why do you keep putting me back on my tummy? I don't like being here. That is why I rolled over in the first place!" Go Matthew!

Twinkle Toes

Sarah's feet are growing.  (Apparently that is what happens when you feed a kid and let them sleep. At least that is why she tells us her feet grow.)  Since her tennis shoes were on their last leg anyhow, we decided to buy her some new shoes.  She knew EXACTLY what kind of shoes she wanted: Twinkle Toes.  The first store we went to didn't have any and, while she did like some of the shoes ok, she wanted to keep looking.  She was so excited when she spotted them at the next store:

What exactly are "Twinkle Toes?"  They are shoes that have little LEDs along the side that light up when you walk. (Not exactly why they're called "Twinkle Toes" since it isn't the toes that light up.)

Sarah very enthusiastically wears them now almost every day.  There are certainly no issues getting her to put on tennis shoes on PE days.  We joke that they are her shoes from the pre-existence.

Happy Transfer Day!

One year ago today was our Transfer Day.  Over the past few weeks, Matthew has heard all about what was going on a year ago--all about the shots, the blood draws, the ultrasounds, egg retrieval, etc.  I'm sure he appreciates all we went through to get him here.

What a cute blast!

Where's My Food?!?

Matthew sometimes falls asleep when he is eating his last meal of the day.  We try to wake him up to make sure he gets a full meal and will sleep a long time.  However, this doesn't always work as he is sometimes quite intent on sleeping.  The other night, we had woken him up a few times and finally decided that he must be full since he had no interest in waking up.  We put him down.  Half an hour later (just enough time for me to fall asleep), he was awake and screaming, "Where is my food?!?" 

Recent Happenings: April 4-18

• Clothes Update: Sarah is not the only one at her school in long clothes.  One morning after dropping her off at school, I noticed that the dean was also dressed in a long shirt and pants. So there are two people at her school who are wearing long clothes still.  Sarah will tell me, "I looked outside and it looked cold so that is why I'm wearing this." She actually has started wearing shorts sometimes, maybe because some of her long pants have holes in them and are being thrown away. She's still in long shirts, though.  (As a side note, since when do elementary schools have deans?)
• Mom/Daughter Date: Sarah and I have gone on a few mom/daughter dates so we make sure to have some time alone.  Sarah likes consistency in her life and so when I asked where she wanted to go, she wanted to go the same place we went last time (Paradise Bakery) and get the same food as before (a cookie and carrot cake bite).  It is fun to do.
• Bureaucracy: When I was doing our state taxes I discovered that the end of 2010, our legislators decided that, while the federal government allowed a tax deduction in 2009 for charitable donations to Haiti, in the state of Arizona these donations wouldn't be an exemption until 2010.  Too bad we'd all filed our 2009 taxes months before!  Not to worry, though.  They created a special form to amend our 2009 taxes.  Of course, the crazy thing is that our 2009 taxes increased by the amount our 2010 taxes decreased so our net taxes paid didn't change.  Wouldn't it have been simpler just to let us take the deduction in 2009 (since it had already been done...)?  Gotta love the government! 
• Dew: Sarah was really excited one morning recently: "Mom! Mom! There's frost on the grass!"  We discussed how this likely wasn't frost (way too warm for that) but dew.  She was still quite excited and went outside to feel it and walk on it.
• Church: Our whole family went to church together today.  It's the first time we've gone together and the first time Matthew went at all.  It took a bit of planning, especially since U leaves a few hours early for meetings, but we managed to get there.  We were even a little early!
• Sleepy Megan: Megan fell asleep in the car on the way home from church today.  Since she had just fallen asleep, I decided to transfer her to her crib in hopes that she'd get a better nap.  She was so tired that she slept in my arms as I carried her upstairs and put her down.  Not to worry, though:  She was awake enough to grab her pacifier and put it in her mouth.  She sure loves her pacifier!

I'm not sure either...

Sarah: Dad, what is that red thing you put on hot dogs?
Dad: Ketchup?
Sarah: No, the other red thing!
Dad: I'm not sure what else you would have.
Sarah: What do you have on hot dogs?
Dad: Well, I have ketchup and mustard and relish...
Sarah: What is relish?
Dad: It is green...
Sarah: That isn't it. What is the red thing?
Dad: Can you tell me more about it?
Sarah: It is straight and red...
Dad: Do you mean the meat?
Sarah: Yes. What is it called?
Dad: That is what is called the hot dog honey. The bread is the bun.
Sarah: Oh.

I'm just glad she didn't ask what it was made of.

Embracing Unfairness

We are embracing unfairness at our house.  These days, we often hear "That's not fair!" or "No fair!"  Sarah thinks so many things are unfair, so we agree with her and move on.  I'm not sure she appreciates the approach but it seems to work.  We also turn it on her and complain of things not being fair.  She thinks this is funny and even asked once, "Why are you saying it is unfair when you are an adult?" (Clearly, all things should be fair once you're an adult. Only children suffer unfairness in the world, right?)

For the record, here are some of the things that are unfair:

• Megan or Matthew get to eat when Sarah doesn't (generally right before/after a meal)
• She has to help clean
• Her vitamin is broken
• She only get 3 pieces chicken (or, conversely, she has to have 3 pieces of chicken)
• She doesn't get a treat before bed (or after a good lunch, or really at any time she asks for one)
• She doesn't get to wear mommy's high heels tonight (even though most nights she does)
• She doesn't get to hold/play with/feed Megan or Matthew when she wants to
• Mommy and daddy don't go to bed when she does (that really is unfair--I want to go to bed when she does!!!)

So, yes, there is lots of unfairness going on at our house.

Big Sister Sarah

• Sarah loves being a big sister! When I asked her what her favorite part of being a big sister was, she said, "Helping with the babies." Boy does she love to help! She will feed them, clothe them, change their diapers and burp them. (You gotta love it when someone actually asks if they can change poopy diapers!) One time she decided that Megan wanted breast milk instead of formula and so switched the stuff from the formula bottle to the breast milk bottle for Megan to eat (a bit complicated as we have Dr Brown's bottles).

Helping hold Matthew

• She often buckles them into their car seats. She takes this job very seriously and definitely goes the extra mile, making sure they have on a bib and that their blankets are wrapped around them.

• She loves playing with them and even does a decent job calming them down when they are crying. When we go places, she usually wants to push the stroller. She has big plans for when they are older and tells them all about how fun kindergarten is.

Playing in Megan's crib

Making sure Megan has enough toys to play with in her swing

• Sarah thinks she is their personal photographer and videographer and is always asking to take pictures and video of them.

• When Matthew and I were in the hospital after he was born, all she wanted to do one night was come visit us so she could hold Matthew.

• One time when we were at the doctor, Sarah carried Megan to the scale. The doctors and nurses were amazed that Sarah could carry Megan so well and thought it was really cute.

I'm certainly thankful to have such a big helper!

Matthew's 3rd Month

• Tummy Time: Matthew doesn't particularly like tummy time, but he is doing better at it.  He often does his running legs while he is on his belly.  If he is on a pillow, this results in him either going head first over the pillow or moving backwards so his head is buried in the pillow.
• Cooing/Crooning:  Matthew coos and croons a lot.  Sometimes it is happy, sometimes it is sad, always it is very intent. 

Crooning during tummy time

• Lights: Matthew likes looking at and talking to lights.  Some of his favorites are the star on the floor gym and the lights on the bouncy seat.  He also likes looking at the ceiling fans.

"Hello Mr. Star"



• Megan: Matthew has started showing interest in Megan.  He will look at her quite intently at times.  He tolerates her trying to eat his feet or hands as well.
• Marching: Matthew continues practicing his marching skills every day.  He has a very intent look on his face while he moves his legs up and down, up and down, over and over again.  Where he's going, we don't know!

• Swaddling:  Matthew is the master at getting his arms out of swaddles.  This includes U's and he is the best swaddler ever so you know how good Matthew is at getting out.  When he gets his arms out, he shadow boxes (swings arms out in front of him like he's boxing).
• Scratching: Matthew scratches his face a lot and so ends up with little scabs all over it.  It is sad to see and we keep his nails really short but he still manages to scratch himself up quite a bit.  We wonder if his face and head are itchy since he has pretty bad cradle cap and so that is contributing to the problem.  Hopefully he outgrows this soon!
• Guy Smiley: Matthew is super smiley a lot of the time.  That is so much fun!  And it makes the middle of the night feeds a little more enjoyable.

• Cuddling: Matthew is still super cuddly.  We are taking advantage of this all we can!
• Alert: When we saw a different pediatrician last month, she commented to us that Matthew is very alert for his age.  She would have guessed he was older than he was.  Must be because he needs to be on the watch for his older sister who thinks he is a tasty treat:)

In Bumbo

Sleeping peacefully

Looking at me in the mirror before a bath.  He really enjoys his baths!