Sunday Morning...

Since today was Daylight Savings, all the kids were up at what they thought was 7:30 am but was really 6:30 am.  Because we were all up so early, we had plenty of time to get ready for church.  I bribed the kids with Halloween candy if they posed for this picture.  Getting candy right after breakfast is so rare in this house that they all signed on!

I look at this picture and can't believe they are MINE!  I am so blessed to have these spirits in my life.  I am so blessed to be able to love and teach them while they are here on Earth.  I feel tremendous responsibility when I think of just how special and important these Spirits are.  I get to teach them to follow Jesus Christ.  I get to help them learn and grow into the best possible "selves" they can be.  They bring so much life and light to my existence.  They make my heart SING.  I never thought I could love 5 kids all the same amount but I do.  My heart has grown with each child and continues to each day that I wake up to their smiling (sometimes screaming and crying) faces.

No description necessary...

 Yes, that is snot.

Halloween 2013

 For years I have tried to get the kids to let me follow a theme for Halloween.  Finn never wanted to go along with the idea.  He was too interested in being a ninja, Jedi or some sort of warrior sort.  The girls always wanted to be princesses...ALWAYS.  I found the perfect combination!  

Renaissance Princesses and their brave Knights!

 I couldn't find much of a knight costume for Keegan's size so I improvised.  I found some disco-ish material at JoAnns and made a sort of vest.  The most important part was, of course, the SWORDS!  Keegan's was bent 20 seconds after I gave it to him.

9 years old!!

Finnegan beginagain is nine!! Finn...where do I start?  He loves to read, Superfudge is his book of choice but he brings home a new non-fiction book every week too. He loves learning FACTS. 

He loves Lego's, Nerf guns, all things Star Wars, green shirts and the color red. He asked for grilled cheese as his birthday dinner and can usually eat Eric under the table. 

He participates in the school book club and is interested in being on the Student Council. His teachers have a hard time convincing him to keep quiet in class, he is quite the chatty kid. 

He and I have an almost daily battle when it comes to piano. His teacher tells me again and again that he has such natural talent but boy is he STUBBORN! One day he loves learning new things and the next he is discouraged and wants to quit. I think that it really comes down to what comes easy and what he has to work for. I'm trying to help him stick with things and not give up so easily. To embrace a challenge!

Finn is extremely helpful when it comes to Keegan and Brody. The girls tend to bug him. ;0) He does tend to get distracted super easily like any 9 year old boy. It sometimes takes him 10 min to brush his teeth!

Finn is still sweet and sensitive and I hope he never looses those qualities. He shows me he loves me each time he smiles and his eyes twinkle!

Brody @ 17 months

This guy just keeps on growing!  His latest trick is "creeping" along the couch to get to the cars Keegan lines up. He has really begun babbling and was sitting with me on the couch "reading" this book to himself. 

On the scale yesterday he weighed a whopping 22.8 lbs. even though he is still a little behind developmentally, he is learning new things every single day. 

Brody is seeing the physical therapist once a week as well as a speech/cognitive therapist twice a month. I think I've been pretty lucky as a mom to have my last baby stay "little". It won't be long before he is walking and talking non-stop. 

Brody has strange sleeping habits. Mostly, he sleeps awesome but every so often he will wake up in the night inconsolable. Eric and I don't appreciate giving up our beauty rest! 

Somehow I've got to break him of the paci! The only one of my kids with that crutch!  I know that it hasn't helped the whole speech thing. 

It is so fun to see him be so proud of himself when he masters something new. Brody also has the sense of humor that all my kids have been blessed with. He loves music and peek a boo games. 

My miracle baby brings light into my life every time I see his smile!

Brody decides to crawl!

At 14 1/2 months, Brody finally decided it was time to get a move on!  One day it was four little crawls and then the next he was moving from room to room!  He has wasted no time getting into things and making messes. He has really gotten good at stealing the other kids toys if they look away for even just one second...

Brothers

Keegan and Brody are two peas in a pod these days. Brody, being the younger brother, naturally follows Keegan around trying to do what he is doing. Keegan is awesome at making Brody laugh and aside from the daily scuffle over who's matchbox cars are who's, they get along great!

Hunting season 2013

So far, hunting season has been a success for Eric. He has shot 3 deer in 4 weeks. This one was his trophy and he is actually going to have it mounted. Until he has a suitable room of his own, it will decorate the walls of his man-cave aka the basement. 

He had this buck taken to be processed and we will fill our deep freeze with venison. A few weekends ago, he made an awesome tenderloin for dinner club. I was skeptical at first but after tasting it, I changed my view of venison. He cooked it perfectly and it was tender and flavorful. 

After 2 years hunting with no deer, he has mastered the Bow and is bringing home the MEAT!  ;0)

The first deer he shot, he processed himself. As he strung it up from a tree, the kids pulled up their lawn chairs to enjoy a front row seat. Hilarious. Eric can't wait to follow tradition and teach his kids to hunt. 

Miss Neelah

Miss Neelah had a little cuddly time last night before bed. We have started a new system for rewards for good behavior. Once you fill up your punch card with 12 punches, you get to choose from a list of rewards. Neelah chose to stay up 15 min later than normal bedtime and cuddle with me on the couch. 

This girl is so thoughtful, tender and sweet!  I worry that she worries about doing things to make me happy. She is thoughtful when I am stressed and knows what to do to help me. She is quick to help with the other kids as well and for the most part is a peace maker in our family. Love her to death!

Sandy Point Beach

We decided to venture to the beach today- with the Labor Day holiday and YaYa here it was the perfect last hurrah of the summer!

Savvy would NOT get out of the water and had no fear when it came to the waves washing over her. 

Neelah was busy "panning" for sea shells and also was happy to stay in the water. Don't they look so cute in their hats and sunglasses?

Finn kept busy building castles with moats and turrets. Then he and Eric played frisbee until Eric was exhausted from chasing Finns throws. 

Yaya comes to visit!

Mom came to visit earlier in September. As always we had a ton of fun while she was here. We went to Sandy Point Beach and spent a day playing in the water and the sand. 

Brody and I spent the majority of the day under the shade of the tent but he did love it when dad took him out in the water. Keegan stayed close by and busied himself playing in the sand, the waves freaked him out a little bit. 

He managed to share some of his drink with Brody but it was a huge compromise!

We went to the Orioles baseball game at Camden Yard. That was a first for all of us. Keegan actually had a great time even though his face says otherwise. 

We went bowling and Yaya got me started on recovering my dining room chairs. That was my birthday present from her. She took me shopping for the fabric. Here are some before and after shots. I'm very happy with the transformation!

We love having mom come stay -she spoils ALL OF US!  It was a great way to celebrate the end of summer!

Following in Finn's footsteps

Keegan will be three in 1 1/2 months. It's so shocking how fast he has grown. Although he chose to walk and talk on his own timetable, he runs everywhere and can almost talk Savvy under the table...ALMOST. 

I love this guy so much! He won't go to bed until he has kissed and hugged every member of the family. He loves to say prayers and randomly fills my heart with 

"I love you too Mom" before I have even told him how much I love him. 

It's been about a month now that the trains are pulled out on a daily basis. I knew it was a good idea to keep all Finn's train toys!  Keegan of course pulls ALL the trains out and organizes and counts...and then crashes them all into each other. 

He also is really showing interest in football. Yaya bought him a very annoying rattling football that he adores!  I will admit that as cute as it is, I'm hoping he will find interest in a less violent sport. That's the mom in me...I can't help it. 

Now that the older three kids are back in school, I am willing myself to get started potty-training with Keegan. I'm pretty sure he is ready, I'm just not sure I am. I'm still a little traumatized by Neelah's potty training days. I almost didn't make it through without a severe mental breakdown. I will hope for better days! 

First day of school 2013-2014

The first day of school FINALLY came.  The kids were as excited as I was.  I love my kids more than anything but I am just not cut out to have all of them at home, all day long.  I would be a terrible home school teacher!  Our family day to day activities are still dictated by Brody and Keegan's naps and since they never happen at the same time, it's hard to plan activities outside of the house.

Finn started third grade at a new school, Mount Airy Elementary.  Third through fifth grades attend there.  He has a morning and an afternoon teacher in 3rd grade and switches halfway through the day.  Mornings are English, Literature and social studies.  Afternoons he goes to math and science in the classroom next door.  We are waiting to hear about if he gets accepted into the Gifted and Talented program.  He is being considered for ELA in the G/T program.  I'm really proud of him for that.  I know that if he really paid attention he could also be considered for math/science as well.  It's only been 4 days of school and his two teachers have already mentioned to me that he is having issued keeping his chatting mouth closed.  :0)

Neelah is in first grade this year and has adjusted really well back into the routine of school.  She cried the night before the first day saying, "I won't get to spend as much time with you if I am gone at school all day..."  Bless her sensitive heart.  She loves the days when she goes to Art and will tell  you that she wants to be an artist when she grows up.

Savvy is LOVING Kindergarten.  Her teacher is brand spankin' new, this is her first permanent teaching assignment. She is young and energetic and I think she will be great for Savvy.  This is the first year that the kindergarten teachers don't have full time assistant teachers.  I hope that Savvy isn't too overwhelming.  We all know she can talk anyone to death.

This week has been really nice for me at home.  I have been able to really spend time with Keegan and have one on one time with him.  I have also been able to fully accomplish the tasks that I start.  I have made myself a list of all the deep cleaning I want to get done- the stuff that has been completely neglected for who knows how long!  I have spent the majority of my week paining the dining room chairs and touching up the dining room table that we stained and painted.

I love hearing about my kids favorite part of school was each day.  I love to have them come home and tell me all about something new that they learned.  I am SO THANKFUL that our experience with the local elementary schools have been so wonderful.  Every teacher that I have met has been exceptional and my kids have truly enjoyed.

Keegan has grown into the stage of asking "WHY?" to everything.  The funny thing about this is that where most kids want to know more than the answer "because", he will take the actual answer and then tell ME "because"  He is really starting to talk and use his imagination to play.  His go-to toy is any and all cars.  He is obsessed with cars and spends time each day lining them all up and driving them across the couch.  Another funny thing he says is "I love you too Mom".  This wouldn't be considered funny except that he says it first but includes the "too" as if he was saying it in response to me telling him that I love him.  We are starting to enforce the rule that "blanky" has to stay in his bed.  He is usually pretty good about it.  We don't ever have to battle with him on bringing it with us in the car anymore.  Slow progress...

Brody-slowly making progress...

Since Brody was born, we have had him followed by all sorts of specialists: a nephrologist, neurologist, developmental pediatrician, physical therapist...  The kid is just an attention addict!  ;0)

He has passed all their check ups with flying colors but is still routinely having physical therapy. In the last month he has really showed progress. Being 14.5 months old and not crawling, standing or walking needed to be addressed! 

Since starting, he moves from sitting to laying, reaches over and up in all directions and tries his hardest to wiggle around the room. Before Brody, I took for granted the way that kids just normally pick up on this stuff! 

Just today he pulled himself up to a kneeling position at the couch!  It's such a milestone for him!  YAY!

He was so happy to "vroom" his cars on the cushions!  Today I also moved around the car seats while cleaning out the disgusting thing that is our van. I have had Brody in the infant carrier all this time because the kid only weighs 19.5 lbs!  (The carrier has a weight limit of 22 lbs). So I decided to put him in a regular carseat ( shhh...don't tell my pediatrician that he is forward-facing before the age of two! )

Quiet Time

I have tried my hardest to teach my kids to have quiet, independent time while the younger ones are napping. Finn has always been EXCELLENT at this-entertaining himself even when I was pregnant with Neelah and wanted a nap of my own.

Neelah is hit or miss. As she gets older she is doing much better and sometimes even chooses to play by herself when friends are around. She is one who likes her quiet time as much as crazy play time.

Then there is Savvy. Savvy does not understand the meaning of "alone". I get it- when I was younger I hated to be alone too. For MY sanity, I NEED quiet time. Really what I need is "no talking to Mom" time. It doesn't matter if she plays with the iPad, watches her favorite movie or plays in the toy room- she can't go for more than 15 minuets without having something to say to me.

Often, she just wanders over for an "I love you" and a kiss. I adore that she is so affectionate! Most other times she just has a question about something: "can I have something to eat, can I have gum, will you get me a drink, where is Neelah?" Etc. then there are the times when she is just bored and needs to be bugging someone...anyone. I walk from a room and she and her curiosity follow me.

I'm nervous for her to be at school full time. I hope her teacher is able to kindly teach her to work independently and respect times when she needs to be a listener, not a talker.

To be continued...



Heather
Sent from my iPhone

More of our 2013 Utah trip

 

On our last full day in Utah, we went to Wheeler Farm with Aunt Lyndsay, Felicity, Reagan, Gabe and YaYa.  We got some good pictures and playtime in before this nasty rain storm rolled in.

Neelah's hair didn't love the dry air in Utah but she is sickeningly sweet nevertheless!

Keegan paused for a moment of deep thought here (no he wasn't filling his diaper).  I am not really sure what he was doing but it made for a GREAT picture!

A rare picture of Eric and I

Then the rain came!!  We made it back to YaYa's house and the sky opened up and poured down.  The kids LOVED playing in the summer rain and it was probably the highlight of their trip to Utah!

Doing a little rain dancing....

I'm not sure what Savvy was doing striking a pose in the gutter but it shows her personality to a T! We really cherish cousin time since we don't get it as much as we want.

We also took a trip to Temple Square while in Utah and we happened to run into Sister Wilhelm who is from our Mount Airy ward!  It was so fun to see Susannah.

I am so glad that we were able to go see the Christus and the Temple.  Finn was the only one who remembered having been here before so it was so nice to let the other kids experience it.  We roamed around with Grandma and Grandpa Watson, Aunt April, Nate, Soren and Taos.  It was a wonderful Sunday.

 

These days, trying to get everyone to look at the camera at the same time is near impossible.  After about 12 pictures, this was the best one.  I love this family and cherish each person shown here.  We are blessed to be an Eternal Family.  I still have a hard time believing that I have FIVE kids!