Eight Months and 24 lbs of Cuteness!

Victoria is eight months old now- actually she has been for a few weeks, but here we are just posting these. Matt's awesome sister, Raegan, took these pics of Tori . She does beautiful work and was so patient with all of our fussiness. Victoria was not in a photography kind of mood, so although we don't have any huge grins here, I think they turned out pretty wonderful. We tried to do some of she and Daphne together, but Tori was pretty much done by then, so we didn't get too many of them together. I can't decide which one of Victoira to hang on the wall, so I'm going to number them and I need your votes! (Numbers are above the pics) Thanks!
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5. This one will probably be hung in a small print, but vote on one of just Victoria for me!

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Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! We had a great Valentine's this year- we decided to try to make it more of a family affair- so for our FHE before the big day, we had everybody make little Valentine bags and talked about how much we love eachother- then everybody was supposed to write at least one Valentine note/picture for someone every day and put it in their bag. Soon Valentine's Day in the afternoon, we exchanged our little bags. The kids loved it and it was a really fun literacy activity as well as a little encouragement and self- esteem boost for them. They wrote and drew really cute little Valentine pictures and messages for Matt and me as well.

We decided to make our traditional Saturday morning whole wheat pancakes a little more festive today, so here is a picture of my little sleepy heads at breakfast:

Valentine's Day with small children seems to change things, so we decided to evolve with it. We asked our niece, Sydney, to babysit for us during the girls' naptime so that we could actually try and catch a movie. But alas, Victoria ( thick in the throws of Separation Anxiety) sensed the loss of my presence and woke up early. She screamed hysterically until I left the movie halfway through and came home to rescue her! I took her back to the theatre and tried to watch from the wings, but her delightful squeals and babbles of "DaDa DA DA DA" were a little too conspicous. We decided to wait out in the hallway. Matt tried to leave and join me but I made him go back in so that he could tell me how things wrapped up. We took Victoria to an early Valentine's Day Dinner and then made it home to our little munchkins. It really was nice to have dinner with just Matt and the baby- it's amazing how our idea of a night out includes the baby- I'm usually happier if she is with us and it's a pleasant change of pace just to have a conversation that isn't interrupted 50 times. I hope y'all had a wonderful love- day as well!

Happy 7th Birthday, Isaac!

Seven years ago, Matt and I embarked on an amazing journey together: we became parents! At 2:40 pm, we were blessed with the most beautiful baby boy ever to grace this earth, in my humble opinion. God sent Isaac to us on February 10, 2002 in a most miraculous way. I suppose that babies are born every day, but I know that each one of those births is an absolute miracle. I have never felt the Holy Spirit more strongly than when I partnered with God in bringing one of His children to this earth. Isaac's birth was remarkably like his personality- steady and predictable, relatively mellow (compared to the births of his sisters!) Isaac is an amazing boy and I truly thank God every single day tfor the wonderful blessing of being his mom. Some of my favorite things about Isaac:
He loves to help people.
He is quick to obey.
Isaac has a repentant heart- he feels true sorrow when he makes a bad choice.
Isaac's laugh is one of the best and happiest parts of my life.
Matt and I gave Isaac a snowboard for his birthday, which he loves! Matt took him up to Snow Basin so they could try it out and he was so great! Here are a few pics:

Isaac wanted to go to the new Chuck E. Cheese right by our house for his birthday, so off we went! I haven't been to Chuck E. Cheese since I was a kidand I must say, it was not as cool as I remembered. Isaac and Daphne had an absolute blast, though! Happy Birthday, Isaac! We love you.

You want me to eat what?

Victoria does not like baby food. At all. We have tried a wide variety of items: Rice Cereal, Oatmeal, carrots, bananas, sweet potatoes, squash, peas, applesauce, pears... all to no avail. She usually takes a few bites and acts like she is going to gag. Then she figured out how to bend her head over and spit the food out! If she's in a really contrary mood, she will just press her lips together as tightly as possible and twist and turn and try to squirm her way out of her chair. Here are photos from a few attempts:

She is not completely adverse to solid foods, however. Items she has enjoyed: Lasagna, Cool Whip, Raspberry Danish filling, Sparkling Cider and Oatmeal Cookies. Usually, these are things she manages to stick her hand in and then lick her fingers clean with glee. I did give her the Cool Whip: I've never seen her so excited about anything. It's kind of funny- I'm so laid back about it all with number three. I know she'll eat eventually. I never would have let Isaac taste sweets. Somehow, it just doesn't seem like that big of a deal. Or maybe I'm just too exhausted to care.

Either way.. we love her to bits!