"NO"

Here is Sam, enjoying Bekah's fondu. I posted a picture of Sam because he has reached a milestone. Yes, he is almost 18 months old, but that's not it. He has learned the word "NO". He has really been working on this, along with a mad face to go with it. "NO" does not apply to chocolate and sweets though!

Bekah's Treat

Bekah found a recipe for fondu and really wanted to make it. She did most of the work and it was really yummy! Maybe she will learn to make supper every night, that would be nice! She does like to cook, we made potstickers once and she checks out recipe books from the library sometimes.

The kids

This picture was taken on Valentine's Day. Sam is still in his pajamas and this was taken in the evening. Once again Bekah had to practically wrestle the boys down to get a picture, but Sam is smiling.

Happy Valentine's Day

These pictures are from Valentine's Day last year. We give a few small presents for Valentine's Day, nothing big.

Today I helped with the Valentines party at Bekah's school. It is so fun to see how excited the kids are for those parties! We did two crafts and had cupcakes and juice, the kids had fun.

Jonah was informed by Bekah this morning that it is Valentine's Day today and has been telling me that it is "Valentime's Day" ever since. He even gave me a kiss on the cheek, a rare thing from him. I asked him if that was my Valentine's kiss and he enthusiastically said, "YES!".

Cabin Fever

Last night it snowed and it is still sooo cold. I'm really feeling trapped in the house with two wiggly little boys. Sam has totally recovered from his ear infection and fever and has been litarally climbing the walls! He learned how to crawl out of his crib a week ago, and can now almost climb back in. He's on everything, moving furniture to use as a step stool to get to higher places. Jonah just runs in circles. These boys need to be outside!
My triumph today is that Bekah really understood the math homework that we were working on! I was so happy, it was actually a good experience for both of us. I wasn't in the fetal position, crying, or tearing my hair out. Math has been a little rough to say the least.

Sick Days

The past three days Sam has had a high fever in the morning, about 104. He does have an ear infection too so he has not been feeling good. The only good thing about his fever is that He is letting me hold him a lot and for a long time. I really cherish those moments, he's usually too wiggly to hold for a long time.
I spent all of Friday in the hospital for a surgery to "fix" my pelvic veins. It was hard to leave Sam when he was sick, but he was with Grandma and Grandpa and he did alright. I inherited bad veins, more of a circulation problem that causes vericose veins. Made worse by three pregnancies. Like the nurse at the hospital said, I am too young to be dealing with these things, good old genes. Once the doctor got a look at what was actually happening in there he saw that I had an extra set of veins. He said it was strange. They ended up putting 51 coils (little "springs" that help with circulation). They ran out of coils halfway through and had to go to the other hospital to get some more. I was concious during the surgery so I could hear everything. I did fall asleep at times though. Recovery has been easy, no pain at all. I now have to have two procedures on my legs, but that won't be for about a month. The worst part of all was the IV. I hate those things!

Popcorn!

Nothing brings the kids together like popcorn! They all love it (so do we!). We have such a hard time getting a picture of all our kids together, I told Alan to run and get the camera. We really didn't get a good picture, but it was worth a try. Sam was always moving, trying to get closer to the popcorn. I thought he had a pretty good spot in Bekah's lap, but he ended up sitting on the table right beside the bowl!

Sam's First Haircut

Yes, it's long overdue, the dreaded haircut. I think I put it off for so long because Jonah's first real haircut was so tramatic for me (I had trimmed his bangs that were in his face). We buzzed Jonah and he just lost the baby look. Sam's hair is totally different and we didn't feel the need to buzz him. he was so tired when Alan cut his hair that he just sat there staring. It ended up being a good time to do it. He had some adorable curls in the back that I cut off, tied ribbons around, and put in a memory keepsake envelope to put in the scrapbook. I think Sam looks good, more like a boy, but not too grown up.