One cute peanut

Chloe just turned seven months old. What a sweet little girl she is! I recently took her in for her six month check up and she was 24" tall (in the 2% bracket), 12 pounds 11 ounces (1% bracket), and her head was 41.5 cm. (14% bracket). We have been seeing a new doctor the last several months that isn't really familiar with our kids. She is nervous about Chloe being such a little peanut but I tried to reassure her that if she were to pull up the other kids' records she would find the same stunted growth pattern and the similar % on the growth chart bracket. She really looks very proportionate but they want to watch her growth a little more closely. Here's the catch that I am very familiar with -- at this point my kids do not get bigger for quite a while since they get mobile. I was telling Birch that I think I should have become a doctor because I feel like I have become quite good at self-diagnosing, etc...

Chloe has been sitting like a pro for a couple of months now. She doesn't seem to slobber quite as much as she used too--thank goodness.
We started introducing solid foods a couple of months ago and Chloe was really not interested for several weeks. We finally threw out the plain old oatmeal cereal and started her on some tasty smooth veggies and she just took off.

I just wrapped up nursing this week since Birch and I are heading off on a fun kid less excursion next week. I was down to nursing just once a day (and did I mention that for several months now Chloe would only nurse on one side--yeah, I look cute) so it wasn't too big of a deal to quit all together. Chloe doesn't seem to mind as long as she still gets to have a bottle. I was a tad sad but I've gotten over it.
Feeding Chloe could be compared with feeding a fan on high speed. She is so interested in looking at everything that her head is turning in all directions. I've felt very spoiled because a neighbor gave us a bunch of store bought baby food and it has been so nice to have everything all ready to go.
For about a month now Chloe has been crawling. Certainly not your high speed crawler but crawling none the less.
She crawls fastest when she is mad. I call it Anger Crawling. Note the cute little Cindy-Lu hair du.
Nate just loves his little sister. He is so good at playing with her.
Alysee is really enjoying the "mothering" role too. She is often found walking around with Chloe on her hip. Chloe is a true hip baby. She isn't very happy for very long entertaining herself (thus the anger crawling when she is trying to come find me), and would much rather be on my hip or Alysee's observing the world. Alysee did drop Chloe once but Alysee assured me that Chloe didn't hit the edge of the piano and that she felt really bad about it. Chloe was mad about it but seems to have forgiven Alysee.
Chloe goes down to bed around 8 pm and then usually wakes up around 5-6 am. When she was nursing she usually good go back to sleep for an hour or so after being nursed in bed. Recently she seems to have decided that she is an early bird and doesn't really want to go back to sleep until her morning nap. I'm hoping to change that...guess we will have to see who wins. She naps twice a day--usually from 9:30 am - 12:30 pm and then again from 2:30 pm until around 4:30 pm. I love it once the kids get on a schedule. It is great having Coop and her both taking a nap in the afternoon at the same time. Nate is no longer napping but plays well on his own if I need some time to myself.

Side Note: Our camera is on the blitz and since our computer was chomped up by a virus a couple of weeks ago we currently do not have photoshop. Thus the very untouched photographs. Hopefully we can figure out something about our camera problem because we LOVE taking pictures and get photoshop up and running soon.

Coopism

All morning long Coop and I were rockin' out to my new iPod that Birch spoiled me with for Christmas. Amongst the song selections we were listening to were a few Simon and Garfunkel hits. So then at lunch Coop "randomly" says to me..."Mom, you're breakin' my heart!"

Gotta love that kid! I've always told Birch that at my funeral I want all those attending to be jammin' to Cecila.

He Lives

I think I can....choo choo

Doesn't this picture look like I am full of energy and ready to conquer anything! This was taken a few months before I really needed to jump on the "I think I can" engine. The Lord has thrown us a curve ball and given Birch the opportunity to serve as the Second Counselor in the our ward. For those not familiar with our church, it means Birch will have the chance assist the Bishop in ministering the temporal and spiritual affairs of the congregation.
Alex was especially sad when Birch told him about his new calling because he was anxiously anticipating Birch being his scoutmaster (Birch's previous calling for the past three years). Birch quickly assured him that he would still have lots of opportunities to be with him in his upcoming scouting activities and campouts. Tyler shed a few tears too but I think that was because Alex was crying. Alysee was off in la la land working on a letter to her favorite school teacher and Nate and Coop just wanted to make sure that their daddy was still going to be able to play with them. Birch is such a great daddy that the kids (and me) sometimes have a hard time sharing him.
Mostly I have been a little scared about going to church and sitting with six kids during sacrament meeting without Birch because he will be on the stand with the rest of the Bishopric. In fact, when Birch was called two Sundays ago I had known for a couple of days but the tears still started flowing as he left my side. It wasn't but two minutes later a dear family friend joined our row and took a couple of kids and sat them right down on her lap. What would I do without such wonderful friends?!! I have felt so loved by many wonderful women that I know that I can call on many when I am in need of an additional set of hands. Birch as well has wrapped his arms around me and given me the strength that I need to be the supportive wife that I want to be. I am truly blessed!! I think I can....I think I can...I think I can...choo choo

No School Days Fun

"No school" days brought lots of snow to our house. We didn't get dumped on as much as some of the nearby areas to our home but enough that the kids had plenty to sled and play in.
Birch, Nate, and Coop out shoveling one morning.
Nate enjoyed several afternoons building play dough creations.
One of the kids' favorite projects to do is put together wooden model kits and then paint them. I normally get the kits at Michael's Craft but this time I got the kits at JoAnns. These kits were much harder to put together so I think in the future I will stick with Michael's. Coop also put a car together after he woke up from his nap.
This picture of Chloe cracks me up. The kids found these "scientist" glasses and had a so much fun making her wear them.
Many days off of school were spent having friends over to play. Alysee's best girl friend, Hannah was moving to Idaho so she LOVED having her over to play a couple of times. I don't think the kids could ever tire of having friends over to play. We have a couple of families that we especially enjoy having over because there is a playmate for each of our kids -- makes for one loud house but very happy kids.

Go Beavs!

Then it was off to Oregon the day after Christmas. We actually were not sure we were going to be able to make the trip due to the nasty roads and weather. Birch and I went back and forth whether we should go or not. In the end we are so happy we made the trip. The roads certainly had their scary moments but the time we were able to spend with my family was priceless.

While were were in Oregon my sister Laura and her husband Jared had a little shindig celebrating their October wedding. Any party my mom puts on is always planned to the "T" and very elaborate in all the homemade touches. My brother Seth and Matt cooked up about three hundred crepes and there were probably a dozen fancy toppings to dress your crepe with. I tried to be helpful but mostly I just ran after kids and enjoyed the evening catching up with longtime friends.

One morning the kids, Birch and Poppi headed out to work off some energy. They stopped by the Oregon State football field and found that the gate was open. Boy, were the kids excited (actually I think Birch was equally as excited)!
I'm not sure there is a bigger Beaver fan than Alex!
Alex was totally embarrassed that everyone in the family was wearing the Duck's colors. He asked me to photoshop this picture but for memories here it is in its true form.
We loved hanging out with all my family. We were just missing my littlest brother Luke who is serving a mission in Paris, France, Matt's wife Jessica and their baby Sofia. Even though our trip was just over the weekend I really felt like I had some real quality time with my siblings. Lately it seems like all of our visits have been so centered around some big family event that it doesn't allow for a lot of just hanging out and visiting. What an awesome family I have! I feel so blessed as well to have had such great new sisters and brothers join our family through marriage. Way to pick some good ones!!!


Another morning when the rain stopped briefly a bunch my siblings and our kids ran down to my parent's field and had a little clay pigeon shooting fest. I tried my hand at it and found the gun way to heavy and powerful for this dainty weak girl.
We brought this Foosball table back from Oregon that my dad had originally bought for his office. After setting it up at our house we found that the base was warped and so Birch took the opportunity to convert the table into some true Beaver pride. It turned out great and the kids have really had such a ball playing it.

The trip flew by and soon we found ourselves back in the car heading back home for work and school. Can't wait for our next visit with everyone!

Oh Holy Night

This is our second year carrying on the traditions that we started with celebrating Christmas at our home. Birch worked Christmas Eve but came home in time to help the kids put together the gingerbread house.

Next on the docket was homemade pizza. This year I whipped up a half cheese/half Hawaiian pizza for the kids. The other pizza was a delicious pesto, roasted chicken, artichoke heart, and black olive pizza. The kids especially enjoyed the treat of each picking out their OWN pop to drink.
Then we reenacted the Nativity. Again, the kids got five minutes to put together their costume and then Birch narrated the biblical story.
Coop was definitely the hit this year with his awesome angel costume that Tyler helped put together for him. He did a great job acting out his part.
Christmas morning brought lots of fun. Chloe loves her new play mat from Santa.
Alysee was thrilled that Santa gave her a treasure box just like she was hoping for and a little make up kit. We continued on our tradition of having the kids choose a sibling's name for Christmas several weeks before Christmas. They each then did three gifts for their chosen sibling (one--homemade gift, two--a job to earn $5 for sibling gift to purchase at a store, and three-- a service for that sibling prior to Christmas). This year Nate drew Alysee's name and he bought her the little Cabbage Patch doll and horse. He was so excited her her to open his present.
Nate and Cooper received this great Geo Trax train set from their favorite mommy and daddy. I found the set for $25 off of craigslist and it ended up being the hit for the day. ALL the kids spent hours setting the track up in different configurations and taking turns driving the trains.

Christmas day was really wonderful. It was lightly snowing, the house was warm and cozy and we were surrounded with those we love. Couldn't have asked for a better day!