2 Months

Ok so here are just some random pictures of William at 2 months. 

 Ready for church!

 Smiles for my mom

 Trying out sitting... not really working so well

 Chillin' with the sister and brother

He's so cute.  I know I say that every time but that's because he is!  More pictures to come since now he is almost 5 months.

Produce

As you can imagine by our previous post about the smoothies, we go through a lot of produce.  So, we decided to try our hand at gardening.  I only wanted a 2x2 sq ft garden this year because I really don't have the time to care for it.  Thankfully, Trent has taken on the garden as a project for scouts.  Also, I have always dreamed of having a citrus tree, so a few months ago we planted an orange tree.  Dave had dug a hole while he was on leave, but when he went to buy the tree, the nursery said it was too early because of the frost unless I would dilligently cover it.  Knowing me well, he decided that would be an added responsibility so he left a huge hole there for me to add the tree when the danger of frost had passed.  I am so excited!  I can't wait to see how this growing stuff goes!!

Seussical The Musical

A few months ago, the 3rd grade put in Seussical the Musical.  Trent was so excited because he got a speaking part.  Trent has had some troubles in school this year.  He was diagnosed with Dyslexia and Dysgraphia however, at this point he is "excelling" enough to be passing at school so the school didn't want to help.  When I met with them though, I explained that he needs to be able to feel successful but bringing home failing grades on spelling and composition everyday is not success.  So his teacher felt like this would be a good opportunity to help Trent feel successful and he LOVED it.  He really enjoyed learning the lines and practicing them.  It was only 3 lines but it was still good for him to get up there and be the spotlight.  I was thankful that his teacher was so sensitive to him and offered him this opportunity.

Uncrustables

I stole this idea.  Pampered Chef sells a device that makes "uncrustables".  When I saw it on a friend's facebook page, I just HAD to try it.  So I actually bought the tool on amazon (ha ha) and I couldn't wait to try it.  I laid out the bread

 These ended up out of order... sorry, here is the finished product.

 I put on some natural peanut butter and homemade jelly.

Here are a few things I learned.  While I do love this very much... the decruster does not work very well on "whole" breads.  I used spelt and multigrain fresh breads because we loves those but the bread is too dense and dry to cut properly.  I tried a separate time from what is pictured here with grocery story wheat bread and it worked much better.  The problem with that, is we don't normally eat that type of bread.  On the up side, the kids didn't care if the bread was cracked or not perfect because they loved the idea so of coure the sandwiches tasted better!  With the left over crusts, I stored them in the fridge until I was ready to make a french toast bake.  It was delicious!  I have really enjoyed taking the time to try all these new things in the kitchen.  My time is so limited right now so I always love it when I can look back on the time spent and feel like it was worth it.

Pinewood Derby

Trent was able to attend his first pinewood derby.  Here is his awesome car!

While Dave was home on leave in January, they gathered supplies and a book to help them craft his car.  Unfortunately, the car didn't get started but at least all of the supplies were there.  I had never done a pinewood car before, so one of the guys in the ward offered to help Trent make his.  Trent picked out the design and he painted it himself.  Trent sanded it and got it all ready.  I was not able to attend the pinewood derby but Dave's dad took him.  They said it was a lot of fun.  I met up with them after the awards and Trent had nothing but smiles and stories to tell.  I am glad he enjoyed it.  I have always felt like pinewood derby races were somewhat of a rite of passage, although I have to admit that this stuff is WAY to serious.  I have a competative side, but not when it comes to "games". Oh well, from my perspective, this year was a success!  Can't wait until next year when he gets to build a new car.

Sleepy

He is so cute when he is swaddled all up!

I don't typically allow him to doze off in the boppy, but this particular day he was laying next to me while I chatted with Dave.  I have since learned to let him sleep where ever he will sleep.  William is not my best sleeper and actually, he rarely sleeps.  But on the flip side, I get to see lots of smiles since he is awake all of the time!

Changes

Cha-Cha-Changes....

There have been some BIG changes in our house.  About a year ago, I was visiting with a group of friends and I heard about green smoothies.  I was interested in some of the claims being made so I spent several months researching them and learning about nutrition.  In February, the children and I started drinking green smoothies daily.  I purchased a program from greensmoothiegirl.com to help us change our current daily diet to one of more vegetables and whole foods.  So... here are some green smoothie smiles!

One day I went shopping for our smoothies and salads and I have to admit that I was super pleased and felt good when I got home and loaded up my fridge and it looked like this....

I know! Thats a lot of green.  We have loved some of the changes, some have been difficult and some have been tried, given up on and tried again.  However, the habit of drinking a green smoothie everyday has stuck!  Over the last several months, we have tried many recipes, loved some, hated some and had some that were just ok.  Recently I found a smoothie consisting of beets, carrots, strawberries, cashews, and coconut milk.  I love it!  The little kids love it.  The big kids hate it.  This has been a fun adventure for us and I can't wait to see all of the new things we try in the future.

T Ball

I don't know why the pictures ended up skipping back and forth, but these are pictures from February.  Laycee and Logan played T-ball for 6 weeks and I was their coach.  I was somewhat dreading coaching, but I really found that I actually loved it.  Now, I would have loved it more without a 6 week old.  But, that aside, I loved it.  We played a lot of games to learn base order, batting, and fielding. 

 Logan takes sports very seriously as we could have all guessed since he has loved sports from the day he was born. 

 Laycee... well she loved that her best friend from preschool ended up on their team and her best friend is a really good batter.

It was a great season and so much fun for them.  It was a time consuming few weeks, but they miss playing so much.  Logan asks often when he gets to start up again!

Just to see you smile

So as I looked at what pictures I should post next, the song Just to See You Smile from Tim Mcgraw popped into my head. So... here we are, pictures of William ie, Willie boy, Will, Chubs, and Baby smiling... Just to see you smile

 I'd so anything, that you wanted me to

 I'd never count the cost

 It's worth all that's lost

 Just to see you smile.

Here he is about 2 months old and loving life.  Just figuring out that smiling make mommy happy and when mommy is happy, so is baby.  I seriously would do anything just to see this little guy smile.

Crazy Hair

Yes, her eyes say it all.  I love her so much.  On this particular morning, like most mornings, I woke up to Miss Laycee in my bed.  On this particular morning, unlike most mornings, she was sitting just like this with the craziest hair I have ever seen... staring at me. I have to admit, it was a bit creepy.  Laycee has been in one of her moods lately.  I have been working with the psychologist and some of his recommendations helped postpone this episode, but it evidently didn't prevent the episode.  I say episode for a lack of better words, she is like a rotating time bomb with her moods.  I have been using some essential oils to see if they would help, extra flax, tonsils removed, melatonine for sleep, and still she graced us with all the fury a little 5 year old can hold.  Finding this picture was perfect timing to remind me of her sweet smiling face.  On the up side, its been almost a week since her episode started which means... Oh yeah the end it coming!  Can't wait to see her sweet smiling face in real life again! 

Happy Faces

So these pictures were taken Feb 12.  William was almost 10 weeks old.  He started making some of the cutest faces.

I am afraid you will be seeing a lot of his face over the next few days on here, but I love him.  I have really enjoyed watching him learn and progress and grow!  Newborns have never been my thing, I am totally a toddler mom.  But man, he brings so much joy to my life.  And since I can't help but love to see him smile and enjoying life, you in turn will get to see the same thing.... ha ha, hope you are prepared!

Rare Moment

I have a rare moment now of quiet with no work.  My days are usually packed full from morning until night and then all night with William.  I have been running on E for months now, but somehow I am still managing.  I use the term "managing" loosely because if you stopped by unannounced you would see that my house is a mess, there is little to no order in my life, I am caring a baby on my hip and mediating the newfound love of bickering between Laycee and Logan.  I feel like my days are constantly two steps behind but when I start to get down on myself, I remind myself of the sweet words by President Uctdorf, "Forget not to be patient with yourself".  Anyway, that being said, I have another rare opportunity to blog a bit.  I am sorry I am months behind which will result in minimal thoughts and opinions, but I hope to get the pictures out there so the children can still look back and remember the good times, even if they don't have my commentary on there.  Just wanted to let you all know that I have not forgotten about blogging, it is just on a long list of "to do"s.  We are hoping some changes will be happening in the next few months and I have some high hopes that the changes will bring much needed relief to our home.