Nativity 2007

Seafood

Happy Birthday Me!

L's dreams finally came true on Saturday. Our baby boy is 3 years old now. Hard to believe he'll be starting Sunbeams in a couple of weeks. His favorite present was the mylar balloon daddy bought for him at Safeway.
Lunch was a McDonald's Happy Meal and dinner was pizza. We were out of milk so no special breakfast. He didn't care after I let him have a cookie for breakfast.

Twas 4 Days Before Christmas

Quick Update: the van's battery has died twice in the last week (thanks to the kids), Christmas shopping seems to be done, the kids are out of school, P is rolling over from stomach to back (at 5am), Christmas treats have been made and delivered and tomorrow is L's birthday. He's pretty excited. He's been waiting for this since B's birthday.

Since the kids were home today we spent the morning watching shows on HGTV and the Food Network. For some reason they really seem to like those shows. I enjoy them myself and it is great they don't have to be censored :)

Here are some of the pictures we've taken in the last couple of weeks.

Riding the train at zoolights:

Waiting for the Max after zoolights:

L really loves his superman jammers, but they aren't

warm enough so we put them on over his sleepers:

And here are some choice pictures of P:

Why Can't We All Just Get Along?

Last Friday, when we went to the mall I had an interesting experience as we were walking into Sears. E, B and L did not have jackets on and I did. E & B refuse to wear jackets half the time (I'm sure those of you with kids can sympathize). I don't push the issue if I know we won't be in the cold for long. I did forget L's jacket, which I felt bad about. At the same time we were walking into the store an old lady was walking out. As she walked by us she commented very loudly to the lady next to her "look at that, the mom is wearing a jacket and the kids aren't" (imagine a very judgemental tone). I felt somewhat justified in being upset at her for saying this, but then I started thinking. Is it right for me to feel angry at her or is it better to let it go? I could easily let it sit there festering and start really hating outspoken people. I don't think anyone could deny that it was rude of her to say that. It was the ultimate evil what they did Jesus, but he still said "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."

Anyways, my purpose in posting this is not to say I've succeeded in forgiving people. I have a long ways to go in achieving charity. I just thought it is something worth thinking about. The day I can achieve true charity will be a very happy day.

Weddings Galore

This Saturday my cousin, Chris, was married in the Portland temple. The festivities began Friday. Aunt J reserved hotel rooms for all of us at the Fairfield Marriott by the temple. It was so nice of her to do that, it really made it much easier. I took the kids up at 1pm so we could go swimming in the afternoon. E and B had a good time swimming. We are definitely going to have to start up lessons again. They are very brave, but forget their technique quickly. L just sat on the step the whole time and did not care for it when I dragged him into the pool. Since no one was around I let the kids get in the hot tub too. That was the best part. Before we left E and B started a game of jumping back and forth between the cold pool and the hot tub. They were excited to do it since I told them I loved to do that when I was younger. I was actually surprised they were willing to continue doing it after they tried it the first time. I thought the shock of the cold pool would be too much.

In the evening we headed to the mall since it was 5 minutes away (ordinarily it is a 45 minute drive). Jacob had to buy a tie since I forgot to pack one. I also bought some clothes for the kids at Penneys, including some super cute dresses for P. I called her my little poof ball at church yesterday.

When we got back it was time for the wedding dinner. Aunt J brought along a few babysitters so the kids played in the rooms upstairs while we had dinner in the conference room. Aunt J made all the food so it was delicious. I'm trying to keep my portions down though. I've decided that is the only way I can lose weight. I can't completely cut out sweets, but I think I'm capable of controlling how much I eat. J's favorite comment of the weekend happened that night. Grandpa S told Chris he would will him his golf clubs so he could have them in 7-8 years. Uncle R said he hopes he is around much longer than that. Grandpa S followed that with "I don't!". J really appreciates the idea of not hanging on forever.

Saturday morning we woke up nice and early to head over to the temple for the sealing. P was babysat for the first time ever. The sealing ceremony was beautiful and Chris made us all laugh when he wiped his cheek after Stephanie kissed him across the alter :) He claimed he was just wiping the chapstick. While waiting around during pictures a temple patron came up and asked if the kids would like to watch a video. I nearly died laughing though when I saw what video she put in. We assumed it would be some type of carton, but it was a very dry documentary on temples. Naturally the kids were bored out of their minds (particularly the 3 year olds).

After the wedding I loaded up E and B to head down to Corvallis for the reception. J took L and P home so they could get their naps. I hooked up the DVD player so E and B wouldn't be bored. The USA Spec Ipod interface worked great for piping the sound through the car. It is so much better than the crappy FM transmitters we've used in the past. On the way down we stopped off at the Woodburn outlets. B was wearing these ridiculously short pants. He's been growing out of his clothes, but I hadn't weeded these ones out yet. I love the Osh Kosh outlet. He was pretty relieved to get on the new pants. He and E are both wearing size 6 now. E is definitely going to be a shrimp.

We had Prime Rib for the main course at the reception. I managed to get E and B to try it, but they didn't care for it. It was quite good, but a little heavy on the garlic. The only thing they ended up eating there was the cookies. Such picky eaters.

I really wanted to take a nap when I got back home, but J convinced me to wait till bedtime. We had one more event to go to, the Open house at Aunt J's. We didn't stay too long. I could tell everyone was pretty wiped out. The kiddos were exhausted and slept in longer than usual the next day.

Tonight we are heading the Oregon Zoolights. I'll post pics later if I get some good ones.

Jerk Chicken

Here is a link to where I found my jerk chicken recipe. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/A-Jerky-Chicken/Detail.aspx I made one change: instead of using thyme and allspice I used my Jamaican Jerk seasoning. Also, in the future I might use only 2 garlics.

Our Two Girls

The Wisdom of Children

B and I were watching Troy today and he said "They shouldn't fight a war over a girl, they should just do eenie meenie minie moe." If only they would.

Tis the Season

I cannot believe how busy it was this weekend. I have a bad feeling that the next few weekends are going to be just a busy. I did manage to get most of my Christmas shopping done and best of all our Christmas tree is up. E and B really enjoyed decorating this year. I've never seen them this excited. Imagine how excited they'll be when there are presents under the tree. We put candy canes on yesterday. E didn't hear me and was disappointed she didn't get to help. I didn't realize how disappointed till she came in our room at 10:30 last night sobbing. She said she couldn't stop thinking about how much she had wanted to put candy canes on. I told her we would buy another box that she could put up. I need some spearmint candy canes anyway.

I took L Christmas shopping with me since he is utterly clueless still. He's been wanting a Light Sketcher forever so I grabbed one at target. He held it in front of him the whole time we were shopping and kept pressing the buttons so he could zone out at the lights. I wish I had a picture of his face. It was like he was hypnotized.

Saturday night we had our Ward Christmas party. It was really good, it constantly amazes me how many people are musically talented. I had to take pics for the ward history so I had fun playing papparazi. I really need a better camera though. We bought our camera 7 years ago and technology has definitely far surpassed it now. It is like a dinosaur.

Sunday night we had Carol and Slade over for dinner and to watch the First Presidency Christmas devotional. I don't think we watched more than a few minutes of it though. J was pretty disappointed with the song selection. He usually loves singing along, but that was almost impossible last night. I did have a succesful new recipe. It was for Jerk Chicken and although it didn't actually taste like Jerk it was delicious.

P is getting really close to sitting. I think she might sit as early as E did. I didn't expect it because she just suddenly started developing trunk strength.

Here is a pic of our first snow of the season, thursday night. The kids sure enjoyed it, but were disappointed it wasn't enough to cancel school.

What to say?

I've been wracking my head trying to think what to post about. Since I can't think of anything I'll just post what's been happening.

We had a pretty good Thanksgiving break. Most of it was spent sitting around. The sun was out, but it was freezing so we didn't get out too much. Thanksgiving dinner was at Aunt J's. I didn't go out shopping on black Friday. I always check the ads, but nothing interests me. Most deals seem to be on cheap brands that I wouldn't want anyway. I did order the kid's razors off of Target.com for Christmas.

I've decided to revamp presents for the kids. Usually they get one main present then a bunch of little presents. I'm going to cut down on the little presents. Typically they are junk that either doesn't retain interest or falls apart too fast. I also ask myself the following question "Will this toy get played with beyond the first day?". This means I have to think a little harder, but it will hopefully mean we have less junk sitting around collecting dust.

P is doing really well. She is on the residual end of her first cold. It was pretty minor. She didn't eat very well, but she still slept well. I'm starting to get resigned to the fact that I will never have a big chunky baby. I did shave P's hair awhile back so here is a picture of it for posterity.


All of our non-tree Christmas decorations are up. I'm starting to wish we had outdoor lights. Maybe I'll get some this year. We'll probably get our tree this weekend. Last year we couldn't get a tree because of vacation so this year I was seriously considering an artificial tree. I've managed to fight off that impulse though. I need the fresh pine smell of a real tree.

Binkers

I finally decided it is time to wean L from his binkies. He only gets them when he is in bed right now. He's not too happy about it, but he is coping. Today he found a better way to cope. I keep a nuk binky in the baby toys and he found it. Keep in mind that his regular binky is the green soothie.

Genes, What Good Are They?

We were watching home movies of the kids trying to do my exercise video the other day. That reminded me of my coordination issues. J dies laughing whenever I try to do that video. There is one move where you are supposed to raise one arm while kicking out the opposite leg. I concentrate really hard, but I'll still lift the same leg as the arm I'm raising. At least J enjoys it.

Problems like this are why I hate dancing. I was never comfortable at dances. I had a boyfriend at BYU that did DJing for a side job. He would get so frustrated with me because I refused to dance. When we broke up I was sort of relieved that I wouldn't have to go to dances anymore. Maybe someday someone will invent an implant that will give me rhythm. Luckily J doesn't care if we dance. Not that there are many opportunities for it now. I think our Stake has an adult dance maybe once every couple of years.

Blog Names

This is Jacob J.

Am I the only one who thinks we need better kid names than one letter? Here are my suggestions, feel free to make your own in the comments:

E: Princess
B: Batman
L: Loudmouth
P: Pooper

What do you think, would you rather hear about Loudmouth talking on the phone with himself, or L (which always confuses me if you pronouce it in your head when you read it) talking to himself? Any better suggestions for kid blog names?

I'm really boring...

but my sister tagged me so now I'll share seven "interesting" things with you.

1. I have a major in geology and have regretted it every day since. I guess that is a little harsh. I just fell into the major and if you know my personality you will understand why I stuck with it. In hindsight I wish I had done accounting or computer science, but what's past is past. I still managed to do well with the geology and there were a lot of aspects I enjoyed. I have many fond memories of field trips in Southern Utah and the Bahamas (yes, the islands in the Atlantic).

2. Through concentration, I can raise and lower my cholesterol at will.

3. I enjoy having breakfast in bed. I like waking up to the smell of bacon, sue me. And since I don't have a butler, I have to do it myself. So, most nights before I go to bed, I will lay six strips of bacon out on my George Foreman grill. Then I go to sleep. When I wake up, I plug in the grill. I go back to sleep again. Then I wake up to the smell of crackling bacon. It is delicious, it's good for me, it's the perfect way to start the day.

4. I never even knew who my parents *were*. A couple years ago my birth mother found me and she told me - I was 'special'. And through her I met my real father - great news, right? Well, he pretended to love me just long enough to steal my kidney because he had to have a transplant! And then he dropped me back in the world like a piece of trash just like he did on the day I was born.

5. I was shunned from the age of 4 until my 6th birthday, for not saving the excess oil from a can of tuna.

6. When I was in college, I fell in love, and I got married. It lasted six months. Thyroid cancer metastasized to his brain. There was nothing they could do. I was 21, and I watched my husband die.

7. I have a sick sense of humor, I can belch louder than my husband and I think it is funnier than he does.

Cutie Patootie

Phone

L was playing with the phone today and here is his conversation:

Hello it’s me Joe.
Is it raining?
Yea it’s raining.
Why is it raining?
It is raining.
Why is it raining?
It is dark in here.
It’s E and B.
I think…

When Cats Attack

A Strike on My Habits

Four years ago if you asked me how much tv I watched, my answer would have been not much. Then came 24 and Lost. I started watching both after their first seasons and was instantly hooked. Since then I've added quite a few shows to my repertoire: Heroes, Journeyman, House, Bionic Woman, Life, The Office and Moonlight. Some are not so great, ie Bionic Woman, but it is something to look forward to after a long day. Plus the convenience of a DVR makes it all the more enjoyable.

Last night I figured out what role the writer's strike is going to play in my life. Unless they resolve talks soon my shows will dry up within a couple of weeks. The Office is already on reruns. Talk shows were the first to be affected which is why it took me awhile to catch on. 24 and Lost will probably have to delay their seasons because of the strike.

Which leads me to how I feel about all this. My first reaction was anger at these selfish writers. My second reaction was how selfish am I? These are just tv shows, but for the writers it is a matter of just compensation. I'm not a huge fan of unions, but I do understand that is the system they have to work with. Hopefully the producers will cave soon, particularly as most people polled are rooting for the writers.

Biking and Shopping Galore

I finally decided 10 years without a bike was long enough. I've been riding Jacob's bike around for a few days, but it really doesn't fit me well. So, I bought myself a Schwinn at Costco today. The kids and I inaugurated it with a bike ride around town. I've forgotten how fun it is. Eventually I'll get a trailer so I can haul L and P around. E has been so thoroughly indoctrinated into bike helmets that she keeps pestering me about getting one. I am planning on getting one, but it is interesting how worried she is.

B bought himself a remote control car today with all his accumulated birthday money. I was planning on getting one for him eventually so I'm glad he was able to get one. They're having a pretty good time with it in the garage right now.

We probably spent a good 5 hours shopping today. Towards the end of it L was getting pretty whiny. I said "stop whining L" and he said "I'm not whining" (in a whining voice). The lady next to us thought it was pretty hilarious.

I bought L a Fisher Price Smart Cycle for his birthday. They had a demo setup at ToysRUs and the kids had a great time with it. It will be really nice for wintertime when they can't get out and run around as much.

During all this shopping J had a great time playing with P. He did a photo session with her. I'll post the pictures later. He got a couple of super cute ones.

Our Growing Kids

P and B had their checkups today. B's 6 year and P's 2 month. B is 46lbs and 44 1/2in. P is 11lb2oz and 22 1/2in. Both are doing great so nothing major to report. We are starting to move P off of the hypoallergenic formula. I just started this morning and so far so good. We at least know she doesn't have an immediate onset. Time will tell if it is slow onset. If she starts smelling like the mudpots at Yellowstone then we'll know she still has a problem.

I really like the kid's new doctor. It is at the same clinic so we still get all the benefits of weekend hours along with a Dr. that actually listens and believes me. Of course, now that it is easier to get reflux meds, P doesn't have reflux. What a good baby.

Tonight we are watching Spiderman III for family movie night. B is pretty excited.

I've been playing wall ball with the kids the last couple days. It is fun! It reminds me alot of four square except less coordination is required, hence it is easier for me. I've been playing with E because she wants to improve. Practice makes better.

Trouble

So, this morning I'm upstairs giving P her bottle. I hear this loud crash below me, but no crying so assume L is okay. When I came down I asked him if he fell. He said yes, then, "I squished the tomato". I was able to salvage one last tomato off our tomato plant yesterday and he squished it. Luckily he did it in the garage and not on the carpet. That child needs to spend more time listening to the angel on his right and less to the devil on his left.

Talk Talk

Super Optimus Man

B has been wanting an Optimus Prime head for a long time and his wished was fulfilled yesterday. He looks pretty hilarious with it on. It's always hectic on Halloween with his birthday. It was pretty low key this year though since we had his b-day party on Saturday. He thought he didn't have to go to school since it was his birthday. He was pretty upset when he found out that wasn't true. L was having a hard time understanding that it wasn't his birthday. We only had one incident of premature present opening from him.

The kids had their traditional birthday happy meal for dinner then it was off to trick or treating. First was trunk or treat at the church and then a token circuit of a neighborhood. They always get so much loot from the trunk or treat it is not worth it to spend much time knocking doors. Typically it is freezing Halloween night, but last night was pretty decent for once. I had bought hand warmers just in case. I guess we'll save them for next year or the end of the world.



When the kids got back B opened presents and the kids ate ice cream. Gotta love that Tillamook ice cream.

The Abominable Thumbsquatch

They said it didn't exist, but I believed and now I have photographic proof.

Blessings and Bowling

We had a fairly eventful weekend. Saturday was B's birthday party at the bowling alley. B invited a few friends, plus his cousins, Grandma C and Uncle A. B is particularly happy with his imaginex dinosaur from Grandma. He has been trying to scare P with it, but she has no concept.

Speaking of P, she was blessed yesterday by her Daddy. His recorder didn't work, but between Aunt J and I we wrote most of it down. P looked adorable in her blessing dress. She was a good baby and didn't cry while being blessed. Afterwards we had a delicious dinner at Aunt J's. Ruth Scott ribs, mashed potatoes, peas, rolls, jello and pecan pie, YUMMY!!!

Mom and A left this morning to head back to Utah. They are taking the scenic route along the coast and northern NV.

Election 2007

We only have 3 issues to vote on this year, but I think they were fairly important. The first two are statewide measures.

Measure 49 is to modify Measure 37. Measure 37 was landmark because it allows landowners to get around all the land use legislation that came into effect since the 70's. Anyone that has owned land that long will not be restricted by current laws. Measure 37 passed overwhelmingly. Since then, the democrats have really been chafing to cut it down to size. Measure 49 does clarify some aspects of 37, but it also limits development to 3-10 houses. That seems to be in direct contradiction to Measure 37, whose purpose was to get around restrictions like that. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

Measure 50 is particularly maddening because it involves a constitutional amendment that adds a tobacco tax into the constitution. The tax is supposed to provide funding for children's healthcare. It bothers me for several reasons. First it is misuse of a constitutional amendment, something like this should not be in the constitution. Secondly, they are taxing a dwindling population and we all know what happens when government creates another entitlement. They will pull funding from somewhere else to keep the program going. Thirdly, as I get older I'm more and more bothered by government getting involved in healthcare and other entitlements. I've definitely developed a libertarian bent. I need a new label though because libertarians are mostly known for legalizing drugs, something I disagree with :)

I did vote for one tax increase, a local ballot measure to increase our property taxes. Our library has been closed on Saturdays for several months now and it has been killing me. I wish I could separate out the funding for that. I had a really really hard time deciding on this one. I'm afraid I ended up voting selfishly and the whole idea of voting for increased taxes goes against everything I believe in. My ballot is in the mail though so we'll see what happens. They do have to have a 50% turnout, which is why it failed the last election.

Spelling

E has been spelling forbidden foods for a couple years now so that L won't know what she is talking about. Yesterday he started to catch on. He asked me for C-H-I-S (chips). I think it is still somewhat disconnected because I told him yes and he seemed surprised when it turned out to be chips.

It's Official

P's sleeping through the night! She really is an amazing sleeper. She naps really well too. Makes me think reflux was the big culprit in the other three sleeping so bad. She is getting really smiley lately. It is so fun to have her getting more interactive.

We had some big ticket purchases yesterday. J bought a planer and a jointer so he can redo the cabinets. It'll be nice to have cabinets that don't look like they belong in a trailer park. He's going to use Cherry. He bought me a leaf blower too. I finally succombed after being envious of my neighbors for years. My aching back convinced me when I raked last week.

I got sucked in by an infomercial yesterday and ordered a Shark Steam Mop. I'll post about it when it arrives. Luckily I can send it back if I don't like it. It looks like it cleans super fast and easy. I've been wanting one for a long time.

I spent about an hour and a half yesterday trying to figure out the name of a book. I read it years ago and it was driving me crazy. I requested a book from the library (Lincoln's Dreams), but it wasn't the right book. I finally figured out it is called After the Fact by Fred Saberhagen. Thank heavens for the internet, the repository of endless amounts of information.

We will be blessing P this Sunday, so stay tuned for a post on that.

Music, the Spice of Life

E was watching Ice Princess yesterday. She really wanted me to watch it with her, so I did. After a while, when I felt like killing myself in numerous ways, I got on the computer and started listening to my Evanescence album. The whole feel of the movie changed as I watched it while listening to my music. It really gave me a sense for how much music can manipulate emotions. I've noticed this before, it just happened to really strike me this time.

Our Little Clown

L gets away with a lot simply because of how hilarious he is. I've taken numerous pictures of him lately with some type of food spread all over his face. He has this really gross habit of licking water out of the gutter. Today he brought a ball of mud into the garage, stomped on it and when I yelled at him he tried to pick up the mushed remnants with his fingers. Maybe I should get him a pig pen.

P slept through the night again last night. She has got to be the most unpredictable of the 4. If I had to guess according to her "pattern" she'll probably be up at 2am tonight. I'm working on getting her to suck her thumb right now. I can stick it in there when she is going down for a nap and she'll suck on it, but she doesn't have any volitional control yet. I'm hoping that'll come within the next couple of weeks.

E has been complaining the last couple of days about her substitute teacher. He told them they were a terrible class (according to her), but today, her teacher said he left a note saying how good they were. I almost wonder if I need to go in and observe her classroom. At the very least I'm going to talk to her teacher.

Tomorrow is picture day. They are offering CD's with copyright permission now. It is just as cheap to get that as the picture packages. I think it is awesome especially since I can print out what I want at home. No more wasted pictures. Who knows how the pictures will turn out though. B really needs a hair trim and E's teeth are hilarious right now. I really should get L in for portraits soon, he's at such a cute age right now.

Last night, my friend, Jenn hosted a baby shower for me. It was so nice to get out of the house and do something fun like that. I even did pretty well on the games. I got a ton of diapers thank heavens. I love the fact that we have lived here so long and I feel like I really belong. I definitely do not want to move more than once or twice. We'll have to move at some point to get in a better location, otherwise I'd be content to stay here.

First Day of Church

I finally decided I had been inactive enough this week. It's been almost two months since I've been to church. Mostly I was hoping to avoid germs, but it was nice to nap in the afternoon. P did very well. She took her whole nap in her carseat and drank her bottle well during RS. E and B had the primary program practice. It was fun to see all the babies that were born the same time as P. I can't believe how different babies can look. P is definitely the cutest :)

I gave up on getting P to nap in her crib for her evening nap. That child is stubborn. I swaddled her tight and put her in her swing and she slept great. It'll be interesting to see how she does tonight. Previously she was exhausted by the time we hit 10pm, but I have heard that overtired babies don't sleep as well. Maybe she'll sleep great tonight.

E's Schedule

I found a paper on the counter this morning that I had to share. E wrote down a schedule last night for her day today. Enjoy!

8:00 Make sure Mom is awake
8:00 Wake up
8:00 Put on clothes
8:01 Go and get a bar
8:01 Throw raper away
8:02 Eat
8:05 Go and play in the garage
8:10 Start watching tv
9:00 Count to 100
9:30 Skip to 100
9:35 Write to 100
10:00 Write to 100 by five
10:30 Clean my room
11:00 Draw a picture for mom and dad
11:30 Play house with Brigham or checars (not sure what that is)
12:00 Eat lunch, dog dog
12:30 Watch tv
3:30 Piano lessons
3:30 Play handstands and gimnasticks
4:00 Watch tv
5:00 Still watch tv
5:30 Play in garage
6:00 Play
6:30 Eat dinner

Yippee!!

P slept through the night last night. 10:30pm till 7am. She hadn't been napping that well during the day so maybe she was just exhausted, but I'll take it. She's getting closer to sucking her thumb and that will make it even easier.

Steph

Sleepy

I Give Up

Elder Eyring gave me enough of a guilt trip this weekend that I decided I need some type of journal. Since I sit at the computer a million hours a day already I might as well do something useful.

So, here is our life....

E is doing really well in school and is just as talkative as ever. I was reading a book the other day while the kids were playing outside. She stood there talking to me for 1/2 hour. I was barely responding to her, but that didn't put her off. I finally felt bad enough that I put my book down. Most of what she talks about involves school. Her class is pretty bad and apparently they get in trouble a lot. They have to lay there heads on their desks for one of the punishments. She definitely inherited my sensitivity to conflict so it is pretty hard on her. She said it makes her feel pretty sad when the class gets in trouble. She is really excelling academically. I'll have more specifics after PT conferences tonight, but apparently she is one of two kids that gets to spend 20 minutes in the library everyday while the other kids get extra help.

B is adjusting to school so much better than we had hoped for. It helps that he has a really amazing teacher. I think Ms. O is one of the best teachers at the school. It is great that he has a good start. He had one of the worst bike crashes I've seen last week. I thought he had just scraped his hands and knees, but then I looked at his face. The poor boy had a scrape all the way across his right check and an enormous bruise across his cheek and upper lip. His face was pretty swollen that night. He was so traumatized that he fell asleep on the couch. It is amazing how fast he got over it though. The next day he was back to riding his bike. Thank heaven for bike helmets.

L is also doing some adjusting to his new little sister. He watches way too much tv, but I really don't care right now. He especially loves Dora. He could probably watch that all day long. He used to love Wonder Pets so we were going to have the kids dress up as Wonder Pets for Halloween. Now that he doesn't care, E and B will be Superman and Supergirl and I'll have L wear B's old Batman costume. I figure he doesn't really care what he is so I can dress him however I want.

P is doing great. She's definitely our best baby yet. She loves eating and sleeps great and best of all doesn't have reflux. She's been smiling for a few weeks now, but has been getting more interactive the last few days. I especially love it when she coos. None of the other three cooed at this age. J has been doing her night feeding most nights so I can get a full nights rest. Since the rain has started we let the kids play in the garage to get their energy out. They can be loud and crazy out there instead of inside. L particularly likes to ride his bike around and listen to music.

I have a new favorite CD. There was a song on the premiere of Moonlight that I really liked so I figured out where it came from. It is on the CD Fallen by a group called Evanescence. It is nice to discover a new group to listen to. It has been awhile since I've bought any music. J has been listening to a ton of music since he got his Ipod for his birthday so he's been buying more music lately. That Ipod is pretty cool. I might buy a Shuffle for myself for when I start jogging again.

I've been doing a ton of reading, it helps time to pass since we are stuck at home so much. Here are some of my favorites lately: Empire (Orson Scott Card), Passage (Connie Willis), Abhorsen trilogy (Garth Nix), and The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini).