Tigers Basketball

One of the awesome birthday presents Hyrum received from his friends for his birthday were tickets to go  a Memphis Tigers Basketball game.

  Brandon and the kids were able to go to the game in January.

 
The kids were so excited to go and had an awesome time!  Emmy's favorite part of the game was the cheerleaders and insisted that Brandon take a picture of them. 

It was a fun night for the kids and their dad.

Ben and Emmy

I love seeing the bond that Ben and Emmy have.  It is sweet, tender, and sometimes frustrating to watch them interact together.  They can be each others' best friends and worst enemies.

For the most part, they play really well together; especially, if it is just the two of them.  I love to hear the funny things they say and their pretend play.  They always have a buddy to play with and I think they love it.


They seem to love going to school together. I enjoy hear them discuss things they learn or sing songs together. 

I love that they still snuggle together on the couch.

I love to see them hold hands as they walk into preschool or when we go pick up Hyrum.

In January, Emmy went to a birthday party by herself.  She was gone awhile. Ben came and told me that Emmy had been gone a long time and that he missed her.  It was so sweet and cute. Ben then wanted to come with me when we went to pick Emmy up from the party.

Another time, Emmy was invited to a friends house. When Emmy found out, the first thing she asked me if Ben would get to come too.  When Emmy found out that only she was invited, she didn't want to leave our house if she was going by herself.  We then decided to have the friend over to our house and everyone was happy.

Just the other night, I went in to take care of Lucy in the middle of night and I noticed that Emmy was missing from her bed. Usually, if she has a bad dream, she comes and jumps in with me; however, she did not.  I decided to check the boys room and found out that she jumped in the bed with Ben.  It was cute and made me smile.

Once again, I am so grateful for the chance that they have to have time just the two of them together before they go to school.

Dinner Time

Towards the end of January, when Lucy was about 3 1/2 months, we had her try out the bumbo chair.  She was a fan. 

  Lucy loves sitting in her bumbo chair and seeing everything that is going on.  Yes, quite often her chubby thighs do get stuck when we try to get her out.

 These pictures are of one of the first times she sat in her bumbo chair and the first time she sat in the middle of our table while we had dinner. The kids love it when Lucy sits in the middle of the table.

They love being able to talk with Lucy while we are eating.  The kids also want to make sure that Lucy can see them while they are eating or sometimes they try to hide from her.  They think it is a game.  The kids think it is hilarious when Brandon turns Lucy in her chair on the table to have her get them.  The kid laugh so hard as duck to avoid being shot at by Lucy.  Dinner is always a lively time at our house.

Lucy at Four Months

Since Little Lucy will be turning five months old soon, I thought I should post about when she was four months old.  The time has gone by too quickly.  I feel like every time I turn around another month has gone by.  The pictures of Lucy in her stripped jammies were taken on her actual 4 month birthday.

 One of my favorite things about Lucy is that she has the biggest smile.  When she smiles, her whole face lights up and her big blue eyes sparkle.  She even has a dimple up by her nose that you can see when she smiles really big.  She always has the biggest smile and kicks her legs when she is excited to see me or anyone in our family for that manner.

 Lucy loves it when I blow zooberts in her neck. I can feel her anticipate as I go in to nuzzle her fat little neck.  Then gives me a big grin or laughs grunts while I do it.  Lucy loves it when I pin her arms and tickle her sides with my chin.

Lucy has lost a lot of her hair.  She has a bald ring in the back and has what I call her rooster hair or comb-over patch of hair on top.  I also think her hair isn't as dark as when she was born and has taken on a reddish tint.  I have debated about trimming Lucy's hair, but Brandon has asked me not to so Lucy's amazing patch of hair remains.

It has been fun to get out past books that I read with the other kids and read them to Lucy.  Reading is a passion of mine and one that I hope my kids pick up as well.  Lucy seems to be enjoying the books somewhat, but only last for about two of them before she is ready for a new activity.

I love kissing Lucy's cheeks and her lips. I like to pretend that she is giving me kisses and not just trying to eat me.

Lucy hates tummy time, but I have decided that it is time for us to really focus on it since she is not rolling over at almost five months. However, tonight during "Lucy Time" she was very close.

Lucy received many cute little love notes from the kids this month.  It is wonderful to see that they are still so excited to have their sister.  Just the other day, they were all fighting over who's turn it was to feed her a bottle.  Emmy always comes to the rescue if she thinks Lucy is in trouble.  I find Emmy quite often talking and playing with her beloved baby sister.

Lucy loves to have someone help her stand on her legs and bounce up and down. Lucy gets the biggest smile when doing this and her rooster top flops in the breeze.

We have had beautiful weather out here in Memphis and as a result, Lucy has spent some time in her stroller going on walks and picking up Hyrum from school and enjoying the sunshine. I think she likes it.  She seems content to observe and take in everything around her.

Lucy still has her hands constantly in her mouth.

Lucy still enjoys sitting in her bumbo. She likes being able to see all the excitement which is going on around her.

Doesn't Lucy look adorable in this outfit, her Aunt Nancy gave it to her?

Lucy is in heaven when she is getting a bath.  She loves to splash and splash.  You can tell she is so excited to be in the water.  Her little rooster hair floats around her as she enjoys her soak. Lucy also seems to enjoy when I lotion and powder her up after her time in the tub.

Brandon took Lucy to the store the other day and was stopped many times by other people who commented on what a cute baby Lucy was with her rolls, her blue eyes and her hair.  He said he was bugged since the errand took so long, but secretly I think he loves it.  The same thing happens at church too.

Lucy is starting to find her voice and now makes cute little noises and jabbers.  She can even blow raspberries too.

On the 8th of February we went to Lucy's 4 month well baby check up. Lucy tipped the scales at 17 lbs and 26.5 inches long.  The doctor was really pleased with how Lucy was so fat thriving.  During the visit, another nurse had to come and see how cute our Lucy was.

Lucy has been giving me some long stretches of sleep at night here and there. When she is getting up in the night, I have mostly been putting her binkie back in. She has taken the longest out of all my kids by a long shot to sleep through the night. Don't get me wrong, she has given me long stretches her and there, but nothing consistent.

I love my sweet Lucy. One of my favorite things to do is to snuggle and hold her as she drifts off to sleep.  She is such a sweet baby that I am so grateful for.  We love our sweet Lucy!

Happy Leap Year

I thought I would take the opportunity to post cute pictures of my kids taken today on this special, once every four years, day.  Ben and Emmy thought it was pretty awesome they learned about Leap Year at preschool today.  They even made special Leap Year Hats that they wore for most of the day. Ben and Emmy would shout out Happy Leap Year to random cars that passed us on the road.  We had a very happy leap day!

Ben and Emmy's Class Valentine's Day Party

On February 13th, I had the opportunity to go in and help with Ben and Emmy's class Valentine's party.  One of my favorite things to do is to help with my kids' class parties. The kids were excited to see me when I came in the door.

The class did many fun things at their party. The kids first decorated their Valentines Bags.

They played Don't Eat Cupid

Cupid's Arrow (they tried to get an arrow into a box)

 Decorated a heart cupcake

 and made cute Valentine's crafts.

 The kids were divided up into boys and girls to do the fun activities.

  At the end of the party, the kids exchanged valentines.  Ben and Emmy were so excited to pass out their special cards that they worked so hard on. 

The kids made the cutest Valentine Hearts to give their sweet teacher Miss Lisa.

 Overall, I would say the kids had a fantastic Valentine's Party at their school. It was fun to go in and celebrate this fun holiday of  LOVE with them.