Who's that?

Isaiah and Jocelyn spent some time getting to know each other. They alternated between staring at each other, sucking on each other's hands, and ignoring each other. Occasionally Mollie would come by and crawl over top of them. It was fun to see them checking each other out.

One of my favorite parts of our trip was going to Leatherby's with Karee & fam.  I love love love Leatherby's.  On the way there Jerel was displaying his true level of maturity by telling Isaac that they have booger-flavored ice cream there.  I asked Isaac if he eats his boogers and he said "No, but my dad does!"

Isaac & Ellie were my little helpers with Isaiah while we were there.  They tend to be a little too rough on their baby sister Jocelyn, but they were gentle with Isaiah and seemed to enjoy helping change diapers and give baths.  (Helping mostly meant just watching, although I did have a good time watching little Ellie try to get a pair of pants onto Isaiah's wiggly legs!)

To see all the pictures from our trip click here

C3PL

On Wednesday Isaiah went to C3PL--Cousins Cooking Class Plus Lunch. The kids made turkeys out of apples, raisins, and marshmallows. Then they decorated the edges of pie crusts for pumpkin pie. Then they used grandpa's homemade bread (I mean really homemade--he even makes his own flour) and tore it into pieces for the stuffing. I thought it was a great idea to have the kids involved in making Thanksgiving dinner and they all had a good time. Oh, by the way, Isaiah didn't actually participate in any of those activities, he just laid on a blanket with Jocelyn. But we'll still count it as his first C3PL.

Taylyn's Party

 Taylyn celebrated his fourth birthday today. There must have been around 30 family members there so he got plenty of attention and lots of presents. He usually warms up to Jerel and I about 5 minutes before we are leaving town...I asked him at the party if I could take a picture of him and he said no. I took this one anyway...I guess he takes after his Uncle Jerel when it comes to enjoying photos.

Little Emmaree

 This morning Jerel and I met Emmaree. We went to Jake & Mandy's ward for her baby blessing and she looked so darling in her white dress. She is their first little girl and I'm guessing Mandy will have lots of fun dolling her up all the time!

Over the river and through the woods...

 ...to grandmother (and grandfather)'s house we go! We left Thursday night around 9pm to drive to Utah for Thanksgiving. Jerel did all the driving (he is not a fan of my ultra-conservative driving style) and with the help of two 5-hour-energy drinks he didn't even fall asleep! Isaiah slept pretty well. We stopped once to feed him in the morning and then made it to see Grandma & Grandpa Atkinson. Karee came by with Isaac, Ellie, and Isaiah's twin cousin Jocelyn. This picture is of Isaiah and Ellie. She's been pretty shy so far but hopefully she'll warm up soon because we've sure had fun with her and Isaac on previous visits! Isaac is getting even smarter--he recited the first Article of Faith for us, and he can spell his name too. My favorite quote for the day was when we were asking Ellie where cows live and someone said "Do cows live in the zoo?" And Ellie said "No. Cows don't live in zoozes."

Rolling Over

Isaiah had his four-month checkup last week. He's now 15.5 pounds and 26 inches--still quite a bit ahead of the curve. The doctor asked me if he rolls over yet and I had to say no. Later that day I told Jerel about it and put Isaiah down on his tummy and he rolled right over. Then he did it 4 or 5 more times so I got it on video. Since that day he has not rolled over at all. Jerel works with him--including demonstrating for him--but no more rolling. Wait, I can't get the video to upload. Try this instead: while looking at the still picture, pick up your computer and turn it upside down in a circle. Then you'll pretty much know what it looked like.

(Bad) Mom of the Year Award

 I think I'm winning for sure...this isn't a great picture, but it's one of those big thumbtack-looking things that attaches an anti-theft ink device thingy to clothes in the stores. Okay, not the best description ever, but you know what I mean. So today I put Isaiah in an outfit a friend gave us when he was born & which he is finally big enough for. We ran lots of errands today and did the regular naps and feedings and such. He fell asleep on the way home from the grocery store so I brought him in in the carseat and set it in the kitchen while I put the groceries away. After about 20 minutes he woke up screaming screaming screaming. I tried to feed him but he wouldn't eat. I sat him up and was patting his back when I noticed that thing in the picture was stuck in his shoulder! I took it right out (even though I watch enough hospital shows to know that if someone is impaled with something the last thing you ever want to do is remove the something) and luckily it hadn't really even broken through the skin, it was just stuck into the top layer I guess. So he has a nice red mark, but no broken skin or need for a rabies shot or anything. As a side note, it makes me wonder if the friends who gave us his outfit actually stole it...

Family Dinner

 When it's not Cereal Night we bring Isaiah in the kitchen with us for dinner. Here he is sitting in his Bumbo seat which is on loan from his cousin Clara...Clara thinks she's all that because she can sit up on her own already...Anyway, Isaiah seems to like the little chair and it lets him be in an upright position so we're hoping that will help with his bald spot from laying down so much! We let him play with his little spoon and we tell him all about how good the food is. I am getting nervous though because Jerel is already talking about how once Isaiah starts eating real food we'll have to eat more vegetables so that he will acquire a taste for them...ugh.

Clara also let us borrow her ExerSaucer. I put Isaiah in it and he was encirlced by bright, fun, interesting toys and he proceeded to stare intently at his own hands. After a few more times he seems to be more interested in the toys, mostly the ones he can reach to put in his mouth. Thanks cousin Clara for letting us borrow your toys!

Isaiah's Cute Little Laugh...Again

Since the first video was such a hit I thought we should definitely do a sequel.

Halloween

 Before I got married I had great ideas for Halloween costumes once I had a family. For example, one year I would be Dorothy, my husband would be the tin man, and the kids would be a scarecrow, lion, toto, munchkins, etc. Then another year I would be Frauline Maria, my husband would the The Captain, and our kids would wear little jumpers made out of curtains just like the von Trapp children. But then I married Jerel who prefers to turn off the lights and pretend he's not home on Halloween. Life is full of compromises, right? Instead of trying to force Jerel to dress up I settled for just spending his money getting Isaiah dressed up. I decided to make the costume instead of buying one because first of all it seemed like it would be cheaper and second of all it seemed like it would somehow mean I was a great mother. Well, it definitely wasn't cheaper, and I don't know that forcing your kid to wear something he detests really makes you a great mother, but we did it anyway.

Isaiah was a darling little elephant and even though Jerel thinks he doesn't care, I know he will always remember it. How do I know this? Because an elephant never forgets! I tried to get his pictures done in the costume but he screamed the whole time. So then I tried to have Rick do some when I was up in Bremerton but he screamed the whole time again. Oh well. Jerel & I took him to the ward Trunk-or-Treat and he behaved really well and looked so great that if there had been a costume contest he would've won for sure!

Anyway, I spent so much effort on the silly costume and then he hated it so much (I think it had something to do with the headpiece cutting off his airway or something) that I have already purchased a costume for him for next year. I figure if he isn't going to appreciate it I won't bother putting so much effort into it. I'm not sure why I didn't think of that before. Also, no matter how many siblings Isaiah ends up having, they will all be elephants on their first Halloween.

Here are some more pictures. The little girl in the cow costume is Isaiah's girlfriend Laney. More Pics