8 Months

Hi! It's Lainey again. It's been a while so I wanted to update you on what is new with me! The last two months have been fun, and I have grown and changed a lot. At 6 months I weighed 17.5 pounds. My Mom weighed me today and I weigh a whopping 18.2 pounds.

Every few weeks I have a day or two where I act like I might start sucking my thumb. I don't know what the big deal is, but when it happens mom goes crazy and insists on pulling it out of my mouth. I usually give in and stop after a day or two, but every few weeks I decide to try again.

My siblings love taking pictures of me with Mom's camera!

I am ticklish, and my family thinks its fun to tickle me all the time. My legs, my belly, under my arms, my chest, it all makes me laugh.

One of my favorite spots!

My latest trick is to clench my jaw and breath through my teeth/gums. Mom loves that!

I am mostly on a schedule, but just when Mom thinks she can get comfortable I switch things up on her, or decide to wake up in the middle of the night again. Gotta keep her on her toes!!!

We went to my Aunt's house for Labor day weekend. After my nap, I grabbed everything I could reach on the dresser next to me and pulled it into the crib with me. What fun!!

Not only can I crawl through the entire house at great speed, I am also pulling myself up on EVERYTHING! I pulled the trash over on myself a few weeks ago. I thought it was great and went right to work playing in the new things that were surrounding me. Mom was using words like "Ewww!" and "Gross" and I don't know what the big deal was!

I have started trying to stand on my own. Its a new thing, so I am not very good at it yet, but I get a little more brave every day. My mom keeps saying she should knock me down. I don't know why she is so mean!

The first time Mom caught me pulling myself up to stand.

Nothing makes me as happy or as calm as music. Sing to me, turn on the radio, whatever.  I love music!

Dad and Emma are the only ones that can get me to sleep outside of my crib.

I love to eat! So far my menu consists of bananas, peaches, pears, applesauce, brown rice, oatmeal, peas, sweet potatoes, and carrots. I really really hate green beans and refuse to eat them! Mom also likes to let me eat waffles and pancakes and bread sometimes too!!!

I can't wait to see what's next!

Six Months

Hello. My name is Lainey Rebecca. I am six months old. 

I can roll over, front to back, and back to front. This affords me the most opportunity for reaching my toys and getting into things. 

I like to sleep on my side. 

I can sit up all by myself. Sometimes is still wobble and fall, but not very often. 

I can go from crawling position to sitting up. 

I am starting to crawl, but I still resort to lunging. 

I just started eating solids. My mom tried Avocado first, but then went with bananas. It took me a few days to figure out how to swallow without gagging, but I think I have it down now. I eat about 1/4 of a banana a day right now. Mom says Emma isn't allowed to feed me unless I also need to take a bath, because I end up wearing lots of food. 

I got two teeth, both within a week before I turned six months. Look close, maybe you'll see them. 

I love the water. I will stay in the bath until it gets cold, and I love going swimming! 

My mom is my favorite person. I really like her, but she wishes I still liked to hang out with other people too.

 I love my family. My brothers make me smile and laugh, and my sister loves to take care of me. I like to play with my toys, and snuggle my Dad. I love to smile at people especially when they will talk to me. I am happy when I have a full belly, and I have gotten sleep, but I still spit a lot, and don't really like to nap. Mom keeps telling me she is going to put me on a schedule, but I am sneaky and plan to teeth, or get a cold during the same time and completely frustrate her. Being six months old is hard, but I'm tough, and I can handle it.  

Two Months

Oh how the time has flown by! I curse myself for not documenting all this as I went because I am sure that I have forgotten so much already. But I can't let even another day go by without blogging about Lainey! Her second month flew by as quickly as the first. Here are some pictures and details of her second month that I can't live without!

I loved this outfit, but mostly I wanted to show you just how much hair she had! In the months that follow she will lose so much of it. Some fell out, some she rubbed off in her car seat. 

This picture is an accurate portrayal of their relationship. He LOVES her! He LOVES to hold her! She loves him, but HATES to be held by him. No surprise there!

Emma cannot get enough of being a big sister. She can't get enough of having a baby at home.  We loved this dress! It was so cute. My friend Amy gave it to her, but she got fat so fast that she was only able to wear it twice. It breaks my heart how fast she has grown!

After her first stroller ride. At 6 weeks exactly we went for a ride, and she fell fast asleep! 

 

Ownership happened so fast! She adores daddy, and he can't get enough of her!  LOVE this picture!

My nephew Dakota played in the State Championship Basketball game for the Lincoln Lynx. They won! Lainey and I went to two of the games and she got to meet many cousins, Nykele, Steve, and their two boys, Jaxon and Parker. This is Parker holding Lainey. He is my great nephew! He LOVED her and didn't want to give her up. He kept giving her kisses. It was so cute. She also got to meet Jaycie and Josh, and the rest of Melanie's family.

She got to meet her cousin Daxton. They were born all of two days apart. He is so CUTE and we love him so much!

We laid them down next to each other to see the differences between them. He wasn't too impressed. He is long and skinny, and she is short and broad! When Stuart picked him up for the first time he couldn't believe that his fingers met on both sides as he held him. He has the cutest and most pathetic cry you have ever heard! I hope these two will love each other, and have a great friendship in years to come.

Emma wanted a picture holding both babies so badly! She LOVES having two babies around to love on. 

She finally got Emma! Emma had been dodging getting spit up on, but the day she got it, she got it good!  She was screaming at first, but it didn't take long for the screams to become laughter. Gross!

Love that cute face! One of the first smiles we were able to catch on camera! She will smile up a storm, but  the second you turn on the camera it all goes away. It was SO hard to get this picture!

She woke up with a hand print on her face after sleeping on her hand. It was the most perfect little hand print. 

She loves Preston! He will sit and talk to her, and she will watch him. She loves it when he showers her with attention. He is a great big brother! 

This picture is the day of her two month birthday! 

• We started her on the binki from the hospital. She would take it for a while but spit it out in time. Then we switched and tried the Nuk brand. At about two months we finally gave up on those as well. She would take it, but she didn't really want in and before long she would fight you to take it. 
• She wouldn't sleep for longer that four hours at a time. EVER! I was so tired! Though she did start figuring out what was day and what was night, so that helped a lot! 
• The baby acne kicked in right on time at 6 weeks. And right on its heels her skin rashed and dried out. We had two problems, 1: I forgot to change everyone's laundry detergent, so I believe she was reacting to that. two: she is such a spitter that her clothes and blankets are always wet. I had to start changing her clothes every couple of hours. At the worst of it she was wearing 6 or 7 new outfits a day to keep her dry. Between that and using coconut oil on her face we got it all cleared up in a few weeks, but it was pretty bad! 
• She has one nickname that stuck: Lainey Bug.

Life After Baby

I admit it, 95% of my life, of our lives, revolves around Lainey since she joined our family, and 95% of the pictures we have taken are of her. However, life has gone on, and since I am dragging my feet blogging about her monthly milestones (as if not admitting how fast she is growing can make it slow down or something), I will share a bit of what life has looked like for the rest of us.

There has been plenty of movie watching, complete with Pizza and Popcorn most of the time! I love these four!

We got a trampoline for Christmas. Starting the very day it got put up the kids began begging their Dad to come jump with them. They finally succeeded in getting him out, and he certainly didn't disappoint his adoring fans! They played crack the egg and wrestled and had a great time. Emma forgot to zip up the enclosure and fell right out and right off. Once they knew she was okay, the laughing ensued! And laugh they did. It was apparently hilarious watching her fall right out! (I wish I had seen it!)

Stuart finished coaching his first season and the MVHS Girls Varsity Basketball coach. They did some amazing things and made a lot of progress this season. They played in the Division tournament, and won their first game against Clark, but lost their next game against Boulder City. It was a tough loss, and it was sad to see the season end.

Senior Night

His 1st Varsity team! 

The Seniors: Shelby, Hannah, and Bree

Valentines Day was celebrated at home with the kiddos. We started with Heart French toast, had a nice spaghetti dinner, and ended with a heart shaped cake. We celebrate in simple ways, but we celebrate! 

The kids had reading week, and each day was a different dress up day. Friday was crazy Hair and socks day. The kids had a good time planning what they would wear, and enjoyed being silly. 

Stockton went Spiky! 

Take note of the awesome socks! 

Emma's hair was crazy, and she loved it! 

Preston had a science project. He found out about this project in late February. It was due Monday April 8, and I found out about it on Monday April 1st. Luckily he is an amazing kid and did EVERYTHING but the actual project himself at the school. He did a great job, and got a good grade on it. I was freaking out when I found out about it and realized we only had one week. Then I found out he had it all under control. I watched him do his project, gave him a few small pointers, took pictures and printed them off for him. Other than that, this project was ALL him.

Preston and Stockton are both playing baseball this spring. They both look oh-so-handsome in their uniforms  if I do say so myself! Preston is playing in the Minors, and Stockton is playing his first season of T-ball. The stories are already starting. Gotta love T-ball! His first game of the season, he hit the ball for the first time, ran the bases to third, and on the next hit, he headed for the dug-out instead of home plate! Gotta love how his little brain works. Next game he fields a ball, and his coaches, and everyone else is telling him "Tag him with the ball!" At which point he pulls his arm back and throws the ball right at the other player. He hit him in the leg, but all was well. After the inning his coach lovingly told him that tagging a player simply means touching them with the ball, not throwing it at them. It should be a fun season!

The Clark County Fair came to town, and I only took a few pictures of our fun, but at least I have a few to document the occasion. 

Every year there is a big pig with piglets!

The kids with the pigs

 Preston entered his science project, and got a first in class ribbon, (along with the participation ribbon that all entries get) I was proud, and he was happy!

And the Swifty Swine Pig races. Its a tradition to watch, and every year my kids chicken out of trying to volunteer to be a "cheerleader" for one of the pigs with a prize on the line if your pig is the one that wins!

We had a great day at the fair! We hung out as a family, and even spent part of the day with Grandpa Humes, Uncle Camron, Aunt Kristen, and cousin Daxton.

Life since Lainey has been great. A little more complicated, but great. We love our little one, but I don't want to not document all the fun we have outside of her!
Next up: Lainey Update! :)

Spring Break Fun

I know that everyone loves Spring Break, but at our house we REALLY love spring break. Not only do the kids get a week off of school, but Daddy gets a week off of work, making it a GREAT week! 

We spent Monday of break getting laundry done and getting the house cleaned up so we could enjoy the week.

Tuesday the kids spent the morning playing baseball with Dad, then we packed up a lunch and headed out to the Valley of Fire. The kids and I had been before, but we were excited to go again with Dad and enjoy the day. As always we hiked Mouses Tank. Here is our first picture as a family of 6!

After we were done hiking Mouses Tank, Dad introduced the real fun of the day with a game of Hide and Seek. Dad went first. It took the kids some time but eventually they found him. Then we sent Preston and Emma out to hide together. Stuart, Stockton and I spent probably 20 minutes looking before we finally found them.

Stuart and Stockton looking for Preston and Emma.

 Later Emma confessed that the hiding spot made her neck hurt. They were hid really well, and I only found them because I got lucky.

The amazing hiding spot.

Unfortunately Stuart woke up sick on Wednesday, but we weren't about to let that hold us back. The kids and I packed up and headed to St. George, where we spent the day at the Washington City Community Center pool. We love this place. It is huge, and the kids can go all over it without my help, and there is tons to do to keep them busy for an entire day. 

Stockton was being cautious all day and would not leave the front area where the playground is. Oh well. He seemed to enjoy himself, though he was the first one to want to go home. 

Emma made a friend while we were there with a little girl that had the same swimming suit as her.  Here they are with Preston being a typical big brother. 

Posing for a picture they didn't want to take. 

This is what Lainey and I did while the kids enjoyed their day.

It would have been more fun if Dad had been able to join us, but we still made the best of it and really enjoyed the day.

And since it would just be wrong to go all the way to St. George and not see Grandma and Grandpa Robson, we stayed over night at their house, and ended up spending the morning hanging out with them before we headed home on Thursday. When we got home for St. George, we rested for an hour or so then headed into Las Vegas to watch some of the NCAA tournament with the Mathewsons. Sadly I have no pictures, but it was a great time, as it always is with them. We all enjoyed a good portion of the evening outside with the kids playing basketball and riding bikes.

No shock that on Friday the Mom woke up exhausted and ready for a break. We took it easy Friday. Emma had a friend over and the boys stayed busy most of the day while I tried to recuperate.

Saturday we spent the afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa Humes. We barbecued some chicken and hot dogs, watched some basketball, and the kids dyed eggs on the back porch.

The dying in action

Showing off their favorite eggs. 

Sadly after all the fun I woke up sick on Easter morning, which dampened the fun a little. All in all it was a great week. I had so much fun just being with the kids and enjoying a break from the routine. Advice for myself for next Spring Break: Have lots of fun with the kids. Do lots of fun things that are out of the ordinary for you, but break up the fun a little and take time to rest between it all. I love my babies, but having four of them wears me out!

Happy First Easter Lainey!