Our Everyday Life

Here's a bunch of pictures from the past several weeks.  In no particular order, completely random. :)

We've been loving getting out in such great weather.  Zane and Emerson could have spent all day just throwing rocks into this lake. 

Smith likes being outside too. 

For Saint Patrick's Day, the kids each made their own leprechaun trap.  I just put out a bunch of stuff that they could use and they went for it.  They laid them out the night before, in hopes of catching one.  You can tell from this pic that one came in the front door, got the candy out of the trap, and then ran away.  Maybe next year.

Zane's trap had two-sided tape inside, stickers, and a bunch of other things that he thought might work to catch a tiny leprechaun.

We ate green donuts and green eggs for breakfast, along with green milk of course.

We switched Smith to his bath seat.  Z and E loved having him in there but it was almost too overwhelming for the poor guy.  He was on the edge of not liking it the whole time.  I got this video of him just making the same nervous sound the whole time.

We had some friends over - they played in our sandbox for about an hour!  The only bummer was trying to get all the sand out of their hair, ears, clothes, etc. that they had put on each other.  And then sweeping and vacuuming the whole house afterwards. :)

Smith was hangin on the deck with my friend and me.  Thanks for the sun hat, Kim!

At the indoor pool, sharing a snack.

We went to Chuck E. Cheese's with my Mom and Dave.  That place is completely chaotic, but the kids love it.

Grandpa Dave with the kids

Sweet face

Buddies

Another sweet face

Marble Works, baby!  (One of MY favorite toys as a kid).  Glad my mom saved it.

He really got how to build the paths for the marbles and loved it so much. 

PJ hats - they are pros at making Smith laugh

Can you tell that her whole entire face to covered in chapstick?  Yep, that's right. A video is coming on the next post.

Cutie pie at a friend's birthday party. 

Making her own butterfly

Emmy with her friend Hannah

Holding "Rosie" the tarantula at the Butterfly Pavillion.  She didn't even flinch.

They get so excited every single time Smith rolls over.  They were cheering him on here.

The day was so memorable for me.  The day before, Emmy had the stomach flu. Yuck.  The next day (the day the pics were taken), she woke up feeling great and Zane woke up with the stomach bug.  He was sick all morning and then all of a sudden right around noon her perked right up and they wanted to play outside.  He played for 2 hours straight, with me reminding him and encouraging him to rest and drink water, and then suddenly after all that playing he just decided he needed to go in and rest and he did.  Emmy played outside for 4 hours straight!

I like how long and scrawny he looks in this pic. And how determined. lol.

Good thing she has that helmet on - just in case. :)

This was RIGHT after he had the flu all morning - he was getting into costumes.  This guy can't resist dressing up.

Emmy has become my little helper.  She really does help me with Smith a lot of the day, as well as laundry, dishes, picking up, etc. She is also getting better at actually playing with Smith and knowing what he likes and doesn't like.

Playing "Baby" - Em was feeding Zane

Crazy face!

Play-doh party

Zane loves his Wii. He's been able to "teach" both of his great-grandmas how to play Mario Kart. He told Grandma Fran (not in this pic) that it just wasn't fair to her to play anymore so they should stop bc he was so much better than her. This is Grandma Shirley trying to figure it out - what a good sport. Pappy tried too!

Some pictures from a day a while back when there was still snow on the ground. We were just happy to be outside in descent weather.

Zane at 5 Months

I had to look and see how much Smith still looks like his big brother, so I grabbed a few 5-month pics of Zane to compare. I love how Smith is starting to get his own look, but still looks SOOOO much like Zane did at his age. Scroll down to the previous posts to see pics of Smith and compare to these ones of Zane...

5 Months

Our sweet boy Smith just turned 5 months old.  Yes, that's right!  Smith is 5 months old.  I know I always say that time flies, but it has been FLYING!  I adore this stage, where babies reach so many milestones almost every single day.  But I've also been feeling a tiny bit sad, knowing that Smith is our last baby, that I won't get to experience all of it again.  I want to remember every single detail.

Smith makes our family so happy.  He could not be more sweet.  He really does put up with a lot from all of us - waiting for me to feed him, or lay him down while I help his sister and brother, not getting mad when a certain 2 year old and 4 year old get in his face non-stop, and going along with us to all of our outings.  We love him so much and love what he adds to our family. 

He's eating rice so much better now.  I'm excited for fruits and veggies, besides the fact that it takes so much time to feed him a bottle and baby food!  He is still just rolling over in his bed - he gets stranded on his tummy with his arms straight out to the side.  He isn't rolling over in front of us on the floor yet though.  He sort of sits up on his own, with a little support. He laughs constantly and is super ticklish.  He laughs and Z and E all the time and squeals with delight.  He's started screaming when he gets frustrated.  He gives us slobbery kisses.  He's starting to get sad when I walk away.  Overall, this kid is the greatest!

He likes swimming.  Here he is with his Aunt Nell.

Look at this cute face!  Irresistible.

 Happy, happy, happy - his whole body shows it

Sitting up

 Sitting up on his own - making progress

 At the zoo...

Smith Abram

I had really great intentions to publish a big post for our little guy when he turned 4 months, and now he's closer to 5 months...better late than never, right?

At his 4 month checkup, he weighed 16 and 1/2 pounds, which seems huge to me, but was about the 80th %tile. His height was in the 97th %tile. So, let's just say he's a healthy growing boy who really likes to eat. Well, pretty healthy - besides that he's on antibiotics for the 3rd time in three months because of another double ear infection. I'm hoping that his Bronchiolitis, weezing with other colds, and ear infections aren't a sign of lot's of sickness to come.

During the past few weeks, he has really accomplished a lot. :) He has started eating rice cereal. Just two days ago, he finally got it. Now, he shakes in anticipation everytime he sees us get the bowl out and he's sitting in a highchair. He also popped out his two bottom front teeth. He just wants to be all grown up already I think!! And it sure does explain all of his constant drooling lately.

He rolled over once on his own, but hasn't done it again since then. He's gotten close. He kind of likes being on his tummy a little more now but gets fed up after a few minutes. He is really good at holding and playing with toys now - and is starting to grab everything! The kids have had to learn to keep their hair and other things away from his hands if they don't want them grabbed. Luckily, they still think it's cute and funny.

He also wants to be more involved in what we are doing. He's started crying when I leave him alone for a second and he gets sooo happy when one of us approaches him. He wants to be part of everything.

He is making lot's of new sounds.  He says "mamamama" a lot of the day.  He's also started screaming in joy and squealing a whole bunch.  He is a VERY happy baby.

He tried the Johnny Jumper and loved it.  He was cracking up.  He did get a little overwhelmed at one point when both kids were fighting over who got to push him and swing him.

Smith leaned over the whole time that he sat in his Bumbo so when we tried to feed him, the rice just fell right out.  Sitting up in his highchair is working much better. 

 Here are videos of his first and second time eating rice.  By the second try, he was already trying to help hold the spoon.  Now, he's doing much better.





Here's Smith leaning over to see what Emmy was up to.  He kept trying to take away her toy and she was laughing like crazy.  Every time we sat him up, he leaned himself right over again.

 Just cute pics of a happy 4-month-old

Here are two super cute videos of Zane playing with Smith.  I don't know which I like better...seeing Smith smile and laugh at his sister and brother or Zane and Emmy having so much fun with their little brother.  I love when they're so loving to each other.  I also like this first video because it shows Smith's excited scream.