Scootin' Eddie (plus a tiny flashback)

Well, these next few posts may not be that exciting, but I have been SO busy working on my art room, I even forgot to take a picture of Jade on her first day of school! She is LOVING school by the way, they have some great programs and activities planned for this year, I am really excited about what she will be doing. Josh is also excited about Kindergarten, I will try not to forget the camera on Tues when he starts school. :)

So here are some quick pics I took of Eddie. He is in that "in-between" stage with the army-crawl, (which he hasn't really mastered yet, kind of skipping over it), going into a full crawl. He is still very slow and controlled when he moves forward, but he is getting there. He will take a "crawl-step" forward, go back on his tummy to reach for his toy, if he is still too far, he will get back on his hands and knees and take another crawl-step, and check his distance from his toy again, if needs be, take another crawl-step. He repeats this process until he gets what he wants. This is a different approach than I remember my other kids taking. They went to the army-crawl, got that down at full speed, then went to full crawling. Eddie seems content to take his time, he seems to have patience. But if he is not interested in reaching for something, he is content to just rock back and forth on his hands and knees. Funny kid. :)




And little me, maybe a few months older than Eddie.

This is Cheyenne, she is the granddaughter of our next-door neighbor, and comes over almost every day to play with Josh. They are the same age, get along great, and it is SO nice to have someone close who brings out the best in Joshy. She is such a little sweet-heart, and a bit feisty too. :) He said she is like his old girlfriend, Dana, who used to live next door to us on base in Vegas, because she is cute and really smart. Isn't that sweet?

The playful kiddies

As I was working on organizing, (the endless task), the kids kept asking me to take pictures of them. They had so much fun getting dressed up. I am grateful my kids are capable of "imagination play", (and capable of playing nicely at times). They are really good kids, I just love'em!!!

Happy Mica

I know this is ANOTHER post about my sister, but she just sent these and I love how happy she looks!

On a side note, Bill and I had a discussion about this blog, he thinks it is less a "family blog" and more a "Tara blog". I have less than 30 friends I sent this link to, and he sent it out to over 60 of his former students and Air Force buddies. Well people, the only ones who ever leave a comment or email me back and tell me they looked at the blog, are MY friends. So until I get some sign that Bill's friends are checking this out, I will continue to post the happenings in our family from my point of view, and throw in a bit of "Tara stuff" like this post. OK Bill's buddies, prove me wrong, and Bill right, that there are people checking this blog other than my 5 or 6 loyal girlfriends, leave a comment!

Back to Mica, this is her "good friend" Matt. He is even cuter than he is in these pictures, but my sister looks radiant, and she gets priority. ;)

Also, I would like to know what "friends" are doing having a tickle fight on the floor?

I FINALLY got around to it!

I am a bad mom. My son is over 5 months old, and last night is the first time I gave him solid foods. I have just been SO busy and it is SO much easier to just hand him a bottle. He is definitely ready for food, he did great and kept most of it in his mouth, I was impressed.
The only thing..... peas are NOT a favorite of his.

"Out of the Closet"

So, I have this dirty little secret. I am a daddy's girl and I love his shirts. I never pack PJ's when I go home to visit, I just rummage through my dad's T-shirt drawer and wear an old comfy shirt of his. (my dad has a habit of keeping shirts for somewhere around 30+ years) Well here is my little secret, I STEAL them whenever I can. I have a little collection of my dad's old t-shirts. Crazy huh? And the worst part is, I have brought my daughter in on the scandal. When we woke up this morning, I had to laugh, we both had on the SAME stolen shirt from my dad. I took one knowing he had two of these, (from a scout camp years ago). Somehow when she borrowed one to sleep in as well, it must have made it's way in our suitcase and back home with us. So I had to take a picture this morning, finally admit my shame, and come out of the closet with it. :)

It is rare that I will expose myself in all my puffy-eyed, early-morning-glory. But this is me.

(See Jess? Your eye bags have nothing on mine!)

My 10 yr old

OK, In my experience as a mother so far, I have noticed there are times when my kids "change" overnight. It's like they take "leaps and bounds" in their maturity or to the next stage in their development. Age 10 took me by surprise. What happened? Could she really be that much more of a little lady overnight? It's not anything specific, I can't really put it into words, but there is a definite change in the air about her. This is going to be a great year for her, I know it!

Enos and Lindsay came up for the weekend. Enos had a science research convention at the ski resort by our house. Saturday was his birthday as well, so we celebrated both with Lindsay's and my "experimental sushi ice-cream cake". We are all fans of sushi, so Lindsay and I brainstormed and came up with this idea for a cake. I know exactly how I would do it next time so it would work out better. If anyone is interested, it's not that complicated, let me know and I'll tell you how to make it. It was a really nice weekend, I love having family visit!

Flashback Friday - Happy 10th Birthday Jade!

Things I love about Jade........

If anyone has heard Jade laugh, she has an infectious laugh, we just love it.

Even when she is unhappy, she is still cute.

Surprisingly, she used to LOVE pink. I love that she gave me the time to be a mom of a pink princess, and now I get to be a mom of the most creative, diverse, and independent individual who does NOT like pink.

But she has ALWAYS been unique in her choice of fashion expression and being silly.

Jade loves to dance and be with her friends, I love the lack of inhibition, she will just let loose if the mood strikes her.

She is always creative, artistic, and thoughtful, this is the first cake she decorated for her brother when she was 6 and it was his 1st birthday.

Jade has always loved animals, she is very sensitive to how they are treated and what happens to them. She is especially interested in horses, but most of you know that already. :)

She has a sweet spirit about her and deep faith.

I love the tender relationship she has with her dad, she has been a daddy's girl from day one.

I love what a big help she is to me with her younger brothers, I know even though they fight half the time, she loves them and will always look out for them.

She has been on a computer since she was 18 mo old, sometimes I think she understands it better than I do. She is quite witty, just check out her blog and you will see evidence of her computer skills and her humor.

She has loved school since she started pre-K. It is rare when I need to bug her about her homework.

I am so grateful for the blessing of having Jade for a daughter, it has been one of the major highlights of my life, and continues to be every day.

It has been the greatest delight to watch her grow and develop.

She will always be our princess, even if she never sets a toe in a frilly pink dress ever again. What a girl!

We love you so much Jade, and we are SO proud of the unique little lady you are!

The Mom Opera

I love this! A friend of mine posted this on her blog, and I just HAD to do the same! Enjoy!

Little Ed at 5 months

Edmund Cole was 5 months yesterday. It sure went by fast. I thought since I have not written in his baby book, or even taken any professional pictures, I should journal a bit of what he is up to. He is holding his bottle, half the time, loves to grab his feet, and smiles a ton at just about anyone who takes the time to say hello to him. :)

Bald, bald, bald.

He sure is a happy baby on the floor. He was rolling over, (or falling), when we put him on his tummy around 5 weeks, but now if we put him on his back, he just flips right over to his tummy and starts scootin around trying to get to me, or get something to put in his mouth. This really snuck up on me, I still have no idea what I'm going to do about a gate at the top of the stairs.

He is laughing hard here and getting up on his knees. Strong little tyke, just like Josh was. Josh started crawling in his 5th month. Eddie just seems too young for that, but I guess I can't stop him!

I have to say a special "thank you" to Jade for being the photographer, she took all these pictures of Eddie, Josh, and myself.

Josh just bought a transformer toy with his birthday money, and is calling it "my precious", he is such a mamas boy, but really he is ALL Bill.

Kelton's BD party

I have some very dear friends from my time in Vegas, one of them is my "creative kids party/gourmet cooking" buddie, Juliann. They spend each summer here in Utah with family while her husband works. Every year they have her son Kelton's birthday party with family. It has proven to be a treat I think I will look forward to every summer they come. She has a huge family, so much fun! She did a "superman" theme party this year, made personalized capes for each child, and some cute "super-power" games. I was Kelton's nursery teacher when he and Josh were in it together, so it's really fun to see how much he has grown.
Juliann is quite the creative sewing diva, I can't believe she made over 20 personalized capes! The kids are in line for one of the superman games. Josh had SO much fun, he has been talking about it for the past few days. (the party was on saturday)

Jade and Eliza are just a year apart, Eliza is a fellow budding artist. :)

It was a great party, made me miss my Vegas friends, but it also reminded me how blessed I feel to have such good friends, and opportunities to keep in contact with each of you. That has been one of the best parts about living in so many places, I have made some treasured friends, and I look forward to opportunities to get together again, even if there are years between visits. Thank you for the friendships, (you know who you are)!

Back to Blogging and getting caught up!

Wow, this is going to be a long series of posts, but I have alot to catch up on! The most recent shocker is that I cut my hair, all of it. That's one goal down, the rest to go. I'm afraid it has less to do with confidence and more to do with getting fed up with the hair loss that happens after a baby. At any rate, this is the new me. It was VERY liberating, and I feel even more motivated to get back into running. Jade took these pictures so I could show off my new look. :-) It's different, but I'm glad I did. At first, Josh said I had silly hair and he didn't want to kiss me. Jade said I was the coolest mom and she wants "boy hair" too. I'm happy to say that Josh has warmed up to the look, told me I was beautiful this morning, and even gave me his version of a shoulder rub to prove he still loves me. :)
Sorry, in this whole series of posts, I do not have ONE single picture of Bill. He is just so busy these days, but I'm sure I will catch him at some point and get a picture. For now, it's just the kids and I. (and the house, and Wayne) :)

Eddie pics

Just an update with random pics of Eddie. He is growing so much, it still amazes me how fast babies change.

He is with one of his other beautiful cousins, Lennon, at a Reunion.

Eddie asleep in his Amby bed.

He seems to be teething, we are just waiting for those teeth to pop out!

Little Ed with his grandma on their Prep-day, (their day off), for their mission. "Big Ed" is in the background. :)

That's it for now, I'll take more soon. :)

Kids "secret" clubhouse

This is the underside of the deck. Around the back is a gate that opens to store the lawn mower, etc. on the side of the house under the deck. We thought that was the only way in or out of that blocked off area. Then I became a genius for a moment and figured out that these two panels of lattice right under the stairs are on tracks and can roll to the side. Amazing! We just need to separate the side where we keep our yard equipment, build a few things for the kids, and they have their "secret" clubhouse with the "disappearing" wall.

We are letting them keep all our left-over junk like old toys, computer, video games, etc. and use as "equipment" in their hide-out. They had a blast with it yesterday, I hope the interest lasts.