4 Months

I can't believe it!  Our little Jilly bean is already 4 months old.  She is growing way too fast for me.  This little girl is so much fun to have around.  I love watching the other kids with her.  They all just adore her, and she adores them.  I'm sure she doesn't know what to think since the kids have all gone back to school.  She is used to being constantly entertained and hasn't had so much of that since the kids haven't been around 24-7.  I hold her lots and play with her, but sometimes I've got to get some things done!  And she doesn't like that one bit.  

For the most part, she is a very happy and content baby, but when she gets mad, she gets MAD.  We're talking 0-60 in two seconds flat.  There is no in-between with this girl.  But like I said, for the most part she is very content.  She likes to be able to see you at all times and know where you are.  She is a total mom and dad's girl.  She's not very into strangers. At. All.  So if you hold her, and she doesn't start crying right away, chances are, she likes you.  She has about a handful of people she will let hold her regularly, besides mom and dad.  Oh, and she absolutely LOVES her daddy.  When he is in the room, her eyes are on him at all times.

She loves her Binky.  She's my first and only child that would ever take one.  But even more, she loves her fists.  Usually both of them in her mouth at the same time.

 

She is a very strong little girl.  She has been able to hold her head up like a pro since she was just tiny.  Just like her sis.  She's been rolling from her stomach to her back for a while now, and this last week she started trying to get from her back to her stomach.  She is SO CLOSE!  Her arm gets in the way though, and that makes her mad.  Really mad.  I've never heard a baby shriek the way she can.  That's when we know she's really ticked about something.  Thanks heavens it doesn't take much to calm her down.  All I have to do is pick her up and she's happy again.  Instantly.  She has me trained, what can I say?

I have a feeling we're going to have another chatty girl on our hands.  Already this girl loves to talk.  If you say one word to her, she spits her Binky out lickety split so she can talk to you.  Although she is starting to get pretty good at babbling with it in her mouth. I love it!  She has got one amazing smile that just melts my heart.  I can't believe some of the things we all find ourselves doing to get her to laugh and smile.  Honestly though, it doesn't take much.  She's a pretty smiley gal.

I just love this girl and am so grateful to have her!

What a Doll

My girl Viv... There's nothing else to say other than she is just the sweetheart of all sweethearts.  Honestly, I don't know how I'd get along without her.  Whenever we head out to run errands, I know she will have a purse that is packed with snacks, bandaids, books, crayons, and paper.  Anything someone might need, she is sure to have.  It's like she has a Mary Poppins bag.  And the funny part is that her purses are not all that big.  How does she fit all that stuff in there?!  I don't even remember when she started doing this, but it has been some time ago.  I'm sure she started doing it because I never seem to be quite prepared enough.  "What, you need a tissue?  You're going to either have to use your sleeve, or let it hang on your face until we get somewhere that has one.  Oh, wait. Vivi's got you covered."  And she doesn't pack her purse full of things with herself in mind.  She packs bandaids because she knows how often Preston needs them.  She packs snacks because she knows her brothers are ALWAYS HUNGRY.  She even packs treats to use as bribery when we go places.  I can't tell you how often I've heard, "Buds, lets make a deal.  If you be really good in the store for mom, I have a special treat here in my bag for you."  Like I said before, I don't know how I would do it without her.  She is such a thoughtful, wonderful little girl, and I hope she never changes.

The Job For Him

 A few months ago, Colson said to Trent and I, "When I grow up, I want to go into the military."

We told him that's great, as long as he serves a mission first.  Well, not too long after this conversation, we went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner one night.  It was on a night that the Chick-Fil-A cow happened to be there.  Colson was ecstatic!  He ran over to the cow and about knocked the poor thing down with the exuberance of his hug.  After mauling the cow for a few seconds, he ran back over to our table and excitedly said, "When I grow up, I want THAT job."  

We asked him, "What happened with wanting to go into the military?"

His reply, "Oh.  Well, if I can't get in the military, I want THAT job."

It's nice to know he has a back-up plan.

Preston

This boy... Oh, how I adore him!  I love everything about him.  He has a smile that can light up a whole room.  He gives the best hugs and cuddles.  He is full of wonder and curiosity.  He was blessed with an amazing amount of energy, which is a good thing.  It keeps me on my toes and active.  (I need to figure out a way for him to share his energy with me.  I would be able to get so much done in a day!)

I love his independent nature.  It seriously helped me out this last week while I was laid up with a hurt back.  He was good to go when it came to fixing his own breakfast, lunch, and snacks. :)  I think he actually preferred it that way.  Although he did make sure to tell me at least 5 times a day, "I hope your back feels better soon mama."  So sweet.

I love his eyes.  They are the most beautiful blue/green color. I make him sit still and let me stare into them at least once a day. And his eyelashes...Where did he get those?!  I want some!  

Most of all, he just makes me laugh, from the zany things he says to the funny faces he is always making.  He has a very expressive face, and I love it.  I love when he spontaneously blurts out, "Mom I love you!"  It just makes my day!  I sure love this kid!

Cell Phone Pictures

I always love when I go to download pictures from my cell phone and I find photos like this on there:

I'm guessing Vivi took these because she isn't in any of them, and there were several where I was in the background, so I know I didn't take them.  Preston is quite the poser. ;)

I'm pretty sure Preston took these last two because right after these photos was this grouping of pictures:

 

I'm glad to know they've had fun with my cell phone camera.  :)  The funny thing is, half the time I don't even know they've been taking pictures with it.  

Steamboat

Every day I look out my back windows and can see the mountains.  Albeit, I see them over a sea of houses and through some power lines, but I can still see them.  If we had ended up moving to Dallas last year, I would have seriously missed being near them.  I love seeing them every day.  When we went to California and visited a couple of different beaches, it was very beautiful, but to me, nothing compares to the mountains.  Maybe it's because I have lived near them my whole life.  I love the beauty of them, the smell of the pine, the spontaneous growth of wild flowers where it seems like they shouldn't be growing, water falls, and no matter how hot it gets during the day, once the sun goes down, the air feels crisp and cool.  (I don't like being hot.) 

It has been our tradition for the last 10 years (except last year) or so to spend at least one long weekend up in the mountains.  Our destinations vary each year.  We have stayed in Steamboat Springs, Silverthorne, Breckenridge, and Estes Park, to name a few.  This year we stayed up in Steamboat, one of my all time favorites.  Not only is there tons to do, but the scenery is just gorgeous, and the drive up is beautiful too.

We kept seeing abandoned barns and houses along the way.  Trent could tell I was dying to get some pictures, so he pulled over for me.  (Actually, I think he just wanted to have an excuse to be able to put the car in 4WD.  Whatever road there used to be to get to this cabin was long gone.)

Our condo wasn't quite ready when we got in to town, so we spent some time at the pool while we waited.  The boys had themselves a serious chicken fight.  Trenton was ruthless!

He was dunking Colson right and left.  Colson was too busy laughing his head off.

At least he helped Colson back up every time he dunked him.

After a while, grandpa had had enough of his face and head getting pulled all over the place and opted for no more chicken fights.

That was fine with Preston because he stole grandpa for his own and jumped to him in the pool for the next half hour.

The next day we spent the better part of the morning fishing.  Preston had been begging me for weeks to take him fishing, so we thought we better let him try it while we were there.

I think this is the only picture I have of him sitting.  Once he figured out how to cast, sitting was out of the question.  Fishing for Preston means cast, reel it in, cast, reel it in, cast, reel it in, and all at top speed to boot.  We kept trying to tell him to leave the worm in the water so he could get a bite, but he just couldn't do it.  I think he tried out everyone's fishing pole, besides his own, too.  He would get his line tangled or caught on something, then would go convince one of us to hand over our pole to him, then he would get our line caught or tangled on something just in time for us to have his pole ready to go again.  He had SO MUCH FUN though!  All of the fixing and untangling of the fishing line and the rebaiting of the hook was totally worth it.

Vivi loved fishing too.  I think she stood in this same spot the entire time we were there.  Grandpa was so nice to teach her how to fish.

Colson had a great time.  He tried every spot on the lake until he found where the fish were biting best.  He got really close to catching one on three different occasions.

Trenton thought he had a big one, and was a little disappointed when this was what he pulled out of the water.  ;)  While no one caught a fish that morning, we still had a great time trying.

Later that day, we took a short hike up to the falls.

We thought we'd take a break in the shade for a short minute.  My kids sure do love their grandpa.  It's no wonder because he's so good to them.

The kids with Janet and Steve.

Here are the falls.  Beautiful!

I am so terrified of heights, it was all I could do to make myself sit on this little ledge for a family photo.

Preston and gramps.

 My mom, Colson and Steve.

I had Jilly in the Moby wrap the whole time we were hiking, and it was a toasty day.  By the time we got back to the car, she and I were a sweaty mess!

Later that evening, Trent, the kids, Janet and Steve headed back to the pond to try their hand at fishing again.  Colson caught one this time!  And of course I don't have a picture because I was back at the condo fixing dinner.

We had such a fun weekend spending lots of time together doing fun things and enjoying some beautiful scenery.