Eads Family Update

Oh, Pinterest ... How I love Thee

So I finally caved and entered the world of Pinterest.  I really didn't need another thing to waste the little time I do have to myself.  So as a compromise, I vowed to myself that if I was going to spend time looking at a million crafty ideas, recipes, and organizational how-tos, I had to actually USE them.  And use them I have.

I made rain art with my kids at work:

 I made these yummy potatoes:

Jeffrey and I experimented with another art project that made shiny paint with flour/salt/water. Jeffrey thought this was perfectly fun and messy. 

I've found a bunch of stuff that will take more time or consecutive days.  I've also pinned several outfits to help me piece together what I already have in my closet.  I feel that if I can keep this up, it will actually be a very useful tool.  Stay tuned ...

 

Three New Posts

I put up three new posts tonight on the dates they happened - so scroll down to read them all!

Hunter & Jeanine Get Hitched!

Our friends Hunter and Jeanine have been dating for like, 100 years and we were so excited when they got engaged! So we were thrilled when they asked Jeffrey to be their ring bearer and to add to the fun, Jeremiah was their photographer. 

HOW CUTE IS THIS?!?!?

Our day started at 3:00 with pictures. I realized while watching, that Jeffrey didn't quite understand that he was to do what was being asked of the group. A little talking to and he began doing great. We took a break from it all to go get a treat at Starbucks, came back and had dinner, and got lined up for the wedding.

Jeffrey's job was to walk a Pug down the aisle. I'm still not totally sure how the dog came into the mix, but he thought she was a very cute puppy and did a wonderful job holding the leash, controlling the dog, and getting it up on stage. There he stood with Seth for the entire HOUR. Yes, hour. I am so proud of how well he did. There are not many four year olds who can stand quietly for so long. Thankfully, Seth was with him and held him for a large part - giving Jeffrey's feet a break. (Note: Jeffrey has declared that he is never going to be in another wedding. Side note: Lisette is not on board with this plan.)

It also needs to be mentioned that my sweet baby girl sat through the entire cermony silently. I can't believe how incredible my kids were throughout this entire day. I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief when the ceremony was over. I quickly took Jeffrey to Target to pick out a job-incredibly-well-done toy and off to the reception we went.

 

I am pretty darn sure we were well over the occupancy capacity for the reception. It was so hot and so crowded and everyone was a sweaty mess, but it didn't stop anyone from dancing. And oh the dancing. The second the music started Jeffrey asked Jana to dance and he did not stop moving until the music ended to toast in the New Year. This kid danced with every girl there. People had him up on their shoulders, in the middle of dance circles, holding him, everything. I have never seen him happier. He had the best time. Even Juliet got in on the action as people took turns holding her out on the dance floor as well. 

The night began wrapping up with a toast/kiss at midnight. Since my husband was shooting the midnight kiss of the bride and groom, I got a kiss from my little boy instead. Then we headed outside to see the newlyweds off. We all lit sparklers and watched them drive away.  Jeffrey was pretty excited to be able to hold his very own sparkler.

By the time we got packed up and home, it was after 1:00 am. We stayed up long enough to give Jeffrey a treatment - he was an asthmatic mess from all the crazy dancing - and we all crawled into bed just before 2:00.  I don't think Jeffrey moved a single muscle all night. What a wonderful celebration it was. 

**More pictures will be added as Jeremiah gets them sorted and edited.

One Little Word

I got this from my friend Jessica several years ago, and although I am certainly not as thorough and diligent about it as she is, I've loved thinking about this concept and choosing a word for myself each year.

This past year I chose the word NEW. I feel I accomplished many new things, shared many new experiences, and visited many new places. Not to mention a new baby and a new full-time job in photography for Jeremiah.

This year, I am choosing the word CONTROL. I strongly desire to have a greater sense of control in all aspects of my life: my house, our budget, my body (workouts/running), my time, even my work load/schedule. I haven't totally worked through how I'm going to gain control of all these different areas, but I feel this year is the best year to begin this process. I've already started by setting up a budget I feel is attainable and I have an appointment with a trainer at the gym on Tuesday.  Good first steps, I feel.

So here's to a new year, a new word, and a new journey ...

7 Months Old

My baby girl is 7 months old already. 7 months. What in the world?! I have been completely remiss of staying on top of updating the blog and am am making a conscience effort to be better about this. The curse of being #2, right?

This little girl is the most content, happy, smiley, easy-going baby I've ever been around (and I've been around A LOT of babies). She wakes up in the best mood each morning and screeches and talks. She is happy to entertain herself with her toys but completely lights up when anyone comes into view.  She LOVES Jeffrey more than anyone. Their relationship is already incredibly special and I cannot wait to watch it continue to grow and develop.

At her 6 month baby-check (December 20th), she weighed in at 16 lbs 3 oz and was 26 1/2 inches long. She's healthy and strong and the doctor has no concerns about her or her development. She began waking up, demanding to eat every two hours since she turned 6 months - Dr. Bouressa referred to this as the "6 Month Wake-Ups" - he said this is incredibly typical as they hit a major growth spurt and separation anxiety sets in.

   

TRICKS: She is rolling all over the place. She began sitting all by herself on Christmas Eve. She grabs at everything and puts it all in her mouth. And I know this is going to sound crazy, but she has said, "Hi" clear as day several times in response to someone (Andrew) and to gain attention (Jeffrey). I thought I was going crazy and if she wasn't 7 months old there would be no question what she's said - but it was confirmed by several over the break that that was what I thought I heard.

FOOD: Oh, this girl. I have tried giving her so many different things and she refuses all of it: no sweet potatoes, oatmeal, carrots, cheerios, ... you name it. The only thing I've been able to get her to eat on a consistent basis are Mum-Mums (oh does she love her Mum-Mums). We tried formula, which she also refused. I finally bought a different kind, which fortunately, she will drink and just in the past two days was I able to get her to eat whole peas, scrambled eggs, and bread.  I guess this girl's palate is too good for baby food.

I so love this little girl. She is definitely a Mama's girl and prefers me to anyone else (which was so different than Jeffrey at this age). What a blessing she has been. 

First Trip to the Dentist

Our office administrator referred me to her daughter's dentist, Dr. Stapleton, a pediatric dentist in the area. Now that Jeffrey is four, I realized more that we were well overdue in having him seen. The whole experience was incredibly positive - starting with the letter they send before the appointment.

Jeffrey was pretty nervous on the way, but was quite distracted by the awesome waiting room. How fun was THIS? They also had a TV playing Finding Nemo. Fun.

The hygenist was awesome and started with "Show and Tell" - going through all of the equipment with Jeffrey and showing him how everything works and why she was going to use each thing.  His favorite was "Mr. Thirsty" the suction/vacuum tube they use to slurp up all his spit/water.

Jeffrey was polite, chatty, and answered all of the questions asked of him. I was so impressed with how well they explained everything to him at just his level without talking down to him. He was much more relaxed as this time went on.  Then came the cleaning.

He was pretty excited about the sunglasses and laid perfectly still.  After that was finished, he went in for x-rays. They were only able to get pictures of the front teeth as he started to gag when they tried putting the films in the back.

They said his teeth looked healthy and strong. Permanent teeth don't look too close, so we don't need to look for any wigglers any time soon (I lost my first teeth at 4 so I was curious about his.) We talked about how his frequent throwing up may impact his teeth and was glad to hear that it shouldn't cause any long-term effects (but we should be sure to rinse afterwards). They also asked that we begin flossing. Jeffrey is WAY into this and asks often if he can floss.  Jeffrey thought the visit was fine - how much can you love this at 4? I, however was thoroughly impressed with the entire experience. 

A Very Boise Christmas

It was my sister's turn to host Christmas so we packed up and headed to Boise. The kids were AMAZING travelers. Seriously. We could not have asked for better. Baby Girl slept for all but an hour or so and Jeffrey played, talked, and watched movies the entire way. We stopped twice and made it in 9 1/2 hours.  Not bad, I say.

We had a wonderful time as a family. Lots of games of Scrabble and Double Solitaire were played. Julie cooked amazing meals and the kids played and played. The rest is best said through pictures.

   

Within minutes of arriving, the boys had created their "City" and played with it daily throughout the visit.  I love that they are so willing to do this with/for Jeffrey.

We spent one afternoon at this fantastic place called JumpTime. A huge warehouse of trampolines and bouncy houses.  The boys were in heaven.

   

   

   

We stopped at Dutch Bros on the way home and Jeffrey was just a little excited about the amount of whip cream they gave him.

We made homemade pizzas for dinner on Friday.  Jeffrey thought this was just fantastic.

   

We stayed in Andrew's room, who had made it quite festive.

Christmas Eve day Jeremiah and I took the boys to the park to play in the 18 degree weather. Much fun was had by all.

  

We went to the Candlelight Service for Christmas Eve.

   

We had our traditional clam chowder/potato soup dinner, opened our jammie present, and watched Elf with popcorn and icecream.  One of my most favorite traditions.

Christmas morning brought the arrival of Santa and the boys had sorted/stacked everyone's gifts.  Jeffrey thought that coming down to a tower of presents was the coolest thing. But most importantly, it started with my dad reading the Christmas story from Luke 2 as he has every Christmas morning we've ever spent together. While my dad was reading the story, Jeffrey went and sat by Andrew and held his hand.  He loves Andrew oh so much.

   

There was also time spent trying to teach Baby to crawl.  Thankfully, it didn't work.

We hit the Day-After-Christmas sale at Target. My favorite. And because she finally learned to sit up, she can ride in the cart all by herself! FUN!

I walked into the family room one night and saw this. My heart just melted when I came upon this scene. They had been there for quite some time, just hanging out and talking cameras and technology. I love my family.

The morning before we left, Andrew made Juliet a little princess throne. He was quite proud of it. Clearly, she liked it, too.

Then on the drive home, I caught this. How sweet is this? I've said it a million times but boy do they love each other.

It was a very nice trip. The kids traveled so so well. The three boys played amazingly well and it was so great to get so many games in. A very very nice Christmas, indeed. 

Family Date, Gingerbread Houses, and Zany Zoo Pets

The boys voted to skip church and have Family Date instead. So we took our time getting up and ready and made it out to Bagel Sphere for a late breakfast (lunch?). We LOVE this place and it was so fun to go out as a family.

Juliet uses a full-size carseat, but I keep the car carrier we borrowed in the back of the car for grocery carts and restaurants. Knowing that she would fall asleep on the way, I put her in it from the start in hopes that she would stay asleep when we got there.  It worked perfectly. Oh how I wish her seat was so convenient.

After running to Old Navy to pick up some Christmas shirts/jammies, the kids and I headed to Lisette's while Jeremiah spent the day with Jeff.  Laurie had made gingerbread houses and made an extra for Jeffrey.  He had SO much fun decorating (and of course eating the candy). He was so proud of his house when he was finished and announced that he was going to be giving it to Daddy as a special surprise present.  So sweet.

  

When he was successfully sugared up and his house complete, Lisette and I took the kids over to Zany Zoo Pets.  Unfortunately we got there with only a few minutes left to hold the snakes and lizards, but fun was had nonetheless.

  

  

It was a very fun day. Jeffrey was exhausted by the time we got home. Can I say enough how much we love Lisette and that whole family?!? So much.  So so much. 

FOUR Adams

Jeff and Carrie were in town for a brief visit and came over for dinner Saturday night. It was so good to see them again and to meet Isabelle who came to this world September 1st.  She is beautiful and has the brightest blue eyes.  Jeffrey was very excited that they were coming and waited, watching at the window for them.  He did a wonderful job sharing with Gabriel and trying to engage him in as many things as possible.

As always, our time went too quickly. We may just need to go to Canada ourselves to grab a good chunk of time, but we are happy with any amount of time we can get with them.  Makes me realize each time how much we miss them.  Here's one last shot with the boys and their kids.

Trio Blocks

Vicki gave Jeffrey an early present - Trio Blocks. I had never heard of them before but she had said her grandson LOVED them. What a wonderful gift.  Jeffrey can't get enough. We have built everything in the manual and 100 other crazy things. They are so fun and bring out so much creativity.  We will definitely be adding to this collection.