She's on the move!

It has happened! One of the defining moments in a baby's life - Sariah is crawling. We finally caught it on video and she's getting so good at it! Before we know it, she'll be walking. We now have a 6 month old who is crawling and has 3 teeth. A new adventure has just begun.


As on many nights, Sariah and I were over at my parent's house because Jared had class. Parker and Kendall were singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" to Sariah. Parker is talking so well and is getting so big! He's going to be such a great big brother when Kendall has her baby this summer!

I hate logic games

Thanks to my lovely sister-in-law, I wasted time (I'm not going to admit how much!) by trying to figure out this logic game. Once you get it, it feels like a major victory! The instructions are the funniest part of it...Good luck!!! http://freeweb.siol.net/danej/riverIQGame.swf

Everything is in Japanese, so here’s what you have to do:

Everybody has to cross the river, but there are rules:

1. Only 2 people on the raft at a time.

2. The father can not stay with any of the daughters without their mother’s presence (or he will beat them).

3. The mother can not stay with any of the sons without their father’s presence (or she will beat them).

4. The thief (striped shirt) can not stay with any family member if the Policeman is not there.

5. Only the Father, the Mother and the Policeman know how to operate the raft.

6. To start click on the big blue circle on the right.

7. To move the people click on them. To move the raft click on the handle.

What do you get...

When you combine 7th grade boys (because the girls have a special day on the ropes course), tape, labels of the bones of the body, and ask them to label each other? Very very funny guesses, arguments about where the bones actually are, and 7th grade boys covered in pieces of paper taped all over their bodies!

Only at the doctor's office...

We went to the doctor today! This means that the doctor will ooooo and awwwww over how well this little girl is doing, and then poke her 4 times. I can dissect anything you ask me to...but I absolutely cannot watch my sweet baby girl get her shots.

Funny story. Sariah usually wakes up from her afternoon nap around 3 or 3:15. We had a doctor's appointment at 3:30, so I woke her up at 2:45 so I could feed her and then run to the doctor. As we're driving, she poops. No big deal...I'll change her when we get to the doctor's office. I sign us in, Jared meets us there, and we're taken back to the room. As I stick my hands under the waist band to pull down her drawers, I feel gooeyness. Warm gooeyness. Um....ew. I knew then that she had a major explosion. Our daughter NEVER explodes. She has only once and that was at the babysitter's two weeks ago. I couldn't believe it! I pulled off her pants and saw her mess...it was all over her back, down her legs, and around her tummy. Cleaning her wasn't the tricky part...it was getting her onesie over her head!!! Yeah, try getting a poop-soaked onesie over a baby's head without yucking her all up. Very difficult. Somehow, we managed. I used dozens of wipes trying to clean her up, but we managed. Thankfully, I had JUST put in an extra onesie in the diaper bag that afternoon. Needless to say, she got an extra long bath tonight!

Here's the scoop! She's 15 pounds, 3 ounces...right on track in the 50th percentile. She's still LONG! 90th percentile for that one. Then again...little head, 25th percentile. People are always commenting on how little she is for her age. Trust me...she's not little. She has a very petite head with petite features which makes her look small. Tricky girl!

Here's our favorite girl with her new war wounds. If you can't tell, she's singing "STOP! In the name of love!"

Toe Jam...

It always amazes me how flexible babies are. Sariah's new thing is as soon as the diaper comes off, her legs swing up and her toes are in her mouth! Wouldn't life be fun if we were all this flexible?

6 months old

On January 16, our little girl was 6 month old. She continues to be the light of our lives. This is what life is all about.

Here are the amazing things she can do!

* Sit up

* Crawl backwards...still working on the forward motion!

* Has 2 teeth

* Starting to talk

* Eating 2 meals a day of cereal and fruit/veggies

* Starting to drink from a sippy cup during meals

We love our little girl more than words can describe. She also has her 6 month check-up tomorrow, which means more shots. Updates to come!



Here is a cute video of her playing with a book, and it ended up on her back.

Newest family member!

Well, all of the Wilkes' are now married. Courtney got married on December 28 and we are so excited to be sharing an anniversary with her! It was neat because Jared and I got married on the same day (even the same day of the week), same sealing time and the same sealing room 6 years ago. There wasn't another place we would rather have been than in the same place, at the exact same time on our anniversary. Congratulations to both Courtney and Matt. If you look at these two, they just look like they belong together. Matt's family is awesome and Courtney is now one of their own! Don't worry, Matt...we like you too. Courtney has never been so happy or so in love. Matt is very lucky to have her.

The ENTIRE Wilkes/Porter Family:


The entire Wilkes Family:


The 3 Wilkes girls (who are now Loomis, Porter, and Franklin girls):


Our little Franklin Family:


My beautiful parents:


And the two lovebirds!

Corona's sneakiness continues...

I honestly think Corona thinks Sariah is her puppy. Corona will lay on the floor and "protect" Sariah during tummy time (which is becoming crawling time). Corona will lick her every chance she gets...and continues to steal her toys. I was sitting on the couch one afternoon feeding Sariah her bottle, when I saw Coronal quietly come into the room. She walked over to Sariah's toys, picked out her favorite lion, and took it outside to lay with it. Here is the toy on her pillow. If only her toys could talk!

Only 1 reason to go to ILLINOIS in JANUARY...

And it sure isn't because of the weather! Yes, folks, that is 16 degrees. And that was a warm day!


We got to spend New Year's with Jared's family in Illinois. It was so wonderful to get back and see his siblings and family. It was so cold, our doors froze shut! Thankfully, Jared grew up in that kind of weather and knew just what to do...pour a cup of hot water on the door, open it very quickly, and turn on the car for 30 minutes and let the entire thing defrost. Sariah got to see some family members that she had never met, and we had family pictures taken. As soon as we get those, we'll be sure to post them.

Here is our lovely little girl with her lovely Aunt Tracy:


Here she is with her Uncle Doug:


There's only 1 thing that will get Grandfather Franklin to get on the floor, and that's to play with his little granddaughter:



Doug & Sandy...if you're reading this, I don't have pictures of Sandy with the baby! I thought we took some but I can't find them. Email me one and I'll be sure to get it up on here.

We sure had a lot of fun and were blessed with safety and the pleasure of being with Jared's lifelong best friend, Scott...even when they went sledding. Here are the boy getting ready for the big trip:


I went, too, and had about 5 layers of clothing on. We had a blast!