2 hotdogs, 1 whole apple, 3 chicken nuggets, 1/4 C. soy beans, and 1 whole PB&Honey later...

She crashed.

(And that was only for lunch. Nevermind the adult-portion of oatmeal, 2 scrambled eggs shared with her cousin, 2 cups of milk, 1 entire banana, yogurt, and cookie she had prior to her lunch.)

((She must be growing.))

5 Months

James is 5 months old! And guess what? He's been waking up in the night, something he rarely does. I think it's time to start some rice cereal. Going to the store this afternoon, and it's on my list!

We haven't really gotten him to belly laugh yet, but this is as close as it gets for the moment!


He is SO SMILEY! So happy, so content, still so mellow.



After playing, he got so tuckered out that he fell asleep right in the middle of the floor (among the commotion of Sariah and Emerson, mind you!):


We love you, our sweet son. Always.

Honey Wheat Rolls - First Try

I got her recipe to try homemade rolls. They looked SO good on her blog! I thought "I can do this."

Made the dough (yes, I cheated and used my KitchenAid. That's what happens when you have 3 kids under 3 in the house!):


I rolled them into balls and let them rise:



But somehow, they didn't turn out like hers. Maybe it's because she's been doing them for years and years and years?

Here's my finished product:


My other half said they tasted great!

They were moist and sure yummy when warm, if I do say so myself.

But, they seemed a little dense to me. Heavy, thick, if you will. They weren't dry, but they weren't light and fluffy like dinner rolls should be. Oh, and they were HUGE. I'll definitely make them smaller next time.

At least I didn't kill the yeast. =)

I'll try again. And I'll try homemade bread, and whole wheat pancakes, and lots of other yummy things using my food storage. I better learn to use it!

4 Months

Dear Sweet Baby James,

You are 4 months old!! Well, you're actually 4.5 months old, but who's really keeping track anyhow? =)

You are SO LONG. 100th %. Yup, that's long.

You are the perfect weight. 14 pounds, 2 ounces. 50th %.

And, you have a sweet little head. 25th %. This is very deceiving because you look like you're so little, when you're really not. You just have a small head!

You are so content. You'll let anyone hold you, you'll play on the floor for quite a while, and you don't really cry. You whine more than cry, but it's a cute whine. You're so good in church, and you everyone always says "I've never once heard him fuss."

You already have your 2 bottom teeth, which isn't fair. You're not supposed to grow up this fast. I know you're supposed to grow up, but I want you to be little just for a little while longer, ok?

Everyone is still amazed at how much hair you have. And when you smile at them, they are greeted by your handsome dimples. Your eyes have turned very dark green and brown, and are just as beautiful as can be.

You are very patient with your sister. You let her change your diaper, and try to give you your pacifier. You love watching her dance and be silly, and smile so big when she's around you.

You are mellow, sweet, very thoughtful, and an amazing addition to our family. Your daddy and I love you so much, and are so excited to watch you grow up and learn new things. But not too fast, you hear?


NOTE: Sariah couldn't miss out on all the fun of her brother getting his picture taken, now could she? She jumped right in and started posing.

Big Fat Jog

Flash back to December 1999. I was hit by a car. Not in a car, but WALKING across the street. I was hit. Not too much damage done - just a broken leg, an ankle that needed some repair, and a nasty black eye (well...the whole right side of my face, actually). The doctors in the ER said over and over again how I should not have survived that night. Well, I did. No damage. I didn't even black out - I remember it all. The cold pavement, moving my limbs to see what was broken, the sexy EMT cutting off my pants to get to my broken leg. All ingrained in my memory.

All of the damage was done on the right side of my body, because that's where I was hit. Somehow, my left knee was damaged, too. Actually, a whole chunk of the knee is missing. Like someone just scooped it out. I'll eventually have to have the knee replaced, but for now, it's fine. Well...it WAS fine.

Flash forward to 1 week ago. I started having pain in my left knee, and I knew it was due to the fact that I've been jogging and training for this 5k. It was annoying at first, enough to where I couldn't jog on it. I had my doctor check it out this morning.

Her words were: "Amber, you are doing great with your training. Keep it up! But, not until you lose 20 more pounds. Right now, because your knee is fragile, you are still too heavy to jog. It's nothing to worry about, and nothing that needs to be fixed. Your knee will be fine. Keep walking, but no jogging until you lose 20 more pounds."

*Sigh*

Thankfully, I love my doctor. She tells me like it is, but with a smile on her face. My feelings weren't hurt, and I appreciated her taking a look at it.

So to my 5k - I'll have to put you on hold. I was looking forward to beating you, but that will have to wait for 20 more pounds to be gone off this body. There will be another one, and I WILL BEAT YOU.

Even more reason to keep going, right??

It's a good thing...

...that I love my kids.

...that I love my husband.

...that it was the end of the day, both kids in their jammies and on my lap.

...that Jared was getting the scriptures for a quick 30-second scripture (because that's about all miss wiggle-worm can handle).

...that we are a family.

The Frog Prince

Sariah's new favorite books are a series about Princesses. This is actually quite funny because she's not a princess. She doesn't play dress-up, she doesn't want dolls, and she doesn't watch princess movies (except Cinderella - and that's because she loves the evil cat).

So when we were given "Do Princesses Really Kiss Frogs" as a gift, I was completely taken back when she fell in love with it. We read it almost every day, and she loves hopping around the house like a frog. We also discovered the books "Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?", and "Do Princesses Scrape Their Knees?" So cute, and fun!

Flash forward to a couple of weeks ago when I asked Sariah what she wanted to be for Halloween. She said she wanted to be a princess. What?? Alright - weird, but alright. She also said that she wanted James to be a frog.

Yes, the princess did kiss the frog.

And no, she wanted NOTHING to do with her tutu that was made for her. Instead, she went in sweatpants. *sigh* Independence.

(What's even more silly is that I almost said that she couldn't go to the party unless she put her tutu on. What was I thinking???)

Here's our true princess - you know, the kind that wear sweat pants and sparkly shoes!



And our sweet little frog prince:



Some of the grand kids that went trick-or-treating in my parent's neighborhood:




Me with the kids:



After the party, my prince (who sported a U of A t-shirt) dropped our little prince and I off at home, and he dashed off with his little princess to the ward's Trunk-or-Treat. How I love him for taking her there, so I could send our babe off to dreamland. How I love him, no matter what.