Where's Micah?

Today I went to wake Micah from his nap because we had to drop off some things at the school and this was how I found him. 

It kind of scared me at first, but then I saw him move and since I had my phone on me I decided to take a picture. When I uncovered him he was snugly and soundly asleep under that blanket. I have found him this way before. I guess he just likes that softness on his face and will pull it up over his face all on his own. Funny thing is, he hated the fuzzy blanket at first. 

Beehive Campout

This past weekend our stake held a beehive Campout which was just for girls 12-14. Tessa got to go and was SO excited because they got to learn about and RIDE horses. That's always been a dream of hers.  In addition, they made crafts, had a campfire, and played games. Tessa had a wonderful time! One of the leaders is a photographer, so we got some awesome photos too!!!

Modge podging tissue paper on jars to make tea light holders. They turned out very pretty. 

They made roses out of patterned duct tape and taped it to the end of a pen and around the whole pen. It was cool. 

Tessa on the horse. 

Learning about horses

Tessa on the right horse

One of their awesome leaders and good friend of mine, Molly Cherrington

Having some good beehive fun!!  Tessa said it did rain on them several times in the night but that wasn't enough to get her down. :)

Cake!

Jesikah wanted a chocolate cake from Sam's club with chocolate whipped cream frosting!  That was her request.  This was the only one that they had that fit the bill, but she liked the yellow bow and polka dots.  Even eating it as a family, sharing it with company, and eating more, we still had to throw the last two pieces away after about a month because they were still around.  It was a BIG cake!  (and yes, I know because I am posting this a month later.)

Micah didn't get any cake, so decided to eat his tray instead. :)

Jesikah turns 15!

On August 13, Jesikah turned 13!  She had requested a shopping spree for her presents as Tessa had.  So, Eric and I took her to Opry Mills in Nashville as soon as she got home from school and we let her shop for what she wanted!  We went to dinner at the mall and had a good time shopping.  While we were gone, Alex took Jarem and Tessa and they went shopping for gifts for Jesikah.  When we got home, they all had gifts for her that they had purchased with their own money.  I was really proud of their thoughtfulness!

These were necklaces she picked out on our shopping spree at Forever 21

Necklaces close up

Alex holding up Micah...reminds me of Lion King

Alex and Micah

Jesikah and baby

Opening Tessa's gift

Alex gave her the bag of truffles next to the bag she is opening.

Her favorite: Peachie-o's

Card Tessa made

Jesikah was extremely excited about the baby lips

And she LOVED the nail polish colors!  She was amazed Tessa knew her SO well!

Big hugs for her sister

Hugs for Alex!  These two have been getting along great this school year!

A very sweet note from Jarem

Swedish fish from Jarem with note attached... :)

And Milky Way from Jarem

A hug for Jarem...(clothes from shopping on back of chair)

I think Jesikah had a great birthday!  I was really excited that she wanted a shopping spree because it is really hard to pick things out that she likes.  She has very specific tastes, but shopping with her is fun.

Micah's 6 Months

Yes, it has been 6 months already since this little guy was born and I can't believe it!  Some things that he can do now:

• Sit with support
• Turn over (still only belly to back)
• Say "dada"
• Sleep in his crib
• Eat solid food

A lot has happened this month for Micah.  He started his first solid food a little past 5 months.  He is a great eater, and he will eat anything that I give him so far.  He will even eat rice cereal plain, mashed potatoes (which none of my other kids would eat til later cause of the texture), and peas (in the baby food jar).  My other kids didn't like any of these.  

I was so excited when he started saying, "dada" even though I wanted him to say "mama" first.

He is still holding out of rolling from back to stomach.  He is capable, but unwilling.  As soon as he gets close, he quickly rolls back because he doesn't want to be on his tummy.  He hasn't figured out that he can just roll over like he always does anyway from his belly. :)

He moved to his crib this month.  About a week before he turned 6 months, I decided that his cradle was getting too small.  I had a dream that I woke up and he had pulled himself up on the side of the cradle and was looking at me as he was getting ready to fall out.  That was when I decided, he would be capable of moving too much soon and he shouldn't be in the cradle anymore.  It was a sad night the day we moved him out of our room and into his crib in Jarem's room.  I missed him and Eric did too.  He was never a problem in our room.  Anyway, he woke up 1-3 times per night for the first week, but by the end of the first week he was sleeping through the night and even longer than before.

He has become such a sweet, happy boy!  He is content most of the time.  He loves to play with toys and he loves his exersaucer.  He is content just laying on the floor playing or propped up playing with toys.

This month he has discovered his toes.  He loves to play with his toes and even eat them.

The week that he turned 5 months, he popped through his first tooth!  Everyone was surprised, but especially me!  I didn't expect that for quite some time.  Then, on his 6 month birthday, he got his second tooth, so he now has his two front bottom teeth.  He has been pretty good about not biting while nursing.  He tries not to, but sometimes he forgets. OUCH!

He still loves music.  It calms him down in the car and he loves it when I sing songs to him.  I sing him lots of fun songs and he loves that.

This is Micah's new facial expression.  We call it the turtle look cause he sucks in his lips like a turtle.

 I liked this picture cause his hand was up next to his face giving him a look like he was posing.

 This is one of his excited looks

Micah trying to engage in conversation

This is what he does when he's really excited. 

Another thoughtful look

The next few shots I got close-ups to show off his two teeth:

 He can now sit with support, but I wanted to get this picture without anything behind him which he can do for only a few seconds so I had one of the kids next to him on "catch him if he falls" duty.  He was getting tired by this point in the photoshoot so he has the sleepy look. :)

One of his favorite toys...his daddy hopes it stays that way! :)

First Day of School

Well, it's that time of year again!  It has come around way too quickly this time.  I think I have enjoyed having my kids home for the summer this year more than ever before.  They are easy and enjoyable to be with for the most part.  We have had fun conversations and they are a big help with Micah.

Today is their first half day of school.  Alex is a senior!!  I am already feeling sad that he will be leaving soon. :(  Jesikah is a freshman!  She is pretty nervous about her first year of high school, but I know she will do great!  It will be fun to have two in high school.  I really am enjoying the high school years with Alex and Jesikah already.  I have seen Alex and Jesikah's relationship grow already as they have been talking about high school things and friends they have in common.  It is so exciting to see them starting to develop a real friendship!  The same thing happened last year with both girls being in middle school together.  I LOVE seeing my children learn to love and value each other.

Tessa is in 7th grade this year.  She will be alone at the middle school this year, but she doesn't seem to mind and is usually excited for school.

Jarem will be a 3rd grader this year.  He was excited to meet his teacher last night at the open house.  Her name is Mrs. Berger and she just moved from Ohio.  She is fresh out of college!  This is her first teaching job.  I am a little concerned about her because of her being a first year teacher and I remember what that was like!  I had a lot of great ideas and was super excited about teaching, but the discipline was a real challenge.  I think it is the same for most teachers starting out.  I hope things will go smoothly for him this year.  He doesn't have any friends in his class, but hopefully he will make new friends and be happy.

With the pictures, I tried to get one picture of the whole outfit and one closer up one of each child cause I know how important the "whole" outfit is. :)  I had a lot of fun shopping for back to school clothes with the kids.  I love the program we have where they pay for half of their clothes.  It makes them so much more careful about the price and whether it is really worth the price.  I was very proud of their frugal, yet stylish selections.  I never have to tell them anything is too expensive anymore.  If they are willing to pay half, I will too because they are always careful about what they spend.

 Jesikah wanted Sperry's shoes really bad, but when she saw they were $83.95, she decided it wasn't worth it.  I asked the lady in Journey's for other less expensive recommendations and she suggested Journey's Kids.  We went there and she found the SAME shoes for $53.95 cause they were kids sizes but they go up to women's size 8!!  She was VERY excited and got them.  She's been working hard this summer babysitting for a lady in our ward who is a beautician.  It's been great for her to earn her own money.

 Alex has gotten so tall.  He is 6 foot 1 inch now.  He has been working this summer on building muscles.  He has a pull-up bar in his room and has done lots of push-ups and other things too.  He is a working boy now.  He has been working at Zaxby's all summer and will continue into the school year.  He has been SO responsible about always being to work on time and doing a good job.  He has been saving 70% of his earnings for his mission.  He's saved almost $1000 this summer.  We are really proud of him.  For him, it is all about shoes and jackets, so his shoes are the most important part of his outfit. :)

 Tessa had a pretty laid back summer.  She didn't earn much money, but she did take care of our neighbor's cat for 10 days and earned a whopping $50!  She and Jarem have had a lot of time together to play this summer.

I included this picture because Jesikah wanted some jeans with the sparkly pockets, but couldn't find any for a reasonable price!  She finally found these on clearance and was SO happy.  Her outfit wouldn't be complete without the sparkly pockets!

Jarem got to leave about 1 hour and 1/2 later than the other kids.  He had a pretty strong opinion about what clothes he liked this year and he actually wanted to try things on.  

 While we were shopping one day, he found this Adidas athletic shirt that he really liked.  It said size 8 but looked really small.  I told him I thought it was too small, but he still wanted to try it on.  I said ok.  When he finally came out of the dressing room 15 minutes later, I asked him what took so long.  He said, "It took me 10 minutes to pull that shirt off cause it wouldn't come off my head!"  I thought it was pretty funny.  Needless to say, he didn't get that one. :)

Now it is just Micah and I at home.  I think I am going to enjoy having the little guy home with me this year.