Memories

I feel kind of bad I've never followed up on the tag things, thinking I didn't want to take the time to do it and nobody would want to take the time to read it. So I feel a little sheepish starting now, but I so enjoyed reminiscing on Bek, Tara, and Sarah's blogs that I had to do my own. So here it is...

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you have of Nate, me, or our family. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

The cutest 2 month old baby...in Sam's opinion, and mine

Gabriella was 2 months on the 22nd and is doing so good. I have loved having a sweet little newborn to snuggle again, especially since I escaped colic this time. Of course she has days that she's fussy and nights that she doesn't sleep as good as usual, but overall Gabriella has been such a good baby; I am so grateful. I think this is the first good smile I've caught on camera. I could spend hours smiling back and forth with her. Love it! She was 12 lb 2 oz (65 percentile) and 23 inches long (55 percentile) at her check-up.

My Sam Sam

Sam holding the Tarantula at the fair!

Sammy is such a sweet, tender-hearted little boy. Gabriella had her 2 month check-up the other day and had to get immunizations. All morning before we left for the appointment, Sam and Natalie kept telling Gabriella sorry she was going to get shots. So after she got the shots and I was holding her, I looked over at Sam and he had tears streaming down his cheeks. Then later that day I had laid Gabriella down after she fell asleep in my arms and went to help Natty go down for her nap. As soon as I left Ella, she woke up and started screaming, but soon stopped. When I went back in, I saw that she had stopped because Sam was laying next to her kissing her cheek and talking softly to her. Her eyes were closed, but she kept turning her head more towards his kiss, then fell right back asleep. It was way cute. Sam can definitely be too much, but he can also be the sweetest big brother!

kiddo update

NATALIE

• she was running the other day and said "when me run, my cheeks chubby." I thought it was funny that I could totally relate to that feeling, but had never put it in words before.
• she has a little keychain notebook she's been carrying around and reading her own stories out of, or having us read her a story out of it (the pages are blank, so you create the story as you go). One time after Nate had been playing and giving all of us 'Indan burns', she read in her notebook "Daddy likes to play with us and be grouchy to us."
• Natalie ALWAYS wants to watch "Natty movies" (home videos). I have to try to limit or else we would be watching the same 3 home videos every day.
• she says "me guys" for us
• A while ago, Sam coined the term "Book of Mormon one" when two 'life' cereal squares were stuck together, now Natalie uses that term for any 2 things stuck together, or she says "two da two" or "double doubles."
• She's been taking tupperware lids out of the drawer and using them for phones. She'll put them up to her ear and carry on a pretty good one ended conversation, that sounds just like she's on the phone with Caity or Grandma or whoever.
• We've been loving our garden. Our peas are now gone, but the best part of the garden was picking the peas and singing our "pickin' peas" song that we got from a library book. Natty was an avid pea picker and singer for a while there, and even Sam who had stopped liking peas got into it.
• Natalie and Sam both talk about the "bad cat" (a stray that eats Licorice's food) all the time and like to set up traps for it - a pile of rocks in front of the door, a bungee cord tied from the door handle to the stoller, etc.
• Natalie told me recently "If you die and Daddy dies and Sammy dies, then I sit in the baby swing" (since she's not allowed to sit in there). Then she said "so die Mommy." Oh thanks Natty!
• Lately, Natalie has been putting her hands over her eyes when she's doing something naughty. For example, Gabriella will be laying in her bouncer and Natalie will sneakily go over to her with her hands over her eyes - obviously that makes it so I can't see that she's about to pick up the baby without help or something similar. Or, she'll come out of the bedroom after she's been put to bed with her hands over her eyes, take some candy (the little stinker has taken candy from the checkout isle 3 times now!), etc.
• I playfully told Natalie I was going to bite her ears off and she replied "you can't bite 'em all the way off because them plastic."

SAM

• Samuel is obsessed with fishing. He wants to fish every day, and could stay for forever when Nate takes him. It's pretty cute to me, maybe because I'm such a boring person that has never really been passionate about any sport or activity.
• It's so fun to watch his progress towards learning to read and write. He still has a long way to go, but is doing really well. The other day our home teacher was telling us the name of a band his brother was in was muk, M-U-K. Sam left the room and a few minutes letter came back with MUK written on a paper.
• Samuel could watch tv all day long if I let him. One day he had already used up all his tv time, and I was listing off things he could do. After listening to my ideas, he said "you forgot one thing. It's a box....that you watch stuff on." Clever little kid!
• Sam still goes through phases when he's really scared to go into the bathroom himself. Now instead of Natalie accompanying him, we shout Marco and Polo back and forth to eat other so he knows we're still in the kitchen or wherever. It gets kind of old yelling Polo back to him 20 times before he's done going potty, but it works and is pretty funny.
• Neither Sam or Natalie like to be told they are grouchy. So, often they will get in fights telling the other they are grouchy and insisting they are not grouchy themselves.
• When Emmy came home from Taiwan, she commented on what good reasoning skills Sam has after watching him be told 'no' by me or Natalie a couple of times and then bargaining a solution. He really does, and I think it's so fun to see his little mind working.
• In order to go jogging during the weekdays at all, I have Sam ride his bike while I push the girls. The other day, instead of riding his bike, he jogged with me. He was such a trooper and kept going for quite a while.
• When the Sunmaid raisin commercial came on, Sam flipped off the tv and finished the commercial word for word, then turned the tv back on to watch his show.

Swan Valley Idaho Trip

We had lots of fun spending a week in Idaho with all of Nate's family. Camping (just Nate and Sam - the Hulses were so kind to let me stay in their house so I didn't have to stay in a tent with my 7 week old baby), fishing, rafting, boating, swimming, eating, playing. So good to spend time with the extended family. Thanks everybody, especially Jared and Lisa and Terry and Diane. All loaded up, finally, and ready for the big drive. It looks like these two are scowling at each other, but they were actually smiling a second before I snapped the photo.

Natalie got in the little pool in her clothes probably once a day, this time right after we had put her tennis shoes on as well. I told her I wasn't going to take them right back off since she chose to get them wet, so she asked TJ for help :)

Gabriella put Daddy to sleep in the hammock

The kids LOVED the zipline!

The Birthday spanking line for uncle Mike

Gabriella's Baby Blessing

Sweet little sleepy baby. She slept right through the blessing and almost the whole time family and friends were over afterwards for lunch. Nate gave her a wonderful blessing, and it was a great day. I loved having a summer baby blessing this time so we could be outside, and I love our shade trees!
Sammy the photographer took this one.

Homecomings

Nate's parents came home from their year and a half mission to Johanesburg, South Africa, AND my sister Emily came home from Taiwan after teaching English there for over a year. It's been so fun to see all of them!Aunt Emmy meeting her new little niece Gabriella!

Sammy and the cousins holding the Welcome Home sign for Grandma and Grandpa at the airport.