Month in Review: Part II

EMMA




Now 10 months old, she properly crawls (not pulling herself by her arms), cruises, pulls herself up on everything and then gently letting herself back down.  We have now moved on to mostly finger foods, although I do have a few complex food purees still in the freezer that I will bust out every now and then.
She waves and says (in her own way) “hi” and “bye” and has started to do the sign for “all done” at the end of meals.  She babbles all of the time, talking to herself all day long; Elliott and I think she will be an even earlier talker than the others.

She is getting another two teeth, bringing her total to six teeth.  And she knows how to use them, so be warned!

She loves bathtime but has started to like standing up just as much as sitting down.  She keeps you busy when you are watching her in the tub.

She is continually thrilled to play with her sisters and she and Piper are best buds.  It is so sweet to see that relationship blossoming.

Toward the end of the month Emma picked up a nasty little tummy bug.  Although not severe, it was enough to stick around for over a week, making her lethargic and clingy.  It was difficult for her to keep food and drink down.  Needless to say, it was a long week.  Finally on day seven, Elliott and I were worried about her being dehydrated, so we went to see a doctor out of our insurance network, the only one who would give a 10-month old an IV.  Turns out she wasn’t as bad off ass we thought, but I buckled down and fed her via eyedropper every 5 minutes to try and keep the fluids in her (she didn’t like that too much).  By day nine she was perking up and our smiley, giggle girl was back.  Boy, were we happy to see her again!

ELLIOTT


Elliott’s in the midst of his busy summer work season, working many late nights.  But when he is home he has been keeping busy in the garden, keeping the weeds and pests at bay.  We’ve had more trouble with bugs this year than last, but we are trying to stay on top of the leaf miners and spider mites.

He is still my chauffer on Saturday mornings for garage sales, but he has been picking up a few treasures himself; he snagged a jogging stroller a few weeks ago in the hopes he could take a child with him during his exercise time.

He has been finding new uses for his Smartphone everyday (his new hobby).  The latest fun app is from Zillow, which shows him which houses are for sale in the area where you are and for how much; he likes to log on and look at places in the neighborhoods we visit while garage saling.

Elliott had a fun Fathers Day weekend.  We dropped the girls at a babysitter and I took him to the movies (his choice : Prometheus), shopping at Kohls for some new clothes, and dinner (I even made cake balls for him at home).  On Sunday he made it out to the golf course to hit a bucket of balls. Ahhh, the good life!

SARAH

I have been trying to get some lingering projects finished around the house, all of which seem to require finances (don’t they always?).  So I have been opting to focus my allowance on projects rather that garage saling as hard-core as usual (though it doesn’t stop me entirely).  I changed up the fabric in the dining room to something a little more colorful and bolder – which makes me enormously happy.  I am trying to finish up the last bits in Emma’s room and am seeing a vision come together for the master bedroom, helped along by some lamp bases I stumbled across at Lowes last week.

When we got back from our vacation to Missouri I tried to start eating better and have been doing fairly well.  The last week I have been cheating a little bit, but for the most part I have cut out processed grains and sugars, sticking with salads for lunch, homemade granola for breakfast and simple foods for dinner, such as a chicken breast and grilled veggies.  The results are showing, slowly but surely, and the scale is showing a lower number than I have seen in years.  The way my clothes fit are still not as relaxed as I would like, but I am focusing on a trying to maintain a lifestyle, not a weight.

I had an exam with X-rays at a chiropractor I frequent and am sad to say my neck is in bad shape.  The neck is supposed to have a curve to it while mine shows a perfectly straight line, with disc degeneration.  Well, the doctor says it is reversible with frequent weekly visits (3x per week for a few months) and some at-home work. The catch is the price tag, which is not covered by insurance and as much as I agree with the doctor, we just don’t have it right now.  So I am going to try and get by and when we are more settled in life, maybe next year with our FSA monies, we’ll revisit the subject. I have also been to see our general practitioner for an adult well-check, and though I have not received my blood results back yet, I am curious to see how my cholesterol levels and such are measuring.  He even told me I don’t need to lose as much weight as I thought (less than 10 pounds) based on my BMI.  That’s nice news to have!|

I signed up to attend another Wednesday morning Bible Study over the summer, which the girls are enjoying too as they have fun playing at church.  We are reading Jesus+Nothing=Everything. It’s really awesome!

I attended the Utah Homeschool Convention Curriculum Fair the beginning of the month in Provo, gathering lots of great info and picking up a few pieces for the coming year.

I signed up for church nursery duty every third Sunday of the month, helping out with my friend Nikki.  It was fun last month and I am looking forward to more.

FAMILY SUMMER FUN

The girls have been keeping busy riding bikes and scooters out front this past month (I picked up a few more scooters at garage sales cause we never seem to have enough or they break).  And based on their level of outdoor activity, the younger three have been consistently napping in the afternoon, which is pretty awesome for mommy I have to tell you.

I have been trying to be the “fun mom” this summertime, planning in activities and treats as we can fit them in.  Though we haven’t been doing as much as I had penciled in on the calendar.  We have fit in a few trips to Provo for visits to grandma’s (of course), a visit to the Beane Museum (lots of animals on display, the girls loved it!), the BYU Paleontology Museum (like I said the girls are really into dinosaurs right now), ice cream comes at The Creamery, and playing with their little friends on grandma’s street.


One Friday I took the girls up to Salt Lake City to drop some stuff off at Rachel’s.  Then I took my niece Rose with us to Liberty Park, where I put Rose in the stroller, Emma in the Moby Wrap, and the other three walked. I have to admit, we did get some looks – most of them admiring and probably some thinking I was crazy. Ha ha ha!  Well, we walked around a bit, popped into the Utah Folk Crafts Museum (with five little girls, why not?) and then the girls waded in the little water feature they have at the park.  On the way back Ava had Rose rolling with laughter in the car and Rachel was able to get a break and get some stuff done.

I have also been taking the older two girls to Tuesday morning kids shows at the movie theater.  I swap with Nikki, taking her 4 year old Savannah and trading her my two little ones.  We’ve been having a good time, though sometimes Lily and Savannah get tired halfway through and want go home.  Oh well, par for the course.  Nikki and use the time to trade date night swapping, since her hubby is off on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so they go out to lunch afterwards while I hold down the fort and she does the same for me on Saturdays with Elliott.  It’s awesome!