Our 7 Year Old

Today was Alexa's 7th birthday. Wow. Seven years ago today, Alexa was born and absolutely changed our lives. I remember getting ready to leave the hospital and thinking, "You mean they just help us to our car and let us leave with her?? Then what?" We lived just down the street from the hospital in Provo... it took us about a minute to drive home. We brought her in the house in her carseat, set her down and just stared at her. Over the next two and a half years, Alexa was my little shadow. It was so much fun seeing her reach each new milestone and spending time with just her. It's an experience you only get to have with a first child and I cherish that. Your life truly gets turned upside down by a baby, doesn't it? It's not always easy, but the good times always outweigh the bad. Alexa is amazing. She is determined, independent, brilliant, and loving. She is always willing to help with the younger kids when I ask her to. I love watching her read books to her younger sisters. The three of them will sit on her bed , one on either side of her, and she will read book after book to them. She is a great big sister and we are so blessed to have her in our home.
Alexa has been celebrating her birthday for a few days. Sunday we had dinner at Aunt Michelle's with cake, ice cream and pie for dessert. On Monday we had dinner with friends, the West's, and celebrated again with dessert, candles, and more singing.
Today, on the actual day, we took doughnuts to school for her treat. We opened presents after school. This is a new Webkinz from Aunt Andrea. I think she named it Fluffy because it was so soft....

And this dog, which she named Daisy, was the hit of the day. I dread the thought of having a puppy and Alexa has been begging. She even checks out books at school on how to care for dogs so she will know how someday. Ugh. So, enter Daisy. She makes noises, lifts her head, looks around, opens and closes her eyes. Great. Problem solved. We can move on with our lives.
This is the girls with our friends, Natalie, Meagan and Shane, who came to drop off a gift for Alexa and joined in our festivities.

Alexa told me it was a great day. She was happy with her gifts, happy with her day at school, and the weather was beautiful today, so we spent the evening outside playing.
7 years old... how did that happen?! I think I may be getting old....

Oh, Leah...

This is what happens when your two year old takes it upon herself to get a box of Kleenex out of the linen closet to wipe her runny nose. She, of course, hid under her blankets when Callie came to tell me and promised that she did NOT make this mess. What am I going to do with her?? Serves me right for trying to raise self reliant children... and for buying extra large boxes of Kleenex.

Nine Months

I can hardly believe it's been nine months since Quinten was born. I know I always say this, but time passes so quickly!! It goes by much faster than I expect it to. I can't decide if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Maybe a little of both, I guess. Quinten had his check-up last week: 17lbs. 8oz. Still only in the 8th % for his weight, but he's big compared to what the girls were! And, shock of all shocks- the kids somehow managed to make into the 53rd % for his height. I'm sure it won't last, but it was fun to see that he is normal in some respect for size. :)
Quinten is an absolute joy to be around. He is almost always happy and smiling. He rarely complains about anything, even with three older sisters who are constantly in his face. He just smiles at them and pulls their hair if they get too close. They love to make him laugh and it's so easy to do! He has the happiest disposition. About a month ago, he finally decided to sit up on his own. His problem is that he'd rather be standing, so when you put him in sitting position, he arches his back and crashes to the floor. He still does it now, even though he is completely capable of sitting. He rolls like a maniac to get to where he wants to go; still not crawling, and I'm OK with that. I'm happy to let him take his time and figure it out on his own. We are still waiting for teeth to come in; I guess he will take after Leah and Callie, who didn't get teeth till they were a year old. Quinten has recently decided that baby food gags him, so we got rid of all of it and are only working at table foods. It makes it a little more difficult to find things he can eat, but I'm happy to be done with one more baby stage. In the last two weeks, Quinten has finally decided to sleep through the night. IT'S ABOUT TIME. The funny thing is that I've spent so many years of my life waking up because of uncomfortable pregnancies, newborns, sick kids, etc. that I still wake up at least twice every night to listen and make sure everyone is OK. My body just seems to do it without my mind's permission... or maybe it's the other way around. What would you guess that will never go away??
Quinten is truly a blessing to have in our home. We are so grateful for him! He is just the cutest and the best.

We moved Quinten into a big carseat in January. I was so tired of lugging his infant carrier around. He loves sitting up and especially loves looking at his big sisters in the back seat.

Quinten got a Valentine from his cousin, Quinn. He laughed and smiled when we gave it to him...

Then he promptly ate it.

Quinten loves balls. If he can see anyone throwing a ball, he laughs hysterically. It's so much fun entertaining him because he is so easily entertained!

Isn't he just the cutest??