Not so Chunky Anymore

Maddie had her 4 month checkup today. It looks like our little monkey isn't so chunky anymore. She is 24 1/2 inches long (58th percentile) and 14 lbs, 6 oz (54th percentile). Her head, on the other hand, measured in the 75th percentile (it runs in the family).

Both kids got shots today: Maddie, her scheduled vaccinations, and Isaac, a flu shot. There was a lot of initial crying but by this afternoon they were doing much better.

Our Little 'Mammie'

"Mammie" is what Isaac calls his baby sister. For some reason he can pronounce "Addie" (his cousin) clear as day, but he refuses to call his sister anything but "Mammie." As a result, we all call her "Mammie." We are so happy to have little Mammie in our home. Since she is four months old today, I thought I would write a little bit about how she's doing.

Maddie Loves:

-Being outside

-Attention from ANYONE, but especially her dad and her brother

-Eating

-Taking (warm) baths

Maddie Hates:

-Being hungry (she gets that from me)

-Bath water that isn't warm enough (home girl can scream if it's even a little bit chilly)

-Taking naps when she is overly tired--she sort of freaks out if I miss the window of opportunity and put her down to take a nap when she's too tired. The good thing is that she is usually too exhausted to cry for more than a couple of minutes. Since Maddie has learned to roll from her back to her tummy, she has somehow forgotten how to roll from her tummy to her back. When she gets tired of being on her tummy, she starts to make this little barking sound (sort of like a baby seal, but it's cute) until we come and flip her over to her back again. Within 30 seconds of flipping her over, she is usually back on her tummy again. I love the stage that she's at where she is fascinated with her feet. Ahhh, to be that flexible again...

And her hair is getting longer every day! Without fail, every time I take her in public people approach her and make comments (most often about her hair). Yesterday at the grocery store a woman asked me where I found the time to do her hair. It wasn't until I left the store that I realized that she must have thought I put curlers in it or something. It's definitely long enough for that--look how it falls over her head band--crazy!

A Surefire Cure

Ever since my mom came to visit last month, I have been homesick----not "tears on my pillow at night" homesick; more like "counting down the days until Christmas" homesick.

During conference weekend, I always used to get together with either my sisters or Ryan's sisters during Priesthood session on Saturday night. I decided that instead of wishing I were in Utah with them, I would have some of my Iowa sisters over tonight. We made doughnuts and chatted and let our kids run around like crazies.

And you know what? I'm cured.

I'm no longer homesick.

But I still can't wait for Christmas vacation.

Chase "pinning" Isaac

We got distracted and left these two alone for a couple of minutes. They climbed on top of the kitchen table, pulled the bowl of grapes onto the floor, and ate way too many of them.

Jenny is Isaac's aunt-away-from-home. He loves her--partially I'm sure because she feeds him all the doughnuts he wants.

I spent a good deal of time in the kitchen doing what I do best---EATING.

The doughnuts may have helped just a little in curing the homesickness.

The Making of a Superhero (and a Fairy Princess)

Today I got together with a couple of friends and made capes for our kids for Christmas.

I couldn't leave Maddie out, of course, so she's getting a fairy princess cape. I found a tutorial online awhile ago and it is pretty simple. In fact, if you know how to thread a sewing machine you could probably make one. They are cheap, too. So if you are interested in the tutorial, check it out here.

Try it! Your superhero will thank you for it. I put his cape on him and I couldn't get him to sit still. I don't think he has any idea what it is but he knows you're supposed to run around while wearing it. Maddie was sleeping and thus unable to model her cape (plus, she can't exactly sit up on her own yet, much less run around---though something tells me she'll be chasing her brother around before we know it). Since Maddie isn't quite ready to play superheroes with her brother, I stood in for her.

I think I want a cape of my own...

Playgroup at the Apple Orchard

Today for playgroup we headed about 30 minutes north to an apple orchard. The weather was perfect and the kids all had a great time. Isaac's personal favorites were the "corn pool" and the tractor course. He thought he was something else driving his own little tractor around. Maddie was content most of the time just being in the stroller. She is so easy-going and makes it really easy for me to chase around her older brother (that and the fact that I had Amanda there as my personal nanny whenever I needed her help--thanks, Amanda!).

All the girls and their children

Maddie hanging out in the stroller while I chased her brother around

Isaac in the corn pool

This boy loves corn

He only wanted to leave when he saw the tractors

Isaac on a big, old, dirty tractor

These were more his size

But still a little bit too big to pedal

Me and my babies at the orchard

There were 10 or so different kinds of apples at this orchard--yummy! I brought home two different types, along with an apple cider slushy. We did have to give the slushy away when it was about halfway gone because it turned my sweet boy into a little monster (sugar has that affect on him) who kept screaming "mas! mas!" until we said "adios slushy" and gave it to a friend.

It was a great day. I think we might make this apple orchard thing a tradition after all.