End of Pre-School

Last Sunday we went to see how the Fort Collins temple is progressing.  We can't wait for the open house in August and dedication in October!  I have never lived so close to a Temple (excluding my BYU apartment days but even then I'm probably closer now).  It's going  to be amazing!  It's been so hard to figure out temple attendance with kids and the commute to Denver and I'm excited to more easily and regularly go to the temple.

It's a beautiful building.  I can't wait to see inside and see what it will look like with the grounds complete.  I'm sure we will be taking the kids on walks to the Temple regularly as we get older.  What a blessing!

The boys also really love rolling on the hill of the stake center across the street.

And Nora and Jacob looked so cute sitting in the shade.

The boys also had to run along the ditch to discover where the water would go if there was any.  And then I had them help me clean up the litter that accumulates at the grate.

Oh Isaac.  I keep telling him to stop growing and he just doesn't cooperate!  He is done with Pre-school and I can't believe it.  Where did that year go?  He almost had to miss his graduation due to strep throat (can I just say, we have had way too much sickness this year.  Seriously...what's the deal with that?) but his teacher said if he was feeling up to it we could bring him.  I think he was more than a little excited about it all.

He got to be Abe Lincoln.  And that is his teacher leading the way.  Mrs. Hand.  She has been wonderful!

That other teacher is the helper in his class, Mrs Cropp.  I don't think I've met a more kind lady.

They played these bells to a couple of patriotic songs.  It was awesome.  The music teacher Mrs. Kroenig did a great job with all the programs.  Isaac loved music class on Mondays.

And after he said his line they took of the costume and he looked more comfortable.

And then they moved on to the graduation.

I loved this picture of his teacher giving them instructions and Isaac and the other girl not paying attention at all.  I think they were actually listening but you wouldn't know it by their gaze.

I also love his super eager march to the principal (I don't know if she really is the principal, but she is the one who coordinates everything and was always in charge) to shake hands.  Super funny.

And then a nice hug for his teacher.  They gave him a nice scrapbook based around the alphabet.  It's adorable and I love that I only really have to keep one thing as a memento.  All in all I'm happy with his preschool experience.

This was his actual last day.  He loved wearing this shirt because his teacher once complimented him on it.  I thought I might actually have to wash it every day.  

And now we are on to kindergarten.  And I'm so pleased he'll be going to the school of choice, Traut, that we wanted to get him in.  I think he is going to love his grade school experience.

9 month photo shoot and then some

Little Miss Nora is 9 months old!  She is busy and curious and oh so cute.  She loves playing peek a boo and often will put things on/over her head and then pull them off.  But I think this particular time she thought her diaper cover from her dress was a hat.  So funny.

Mother's day at our house was pretty low key.  I had just had my tooth pulled so I was super swollen and couldn't really eat well.  I did go to church though.  I'm sure I looked crazy.  Oh well!  Isaac made this cute tile at preschool and the flowers were from Jacob.  A mini rose plant for inside.  Let's see if I can keep it alive!

I also took some "official" photos of Nora for her 9 month mark.

Nora loves to eat table food and is pretty much the most difficult baby to feed a bottle.  She would rather be busy playing or something else and can't be slowed down for drinking from a bottle.

She's standing and cruising like a champ and has taken a few steps on her own.  Especially with Daddy.  He can coax the most steps out of her.

She has two bottom teeth and is working on the top two.  I'm sure they'll come in before she hits 10 months.

She is pretty happy most of the time and will smile readily.  She loves to play with other kids and loves to "rough play" with dad.  He also still gets the most laughs from her.

Oh I just love her.  And she is so cuddly.  I love her happy hugs and how much she likes kisses.  She truly is a joy.  It's always so fun to see babies learn and Nora is no exception.  She does the popcorn motion for popcorn popping and LOVES it.  She does some actions for books, one page of a book says "peek-a-boo violet" and she always puts her hands on her ears instead of her eyes for peek-a-boo.  It's cute.  She's starting to explore more in the cupboards and drawers in the kitchen.  Every baby's favorite spot.

She is loving pulling up on the walls and cruises all along from the gate into the kitchen.  I'm sure she could walk if she wanted but is a little hesitant to fully take off.  I give it just a couple more weeks before she is really walking though.

We all love Nora and can't imagine our family without her.

Day in the Life of Nora

I can't believe we are already at 9 months old and my standard "Day in the Life" post.  Time flies when you have kids.

Nora starts her day a little earlier than Jacob and I are usually ready to get up.  So she plays in our bed until we can get the motivation to get up and going.  

She then spends some quality time with Jacob while I shower and get ready.  Daddy changes her diaper and feeds her a bottle.

And then it's on to playingfor a bit before I feed her second breakfast.

She discovered this barn door and it's "mooing" sound.

She also can often be found with something in her mouth while crawling.  Today it was a bib.  She recently discovered the stairs and likes to try her hand at climbing them.  As you can imagine, she is less able at getting down though we haven't had any big falls yet.

And, time for second breakfast and more playing before nap.

Nora is basically over the pureed baby food and prefers table food.  Fine by me.  I'm always happy when kids can feed themselves a little more.

She found this matchbox car on the fireplace and tried to hand it to Isaac.  It was adorable.

And best of all play is with her brothers.  She loves them!

She also loves the organ.  All the babies in this house have loved playing around the organ.  So much to discover.

Peek a boo with Isaac.  Another favorite way to pass the time.

Bonus picture of Ben because it was so cute.

And then on to nap number 1.

When Nora wakes up from her nap I get her dressed and changed and then feed her a bottle.  I had set her down for a minute to help Ben with something and Isaac decided to take over my duties.  Love it!

She is actually NOT a fan of feeding herself her bottle.  She prefers to play with the bottle lid, or my hair, or a burp cloth or anything she can reach.  Way more fun than holding a bottle.

Again with something in her mouth...a puzzle piece this time.  She also loves pulling up on the chairs while people are eating.

And then it's her turn for lunch.  Mostly just a little snack since we have to hurry and get Isaac to preschool.  Usually Jacob comes home at lunch and Nora can stay and eat but he had some work thing on this day so we all had to get Isaac to school.

Good thing she's pretty content with stroller rides.

And then we we got home she got to do some more of her favorite things: walk with the walking toy and chase the vacuum.

And then a quick diaper change before a little more play and nap number 2.

Ben shared some graham crackers with her.  And then she chased him to the organ room.

Maybe she was looking for more sharing of graham crackers...I don't know.

I love this picture because she is so good at spotting things under bookshelves and couches and she gets down low to reach them.  It's funny.

More wrestling with bigger brothers and then some bonus photos of Ben looking cute reading.

Ben also wanted a snack of rice krispie cereal to "eat like a cat."  Whatever weirdy.  He's so funny lately.  Loves to pretend and dress up.  He wore Yoda hat and robe with superhero eye mask to the post office the other day.  He is a fan of his super hero cape.  And lately he discovered the bat costume and overalls for construction worker dress up.  He also loves to wear his clothes backwards declaring "It's backwards day!"

But back to Nora.  She's looking cute for nap number 2.

While Nora was napping we gained two kids.  Our neighbor Grace had a Dr's appointment so I watched the girls for her.  They thought it was fun to pick Isaac up from preschool.

And then for a little entertainment we did water balloons.  My boys have been asking to run through our splash pad hose attachment and I keep telling them it is much to cold for that.  This was our compromise.

And they loved it!

Nora looked on hoping to be a part of the action.  She got to hold a balloon for just a minute, until it went into her mouth.  No can do baby girl!

And then it was on to dinner prep.  Nora gets to eat while I get dinner ready.  At least some of the time.  I'm trying to have her eat when the family does but it's a tricky hour and you do what you gotta do to keep everyone happy until Daddy gets home.

And oh how they love when Daddy gets home.  Nora loves playing with Jacob.  She got to spend some time alone with him after dinner while the boys were playing elsewhere.

And after some good play it was pj time.  Nora gets one last bottle while the boys are getting ready for bed.  Then we read scriptures and pray as a family.  I usually get the privilege of reading some books to Nora and tucking her in for the night.  

I love these pictures Jacob took of me reading to Nora.

She loves being read to especially books with flaps.  This one was from the library but I might need to buy it.  There were two that were similar and so cute.  I have one by this author/illustrator already and it's one of her favorite so I'm sure she'd love the increased options with flaps.

Good night baby girl!  It's been a long day for this busy 9 month old.

We sure love you and I can't believe how big you are getting.  The other day we were on a walk and someone was out checking their mail with a little boy.  The little boy said something about a cute baby and the mom said, "she doesn't look like she'll be a baby much longer."  I thought "oh no!  She's already looking like a toddler to other people."  It happens so fast.  It's good and sad all at the same time.

Nora truly is a joy to have in our home.  She is such a happy and fun little baby.  Isaac said to me the other day "mom, isn't it so fun to have a baby in our family."  I quickly responded that yes it was.  We all love Nora!