May Bits

 Perfect weather combined with purchasing an annual State Parks pass meant we had a lot of family walks after dinner on Sundays.  This time we were on the trails in Granite Bay finding bugs, woodpeckers and staying away from poison oak. 

Luke usually makes it through a day without napping just fine.  But when that kids is growing, look out.  He's extra hungry and rarely makes it through an afternoon without falling asleep somewhere.

And when one brother gets his picture taken, usually the other brother wants one too.

These boys love to be busy.  They love to be out and doing things.  But I love that they also really like being at home doing things like coloring, digging outside, and creating with Legos or kinetic sand.  Boy, I hope it stays like that for, well...forever. 

We went down to Sacramento to cheer for our buddy Mads and his t-ball team.

 
On the morning of Memorial Day we visited the cemetery.  It sure is convenient that some of our most precious veterans, my dad, Grandpa Boyce and Grandpa Pebley, are buried in the same place.

Later in the afternoon we swam and ate at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  These cousins sure love being together!

While their stints at 'babysitting' are short, both Noah and Luke love to be in charge of Leah's entertainment.

These glasses.

 They are hilarious!  It was the best part (for me) about their buddy Graham's birthday party.

 Noah and Everett.

Everett was the only kid who Noah spent two years of Joy School with.  They have really become buddies in that time, and I'm excited for that to continue since they'll be at the same school for kindergarten.

 During the last week of Joy School the kids had a crazy hair day.

 Too bad we had just done haircuts a couple of days before the teacher let us know.  We did our best.

I'm horrible at selfies.  But I'm realizing that this girl and her mama don't have a whole lot of pictures together.  So there you go:

SIX Months!

Leah is SIX months old!

six months stats

height: 27 inches (87%)

weight: 17 pounds, 11 ounces (77%)

head circumference: 44 centimeters (91%)

Oh, little girl.  You are getting to be so smiley and SO fun!  

 

This six month was a big one.  It was filled with lots of moving, noise making and eating!  

That's right.  After jealously watching all of us for weeks, you finally got to eat a little something too.

And, oh my, it was everything you imagined it would be.  

You were all smiles from the first taste until breakfast was over. 

So far you've tried pears, apples, carrots and green beans.  I love making your food and introducing you to new flavors.

While they aren't very edible, you sure tried a lot this month to eat your toes.

You are rolling across the floor, lifting your upper body off the floor, and just wiggling all the time.

There are still no signs of teeth, but you sure fake everybody out with all of that drooling and chewing.

Your voice right now just about melts my heart. 

 

It's almost like you're singing a little song sometimes and it's TOO cute.  Your brothers love it, and try to talk back to you in a silly, high pitched voice.

They are convinced that you know how to say 'Noah' and 'hi.'  

I don't know about that, but you do make some sounds that have a very strong resemblance to both of those words.  You've definitely figured out that by making noise you can get attention, especially from your brothers.

Some days I feel like your growing up is going fast and others it feels just about right.  Back in those extremely exhaustive second and third months, it seems that the six month mark would never, ever, EVER come.  And here we are.  I love watching you grow and change and figure things out a little more every day.  We are buddies, and for now I'm the one you want to be with the very most.  Can we please keep it that way for a long, long time? 

Joy School Grad

A few nights ago the Joy Schoolers and their families gathered to celebrate these six kids.

I love the values of Joy School.  Academically, I've never been worried about Noah being ready for kindergarten.  That's not what preschool was about at all for him or me.  What I was more interested in and most concerned about was that he be surrounded by goodness, in a wholesome environment, because his exposure to so many things beyond my control would come soon enough in kindergarten.

Admittedly, I've tried to keep his world a little 'small' in this regard, but I'm o.k. with that. My goal has been to teach him problem solving skills, manners, and appropriate social behavior in a more controlled environment like home, joy school, and church.  I'm praying that practice makes permanent in this regard, and he'll have a confident approach to whatever comes his way. 

Joy School has been perfect.  He has built strong friendships, improved his problem solving skills, and put his creativity to work in so many different ways.

I loved being able to talk about each kid in our group, especially this boy.

Noah is silly, creative and competitive.  In the last year I've seen him mature and become a really fantastic friend, brother, and helper.  He tries so hard to choose the right and understands that he can influence others to be good as well.

He's ready for kindergarten.  Me, not so much.  But I've got to let him spread those wings and find success that he'd never experience without leaving.

August 9th is coming too soon!  So in the meantime, I'm just going to snuggle him like crazy every morning until that exciting day comes!

T-ball Recap

We just wrapped up Noah's second season of t-ball.  

T-ball is fun for the kids to play and especially fun for us as parents to watch. 

It's a bit of a comic routine sometimes, but it's also great to see improvement from the beginning of the season to the end. 

This season Noah's hitting improved a LOT, and he's faster than ever running around the bases. 

 

He's also starting to be much more aware of what's going on in the field. 

Making his first out was a big deal, and Noah was so proud of himself.

 

 Number 5 is Noah's friend Drew.  He was so excited when he got to second base, looked over, and saw his buddy on the other team.

 He also thought it was pretty great when Nate filled in as a base running coach a time or two.

Being a Nationals fan for a few months sure was fun.  Noah is learning it's o.k. to fail. He's understanding that getting better at something takes practice -- lots of practice.  I love that he's learning to play a sport and be active.