Happy Place Winter Trip

  We try to escape to "Our Happy Place" any chance we get. While we didn't  make it there for Christmas this year, we did plan ahead to make a trip in the off season to ski.  We were expecting a ton of snow (like the trip we took in January) but instead were surprised by 60-70 degree temps! This wasn't a bad thing though, the resort was empty and it was pretty darn perfect! 

We just love everything central Oregon has to offer and loved the opportunity to spend so much time outside playing! It was a wonderful little break in the cold to uplift the spirits and spend some great time together as a family (my parents came too).

We were able to take the big 4 ice skating on a perfect, warm evening. 

This picture cracks me up. It was LB's very first time ice skating and this is how it started, but by the end of it she was zooming around the place pretty good!  The best part of LB is that no matter what activity she is doing, she has a giant grin on her face the whole time! Her swim teacher even commented this week that she should be a cheerleader with that big grin! 

The kids got to get on ski's one more time for this winter. They did awesome and are having so much fun with it!  The weather was incredible with it being 65 degrees on the mountain. The boys did their first blue run with their Dad and Sabrina took another lesson but was cruising the green runs early on in the day! It is going to be super fun to have all these kids on skis for future trips! 

We truly love any opportunity we get to just enjoy our time being a family. Life at home is so busy day to day that these little trips are so nice to unwind and just be present together!  We hope that Central Oregon always holds a special place in our kids hearts, like it does ours! We will be back there before we know it! 

Leeland 4 Months

Baby Leeland is already 4 months old! This is my absolute favorite baby age! He is so cuddly and interactive and smiley and chatty but he isn't moving all over the place despite his best efforts! 

Little man is 15 lbs which seems so big to me but is still around the 40%.  He is outgrowing most 3 month clothes and heading into 3-6 month size.  He is still doing great with nursing which every month we go along without a dip in my supply I am grateful for! 

He loves his siblings and is particularly drawn to his Daddy and big brothers - funny how that works!  But he remains a big snuggler with Mama and is even taking more naps on me again which I am loving! He's really discovering his voice and smiles and giggles all the time.  For the most part he is a happy content little guy.  Our biggest struggles remain bedtime. We thought we were getting into a routine but I don't know if it is the 4 month growth spurt or the 4 month sleep regression but he's fighting us to get to sleep at night and not going down until around 1 in the morning and then waking every 3 hours or so.  Hopefully this is just a phase and we will get him back adjusted soon. We feel like we are back to the newborn phase and are pretty tired parents again.  

 

Little man has totally amazed us this month as he is rolling all over the place already and tries with all his might to crawl. Fortunately he hasn't figured that out yet, but I am concerned he is going to be a super early crawler.  I would love for him to stay in one spot and continue to be snuggly but he appears to have ambitious goals! We have started the transition to him napping in his room and then we will work on getting him in his room. I am not in a big hurry but with his ability to roll all over combined with him being a very light sleeper, I am sure he will sleep better in his room after the initial transition period.

We have started dabbling in solids with him (a few days before 4 months, shhh).  Sometimes he has had interest and other times he hasn't which we are fine letting him lead the way. But he amazed me yet again with how quickly he figured out the spoon like it was no big deal!  He hasn't tried too much but I think apple with some oatmeal is the winner so far! 

Baby Boo, we are having so much fun with you! You have brought even more joy into our lives! We all adore you and love cheering you on in every tiny little thing you do!  You have such a fun and sweet personality starting to evolve and we are so thankful God gave you to our family! Here's to another fun month of watching you grow! 

 

Eli's 11th Birthday

The years just keep on passing faster than I would ever hope, but there is something sweet about watching your babies grow up into kids and then see those kids start to grow up into pretty cool young people! 

Eli kicks off the birthdays for the year. He is the biggest breakfast fan you could ever have! I joke that I will tell his wife someday that the way to his heart is through a big breakfast! 

I was very surprised that with all the options available for his birthday breakfast that he picked french toast, but I had the great idea to make a charcuterie for him and all the kids now think that THIS was the best birthday breakfast yet! 

With Peter just starting a new job and taking the next week off he wasn't able to get the day off like we normally do, but Eli was very gracious and we made sure to make the day as special as we could.  He had a blast building new lego sets and playing video games all day and then that night we went on the hunt for football trading cards, more legos, dinner and frozen yogurt! 

The next day we had a little party for our guy! He had quite the little helper!

My mom made the cake as usual. He requested Mandalorian and Boba Fett 

He got even more legos

And a fun soccer goal that is sure to destroy what remains of the yard, but they are enjoying it :) 

Happy 11th Birthday Eli!  You are such a joy to our family!  I've really seen growth in your life this year as you continue to leave being a little boy behind and grow more into a young man. I am glad that even as you grow, you still have enough of a little boy in you to play and have fun. You are becoming more and more responsible and are fun to talk with and watch play sports.  You're becoming more sarcastic and love to make jokes about us as your parents.  I am okay with that though!  We love you so much and I can't wait to watch you grow even more in the year ahead!