February

We were so happy that it warmed up in February; it softened the blow of the stomach flu and head colds that have been cycling through the family this month. Will we ever all be healthy?! 

Austin got to launch his rocket and it was a success, shooting up way higher than we thought it would. The only downer was that the parachute didn't deploy either time they launched it. We'll have to get some more blasters (not their technical name) and try to pack the parachute differently. 

We went on multiple walks/bike rides. Vivi even took her balance bike and did pretty well. 

My brother Tyler was going to be leaving for his year-long assignment through the Airforce to South Korea and I was able to go visit him and Emily. Amanda came too. Two days before I was supposed to leave, Asa got the stomach flu. I was so devastated thinking I wouldn't get to go and was praying so hard. The night before I was supposed to leave he threw up at three in the morning. But he didn't throw up anymore after that and I decided we were just going to go and he didn't throw up anymore. Which was such a tender mercy. 

I took Vivi and Asa and after flying multiple times with babies, with four children by myself, five children and now just two, I've decided that flying with a two year old and infant is the hardest. But Vivi and Asa did pretty well and we sat by such a sweet girl on the way to Atlanta. She let Vivi climb right on her lap to look out the window. 

Asa loved my garbage, but he didn't love when we descended to land, it hurt his ears and he screamed for the last 20 minutes. Poor little fellar. 

I had so much fun being at Emily's house. It's crazy to think that my baby sister has a family of her own, and she is such a good mom. Vivi and Sofia thought it was really funny cramming in the bottom of the stroller on our walk. 

We got to celebrate the Chinese New Year with Tyler's girlfriend Shanny. She and her roommate took us to a Din Sum place that was so amazing. We were all brave and tried chicken feet, even the kids! My favorite was the roast duck wrapped in rice paper. So good. 

Then we went to a Chinese New Year festival. We got to watch traditional dances, the lion dance, and a dragon was there. 

It's so easy when you have Uncle Tyler and Aunt Mandy there to entertain Vivi the whole time. 

Vivi did not want to sit for a picture so this was as good as we could get. 

Vivi had so much fun with her cousins but by Sunday morning, when we were going to be leaving, she did not want to wear the clothes I had picked out for her. I was resigned to her just wearing a diaper to the airport but right before leaving she decided to get dressed. 

Oh look, now Vivi wants to be in a picture...and she wants her dress on. I love these people so very much and wish we could have had Dan, Tiff and Boo there. 

This leash was the best...yep, I was that mom. I didn't want to bring a stroller because I wouldn't have been able to carry our luggage and push a stroller so the leash helped me to not lose Vivi. She did grab some false lashes and an earplug off the ground...and she really wanted to pet the airport security dogs but we were able to get through that without any tears.
The Atlanta airport is huge and our gate was at the very end of the terminal, and after getting there I saw that the gate had been changed, at the end of a completely different terminal. But we eventually made it and we were early so it didn't matter if we walked super slow. We sat next to another kind woman who was so sweet to Vivi, another tender mercy. 

The weekend I was gone, Tanner took the boys to a Penguins hockey game and met up with a friend from Pittsburgh. He ended up getting the stomach flu on the way to the game, but didn't let that slow him down. The man is dedicated. And then Austin threw up that night...we sure know how to have a good time. 

Eliza and Mariah went down to Brittany's and had lots of fun with the cousins. But they brought home a new illness, fevers and runny noses. Still worth it though. 

We did something new this year for Valentine's Day. We all wrote love letters to each other and read our letters during our "fancy dinner". The kids had fun decorating for it and I thought it was such a special way to celebrate love. I'm hoping it can become a yearly tradition. We did it a day early because youth activities were on Valentine's day. But we dipped strawberries earlier in the day. 

Austin finished The Book of Mormon for the first time so we had an ice cream party. 

Josie was so good at comforting all the sickies. She would snuggle up to them and be so calm. 

We are learning about cells in science right now so the kids made "cell sugar cookies". They were thrilled with all the different candy used for their organelles. 

Nothing like sugar to help something stick in your head. 

Maybe Josie wasn't really comforting the sick, I think she just loves blankets. She kept following Eliza around and anytime she stopped, Josie would plop down on the blanket. 

This month went by so fast but we're excited for what next month is going to bring. 

Six Months!

This boy...is just so delightful. He is a happy baby who wants to be a part of the action. 

He started sticking his tongue out at the beginning of the month which made us all laugh. He loves to laugh and his siblings try their hardest to be the one to make it happen. He always thinks it's funny when Eliza or Vivi are crying. 

And he still isn't a great sleeper, but after we treated him for an ear infection, he has started to take some good naps again, which helps so much. I usually spend my nights in our guest bedroom with him because he sleeps best when I am with him. I went without dairy for two weeks and he still didn't sleep well, so I decided I might as well have cheese and ice cream again. 

I'm usually only able to get him to nap in his carseat...

And this is how we found him after a nap. He was happy though. And yes...I know that it isn't recommended to have your baby sleep in a carseat or in your bed with you...but sleep is definitely recommended and this seems to be the only way we are getting sleep. We've just started buckling him in his seat now.

I am Asa's favorite, with Tanner a close second. He gets so excited when he sees either of us. He loves me so much that he sometimes bites me...so sweet. He's started saying mamama, dadada and blowing raspberries. 

He keeps his siblings entertained. At one point I thought maybe he wasn't sleeping well because he wasn't getting enough stimulation during the day...but that thought didn't last long. His siblings are almost always in his face or doing something with him. The boy probably needs less stimulation. 

He is starting to grab onto things; his favorite thing to grab onto is his sisters' hair. 

He hasn't rolled again, I think he dislikes being on his stomach so much that he doesn't want to roll over. But he does scoot around by pushing his feet on the floor and arching his back. 

He's getting more hair which is fun to play with. I was trying to get rid of his cradle cap and the vaseline in his hair made it easy to stick it up. 

I'm pretty sure his top two teeth are coming in. Which probably explains the extra clinginess at night. He'll start sleeping better...eventually. That has been my mantra for the past six months.