Thanksgiving

I thought I should post some Thanksgiving pictures...before Christmas! We had dinner at our house with Bryan's mom and dad and my brother. Here's the spread...which, apparently, is the only evidence that I was there! Ha! Turkey coma! Football, of course!

Game time!Avery's first Thanksgiving!

It was such a great day! Thank you all for helping out and sharing the day with us!

Update on Avery

Where do I begin? Well, I took Avery in on Monday to have him weighed and to talk to the doctor to see if he thinks Avery is getting enough to eat, as I am breastfeeding and there's really no way to know how much he's getting. When Trevor was between 4-6 months old, I discovered I wasn't producing enough for him, so I've always tried to be very mindful of my milk supply with Avery. He had a check up at 3 and a half months and wasn't scheduled to go back in until 6 months. I've been feeling uneasy, lately, about waiting that long to take him back in, given my history. So, just for my own peace of mind, I took him in this week. (5 months old.) Avery is such a happy, healthy little guy. He sleeps well and doesn't show any signs of being hungry or discontent, but I've started to notice that he doesn't seem to be getting any bigger. (I'm pretty sure Clara and Sophia passed him up a long time ago!) The doc said that it's good that my "mom radar went off" and I brought him in. Basically he has gained 2 ounces in 7 weeks! (He is 12lbs, 8oz.) My poor little sweetie! He's perfectly healthy, otherwise, though. The doctor said that I must just be blessed with content babies! So, here's the skinny... (Ha!) Doc recommended that I immediately switch to formula, but I told him I wasn't willing to completely give up on nursing just yet. (Even though, I'm sure that's where this is heading.) So, with his endorsement, I am continuing to do what I've been doing, but offering him a bottle of formula at each feeding, after he nurses. So far, so good. I'm taking him back in next week to see if he's gained any weight. (I know this all sounds pretty straight forward and simple, but please know that this is very much the "Reader's Digest Version".) As you mom's can probably imagine, it's a pretty emotional thing to discover you're not producing enough food for your baby. (Sigh.) But, ultimately, I just want to be sure that he is healthy and getting enough to eat.

Trevor's 7th Birthday

Trevor turned 7 on November 24th. We just had a little celebration at home, complete with friends, family, pumpkin cupcakes and eggnog, per the birthday boy's request!

Trevor is such a character! What joy he brings to us all!

Happy birthday, Son!

Happy Boy!

Avery is 5 months old!Laughing...

Smiling...Discovered his feet... Putting his own pants on..? Playing the guitar...Chewing on his fingers!Such a good boy!

Rant

I am annoyed by something that is making headlines, lately. Most of you Washington residents (and maybe even others, as it has made national news) are probably aware of the recent controversy over a sign that has been put up in the Capital Building. The sign was put up by an atheist group and basically says that God (and religion) is a myth, yada-yada. (I believe in Jesus Christ and that these people are misled, but I'm not going to go into that right now.) Governor Gregoire has said that she is a Christian and she doesn't agree with the sign, but because of the First Amendment, she has to let them put it up. There is a "Holiday Tree" and a Menorah in the capitol building and she said that if she allows one religious symbol in, she has to let them all in, and she's not taking down the tree. OK. Now to my "beef". My views and beliefs aside, it is my understanding that the tree is now called a "Holiday Tree" in order to appease those non-religious groups. (Even though a tree with lights on it has nothing to do with Christ, so I'm not sure why it would be offensive, but I digress...) Based on the governor's argument that all "religious groups" have the right to be represented, if she is going to allow such a blatant atheist agenda in the capitol building, can't we, at the very least, call the tree a "CHRISTMAS TREE"!?

This is Homeschool...

Gavin made the mistake of asking me why I want to buy cat food at Costco instead of Walmart. I got to show him that all those story problems and measurement conversion problems I make him do, actually come in handy in real life! Q: If a 20 pound bag of cat food is $24.99 at Costco, and a 3.5 pound bag is $7.88 at Walmart, which is a better value? Why? How much is the cat food per ounce at each store? A: I don't know! I will ask Gavin and get back to you.

Good Morning Sonshine!

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim His greatness. Let the whole world know what He has done."

Psalm 105:1

Skating

We met some friends at the roller rink for Homeschool Skate, last week. The boys had a blast, of course! Jadon, Gabriel, Gavin, Trevor, and Kaleb.

As the old saying goes, "It's all fun and games until Gavin's skates trip him up and he lands flat on his face!" (Isn't that how the saying goes?) It sounds funny, now, but at the time...not so much! He fell HARD and his face was the first to hit! Praise the Lord he was ok! It really could have been a lot worse! (He had a headache for a couple days!) At least it happened on the last lap. I told him, the next time he tries something new, try it going a little slower!

Trevor's Soccer Party

Trevor's end-of-season soccer party was a few weeks ago.

We had pizza, dessert, a fun little slide show...

(And a lot of people in a tiny little room! Ha!) The certificate.

Trevor and Cami.

Justice and Gavin.

Johnny Jump Up

We call this last one "The Illusionist".

Doesn't he look like he's been cut in half? Ha!

Joke of the Day

Since I don't have any pictures to post, I will tell a joke! Gavin made this one up, yesterday: Q: "What do you call Avery with a beard?" A: "Avery-ham Lincoln"

Blogging

I have been doing such a good job of blogging lately, if I do say so, myself! But now, for some reason , our Kodak Easy Share software is not working! Therefore, I can't upload any pictures! It's very frustrating. I will look to see if I've uploaded any pictures that I haven't blogged about, yet. Stay tuned...

Fall Fest

Last Friday we took a break from school and decorated pumpkins. (Art day?)Trevor painted his like a rainbow.Gavin, of course, made Darth Vader, using his favorite medium: sharpie!Gavin and Trevor...I mean, Captain Rex and Ninja Turtle..? (In retrospect, I think Trevor looked more like an 80's glam rocker than a Ninja Turtle.)Kim and I went as twins! Can't you tell? We tried to get Zach and Bryan to go as twins, too. You can probably imagine how well that went over! Ha! Kim feeding Avery his first Nacho! (Relax...Just kidding! It's what we do. Hee hee!)"Mmmm...cheesey." Avery was such a good boy...being dressed as a chili pepper all night!

Gavin and Trevor riding the bull.

Nana with Gavin, Jafeth, Trevor and Sloan. (My mom was such a good sport to come along with us to Fall Fest! I think she was alphabet soup..?)

The boys (sans Avery): Jafeth, Justice, Cameron, Gavin, Trevor, and Sloan.

Four month old Avery pics...

Avery loves chewing on his fingers, lately. Also, whenever we pick him up he does a really high pitched (happy) squeal! I love it!

My Baby is 4 Months Old!

(I'm not sure why there's no sound, but it's still cute!)