weekend fun with visitors

Wii-lee fun time

We had a lot of fun playing Wii. I hate to admit that because whenever someone has mentioned they like to play I think, "hmmm, I am not really a gamer". But we did it and laughed REALLY hard.


Steve and Shawna stopped by to see the Searcy's because they are good friends with them, too.


The next night we rented Just Dance for the Wii. Lets just say, I am glad that I am the one doing the blogging, so that none of the photos taken of me can be posted here.


"This is for EVERYTHING!"

Felix at eighteen months

Do you remember what it is like having an eighteen month old at your house? Well, usually one conveniently forgets until you HAVE to remember again. I guess it is the same reaction about having a newborn, you feel a bit betrayed. "You mean people have been having babies all this time and never told me how hard it is?" Or you think it is just your kid?
Well, Felix has been super active and into everything since he was nine months old. He is by far the hardest eighteen month old I have had.
I will just name a few things we have encountered this morning. I had to turn the DVD player to the wall because he was pushing down on the exit door. I had to unplug the T.V. because he kept turning it on and turning it up. I have to keep ALL toothpaste and toothbrushes under lock and key because he will eat them all. Also, he tried to eat Travis's shaving cream. After I had replaced all the books in the bookshelf, he took them all out. He climbs onto the table and island. He was throwing a play computer off of the table. I had to turn the computer off because he pushes all the buttons on the monitor (because I lock the keyboard) and one time pulled the monitor onto himself.
I really am not neglectful. He is really fast.

Are you exhausted just from reading that? Yes, he is a handful. Also super cute. He really loves to dance. He likes to read books. He likes to do the action songs (itsy bitsy spider, wheels on the bus, popcorn popping, etc.). He loves when his Daddy sings to him at bedtime. He is a Mommy's boy. We tried to take him to Nursery last week and he was traumatized, so he won't let me out of his site.
He is communicating. He has some words and lots of signs he still uses. His main form of communication is still screaming and whining, but I can usually get him to try to explain what he wants.
So, how did I find time to write this? Naptime!





This little video is a brief sample of his dancing and some of his talking. I love when they have lots to say but all of it is incomprehensible.

Let the cat out of the bag

We met up with the cousins for a day at the zoo. For a special treat we let them ride on the very slow carosel. Felix's first ride. I'm not sure what he thought about it, but he held still, so that is good.

Laura called and told us her boys were wearing their "thumbs up!" t-shirts, so we sported ours too. You may think Lydia wasn't having a good time, but we had told them to be sad for their "jail" picture. Very convincing, isn't she?

On our way to smell, oh, I mean see the penguins.

And below, this female lion was sleeping in the sun until Gabe had an accident and started crying. She instantly perked up and walked over. When she saw the kids (tasty little morsels) she started getting very agitated. Anyway, view for yourself. I felt bad for her.

As you can see, the kids thought is was hilarious.

Dancing Lydia

She just makes me laugh so hard. What are these faces she is pulling? I think she must have seen someone dancing like this and is mimiking them. She is forever quoting movies and I think she really enjoys acting.

Felix walks!

Felix surprised us the other day by deciding to walk. Even though Felix has been cruising for awhile, I didn't think he would actually start walking until much later. All my other kids started walking around their first birthday. Felix will be 11 months next Sunday. Felix didn't learn in the usual way (with lots of falling) he just decided to walk. It is really fun to watch him. He has a funny little side-walk. I am not sure if he just leads with the right, or just has a gangsta lean.

Videos

Felix is into everything these days. He is learning new things everyday, too. It is fun to watch him, but also a little nerve wracking at times. You just know he is going to pinch his fingers in the doors and pull things onto his head.

When I am trying to do dishes he just stands at my legs and yells. So I put him up in the little space behind the sink to play. At first he just sat there and played with toys. Now, though, he figured out how to work the sink, and only wants to play with that.

They older kids were home from school on Monday and decided to make a band. They named it: The Not Scareds-I was so proud- like No Fear, or Ain't Skeered. While they were rocking out to Green Day (?) Felix started dancing for the first time. I thought it wasthe cutest thing I have ever seen (except when my other kids learned).

Day in and Day out

Can you see his teeth? Aren't they so cute? Of course there is a lot to say about a changing baby. Felix has four teeth, two top, two bottom. He is still pretty uninterested in people food. He was "eating" a pancake in this picture, but it was more about making a mess. He is loving peaches, carrots, squash, pears, applesauce, plain yogurt, and cereal. (I really can't believe that anyone is interested in what he is eating, I am just recording it for when I make his baby book and can't remember any details that I recorded for the other kids.)

Did I already mention that he had used a few signs? He has signed "more". He did it once a couple weeks ago then not again until the past few days. Also, he signs "milk" for nursing, sometimes.

He is all over the place. He jets up the stairs when the gate isn't up and cruises along anything he can reach. Usually where he can bonk his head (like under the table). I found him playing in the potty the other day. Now I have to keep all the doors closed.

He is besotted by his siblings and they rather enjoy making him laugh. It is nice to see them being so concious of him. They are always scolding me for my (in their opinion) neglect.

He is sleeping pretty well. Just waking at about 6 a.m. to nurse.


Lydia enjoys being home all day without the older kids. I have no problems with her until they come in the door after school. We have fun going to story time at the library and playing "school". She really enjoys television and I have to convince her that there are other things worth doing. She is imaginative and often starts playing with whatever is in front of her. The other day she was playing prince and princess with some cans of food. They were quite dramatic!

Zoe is growing up. She is very dramatic and it is sometimes really hard to try to communicate with. But we have had some very adult conversations lately. She has been great about apologizing for her behavior. She is getting so good at doing her own homework and chores without prompting. She is so helpful with Felix. And she will do anything you ask of her, if she gets to stay up and watch Biggest Loser. I'm not sure what her fascination with it is, but she loves that show.

Liam is quite a little boy. I keep trying to figure out why he is always making noises and throwing himself around (down the stairs, on the floor, against walls). I guess it is just because he is a boy.

Steve brought over a Nintendo 64 at Christmastime and Liam has been so excited by it. He loves to play Super Mario.

Both the kids seem to enjoy school and the bus ride. I went into Liam's room the other day and on his desk was a list entitled: My new friends. So cute!

Felix videos

Here are some videos of Felixs latest feats. First one of him laughing at the mirror. Next, eating a pancake.
He has also started crawling all over. He was even trying to get up the stairs the other day. I actually like the kind of crawling he is doing. It takes great effort and concentrations for each "step". He doesn't get anywhere fast, but can get there so he isn't too frustrated.

I did take one of him crawling, but he was crying the whole time. Travis said that he looked like someone in the desert, hungry and in pain, and something about hot sand. Crying with the effort to lift each arm and leg. Well, that is so funny, now I had better post it.

This is one of the less whiney ones, but I chose it because he shows some other skills as well.

Our move and Thanksgiving

After saying goodbye to our wonderful friends in Fresno (the Clevelands threw us a fabulous going away party) we got on the road. We had wonderful accommodations and took our time getting to our new home.
We had thought that we would go and be with my family for Thanksgiving, but we just couldn't even think about getting back into the car and not being in our wonderful home.
We spent the week unpacking and getting things relatively settled. I made a small spread for Thanksgiving. The L's didn't eat anything but olives, I think (Zoe did try food). If there is color on their plates I put it there, just so they could get use to having food with natural color so close to them.

Our Thanksgiving photo. Notice Lydia wearing a dress with spaghetti straps. She is not getting the dressing for the weather thing. I've had to hide all her summer clothes. Not to mention we have been having heating problems with the house and it is freezing downstairs!

Liam played outside for hours "battling" the moving boxes with his light saber. Later the boxes were used in a different capacity. We had no cable or internet, so, no football on Thanksgiving! So Travis and Liam went outside and played for hours! They had so much fun.

Pardon my loud talking in this clip and my crappy filming. Sorry Kristie for publishing our phone call :)

One Zoe on Two Wheels

Ever since we had gone to the park and Zoe practiced riding without training wheels she has been begging Travis to take her back and help her. We finally went Saturday morning. She was riding in no time! She has just never really shown any interest. We got her a tricycle for her 2nd birthday and I don't think she ever even got on it until she was 4 and could ride it easily.

Zoe has been a big help lately. She is great about doing things for me and offering to help. I guess that object lesson I gave where I made them pick up puzzle pieces off the floor while their shirts were stuffed with a huge pillow gave them a good idea of how difficult it is do things while pregnant.

He's getting up!

This was the kids favorite video. I had to add it, too

wrestlmania

During Travis's recent trip he acquired this wrestling mask. Since the kid's favorite activity it to wrestle with Dad, this was a great purchase for the family.
We decided to have a wrestling night on Saturday night. We spent the week designing costumes to go with the kid's wrestling names that they came up with. Zoe wrote the line-up out on a paper:

Christmas Eve Program

This post is for the grandparents who can't see how cute their grandkids are on a regular basis.

Dance attendance on

You'll have to turn off my playlist to be able to hear the Teddy Bear song they are dancing to.

Sorry it is blurry. I have a "compact" setting on my camcorder that allows me to record and post longer clips, but because it is "compact" it is fuzzy. I'm sure there is a way to do this without it being fuzzy, I just haven't figured it out yet.

Poor Liam (still in Indiana Jones garb) gets a raw deal in the video.

Flattery will get you nowhere

It is trying to be Fall here, though it was probably 80 degrees yesterday. Some of the leaves have changed. On Sunday we went for a family walk at a nearby park. The kids ran around like crazy.

My cuties.
This video is so funny. I asked Zoe what she has learned in first grade...I am so proud?

Reap the rewards

After chores on Saturday the kids got treated to a ride on the scooter. It is a quick fun ride.

A video worth a thousand words (3rd birthday post)

It may seem like an over indulgence to post 3 times on my birthday. I am not celebrating my birthday, I am celebrating having a camera. Why am I posting this video? Because I can.

This morning Lydia found some cough drops. She wanted one so I explained that it wasn't candy, but medicine. She thought for awhile then said, "Mom, I am going to throw up!" Nice argument.

The kids love to play "raise your hand if....". Lydia said, "Raise your hand if you don't like mud." I didn't raise my hand, and said, "I like mud". Lydia asked, "You gonna marry mud?" Wow.

The kids refer to people with prominent ears as "earies". For instance, "Did you see that guy? He was very earies".