Good weather...

equals outside play time! We have definitely had our share of cold, rainy weather lately, but were blessed with several good, even warm days this week. I insisted we take advantage of it with daily walks, backyard playtime, and a trip to the park. Here's a few shots of each of my guys doing their favorite things...

Coming soon: Pictures of the new 'dos since we got haircuts this week!

Let's Rodeo San Antonio!

Troy had Monday off for President's Day/Mardi Gras, so we decided to make our annual visit to the rodeo. Our Aussie friend, Paul, is also so nice to let us borrow his passes. We were a little bummed that we missed all the big cows and horses but the boys enjoyed seeing the show pigs and sheep. They were a little turned off by the pigs since they were pretty stinky and, for some reason, Reef was worried they might eat him!
Then we moved on to the petting zoo. Reef is always a little timid in these situations but did great this year and Jonas jumped right in. That's Lachlan in the Ergo right behind Jonas, just so we know he was there too. Jonas' first trip to the rodeo was also in the ergo, seems like just yesterday...



Our final stop was the Horse Education barn. This is always a big hit since they have the horse to pose on. Reef really liked this part.

We only stayed about an hour this year since it was so cold. And Mommy was stressed that our van would be towed since our parking pass wasn't fully attached to the windshield. Luckily, it was still waiting for us when it was time to go!

6 months stats and month of January

I've definitely been neglectful of my blog this last month and don't really have a good excuse! Nothing really exciting has been going on, yet I feel like the last month was very busy. I guess the big deal in January was the addition of a fire pole to the fort outside. Reef's been asking for one for AGES and finally has one. It's not quite finished yet, though, and Reef prays that Daddy will finish fixing it each night! We had amazing weather the day after it was completed, so we got to get some good action shots!

On January 26, Troy and I had our 7th annual Australia Day celebration at the Outback Steakhouse. I can't believe it's been 7 years! We had a great time with close friends from church and some new Aussie friends. Bruce and Sharon stayed with the boys, so we got to really focus on our friends and our food for once.

At the end of January, I had the privilege to go to Northside's annual Ladies' Retreat. Lachlan had the privilege of joining me since he continues to refuse a bottle! Despite a late night and being WAY off schedule, Lachlan was the perfect baby! He never cried and enjoyed visiting with all the different ladies. He is quite the flirt these days! I'm so glad I decided to go. The speaker was amazing and it was good to get some time with friends too.

After Ladies Retreat, we decided to start Lachlan on solids. He didn't love it at first and definitely preferred taking it from Troy at first. He's now had oatmeal, green beans, and carrots. He's really getting the hang of it now! I've tried doing breakfast and dinner feedings but he's really only interested at dinner time.

We had Lachlan's 6 month appointment last Friday. Troy had the day off, so I was lucky enough to go to the appointment without big brothers in tow. Basically Dr. Gulde said he looked like a happy, healthy baby. The big concern from his 4 month appointment was the shape of his head but, after looking at it from all angles this month, it's apparently looking more "normal" now. He weighed in at 18lb 4oz (70th %ile) and was 28.5 inches long (97th %ile!). I can't believe he's so long! If he doesn't slow down soon, we'll be investing in a new car seat at the end of the month.

Things to remember about 6 months...
-You're finally rolling over! For about the last 2 weeks, you've mastered rolling from your tummy to you back. So, tummy time is very short these days. Jonas likes to tell me that you've rolled "upside up"

-You've also started pushing up more with your arms when you are on your tummy.

-Just in the last couple of days, you've started reaching for something on your side. I know rolling onto your tummy should come soon.

-You're still nursing every 3 hours during the day. We did 4 hours yesterday and that was okay, so we should be able to transition soon.

-We continue to struggle with nights...A good night means waking up only twice-once for the paci and once for a feeding. A bad night means waking up every 2 hours! Dr. Gulde said sleep is a learned, developmental process, so we'll just keep working on it.

-Naps are finally pretty consistent! The morning nap is 1-1.5 hours and the afternoon nap start at 1 and is 1.5-2 hours. Some days you'll also take a 15 minute nap before dinner.

-Smiles and giggles have really increased this month. You're also talking a lot more.

-You're sitting up all by yourself! Dr. Gulde was very impressed. You can maintain it for about 30 minutes before you get tired or bored.

And, finally, here's our monthly picture with our blue bear.

And a cute one just because...

I did really bad at blogging and taking pictures this month...Hopefully I'll do better in February!

Texas Song

Here's our first video post! Make sure you have your sound on.

This is a song that Reef "wrote" a few weeks ago and then performed for us a few nights ago. He actually had me write down the words with pictures and hang them on the fridge for future performances.

Prayers

This is the last of 3 posts today, so be sure to scroll down for the others.

We've always prayed at dinner and bedtime with the boys and have started making it a habit to ask them if they would like to say the prayer. Well, Reef has finally started doing it! It's so cute to listen to him and he's so sincere. Every few days he'll a new thing to be thankful for. Tonight it sounded like this:

Dear God, Thank you for this day. Thank you for this food. Thank you for God. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for my mom and dad. Thank you for my brothers, even Lachlan. Amen.

Sometimes he throws in thank you for my drink or thank you for my friends too.

Jonas is still not sure about the whole thing. Sometimes, if he's not too busy eating already, he'll repeat whatever Reef says, so that's a good start. He did pray on his own a few weeks ago at the learning store. He was playing kitchen and needed pray for his fake pizza before eating it! So funny!

And I'll leave you with a cute pic of Reef and Troy. Reef actually told me to get the camera and take this. A very rare occurence indeed!

Adding on

In the last 2 days, I've thought of 2 new resolutions that I want to add to my list:
1. Be a better listener. In a Bible study I'm doing right now, one of this week's lessons was on listening. I came to the startling revelation, that I'm really not a good listener. Definitely something I'd like to improve on.
2. Read through the Bible in a year. I've jumped on board with Sara Matheny to do it together! I'm starting 10 days late but think I can catch up. I'm excited!

PS. Shame on you if you thought this entry was going to be another pregnancy announcement. We are sooo not ready for that yet!

5 months already?

I can't believe our baby is 5 months old already!
This has been a particularly rough month for little Lachlan, since he was sick for ALL of December! Poor guy's been on 3 rounds of antibiotics for an ear infection that he just couldn't kick and had a bout of RSV! He seems to be all better now, though, so hopefully this month we will have a much happier baby on our hands.
Here's the monthly bear picture: He wasn't really in the mood so now smiles this time.

Here we are sporting the new clothes from Aunt Staci. Love them!

Practicing sitting up. He can do it all by himself for about 30 seconds now!

A rare smile during tummy time. He still hates this most of the time.

Things to remember about this month:

-You continue to be our happiest baby so far.

-You will allow anyone to hold you most of the time, although you did have your first episode of stranger anxiety the other day.

-Your favorite person is Reef. Whenever you see him, you start wiggling and kicking and waving your arms. You even cry if he leaves while you're playing with him!

-December was a very rough time with tummy time, I think because you did not feel good. We're getting back into the swing of things now and you're improving. You even used your arms to push up this week!

-Still no rolling over.

-Your sleep habits at night are really frustrating mommy. You go to sleep around 7:15 but wake up every 2 hours between 10 and 4. Usually you're just talking but it's very loud, so I have to come in to find your paci. I feel like a nomad wandering through the house all night and spend part of every night sleeping in your room. I always get disoriented if I wake up in my own bed in the morning!

-We are working on consolidating your morning nap into 1 long one instead of 2 short catnaps. -You nap with your brothers at 1ish most days, so that's very nice for mommy.

-You found your toes recently and are very fascinated by them. In fact, I think they are part of the reason you don't sleep well. We've even found you with your toes in your mouth!

-No teeth yet. I've been so sure that a tooth would pop through in the last month and even thought I felt one. But I was mistaken. We're seeing white dots, so maybe this month...

-You weigh about 17.5 lbs at 5 months old.