Christmas Card 2010

Modern Cranberry Noir Christmas

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Luke Reads Jonah and the Big Fish

We took this video the other night before bed. We knew Luke had a great memory, but had no idea the extent of it.
David was reading to him and called for me to come...(I later found out that Luke just kept 'reading' when David paused...) David then got the camera and began recording. We were amazed. He is only 3 1/2 and can only read a few words, but memorize this whole story? What a truly amazing gift the Lord has given him! (I did help him a little at the end...he's not that good! Seriously, though, at the time of this video he had only heard the story read to him 4 maybe 5 times!) I need to beef up our scripture memory!

Enjoy the video. If you have the Jesus Storybook Bible, read along! I am sorry it is blurry. We are thinking about getting a nicer video camera for Christmas.

Haydn's 8th and 9th Months

Our sweet baby girl had a wonderful April (month 8), but not so great May (month 9). During the month of April, we traveled to Daddy's annual MS150 ride. We stayed with Lou Lou and Opa for a few days before we headed to the half way mark to meet Daddy. It was a rough weekend, because she started cutting her 2 bottom teeth. They came in just a few days shy of when her brother's protruded. She also said her first words, "Bye, Bye" while waving. She said it for me one morning and when Luke and Dad walked into the room, she said it for them. Luke's first word was 'duck' at 7 1/2 months. Haydn was pretty close to the same time frame. We are in for it if we have two big talkers! Since then, she says several words, 'da-da, ah-duh (all done), mum mum (a snack she likes), ma-ma, muh (more), dog. She is also pulling up. She will pull up to her feet, but is most comfortable on her knees. I think she is becoming a little cautious about it due to a few falls from pulling up on not so sturdy objects.

One day, we were listening to a song, 'Party in the USA'. In the song it says, 'Put your hands up...'. Luke and I were dancing to it and raising our arms and little copy cat started 'raising the roof' and dancing away. She loves to dance and watch Luke dance, jump, anything...We get the best belly laughs from her when she watches him. David also likes to play baby ninja with them and she LOVES that. What is Baby Ninja?, you ask....well, David carries her low to the ground and chases Luke with her. When Luke stops, he raises Haydn to double kick Luke in the head. He doesn't do it hard, but it is hilarious. We all crack up! I will post a video one day.
She loves to play peek-a-boo and will put something over her face to do it herself. She laughs pretty hard at this, too. Oh how I wish we could freeze this stage for awhile. I love 9 months...she's so fun!

This was one of the pictures taken for a surprise Father's Day gift (shhhhh!!) She is 8 months in this picture.
This is month 8, as well. She loves playing with Luke's cars and trains!

About to eat....her favorite pass time!

Sadly, the month of May was horrible for sister girl. I started dropping a few feedings for her to get to 4 feedings a day and then the sickness began! It started off with fever then a rash (Roseola), then we had 2 weeks of diarrhea, and top it off with a nasty cold for the last week and a half. May should be coined, 'survival mode month' for this household! ugh! It was awful! Because of all the sickness for her and lack of sleep for me, we did not take any pictures of her during the month of May.
I have a video of her eating below, though. Man, can the girl eat! She's totally off baby food and will hardly let us feed her applesauce much less pureed anything. She is very independent and wants to pick up food and feed herself. She loves everything I give her especially foods with color, veggies are her favorite with fruits coming in a close second. She could hardly stand the BRAT diet that I had to give her for 2 weeks of her sickness. She wanted the good stuff. Her favorite would probably be broccoli or green beans. We really have to watch that we don't over feed her. Sometimes she won't stop and it all ends up coming back up and until we see it again we have no idea how much she's eaten. I know...sick....but she can eat as much or more than Luke some days! Even with that, she still only weighs 15lbs 12oz. I think it's the 5th percentile or so. She lost alot while she was sick, I think.

*Just a qualifier...The video you are about to see is not pretty. She has bed head and was seriously getting after the food!

Luke's Lovely Singing

Luke loves to sing. He loves music! On Easter, we played Christ the Lord is risen today and he sang it for weeks afterward. We got it on video below. His Alleluia is pretty good!

The second song he is singing is one that I sing to Haydn when I put her to bed. He hasn't heard much of that song so he doesn't know all of the words yet...no matter...he's still stinkin' cute!

*Disclaimer: Don't mind my mom heckling me in the background. She's always on me about not posting to the blog. So...here you go, Mom...ppttthhhh!

7 Months

Our sweet sister's smile!

I don't know how I got this shot! It's hilarious to me, though!
It's alot like the 'Matthew face' she makes. (My cousin, Matthew. She was only a few minutes old and my sister is telling me that she looks like Matthew. I love it! I'll post a picture one day and maybe you'll agree.)

Yes, Haydn Grace is 7 months old...can you believe it? She is such a happy, laid back baby. She rarely cries or gets fussy. Her favorite past time is watching Luke. She loves to watch him dance, and laughs at him the entire time. He loves to entertain her. It is so great to watch them love each other because I know the fights will come, but it is pretty sweet now. She is crawling and has been for at least 3 weeks. She pulls up to her knees in her crib so we've had to lower it. The child is very mobile and does not like to sit in my lap for long. Luke would sit and read with me for hours, but then again he was late on mobility...maybe that's my fault for holding him so much! Glad I did because he won't allow it now! She still is not sitting up unassisted, though. It's crazy to me that she can crawl and pull up, but not sit up. The pictures above look kind of funny because she is on her belly. I tried to sit her up and she just toppled over onto her face. Spectators thought I was a terrible Mom, I'm sure, but she seriously does not get upset at anything. We think (and hope) that she has David's Grandmother's personality. Very easy going...we all know it's not my personality! We call her 'our watcher'**. She's an observer and just watches everything and takes it all in. She rarely laughs, but when she does it is so cute. It's not a belly laugh...just a cackle. Luke is good at bringing out the cackle, but I can pull it out with a little game of 'peek-a-boo'. Just to let you in on her sweetness...a few months ago she started opening her mouth right on our cheek! It's a little early for kissing, but she loves smooches!!
Her first sounds are starting to come out. She says 'da da da da' and 'ba ba ba ba'. I just taught her to clap on my hand when I sing 'Clap, clap, clap. Clap, clap, clap. Haydn likes to clap, clap, clap.' She loves to eat, but only wants what we are eating. She is so over the pureed food. She wants texture and flavor! She loves veggies and isn't big on fruit (I was like this). When she is hungry we all know it because she makes this spitting noise with her mouth. I videoed it and will post it soon!
She is such a joyful child and smiles at everyone. I love this about her! We are so very grateful for our sweet Haydn Grace. Happy 7 months, sweet girl! Can't wait to see what next month brings!

**David's Grandmother is 96 years old and occasionally has some dementia episodes. A few years back, she would randomly point out a person to David's Mom or Aunt and say, "That man over there is a 'watcher'". Apparently, she thinks that there is a conspiracy with the government and they place 'watchers' around to keep tabs on people. We laugh when she says this and now we have our own little 'watcher'. Hopefully, she won't report back to the government the ongoings of our home! HA!