The Blair Family: 2008

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas

Shailee and Hyrum both loved the blocks the Cole's Dad made for Hyrum.

My Mom made us these beautiful beanies

The kids participated in a nativity recreation at the Udall's home (a family in our ward who took us in for the hollidays)

Cole made the doll house his dad made the furniture. Wow is all I have to say and Shailee loves it.

This work bench was made by Cole for Hyrum. What little boy doesn't love hitting something with his very own wooden mallet. Such a good idea! It will be hours of fun.

Our computer is out and I'm missing the blog but here are a couple Christmas pictures while I'm using a friends computer. I'm short on time so I'll give more details later, but Merry Christmas everyone!

Friday, December 12, 2008

This Month

Shailee and Grandma Ritchie's nativity scene.

Hyrum's beautiful rosy cheeks in this picture are unfortunately artificial. They are unfortunately a product of Shailee painting them with nail polish and me trying to scrub the nail polish off. Poor Hyrum.

One of the first snow falls of the season. We went out to enjoy it and one of the only places with enough snow to play in was right by the dumpsters so Shailee plopped down in the same place that the toxic runoff from those dumpsters flows sometimes and made a snow angel. So we had fun and then came inside and washed all of their coats and outer wear.

Shailee and Eve having fun with a dollhouse at playgroup this last week.

Ohhhh packaging peanuts, they look sooo fun and innocent in this picture. But that box holds enough of that white fluff to cover all surfaces of carpet in our apartement. We know this for sure, and so after a few hours of scraping dumping and vaccuuming we had to retire this box to the dumpster. (Thanks sooo much for all your help Katie) It was way too much fun for me.

Shailee created this nativity scene with my grandma for a display at our church. She was very proud of it and had so much fun making it with grandma.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Merry at the Brights

Elijah is the newest edition to our playgroup

It's great watching the kids interact with different ages and personalities and learn skills like sharing and communication.

One of my favorite parts of playgroup is the opportunity to mingle with the other mothers and be uplifted by them. Days with little ones are wonderful but long and this time is so great sharing opinions, advice, and laughing about the challenges and joys of motherhood.

Jenny was incredibly organized. I was inspired. She had several different activities planned and everyone had so much fun making gingerbread ornaments, coloring christmas pictures, and eating some healthy snacks.

Birthdays

The finished tree. So pretty

Picking our tree at Lowes. It was sooo cold. But Shailee could not be persuaded to wear winter shoes because none of her winter shoes have heels. She is such a girl, who cares about comfort go for what looks cute. Anyway, it was fun to pick out a tree as part of our birthday celebration.

Hyrum helping me string popcorn and cranberries. I needed help, I stabbed myself with the needle at least three times. I have always wanted to decorate with homeade ornaments and make these popcorn strings, but it was harder than I thought.

Shailee was safer with the needle than I was. She made two strings with only the cranberries because that was less dangerous. She made a mother string and a baby string.

Cole opening his present from the kids. They picked out some great pajamas and couldn't wait to give it to him.

I got this cute shirt from my sister in law Timmeri for my birthday. She is so great!

Random picture of Hyrum by the downtown library.

Cole and I were born two days apart so we kind of celebrate a birthday week. We didn't get to do much for Cole on his birthday, but on Friday we ate dinner as a family, picked out a Christmas tree and decorated it with homemade ornaments while drinking hot cocoa. It was very memorable. Also my wonderful friends here in Charleston had a lunch for me on my birthday.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Let it Rain

Pain is a powerful teacher. Whether it is physical, emotional, mental or spiritual, it seems to me there are two basic ways of handling it. Fear or faith. When we fear pain we seek any means of relief we can find, whether it's healthy or not, all we look for is numbness so we don't have to fear any more. Faith on the other hand allows us to conquer the pain. When we trust in the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and in the power of our Loving Father in Heaven, we believe that we can be made equal to the challange of our pain. Then we can allow the pain to strengthen us and that same thing we feared can become a source of exhileration and gratification as we see ourselves transformed by it. The need for numbness is replaced by a capacity for compassion when we allow faith to work in our lives.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Holly Day at the Clay Center

Diving in the balls

Making Reindeer antlers.

Listening to The Polar Express read out loud. Shailee's favorite part.

Hyrum's favorite, the sand and water tables.

The Clay center had a Holly Day celebration with crafts and story time and it was a good time for us to get out of the house Cole had worked all night and needed a quiet house to sleep in. I think both of the kids were a little tired in these pictures but we had fun celebrating the first day of the Christmas season. Santa Clause made an appearance and used magic to light up part of the museum. Shailee was a little dissappointed that she didn't get to give him a hug, Hyrum was really relieved that he didn't have to give him a hug.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Giving Thanks

Shailee and Hyrum got attached to this book while Grandma was here. She read to them for hours, they felt so loved. "Grandmas are mothers who have graduated."

Grandma loving Shailee late at night.

Grandma treated us to lunch and ice cream among other things.

Grandma Ritchie explaining football to Hyrum.

Cole and Ben enjoying some football.

Thanksgiving at the Barkers was wonderful.

I love my Grandma sooo much. She came to rescue me these past 10 days. She did a marvelous job cheering me up and helping me rejuvinate. She loved my children, fed me good food, and let me get lots of sleep. Shailee said that Grandma is a very good Mother. She is one amazing woman with a true mother's heart. She has a young vivacious spirit and I hope to be like her.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Pass Me Your Tomatoes

Tonight we were all sitting around eating dinner and there were tomatoes and onions in our salad. Cole finds these items offensive and I find them lovely so, exchanging no words I held out my bowl and he held out his tomatoes at the same time. Ah the blessings of marriage. We don't have the same strengths or weaknesses and somehow sharing them makes everything balanced. I am so grateful to have a man who will share it all with me, the frustration, the stress, the laughter, the joy, and it's fun to find ourselves understanding eachother without words on occasion. Life is sometimes a brutal adventure don't attempt it alone, it was never ment to be lived that way.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Thank you for all the love everyone! We are so blessed to have you all during this little challenge. Thank you, thank you.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Ode to Genetics

So today Shailee asked that big question, " so how does the baby get in the moms tummy?"We were driving in the car all together. I looked at Cole who very calmly presented a medical based explanation. I was impressed by his ability to answer so perfectly a question that some parents dread. It helps that Shailee already knew about things like the uterus and menstration, sorry if some of you don't like those words, but Shailee asks a lot of questions and it's best just to answer them simply but honestly, we use all the correct terminology in our family. Cole didn't have to actually explain how the egg and sperm got together. That question will come next I'm sure Shailee is already pondering that. Anyway, Shailee thinks the whole thing is "neat" especially how the baby can look like both parents because it has parts from both parents.
I personally think that part is neat also. I hope I have my mom's strength and my father's tenderness. In some famies that goes the other way around, but I'm glad for my heritage. My parents couldn't have been more perfect for me. I still gain strength talking on the phone to my Mom who is thousands of miles away, and I still cry when I listen to my Dad's music and read the letters he sends. Families are amazing.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Just Breathe

Sometimes I have to stop and recognize all the little moments I'm grateful for. Here are a few

My turn?

Pumpkins we painted and glittered with friends and nieghbors

Cole Gave us all rides on his bike one day just having fun. On one of our first dates in Rexburg ID, He got creative because he did not have a car and gave me a ride on his crossbar. Good memories.

Shailee with some of our neighbor friends. These girls are so sweet and well mannered I love it when Shailee plays with them. Here they had made, "homes" out of piles of leaves around the apartement complex.

Hyrum and Cole making plans in the leaves. It doesn't look like playing, these guys are serious.

We love to swing !

Hyrum is enjoying the yoga mat that Nana sent to Shailee for her birthday.

BABIES

updates on the things they do.

07-28-11

It is about time I started blogging again. Had a sweet moment with my babies yesterday. We got out a big piece of butcher paper, taped it to the floor and used markers to make a map of "our land". It was Hyrum's land initially so Shailee was really sweet to let him direct things and she made sure to ask permission before adding trees to his forest etc. They got really into it. When Coops woke up from his nap I thought the game would be over, but they encouraged him and told him what a great job he was doing making algae in their ocean with a green marker. "He keeps picking exactly the right colors," they told me excitedly. Coops felt very pleased with himself. Every few minutes they would run into the kitchen where I was cleaning dishes to give me the update on the map. Places like, "Kamodo River" and "Monkey Forest" and "Lava Mountains" appeared. They were literally jumping up and down and squealing with excitement about what they would create next.

A couple months ago Hyrum and his good friend were playing at the park when they decided to climb a tree. Their first attempts failed and we overheard them saying, " We're just not strong enough!" They proceeded to do push ups....then they ran back to the tree to try again.

Coops tried rollerskating today. He laughed when he fell down and was so determined to get out on the floor with the other kids that even though he couldn't skate there he started dragging his skate-clad feet behind him in an army crawl position to get onto the skate floor. A very determined little guy!

02-05-09
Last night I had a little tender moment with Shailee and Hyrum. While going through the bedtime routine we started talking about prayer and what we should pray for that night. Shailee suggested that we pray for a friends baby who is having health problems and Hyrum unprompted suggested we pray for Uncle Trent on his mission. Then they both suggested we pray for Cole. It was such a good feeling to know that they are learning the power of prayer and the meaning of it when I still have so much to learn myself.
After our prayer Shailee asked if we could talk about bodies and how they work which is one of her big interests. So we had a discussion about the cardiovascular system. She asked questions, I answered. It was pretty fun. She is so insightful and curious and it sparks new desire in me to learn and gain knowledge.
I've had some fun moments with Hyrum this week too. While Shailee is at preschool I get to see a new side of him because he usually follows her around mimicking her every move. It's fun to see what he thinks up on his own. Today he asked me to do some yoga with him. We have a yoga poster on the kids wall. He picked the poses he wanted to try and then asked me to show him how. He was so cute. He also asked me to read him some books. He loves books, library time, and reading as much as Shailee does. He has also begun to be very energetic . Jumping, tackling, wrestling, kicking, all things athletic. He also loves to help in the kitchen. If he hears me cooking he is at my side asking to stir and help. I think this is partly because he has a very healthy appetite and loves all different kinds of foods...spicy, healthy, sugary, anything edible he is willing to try it and usually likes it.
11-29-08
Today Shailee and i were irritating eachother and she said she was going to go find a new Mom. I told her I would miss her and she said she would miss her dad and that she was taking Hyrum with her because she would miss him too much. But later when I was putting the kids to bed she said she loved me and that she was sorry for being mean.

Hyrum is talking a lot now and sometimes I like to interview him. Today I was asking him about our family. "Do you have a Mom?" and I went down the list of family members. He said yes that he had a dad and a siser and grandmas, but when I asked him about Grandpas he said "no" as if I had asked him a silly question. So apparently we need to communicate more with the Grandpas.

11-12-08
Shailee is a verocious reader who will someday correct all my spelling and gramatical errors I'm sure. She doesn't actually read the words yet but she peruses books for hours on end. She also loves to listen to books on CD or we sit and read books out loud. Some of the books we love are....
Hey Wake Up- by Sandra Boynton
(she has this one memorized)
The entire Magic Tree House Collection
Book one of A Series of Unfortunate Events
Some of the Disney Fairy Collection
The Henry and Mudge books by Cynthia Rylant
The Olivia books
Eloise books (although I think she is very naughty)
Raold Dahl books
Babybug magazines

10-06-08
Hyrum's new words
"Rooooooar"
"Hello"
"A dat say" (what does that say) he was asking cole as they watched the World Series.
"Ruiz" (the Phillies catcher)
"I do it" or "A Me" pointing to himself sternly
"I don't know"

09-14-08
Hyrum is talking up a storm all of the sudden. He was refusing to say a lot of things except with sign language now it seems he adds three or more words a day to his vocabulary. "Wim!" for swim ,"A ome" for at home. Anyway it's fun to be suprised by his new words every day.
Shailee is loving preschool. Her favorite part is playing in the kitchen right now and the dress ups. She comes home with lovely finger paintings every time.
07-07-08
We spent today at home. We pulled the babies mattresses out into the living room and I got my excercise done while they occupied themselves jumping off couches and running around. Later we painted. I commented on Shailee's painting which was full of warm red and pink and yellow colors. "Those are pretty colors,"I said. My medically minded daughter replied, "It's blood, a picture of blood." Coming from another child this might sound morbid, but Shailee finds "blood and inside parts" and all functions of the body very interesting.
Before we painted I told Shailee that she and Hyrum had to be dressed. Hyrum was running around completely clothing free. Shailee proceeded to dress him dry diaper and all. I was pretty impressed. The diaper was put on correctly and his clothes matched and he just laid there patiently while she got him dressed. Their dialogue went something like this...
"Hyrum, Bud, do you want to paint?"
A nod from Hyrum
"Then you have to come get your clothes on, good boy. Just lay down while I put your britches on, put your legs down, good job"
It just can't be recorded how cute it is to hear Shailee talking to Hyrum as a tiny little mother and him listening so obediently to her commands.
06-13-08
Hyrum has, overnight it seems, turned into this little boy instead of a baby. He likes to tackle Shailee and me and Cole and anyone else he is familiar enough with. This is unfortunate for Shailee when she is sleeping. I've started putting up the baby gate on the kids room for her protection. Hyrum usually wakes up in our bed (this is something I wish to change, but am too lazy so far) and then goes looking for Shailee because he is lonely. She does the same thing if she is first up.

A confession not really about the babies
Today we made up some "responsability charts" for Hyrum and Shailee. I took pictures of them doing some of these responsable things and made them into laminated cards wich they switch from the "to do's" pocket to the "all done" pocket throughout the day as they complete them. Our house seems to breed clutter. Why is this! I can't seem to keep any flat surface clean for 24 hrs at a time. Not to mention that I'm terrible at doing the dishes. We always have clean clothes but they are usually in the dryer or in massive piles on the couch. So my theory is that if the kids feel more responsable for their things, I might get more of my responsabilities taken care of. I really want to be robbed by a kind-hearted theif who wants all our toys and old clothes and all the clutter from the shove-and-shut drawer in the kitchen.

05-05-08
My younger brothers like to play this video game called guitar hero. It involves "playing" rock music with an electronic guitar. I've found Shailee dancing to the music several times and, wow, I don't know where she gets it but she knows how to dance to rock music. This worries me just a little.
Hyrum has warmed up to my family a lot more than last time we were here, although he still won't voluntarily stray from my sight. I was once in the market with the Getchers and Ethan and Shailee were running around and all the sudden I panicked, "where's Hyrum?" He was in my arms. That is how second nature it is for me to be holding the cute little clinger. I know someday I will truly miss how much he feels he needs me right now, but I will be happy for him when he finds a little more independance.
04-09-08
Shailee often astounds us with the things she says. Sometimes they are just simple things, but sometimes it doesn't feel like she is just 31/2. more on that later.
03-17-08
The other day shailee was teasing hyrum. I was doing dishes and he ran behind my legs for protection but shailee was still poking him. He was screaming at her and she was sweetly singing, "Jesus said love everyone, treat them kindly too..." Apparently the message of that song was not sinking in.

We put our vaccuum to sleep now. Hyrum was so obsessed with it that after vaccuuming twice a day for weeks I had to come up with a plan. So we lay the vaccuum down and hyrum gives it a blanket and we only wake it up once a day now.

02-11-08
Shailee has a world of imaginary creatures that follow us around. A lion named Brookie Cookie, tonight she is at home having a movie night with her mom and dad. There is also a bear who's parents decided not to name him and then left on vacation so he is staying with us. Shailee says the bear does not miss his parents. A frog who's house is far far away. We have to make sure and buckle these guys in the car when they come with us and I've been told that I need to let them in the front door when they knock.
Hyrum is growing in his ability to communicate with us which is a lot of fun. He is using signs like "more" and "finished" and he throws his diaper in the trash when we ask him to after he's been changed unless he gets destracted on the way to the garbage, by a ball or a puppy usually. He also throws a lot of other things away that don't need to be thrown away. He's defending himself against Shailee's tyrany now wich is good for both of them.
02-17-08
Yesterday Shailee turned on a kickboxing dvd and started working out and Hyrum joined her. Now Hyrum is walking around punching the air and making grunting noises, it's pretty cute. Hyrum has been repeating some words too like "backpack" and he learned how to say "ball" which he is pretty excited about.
02-22-08
Today at playgroup Shailee and her friend Ethan got in an argument about who was stronger. It got pretty heated and once they were seperated Shailee flexed her muscles and said, "Heavenly Father just made me stronger."I don't know where this idea of competition came from or why they both felt so adament about it. By the way, Ethan and Shailee once "got married" while they were playing. He decided the first thing to do after that was have prayer and scripture study and then kiss, but upon the attempted kiss Shailee pushed him over. Ethan is a fabulous young man and we would make no protests to this match, but apparently he has his work cut out for him if they ever do decide to marry twenty years from now.
02-26-08
Hyrum had his 15mo check up today and got some immunizations. It was sad because he was all relaxed and trusting (he is at peace with the world when he is in nothing but his diaper) and then we laid him down and he knew something was up. He screamed pretty loud for about 10 seconds and then he was fine. I destracted him by saying, "Let's put your stompers on!" That's what we call his shoes and he gets so excited about putting them on. All we have to say to make him happy these days is, "where are your stompers?" or "Let's find a ball."
Hyrum also gets really happy about the vaccuum. Either he is a neat freak like his father or he likes the sound. It probably has more to do with the fact that Shailee sometimes likes to run trying to dodge the vaccuum when I turn it on. She laughs really hard about this game. Hyrum used to be terrified about the vaccuum but after watching Shailee he plays this game to. He frequently pulls me over to it and points, "Uh, uh?" hopeing that the floor needs a cleaning.
And now some tragic news, Shailee has taken up sucking her thumb. We allowed her to keep her binky for three years(mistake #1) to avoid this exact happening. What do we do now? She has been rid of the bink for almost six months but that would be better on her teeth right? and how do you take away a thumb? I do not underestimate her cleverness and this may become yet another thing she will outsmart me on or I could just give in. Uhhgg. I'm not impressed with my parenting skills.
Round #2 who is stronger, Shailee or Ethan. We had to pry them apart again on monday. It's so funny because they play together extremely well except for this one current argument which gets so heated. Ethan was practically in tears with frustration and happy to concede that they were both the strongest but my too strongly willed daughter was taunting him and refusing to back down until I explained to her that she could lose a friend this way and she decided she like Ethan more than being, "the strongest".