4 Months

I know I say it every month, but I can't believe Emery is already 4 months old! I have forgotten how quickly babies change at this age and it never ceases to amaze me how much I love watching my FOURTH child reach her milestones. It just never gets old watching a baby grow and develop.

This month Emery:

• Found her feet and loves trying to get them in her mouth



• Found her thumb. We're not sure if she'll be thumb sucker since she doesn't suck at night but she likes it during the day.



• Has mastered rolling from side to side but hasn't made it all the way over yet (she's SO close)



• Figured out she only likes to sleep in very dark places. We moved her into our closet a few days ago and she is a different baby sleep-wise. It's making for a much happier baby and mom! She is also no longer sleeping in her carseat!
  


• Weighed in at 17 lb. 1 oz. at her 4 month appointment and is off the charts in both height and weight



• Graduated to size 3 diapers and size 6-12 month clothes



• Learned to put her binky back in by herself



• Learned to squeal and "talk" really loudly to get our attention



• Laughed for the first time. Addison seems to have the real talent to getting her to laugh but it is sure fun when we all try.



• Graduated from the baby bathtub since she will no longer fit in it



• Still loves mama most and gets very sad when I am not around



• Loves putting everything in her mouth

She still loves to sleep with me and that would be her preferred method if only I didn't have 3 other kids to take care of during the day. She is beyond sweet and we all adore her.

Oh, and the cutest part of her outfit is the back {The front says Fairy Princess}:

I'm hoping it still fits her for our Disney vacation in a couple months.

{PS - I'm trying desperately to get my 365 blog up to date before our first vacation of the summer. It should be done sometime today and shows what we've been up to so far this summer}

Summertime Fun Bucket

Aaaahhhh... we are finally out of school. I'm so relieved and happy that we have 8 weeks of summer fun and relaxation ahead of us.

On the last day of school I took a cue from my sister-in-law, Tracie, and decorated my car for the last day of school. The kids were so surprised and loved it! For $5 I was the coolest mom around.


I decided to put together a bunch of new, fun summer stuff for the kids this year. Because of Emery's nap schedule we will need to spend more time at home than the past couple of summers. I know I will need LOTS of stuff to keep the kids busy and happy this year. This was waiting for them after school:

The bucket included:

fixings for s'mores
homemade popsiclemolds
a huge roll of newsprint
water shooters
pool toys and dive sticks
a new sprinkler for under the trampoline
glow bracelets and sticks
a new board game (already played and so fun)
waterballoons
shaving cream (to play with on the wet trampoline)
summer fruits candy
activity jar
summer checklists
rootbeer extract + homemade rootbeer recipe

(I would have also put in new craft supplies, bubbles, goggles, beach towels, sand toys, sidewalk chalk, etc. if we had needed any of it)

Like last year, I made the kids summer checklists. I know we won't do everything on the list every day but it is a good guideline. As an extra incentive I included "Piano Pizzas" that C&M will mark off a pepperoni every day they practice and earn a trip to our favorite pizza joint. The kids will have to work together to fill their reading rainbow every day and they will be working toward a trip to the water park at the end of the summer.

Finally, I made an activity jar that they can choose from every day. I know these are on about every blog out there for this summer but I made sure that all of our activities would be able to be completed without help from me. You won't find "bake cookies" in the jar I made, even though we will also do plenty of those types of activities. I'm hoping each activity will keep the kids occupied for at least 30 minutes every day.

The activities:
Write a letter to the Tokyo Frosts
Write a letter to the Cobia’s
Write a letter to the NC Frost’s
Write a letter to the Jacksons
Write a letter to the Lewis’
Write a letter to the MS Frost’s
Write a letter to Jake & Erica
Write a letter to the Stradlings
Write a letter to G&G Baldwin
Write a letter to Gma Frost
Play a board game
Play with Play Do
Draw targets on the wall in the backyard and squirt with water shooters
Play with the marble track
Play a board game
Play with sidewalk chalk
Make Snowcones for everyone
Make a craft with a paper plate
Paint something
Build a blanket fort
Make a music video
Jump on the trampoline with the sprinkler
Make up and perform a puppet show
Make up a play
Do an ABC scavenger hunt with a camera around the house.
Draw a family portrait on the wall outside
Finger paint
Play with bubbles outside
Look at your scrapbook
Write in your journal
Build a sandcastle
Make something with Tinker Toys
Have a beauty parlor and do each other’s hair/makeup
Do a self portrait
Have a tea party with your stuffed animals
Wash the car
Play with water balloons
Have a water fight with your squirt guns
Make paper bag puppets
Splatter paint
Clean coins with Salt and vinegar
Have a picnic lunch inside
Work on the dance for the family reunion
Make up an obstacle course and time each other
Finger paint with pudding
Shaving cream fight on the trampoline in your swimsuits
Jump on the trampoline with bubbles
Organize a talent show & perform for mom & dad
Make a structure out of toothpicks and mini-marshmallows

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I am officially ready for summer

Dance Pictures

Whoa. I need to catch my breath. The past couple of weeks have been C-R-A-Z-Y with recitals, programs, parties, projects, field trips, etc. I have so much to blog about and feel so far behind! So let's get started!

Makenna and Addison both took dance this year and loved it! Being a dancer myself, I just adore watching my girls dance and discover a love for it. I hope (fingers crossed) that my girls want to dance for many more years! The studio they dance for had their recital last week and both girls did great. I will post videos of their performances when I get the professional DVD I ordered. My videos were terrible because of the low light in the auditorium. The weekend before the recital I decided to do my own pictures of the girls in their costumes.

Addison's class danced to "Spoon Full of Sugar" from Mary Poppins. Her costume included a giant lollipop prop that I didn't have for the shoot.








Addie's little friend was there during the shoot so she was pretty distracted and I had a hard time getting her to cooperate. However, going through these pictures I am reminded that you only really need to get 1 good shot to make it worth it. I probably took 200 pics on this day and only a handful of them turned out, but that's all you really need!



Kenna's class danced to "9-5" from the musical/movie 9-5. Man, she rocked it on performance night and we are so proud of how hard she has worked this year. She has improved a ton and has expressed an interest in dancing on the competitive team. We'll see next year how she feels about it.








Her friend from our ward, whose name is also Makenna (yes, spelled the exact same way even) was in her class with her so we took a few pictures of the girls together. They are two peas in a pod right down to that crazy, gorgeous, long blond hair.









Finally, a picture of my girlies together!

They are both going to ballet camp this summer and I can't wait to see how much they love it!