October

Max bore his testimony on Sunday and said, “ I have recently finished reading the Book of Mormon and now I have a goal to read the New Testament and what ihave learned from this is that i know that Jesus lived and that he still lives now and that he loves me!”

Phoebe was having bad anxiety about school. She would cry worrying about forgetting something or being late and getting in trouble. We started talking about anxiety and teaching her some strategies and she is doing so much better! I am so glad! 

Leo 15 months

Leo makes us all laugh so much everyday. We watched the Hurd’s chickens a couple weeks ago and he learned to say “chicken” it’s so cute! He puts everyone’s shoes on all day and we hear him clunking around in my huge shoes or sometimes two bowls on his feet or a roll of duct tape 😂.One reason he’s so anxious to always wear shoes is that he wants to be outside all day long. Once he gets out there he toddles all around then yard, sometimes playing with the girls, or the boys or the dog, but his favorite is to sit in the middle of a vegetable bed and dig with his little shovel. He could play there  happily for an hour. It is the cutest thing!

Leo loves music and he loves to dance. As soon as he hears a melody he starts spinning and dancing and he gets so happy! Ever since he was a tiny baby, Esther could calm him down when he was upset by singing him the song,”when the duck walked up to the lemonade stand” no matter how hard he is screaming, he will stop and listen to her when she starts singing. Leo sings himself now too! The first thing I heard him sing was the unknown voice riff from frozen 2. It is the cutest thing!! On Sunday for our first week of home church because of the Coronavirus Leo was singing along with the hymn. Oh sweet boy!

Leo loves soccer! A week after he learned to walk he was kicking a ball around and now a couple months later he has already got some pretty amazing ball control! He is not very interested in most toys but he loves to kick a ball around the house or yard.

The other day Javier called his mom and as soon as Leo heard the telltale ringing of the phone he es n as fast as his cute little legs could carry him into the room and started jabbering nonstop to the phone. We laughed so hard!

Leos asthma this winter has been almost completely better. I’m still giving him a little inhaled steroid when he is sick but he hasn’t really had any trouble. I’m so grateful! Esther has also had a wonderful winter for asthma with very few and mild flares.

Leo is a lover. When I lay him down for a nap he will wrap his arms around my neck and lay his head on my shoulder and fall asleep within 5 minutes. It is the sweetest moment each day, I love it! He loves to give big squeeze hugs around the neck at other times in the day too.

Wally is Leo’s doggy twin. Those two love each other so much! Leo doesn’t mind a bit that Wally playfully bites him and Wally doesn’t mind a bit that Leo pulls his hair. They get so excited to see each other and they play all day.

Samuel almost ten

Sammy is in a very cute age! He has a very strict and boring teacher this year which has been a real trial for him but I am so proud him for making the best of this year and finding joy in a lot of new and unexpected places.

Last October Sammy decided to audition for his school play and he didn’t do it half heartedly at all. He didn’t know which part they would ask him to read for so he practiced all of them, memorized all of them and practiced making them each his own. I wasn’t a bit surprised when they gave him the part of Seaman the dog with most of the funny lines and a solo. If hard work and talent can win a part then Sammy definitely deserved it :)

Actors class started in December and it became a lifeline for Sammy. He was miserably bored in his class, dreading each day, but he has looked forward to actors class. He lives joking with the other actors, being famous, and of course acting and singing are his favorite things!

Sometime in February as soon as it was t bitter cold Sammy climbed a big tree in the park on the way home from school. It’s a least 30 to 50 feet high and ever since then Sammy has climbed it every day with a friend he made climbing that tree. He looks forward to it and comes home excited and proud every day :)

Tonight March 2 was the program and Sammy was amazing! He was hilarious!! He took that part and made it so much more funny than it was in Maxs year. His song was awesome! He looked over at where we were sitting a couple times, so happy and proud, not quite too big for a little wave. Esther kept saying over and over “There’s Sammy!!!!!” And every time he came on stage Phoebe would say,  “yay!! The main actors!!” Leo clapped his hands and danced through the program and as for me, well I knew I should be finding my friends kids so I could  tell them what a great job they did but I couldn’t take my eyes off of my Sammy and I could feel my face just beaming through the whole performance. I’m so proud!

Leos first 7 months

Leo is such a smiley, happy baby. He loves to crawl around the floor at lightning speed. He gets so happy when he makes eye contact with someone. When someone hugs him he hugs back and he laughs when people squeeze him. He eats everything

He loves books. I read to him every night and Phoebe who is getting good at reading these days will read book after book to him while he chews on the pages. He loves being sung to.

He is a very chubby little baby with lots of fat rolls and a sweet double chin. And he is very active. He already started pulling up and he likes to stand with just a little support. He has loved jumping ever since he was about 4 months old. When I hold him, he jumps and climbs on me, and throws himself back. That combined with his weight makes my arms feel like jelly every day.

He is our best sleeper so far and has been since he got healthy. This winter, starting when he was only about 2 months old he had a very sick spell. He and the rest of our family got illness after illness and Leo started in from that young age with terrible asthma. That was a difficult time for me because he needed so much medicine, antibiotics, nebulizer treatments around the clock, steroids and he hated it all so much. I felt like I was torturing him and it was so sad to make him cry. Often I would cry right along with him while I was giving him his meds. By four months he started to be much healthier, and when he has been sick he has hated the treatments less so it hasn't been bad since then.