Omi at 1 year

Our little Omi is growing up!  It's been a wonderful first year with her, she is so sweet and good.  For her birthday she got a new doll from her brothers and a Little People House from us.  Bring on the pink! 

 

We had a family party that weekend where she was further adored and enjoyed a cake!

 

I love that face.

She devoured her cake, which turned out delicious!  She may have also eaten 2 cupcakes the day before when I was making them, the girl likes chocolate, she comes by it honestly.

 At 1 year:

• Omi is still a toothless wonder, but she much prefers table food to baby food.
• She sleeps 10-11 hours at night.
• She has quite a dress collection and currently has 14 dresses in her closet.
• She is finding her voice and isn't afraid to tell her brothers what she thinks.
• She says bye, hi, dada, papa, wow.
• She has a rather funny social laugh that she uses if other people around her are laughing.
• She loves the book Moo, Baa, La La La by Sandra Boynton.
• She is just starting to stand up unassisted for a few brief seconds.
• She still loves a binkie, which is new for me since my boys never did.
• She brings more joy to our family than I ever anticipated. 

 



Leuca

So Mark's mom (AKA GrandmaLeuca) has had a lot of health problems these past few months and has spent considerable time in the hospital since Easter.  A lot of time actually.  This was all new for us, since prior to that she has always been so healthy.  So here are a few pics of how life has changed!

A visit to Summerlin Rehab back in May (towards the end of nearly 2 months in the hospital).  Boys are geared up because she was on contact precautions.

Michael made this card for her for her birthday.  So sweet but makes me sad because he drew her in a bed.  Given their ages, her failing health will be how they remember her. 

She can no longer live independently, so Mark and his siblings (who all live in Vegas) are taking turns caring for her.  It's a hard thing, but good too.  We got a turn this week, and it was good for us and the kids to learn to give service to her. 

I made this bag for her walker, so she can carry all her essentials.  I think she'll be the most styling lady at the doctor's office! 



So that's kind of where all our thoughts and energies have been directed lately.  Summer is halfway over and we have done very little on our bucket list.  But we sure love our little family and feel so blessed.

Sunday Eclipse

So Mark got us on track for viewing the eclipse, despite the fact he'd worked a 12 hour shift the night before and then had to teach for a ward conference, he pulled himself back out of bed after only 3 hours of sleep to make a memory with the boys.  That's just one of the things I love about Mark.

Naomi and I got in on the action, and yes, she's waving!

Mark pulled out the special lenses for viewing, boys had fun checking the progress.

We had 2 of them, foresight on Mark's part when he got them so long ago.

The coolest part was as there was just a sliver of sun showing, it caused shadows to become distorted, Mark's hand was actually spread wide with 5 fingers.

And the coolest effect was on the shadows cast through the trees, lots of eclipse shadows as the sunlight filtered though the tree.

So keep on your calendars June 5th, when Venus passes in front of the sun and you can see a black dot in the sun from it, happens only once every 128 years!

Sudan

If you want a place to blogstalk, check our my friend Kim's blog about her life in the Sudan.  I find all her posts fascinating, and humbling, and sometimes downright scarey.  Check it out!
http://firstwondergoesdeepest.blogspot.com/

Crawling

Omi is now 7 months and she will tolerate some tummy time...

 but inevitably, this is how she feels about it...

 don't think I have to worry about a crawling baby anytime soon.

But I'm not concerned, I will love her and hug her and carry her everywhere as long as I can!

Snapshots and snippets

Just letting ya'll know that we are still around, just busy.  The boys are currently obsessed with everything Lego and Star Wars.  Omi is getting the hang of eating now and detests rice cereal but loves avocado.  I have been able to start reading again since I do get a little bit of down time after all the kids are in bed.  And Mark is wishing I had never signed him up to coach the boys' Primary baseball team.  So there is a rather quick update, snippets to go with the snapshots! 

Omi

Naomi (affectionately dubbed "Baby Omi" by extended family) had her 4 month well check. She checked in at 25 1/2 inches (85th percentile) and 15 lbs even (75th percentile). Right on track with my boys to be long. And she has delicious cheeks and chubs that just beg for kissing.
At 4 months she smiles to those she knows and may to strangers if they are nice and soft spoken (she already has stranger danger). She generally sleeps about 10 hours straight, more or less, with 3 pretty predictable naps each day. She never spits up, rarely cries, and is often content to just sit and hang out and play with some toys if I am otherwise occupied. She can blow excellent raspberries. She smiles at me when I suction her nose. Mommy is her favorite person and her favorite spot is snuggled under my chin. However, she really loves her daddy and brothers and I can already see her adoration for them. During Christmas season Jacob started calling her "our Christmas star" which has now turned into "our little star" since Christmas is over. They are super sweet to her and are big helpers. She quite enjoys her fists and they are constantly in her mouth now. She is truly the easiest baby. She is so fun and has such a lovely spirit about her and we constantly feel so blessed to have her in our family.


(I have been having a little fun with the Pioneer Woman edits I downloaded to my photoshop elements, I love the effect of this one called 'soft faded')

I wish I had taken a daily picture of her. I really think I could catalog 365 days of clothes and never wear the same outfit twice, since I was given/inherited so many clothes! I have 8 14gallon bins of clothes that range from newborn to 3T. It's a little ridiculous but wonderful! I make myself remember that when I am out and tempted to buy her something...though I did break down this week with Target clearance. Darn Target.