iris at 5 months

She can sit.

She can roll.

elsa can spell!

She got second place in the second grade spelling bee after hardly practicing. She was in the top 4 of her class, so we got to go watch her compete in the grade-wide spelling bee. I was amazed at how riveting a spelling bee is. Even Will stayed interested the whole time. She got out on adamant and treachery--third grade words she had never seen before. But, she made it through all the second grade words and even a couple of the third grade words she hadn't studied. I was so proud.

christmas

It was so good to go back home for Christmas. It had been a year since we'd been there, and there were some cousins and aunts and uncles that Iris hadn't met yet. We got to spend 2 weeks surrounded by family, and it was luxurious. We have very few pictures because Brandon forgot his camera and my new one was set on some weird settings. But, we got to go to the Christmas display downtown--my favorite childhood Christmas activity.


We went to the zoo. Here are the kids looking at the gibbons (my favorite exhibit at the Minnesota zoo). And, the new creature we discovered--a leafy sea dragon.


We had a wonderful Christmas Eve at Chuck and Kris's house--soup, homemade egg nog, treats, songs, scriptures, and stories. A fun Christmas morning with lots of presents from Santa. And, the family Christmas party at Grandma's with amazing food and the kids acting out the Nativity. Best present-opening reaction: Will had been talking about how he wanted a Big Foot since November, and Grandma succumbed to his wishes. When he opened it, his jaw dropped open and then he jumped up and down shouting, "Big Foot. Big Foot! BIG FOOT!" It was a very merry Christmas.

The magic of Silver

In case any of you haven't seen this yet. A commercial that Jed and I made.

iris is 4 months old

She had her check-up today. She's 16 pounds 7 ounces and 26 inches long. She's only in the 93rd percentile, making her my smallest child yet. Woo hoo, Iris! She's healthy and happy and only had to cry for about 15 seconds after her immunizations. She's been playing with toys for about a month now, but just in the last few days she has started trying to get whatever is in my hands. As soon as I pick up something, she gasps in excitement and goes for it. She spilled my cereal for the first time on Saturday.

Here she is.
Playing with her turtle:

Chatting up the camera-man:


Smiling at Henry:

Wearing the paper guitar Elsa made for her:

it was halloween a while ago . . .

And here are some pictures of the festivities.
Elsa and Henry were allowed to use the sharp knives and carve their own pumpkins for the first time.

We went trick-or-treating with cousins Sadie, Brenna, and Myles (not pictured because the camera battery died, sorry Myles).

blessings

2 weeks ago today, Iris was blessed. I don't remember much about the blessing. It was a lot of the usual, wonderful stuff. But the one thing that I remember was that it said she would bring joy to others through her presence. It seems like this already happens all the time. Everywhere I go, people just see her and smile. A lot of that is her insanely spiky hair and rolls of chub. But, there is something very joyful about her presence.

My life is now a chaotic mess. I really think my mind is going. At Henry's last football game, I didn't recognize a mom that I had talked to for about 30 minutes 3 weeks before. I felt like such a moron. I mix up dates and forget when I tell people I'll do things. I can't remember anyone's name anymore, and it seems like the days are much too short with so much remaining undone. I swear I used to be smart; I used to think about things deeply and have a really good memory and enjoy pondering things of eternal consequence. Now I just crave mind-numbing TV and sleep.

More frequently, I need to take a deep breath, ignore the mess in my house, and enjoy my blessings. Really. Things are very, very good. Maybe all I need is an hour more sleep a night and a good planner and then I'll feel in control. Or not. Maybe the point is realizing that I'm not in control. But, if it weren't for me, car doors would not ever be shut, teeth would never get brushed, homework would never be signed off, shoes would never be put away.

I have 4 great kids who try hard to be good. I have a good husband. I have everything I need, and a lot of things I want. I have so many blessings. I guess I'm just starting to realize that blessings are responsibilities, like the parable of the talents. I've been given so much and that means I have so much to do. So for now, I think I have enough blessings. I just need to relax and enjoy them while I can.