There's Nothin' Special 'Bout January

...there's not a lot goin' on.
There's 31 days of nothin' much, I get so bored I yawn.
Each day seems to roll along, with nothin' to look forward to.
So I guess I'll sing this little song, till January's...till January's...till January's through.

I have sung this song every January since elementary school because.. there's nothing else to do.

January started out really good. It was cold and snowy, but our family was healthy (not counting colds all around) and the sun was shining. My mood was really good for most of the month. I felt better than I have for probably over a year (thanks to not being pregnant anymore). The end of the month was a bit more dreary due to smog and such. This winter has been so much colder than last year. I guess there was only so much warm weather from Florida that we could bring. It snowed and snowed, and never melted, then it snowed some more. I'm so grateful for a warm house! It got so cold that I went and bought an emergency indoor-safe propane heater in case our furnace went out. We would totally die in this weather! Even the garage is frigid.

Keeping warm with the hats Grandma made them

Using their snow markers

They came inside and got into their swimsuits on the same day. I think they were cleaning the shower, and I use the word "cleaning" loosely.

Other things they do when it's cold outside

Destroy our living room

Be couch potatoes (starting 'em young)

I never posted the project that we finished in December. It was started before Hallie was born and dreamed about for much longer (by me at least). We had 6 hooks in the mudroom for a family of 7, and the kids couldn't even reach them. Our mudroom was always a mess. Add in backpacks, lunchboxes, lots of winter gear, homework, artwork and lots of school papers and it can get messy really fast. I had been wanting to make this for so long. The design changed about 4 times along the way, but I love how it turned out. The only dumb part is that I used the magnetic paint under the chalkboard paint and the magnetic pull is very weak. I could use really strong magnets, or I could just add a clip on the top to hang papers/artwork. The best part is that the kids actually hang their stuff up now. Connor can even reach it. Now I just need to work on the other side of the mudroom.

This is what it usually looks like

 

Connor has been saying so many cute things lately. He says "prenzels" for pretzels, "farshfellow" for marshmallow, "roller plates" for roller skates, "samwiches" for sandwiches, and his hood is his "Ned"--"Can you put my Ned on?" Anything that starts with "sp" is an "f", so spoon is "foon", spaghetti is "faghetti" and spot is "fot", and he will get mad if anyone is in his fot on the couch. The other day he asked Jared for something and he said to go ask your mother. Connor turned to me laughing and said, "He called you mudder." One night we were putting on pajamas that used to be Alex's. We told them that he wasn't even born when we bought these. He said, "I wasn't born yet?... Don't say I wasn't born yet, I am born!!!" He was so mad and serious about it that it made us laugh. Sometimes he says he is five and a half and sometimes he is thirty-five, but he's not usually two. He is sure acting like it lately though. He can be so sweet and happy, and then he will explode like a good little terrible two year old. Usually he hits or pinches or scratches, and usually Marissa is the target since they are together most. Luckily he is very sweet with the baby. He is always pretending to be someone (Diego, the Dad, one of the neighbor kids, Alex) and he tells everyone else who they are. He is really growing up. Still absolutely no interest in potty training, which may have been something to stress over back when I only had two kids, but I guess I am choosing to not worry about it. I can handle two kids in diapers more than potty training right now.

 

 I took Hallie to the doctor for a 4 month check up. She is healthy and doing things that a four month old should and she is 40% for height, but she is not even on the chart for weight. She has only gained 3 lbs. 3 oz. since birth. So basically out of 10,000 babies, only 27 weigh less than her. Yikes! I knew she was kind of skinny, but I didn't realize it was that bad. She is always wearing long sleeves and pants and bundled in a blanket, so you don't notice it, but once you take those off you can really see how skinny her arms and legs are. Am I worried? Yeah. I don't know exactly what to do. I am supposed to increase the number of feedings she has and wake her up in the middle of the night to feed her (bummer since she's been sleeping through the night since she was 5 weeks). And we've tried feeding her some actual food, but I have a feeling not much has gotten in yet. She is a very happy baby and always seems so content. She doesn't act like she's hungrier than what she's getting, but she is also a thumb sucker and soothes herself whenever we don't get her so she could be missing feedings because of that. My gut feeling tells me that she will be fine, but it is just another thing for me to worry about right now. I love that she smiles so much and loves attention. She recently found her voice and started to squeal happily and loudly, including during Relief Society last week (think parrot squawking). I love that sweet baby!

Hallie at 4 months old

That thumb!

Starting to roll, but mostly she propels herself backwards with her feet (when she's on her back)

She looked so small when we put her in her new high chair and pulled her up to the table

Erin started some new things in January. She wanted to do gymnastics so we signed her up for a class at a nearby gym with her best friend Emma. They love it! I don't see the Olympics in either one of their futures, but at least they are enjoying it and learning something new. I also signed her up for some art classes at Thanksgiving Point. They are an hour and a half on Saturdays and focus on a different technique every week. It is so awesome! She just loves art so much that I knew she would have fun. She is still taking piano lessons and has activity days, so her life is pretty full right now. She still seems to get her homework done and play with friends almost every day. And since we weren't spending enough money on this child, she started her orthodontic treatment a few weeks ago--the start of many, many appointments with all of our crowded-mouthed children. Oh, and she will be getting her own room in the next couple of weeks which she is so excited about.

We watched a whole bunch of family movies recently and Erin hated seeing/hearing herself. Ever since she has hated getting her picture taken.

 Marissa will also be getting a new room. This was not at all my plan until a week or so ago. About a week into January I got to thinking about how Hallie would need Connor's crib, Connor would need Marissa's toddler bed and Marissa would need a new bed at some point. I found some plans online which I showed Marissa. She kept asking when I would build her bed (like over and over again), so one thing led to another, I ended up at Home Depot buying a bunch of wood and began cutting everything out. It was going to go into the girls' room, but as I measured everything out again I realized it would probably be kind of tight. And Erin has pretty much taken over that room anyway. It's Erin's desk, Erin's bed, Erin's table, Erin's closet, Erin's art easel, Erin's dresser, Erin's bookshelf, Erin's decorations, Erin's art on the wall. All Marissa has is a small bed and two drawers in the dresser. I felt like doing something special just for Marissa. And those two don't always get along anyway (which makes me so sad). Anyway, Marissa will go in the play room and Hallie will join her in a couple of months. We won't have another play room until we finish our basement (I loved having no toys in their bedrooms), but I'm excited about the change. The bed will be done in another week or so. Oh, and I accidentally turned a trim into a really short haircut a few days ago. Woops! It'll grow out by kindergarten, I'm sure.

Okay, who's my other kid? Oh yeah, Alex. He is still doing great in school and with piano. He amazes me with his memory. I asked the kids if they knew our phone number and he spouted it off. We really haven't focused on it so it kind of surprised me. He said he just remembered from when we told him a few months ago. I went to eat lunch with him when he was astronaut of the week and he was so funny. He didn't talk to me, or anybody. Everyone seemed to like him though. A girl gave him some fruit snacks. Apparently she gives him something from her lunch every day. He's so funny. He is really quiet, but also very nice. I think people really like him once they realize he is there. I am still so grateful that he is in first grade instead of kindergarten. It is so obvious that this is the right place for him.

The day I gave them fake wounds. I see some good fun in our future with this stuff.

Jared did another racquetball tournament last week. He got first place in the consolation round for mixed doubles (they basically just lost the first game and won everything else) and second place for men's doubles. He said if it hadn't been his fifth hour of racquetball that day he would have won that last match. I'm glad he has this hobby. Because he plays every Thursday, he is better that he was when he played for BYU. Awesome guy! The other news is that he slipped and fell one day when he was running to make the train. He got a huge wound on his knee and ruined his one suit. Time for a new one I suppose (with two pants this time). It was kind of sad.

I just finished my week of preschool. It was the letter S so I did a whole bunch of science experiments the first day. I thought they were cool. Only a few didn't work. My older kids enjoyed them when they got home that day. Today we did shapes and seasons. There are always things I wish I had done differently, but overall it was good. I like this year of preschool and Marissa loves it. I have been working on the bed almost every day. Last year we were working on Alex's castle bed in the garage. This year I turned the basement into my shop. It's still cold, but better than the garage. My goal is to make this one all on my own. So far, I've made every cut, sanded everything and put everything together myself. So empowering! I think that is why I had a dream where I won "Coolest Girl in the School" award, but only for 3 days. The award was a round cut out 1" piece of wood, so yeah, that's what I think about in my sleep.