5 Months

Our Jacob will be 5 months old in a couple days.  I love this little man so much and I love that he still longs to be cuddled and held a lot.  He is a great snuggle and has a calming influence on all of us.  We have been trying to give him a little more tummy time throughout the day and he is responding well to it.  He is getting stronger and more willing to hold his head up for longer periods of time.  We love his giggles and coos.  So blessed to have this sweet spirit in our family.

Sammy

Sammy is making so much progress and growth.  He has struggled with reading and is finally receiving some extra help at school this year.  His teacher, Mrs. Kahook, is such a blessing.  He loves her and knows she loves him. She has high expectations of Sammy and he wants to reach her expectations so he will work really hard for her.  She came to his football games in the freezing rain and snow.  She cares about him and wants him to improve.  We found out recently that his reading scores improved an equivalence of 8 months in just 3 months of 3rd grade.  He still has a lot of work to do but he is on the right track.  He now believes he can be successful in school and in reading.  That is a huge improvement.  We find him reading on his own now without any encouragement from us.  He is being so much more responsible at home  and at school. He is on task and more focused.  Miracles are happening with this kid of our's.  His hard work is finally reaping benefits and he is seeing it.  I think of the disadvantage he had for the first 7 years of his life before we realized he couldn't see or hear very well.  I am in awe of his ability to overcome and work hard when things are REALLY, REALLY difficult.  I'm so proud of him.

14 Years!

 Not sure when it happened but we have a 14 year old son!  The 14 years with Thomas has been amazing.  He is a wonderful young man with such desire to be obedient, helpful, and Christlike.  We learn from him each day.  His birthday fell in the middle of the week during Christmas concert season.  He willingly agreed for us to celebrate his birthday a couple days later.  He chose potato soup in bread bowls for dinner and a turtle cheesecake for dessert.  Sue Ann came and enjoyed dinner with us as well.  Sue Ann told Thomas her birthday gift to him was dinner at Hibachi!  She took Thomas out to dinner last night and he LOVED it.  He had filet mignon and shrimp.  He loved watching the chef cook the meal right in front of him.

As I was talking to Thomas about his birthday he said the best part of the day was the phone calls, text messages, and video messages he received from Grandma & Grandpa Powell and Aunt Alanna.  Thanks for making him feel loved and special even though the miles separate us more than we would like.  It makes my heart happy when our children tell me they feel loved by the simple gestures of family that lives so far from us.

He was ordained a Teacher last Sunday by Joel with the assistance of Brother Schneck and Brother McGarry.  So weird to think we have a 14 year old son!  So grateful for the gentle hearted and kind young man he is.

Videos

Thomas and Spring played at the Festival of Trees in Akron with the Stow Youth Symphony.


Spring is doing well with trumpet as well and has been asked to play at different school functions.

 
 Thomas' first recital with his new teacher, Mrs. Yasutake. We sure miss Ms. Bakkum immensely though!

 

Little Miss Sara loves to count and talk!

 

November Highlights

Spring is such a great example in our family.  She works hard on whatever she is involved in and is so self motivated.  She is making great strides in trumpet and cello.  She often reminds us to have family scripture study each day and is such a help with her younger siblings.

 Sunday mornings are full of picture perfect moments.  I don't capture them often enough, however.  This particular morning Sammy asked Mary to comb his hair for him.  Not sure why, but it made Mary's day to be able to help him.  And, I just love to see Joshie in his tux!

 Falltime in Ohio.  These pictures were only a day apart from each other.

 When I found Sara playing the piano she looked at me and said, "Me Thomas!"

 Joshie won a limo ride from school for the "laps for learning" fundraiser.  He thought it was so cool.  The limo picked them up at the school and drove to lunch at Bellacino's Pizza then back to the school.  He thought it was cool that there weren't seatbelts on the limo but he thought it would be bigger than it was.

 Sammy still loves Cub Scouts and is excited to be a Bear and work on new requirements.  He ended up with 17 arrow points as a Wolf and wants to get that many as a Bear.

 Joel had vacation days he was going to lose if he didn't take them off.  This particular day he stayed home yet needed to call in for a conference call.  He decided to have Sara and Jacob join him on his conference call.  Thank goodness for the ability to "mute" his side of the conference call.

 'Tis the season of concerts.  This was the first Stow Youth Symphony Concert Thomas and Spring participated in.  They played at the Festival of Trees in Akron.

 This is what Sammy looks like when he helps in the kitchen.  I am still learning to be OK with the mess he makes when he cooks because he enjoys being with me in the kitchen.  His smile warms my heart.

 Our spread for Pie for Breakfast.  We were blessed to be joined with over 100 friends on Thanksgiving morning.  Our counters were full of yummy creations and our home was full of friendly conversation, laughter, and kids playing.  It is the highlight of Thanksgiving for us.  This year over 70% of our friends that came were from our neighborhood and community.  It has definitely evolved into more than just friends from church.  We love it.

Sammy has become very interested in photography.  Loved this when we saw him looking at the pictures he had taken during the week.

Sammy's Field Trip

Joel was able to go with Sammy's class on their field trip to the Great Lakes Science Center.  Sammy was super excited about this field trip because he loves anything science!  They had a great time together.

Happy Birthday, Sara

Sara's 2nd birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year as well so we decided to celebrate a couple days early.  She had noodles with white sauce for her dinner and a cake for dessert.  She wasn't so sure how to blow out the candles on her cake and needed Dad to help her with this task.  It's so fun to celebrate her.  All day she would point to herself and say, "My birthday" with a nod of the head as if to say, "of course, you should know this!"  She loved the Paw Patrol puppies from us and Grandma & Grandpa Powell.  Her brothers really liked them too and were a bit green with envy when they saw her gift.  She is slowly learning to share them but isn't too fond of that idea yet.  Grandma Powell and Aunt Alanna face-timed her also to tell her happy birthday and she thought that was really cool.  

Our 2 year old Sara:

*Loves paw patrol and carries them around with her.

*Sleeps with books and her baby and now her paw patrols. When she wakes up from her nap she will play quietly for sometimes 45 minutes before she calls for us to get her out of bed.

*Tells Thomas and Dad goodbye each morning and insists on a hug and kiss from them before they leave.

*Talks ALL THE TIME!  She is very articulate.

*Loves to dance.  She will dance whenever she hears music playing.

*Sings along to songs.

*Does not like to get buckled into her carseat and makes it very difficult for me whenever we need to go somewhere.

*Likes to go visit Sue Ann.

*Favorite foods:  macaroni & cheese, chicken nuggets, cereal, noodles & white sauce, rice, apples, bananas, and cookies

4 Months

Jacob hit 4 months on Thanksgiving day.  He loves to be held and there is usually someone willing to oblige.  He had his well baby visit today and he is doing great in all areas, except he doesn't yet hold his head up very well when he is on his tummy and he doesn't push up on his arms either.  Much of that can be attributed to being held a lot, in addition to his early arrival.  So our task is to give him more time on the floor and less time in the arms of his admirers.  He has found his hands this month and often can be seen holding his hands and looking at them.  Jacob is such a happy and smily boy.  We are blessed by him each day.

Current Stats:

13 pounds (10th percentile)

24 inches (10th percentile)