Rutherford: 6 Months Old

Rutherford is 6 months old!

He is 17lbs 14oz and 26.5 inches which is average for a boy his age.  It seems huge to me because Alice didn't weight that much till she was a year old!

He doesn't have any teeth yet but he has been drooling like crazy for a couple months now.  I have to change his bib like every hour.  It's crazy.

He doesn't spit up as much as he used to so that's nice.

Unfortunately he doesn't sleep very well.  He fusses a lot at night.  Also this past week he has decided 30 minutes is all he needs for a nap :(

Luckily for him, he is super cute and smily so I forgive him the sleep deprivation.

He loves people, attention and being held.

He can sit up on his own for about 30 seconds before he topples over.

He's making lots of noises including "da da" (the little traitor).  He also screeches which kinda drives me crazy.  It's a really awful noise.

The girls still love him like crazy and enjoy making him laugh and helping with him.

For his 6 month pictures, I decided to redo his newborn photos on the bookcase.  I really didn't think I would be able to get him to sleep up there.

But I did!  I just rocked him to sleep then set him down and quickly took the pictures.

I also took some with him awake.

His smile just melts me.

"Oh, these look like good books..."

We'll see if I can fit him up there for his 1 year pictures!

Playmat Quilt and Play Gym

My parents recently semi-retired and moved to Texas!

Now they are only an 8 hour drive away! (Yes, "only" it's a lot closer than CA, ok!)

Last month they came to visit for 2 weeks.

It was great.  We had so much fun and they were such a big help.

This gave me time to..

catch up on chores

nap

finish one of the many projects I've started

Start (and finish) a new project!

I blame my Dad.  He asked me to think of projects I would like him to do for me.

So I had him make me a play gym!

I used some wooden beads and silicone beads I had to make some toys for it. (I made a couple more different ones so I can switch them out)

I also painted a cute little peg doll family.

But of course I couldn't just put a blanket or something under it, I had to make a little playmat quilt.

I found this adorable fabric by Moda called Thicket.  Babies love monochrome!  (It also goes along with my new Scandinavian design obsession)

 Then of course I had to have my little model.
 

 

 
Hi, my name's Megan and I'm a craftaholic...

Rutherford's Baptism

This Mother's Day was extra special because it was also the day Rutherford was baptized!

It came at an interesting time in our church.  The day before we had a memorial for an elderly man in our church who had past away.  It felt very fitting to have Rutherford welcomed into the church as one of its faithful members went onto glory in heaven.  It is the end that we hope and pray for, that all our children die having lived a life of faithful service to Christ.

Rutherford seemed like he would be ok when I first handed him to Pastor.

But as soon as Pastor started talking, Rutherford started screaming.

Having the water put on his head didn't help.

At the end of the service we sang "Jesus Loves Me".  I had never known the other verses and they are just so fitting for a baptism.

Jesus love me! This I know

 For the Bible tells me so.

Little ones to Him belong

 They are weak, but He is strong.

Jesus Loves me! This I know

 As He loved so long ago.

Taking children on His Knee

Saying, 'Let them come to Me.'

Gospel sign to me applied

Pointing me to Him who died

Keep me faithful all the way

From you may I never stray

When I stray and 'gainst You sin

Tell me who I am again

Baptized child of the great King

He's my Father, so I sing

When we got home I, of course, had to take some pictures.

Me and all the kids looking at the camera and (almost) all smiling, it was a Mother's Day miracle!

We will have to wait and see if Rutherford joins Alice and me as hazel eyed buddies.

So all in all, a very nice Mother's Day :)

2 Months With Rutherford

My handsome guy is 2 months old now!  I can't believe he is already 2 months old but I also can't believe he has only been in our lives for 2 months!  I can't imagine life without him.

He is 13 pounds already!

He is a happy guy and rarely cries.

Big yawn.  He has been a great sleeper.  He goes to bed (in our room) about 7:30pm and will stay asleep until about 3am.  I hear him stirring and I nurse him and he goes right back to sleep.  Then he nurses probably 2 more times and wakes up at 6:30/7am.  He naps pretty well too.

The girls are still adore him and there as been no jealousy or adjustment issues.

I am trying to soak up every minute of this "baby time" cause I know just how quickly it's over.

 He is starting to smile more.

He also has the most adorable pouty face that he makes when something startles him.  He seems kinda sensitive to loud noises which is hard since his 2 big sister's are far from quiet!

I love dressing him like his daddy in polo shirts (this picture was just a coincidence).

I wear him a lot.  In the ring sling when we are out and usually on my back in the mei tai carrier when we are home.

We are loving our life with our little guy!

Jane Turns 2!

One year old Jane:

Two year old Jane!

Thankfully she has grown some hair in the past year!

Height: 32 inches

Weight: 25 pounds

Favorite Books: I Love My Tutu, Five Little Monkeys and The Hungry Caterpillar

Favorite Movies/Shows: Frozen, Totoro and Sarah & Duck

Best Friend: Alice.  They play all day together and have even started sleeping in the same bed together at night.

She is very sweet to her brother "Ruff-a-fer" and likes to do "This Little Piggy" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" on him.

She talks quite a bit though unfortunately "No" is still a favorite word of hers.

She's very easy going and has never had any sort of separation anxiety.

She's very adventurous and likes to try and do whatever Alice is doing.  She's also very tough and rarely cries when she falls.

 Look at those blue eyes!

Silly face!

Homeschooling Confessions

Homeschooling confessions: 

I am sure I will have many more as the years go on but here is confession #1:

We are quitting preschool.

Alice turned 4 last September and I thought it was a good time to start preschool with her.

She has always been a little behind other kids her age in comprehension so I knew I needed to have realistic expectations and take it slow with her.  My main goal was to teach her the names and sounds of all the letters.  Apparently, this goal wasn’t realistic for her. 

It’s been about 7 months now.  We are on the letter N and have been on it for 4 weeks now and she still doesn’t remember it. 

We review all the previous letters each time and I thought she was doing well with that but I recently realized that she can’t recognize most letters when they are out of sequence.  Also, most of the other teaching goals I had haven’t been met.  

And though I have continued to lower my goals and expectations as we have gone on, school has just become frustrating for both of us.  So I have decided to quit.  I know this sounds bad, but I don’t think Alice is ready yet and forcing school on her is just going to make both of us frustrated, make her hate school and she probably wont really learn anything anyway. 

We will begin preschool again in the Fall using My Father's World curriculum and by then hopefully her brain will have developed more and be ready for more formal learning.  There are always many opportunities for informal learning and we continue to read lots of books. 

I worry sometimes but I remind myself that she’s only 4 and it’s not like she will be 14 and not know her alphabet.  She will get there eventually, on her own time, at her own speed (one of the many benefits of homeschooling).  I myself am an example of this.  I was not a good reader when I was little and hated it.  But around 8/9 years old it finally clicked and I became that child that would read under the covers with a flashlight at night because I couldn’t get enough of it.  I have been an avid reader ever since.  (I even read War and Peace for fun last year :) 

So that's where we are with our homeschooling adventure.