rollin', rollin', rollin'

Today was a huge milestone for Khloe. She rolled over for the first time! (And she rolled and rolled and rolled.) I saw her laying on her side first. She hadn't done that yet. I thought it might be any day now when she finally rolled to her stomach. She ended up rolling not more than 30 minutes after I saw her laying on her side. It's pretty exciting ... except that once she gets on her tummy, she can't get back over. So, there's a lot of crying to go along with the rolling, because I can't leave for one minute without her flipping over and getting angry that she can't get back. Laying on her side. Getting ready to roll.She did it! This is Khloe right after she just rolled over.

On another crazy first of the day, Colton finally stuck something up his nose. He was eating grilled cheese, peas, and tator tots for dinner. He was doing really well, and eating everything ... when suddenly he says, "Mommy, help me! Get it out of there!" I asked him what was wrong. He said, "I stuck a pea up my nose!" Sure enough, a little green pea was up his nose ... and he was sucking it up in an attempt to blow it out. Luckily, he coughed and it went flying. Ew!Colton and the pea.

This morning, we went to the park. Colton had fun pushing his stroller to the park and back. We went on the slides and looked for sticks. Khloe had a good time, too. She likes being outside--even if she has to stay in her carseat.The multitasker.Headed down the big slide!

What an eventful day!

good to be back

We went to church at Markham woods in Orlando this past Sabbath. It felt so good to be back! It was especially great, because Pastor Coffin was preaching (since he moved on to a new position outside of the church last November). It made it a very special and wonderful Sabbath. I haven't had such a good church service in months. It was, also, nice to see the cousins. We haven't seen Caleb, Elizabeth, and Jan since Thanksgiving, so it was nice to visit with them, as well.

We had a delicious meal provided to us at Brenda's house by Brenda and Grandma H. It was very nice to have a meal that I didn't have to cook! That made it feel like a truly relaxing Sabbath. Colton and Khloe both had good naps that afternoon, too. So, it was really nice. We had a good visit with everyone. There's still no baby, but her due date is on Tuesday ... so I suppose-technically-she has a couple of more days. It seems like all is ready for the baby, though. It always makes for a long day when you drive up to Orlando in the morning and back home that night, but it's nice to visit with family. We'll be doing it again here soon when Baby Araujo arrives.Khloe and Grandpa Heinrich ... she was wondering who was behind her!Khloe with Aunt Brenda.Everyone playing a Bible game together.Billy with his Dad and the kids.Grandma with the kiddos.

Today, Billy and I are going to go shopping to look for some ski pants/coats to invest in for our annual ski trip beginning this March. I have never skied before, so I will be taking a couple of days of morning lessons this year. I will probably also be staying on the small hills! I'm nervous, but I think I should get the hang of it pretty quickly. It will be nice to have Grandpa and Grandma H there to help watch the kids when we go skiing. We're acutally going to be up there for Billy's work meetings ... we'll be going to Utah ... Deer Valley Lodge in Park City, UT. I'm excited!

We're, also, looking for new bikes and a bike trailer to tote the kids around in. We'll take a look at Dick's Sporting Goods, but we may have to buy something online. We'll see. Hopefully, we can find something that we like, because Billy has discovered a really great bike trail here ... and it's close to our house! I think that will be a great Sabbath afternoon activity.

I better go get ready to head out shopping! Here are some cute pictures of the kids we took this week.This is how Colton rolls in the car now ... arms back ... watching Veggie Tales (courtesy of Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Andy!).Khloe is learning to hold her own bottle. She's always getting her hands in the way anyway, so I thought I'd teach her to hold on to it instead. She's doing so good!Our future baseball player having fun wearing a baseball glove. He liked it a lot!After we went shopping, we took Colton to get a treat. He liked to feed himself ... and feed us, too.

"Hi, Baby Princess!"

I heard the usual falsetto cooing coming from the family room, and I knew Colton must be in there talking to Khloe. He just loves his baby sister! I walked in to find him giving her some kisses. He said, "Hi, Baby Princess! How are you?" Sometimes, that kid gets me in the funny bone. He is so cute! He woke up from his nap this afternoon, and he told me, "Mommy, I go pick Khloe up and rock her. I give her lots of BIG kisses!" He is obsessed with feeding her lately. He really wants to hold the bottle when I feed her. If he can't do it, he will cry and "run away" ... which is his thing when he gets frustrated. He'll say, "Run away!" ... and he'll take off to somewhere until he's distracted or forgets why he ran away in the first place.Brother's don't shake hands. Brothers gotta hug!And give kisses.Colton playing with his cars. His favorite pastime!Khloe ... taking a moment to chew on one of Cole's cars.Khloe just enjoying some tummy time.

Speaking of running away. Colton got into big trouble this week. Khloe, Colton, and I were going out for a walk. Colton got his Mater to push around the block, and I was getting Khloe ready and shutting the garage door. I yelled to Colton to stop and wait for Mommy. He ran a little farther down the sidewalk. I said, "Colton! Stop, please. Mommy has to shut the garage door." He took off as fast as his little feet could carry him. So, I ran as fast as I could ... and I still didn't catch him until he was nearly two houses away! Well, needless to say some little boy got a spanking and walked back to the house until he said 'sorry'. I told him that he could not go on walks without Mommy or Daddy. It was very naughty to run away when Mommy said to 'stop'--he told Daddy later that night that he was "very naughty" and had a "spanking" because "Mommy said to stop, but I ran away!" That little rascal!

Khloe has been trying so hard to roll over. She cranks her head back and grunts. She gets her face turned all of the way over, but she just can't kick that leg over to roll. It's really cute to watch her try ... but also, a little frustrating. I want to roll her myself, but I know she needs to try on her own. That's how she works those muscles and gets the hang of it! Just love this girl!She's almost there! Just have to kick that leg over.

She had such a giggly bathtime the other night. She was just having a blast, and she gave me some fun laughing pictures. It was fun to see how excited she can get when she's having fun! I love to hear her giggle. She opens her mouth so wide, too. When she smiles, laughs, or when you get near her mouth, she will open it up as big as she can. It cracks me up! We're so blessed to have another little dear with such a sweet personality. Isn't this the cutest giggle face!?! What a doll!

Some exciting news! Our friend, Gwendy Adams, had her baby this week! On Tuesday, Carson Luke Adams was born ... weighing 9 lbs and measuring 22 inches long. Big brother, Mason, was so excited to hold him. I'm not sure he realized that the baby was going to be going home with him, but he liked him well enough at the hospital! Carson is so cute and tiny. It's hard to believe how fast they grow. Holding Carson makes me realize how quickly Khloe has grown.

Colton has missed having Grandpa and Grandma Heinrich around this week. One day he wanted to get down from eating, so he could go find Grandpa. Billy had to explain that he wasn't here. Even though, Colton went looking anyway. He'll have fun visiting with them on Sabbath when we go to Orlando.

On Wednesday night, my friend, Duska, and I went to eat at a super yummy cafe here in Tampa called Ella's Folk Art Cafe. It was very delicious, and it was really fun to be out with a friend. Billy took over bedtime routines with both kids to allow me some free time. It was very nice of him. I'm excited to take him to this cafe sometime. There's another cute place to eat near this cafe called Taco Bus. Duska and I want to try that soon! Sounds delish!

I got the "illness" going around this week. The kids finally gave it to me ... my body has finally failed me. I held up really well for so long, but that cough the kids have finally transferred to me. I have been coughing pretty badly for the past 3 days. It's worse at night and in the morning, but it's driving me nuts! Khloe has gotten much better--I don't hear her coughing at all anymore. Colton is coughing a little bit still ... and I'm still pretty bad (again ... at night and in the morning). Luckily, Billy hasn't gotten it yet, and hopefully, he won't. We're ready to be germ free in this house!

Tomorrow, we are heading to Orlando to visit Markham Woods, and then we will go to Brenda's house for lunch and visiting during the afternoon. Still no baby there, and I know how hard and frustrating it can be when you just want your baby to arrive ... but from experience, I hope she holds on and cherishes her last few moments of kid-free living, because even though having a kid is one of the best experiences of your life ... it's rough, tiring, and busy--and you have no idea how free life was until you have another life to look out for. I'm excited to meet him! Another little guy ... babies are so cute.

Well, I'm off to relax a little bit. Happy Sabbath!

4 months

I just can't believe it! The holidays have ended, and little Khloe is now four months old. It's so weird for me to think that four months have already gone by. I feel like it's going much faster with Khloe than it did with Colton. I guess I don't have as much time on my hands to document every detail like I did with Cole! Khloe is such a good natured little girl. She is just the sweetest. But she is so drooly! I don't remember Colton drooling so much. He spit up constantly ... but not much for drooling. He never had to wear a bib to protect his clothes from drool. Khloe drools so much she soaks the bib and the clothes under it! It's amazing! Maybe she'll get teeth earlier than Colton did ... who knows.This dress is from Aunt Cherrie. Isn't it too cute!?!

I had to take Khloe to the doctor a week and a half ago. I was convinced she had an ear infection. She was acting so uncomfortable and sleeping terribly! I took her in, and the doctor said that she looked great. No ear problems, lungs sounded good, etc. I felt defeated, because I was guessing that it was just her ... she was just going through some changes or growth spurt or something that was making her act so differently from her usual self. That same evening, she woke up from a nap, and she was coughing and hacking. Sure enough ... she had caught the cold that everyone had brought down from Orlando. But I did get to see what her weight had gotten to ... 16 lbs. 3 oz. I measured her last night and she came in at 26 1/2 inches. She's growing strong! We're down to four feedings/day. It feels good to be cut down to that ... and two solid naps with a cat nap before bed.

I really think she is going to start rolling over very soon. She is starting to get into that really awkward stage where when she's on her back, her head is cranked back nearly touching her back! She looks like the letter 'L'. I remember when Colton started doing that, it wasn't too much longer before he finally kicked himself over. I hope she does soon! I know that I don't want her to get all mobile on me too quickly or wish any of these stages away, but it's so fun when they meet milestones!

So ... this past weekend (on Friday), we bought a new car! I'm very excited! We traded the XTerra in for a Buick Enclave. It's a 2008, but it's fully loaded. There really were only a couple of upgrades I was looking for ... and those were better accessibility getting Cole and Khloe in and out of the car, more space between the front seats and the middle row (so Colton would stop kicking the front seat), and a third row to fit more people. We got those ... and more than we could ask for. We found it at a Lincoln dealer. The guy said that it was an older couple's second car, and he wanted to trade it for a Lincoln MKX. It had super low mileage, and it was just the right price. I'm so happy to have all of the upgrades. I never knew what I was missing. I am still finding new amazing treats that this car has for me. Colton loves the DVD player--I know I will appreciate that this summer! Anyway, we are blessed to have a new car, and we are enjoying it very much. I'm thankful for Billy for finding it and for everything working out that allowed us to get a new one.

Okay ... I was taking Khloe's dress off of her on Saturday night to get her into her jammies. And this happened by accident. Doesn't she look like Fraulein Maria from The Sound of Music? It's so funny! We laughed and laughed."How do you solve a problem like, Maria!?!"

For Christmas, Colton got this Mater bubble truck from Grandpa and Grandma Reynolds. He had no idea at the time that it blew bubbles when you pushed it (mostly because that would make it an outside toy, and he was enjoying pushing it around inside). So, I finally put the bubbles into the toy, and he pushed it all around the neighborhood yesterday. He had a grand time! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the cool truck! It was funny to watch him watch the bubbles blow out to the side as he ran with it. The faster he pushed the faster the bubbles poured out. It was very cute!
He kept stopping to clear the bubble build up ... and I think he was hoping bubbles would come out of it while he was close to the hole where they blew out!

We were pretty busy today. Billy did most of the work cleaning out and reorganizing the garage. I helped a little bit. Billy and Brian Adams worked on getting our house surround sound working. Thanks, Brian! (And thanks to Gwendy for lending him while she's at home with a toddler and 39 weeks pregnant ready to have the baby any minute!) We got the house picked up, and we ran a few errands. It was a busy day! But now we can relax before the week begins again.Daddy and Colton hanging out this weekend watching some cartoons.Colton asked me for a Frosty the Snowman pancake with eyes made out of coal for breakfast this morning. He specifically asked for "eyes made out of coal". I love that kid!

I always miss having Billy around during the day when it's the week days, but ... on this, the last full week of January, I will try to give much needed attention to some of my projects. And I do have a few that need some attention!