January

I am happy to report that Michael is walking! Woo hoo! Our Little Mr decided to take his first steps for me in December and is now finally walking about the house. He's learned the joys of standing in the center of the room and chasing his big sister, Sarah. Tackling has become his second favorite. Much to Sarah's chagrin, frustrated she told me last week, "Michael got my candy!" Sure enough Michael had tackled his sister and sold the candy cane. Hmm... (don't worry, she got her candy back and we found a treat for Mikey.)

Sarah has been potty training! She has is down mostly, not all the way quite yet. But I'm certain with a few more days she'll be a pro! She is talking more and recognizes colors, a few numbers and letters. Can you believe she'll be 3 in May? She decided to start waking in the middle of the night and coming to our bedroom. Very quickly however, she learned that we just put her back to bed. (I remember climbing into my parents bed at night when I was her age and had nightmares.) We haven't allowed this as an option for her. IF you heard her snore you would agree with us! I told Andrew when we when to Yellowstone during the summer, "She snores." "It can't be that bad." he said. After 2 sleepless nights listening to her snore he said, "I'm amazed that such a little girl can rattle a whole house." We took Sarah to an ear, nose, throat specialist, who explained that her snoring is coming from enlarged tonsils, and recommended a tonsillectomy. We are going to wait until Summer to have them out, so I can be home.

Progress

Remember when I told about our Little Guy screaming! Screaming at everything! Well, here's his progress as of today,

*Knows 3 baby signs, Up, Milk and Please.

*Jumps in the crib and says "Dada." when he wakes up.

*New sounds (huge progress considering we were told many times he is partial hearing/possibly deaf (tubes were put in his ears, we think he can hear now)). Baba, Uh-Oh, Mama, Dada, Eh (means Up), La-La.

*Clicking his tongue, raspberries and sticking his tongue out at you.

*Refusing the binky, (usually he doesn't want it anymore- he prefers to talk.)

*Walking! he walked across our living room 5 times today so far!

*Finally will eat peas, green beans and tiny bits of bread

Yea!

Congratulations Jen on adopting Little Paige!

Tonsillectomy

My daughter needs a tonsillectomy, can anyone tell me what to expect?

Adoption

We get to adopt on February 8th, 2010. Woo Hoo!

Happiness is....

Pictures to Enjoy

Having yummy olives to put on my fingers.

Cheese! and Olives!

Seeing G'ma H

We went hiking with my nephews T & R and foreign exchange student Jakob (from Germany)...it's been awhile ago...

Cascade Springs

Oops, eyes shut there!

Timpanogos Cave!

The Heart of Timp Cave

R goofing off!

Pondering Andrew

T & R goofing off again! Save him! AHha!

T, King of the quartzite.

R, king of the sulfur tunnel.

Hiking, hiking, hiking.

Ahh! Caress the rock! (Dr. Harris would be proud.)

Good Morning

Ever since our new Tiny came into our home we have been working on getting him to stop screaming. Apparently he has learned that he must scream at everything. "I'm hungry."AHHH!!! "I'm tired." MWAHAHAA!!! "I'm hurt."RAUhHAHAHAHAH!! Not the normal, calm crying at first followed by a little more worried, but a bellowing full out make your ears ring scream. The wind chimes in my house even chime; that's how loud his scream is.

He wakes up screaming.

Sees the bottle screaming.

Diaper change screaming.

Changing clothes screaming.

Car drive screaming.

Sister is breathing my air screaming.

YIKES!

A few days I had to wear ear plugs, no joke. We used sign language with Sarah so we decided to try it with him. I got him to say"milk" the other day! Woo Hoo! After he has that mastered we'll move on to other baby signs. We finally replaced screaming during a diaper change with giggles. and have been working on having him say "dada" or "baba" while playing, instead of screaming.

Today I was so proud of Tiny. (and Andrew since he's the stay at home Daddy.) He woke up today and instead of screaming he started bouncing up and down in the crib saying "Dada!" He greeted us with smiles and gave us each the best hugs he can give. (Tiny is really cute with hugs, he grabs your shoulders, smiles showing his teeth, leans his head into your chest and says "ooohh." )

Great job Andrew!

Also, we woke up this morning to find Sarah right outside our bedroom door, asleep in the hallway. Anyone know the age when kids start having nightmares? or being afraid of the dark? We're wondering if she's at that age.

"Labor" Story

Yes, I am now the mother of TWO children.

Wow.

Sarah's little brother (new name pending) is our newest addition! We are thrilled to have another little one in our home and also with how close they are in age.

Sarah informed me the other day (few weeks ago), "Mommy, I need a baby."

I teasingly asked her, "Should we go to the store and buy a baby brother or sister?"

"Yes, mommy, go to Macey's and get the baby." (Every store is called Macey's- you can tell where we go grocery shopping.)

"Oh, Sarie, we can't buy a baby at Macey's. Mommy and Daddy have to save up lots of money and then wait for someone to let us adopt a baby. Just like you were adopted."

Grinning big, "I was adopted!"

"Hurray!"

"Hurraaaay!"

"Woo hoo!"

"Wooh...oo! Mommy baby coming."

Sarah was right. Our newest Tiny joined our family October 26, 2009. His birthday was October 24. He is 1 year old! He loves to crawl around the house, pull himself up on furniture, drink bottles, throw balls and play with cars. Definitely a little boy through and through! And just like his sister, the first words out of his mouth when he saw Andrew were, "DaDA!"

So... "labor" went like this....

I was at work, Oquirrh Hills Middle School. I had finished teaching for the day and had a bit of grading to finish. I stayed later than normal, corrected and entered all the scores then got ready to leave.

I checked my cell phone at the end of the work day and discovered a missed call, someone had left a message. I listened to it and it was our social worker. She informed me that I was to pick up a little baby boy in about 20 mins. So, instead of going home, I headed for SLC, and picked up our newest Tiny!

Legal adoption takes 6 months in the state of Utah. Once again, the waiting period starts. First court hearing is December 9th. :) and again, you won't be hearing his name or seeing a picture until final adoption... sorry... it's not allowed with Foster Care!

However, here are a few names we like, which one is your favorite? (remember the last name will be Rosenvall).

Alexander

Brendan

Michael

James