Playing with Trains

Levi begs and begs for us to play trains with him.  It's kind of exhausting, but it's super sweet when he convinces his daddy to sit down with him to play.  Love this boy and all the "boy" things he loves so very much.

Entertainment

Leighton is finally old enough she is wanting/needing to be entertained more often.  I found this infant chair on a garage sale and it has been perfect for her (and her brother too!).  She happily sits in and watches the lights and listens to the music.  She is event starting to reach for and grab the hanging animals which make the lights flash.  It's great to have a "new" toy for her and something we can easily move around, i.e. she likes to sit up on the countertop when I am cooking or just as added protection away from her brother when he is around.

Leah's Photo Shoot

Lesley has always been our budding photographer, but Leah picked up the lens this time and snapped these gems of her siblings.

It's nice when Mommy doesn't always have to be the one to document life.

Dear Leighton {Two Months}

January 18, 2016

Dear Leighton,

Two months!  How can this be!?

It was a big month with the holidays and I think we all survived pretty well.  It just went way, way too fast.  Grandma Cheryl came to Minnesota to meet you; we had our family Christmas here, then headed to Iowa to celebrate and ended up staying an entire week.  We were lucky to have Grandma Nancy and Papa Keith ask Mommy and the kids to stay.  Daddy went back to home since he had to work, but we enjoyed a lot of time with Grandma, Papa, your cousins Lilly, Lyssa, and Loryn, Great G&G Holtz, and it saved us quite a bit of time in the car….which Mommy is very thankful for now that traveling with 4 kids including a newborn is tricky.

You are eating really well and Mommy's milk supply has "settled down" so seems to produce just the right amount.  We have discovered that you are a big burper.  None of the other kids ever needed truly burped, but you certainly do.  Your latch isn't probably the best and I can often hear you getting air, hence the need to burp.  But, as long as we are sure to get at least one good burp, and sometimes two are needed, you are okay.  Just a little spitting up from time to time, but nothing major.  And, you are gaining weight like a champ – up to 9 pounds, 12 ounces at your 2 month visit.  It sounds like a lot since you started at just 7 pounds, but it funny to me that when compared to your brother who started at 9 pounds, 4 ounces….you are still a tiny thing at 2 months old.  In fact, you are just about in the 16^th percentile when your siblings were always in the ~80^th percentile range.  Our Baby Tiny!

You don't really love the hat, but we sure get a lot of compliments on it.  The button is so cute!

You were 22.75 inches long in the 69^th percentile and your head measured 14.75 putting you in the 30^th percentile.  Again, tiny when compared to your siblings.  We like it this way!  You are long though and I've had to move you up to 3 month clothing just so you don't look like you are wearing capris.  Not acceptable in Minnesota in the winter.  You also got 5 vaccines, 4 of them shots at your checkup.  You were a champ but then proceeded to be super sleepy for about 24 hours.  I even had to wake you to eat a few times.

You are sleeping pretty darn well too.  We have even gotten a few 7+ hour stretches out of you; the BEST was the night you slept from 9:45pm-4:45am.  It lined up so well with Mommy's sleep!  Amazing!  Most nights you are up once to eat between 2-3am, again between 5-6am, and then after a snooze you are up for the day around 7am or whenever we have to get going to get all the siblings off for the day.

She was kind of having an off day here and was pretty pissed about the bow or something.

When you sleep, swaddling is necessary to get a decent amount of time out either a nap or during the night.  You can get out of a swaddle, but it helps you sleep deeper and longer.  You LOVE sleeping next to mommy at night, which Mommy really loves to.  I'm sure letting you do this will lead to a habit that needs broken down the road, but for now it works for us.  Though you like snuggling at night, during the day you aren't so much a snuggler and I often hold you facing outwards away from me.  If I try to get you to lay on my chest, you just fight it.  That makes me a little sad, but oh well, I can't have it all with my sweet newborn.

You are still not a fan of a pacifier and have yet to drink out of a bottle.  Mommy has left you just a few times, but for only an hour or an hour and a half immediately after feeding you.  You easily recognize my voice and will open your eyes from being fast asleep if you hear me.  It's pretty sweet and cute.

You won't fit in the Little Sister shirt for much longer. :(

We are getting LOTS and LOTS of smiles these days too.  It's so great especially when you smile for your sisters or daddy, that is great and they of course love it.

I want you to stay my little peanut, but I'm also excited to see you grow into a unique personality.  I've got another month home with you and I am going to enjoy every minute of it!

Love,

Mommy

Trying to catch up to Cousin Jameson in size, or perhaps just trying to sock him in the chin.  I hope they are good friends growing up.

Her brother can be sweet from time to time.  He still likes to give her kisses on her forehead, which is what we taught him from the very start.

You big sister Leah is NEVER far away, always wanting and begging to help.

Tummy time turned into naptime.

The first really AWESOME smile I caught on camera...even with a mohawk!

Being cute is so tiring.

This big sister is always good for some animated conversations, trying to get you to smile or at least keep you from crying.  Secretly, I don't think you like it when your siblings hold you because you can go from perfectly content in mommy's arms to pissed and miserable when they hold you in just a matter of seconds.  I respect that and I try to keep you as close as I can.  It's getting more and more difficult to fight off the sisters though.

Sisters

The big sisters were tag teaming to change one their first diapers.  It was only a wet one so I let them have at it.

I think they did pretty well.

:)

And, my favorite part was the kisses afterwards.

She may not realize it just yet, but Leighton is pretty lucky to have these girls as big sisters.

The curls

It was finally time for this boy's first haircut.  I really, really didn't want the curls to go away.  It made me so sad.

Just a few photos before the shaggy hair was cleaned up.

Seriously, they were just the sweetest, softest curls ever.

But, I knew when the "bangs" were growing over his eyes, it was time to get a trim.  :/

New toys

With the arrival of Leighton, Levi has found some new toys he likes to play with.

Whatever, if it keeps him busy for a few minutes and we don't have to entertain, then I'm game.

Christmas time at Grandma Nancy's House

Just a few more photos that I need to publish....

Katie had a tough job.  Holding sleeping babies!  We were all jealous.

Week in Iowa {End of December}

The kids and I spent the week between Christmas and New Year's in Iowa....Grandma spoiled the kids and Mommy survived on limited sleep.  One room with 4 kids = exhausted mommy!

The kids found Aunt Denise's OLD Thanksgiving table cloth.  It may have been the wrong holiday, but it provided quite the entertainment during the week.

Grandma and the kids gave Mommy a little pedicure with Grandma's home spa kit.

The photos do not show the hilarious-ness that occurred.  (I know this isn't a word, but it seemed appropriate for the upcoming story.)  Grandma dropped just a bit of Dove dishsoap into the tub and there were bubbles.  LOTS AND LOTS OF BUBBLES.  It was like an I Love Lucy episode as Grandma carried buckets of bubbles from the living room to the kitchen...over and over and over again.  We were all busting out laughing and the kids kept saying "How do we make the bubbles stop?"  Seriously the funniest part of the week.

Levi was cracking me up too.  Look how he was laying with his hands in the spa kit.

Everyone got a turn and everyone had clean and fresh smelling feet.

Grandma is the best at encouraging nutritious snacks and making them fun projects.  Okay, that's not always the truth, she has plenty of cookies and crackers around too.

More almond bark pretzels anyway?  Mommy's additions followed her to Iowa....do not waste any pretzels or almond bark!

Leah's turn!

The kids thought it was great.

And, it was the perfect opportunity to clip nails too.

Excuse me, why are you eating mommy's pretzels?

Papa's turn!

He is a bit ticklish.

Snuggles with Grandma

Some bonding time with Papa and his eye-catching glasses.

We also went to the Western Heritage Museum with the Anderson crew.  The kids all received these fun masks after completing a scavenger hunt in the museum.

We had a lot to explore!  And a lot of little people to keep track of.

We even listened to a story in the schoolhouse and asked a few questions about how kids learned "back in the day".

We tried to get a good group shot in front of the big tree.

Fun day with Grandma that included a trip to the Spaghetti Works and a final stop at the zoo for an Imax show.  The Imax show was pushing it and not all the kids were on good behavior (naptime!), but we survived and enjoyed the whales movie in 3-D.

Little smiles.

Gluten free muffins for Papa...of course they had to taste test.

Grandma acquired a felt Christmas tree this year that the kids had fun dressing.

Leah and her new, beloved markers.  She did so well sharing and keeping track of them.  I am very proud and pleased, usually that is a trait her big sister has.

Levi got himself into a pickle with the booster seat.  Able to get strapped in by himself but unstrapped is another story.

Lunch with Great Grandma - so blessed!

A quick snooze with Great Papa

More snuggles on the couch

My kids are so lucky to have their great grandparents around.  I love that even though we don't get to see them often, the kids are always willing to give hugs and kisses.

The girls even got to go swimming in Walnut at the hotel the night before the Hoffmann Christmas party.  Lesley with Maren and Uncle Gary.

Grandma and Papa with their little peanut Leighton and their little Hawkeye Jameson.

Another fun adventure for the week was Daddy getting to go elk hunting with Papa and Uncle Andy.  It was one of those deals my dad always runs across.  He has the right connections all the time.

Let's just say that elk is going to taste quite good!