My Smart Giant Boy!

We had Nolan's 4 month check up yesterday. I know my kid is super smart and super cute, but I didn't think that anyone else thought that. First off, he's pretty big. He was 75 percentile in his weight and 88 on his height. His head's tiny at 30-something. Anyway, so he's a large boy for his age. He's also very coordinated. So Dr. Peter comes in and starts playing with the baby. Nolan's just grabbing his hair and laughing. Then he sits him up. I've never seen Nolan really sit, but he was sitting. He sat for a good 30 seconds perfectly balanced before he started to lean. I was impressed but the doctor said, well he's really strong. He's sitting up well but his balance could be improved. I was like, he's 4 months old. Give him a break. Really. So we're talking and he says something about Nolan passing all the six month markers, so Josh said, isn't that pretty good for a 4 month old? The Dr.'s mouth just dropped open. He totally thought Nolan was six months. He was really flabbergasted. Then he kept going on and on about how well developed his fine motor skills are and that he's never seen a 4 month old sit up so well. It was really funny. So my child is amazing. That's about it! Oh, and it all ended with the nurse stabbing him with three needles and my child, understandably, freaking out.

The Great Outdoors

We finally ventured outside to do yardwork today. I walked out back and realized the grass was nearly up to my knees. So I had Josh mow it. Is that really how you spell mow? It looks really weird to me for some reason. Anyway, I couldn't help because the baby was on one. Every time I put him down he starts screaming. Normally I'm okay with that. He does it all the time. These were special screams though. The kind that make you think he's dying. So I watched Josh mow the lawn. The yard is a total mess. I don't even want to think about it really, so on to better things.
Clara will not clean her room for anything. I just don't know what to do. I beg and plead and scream and cry and threaten and punish and bribe. Nothing works. I'm so sick of it. This time, she doesn't get to participate in FHE or dinner. She's still playing. She just doesn't care. I was going to introduce a new system during family night too. I hope she cleans up in time. I made all these little chore cards for her. Its kind of like Accountable Kids. She has chore cards and then she has reward cards. If she does her chores, she gets a reward card. I can take those away if she does something like she's doing now. The reward cards go towards fun time, like TV, crafts, playtime, etc. Then there's paid chore cards that I give her little fake bucks for. She can work to earn toys and things that she wants to buy. Then there's the good behavior cards. I give those to her when I see her doing something especially nice. Those go toward earning dates with mom or dad. I spent several days preparing for this. She better get to work! This better be effective or I'm having a card burning bonfire in my back yard.
BUT...I'm very blessed to have this wonderful family. My kids are the sweetest things in the world and my husband is so happy and helpful. I've got the life!

Modeling Class

I went to a modeling class today. No, not for my beautiful self, for modeling fondant figures. I made a cute little baby cake. It was taught by a lady named Doree. Clara kept asking, "from Nemo?" She was really nice and very insightful. She came up with the most obvious things that I would never dream of. Anyway, the coolest part is that the class was taught in Carri's Cakes kitchen. She's only the greatest cake decorator in the state! She works out of her basement too. I met her and she was really nice. Just a little sick. Anyway, that was my little brush with fame.

I'm not feeling too hot myself today. I've had a headache and sore throat since I woke up. I hope it goes away soon! I REALLY hope I don't pass it to anyone else. There's one thing worse than being sick. That is, of course, having sick kids. You can't do anything because you're taking care of a sick kid, so you might as well be sick. Then you just feel bad for the poor little critters. AND they're like ten times more gross than a sick adult. They just ooze and you have to clean it all up. I'm gonna go before I jinx myself.

So its been a week and we're still "not quite" finished with Clara's room. We need to touch up some paint, put on some outlet covers, and I need to make her a bedskirt. I have all the materials, I just need my mom to help me figure out the sewing machine. Oh yeah, and time. That would be nice to have too. Anyway, I'm posting a picture of it anyway.

I feel like I've been going crazy lately. I always forget stuff and I have horrible time management skills. So I bought me a planner, to streamline my life. I guess you have to use it for it to work cause I've had it for almost a week now and nothing's happening. I've got to add "write in planner" on my list of things to do.

So today I've been thinking hard about my list of things to do. Its huge! I really don't know if I'm ever going to be able to check them all off. So far, I've worked out, taken a shower and done a little school work with Clara. I've been really focusing on not yelling. That's something I jump into rapidly when I get upset. So I'm trying to give and take priviledges. She's lost half an hour of Dora, a gumball, a piece of cheese, and she's been sent to her room 3 times, earning nothing. We'll see how long I keep this up.

Nolan's been good. I mean, he cries when I put him down or go to put him down or even think of putting him down but other than that, he's an angel. He's napping on me right now. So cute when you want to be napped on, not so much when you don't. Today, I don't mind.

He's Done!

Josh is finally done with Clara's room. Well mostly. He still has to do the outlet and switch covers and put up some curtains and a little touch up painting, but she's sleeping in there tonight. I'll post pictures as soon as its completely done.
Its soooo cute! Clara picked the paint color. I thought it would be a little sickening. Pretty bright pink. But we put paneling halfway up the wall and it really contrasts well. Josh is so proud of himself too. He did have a little help from some friends, but he did alot by himself. He's going to regret that he learned so much. I'll be expecting more now!
Nolan was so happy today. Just smiley all the time. He's rolling over constantly now. Every time I put him down he turns right onto his little tummy and starts screaming. He tries to crawl but he doesn't really know how to use his arms yet so he just kicks himself onto his face. Kinda funny and sad at the same time.
We went to Discovery Gateway today. We got in free with some friends. We have the hookups! Clara had so much fun running around and (hopefully) learning. Fun stuff. We'll have to go back there more often.
Tired! Goodnight!

Been a While

Whoa. Its been a while since I updated this blog. I'm not doing a very good job. I need to get a system down or something. So, all is well anyway. Not much to update. Nolan is still huge. Clara is still huge. Both really cute. Oh, I'm a little closer to getting my business license. I just have to take a trip to Logan. Just. At least they have a cheese factory out there so my trip won't be completely junky. Gotta love that cheese. Josh is working on Clara's room this very second. He's really close to being done. I'm hoping its finished today or tomorrow so we can move her upstairs and move Nolan out of my room. I really don't think he's going to transition well. He's used to sleeping with me. He was ready to move to his crib when he was two months old. Now, he's liking my room. As long as I'm in it. Its going to be a pain! Oh, I also wrote an article on how to decorate your baby's first birthday cake for the utah baby guide May issue. So that's about it. I'm going to post a cute picture or two of our trip to Tracy Aviary. We went to feed the pelicans. Clara loved holding the dead fish. I was happy just watching. Nolan slept alot. Fun stuff!