While Daddy's Away: Day 10

Jonah is getting really good at tummy time, though you wouldn't know it from this picture because he kept putting his head down when I tried to take a picture... Little stinker!

The kids made some crafts.

And I made a paper chain counting down to when Sam gets back. I wanted to make one with the kids and have it be a great bonding experience, but they couldn't have cared less. Ellie was actually quite annoyed when I had her hold it up for a picture. Sigh... So much for sentimentality... But I got to rip one off this morning so that made me happy. :) 13 days, in case you were wondering.

Aunt Evie helped with Jonah's bath. She loves him so much!

And I think Sam is getting too used to India... This is our conversation:

One more day down!

While Daddy is Away: Day 9

I didn't get this up last night. Oops!

Ellie got ahold of my phone while I was in the shower and took a few pictures.

Love that silly girl.

And we braved the library. Whew! Let me just say, that was an adventure!

See how Ellie doesn't have shoes on? Her and Eve decided that it would be fun to take them off and I didn't notice for a little while. Go me.

Library selfie! The big black blob in from if me is Jonah in the carrier.

All of siblings except Eve went to go see my cousin get home from his mission, so we decided to make cookies.

 

I forgot that people were coming to swimming lessons at the house, so I stopped in the middle of making cookies to take care of one of the lady's babies, and when I came back to the cookies about an hour later (all of my siblings had gotten back at that point) all if the cookie dough was gone.

So much for cookies!

While Daddy is Away: Day 8

Not a whole lot of pictures for today... I'm still getting over being sick, so it was more of a survival day for the kids than one filled with fun activities. Let's just say a few movies were watched............. Yeah.

Ellie wanted me to take a picture to "send to Daddy."

Nathan loves swimming. He loves to look out the window and say "water!" while pointing to the pool.

And this little boy? Perfection.

While Daddy is Away: Day 7

This is post I had planned for yesterday, but it never made it up onto the blog. Good thing Sam covered for me. :)

Ben and I were sick today, so we stayed home from church. This is the only picture from today....

More tomorrow.

While Daddy's Away: Day 7

I'm sure there is some blogging code of conduct that specifically states that logging on as one's wife and posting on her behalf is breaking the rules. Though I'm sure those are more like guidelines rather than rules. She missed a day(which I'm sure she'll catch up on...) but she deserves to miss a day. Heidi's patience with the kids and her support for me never ceases to amaze me.

 I wanted to give a quick glimpse of the view from my digital window in India. The good, the bad, and the ugly....not in that order :)

While Daddy's Away: Day 6

Our little Jonah man seems to have grown up overnight. All of a sudden he is an expert at holding up his head in the Bumbo, and he loves to stand when I hold him on my lap. I can't believe how fast he is outgrowing the newborn stage - it's kind of making me sad, but at the same time I really enjoy watching each of his new milestones.

Jonah sat like this for 20 minutes, and didn't even start to get tired or wobbly. It's funny how proud I am of these little things. Oh well. That's what moms do, I guess.

Ellie had seen Hyrum and Evie wear goggles, so she decided that she wanted to try them on, too. I had to stifle a laugh and run for the camera when I saw her little face smashed into the goggles. Needless to say, she didn't enjoy them at all.

I didn't dare get any closer than this for fear of disturbing the moment, but I had to get a picture of Uncle Hyrum reading to his niece and nephew. So stinking cute.

And this little man started giggling today. I love him so much.

Sam showed me what Indian money looks like. I thought it was cool so I included it. I look forward to our FaceTime calls every day, and I can't wait to see more of what he's experiencing when he gets home.

Hyrum is such a good little uncle. I was putting Ellie and Nathan down for bed, and I guess Jonah started crying on the couch while I was downstairs. When I came back up, Hyrum was holding him and telling him it was going to be ok. It's fun to see my siblings interacting with my own kids.

While Daddy is Away: Day 5

I feel like today was the day of blurry pictures capturing the end of the moments I was trying to get a picture of... Oh well.

We started out with the annual neighborhood 4th of July party. The kids had breakfast and swam. I have to admit that I missed going to the parade in Rexburg, but the party was definitely fun too! It's just funny how in Rexburg this is a holiday that everyone spends outside all day, but it's too hot in Arizona to do much outside besides swimming. Sitting in the sun for a parade would be torture. :)

Apparently Nathan didn't have enough food at the party even with his bowl of fruit loops, watermelon, milk, and bagel... He still wanted cereal when we got home. I figured it couldn't hurt. I went to help Jonah, and when I came back he was eating his cereal on the table. I guess that's more fun that the chair.

Jonah doesn't really like to snuggle, so when he fell asleep on my chest today I had to take a picture. Nevermind that he looks ginormous, and that his eye is creepily half open.

Ellie and Nathan had fun coloring on the white board. (Don't worry, Mom. The drawings only made it onto the whiteboard. :))

Jonah had fun with Uncle Ben.

Of course there were a few fireworks involved in the front yard. Sparklers were a hit, and Ellie kept calling them "sparkle things." After she got over her initial fear, she wanted to hold them again and again.

Ellie and Eve were so cute lying there on the blanket together watching fireworks, but as soon as I pulled out the camera, Ellie decided to get up. Hence the day of blurry pictures.

I didn't trust my little daredevil with fireworks, so he had to miss out on the action. I guess it was a good thing, though, because he fell asleep in about 10 seconds. He looks like a little frog in this picture, and it cracked me up.

After fireworks, Ellie had to show me her tricks downstairs. She's quite proud of how she's learned to twist the rope before she swings so she can spin in the air.