Photo Shoot

Mitch and I took some pictures of the kids over the weekend. Here are some favorites:

Brandt at 7 weeks old

Here he is wearing Mitch's own vintage 70's baby outfit

A smile

Here's Adam kissing Brandt

Just Adam

Adam prefers not to wear a shirt

Caleb is making Dallin laugh (which isn't very hard to do)

Dallin

Caleb

These two are practically inseparable. Best friends for sure.



I love these kids with all my heart. Well, except for the part in Mitch's possession.

Family Reunion

We recently got together with Mitch's side of the family in the mountains of Colorado. We had a wonderful time reconnecting with these people.


We rode the alpine slide, swam in the pool, rafted down the river, crafted together, played games, and ate together. Our kids love hanging out with cousins. I'm sure we made some lasting memories.

This was the view from our balcony.



Family photo.


The boys.

How Much Stuff Can You Fit in Your Pockets?

A pair of scissors fell out of Caleb's pocket when he bounced onto the couch yesterday. Of course, after that I made him empty his pockets. Here's what he had inside:

1 Luke Skywalker action figure with light sabre, 1 Bakugan action figure, 21 plastic gold coins, 2 stubby pencils, 9 army guys, 1 paper clip, 1 home-made toothpick from a recent camping trip, 1 22 shell, 1 9 mm shell, 6 pennies, 2 dimes, 1 toy missile, 2 toy daggers, 2 penny racer cars, the Batmobile, 9 Legos, 1 empty candy container, 1 gold medal on a ribbon necklace, 2 sword toothpicks, wallet with money inside, 8 miniature Star Wars action figures, 2 orange plastic beads, 1 2-foot length of yarn, 1 rock, 2 packets of salt, 2 pepper packets, 1 sugar packet, 1 nub of red licorice, 2 screws of different sizes, 1 safety pin, 10 flowers (crumbled and dried), 1 starlight mint candy, 1 bent nail, and 1 burned match


This is no joke. And they weren't even cargo shorts! This kid is a bona-fide pack rat. After this eye-opening exercise we made a goal that Caleb would restrict himself to 10 items per pocket. In time, we'll move to 5, and so on. And no nails, screws, or scissors, please!

Meteor Nice to Meet You

Being parents, we have a responsibility to teach our kids to be courteous and respectful. To this end we periodically pull out a favorite family home evening lesson where stick-puppet superheroes representing good manners (Thunder Thank You, Power Please, etc.) rescue a person in different situations.

In last week's superhero-manners lesson we introduced a new superhero. Please welcome...Meteor Nice to Meet You.


"Here's a superhero who knows how to make an entrance. He comes to your rescue when you meet or greet someone."

Oh, we covered all of the basics: shaking hands, looking the person in the eye, not fidgeting, answering questions politely. Mitch and I pretended to be visitors and we role-played the situation with each of the boys. We even took brownies to a friend's house and practiced on them.

Real-life application

Yesterday Mitch invited a friend over for brownies and ice cream. Before he arrived, we reminded the kids about Meteor Nice to Meet You.
"Don't forget to shake Eric's hand and look him in the eye," we admonished. The doorbell rang. Caleb and Adam greeted Eric at the door and did very well with their manners. Before Eric got five steps inside, Dallin streaked in wielding a Nerf shotgun, shot Eric in the leg, laughed, and ran for cover.
Meteor Nice to Meet You was MIA.


(Sorry about that, Eric.)

Frightening Firsts

The other day I was sitting at the computer nursing Brandt and paying bills. Suddenly I heard Adam call,"Sorry, Mom!" Uh-oh. I pushed my chair back to watch him come down the hall toward me. He wasn't wearing a shirt (another story) and his face and chest were just dripping with... what!? I took me about one second to figure out that it was Children's Motrin. Yep. Those so-called, child-proof lids? Well, they're not child-proof.

At this point I made my first-ever call to Poision Control. It turned out Adam had spilled most of the medicine down the sink, and he had not ingested a toxic amount. Thank goodness!

So Adam can claim credit for my first call to Poison Control. On seperate occasions (visits to Urgent Care), Dallin had the first broken bone in the family, and Caleb, the first stitches. Here's hoping this list of frightening firsts is also a list of lasts.

More Pictures of Brandt

Brandt Logan

He's here!
Brandt arrived on Sunday, June 21st at 5:12 a.m. He weighed in at 7 lbs 1 oz, and measured 19 1/2 inches long.

Minutes after Brandt's birth. This is one proud Daddy.

Everything went well for both Brandt and me. It was my smoothest labor.

Coincidentally, Mitch's parents were able to see Brandt just in time before leaving for home, and they were a big help with our other boys.

I haven't seen such a genuine ear-to-ear smile on this kid for a long time. That's the kind of wonder inspired by holding your baby brother for the first time.

Dallin asked me what baby Brandt's superhero power is. I told him that it is super-cuteness. Any evil villans that come upon him would stop short, masks in hand, to exclaim, "Awww!" "Look at his tiny toes!"and every evil plan in their heads would be replaced by a desire to wash with antibacterial soap so as to tickle his chin or hold him. Dallin agreed.

The first time Adam held Brandt, he cried. So for a while, Adam refused to hold him again because, "He cries for me." Finally he consented to hold him with his Dad, and as Brandt lay contentedly in his arms, he lit up. When Mitch asked Adam if we should keep the baby or take him back to the hospital, Adam heartily exclaimed that we should keep him. We agree.

Welcome, Brandt. We're so glad you're here.