Blonde hair

Seriously?? I think every mother has to experience this at least once. Last night just before bed Malori came running into my room with a lock of blonde hair. "Mom, look what I found on the ground." The lock of beautiful blonde hair could only be little Ella's. When I confronted Ella she said, "But...but...but...but...I wanted to get my ponytail out." Thank goodness that it was only cut by her neck and chin, giving her a section of longer bangs. (It is really not that noticable.) A good learning experience for her though. It was just yesterday that I said out loud, "Ella's hair is getting long, she needs to get a hair cut." I wasn't meaning for her to do it though.

3 Months Old

Gil is now 3 months old. Seriously? It makes me sad to think that he is not a newborn anymore. He has been so much fun to have in our family. I don't get much done around the house anymore, but that is okay. I love the baby stage. I enjoy just holding him. I love this picture that I took today. I mimicked the picture that was taken of him when he was 12 days old. It is amazing what a baby learns in just a short time. He is getting some strength, he would not even hold still for a second. He is now 12.7 lbs and 23 inches long. After having 5 children I have realized that they don't stay little for very long.

Gil- 12 days old

• Last week he started sleeping through the night. 8 p.m.-7 a.m. I hope I don't jinx it. It feels wonderful to finally get some sleep again...notice that I am blogging this at 12:30 am. I should be sleeping too.
• He has been smiling when we talk to him for about a month now. So cute!
• I got him to laugh 1 time the other day when I was tickling under his chin.
  
• He knows who his mom is. Naaman says he calls me "FOOD."
• He is starting to hold up his wobbly head.
• He follows objects with his eyes and keeps eye contact with us if we are talking to him.
• His dad calls him "Gilbie." (What is wrong with Dad?) I definitely prefer "Lil' Gil."
  

HAIR! Gil definitely has some hair. Where ever we go people always say, "Look at his hair." I even hear bystanders whispering, "Look at that babies hair." Gil had a lot of hair when he was born and he never lost any, it is just getting longer. It is actually out of control. It just stands straight up or which ever way it wants to go. I tried putting gel in it the other day, but it just made it curly and then he looked like a girl. I didn't like that so I guess we will just stay with the out of control look. That is the style these days...right? We love our lil' Gil.

Gil's Blessing

Today was such a beautiful day! It was a great day for a baby blessing. The weather was nice; it was warmer than 40 degrees. The sun was gorgeous and the birds were singing. My heart was full and I felt very close to my Heavenly Father today. Lil' Gil was blessed by his father. The words in the blessing were beautiful. He was given the name Gilbert Ledger Jones. As we all know, I struggled a little with his name in the beginning, but I have had 2 experiences (today being one of them) since his birth confirming to me that Gilbert should be his name. I love his name and I hope he does too. I can't believe that Gil, my Lil' guy is almost 3 months old. He is so sweet and special. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father has trusted me enough to let me teach and raise another one of his precious spirits.

Myself and My Lil' Gil

Grandma Kearl and Gil

Gil received 2 blankets: Grandma Kearl gave him a soft white crocheted blanket and Grandma Jones gave him cute doggie blanket. Oh, he is going to love them.

After the blessing today we all crowded into our home and had a wonderful lunch; sandwich foods, salads, veggies, beans and the cutest ever desserts! It was so wonderful to spend time with our families. I am grateful that we could all be together. I doesn't happen often that I get to be surrounded by all the people I love. Some of our family traveled here to be able to share this exciting day with us, I am so grateful for them. My heart was definitely full today!

Sisters by Chance, Friends by Choice!!

I don't think Aspen has noticed, but I have been watching her closely these last few weeks. She has a big heart, especially when it comes to her little sisters. She is very good to them and makes sure that they are safe and happy. I can count on her to help her sisters. One day Aspen helped Malori do her chores. She helped her clean her room, clean the toy room and unload the dish washer, just so that Malori could go outside to play. Aspen helps Malori with her homework. Malori gets kindergarten homework that she is suppose to do a few things each week. One day the 2 of them sat down and did almost the whole month of homework because they were having too much fun. Tonight they worked on Mal's farm animal report that was due 2 days ago. (bad mom!) Aspen is 'talking up' the day that we move her and Malori back in together to share a room. (That could be because she wants a bunk bed.) Aspen has been a great friend to her sister.

One morning before school, Aspen and Malori got together and decided that they wanted to look like each other. They both had curls in their hair so they both put one clip in on the side. They then looked in their closets for outfits that matched. It had only been a few minutes when the both came out looking exactly like sisters. They were so excited to go to school like that. They were both giggling. I couldn't resist taking a picture.

This morning for St. Patricks Day they were so excited to dress in green. Aspen and Malori both had their outfits picked out the night before. They talked about how they should both wear their hair. Aspen was there to help both Malori and Ella get ready for the BIG GREEN day!

Aspen- Thanks for all your help. I couldn't do it without you. You are a wonderful friend to me too. I love you! Mom

Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew

Caleb has been working very hard these last couple of weeks memorizing lines for a school play; Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. They put the play on for parents and students this week on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Caleb was one of the main characters. He was Petruchio. I think this was such a great opportunity for him and for all the kids in his class. They all did such a great job. They had to work together and help each other. They entertained the audience for almost a whole hour. I am so proud of Caleb. He had most of his parts already memorized before I even knew that he was doing this. He did it mostly on his own. It wasn't until these last few weeks that I got involved and started reading the other parts to help him practice. Memorizing his parts just came naturally to him. One day he counted 126 parts that he had to memorize. One of my favorite lines was:

"Why? I find you very gentle. Twas told me you were rough and coy and sullen, and now I find that to be a lie. For you are pleasant, courteous, a bit slow in speech, but sweet as spring time flowers. You don't frown or bite the lip as angry girls do. You entertain me with gentle conduct. Why does the world report that Kate has a limp? O slanderous world, Kate like a hazel twig is straight and slender, and as brown in hue as hazel nuts, and sweeter than the kernels. O, let me see you walk. Why you don't limp. Why you walk like a queen."

Petruchio(Caleb) and Katherine(Desirae)

Petruchio is a fortune seeker who enters into a marriage with a strong-willed young woman named Kate and then proceeds to "tame" her temperamental spirit.
In the play, Petruchio comes to the town of Padua in the hopes of marrying a wealthy woman. Hortensio suggests that he marry Kate Minola, as she is very rich and her marriage will allow her sister to marry as well. Petruchio takes an interest in Kate, owing to the dowry he could potentially receive, and agrees. During his first encounter with Kate, he matches her fierce temper and manages to convince her father that she passionately loves him but only pretends to hate him in public. The two are married, with Petruchio arriving at the wedding late and forcing Kate to leave the ceremony feast early.
Petruchio then starts to try to "tame" his wife in a variety of ways. He frightens Kate by yelling at the servants and prevents her from eating by insisting that the dishes are not good enough for her. He then offers Kate presents of dresses and jewelry, only to return them saying that they too weren't good enough. When Bianca and Lucentio are married, he refuses to let Kate go to the wedding unless she agrees with everything he says (no matter how false it may seem). He later puts her to the test by telling her that a man is a woman and that the moon is the sun - she agrees with both statements.
At the wedding, Petruchio is taunted by Hortensio and Lucentio for having married a "shrew". He proposes a contest to see which man has the most obedient wife: All three will call for their wives and see which ones respond. Of the three women, only Kate comes and a triumphant Petruchio is the winner. Petruchio then orders Kate to bring the other wives and give a speech telling them to honor their husbands.

In the play there was a kissing scene. (Of course they don't really kiss...thank goodness.) He told me that he blushed everytime that he had to practice this at school. His classmates gave him a good tease. Was this Caleb's favorite part?

I hope that Caleb is proud of himself and that he will have the desire to participate in more school plays especially when he is in High School. Good job Caleb. I love you! Mom

Paradox? or Paradise?

We were very sad to hear that Naaman's Grandmother, Dot Wilden Eades passed away on Saturday, February 20, 2010 at the age of 86. Grandma Eades was an incredible woman. We was always doing service and thinking of others. She was very talented. She was a great cook. She loved to can all her fruits and vegetables. I will forever miss her apple butter. For as long as she could, she always had a project in hand. She loved to crochet, knit and sew quilts. She made a quilt for each of her great grandchildren until 7 years ago when she was diagnosed with alzheimers. Caleb and Aspen will always cherish these quilts. Grandma Eades lived in a small town called Paradox, Colorado. It is also known as Paradise (so they called it). Paradox is a town that is like no other. It is an hour outside of Moab, Utah. I will do my best to describe Paradox. Paradox is a valley that is surrounded on all sides by steep cliff red mountains, much like the ones in Moab. The valley is almost the same size as the Salt Lake Valley, yet there is maybe a total of 30 homes. There is a post office, a small elementary school, a very small LDS church, a cemetery and many cows. Grandma was born and raised here and lived here the rest of her life. Grandma loved it in Paradox, but I am sure that she will now enjoy the real Paradise. We love Grandma and will miss her so much.

This last Monday I spent the day packing so that we could go to Paradox. We left early Tuesday morning and arrived at Grandpa's house close to noon. We spent the afternoon with Grandpa Eades and Naaman's parents. This was the first time that my Lil' Gilbert got to meet his Grandfather who he was named after. Gilbert Leeander Eades, who is now 95 years old. Grandpa gave little Gilbert a little porcelain shoe with his birth information written on it. Grandpa was so excited to give this to me and Gilbert. I think that Grandpa was ticked to have his grandson named after him. It was so great to spend this time with him. By the end day the house was full of all of Naaman's extended family. It was great to see everyone. That night we drove to another very small town 30 minutes away called Naturita, to stay in a motel. I laughed because Caleb kept calling it a 1/2 star hotel. What do you expect for such a small town?

Grandma's funeral was on Wednesday February 24, 2010. It was short, but very sweet. Many great memories and words were said. After the funeral we didn't want to bombard Grandpa so we went back to the motel and spent the rest of the day with cousins. We all enjoyed it. Thursday morning we packed up our things and went to Grandpa's house to eat breakfast. We took pictures and said our goodbye's as we left for home. Our hearts and prayers still remain with Grandpa. I am sure that things will be quiet and lonesome for him now. Oh, how I wish we didn't live so far away.

3 new babies!

3 new babies from heaven were reunited again...for the first time.

Grandma Kearl must be so excited to have her 3 newest grandchildren finally here. She got to see all 3 of them at the same time just last weekend (February 12th-15th). We were in Bear Lake for Rodney's blessing. I am quite sure that Makinlee, Gilbert and Rodney were up in heaven waiting together for their big day! They each have their own story. We are so grateful that they are here and healthy.

Little Makinlee was born unexpectedly 3 weeks early in Nephi when Marci went to her in-laws for Thanksgiving. We are glad that she listened to her instincts and went to the emergency on Thanksgiving night since she had not felt the baby move. After Marci had a c-section, CPR was performed on baby Makinlee so that she could be with us today. She was born November 27, 2009 weighing only 5 lbs.

I had a wonderful pregnancy. My complaints didn't start until I was neared the end. I was induced 4 days before my due date in fear that I was going to have a big baby. Gilbert was born on December 30, 2009. What a surprise when the nurse said that Gilbert was only 6 lbs 8 oz. I thought I could only have big babies. Gil was healthy other than he struggled with jaundice for 2 weeks. Putting him under the bili lights made me cry.

Rodney was the last of these 3 babies to come into this world. He was born just 4 days after Gil on January 3, 2010. This was Gil's due date. Amy, his mother was anxiously waiting for him to get here. She was sooo done being pregnant. Rodney is named after his 2 great grandfathers...and GREAT they were! Great grandfather John Rodney Moore and Great grandfather Alten M. Kearl. I am sure that little Rodney wont have a problem living up to his great name. Litl' Rodney also struggled the first few days of his life. He had to stay in the hospital a few day longer until he was able to keep his blood sugar level up. Despite what Amy may say, I think he is a good sleeper. He was asleep every time I saw him.

We are so grateful that our precious little ones are doing so well! We love them dear.

In this picture:

(right to left)

Gil 6 1/2 weeks

Makinlee 11 1/2 weeks

Rodney 6 weeks