Leah's crawling!

Leah has moved on from the army crawl, and is on her knees and crawling all over the place. Let the mischief begin!!!

Seven Months

I forgot to send out a six-month update for Leah, so this is a six-month and seven-month combined update. Our little girl is doing great. She is sitting up, moving all around via an army crawl, and she has two bottom teeth (check out the last picture of the collage below). She doesn't really like solid foods, but she is still managing to fill out her skinny jeans, and ranked in the 80th percentile for height and weight at the six-month visit. I'll repeat what I've said in every update...she smiles all the time, and is so easy-tempered. The collage below is a look at our girl from birth to present...she's getting SO big!!!

October rewind

Balloons, pumpkins, and fall, "Oh, my!" Here's our October rewind...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3k7pvTob1E

September Rewind

It's October...it's Fall...it's my favorite month of the year, and I can't wait to document every day of it! But, first, here's a little taste of what our fam was up to in September...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2mIbjbwV04

First Food Pics

First food pictures crack me up. Here's Leah enjoying her first bite of food (sweet potatoes). She wasn't sure at first, but I finally got a smile of enjoyment.

First Day of Pre-School

Joshua started a pre-school program earlier this week. He goes Tuesdays and Thursdays, for three hours in the morning. He had a great time playing with trucks, doing crafts, and playing outside. His favorite part was meeting a new friend. Today, was his second day, and he was still very eager to go.

Makayla, on the other hand, is having a tough time with leaving her brother's side. The first day, she cried, and said, "I love Brother, he's my best friend". She would come up to me, and also say, "I miss Brother!" She is definitely attached at the hip to her brother. After dropping Joshua off on his first day, Makayla and I went to Starbucks and got "coffee" (hot chocolate) and banana bread to take her mind off of things. She also got some good mommy time as we colored and played with Legos. By the end, I think she liked not having Brother to take toys away from her.

He was very proud of the sunflower he painted.

First, she cried. Then, she figured out she could sit in Joshua's car seat and play with his puppy and school bus. Then, she gave the thumbs up after having "coffee" and banana bread!

Flagstaff

As mentioned in the birthday post, Andrew's parents visited last week, and we traveled to Flagstaff. We spent lots of time swimming, eating, celebrating, and train-watching. The weather was awesome, and the trip ended way too soon!

A giant wagon wheel in downtown Flag

Finally a family photo!

Learning to swim with Daddy and Gigi

A water duel with Papi and pool noodles.

Feeding the ducks at a nearby pond

These are their flattened pennies after laying them on the train tracks.

This is his happy place!

J's Birthday

Joshua turned four on September 7th...four...ahhhhh! He made it know to everyone that he got to celebrate two birthdays. I think he was on a power trip because of it. Grandpa and Gigi flew in to Albuquerque, and we then made our way over to Flagstaff to celebrate birthday #1. We opened the presents that they brought all the way from California, and then had a Dump Truck Dirt Cake complete with chocolate candy rocks and "squirmies" (gummy worms).

We ended up celebrating his birthday on Saturday, instead of Sunday, since church always takes up a big part of the day. We went to Krispy Kreme to start off the day because that's how we roll when it comes to any celebration. 

After naps, we celebrated his birthday with a Dusty Birthday Party. Dusty is from the movie Planes, and his only birthday request was for a Dusty cake. We played in the water, played some Planes Bingo, ate pizza and cake, and opened more presents.

On the morning of his birthday, we crammed some balloons against his door with streamers, so that when he opened the door, they would all fall down on him. He loved opening the door, and the surprise that came with it. We opened a few more gifts from Mom and Dad, and the birthday festivities wrapped up. 

Here are a few questions I asked him as he turned four:

What is your name: Joshua Grundstrom

How old are you: Four

What is your favorite thing to do: Play trucks and cars

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up: Truck driver and Race Car Driver

What Is Your Favorite Food: Quesadilla

Who Do You Like To Spend Time With: Daddy, Mommy, Sissy, Cayden, and Cody

What Are You Good At: Going Down Slides

What Makes You Laugh: Spilling Drinks (Mommy does NOT agree!!!)

Who Is Your Best Friend: Cayden, Cody, and Sissy

What Do You Like To Do With Your Family: Build Train Tracks with Daddy

What Do You Like To Learn About: Letters

Where Do You Like To Go: Costco, FireHouse Subs, and the Balloon Festival

What's Your Favorite Book: Dusty Look and Find and Read About Jesus

What Is Your Favorite Movie: Lightening McQueen and Dusty

Leah is 5 months!

Leah turned five-months-old yesterday...wowza! I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but she is seriously a dream baby. She's so happy, is a great sleeper, and she picks things up so quickly. Her big bro and sis adore her, and she lovingly adores them back. This trio of mine (as well as a studly hubby) sure make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world. Below is a shot of our five-month-old, as well as a collage of all three of the kids at five months. I definitely see a little of J and M rolled into Leah!

August Pic-a-Day

Below is the pic-a-day video from August. The background song is called, "Hello World," by Lady Antebellum. The first  few musical phrases of the song go as follows:

Traffic crawls, cell phone calls,

Talk radio screams at me.

Through my tinted window I see

A little girl, rust red minivan.

She's got chocolate on her face,

Got little hands, and she waves at me

Yeah, she smiles at me.

Hello world

How've you been?

Good to see you, my old friend.

Sometimes I feel as cold as steel,

Broken like I'm never gonna heal.

I see a light, a little hope,

In a little girl.

Hello World.

This song is just another sweet reminder at how our busy, technological lives can so easily steal our joy. I'm so thankful for my kids, and for the innocence and fun spirit that they constantly surround me with. I pray September brings us a lot of of "chocolate on our face" moments!

Here's the video: August Pic-a-Day

Rare Gems

While it seems like the majority of the time I'm trying to maintain the peace between Joshua and Makayla, I have noticed more tender moments lately. I can see their affection for each other growing more and more, and there's no greater feeling!

Sports Illustrated's 60th Anniversary

If you asked me if I could be on the cover of any magazine, I wouldn't hesitate. If you've spent more than a day around me, you would quickly discover that my love of sports runs deep. I was the tomboy who tried to beat her dad to the newspaper's sports section each morning, and I could tell you Ken Griffey Jr.'s daily batting average. Ever since I can remember, there was always one magazine in the house: Sports Illustrated. I remember, as a kid, even subscribing to Sports Illustrated for Kids. 

About one month ago, I saw a blurb about Sports Illustrated celebrating their 60th anniversary. They were asking readers to send them pictures of anything sports-related, and they would then incorporate the pictures into their anniversary cover. I thought it was a long-shot, but if it all worked out, it would be pretty cool. While it would have been fun to see myself on the cover, I decided that it would be even sweeter to see Joshua and Andrew together. When I think of sports, I also think of my dad. As mentioned earlier, we shared a love for box scores growing up, he was my biggest fan, and we even made it a point to toss the ball around the morning before I married Andrew (just like in Father of the Bride). So, I sent in the Halloween picture of my guys from last year because I wanted them to be able to look back on the cover, and always have that as a cool memory.  

Fast forward to last week... The cover came out, and guess who made it?! There are around 1,600 little pictures that make up the mosaic. Their picture is pretty small, but you can definitely make it out. They are about halfway under the "A". We bought our issues (wow, have prices gone up on the magazine!), and can't wait to frame it and get it up in J's room.

Leah: 4-month check-up

Leah turned 4 months old last Thursday! Joshua and Makayla were pretty smiley as babies, but Leah takes it to a whole new level. She is seriously the most smiley baby I have ever come across, and the pediatrician even said that she probably ranks in her top 5 happiest babies. She had to get three shots today. She whimpered on the last one, and then immediately smiled at the nurse when the nurse said she was all done. I just love her so much, and am trying to cherish each smile and giggle.

She weighed in at 15 pounds, 10 ounces (75th percentile), and measured 25.5 inches long (80th percentile). She is quickly filling up the car seat (as you can see in the picture below). Beyond that, it was a routine visit. She continues to sleep through the night (yay!), she rolls over both ways, she loves to grab at the animals on her play mat, and she is a LOUD squawker!!! She is starting to full-out giggle, loves to hold a conversation, and intently watches J and M as they play. I have a feeling it won't be long before she's trying to figure out how to keep up with them :0) 

J and M wanted Leah to play cars with them

We were playing Hide-and-Seek, and Leah joined in!

This picture of them cracks me up...so much personality.

Passed out after shots. She handled them like a champ!

Pic a Day

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Zechariah 4:10 - "Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?"  Zerubbabel was the leader of Jerusalem at the time, and he was in line to finish the rebuilding of the destroyed temple. The prophet, Zechariah, asks, "Who dares despise the day of small things?" God was doing many "small things" during this time in order to prepare for the future "big thing" (the coming of Jesus Christ, and His finished work). God was encouraging Zerubbabel in that the (many) long days of working tirelessly on the temple, would eventually make sense later on. He was encouraging him that what he, and his people, viewed as "small things", were actually a big deal in the whole scope of history. 

So, what does all of that have to do with this blog post, and the Grundstrom household? If I'm honest, being a mom to three young kiddos can make for some very long days. There are times when it feels like all I do is feed the kids, take them to the bathroom, and play referee. In summary, they are days full of what I would deem "small things". This verse is so encouraging because it reminds me that these days are simply the foundation for something far grander. I may never see it to completion, but I can rest now knowing that what God starts, He finishes to perfection. These days of correcting my kids, wiping tears from their eyes, and playing trucks for the hundredth time may be small, but the culmination of them all will be seen for years down the road. 

So, I'm choosing not to despise the day of small things. I am, instead, choosing to capture them, cherish them, and remember them. I found a great app, in which you collect one picture a day. I started on July 1st, and finished the first month yesterday. It's easy, it's quick, and it is forcing me to see the beautiful things God brings my way each day, however small they are. The pictures are full of truths that God has brought to mind that day, fun things that we get to take part of as a family, and whatever else God surprises me with. The nice thing about this app is that at the end of the month, you can turn the photos into a slideshow. I'd like to share with you our days of "small things". May it encourage you to look at your day a little differently, and thank God for every little detail he lays in your path. It just might be the beginning of something far bigger.

Finger Painting

I'm trying to remember that sometimes creating fun memories means letting the kids be messy. Insert fun, messy finger painting...

Backyard Transformation

When we first moved in, our backyard was full of dead grass. The previous owners, or the bank, put in brand new grass and it all died (you can literally see each individual dead roll).

Our intent when we moved in was to replace the dead grass with new rolls of sod. Then, we got our first water bill...yikes! So, we kicked around the idea of putting in artificial grass. In order for it to be cost-effective, we would have to do all of the work ourselves.

About one month ago, we decided to go for it, and got to work. First, we had to dig out three inches of dirt, and haul it all away to the dump

Next, we laid down weed blocker, covered it with two inches of crusher fines, and then compacted it down

Finally, it was time to lay down the turf! We unrolled the 450+ pound roll of turf, trimmed it to the desired shape, seamed the various pieces together, and nailed it all down. 

Here's the before and after...

It has been quite the transformation, and though it was A LOT of work, seeing the kids enjoy it has made it all worth it!