Blue & Gold Banquet

The boys had their annual Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet this week. The theme was tropical. Everyone got to draw a flower and hang it up to make the room feel tropical, and they served Hawaiian haystacks for dinner. Jeannie, James, Rachael, Michael and Grandma Mary all came to see the boys receive their awards. Carter received his wolf badge.

Benjamin was awarded Cub Scouts highest award, the Arrow of Light. Benjamin has worked so hard all year to earn the award and I am so proud of him. Isaiah and him spent a few days making his arrow that shows all his achievements in Cub Scouts. He earned his bobcat, wolf, bear, religious knot, gold arrow point, silver arrow point, weblos, naturalist, showman, outdoorsman, handyman, citizen, geologist, fitness, readyman, and lots of belt loops.

He also got to cross over into The Boy Scouts and gets to start that adventure.

First Bath

Miles finally got his first bath at 18 days old. It has just been so cold and I have been so tired, it never seemed like a good time. I decided he really did need one when Isaiah started asking how he liked his baths.

He totally loved it. He hates being naked, so he started fussing as soon as I undressed him, but once he was in the water he stopped crying and was very peaceful. The bath must have relaxed him because he went right to sleep afterwards

The 6 Pack




I finally got all six kids rounded up for a group photo.  Yes, it is amazingly hard to get a good picture of six kids and this is the best one I was able to take in the five minutes that Miles gave us between naps and crying. 

 

And of course we had to have one of all the boys together.

He's Here

Miles Leon Andra was born Friday Jan. 17 at 5:24pm.  He weighed 8 lbs. 12 oz. and was 20" long.  His original due date was on the 19th.  I got to have a water birth at home with him which is were I am most comfortable. 

Everyone is in love with him especially the girls.  They ask to hold him all the time.  The boys aren't quit sure what to do with him.  If you ask Reagan who's baby it is she says mom's.

At his one week check up he weighed 9 lbs. 2 oz.  He nurses like a champ and didn't have his days and nights mixed up which has been such a blessing. 

Roper Family Pictures

Here are some pictures a dear friend took while we were all in Idaho at Christmas time.  We were trying to remember when my mom and all her children were together, and I think it might have been when Jeff got married.  It defiantly had been too long. 

Washington, D.C. Trip

Our family decided to take a little trip to Washington, D.C. We were going to meet up with some of my family and see all the great sights. We spent the first night in St. Louis and let the kids go up in The Arch. The next day we drove through seven states and still didn't make it to DC.

It was very hot and humid and we did a lot of walking everyday. It felt like we walked 10 miles each day. The kids were real troopers. The boys walked everywhere, while Amita and Melody took turns in the stroller, and I packed Reagan.

We saw all the monuments, The White House, The Smithsonian's, and Arlington National Cemetery.

The Air and Space Museum was one of the kids favorite places. While there, Ben got to go up on a stage and show all the clothing an astronaut wears when going on a space walk. Everything from a space diaper to a helmet.

We also went to Mt. Vernon and spent a day.  It was awesome to see the home and life of such a great man as George Washington. The kids got to dress up like kids back them and do lots of other activities.

We decided to spend a day at the National Zoo. It turned out really well because it was cloudy and rainy that day, so we didn't have to endure the heat anymore.  Benjamin's favorite animal and favorite part of the trip was getting to see the Asian Otters.  

Reagan @ 8,9,10 Months

I am very behind in blogging about Reagan, so I am going to try and catch up in one post.

Reagan at 8 months:

Reagan has figured out how to pull herself up to furniture and walk along it a little bit. She also is a major crawler and goes all through the house. She will sit in her high chair at the table a little bit and eat. She likes avocados the best and eats them fairly well, but everything else she isn't very excited about.

Reagan at 9 months:

She loves to be apart of whatever is going on. If she thinks she is getting left out she makes a big fuss. I have tried giving her a sippy cup a few times, but she just thinks it is a funny toy. She loves to explore and crawl around seeing the world. but if she gets to far from Mom she freaks out. She loves to walk along furniture and can stand by herself.

Reagan at ten months:

(with her cousin Aurora)

She is thinking about walking. She will stand, take one step and then fall forward for you to catch her. She loves to get into everything. She pulls the books off the bookselves, open drawers, and loves to eat papers she can find.

She gets so excited when she sees Dad and she gets so mad if she thinks he is ignoring her. When he walks away from her so will crawl as fast as she can to try and catchup with him.

She still wakes up about every two hours to nurse at night. She hates her car seat and pretty much cries when put into it. She has learned to wave bye-bye. She doesn't like strangers and will cry when someone new looks or talks to her.  She also just got her top two teeth and now has four.