Welcome Christmas

Canon has already perfected the Grant picture stare, Savana, smiling as cute as always and Lauren - well, I was just pleased she didn't cry. 

Last Saturday we put up the tree and I finished the rest of our decorations this past week.  We've been playing Christmas music all week and it finally feels like Christmas.  This past Saturday we went to have Breakfast with Santa and watched Christmas shows.  Breakfast with Santa is a pretty amazing production that the Wixom Firefighters put on.  All you have to do is call in advance and sign up and you get breakfast, a picture with Santa and then a wrapped toy from him.  Canon got a remote control car, that he couldn't be happier with, Savana got a "Don't Spill the Beans" game and Lauren got a cute little baby toy, but really she would have been happy with an envelope to eat. 

Welcome Winter

 

Yes, I said Welcome Winter, but I'll admit, I don't entirely feel it.  I'm kind of dreading the cold gray days.  But I will have to admit, that the first day of snow for the year was beautiful.  Enough snow to cover the grass and stick to the trees and then some blue sky.  Those are my favorite kind of snow days.  Canon and Savana were so excited to see the snow when they woke up.  Canon bundled up in his boots and coat for school and was really sad at school because I didn't send his snow pants so he could roll around in the snow.  Savana was so excited to get her boots on so she could go make footprints.  She doesn't usually want to go outside unless Canon is out there.  But she had me put on all her snow clothes and was out there for quite a while making tracks in the snow.  Then when Canon came home from school they both went out.  It was cute to see them playing in the snow together.  They were both plopping backwards in the snow to make angels. 

The other event for November was Lauren making it to 7 months.  She is now sitting up very well and loves to laugh.  It is pretty easy to make her giggle by tickling her, or just being silly.  She still isn't eating much baby food.  We can sneak something in every once in a while, but she doesn't love food yet.

Happy Halloween!

Finally an Update

I can't believe I haven't posted anything since Canon's first day of school!  He certainly is changing.  Lauren is nearly 6 months so I need to hurry and post her 5 month pictures!  And Savana, I think, has adjusted to her new life as the oldest child at home during the day.

Showing her tongue.  It is usually poking out a lot more than this!

First Lauren.  She is of course getting to be more fun and cute.  She is pretty easy going, but I can tell she is not going to just sit back and wait for things to happen.  She rolls from her back to her tummy but hasn't figured out how to get back to her back.  She does move though.  I will lay her down on the floor and then come back ten minutes later and she is across the floor and upside down from her original position.  Not really sure what she does to get there - but she is moving.  It is kind of funny having her do all these things just because Savana truly didn't move anywhere.  She has also discovered her tongue.  It is almost always sticking out of her mouth.

Savana's favorite place at Three Cedars Farm - the corn box.

Making angels in the corn box at the Three Cedars Farm

Now for Savana.  She always says she misses Canon when we walk him to the bus, but I think she also enjoys being "queen" of the house.  She starts to call me "Heidi" and "sister mommy."   I guess she thinks of this time without Canon as "Sister" time and I get to be one of the sisters.  It is kind of different gearing our activities toward Savana rather than Canon.  We have started to make our annual tour of the apple orchards and it seemed kind of wrong to go without him at first.  But we are having fun.

Now for Canon.  I think he really likes school.  In true boy fashion, he won't really tell us what he does for the 8 hours he is gone, but I have seen changes.  First of all, he all of a sudden loves to color.  I couldn't get him to leave Primary the other day because he wanted to finish coloring.  He used to do about two scribbles and be done with his pictures.  Now they all come back completely filled in.  We also went to a restaurant the other day and the hostess grabbed crayons and a coloring sheet and he said "Yeah - I love to color!"  I wanted to check to make sure he really was our Canon - but I guess he is allowed to change, especially for the better :)  One last Canon story and then I will be done.  The other morning he was looking for his shoes.  Canon has a REALLY hard time finding things.  They can be right under his feet and he can't find it.  I went and stood in his door way and told him to put on his shoes.  He said he couldn't find them.  I could see them about 18 inches from his feet, and told him I could see them so he should just keep looking.  Of course his floor was filled with toys, but they were still where he could see them.  I left to finish getting Savana ready and came back to see him standing on a chair in the door way where I was standing when I told him I could see them.  His plan worked and he found his shoes!  I thought it was pretty smart of him to put himself exactly where I was.

Anyway - that is all for now!  Now we are off to go shopping.  One thing that has become a lot easier while Canon is in school!  :)

Canon's First Day of School

Wow - It came!  Canon's first day of school.  All summer we have been telling Canon that he would go to school in the fall.  Yesterday he kept asking if it was the fall, because we said it was time to go to school.  This morning he woke up and was a little concerned that the leaves hadn't fallen off the trees or turned colors.  I assured him that it was a slow process, but that it was still time to go to school.  He smiled.  He was so excited and did absolutely everything he was supposed to so quickly!  Seth and I walked him out to the bus.  It finally came (8:40 a.m.) and the rest of the kids walked across the street to get on.  "Ok Canon, you can go get on"  He hesitated.  He wasn't sure if he was supposed to follow them.  We told him again that it was OK to go.  After assuring him a few times that he could go, he finally walked across and got on the bus.  I guess maybe he couldn't believe that it was finally his turn to go with the big kids that he has been watching all summer.  He was so cute.  I am so excited for him.  It will be a long day (he get's off the bus at 4:30 p.m.) - but I know he will love it and take care of himself.

 So here is Canon getting off the bus.  He was all smiles.  I asked if he was ready to do it all again tomorrow - and he said "YES!"  They actually didn't get home until almost 5:00 p.m. - long day!  We tried to find out what they did for 7 hours at school and all we got was that they played with some play dough, went to recess twice, ate lunch (he got chocolate milk) and that he met a girl named Emma.  Not sure that would actually take up 7 hours - but I guess that is as good as we are going to get.  I was just happy to see that he somehow made it from the bus I put him on, into the school and back out again.

A little bit of this and that.

August is almost over.  Lauren is now 4 months and school is just a week and a half away.  I am very much looking forward to it.  Canon needs to be busy.  We bought him some new Lego knock-offs this week.  I thought it would keep Canon busy for the next two weeks.  WRONG.  They are keeping ME busy.  He is not quite ready to follow the directions, so I have now built a cement truck and half of a garbage truck.  Seth did the other half.  I guess all those summers of building with Legos has paid off.  The other thing from my youth that is now coming in handy is the soccer.  Canon's team didn't have a soccer coach and so I finally volunteered.  I was reluctant, but now I'm getting excited.  It will be fun to see what we can do.  This is Canon's first time playing soccer so it should be fun.  Wixom seems to have a good program.  They've given me plenty of material to help me out and have someone who will come to some of our practices to help me learn what I am doing. 
Now for Lauren.  She is growing and changing.  Does NOT sleep through the night anymore.  In fact she gets up twice during the night.  We also have to wrap her super tight so she can fall asleep.  Those little arms and hands of hers are just so busy that they pull out her binky and move so much that they wake her up.  She still eventually wiggles her arms free when she wakes up but at least we get some sleeping done.  She is also starting to tolerate her tummy more.  The other morning she watch me blow dry my hair while on her tummy.  She was trying to see me, so instead of trying to look up, she had her head turned completely side ways.  It was cute.  She is still fairly easy going while she is awake - she just doesn't like to be left alone.  She is fine just sitting and watching as long as she can see people.  When I leave the room for more than a brief moment, she let's me know she is lonely.  She is also slowly giving up her binky.  Canon did at this age too.  They are very similar babies in a lot of little ways like that.

A Bicycle Built for 3!

A little guitar lesson.

 And finally, I'll end with the biking picture.  Seth has been taking Canon out on the tag-a-long bike and decided that Savana needed to come to.  So with a little Seth-rigging, he made it work.  Our friends were storing their tandem bike in our garage and he really wanted to hook all this up to that, but we never got to it.  Wouldn't have that been quite the bike.  I think it would have looked like something from Dr. Seuss.

Our July

Niagara Falls

I got this picture . . .

. . . if I promised to take this picture.

Lauren Summer - 3 months old

Well, one thing I have noticed about having three kids is any extra time I used to have to write on our blog or do scrapbooking is now GONE!  So here is July in a nutshell.  We went to Palmyra, New York and Niagara Falls over the 4th of July weekend.  It was only a two night vacation, but it really seemed like a week went by, when we got home.  Not that it wasn't fun, but it was a lot of driving and going from site to site in Palmyra.  Niagara Falls turned out great too.  I don't think we could have planned it better if we had known what we were doing.  We got there the night of the 4th of July and they had fireworks at the falls.  We also got the see the falls with all the pretty colored night lights shining on them.  The next day we got up and went down below where you can walk behind the falls.  It sounds cooler than it was to be behind the falls.  You really can't see anything but a huge misty wall of water.  But it was neat to go down to the bottom of the falls and be so close.  It's a lot of water.  Pretty amazing stuff. 

On July 23rd, Lauren made it to 3 months old.  She is still a great baby.  She is starting to want to be up where the action is.  She won't let me eat dinner with her at my feet in the rocker and everyone else up at the table.  I guess she can sense she is missing something.  But she is just getting cuter all the time.

The only other thing that has been significant about this month is the amazingly hot weather.  It was in the 90's and 100's for most of July - and it has only rained a handful of days this month.  The bad thing is that you add in the humidity to that kind of heat and it is just miserable.  Today is actually nice.  Still hot - but not humid.

The First of Many

Today Canon gave his first talk in Primary.  He was so excited all week.  When I told him we needed to write his talk, he told me that he wanted to do it all by himself.  I knew there was no way he was going to practice enough to memorize the whole thing, so I translated it into pictures.  I have to say - it was a masterpiece.  We've been practicing a couple times a day since Thursday and today was the big day.  He got up and gave his talk with a lot of enthusiasm in his voice.  As we neared the end of his talk his face was getting really red and he was squirming like he had to go to the bathroom.  I finally just asked him and he got down and went to the bathroom.  Seth told me I should have just let him finish, but I thought having an accident would have been a lot worse than an unfinished talk.  When he came back he asked if he was going to get to finish.  The wonderful Primary President let him get back up after they did singing time.  He got back up on the podium.  Wouldn't start until the microphone was on and said "Sorry I was late" and proceeded to finish his talk.  I really wish I could have video'd the talk.  But it does make me curious to see what he will do with his life.  What ever it will be, he will do it with confidence!

Lauren is 2 1/2 months!

I've been working on our blog and getting it into a book.  I realized how much I updated on Savana when she was a tiny baby.  (We didn't have our blog when Canon was tiny.)  I don't want Lauren to get lost in the crowd, so here it is.  Lauren is 2 1/2 months.  She is a fabulous baby.  She sleeps through the night!  What more can I ask for at this age.  Goes to bed a 10:00 p.m. and sleeps to 5:30 a.m. at least and often later.  She is also very content just sitting in her baby seat, as long as she can see us and what is going on.  I just wish I could say that I get enough sleep because of that, but Canon comes in once a night.  Usually it is to go to the bathroom, but the other night he just appeared at my bed and said he "just wanted to check on me."  Last night both Canon and Savana were afraid of the dark.  That is a new thing with Savana.  I think she learned it from Canon during her brief stay in his room.  She is back in her own room.  It just makes bed time easier and since she usually sleeps later than Canon - it makes mornings better too.  Savana actually slept until 10:30 a.m. this morning, but that is rare.   Usually she sleeps until 8:00 a.m. or so and Canon is up any where between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m.  Wow, exciting stuff!  But this is life right now :)

Cousin EmiLee, Lauren and Savana

Blessings of Family

Wow - June is barely half over and I kind of feel like the SUMMER should be half over.  It has been a busy month!  At the end of May and beginning of June, Canon and Savana both finished their Preschool and Early On school programs.  They each had a little certificate presentation ceremonies.  Then we were immediately on the plane and off to Utah where we had Lauren's baby blessing.  The next day we headed to Southern Utah where we spent a week with the Crowther family to celebrate Nana Norma and Grandpa Bruce's 50th Wedding Anniversary.  It was fun to be with everyone.  Seth made his first trip to Zions's National Park and hiked the Subway and Angel's Landing.  I experienced my first game of Paint Ball and mostly stayed at the house feeding a baby.  Canon had his first zip line ride, many thanks to Aunt Robyn who had the guts to push all the kids over the edge even though they were screaming and crying.  I met Canon at the bottom of the line where he was still crying after screaming the entire way down.  I asked him if it was fun, "NOOOOOOOOO" he wailed.  Then I asked him if he wanted to do it again, "YEEEESSSS" he cried.  Then he stopped crying and run up to do it again.  The second time down he wanted to do it again and started wailing again when we told him he couldn't.  He did get two more rides at the end of the week.  The rest of the time was spent hanging around the house, doing some smaller day hikes and playing at the pool.  Pictures of our trip will hopefully be added later.  I think between all our family members we took probably 1500 pictures during the week.  I am making it into a scrapbook all on it's own, but I think it is going to take me a while to filter through pictures.  Maybe some day I will post a few of the best ones.

Little Lauren Summer Grant

Here she is, our Little Lauren.   She was born at 7:57 p.m. on April 23rd.  That morning I woke up at 6:00 a.m. with contractions.  Just like the other two, but these weren't quite as strong, so I wasn't sure if we were having a baby that day or not.  I got up to go to the bathroom, and it felt like my water broke.  I wasn't sure, but the doctor told me to go to the hospital and have them check.  Seth was a bit upset that he was going to miss his Saturday morning basketball for my "unsureness", but what do you do.  If it really had broken, labor could go quickly and I could follow in the steps of Kayte and Carla, which I wasn't really excited about trying - as much fun as I'm sure you guys had.  So we went to the hospital, and it had in fact, not broken.  Sorry Seth.  But this meant I could go home and still host the Easter Egg Hunt I had planned at our house.  We had a couple of families over - I'm glad they were brave enough to still come, even though I was having contractions the whole time.  I just sat on a chair in the kitchen and as inconspicuously as I could timed and made it through the contractions.  They really weren't that bad - but still not fun.  The kids had a fun time, we had a little BBQ lunch and then finally around 4:00 p.m. we called back our friends who said they would help with the kids and said "COME NOW!"   I don't know what it is about my labors - it seems they just kind of poke along and then all of a sudden, Boom!  I got the the hospital about 5:00 p.m. and I was far enough along already that they said I could have an epidural immediately (but of course it still seems like it takes for ever before the anesthesiologist gets there) and that we were having a baby.  I had to work harder for this one than I ever have - but I still can't complain.  By 8:00 p.m. we had a baby.  She was 7 lbs, 13 oz and 21" long.  (At the pediatrician yesterday she measured 20 1/2 ", probably a little more accurate)  She is a pro at eating and sleeping.  As soon as she opens her eyes, she does the little turn her head and rooting thing, and then when she's had enough, she is out again for another 3 hours.  The swing is our friend night and day.  She hasn't taken to her bed yet, I think it felt like too much real estate for her, but she is very happy curled up in the swing for now. 

They Grow Up Too Fast

We never thought it would happen this soon.  It seems as if they were just born last week….oh, they were.  Our five Easter bunnies have grown up and left the nest.  Canon was very sad and taking it the hardest.  The worst thing about it is we saw them the day before and they didn’t mention they were leaving.  We should have guessed they were out growing the nest.  I’m glad we were able to get this last video before they left.

Baby Somethings

Last week Seth started to prepare our lawn for some fertilizer.  He started raking a pile of grass and found some animal hair.  He raked it up and then saw something moving deep inside the grass.  Upon closer inspection he thought he saw the eye of a raccoon.  He thought, "these things can be vicious."  He called for me to get the kids in and armed himself with a shovel and a glove.  As he pulled the grass back, he was ready to strike and severe the head of whatever ferocious beast lie in wait.  To his amazement, it was not an eye, but the ear of an unknown newborn creature.  After much deliberation (and a call to the local animal trapper) we discovered the cute little furry animals were in fact five little bunnies just in time for Easter.  We have yet to see the mother bunny.  Apparently they only visit their babies  once a day to feed them and then stay away to lure away predators. 

Happy 5th Birthday Canon!

Wow - Canon is 5!  He is getting so big.  He really is - Seth measured him in January and again at the end of March and he'd grown an inch!  For his birthday he got a baseball bat and T-ball stand, a watch, a scooter and Nana sent him a big soft blanket.  We went to McDonald for lunch (I just discovered the best McDonald's ever!  Clean, new play area.  The kids love it)  and then had cake after dinner.  Any guesses to what his cake is?  A germ cake.  For some reason he is into germs right now.  I figured - what the heck, we'll go with it.  No rules as to what a germ has to look like, right?  He said he had a Happy Birthday, and I hope he really did.  We love you Canon!

Mostly Savana's Turn - and a Moroni story

 

The last blog update I did was pretty much all about Canon.  I've had in the plan to do an update on Savana next and I'm finally doing it.  But I'm afraid this will include a little bit of Canon.  I can't help it.  The stories are just ones I don't want to forget.  

Savana is definitely  showing her little personality.  She loves pink.  If there is every a choice, she will choose pink.  She is mostly a happy little girl.  She definitely has her moments too.  She takes "no" very personally.  It is kind of an adjustment to make between her a Canon.  I'm telling Canon "no", "don't do that" or "stop that" at least 20 times a day.  He just moves on to obviously do something else he's not supposed to.  But Savana takes it hard.  And she doesn't always stop doing whatever it is.  She just gets a very hurt look on her face, and keeps doing it, only a little more timidly.  I don't know if it hurts her feelings or what.  But the incident usually ends in tears or a tantrum.  I usually try and divert her instead or she ends up taking it is much worse than the crime.  

Savana loves to clean up.  All you need to do is sing the "clean up" song and she is working away.  She hangs up her little coat and puts away her little boots.  She will even clean up Canon's boots if they are with hers.  She loves playing with Canon's toys.  Airplanes, trains and animals are her thing right now.  I'll admit we don't have a lot of dolls, but she doesn't really play a ton with the two dolls she has.  And that is OK.  It is kind of nice that she and Canon like the same toys.  They are really starting to play a lot together.  And Canon is learning that if he wants her to stick around, he has to be nice.   

Savana knows herself as "Savana Banana".  Once I called her sweetie and I was told very sternly that "My name is Savana Banana!"  Seth has also started to call her "George"   He says she looks like Curious George.  I don't see it, but whatever!  So she told me the other day, "My name is Savana Banana, and Daddy calls me George."

Ok, so as promised, I have to end this post with a Canon story.  This morning I went to get in the car.  Canon was outside and he told me that he had buried something.  "What?" I asked.  "Scriptures" he answered.  Oh great!  He had talked about it earlier that morning, and to my fault, I hadn't specifically told him not to do it.  So I went in my flower bed where I could see some freshly turned dirt.  Fortunately, he had put them in one of my tupperware before he buried them in the ground!  He said he wanted to be like Moroni.  I appreciate that he is actually listening in Primary, but I kind of need my scriptures!  He told me that I could just read his.

Seth & Japan

So I finally got Seth to write about his experience in Japan. Unfortunately he didn't take a camera so we don't have any pictures:

I had a great time in Japan for the first time, but I wish I would have brought a phrase book so I could have asked questions. I was working one of Nissan's old assembly plants where the first physical vehicles are built. During the week we experienced little, hardly noticeable tremors (about 2/day or so). When the big one hit there were 20 of us in a somewhat small room crowded around a vehicle taking measurements. For about 30 sec there was a good rattle (hanging lights swaying, vibration). I slowly started toward a safer part of the room, and a local guy was smiling at me saying “it’s ok, ok” (I guess he was used to that kind of stuff). Then all of a sudden all hell broke loose! Like a freight train went through the plant. That local guy then yelled “OUT GET OUT”. As we started to leave it got even worse (10 freight trains) you could see the truss members in the roof flexing and every step (we were running by then) felt strange, almost uneven. After we evacuated the plant we just stood in the parking lot getting sea sick. It felt like we were all on a boat in the water and someone was slowly pushing us back and forth a few inches. That seemed to go on for 10 or 15 minutes. For a few days after I felt like I just got off a cruise boat and had to stop and look at stuff to see if there really was shaking or not (50% were false alarms). When we tried to go back to our hotel the trains weren't running so we had to stand in line for a taxi for about 2 1/2 hours. We couldn't make it to the hotel room we were supposed to be staying in that night (one nearer to the airport) so we were going to try and stay at the hotel that we had been staying at all week, but the rooms were all booked up because all public transportation was down. We ended up staying with some co-workers in their hotel room. I got to spend the night on the floor. My co-worker made fun of me because I slept through a large after shock (I think a 6). In my defense the builds over there are built to sway, so probably helped me sleep on that hard flood. We got up the next morning and the trains were partially working. We made it to our next hotel and were able to leave a day later than our originally scheduled flight because our original flight had been canceled and the airports had been closed.

It was a pretty crazy experience, quite the adrenaline rush. I had a great time in Japan.

March Showers & Messes!

March Rain - they were actually outside putting out fires, according to Canon.  Savana is just happy to join in whatever project is going on.

The snow has started to melt - again - and we have been having a lot of rain lately instead of snow.  I like rainy days a lot more than snowy ones, because the kids can at least go outside.  But I'm just starting to remember and realize what else that means.  Messes!  Inside the house AND now out.  I've been trying to decide how much mess I'm required to endure in the name of boyhood, pretend play and fostering creativity.  I'm about at my limit!  Today we have Legos scattered all over the house (dinosaur bones), bottles filled with water on the table that Canon brought IN from the recycling bin (attempting to make a musical instrument), couch cushions piled all on one couch (a mole hole), mud all over the drive way and a large dead branch, taller than the garage sticking out of the ground (Canon planting a tree) not to mention our muddy car because Canon CANNOT go outside to get into the car without a detour through the mud, and a glittery floor from yesterdays attempt at an art project (how do you get mad when he says he was trying to make you something).  Some other recent messes have also included dirt from the indoor plant on the floor (Canon trying to see if the roots were healthy, thank you "Cat in the Hat"), and a constant string of rope around the banisters that have been any thing from pulleys hauling chairs up the wall (yes it left a mark) to spider webs.  When I ask him not to do what ever recent mess he has just made he says "But Mom, I'm digging for Dinosaur Bones" or "I'm checking to see if the plant is healthy" or "I'm planting a tree" in such away that I feel as if I've just asked the President of the United States not to be president.  Yesterday I asked him if he was done playing outside.  "I'm not playing! I'm planting a tree and chasing out the moles."  "I'm sorry, are you done BEING outside" I rephrased.

Happy Green Day!

I was going to write a short post last week with just some kid moments that I wanted to remember.  Then I didn't think I had enough to write, so I was going to wait - and now I've forgotten half of what I was going to write.  So here is a post to journal a couple of kid moments and get January off as the last time I posted. 

Canon is very excited about the baby coming.  I think partly because it means it is his birthday too, but I think he is excited to see the little baby that he feels moving in my stomach.  When I snuggle him at night, he likes to feel the baby move with his hand.  And this is a very wiggly baby, especially when I first lay down.  It seems they have gotten progressively more wiggly.  The other night he scooted down so he was at face level with my pregnant belly and sang "Rock A Bye Baby" - which by the way, I've decided is a very odd song.  How can it be comforting to be swinging high in a tree and then have the branch break and the baby fall???  Just because we sing in a sweet voice - it's a lullaby?  Weird - I need to look it up.  Anyway - the other cute thing that Canon has been doing is wishing me "Happy Green Day" and making me Valentines.  We talked about how Valentines Day was over and he asked what was next.  I told him about St. Patrick's Day and that we all wear green on that day.  I guess green was all he could remember, so it is now "Green Day" here.  So  "Happy Green Day" everyone!

Winter Fun!

First ride down the hill!

Ready for some speed!

The fluffy stuff made it just the right speed for Savana.

More speed with Daddy.

CRAZY!

Well, we finally did something blog worthy!  It has been awhile, but we really haven't had too many exciting things to report on.  Our weeks consist of going to class twice a week for Savana, twice a week for Canon, preschool story time at the library for Canon and then MOMS Club activities and playgroups in between.  But yesterday Seth had the day off, so we went sledding with several other families in the ward.  It was great!  The kids lasted a lot longer than I thought they would, especially Savana.  I think we were all outside for about 2 hours before I finally brought Savana in to change her diaper.  Canon and Seth lasted about 30 minutes longer.  The hill was just the right length and speed for Canon and Savana.  I kind of wished I could of gone, I probably would have been fine, but I was actually having a great time with the camera.