Little Mr. Independent

My sister-in-law, Natalee, called me the other night asking me if Logan could join them for a last minute trip they planned to their beach house on the coast this weekend.  After talking it over with Ron and Logan and deciding that he could miss his soccer game and soccer pictures (sniff), we decided to say 'yes' and gave him the go ahead!  Since both of our district's had Friday off, I met Chris and his family in Tacoma to pass my boy over to him for the next three days and two nights.  It felt so weird to not have Logan around, but he had the time of his life vacationing at Seabrook with his favorite cousin and my brother's family.  They were blessed with incredible, autumn weather and had sunny days in the low 60s for almost the entire weekend.  Logan enjoyed playing in the ocean, swimming in the indoor pool, riding his bike around the neighborhood, playing basketball, shopping for toys at the local, toy store, and sleeping in the built-in, bunk beds inside the beach house...all with his best buddy, Trenton, at his side.  I was so impressed by how independent and grown up Logan was to go on this vacation alone.  He never would have done something like this a few years ago.  As much as he is growing up, it sure felt good to have him back home last night!
Here are a few pictures that Natalee sent me over the weekend...

Uncle Chris teaching Logan how to skimboard on the Pacific Ocean on Friday.  The fact that these boys were in their swimsuits on a sunny day in October on a Washington beach is amazing!

Logan boarding away!  Look at that happy boy on that incredibly warm and sunny day!

Logan and Trenton enjoyed playing basketball on Sunday after riding their bikes to the neighborhood court.

Walking up the long stairs after spending another afternoon at the beach on Sunday.

9 Months Old!

Our little boy turned 9 months old today.  He has officially been outside of my body as long as he was inside it.  Time sure is flying!  This past month has been full of highs and lows.  The highs all center around the amazing, physical progress that Emmett has made.  He now is a crawling machine and can be found anywhere and everywhere in the house.  In addition, he is 100% proficient at sitting and also pulling himself up on anything that he can reach like a couch, chairs, coffee table, and inside his pack 'n play where he is still currently sleeping in our bedroom.  He also discovered how to clap and now can be found clapping on a regular basis which is just about the cutest thing!  Emmett has also dove into the world of table foods in addition to pureed, baby foods.  I now serve him table foods on his high chair tray every day and he has liked everything that I have given him with the one exception of watermelon.  I first started off with feeding him 'puffs' (a type of bite-sized baby food made out of puffed rice) before serving him bread, avocados, watermelon, strawberries, jello, cheese, tortillas, pasta, black beans, rice, carrots, sweet potatoes, bananas, apple sauce, vienna sausages, yogurt, spaghettios, chicken, and edamame.  Emmett is really figuring out how to pick up food and put it in his mouth which he struggled with quite a bit when I first started serving him table foods.  I have also tried several sippy cups to help him learn how to drink water, but he is yet to become proficient at drinking out of any of them.  Hopefully, Emmett will figure this out before his first birthday as this is my 'ticket to freedom' by weaning him and transitioning him to drinking whole milk after he turns one years old.  

As for the lows of this past month, they have all been centered around his massive regression in sleeping at night.  Prior to a month ago, Emmett was consistently sleeping through the night since last May and has only required a pacifier plug in whenever he did wake up in the middle of the night.  With the rare exception (like when we were in Florida in unfamiliar beds and unfamiliar rooms), Emmett has slept through the night without ever needing to be nursed back to sleep.  However, this all came to a screeching halt on September 10th when he woke up in the middle of the night and refused to fall back asleep after I tried plugging in his pacifier several times.  Somewhat confused, I eventually had to give up and nurse him back to sleep and, five weeks later, it is still going on.  I'm going to be honest, it's been rough.  Really rough.  At first I didn't know what was going on when Emmett first started needed to be nursed once, twice, or sometimes even three times a night, but within in a week, I figured out that he was cutting his first tooth.  And then he cut his second tooth the following week and caught a cold.  Now, both of his bottom, center teeth are in and his cold is gone, but the awful habit has been established of needing to be nursed back to sleep every time he wakes up.  Emmett simply refuses to take the pacifier and just gets really mad or sad at me.  I am exhausted as I have refused to let myself nap through any of this as I am just too busy with too much to do during the day to give up his precious nap time for my own nap time.  I know that I need to move him into his own crib in his own room and have him "cry it out" for a week or so before we get back on track, but I am yet to do this partially because I hate doing it so much!  But I don't know how much longer I can take, so it's coming soon.

So, on that not-so-positive note, I will say that we still love our Emmy Bemms to pieces.  He is such an adorable, happy, sweet baby that just smiles, squeals, and laughs a ton.  He loves playing with his older siblings and playing with toys and just lights up our lives every single day!  Sleep or no sleep, I just love this baby to pieces!

Baby Emmett on his monthly, milestone blanket with a little pumpkin in hand!

Logan's 1st Soccer Game

After three, Saturday practices, Logan's soccer games started today.  This is his fourth year competing in indoor soccer at our local Park and Rec Center.  I love it because it is so low key compared to Lia's soccer league that has two practices a week, plus a Saturday game, that last for four months! It's the perfect environment for Logan and, for the second year in a row, he gets to be on a team with a TON of kids from his school which makes it even funner.  We also were blessed to get the same coach for the third year in a row who we know from church and who is fabulous with the kids.  We love Coach Thomas and he is so energetic and fun to watch from the sidelines during all the games.  Anyways, Logan's team had a great, first game today.  Several teammates scored a goal including Logan who made the last one of the game with just two or so minutes remaining.  He was down at his goal with one other teammate making several shots to get the soccer ball in the net when he finally kicked the ball high and it sailed right over the goalie's head and into the net.  It was so exciting!  Although I was holding Emmett down at the other end of the gym, I screamed and shot my free hand high up into the air.  Logan immediately turned and looked at me and we had that awesome, proud, mother-son-moment where I was able to smile and yell at him and give him a 'thumbs up' sign!  I'm so proud of my boy and can't wait to watch him play five more games this season!

Logan kicking the ball down the court.

Logan chasing an opponent around his goal with his Coach Thomas in the background.

Logan going after the ball.

Fighting over the soccer ball with another opponent.

Chasing the ball down.

Logan running hard!

Goofing around with the coach's son, Dillan, during half time.

The two boys play fighting during half time.  I just love this shot as it looks like Logan is really getting hit by Dillan.

Logan had no idea I was taking pictures of him during half time, but this is the funny pose I caught him making.

And an even funnier pose.

Finally, Logan noticed I was taking pictures of him, so he stopped and flashed me his darling smile.  I just love this boy!

Attempt #2

A year ago, Lia ran for student council secretary/treasurer at her school and gave it her all.  After spending hours helping me make campaign posters, writing a speech with her dad, practicing her speech for several evenings, and having the courage to get up in front of several hundred students at her school to deliver her speech at the election assembly, she found out that two of her good friends won the spots for secretary/treasurer.  It was a huge blow for her.  Lia did such a great job delivering her speech and would have done such a fabulous job serving in this student council position, but just wasn't given the chance.  As time went by, her heart healed, but she was still a little unsure if she would try it again next year. 
Well fast forward 12 months and suddenly it was student council election time again.  Since she is now in 6th grade, Lia had the chance to run for president and vice president in addition to secretary/treasurer.  Although she really wanted to participate in student council, Lia was afraid to try it again due to the fear of feeling that same disappointment and heartache.  After going back and forth for several days, Lia decided to run for vice president.  I was definitely in support of this because the two friends who beat her last year were not going to be competition this year.  One had moved to another school and the second one was running for president.  As a result, I really thought she had a chance of winning.  Just like last year, Lia did a great job working on the posters and writing her speech with me.  We went in and hung her posters on the school walls at the beginning of election week and she practiced giving her speech for several days before the big assembly.  I was able to leave a napping Emmett at home with my mom (who kindly agreed to come down and watch him) to go to the school to hear her speak at the assembly.  She did an amazing job--delivering her speech with confidence and poise.  I was so impressed and truly thought she could win against the two other students who were chosen to run against her by the teacher in charge.  However, at the end of the day, Lia came home to announce that there was a tie between the two other students and that they would be having a re-vote the next day.  So not only did Lia not win, but she didn't even make it into the top two.  My heart just broke for her again.  Lia has such wonderful qualities that would make her an amazing student leader, but she just isn't given the opportunity by her pears to put them to use.  It's frustrating to say the least, but Lia held her head high and voted for one of her "competitors" the next day.  As of right now, she claims that she will never run for a student leadership position again, but I hope her attitude will change and that she will have the chance to put these wonderful, leadership skills to use one day.  Win or not, I sure am proud of you, Lia, for giving it your all a second year in a row!

Lia standing next to the adorable, "Don't BLOW It," campaign poster we made together.

A close-up of her poster.

In addition to using two of her posters from last year, we also made three of these "Take Note" posters on lined, poster paper.  We both thought they turned out quite cute.

A close-up of her second poster we hung around the school walls.

A close-up of Lia delivering her speech in front of all of the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders of her school.

Lia glancing down while reading her speech to her classmates.  I just can't get over how brave she is to do this!

Lia listening to another one of the student's speech after she was done speaking.

Lia sitting between the two other students who ran against her for the position of vice president including her good friend, Sienna, who ended up winning the election the next day.

Look Who's Crawling?!

Although our little guy has been doing his own version of crawling for the past several weeks now, he was yet to perfect the traditional crawl when his hands and knees move in sync with each other.  However, this apparently happened the past two days when Ron had evening supervision both Tuesday and Wednesday night at work.  Since I just live my life as a whirling dervish these days, I rarely take the time to just sit down and watch what Emmett is doing.  When I am interacting with him, I am usually nursing him, feeding him, bathing him, changing his diaper, dressing him, or carrying him.  It's a sad, but true, fact of life as the mother of four children.  As a result, I did not notice any change in Emmett's movement during this little window of time.  However, since Ron normally comes home from work and lays on the couch while I make dinner and do the dishes, he often times notices these changes in Emmett's life before I do. :-(  Anyways, after being gone the last two evenings, Ron was home last night and was upstairs with the children getting the older three ready for bed while Emmett crawled around waiting for me to finish the dinner dishes.  It was during this time that they were all hanging out in Logan's room after story time and noticed that Emmett was REALLY crawling.  The kids quickly called me in to see and, sure enough, our baby had finally figured it out!  He was crawling with 100% proficiency and it was just the cutest thing!  Here are some pictures I managed to get a few days later of Emmett showing off his mad, crawling skills.

Emmett thinking about crawling over to me.

And, he's off!

Coming my way.

Sticking out his tongue while coming over to me.

Crawling while making a funny face.

He made it!  Emmett collapsing on the floor after reaching the toy I was using as "bait" to get him to crawl towards me.

Emmett also showing off his mad, sitting skills while playing with the toy.

8 Months Old!

It's so hard to believe that this little sweet pea of ours turned 8 months old today.  He is officially 2/3 of his way through his first year of life!  I just cannot believe it.  Emmett has made so many changes this past month--probably more than any of the previous seven months.  He is growing and changing so much!  The biggest news is that he now can now sit on his own and he crawls a ton in his own little caterpillar way.  Although he is yet to master the traditional crawl of moving his arms and legs in a synchronized fashion, he still can travel pretty fast to anywhere he wants.  So the days of just putting him down on a blanket on the floor to play with some toys are now gone forever.  We have to constantly keep an eye on him to make sure he is staying out of trouble.  He is starting to get into everything and can be found crying due to hurting himself on something or getting stuck under a piece of furniture.  He is almost totally proficient at sitting although he still can tip over from time to time.  I refer to his favorite sitting position as the "model pose" because he leans back on one hand which provides him with extra stability.  Emmett loves to play with toys and picks up anything he can see and touch.  He is still an extremely happy baby who smiles at anyone who gives him attention and will laugh at a moment's notice if you do something that he thinks is funny.  He also loves to pat you on the back whenever you pick him up which we think is the cutest thing.  Emmett is definitely now into a routine and takes a long morning nap and usually a shorter afternoon nap every day.  Since we have now dropped his evening cat nap, he will go to bed for the night around 8 to 8:30 instead of between 9 and 10 p.m. This has finally allowed me to get some quiet time back before I go to bed every night which has been a total relief after not having some "me time" for almost eight months!  Emmett is also getting better at eating solid foods and has baby cereal mixed with a fruit for breakfast every morning and a meat mixed with a vegetable for dinner every night.  We are working on teaching him how to drink water out of a sippy cup, but he still has a lot of room for improvement in that department.  He is nursing five times a day right now, but is still sleeping through the night regularly without requiring a feeding although I still have to get out of a bed a couple times a night to plug his pacifier back in.  Emmett has also started to become very aware of his surroundings and loves to watch people, the TV screen, or any sort of action or movement going on around him.  He is still not afraid of strangers and will happily go to anyone if his is rested and fed.  Overall, we just think that our baby Emmett is the sweetest, cutest, and happiest boy around and we just love him to pieces!!

I had to give Emmett a little, blue. crab toy that belongs to Logan so that he would leave the felt frame alone that went around the number 8 on this blanket.

Our big, 8-month old baby smiling!

First Days of School!

After a fun and action packed summer, it all came to a screeching halt for Lia and Logan last Wednesday, September 4th, and for Ella today.  Although no one was really excited for school to start since we are all just summer-lovers in this household, both Lia and Logan perked up once we got to school.  We managed to park out on the side street and get to the black top in the back of the school several minutes before the bell rang (which is always a miracle for us--especially since Emmett joined the crew).  I first got Lia situated in her class line with a few familiar faces before escorting Logan over to his line.  I then stood by him until the final bell rang and his class walked into school.  Ella, Emmett, and I were then able to head back down to school 1.5 hours later for our one-on-one meeting with Ella's new teacher which is something our district does every year with the incoming Kindergarten children.  Afterwards, we went and peaked in on Logan eating lunch in his classroom (that is actually right across the hallway from Ella's room) and on Lia who was listening to her teacher lecture in her classroom.  It was fun to see them in their classes on their first day of school!
The kids came home on the bus later that day full of smiles and happy reports of their teachers, classroom activities, and friends.  This was especially a huge relief for me and Lia since all three of her closest friends got put together in another 6th grade class.  Luckily, she has enough friends from previous years to help her feel comfortable in her new class and she was able to find and play with her closest three friends during recess today.  So, hopefully, it will be a great year for both of them!

All four children lined up on Lia's and Logan's first day of school!

Logan--our cute 2nd grader smiling and ready to go!

Lia--our tall, leggy 6th grader striking a pose.  I just can't believe that this is her last year of elementary school.  It's just going too fast.

Although it wasn't Ella's first day of school, she wanted to put on her backpack and have her picture taken, too.

As we approached the back of the school, two of Lia's good friends (Sienna and Allison) who are now in the Quest program, ran up to say 'hello.'

We managed to get another picture of these girls who have known each other since PreK when they were all in the same preschool class.  Although we were unable to find Mila for the picture, here is Addyson, Mollie, Lia, and Sienna.  Addyson and Lia are in the same class again this year.

Logan giving me a smile once we got him situated in his class line.  He waited patiently and quietly at my side until the bell rang.

And then he was off!  I am so grateful for how much he has grown up in the past two years and how he can handle this kind of big change while being calm and courageous.

Lia was so busy talking to her pack of girlfriends that she wouldn't even look at me while I was calling her name to take this picture.  Can we say sixth grader or what?!

Hours later, a happy Logan and Lia got off the bus that they are taking home for the second year in a row with our friends who live in a neighborhood two minutes from our own.  This saves me from making a daily trip down to the school every afternoon to pick up the kids which is such a help to me.

Lia and Logan posing with Sienna, Connor, and Aria who they will be riding home with again every day this year.

The pack walking down the sidewalk.

When I tucked Ella into bed last night, I asked her the question, "What day is tomorrow?" to which she yelled, "Kindergarten!" and screamed with excitement!  It was so cute!  She was so excited when she got up this morning.  She happily got dressed, ate her breakfast, and packed her bag before climbing in the car.  I couldn't get over how calm and cool she was about starting school today.  Here is Ella posing in front of the front door in her new outfit and wearing her new Jasmine backpack and carrying her new Jasmine lunchbox.

The gang all lined up again for Ella's first day of school.  Look at that smiling baby!

What should have been a relatively smooth morning of getting Ella off to class actually turned out to be a quite different one.  As we were getting ready to leave, the rain started falling which meant that we had to stop and get everyone's umbrellas.  After loading everyone up into the car and driving down to the school, I had to push Emmett in the stroller for a second time in a few days through the side gate of the school and across the field to get to the main entrance.  As we were approaching the edge of the field, Ella burst into tears.  I was so confused at first.  When I turned around to talk to her, she kept on screaming that something had poked her in the head.  I just assumed it was one of the spokes from her umbrella, but was able to learn from her that it was something else.  She then started screaming that she had gotten stung by a bee and then started crying about her finger hurting, too.  With the rain falling and students/parents around us everywhere, it suddenly became a very chaotic and crazy moment!  After saying goodbye to Logan and getting through the second gate with the stroller and trying to calm Ella down, I decided that we need to move under the covered area of the school near the main entrance.  I had to first help Lia close her umbrella so that she could push the stroller to the covered entrance while I slowly coaxed a crying Ella to come with me.  While I was trying to inspect her head and finger for a bee sting, Emmett burst into tears.  Lia starts freaking out because he had blood all over his ear and hand.  Since he currently has a habit of scratching his ears and since I hadn't trimmed his fingernails recently, he had suddenly sliced his left ear open causing a huge pool of blood to form inside his ear that he then got on his hand and on his pants.  I felt like all heck was breaking loose at once!  After wiping down Emmett's ear and hand with a wet wipe and calming Lia and Emmett down, I proceeded to inspect Ella's head and finger and could not find a sting or any redness.  The four of us then walked into the gymnasium to find Ella's class line inside.  After showing Lia where she will need to bring Ella to school every morning, we said 'goodbye' to her so that she could go get in her class line.  I then had a few minutes to try to calm down and comfort Ella before her teacher arrived in the gym to pick up her class.  She was still very upset and unhappy and kept on telling me that her head hurt, but she managed to pull it together enough to bravely walk away with her class at the end of her line.  I felt so sorry for her that she had to deal with all of this on her first day of school!

Here is Ella trying to give me a smile while we waited for her teacher to come and pick up her class.

Ella bravely walking away at the end of her line.  I had to hold back a few tears as I was saying goodbye to her.  She has seriously been my little buddy these past two years since Logan went to school full-time and it was a bit hard for me to say goodbye to her--especially since she was not feeling well due to the mysterious sting fiasco.  I thought about her all day long and kept on wondering where she was before realizing she was at school and then I kept on wondering how she was doing.

I am happy to report that she came off the bus later that day happy and smiling!  Her first day of Kindergarten was a big success although it had a rocky start!

Our cute, Kindergartener running towards me!

All three siblings lined up together.  I absolutely LOVE that they get to have this one year of school together!  This will be Lia's and Ella's only year of school together and also Lia's last year of her public education career with a sibling at the same school as her.  I am so grateful that our district has junior high schools instead of middle schools to make this all possible!