Luke's Birth Book

I FINALLY got it done... with minutes to spare. The threat of an expiring free book promo code was very motivating. It was so fun to look through Luke's birth pictures and see how much he's changed, and how much the girls have grown and changed too. Six months really does make a difference!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Annual Pictures

Here are the pictures we got done a few weeks ago. This is the same lady who did Luke's newborn pictures. She has a special once a month that is really reasonably priced, and you can choose to get the digital images instead of a print credit. We really like her.

Here's Cora, our almost four year old.
Violet, at 2 years old.
Some sister love pictures.
Luke was around too, and we had some extra time, so we got some of him and some of all the kids.

Favorite Finger

Sunday Afternoon Fun

Creme Brulee French Toast

We celebrated Father's Day today, since we'll be out of town next weekend. We tried this new recipe for breakfast and loved it! It is very rich, but delicious.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup
• 6 pieces of Texas Toast
• 5 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Mix in brown sugar and corn syrup, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Pour into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Arrange bread in the baking dish in a single layer. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, half and half, vanilla extract, and salt. Pour over the bread. Cover, and chill at least 8 hours, or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
   
4. Bake uncovered 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until puffed and lightly browned.
   

Coconut Curry Chicken

We had this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! I got it from the Recipe Shoebox blog. You can see her site for the original skillet method, I changed the recipe slightly to use the crockpot-- much less prep time, and more flavorful chicken. It is a bit spicy, so if you're not up for that, you should put in less of the seasonings.


1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

4 medium potatoes, cubed (next time I would use half potatoes and half cauliflower)
1-lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 Tbs. chili powder

2 Tbs. curry powder

1 Tbs. paprika

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. pepper

1 bay leaf

2 cans of diced tomatoes

1 can (13.5-oz) coconut milk

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

hot cooked rice

Put chicken and potatoes in crockpot. Add everything else on top, except coconut milk and cilantro. Cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 8-9 hours. Break up chicken into chunks (or just chop it before you start).

About 15-30 minutes before you eat, stir in coconut milk and cilantro. Serve over hot cooked rice. Serves 8-10. Enjoy!

New Beds!

Since we were pretty well-equipped with our baby gear this time around, Kissie and Pata got us bunk beds for a baby present for Luke (something we needed because of the baby instead of something for the baby :)). It just took Kevin and I quite a while to find ones we liked and seemed really sturdy. These were a great price, and even on sale too! We'll put them up as bunk beds in another year or two when Cora doesn't get freaked out by the ladder.
We do have one more nightstand on order. It's a good thing too, because Cora immediately claimed the drawer on this one as her own special treasure spot. I'm sure Violet will need a treasure spot too!
The ceiling fan Kevin put in is helping keep the room cooler, it's a west facing room with a big window. I feel a lot better having a ceiling fan instead of a floor one, I was sure the girls were going to get their fingers or hair caught.
The girls were so excited about the new beds. But Cora was a little disappointed about the footboard... she asked me what that thing was doing there that would make it harder to jump off the bed. That's a plus in my book!

Thanks Kissie and Pata for the great present!

Months Song (for Val!)

This is the song we've used to teach Cora and Violet the months of the year. I couldn't find an audio recording on the web, so here's Cora's own recording! The words are below. I remember learning this song in music class in elementary school.

The Months of the Year

January, February, March, and April
May and June and July,
August, September,
October, November,
December.
These are the months of the year,
Oh, these are the months of the year,
Fill them with joy and with cheer,
The months of the year.

Luke at 5 Months

Luke is now a grabber! The last month he started perfecting his grabbing skills-- he'll reach for toys, noses, hair, blankets, anything he can get his hands on and stuff right into his mouth.
Luke likes mouthing just about anything, but fingers are a favorite. He's not discriminating, he'll suck on his thumb, two pointer fingers, whole hands, or my favorite, his ring and pinkie finger when he goes to sleep. We've tried a binkie a few times to see if he'd prefer that instead of his fingers, but he pops it out each time.

Luke had his first bath in the big tub... with onlookers...
Luke is full of smiles and giggles. He's a pretty happy guy.
He's turned into a more patient shopper and is doing better staying in his carseat if we have to truck everyone to the store.
He's now facing out in the Snugli, and loves to watch everything going on around him.

He's rolling over from his tummy to his back solidly now, and has even rolled from his back to his tummy a few times. He's been trying to scootch along, but that'll be a while yet-- for now he just faceplants!
Luke can get his bubbles out all by himself now, and rarely spits up.
Luke loves his sisters, he's always on the lookout for them and likes to watch what they are up to.

Cora, Violet, Luke, and the laundry this morning.

Our Sunday Walk

A new trike...
A princess bike....
And lots and lots of fingers to chew on!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a lovely Memorial Day weekend! We started off with a trip to Liberty Park with our friends Heather and James. The kids had a great time with lots of swinging and running. We then headed to Kissie's to try on these cute shirts she made for all the granddaughters in the family...
I think it will be so adorable to see the girls running around in these all together in Tahoe!

Unfortunately, a family Kevin home teaches had a medical emergency and Kevin came up to Primary Childrens Hospital to help give their son a blessing. A side benefit was that we all got to spend the evening at Kissie and Pata's together afterward. It was nice a relaxing, and luckily for everyone, their son is doing much better now.

Saturday was our Provo day! We went down to do 2 year old and 4 year old pictures of Cora and Violet. I must say they turned out super cute (postings later!). We then did our favorite BYU things-- the Bean Museum, the Museum of Art, the Creamery, and the bookstore. I guess we really are old alumni now, because we came out of the bookstore with a hat for almost everyone in the family.But after all that, even though it was only 2:30, this is what happened in the car just minutes after we got off campus.
They were tuckered out! The rest of Saturday we did a few house projects and planted flowers.

Here are our little cougars doing their cheer...

Monday we attempted family mini golf for the first time. Kissie and Pata met us there, which was fun, and o-so-nice to have some extra adults hands to help the girls and pass Luke around to. I think the girls had a lot of fun, but 18 holes was quite a lot for a 2 and an (almost) 4 year old. The girls came up with their own golfing strategies, Viole would hit it once and then pick it up and put it in the hole, Cora would hit it once, and then guide it to the hole with her club. It was fun to watch them learn to do something new, especially after all the Wii golf we play with them.

Cora saw these cars on the way in and was dying to try one out. She just barely hit the height restriction and had a blast on the track, even with Kevin driving. You can see her little hand waving out!
We then had a little bbq at our house and did more house projects. It was a nice, relaxing weekend.

Stansbury Day

We had a lovely time visiting friends, seeing new babies, and playing with cousins in Stansbury on Tuesday. We sure miss our friends there! Here is a picture of Luke (almost 5 months old) with Dylan (6 weeks old).

Preschool Graduation

Cora had her last day of preschool on Thursday! She has been so excited about her end of year program. The kids sang 5 or 6 songs, many of them with signing too, and then they got their certificates, watched the class video, and ate a cookie. Cora was also very excited to bring home her portfolio for the year. It was neat to look through her work and see how much she has learned this year!

The last day of preschool was also Hawaii day, so the kids wore Hawaii style clothes and got leis. Two of the kids in her class were gone, so there were 6 of them there for the program.

Cora getting her certificate from Mrs. Emily.

The little graduate!

This was my favorite song that they sang, I was so glad I got it on video!

Cora is having a hard time understanding (or accepting!) that she won't have preschool again until fall. We'll be trying out another preschool, and that will be exciting. In the meantime, we'll just have to fill our summer with lots of playing!

Mommy Day and Daddy Day at Preschool

Cora's preschool had Daddy Day in April and Mommy Day in May. Kevin and I got to go to preschool for the last half hour, do a craft with Cora, watch Cora and her class sing and sign a few songs, and have a treat. Cora was so excited to have us visit! It was fun to be at preschool with her. And the mommy song they sang was so so cute!

Our Sleeping Beauty

One of my favorite comics