The Fifth Wheelers: Here, There and Everywhere.

Well, It's been a couple of weeks since our last post. We have plenty of things going on around here that are very much worth sharing, BUT, I've been a little tired and distracted. So here is a little bit of what we've been up to.

A few months ago some friends gave us a bike that they thought would be perfect for J. We picked it up from them right before the baby was born, and then the world was kind of covered with snow for a while, so it wasn't until this month that we had the opportunity to try the bike out. We've actually had a few days when the high was in the 60's! (WHAT? IN FEBRUARY? Yep, the 60's) and so the snow was melted and we could spend more than 5 minutes outside before wanting to die.

We'll get to J and his new bike in a bit. First I'll tell you about my little B. Since J has a new bike that means that B gets his old one. It's the perfect size for him and he does great! Well, he does great as long as he is riding on a flat surface or going slightly down hill. He struggles on inclines, he can do it but to use his own words "It's Heavy!" I just keep encouraging him, I tell him to push down hard when he pedals and when he succeeds and is able to ride his bike down the street and then back to the house all by himself, he can be heard saying "I can do hard things" I love to hear him say that. It's AWESOME!

The first night we took the boys out to learn how to ride their bikes was also the first night that Baby E wore her new baby bunting. Sadly, I'm thinking because of the time of year that she was born, and the fact that we haven't spent any time outside.....she kind of hates being outside. Silly girl! We'll definitely fix that as soon as possible.

So, J has been riding a 12 in bike for the past year or two, it is definitely too small and this amazing bike was given to us for FREE! We figured it was the perfect time to teach J to ride a bike WITHOUT training wheels. I've been given some advice from neighbors that when the time comes to stop using training wheels, take the child and the bike to the park and have them learn to ride on the grass- because grass is softer to fall on than the sidewalk, and it is a given that the child is going to fall. SO while I was helping B, Ken took J and gave him his first lessons. It went well in that J was very proud to ride a big big bike, but not too well since J really can't ride the new bike without someone holding onto the bike. The bike is just a little too big. He could probably easily learn on a 16 inch bike or even an 18 inch......but after measuring this bike we realized that it's a 20 inch bike.

So we decided that would get him some training wheels that are big enough for this bike so that he can still ride when the weather is nice. And who knows, maybe we'll be blessed to find a cheap used smaller bike between now and the time that he's grown enough to fit this bike better and he'll be able to learn to ride without training wheels more quickly. Either way, I think he'll be a happy kid.

Baby E cries sometimes..............

...........but usually not for long :)

In fact yesterday I took Baby E on her first road trip. We went to my Great Uncle Lyle's funeral in Logan. She did great most of the time, but there were a couple of periods of crying- once at the cemetery and for the life of me, other than knowing she had to be tired, I didn't know why she was crying, because she does it so rarely. Maybe it was because we were outside.......like I said, she doesn't really appreciate being outdoors. Then on our way home, for about the final 30 minutes, she just couldn't stand being in her car seat anymore......and she let me know. Poor baby.

People ask if she travels well. I'm going to say, yes and no. Our boys were not great sleepers at home BUT they would sure sleep in a car. Baby E kind of lives in an opposite world from her brothers. She is an AMAZING sleeper at home......but is mostly awake while we drive.

The week before her 2 month well child check with the doctor, baby E started sleeping for 7 to 8 hours each night, she would then eat and go back to sleep for at least 3 hours. I thought this was pretty amazing. Over the last month though, probably because she likes to make her Daddy happy, she has extended that long sleep period each night from 7-8 hours to 9-11 hours, she's even done 12 hours a couple of times. So most nights we feed her and put her to bed at about 7:30 and then she wake up around 5 or 6 the next morning, enjoys another bottle, and goes back to sleep until about 9:30. If I am a good mommy and don't leave the house during the day she'll take 2 or 3 really good day time naps and then repeat her amazing nighttime sleep. If I run errands during the day she won't get as much good day time sleep and won't sleep quite long the next night but she seems to get back to sleeping really well quite quickly. This is an amazing blessing, I take no credit for this, she must have taken extra sleep classes in heaven.

So that's what we've been up to lately. Oh, and Ken has been amazing too! He and I both are on Antibiotics right now, he has a confirmed case of Strep Throat and I was told I had an ear infection but I'm wondering if I would have been positive for strep as well. We are now on the mend and hopefully, like when I got the Flu, only the adults will get sick :) because sick kids are so much more sad.