her new trick

And we have a sitter! Avila has been sitting in her Bumbo for a while now...I guess since Christmas, and one day, without really thinking, I set her down without the Bumbo. Low and behold, she just sat there. For a long time. And on her 5 month birthday! Go Avila! She loves to be able to sit up. She still is kind of wobbly, but she uses her arms for balance, and usually doesn't fall over...unless there is a toy nearby, she falls over to try to get it. It's sad she's getting so big. As my fourth child, I know what comes next.



just kidding. (kinda...)

Be Mine.

Happy Valentines Day!

5 months.

Avila is FIVE months old. Seriously? Having four kids makes time go by so much faster! I swear she was just born! Avila is such a fun girl. She rarely cries or fusses. {Mostly when Adam is holding her, really!} She is a lot more distracted while eating than Macie and Jacob were. Which, probably explains why she isn't as huge as they were! She's more like Noah was. She is a very busy girl, already. On her actual 5 month birthday, I sat her up and let go, and she sat there for a long time. I don't think she even fell over, I just picked her up after a while. She has very good balance! At her last Dr. appointment she was in the 75th percentile for weight. When he said that I was like, wait, what? My child is actually on a chart? It was a little strange to me! She's our little runt child, but still a big girl! We love Miss Avila! She has started to put anything and everything within her reach into her mouth. She has eaten a few papers, and tries to eat everything else! Her gums are usually swollen, a little tooth will start to poke through, but then go back down. It's a little frustrating. But, she's pretty good through it all. She cried for the first time at church this past Sunday. Seriously, she doesn't cry much! She loves her brothers and sister. Macie makes her giggle the most, but everyone gets a great smile whenever she sees them! She is such a great baby and we love watching her. She's such a cuddle bug that I could hold her all day long. And I pretty much do. They are only little for a while, and after a while, they don't want to be held at all. Why not take advantage of it??

the movie party.

For Noah's 7th birthday party, we decided to go with a movie theme. It was fun! Seven CRAZY boys, however, was pretty interesting, but it was fun! Adam brought the projector home from work and the boys {and one poor girl} watched Toy Story 3 on the wall in the front room. A friend has a popcorn maker, so we took full advantage of having a concession stand in our kitchen. We ate hot dogs, nachos, freshly popped popcorn, and plenty of movie candy. Goodness, the free range candy bar was not a good idea!

The boys didn't care much, but my favorite part was the red carpet they walked on as they were walking into our house. None of them really caught on. Oh well. I liked it anyway. The "popcorn" cupcakes were pretty great, too!

It was fun, but will I have another party with a bunch of little boys? I don't know. Maybe not! ;-)

3 months

Has it really been 3 months?? Avila is seriously the best baby. Seriously. She smiles all of the time. Unlike Macie who had a permanent scowl on her face! She likes to be held, but lets me put her down a lot of the time to get things done, or to tend to the many spills and messes of her older siblings! She has giggled quite a few times and loves when Macie blows in her belly. She loves being up in the middle of everything and seeing what is going on. She is very curious already. I really can't get over how good she is! Poor girl has been sick for a while though. She's had this horrible cough and stuffy nose. She's had her first round of antibiotics and is slowly recovering. She currently weighs around 15 pounds, which is still smaller than her siblings, but she's still bigger than most! We can't get enough of this girl!

seven.

Seven years ago, Noah came into this world. Seven years ago, Adam and I became parents for the first time. Seven years ago, the world saw what cute kids we could have. Seven years ago, seems like so long ago. Seven years ago, seems like it just happened. 

I cannot believe Noah is SEVEN. Happy Birthday, little man! We love you oh so very much. Noah is such a good kid. He is the sweetest boy I have ever met. His teacher agrees. He is always concerned about other people and is very sensitive to others feelings. He is the best big brother and best friend. We love Noah so much and am so glad he's part of our family! 

Here's to another great year, Noah Balboa!

Just because

She's cute.

2 months.

Avila is 2 months old. {and was a week ago, but I'm a little slow these days!} I say this with every child, but I can't believe it's already been 2 months, but it seems like she's been here for so long! We have had our fair share of issues, mostly with nursing, so it makes it seem longer! She is really such a good baby. She still sleeps a lot, which I am grateful for! But, she doesn't always sleep on her own. If I hold her she's asleep a good amount of time, but I can't hold her all of the time! I do carry her around in the baby bjorn or sling quite a bit, so I can get some things done. She rarely cries {sadly, usually only when Adam is holding her! He can't nurse her! ;-)}. She absolutely loves to take baths and grins the whole time. She is very very very smiley. She smiled early and hasn't stopped. 

She went in to the doctor for her 2 month check up on the 7th. I was thinking she was big. The doctor weighed her. She was 12 pounds 15 ounces, and I thought that was big. He told me she was above the 90th percentile for weight. She was 24 inches long, too. But, then I went home and looked back at Jacob's weight at 2 months. Any guesses?? SIXTEEN POUNDS FOURTEEN OUNCES!!! And if you can't believe that one, Macie was a whopping EIGHTEEN pounds at 2 months! Macie was FIVE pounds bigger than little Avila! I seriously could not believe it. I haven't been able to get to the box with Noah's baby book to see how big he was, I know he was more like Avila, though. The other two were just giant babies!

I love this baby Avila. She makes me happy. I'm so glad she's here.

{I couldn't find the picture of Noah again, and this collage was made on our other computer, so we don't have the original anymore to add Avila to it. Noah was such an old school baby and his pictures were on FILM and we had to  SCAN it into the computer. Crazy.}

trick-or-treat

We had lots of Halloween festivities this year. The kids got to wear the costumes multiple times. But, when Halloween finally came around we were missing costume pieces! We finally found everything and it was time to go Trick-or-Treating. Jacob did not want to go. He went, but whined the whole time! Macie started in on it too. They both complained that their bags were too heavy. What child complains about too much candy?  They got quite a bit, and did have fun afterall.

smile.

We have smiles!

From day one, Avila has always looked like she was smiling with her eyes. She has this happy look and we love it! She has now started smiling at everyone. The kids love it, I love it, she loves it...it's good.