Elara at 5 months in photos.

Best 3 kids in the whole world!

LOVE YOU 3 SO MUCH!

Love,

Mom and Dad

Pinkston's visit

Derek's Uncle's family were able to visit a couple of weeks ago when they dropped off Derek's cousin Eric at the MTC. It was too short of a visit, but we had fun catching up non the less. Eden and Kael always love it when people who visit with us play with them. As you can see Rick and Andrew happily abliged playing with Eden and she was in heaven if you can't tell. It has definitely been too long since we have been able to visit with the Pinkston's in California and we can't wait to make it down there sometime this year! I'm excited just thinking about it. Seriously. We miss you guys! And.... Thank you for playing with the kiddos! They love you to pieces!

Elara's 5 months

My baby is 5 months!!! Where did the time go?! Seriously?...

I can't believe she is getting so big. Elara is such a joy in our lives. She definitely has her hard moments, but just who she is makes every moment worth it. Kael and Eden have this love I have never seen from them before that is reserved just for her. Elara is a lot like Kael was as a baby. She spits up a lot and she smiles a lot. She just has a genuinely happy personality. She loves life so far. She has been sleeping really well this last month. She had a couple of stretches of going back to waking up every 3 hours at night, but I'm pretty for certain it was a growth spurt or just her being off. She is back to getting a 7 to 8 hour stretch at night. She isn't on any sort of straight schedule. She takes 3 naps a day. For the most part she eats, plays, naps, then wakes up and does it all again. She loves playing in the walker. Life saver really. She loves being where the people are and never likes to be left alone ever. She rolls from front to back easily now, and can do back to front, but only does it occasionally. She can sit up with help. She likes the bumbo. She loves anyone willing to sit and talk to her or play with her. She gets tired at night and gets grumpy, but if Derek is holding her she does ok until the kids get to bed. She has eczema, but I think I finally got it under control. I was bathing her with Johnson and Johnson bath soap, which is what I think the problem was. I switched to aveeno baby wash and since then she's been fine.  I use cerave lotion after her baths. She now enjoys her baths. She doesn't love them, but it is pleasant for her now. Her hair seems to be lighter than Eden's was, but darker than Kael's was. Who knows how it will turn out? No, really who knows? :)

She still fits 3-6 months clothes, but I pulled out the 6-9 month, some fit, some don't. Glad to have them out though.

She has the prettiest blue eyes, just like Eden's, but a slightly different blue.

Her laugh is contagious. 

She has been eating solids for a week now. She has only tried sweet potatoes. I totally skipped the rice cereal and am so glad I did! She just inhaled the food the first time I offered it to her. She didn't need any teaching of how to eat with a spoon. Granted it was a small quantity, but man she must have been hungry because she has picked up on it fast. It has made her spit up a lot more now though and it is bright orange and is staining everything orange, but at least her tummy is now full. I only feed it to her once or twice a day. It really depends on how busy I get. I'm just so proud of her. She is doing so well and I couldn't ask for a better #3 baby. Seriously LOVE this girl. She is the perfect addition to our family! Eden loves being the big sister and Kael loves having two sisters to love and cherish! And love and cherish his sisters he does. Until he chases Eden around the house roaring and pestering her, but man these kids are so fun together.

I overheard in the car today.

Eden: "Kael, your my best friend!"

Kael: "Eden, your my best friend too!"

Eden: "And Elara is my best friend too!"

Kael: "Ya, she is my best friend too!"

My heart literally melted! These kiddos are my best friends!

Thank you for adding so much love to our family Elara!

We all love you soooo much!

Not the first pictures I would have chosen for her 5 month photo, but it shows how much her brother and sister love her, and I haven't taken a recent good picture of her. Woops.

February

February has been just as snowy as January, but we are hanging in there and we are having a blast! Here are some things that have been keeping us busy this month. Eden loves the combination of her tea set and mini kitchen she got for Christmas this year. We have been putting it to use a lot lately. She absolutely loves having tea parties with anyone who is willing to do so with her. You will be her best friend if you sit down and have some water, cookies, chocolate, oranges, or anything you can think of that goes for a tea party. She is so fun to play with and loves to serve others.

 Derek and Kael have been playing on the wii a bit. I've played once or twice with him, but it is never as much fun as playing with his Dad. Those boys love being together and I love watching them. Kael is getting better at playing Mario Kart and the wii sports. We rented a couple games once or twice as a fun special day for Kael. He really loved playing toy story on the wii and the new ice age 4 game too. It might be time to invest in some new wii games or maybe I will need to look into it for his birthday.

 Eden can't resist getting in on a picture.

The snow has not stopped. We get several inches it seems almost once a week. Sometimes we go two weeks in between, but the snow never completely melts. I still need to take a picture of the kids standing by the tallest pile up. It is up to my shoulders it seems at some places. I took the big kids sledding the other day, and we had a BLAST. At the bottom of the hill there was a bump from where the snow plow put the snow. I sent the kids down first together and they flew on the bump going about a foot or two in the air and then falling forward. They were a little scared at first, but then after Kael saw me laughing hysterically because it was a sight to see he kept wanting to do it over and over again, and so we did. Eden went once more with me and she was good. The snow is so deep in some places. It is so much fun if you make it fun! The kids loved helping me make our little snow man. I call him melty because I couldn't get the snow to stick together well enough to make balls. Kael and Eden thought it was really funny and were confused that there weren't the 3 balls. They had fun making him anyway, and yes, that is lettuce for hair!

 Eden has been loving to make hiding places. She and Kael play hide and seek a lot now and she often has me close my eyes and count while she hides and when I'm done counting she jumps out and says, "Surprise!". It is super fun. She also builds doggy houses and then pretends to be the dog in his house. Thus, the pictures. She is turning into such a fun little princess and she will make sure to tell you so.

 Today at the post office Eden wanted them to give her a stamp on her hand. Usually they do something that says, "spoiled, first class, etc". I had Eden up on the counter and the lady asked her how old she was. Eden held up her two fingers and said, "I'm 2!" Then, to show off a little, I asked Eden when her birthday was. She then replied, "MARCH!". She is super excited for her birthday to come soon, so she is learning about birthdays very thoroughly... ;) The lady was super impressed. I was thinking, well she is closer to 3 than 2, but hey I guess you are right not bad for a 2 year old. The lady then asked Eden what her name was. She said, Eden. The lady asked if she knew her full name. Yes, Eden Bradley. Then, I went on to what is Mom's name? What is Dad's name? The lady then got a little carried away and asked, "Do you know your phone number?" Eden shook her head. I then told Eden to ask the lady for what she wanted. So, Eden asked for a stamp. I then asked the lady, could you just stamp spoiled or something on her hand, it would make her day?. The lady then said, "She's not spoiled, she needs a SMART stamp!" Ok... I said, "Oh she is spoiled all right!"So, then I said thank you and asked Eden what to say after getting her stamp. I intended for her to say thank you, but the reply that came out to the lady was, "KAEL'S SPOILED TOO!"

That's right Eden, you and Kael are spoiled rotten. 

Just goes to show that showing off pays off.

 This is a picture of our front door and Kael and Eden's bedroom door. We are getting quite the collection of coloring pages and crafts. The kids now insist upon putting up every page the create. I love it! I can take a picture of it then throw it away now! Both kids are getting better at coloring and staying in the lines. Kael is getting really good at writing his name at school and is now able to write his full name Kael Bradley. 

Some other accomplishments of Kael are:

 He knows the first article of faith.

He can write his full name.

He knows his phone number.

He knows his address.

He can count to 29. He always calls 30 20 again...

(He gets the gist of getting to 100, but gets the 10, 20, 30 etc confused.)

Knows all the letters in the alphabet.

I want to work on sight words with him and other memorization things.

I asked Kael to try to help a screaming Elara. Out of the blue he starts singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I knew he knew the song, but to hear him just sing it on his own and to his little sister to help make her happy just melted my heart.

Every day after school Kael asks me to tell him about my day. He then tells me what he did at school. It has become a ritual and I really love it. He is getting so smart! I'm still so nervous for him to start kindergarten in the fall, but he loves loves loves school.

 Last, we've been doing lots of fun stuff in the bath tub. Lately it's been bubbles and glow sticks. Kael called me in the other night and him and Eden both had bubbles on there faces and Kael told me they were Santa Claus! I LOVE it. I always did that as a kid too. Who doesn't? I just thought it was fun that I didn't show him that and he came up with it on his own. I love these kiddos so much! They are so fun to be around every day!

February has been busy, and we are looking forward to March. Derek is doing neurology now and keeping busy. March will bring the end of neuro, and his 2 weeks of Anesthesia which we are excited for and end with Easter and for the Heaton family the wedding of the century!!! Can't wait for Josh and Emily to get married and to have a new sister-in-law! 

Happy 29th Birthday Dad/Derek!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Derek so much! Words are just not enough. He is the light of our lives in this home! He brings us so much joy, happiness, and most definitely silliness! Since starting medical school Derek has had a huge test the day of or the day after his birthday without fail for 3 years now. It's becoming quite comical actually. This year the test was the day after on the 15th, but he had clinic all day still. So, after Kael got done with school we went to the store and bought some cookies and decided to surprise him at clinic. "He's on pediatrics and that is the only clinic I am familiar with at the hospital since I take the kids there" Lucky us. I kept asking him questions about his schedule so it wasn't a huge surprise us showing up. He skipped his lunch class and decided to surprise us and go to lunch at the cafeteria with us! It was so fun to spend a little time during the day with the kids and Derek. That night he had to study.

The next day he had tests all day, but after we had babysitters! Thank you thank you to our amazing friends Kylee and Darren who volunteered to watch all 3 kids, so I could take Derek on a proper date. :) We left and felt like newly weds again all giddy with no kids! We went to the Cheesecake Factory and it did not disappoint at all! It was soooo yummy and worth the money. We got toquitos as an appetizer and then Derek ordered the Hibachi steak and I got the chicken madeira and the steak diane combo. Amazing. Then, we got two slices of cheesecake which were melt in your mouth delicious and we were completely and utterly full!

It was such a great night for sure!

The next day we hung out, went to El Farol for lunch, and went to a 3D movie at the dollar theatre. Derek's Mom and her husband Ryan came with us. We watched Wreck it Ralph. It was really fun for both the kids and us! Then, we came home and had some ice cream and partied some more with the kiddos.

I think I might have had more fun than Derek the whole weekend. It was so fun and Monday was President's Day so we got Derek home one more day. It was a much needed break after another long rotation.

Derek, we all love you so much and are so grateful you are in our lives! Thanks for turning 29 so we could party! Here's to all the birthday's to come! I'm so glad I get to spend them with you! MWAH!

My Bad...

Elara was really fussy the other day and I couldn't figure out why. I felt bad for her so I picked her up and held her for about 30 minutes while getting the kids down for naps. I finally had to put her down because I needed two hands and I felt horrible because I didn't want her to have to cry. What I didn't realize is that she was so fussy because she was tired and just wanted to go to sleep in her own bed. She is very much like Kael in that she likes to sleep in her own bed.

I literally laid her on the couch and 3 seconds later she looked like this.

My bad Elara. My bad.

Holidays and Schools

I think I will start this by posting my random venting to the world on facebook. 

"Vent: Schools, shame on you for not celebrating holidays and allowing people to celebrate. Why can't we respect differences and learn from them, how each person is unique and has different beliefs. In my opinion we need lots of reasons to celebrate life on this crazy earth, and by goodness sake I am bringing Valentine treats anyway next week! If the people wish to throw them away then so be it, but at least let me and my child express our gratitude for knowing good people! Done."

So, Kael's preschool which is a regular elementary school, has a policy of not celebrating holidays. I think this is terrible! Whatever happened to teaching all the kids about different beliefs and helping to better understand how each person is unique and different and to appreciate people for who they are?! Or, maybe just giving a kids a break at school and having something fun to look forward to?. I really believe that holidays are important and I feel like this is a better way to give children an understanding of the differences of people rather than throwing "The Prince and the Prince" at such young children. Religious differences, traditions, and different holiday beliefs are so great for kids to learn about. If certain states claim to want and can teach my children about sexual preferences, then crap I'm bringing Valentine's for my kids class and throwing in the towel.

Yes, I am a little frustrated.

The teacher told me no Valentine's after Kael and I made these awesome robots. So, since he has a summer birthday we decided to celebrate that and brought them early. The very next day the teacher said the principle gave her permission to do Valentine's for the class...

asdfjkl;

So, thank goodness I had other Valentine's already made up. They were cute super hero suckers that said, "I hope you have a SUPER Valentines Day. 

For Eden we made a bunch of butterflies and put nerds candy on it and said, "Don't be a NERD, be my Valentine".

We didn't let school get us down and we had an AWESOME week of Valentine's. Lots of sugar to boot!

There. Vent REALLY Done.

Sharice's Hair

One day I will write down everything on my bucket list, then one day I will check off the things I have already completed and know what is left to do. I have always wanted to donate my hair and I can finally say that I have done it. I have had my hair long ever since I graduated high school. The last time it was short was May 2002. It hasn't been this short in about 10 years. It is still long. I love how my hair turned out. My favorite length of hair is long, but it is fun having something different. I figured doing this now my hair will grow out quite a bit before we move away for residency. I ended up cutting off 11 inches. I mailed it in to locks of love and I hope maybe it will help them make a wig for someone who really could use it. Who knows maybe one day I will do this again with my girls when they are older. All in all it was fun and I did something I have always thought would be worth while! I'm happy!

Derek's Hair

I am so upset that I let myself get behind with December posting. We already ordered our 2012 blog book, so this is going in our 2013. Oh well, I'm just glad I am remembering these things now.

Derek finally cut his hair right before he started his pediatric rotation. I miss it. It was long. I always dreamed about marrying a guy with long hair. I got my fantasy. It's pretty difficult to have long hair in medicine. Having to fully gown up and things was always messing it up. He wore a pony tail almost all the time. I just wanted a picture to remind us how long it actually got! He will have to really chop his hair this summer when he does his air force rotation and we were trying to make it last until then to see how long it could get, but it became unrealistic. It sure was fun though while it lasted! :) Love my handsome hubby and his long locks!

Derek's 3rd year Medical School Update

So, I want to update with medical school life. It's been a while.
3rd year has been fun, but very difficult and different. No more regular scheduled class time. The hardest part of adjusting to 3rd year is constantly being in a different environment every 3 weeks, being evaluated (grade-wise) non-stop all day long, and then also having to fit in study time even with the extra long hours.
Let's recap from the beginning of 3rd year.
July: Internal medicine
Derek did cardiology first. It was crazy! The doctor's worked non-stop 24-7 on call night and day. Everything was an emergency and it was a huge jump for Derek to dive head first into first year. He loved cardiology even though the rotation was crazy busy. He really liked the fact that the heart patients would come in in horrible condition, almost dead, and then after three or four days of treatment they'd be able to walk out of the hospital doing really well. He said for the people they could help it was super satisfying to see the results. He also enjoyed going to the cath lab where he could watch the interventional cardiologists place stents. The last 3 weeks were regular internal med wards, where he took care of people who had huge problem lists and he was gone really long hours. He thought it was all very interesting but definitely felt overwhelmed with it all, but felt he learned a lot.
August-September: Surgery
Surgery wasn't as scary as we thought it would be. Mostly I think we got lucky where Derek picked to go for the two 3 week blocks. He started at the VA and then went to the trauma team at the U. He really loved the "hands-on" procedures and being in the OR. Seeing people totally cut open was pretty crazy, and he felt really comfortable helping do the laproscopic procedures. He liked the VA because he was given more autonomy and was able to try his hand at lots of suturing and doing biopsies. He didn't feel he really connected with any of the surgeons though and he had a hard time with some real jerk residents that he was stuck with. It was busy, especially when we were having problems with getting Elara here. We were not ready for her yet and surgery was crazy. It was also the first time Derek had to work overnights, which was a weird adjustment.
October: Psychiatry
Elara was born right at the beginning of this rotation. Answer to our prayers. Derek was able to have really nice hours and come home to help with Elara. He actually liked the work and doctors, and it was a fun rotation. He also got really great feedback from the attendings which was needed. He was feeling that no matter how hard he worked nobody was going to notice it. He had lots of "crazy" stories from this rotation.
November-December: OB/Gyn
Derek worked super hard on this rotation! Which is funny because he has told me from day one he never wants to do OB/GYN mostly because they are on-call a lot and he doesn't want to work such unpredictable hours. He started with the GYN part and they did a lot of surgery. He definitely felt more comfortable in the OR at this point and was able to do some "first assists", which means he worked as the resident and got to do most of the surgery under the direction of the attending. He enjoyed the doctors and they must have enjoyed him because he ended up getting a letter of recommendation from one of the doctors! This particular doc was an Admiral in the Navy and liked Derek enough to ask him to come over to another hospital to help him out with some c-sections. He also got along really well with a couple of the anesthesiologists in the OR so they let him do several of the intubations while he was there, which he loves doing. The OB portion went well and he ended up delivering tons of babies and sewing up lots of tears. He hated the hours because they started rounding at 5AM so he would have to leave at 4:20AM to get to IMC on time. They also had the really long 5 overnight shifts of being there at 5AM, working all day and through the night, and then going home around 9-10AM the next day. That was always rough. He also had a hard time with the passive aggressive residents he had to work with. Overall he ended up doing really great though.

December brought a much needed, welcomed break!

January: Pediatrics
We prepped for the worst, but hoped for the best. We knew we'd probably get sick for this rotation, but what we didn't expect was that the kids would be sick before we started it. January as usual seemed like a long month. It snowed a lot and the kids were sick a lot, but we made it! Derek didn't think he would like pediatrics very much because in the past every time he sees a sick kid he pictures one of our kids sick and it just breaks his heart. This rotation was one of the hardest time wise, but probably his favorite yet. Derek, in my opinion would be an amazing pediatric doctor. He gets kids to love him, and helps the parents a ton! The attendings he worked with all wanted him to do peds and kept telling him that he was already working at the level of an intern and that they'd all recommend him to get into PCMC's program. Time wise he worked a ton! He did something called Q4 which means every 4th night he would work. So, he worked about 6 am to 7 pm for 3 days then on the 4th day he would start at 6 am and work about 30 hours straight until 11 am the next day. He then slept from 11 to 3 then played with the kids, and then went to bed at 8 pm to be at work the next day by 6 am. He did this for 3 weeks. The next week he was on hematology/oncology peds. He saw lots of sick sick sick kids with cancer and other problems. This was a bit of an emotional roller coaster. He liked this week though because he felt he was able to really connect with some families and feel like he was helping out. The other reason why he loved it was because they also let him do lumbar punctures and bone marrow aspirates, which he thought were super cool. This last week he was on well baby nursery. He said this was a lot like OB because they saw lots of new babies born and checked up on all the new babies. Tomorrow he starts outpatient clinic and will take two big tests on Friday.

Also, on this rotation another doctor offered to give him a letter of recommendation, whether or not he ended up going into peds. Yay!

February-March: Neurology
Derek will start neurology in about a week and this will last for 4 weeks. I'm not sure the schedule, but I know he gets 1 day in 7 off. When that happens he usually chooses Sunday to help me at church.

March: 2 weeks Anesthesia
Usually Derek's class gets the last two weeks of neurology off, but Derek chose to do a rotation in anesthesia to help prep him.

April: 2 weeks Opthamology

April-May: 4 weeks Family Medicine
We will be going to St. George and doing this rotation at the Callahan Clinic. This should be fun because we will be staying at Grandma and Grandpa's house for the month and the kids will get lots of attention. :)

May-June: 6 weeks Internal Medicine

After internal medicine this will be the end of 3rd year. Wahoo!
However, it's not really an end because Derek will start studying for step 2. There are 2 parts to step 2. A written test and an oral test. The oral test is in California and he will fly out in June, then study the whole month of July and take the written part at the end of July. This will be just in time to get ready to leave for his first 4th year rotation. He is planning on starting 4th year by doing his away rotation for the air force in San Antonio. We are still waiting to hear if he is allowed to do the rotation there. We are planning out 4th year as we speak and should have a good lay out hopefully by the end of March. It is very exciting to be planning out the last year and we even have a graduation date set (MAY 24, 2014)!!! The end is in sight.

Half way through 3rd year and looking back this journey has been amazing. We have learned so much. We have met so many amazing people. And my goodness we are excited for the next 17 months here in Salt Lake City. We are enjoying life and are so happy to be where we are learning what we are learning.

Salt Lake City Bucket List

Things we want to do before we leave Salt Lake City. Not all of them are in Salt Lake City, but before we move away for residency in about 17 months! If anyone has some ideas of must do's in SLC let us know. :)

Salt Lake City Bucket List:

Take the kids camping

Go to Seven Peaks

Go to baseball game

Go to a U of U football game

Go skiing or snowboarding

Take kids fishing

Go to Disneyland

Watch Kael play soccer

Volunteer at Kael’s school

Go to Hurricane splash pad

Visit Pinkston’s

Keep a budget

Save money (52 week money challenge) ($1378)

Go to Zoo

Go to this is the place

Go to discovery gateway

Take kids on TRAX

60 days straight primal

Go to Phoenix to visit family

Read BOM & D&C

Preschool stuff for Kael & Eden

Hike Timpanogus Cave

Eat tacos from a Taco Cart on 800 South!
Attend General Conference!!!

New Year, New Resolutions

Last years goals:
2012
Turn 27 (check)
Get pregnant (check)
Potty train Eden (check)
Exercise in a routine schedule and enjoy it (eh, kind of, not really)
Eat healthy (Primal) (2 months out of 12...)
 Have a natural labor (Might happen in 2013, but I can dream right?) (Not check.)
Read my scriptures daily (Blah, I'm terrible...)
Pray daily (Blah, I'm terrible...)
Read fun books (Check, finished Wheel of Time series, all 13 books)
See all the crazy awesome movies coming out in the summer and enjoy it (CHECK)
Strengthen my relationship with my kids and hubster (Check)
Deep clean my apartment at least once (Check)
Learn a new talent (I taught Gospel Doctrine, I'm saying check!)
Play my cello again (Not check.. Boo.)
laugh A LOT (Check for about 50%)
enjoy being where I'm at (Check!)
Go to DISNEYLAND (Check!)
Get a new cell phone (Um, I think I did, but I can't remember)
Love on my family some more (CHECK!)
Be more grateful (CHECK!)

 I honestly think that having Elara as a C-section helped me to accomplish a lot of the goals. Weird, but yes. I exercised better, tried to eat healthier because I was pregnant most of the year, I didn't get my natural labor, but I did do something hard by having a C-section. I did read and pray, just not like I hoped. My relationships with friends and family are definitely stronger because of Elara. And I am definitely grateful for modern medicine, my family, all the service I received. I'm grateful for trials because they make us stronger, so I'm glad I had these goals, and fun activities.

 This year (I know it's Feb. but who cares, I'm trying to improve my life and if I fail I'll try again the next year because that's why we are here) here are my goals:
2013
Turn 28
Play my cello (March 10th)
Teach my children education, spiritual, and physical things.
Go to Disneyland again, because I love it!
Deep clean my apartment at least once again. :)
Do more service for those around me.
Tell more people about my religious beliefs.
Do something I feel is hard. (Not another c-section, I hope I learned enough from that!)
Read 4 different fun books series.
Eat Healthy!
Get my body fit, so I can play with my kids and enjoy it not feel like passing out.
Read more with my kids.
Become more calm.
Laugh more.
Go on 12 dates with my hubby this year.
Save a little money. (This year is gonna be expensive with interviews coming at the end of the year, but a good goal!)
Fulfill my Salt Lake City bucket list! It's awesome I think I'll post that next!

That seems like a good start for the year. To a NEW YEAR and trying to improve my life!

Oh, what do we do in the winter time, when all the world has SNOW!?!

January seemed like such a long month. We had to try to find ways to keep ourselves entertained a lot...
Back in December when we visited Grandma and Grandpa, Kael dug for worms in the garden, and surprisingly found a few. We reluctantly let him bring them home and kept them in the fridge in some dirt. I totally forgot about them for a while until I opened the sour cream container thinking it was sour cream and what did I find?.... Yup... Kael never forgot and has been asking to play with his worms a lot.

About 5 or 6 times in January those worms have come in useful and kept Kael occupied in the bathtub for about an hour at a time. Somehow, I don't know how, the worms lived through this ordeal. Until recently. The last time he got them out I'm pretty for certain they are dead now. I can't say how grateful I am I let him keep them. He sure loves his worms... And, it was a great way to keep the kids entertained for a while.

Oh worms.......

Elara is 4 months!

Seriously, I am a slacker! I took these photos right around the 4 month mark. I had high hopes for getting pictures right on the 25th, and then it turned out to be a miserable day, so it just didn't happen. But, I got her smiling and I'm happy with them. These pictures really show Elara's personality I think. She is so happy like Kael was at this age. She is always doing the huge open mouth smiles, and just being happy! The poor girl has eczema all over her tummy, neck, and arms. It makes me feel horrible! No baby this happy should have to put up with that crud!
Things to remember about our little Elara princess.

She SLEEPS at night! I can feed her around 6 to 8 and she will sleep anywhere until 3 to 6 am... She has gone 11 hours once, but mostly close to 8 hours on average. She does have about one bad night a week where she will get up at 2ish or so, but I don't mind because for the most part she sleeps. I struggled with Kael and Eden to get them to sleep at night forever, and I feel so blessed by this angel baby!

Elara is genuinely happy! She wakes up in the morning cooing. I go in and she looks up at me and starts cooing, smiling, laughing, and just loves life. It is an incredible feeling, and is a great way to start my day. It puts a smile on my face every morning!

She is in 3-6 month clothes right around the 4 month mark, but I maybe waited too long because they are already seeming kind of small. She is definitely out of the 0-3 month. Sad day...

She is in size 2 diapers.

She can roll over from tummy to back, but only when she chooses to. Some days I can't get her to roll over at all, and others I walk in and she has just flipped. It's random.

Elara doesn't get the whole pacifier thing. Sometimes I try and get her to suck on one and she just chomps on it, then goes for her fingers instead.

She laughs when Kael and Eden try to entertain her. It makes me smile every time.

I feed her about every 3 hours during the day.

She likes to be held, but puts up with being neglected because she is #3. She is such a good baby though, so I try to hold her when I can just because she will smile for me and snuggle me.

Her laugh is the cutest thing ever. She is ticklish on her neck and tummy. Derek is a lot better at tickling her than I am though. She LOVES her Daddy and smiles when he walks in the door.

4 month stats from the doctor:

weight: 13 lbs 1 oz (26%)
height: 24.4 inch (45%)
Head circumference: 16.5 inch (85%)

Weight percentage is about the same, but length wise she has grown a lot, like 3 inches in 2 months! And, she still has a big head, that is just getting bigger. :)

She screamed so loud when she got her shots and was so mad. I felt horrible. You could tell she didn't feel well for the next couple of days, but she still tried to smile and be a pleasant baby.

Love this little girl so much! She has added so much joy to our family. Almost every day Kael goes right up to her face and says, "Oh Elara Jane, I love you so much!" "I like you, I like you". Then, Eden tells me all the time, "Mom Elara's my best friend, we are sisters, I love her!"

Then Eden tells me, "Mom, I'm a big sister, you are a little sister like Elara". I had to explain that I was a little sister and Aunt Shelly and Aunt Shannon were my big sisters just like Eden is Elara's big sister. She seemed to really like that.

We love you Elara! You are one amazing girl! Thanks for your smiles and being who you are!

Love,
Mom

Bumbo Time

I finally pulled out the bumbo. I have been such a slacker with everything for Elara. I just don't want her to grow up too fast, and then just forget that she is big enough for certain things... She played so well, she just fell asleep right in her chair. It was the cutest thing ever and made me feel horrible for not finding her like this sooner.