Darrek is 8 months old

Time flys when you are having fun. I hate it. Haven't we all thought about time freezing our little ones and keeping them babies? Darrek has been such a blessing in my life and I hate that he has to grow up. Here is the 8 month old expectations from the experts.

Your baby shows definite signs of becoming more independent. For one he is increasingly interested in his counterparts. Secondly, he is able to self-soothe instead of relying on you all the time. This is clearly visible in his attachment to inanimate objects such as a pillow or a blanket or a soft toy. While it is true, you are becoming less important, you are still irreplaceable in baby's life. One such situation where he will still need you the most is when he wakes up in the middle of the night, which seems to happen quite frequently in this month or the next. Another sign of independence is his desire to self-feed, which seem to happen around this time. During mealtimes, he will try to grab for the spoon or pick up bits of food - even pureed stuff. Right now, he can manage to grasp crackers or biscuits with fair amount of success with his thumb and two fingers. It is around this time too when he starts to become shy in the company of strangers; this is related to separation anxiety. Another notable change is when baby holds two objects at the same time. He compares them visually, bangs them together and maybe even tries to fit one into the other.

So this is pretty true to form other than the part about him becoming more attached to a blanket or a stuffed animal. I am still the most important thing to him. It is so nice to be able to say that. It feels so good to know that someone loves you so much and appreciates everything you do for them. Babies are truley one of God's greatest gifts. He is waking quite frequently during the night now, something I am not used to with him. I really do think it is his teeth. He has cut the first one, but that second one keeps coming up and then going back down. There are two good things about this frequent waking up: I can't get back to sleep half the time so I come and do my computer stuff that I don't get to do during the day and most importantly, Darren has finally given up and we have moved him to his real room down the hall in his real crib. He said, "I can't do this anymore. He is going to sleep in his room tomorrow night. I can't go and work on the farm like this. I am so beat!" Of course it also helped that the night he said this was the night he had to get up with him because I had the stomach flu! Needless to say, Mother and Aunt LaSchelle will be so proud!

The other things that Darrek is doing are:
-Claps and squeals like crazy (I think the squeals take place of the YAY that he hears me do when I clap)
-Mimmicks, such as:
Gives High 5's (Nana taught him that one)
Says: Dadda, mamma (when tired or sad), ba ba, ba (ball), tries to make the sound for UH OH
Sings when he hears others singing.
He is all over the place now. He isn't up all the way on his hands and knees, but it will be any day. He gets to the edge of the carpet and pats the tile before he feels that it is safe enough to go on. I am going to have to do a better job cleaning my floors now because he likes the feel of the cold slick tile and sucks it!
His favorite people (people that he reaches for and gets happy to see) are: Me, Darren, Matthew, Morgan, Jensen, and Nana. Pretty much the people he sees every day. He will go to Grandma Nell after hearing her talk and smile at him for a couple of minutes and then you can't get him to let go of her. He loves to eat, but is still such a little guy. At his 6 month appointment he was a hair away from being a "NON THRIVING BABY". They told me to put him on more formula so I did. I only nurse him when I really just need to feel comfortable (drain myself), but that too is easing up.

Spring Break

Spring break is usually a really fun time for me. I love that I actually get to spend time with the kids without worrying about homework and bedtimes. We usually like to do something fun with them too. Last year we took them all to Tucson for a spring training game (D-backs).


Jensen wasn't feeling well. He slept through the whole game.


After the game we took the kids to Funtastics and had a lot of fun. Jensen still wasn't feeling good so I took him out to the car so he could sleep while Darren and the rest of the kids finished up. I thought it was a little chilly outside so I turned on the heater. I think I kinda of cooked Jensen. I didn't know that he had gotten under a big down comforter and his red fleece blanket. When Darren and the kids came out to the car, we tried to wake him up and he was OUT OF IT! His face was all red and his eyes were glazed over. He was talking nonsense and banging his fists on the seat in front of him. He scared all of the kids and put Morgan into tears.

This spring break Morgan and Jensen went to New Mexico to be with Scott and Amanda and Garrett and Rylee came down to be with us. We didn't really do anything exciting because Darren was busy on the farm. They are behind this year due to the rainfall that we have gotten.

We took Matthew, Garrett, and Rylee to Globe last night and will go back to get Matthew on Sunday and we will go get Morgan and Jensen on Saturday. I hope next spring break will be funner! I want to save money to go on a cruise with the kids. I better start now!

Darrek's First Tooth

It seems like Darrek has been teething for about 3 months(He will be 8 months in a couple of days). He started to sleep through the night at about 2 months old and ever since he started teething that went out the window! It was really nice to get a full nights rest. The past couple of days he has really been a bear. I have also noticed what a little momma's boy he has become. If he decides he will let someone hold him, it will usually only be for a few seconds, or if your lucky, a few minutes. He started army crawling last week, but doesn't like to venture off to far from me. Don't get me wrong- he is still the best baby anyone could ask for. He still lets us take him on the road trips to and from Globe and will even go for a day trip over to the valley to watch Morgan play club volleyball. He really has been by far my best well mannered baby.

Well, today I went and picked up mom to get some of our errands done. We like to do that a lot lately. The company is nice to have! After the banks, City of Safford Municipalities, and Subway, we stopped to get some groceries at Bashes. While in line at the check-out, mom was talking to Darrek and was asking him when he was going to get his tooth so he could stop putting his tounge out. She put her finger in his mouth and SURPRISE, a tooth! We were so giddy we could hardly get through the line with our purchases. My baby is growing up way too fast! I called Darren on the way home and called Morgan and Jensen a little later. I think I am going to text Matthew and Garrett with the news a little later.

Welcoming Matthew

After many late-night talks and tears with his mom, Matthew has decided to live with us. Thatcher will provide Matthew with the good friends, good school and all the wonderful small town experiences a teenage boy would want. He first told us that he prayed about it and felt that it was what he wanted last summer. We talked to him and told him that he needed to think and weigh all the options of this big decision. He decided to stay with his mom because he realized he wasn't ready to leave his siblings behind and he wasn't prepared to break his mom's heart. He is such an amazing boy to be able to put others feelings above his own. Summer and Shawn have been noticing a change in Matthew and felt that they needed to let him go. Summer is a special woman and mother to do this for her child.
He has been here for almost a week now. He enjoys being a Thatcher Eagle and loves that he has seminary during school and most of all loves that he gets to leave campus for lunch. He usually goes to Coby's house or here for lunch. It has been fun having him here. Morgan and Jensen count down the minutes to when he is suppose to walk in the door from school. They love having a big brother in the house. They like to sit and do homework with him and especially love the nerf gun wars down in the basement. Last night Matthew played in his first church basketball game. Our ward got beat, but Matthew scored the most points. We told Matthew that he had to go out Friday night, so we'll see how he does making plans. We already know that he is planning to go to the Varsity basketball game. We are so lucky to have him in our home and look forward to the time with him. Darren and I were both really nervous about him coming to live with us. Our biggest concern was that we provide him with what he needs in this last stretch of his teenage years to be ready for his mission. Summer and Shawn have done such an amazing job with him (and Garrett and Rylee). We look forward to the challenge and are hoping that we can provide all the love and stucture that he needs. We are just so blessed to have him here. Welcome Matthew- we love you!

Happy 10th Birthday Jensen!

Jensen has turned 10 years old! I am such a lucky mom. Jensen is so special and has always held such a big spot in my heart. From the time he was born, he has been such a pleasant little boy. He is so creative. He will spend hours on end creating things in his room with scraps of paper and anything else he can find. I love when Jensen comes home from school. He is always so happy to see me and gives me a big hug and kiss. He has always been so aware of my feelings and makes sure that I am happy. He has such a sweet spirit about him and I know that he loves his Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ. His prayers are so honest: asking for everyone to be safe and everyone to be kind and that he is grateful for everything in the whole world. He has picked up a new love this year- wrestling. I am so proud of him for trying something new and having such a good attitude about it. He went to practice everyday from 3:00 to 5:00 pm. The whole team liked Jensen and seemed to have a really good time with him. He still pays very close attention to his grades. He got his first B on his report card and came home crying. I had to convince him that a B is okay. We just took trip to Disneyland for our Allen Reunion and I learned that Jensen loves to spend money. He got $50 from his Grandpa Jack and Grandma Lucia for Christmas. We told the kids that they could use it on whatever they wanted for this trip. He had a ball spending his money. He was naturally sad when it was gone, but quickly the feelings went away when he got his birthday money. He has already gone to store to spend the first bit of it. I love him so much and I am very grateful to be his mom.