jills still interested in the camera. what a sweet face.
new habits: finger sucking (couple weeks old), bottom lip sucking, jumping, talking during church, wanting to control her pacifier (this only makes it worse b/c she can't get it back in right), splashing during the bath.
any bets on her hair color? those eyebrows are looking more red. . . can't wait to see.i over heard jeff talking to one of his single friends yesterday. his friend must have asked how being a parent is, or how jill was doing. this is the response, "She's great. Honestly, it's like having the best toy ever. I just want to play with her all day". i had to laugh out loud. i feel the same way. it's still hard for me to stop watching her every move. she's so entertaining. needless to say, the only time i get anything done is when she's sleeping. this is only if i've put her in her room and shut the door. if she's sleeping outside her room, i have a tendency to watch her then too, yes even sleeping.
which brings me to an announcement. . . jill has officially moved into her room. all sleeping (execpt an occasional morning nap with mom) is done in the big crib. up until this week she's been sleeping in the bassinet next to my bed at night. many factors have brought us to this point. 1. i'm borrowing the bassinet from Hayley. well, Hayley's pregnant and will need it soon. 2. Jill is just about too long for it. 3. jills been sleeping through the night since she was 6 wks old. therefore i really could've put her in her room long ago. i just loved having her so close, i wouldn't move her. 4. jill 'stirs' in her sleep. she's does this around 12:00, 4:00, and 5:00. finally to wake-up at 6:00. i was getting up with each 'stir'.
the first few nights i really missed having her in my room. i just love having my sweet baby close to me. i have since realized how nice it is not to have to wisper when i enter my room etc. we have reclaimed the territory!
our ward just got split. we had aprrox 800 members. nuts huh? of-course not all of those were active, but we needed to down size. there where two elders quorums and over 150 actuve primary children, 4- 5 nursery classes etc. you can imagine the chaos primary was. i was called as the 2nd counslor in jan. i love the primary. after the split, i was worried i was going to be released. i got my same calling and am enjoying the smaller sizes. last sunday in senior primary i couldn't help but tear-up while the children sang "I'm trying to be like Jesus". it was so powerful!! i haven't felt the spirit so strongly in a church meeting, let alone primary. i have three sister-in-laws that are primary choiresters now. i can't tell you how important you are!!! music truely invites the spirit. i love serving in the primary. in-fact, i think i'd been happy here for the rest of my life. i love those kids.
jeff got called as the ward mission leader. he is so excited. missionary work is something that jeff has always been passionate about. i can't wait to see jeff grow and work in this capacity. i know it's a few years away, but i'm excited to serve a mission with him. he is a great missionary.
8 comments:
She is soooo dang cute. Her eyes are so pretty. I say her eyes will stay blue for sure and her hair will be an auburn red/brown color. It will most likely have curl in it or else I will want you both to take a DNA test. With Jeff's curls and your natural curl it must happen. JK.
let me tell you about my primary experience this last week. Since me and Sarah are so laid back, they put all the psycho children in our class. So, we end up with 9 four year old boys and 1 four year old girl, most of which are crazy. :) (The other CTR classes are full of sweet little girls and one or two boys) So, anyways, I am flying solo with Sarah out of town and trying my best to keep the kids in thier seats. I end up with one kid crawling underneath all the benches, while two are jumping up and down on their chairs, while 4 others are doing dog-piles and screaming. At least some other teachers tried helping me. Then we go to class.... oh boy. So we are in this activity making things for thier parents, and I go down to help the little girl in our class. When I turn around, the entire wall is full of crayon, colored pencil and marker! AAAAAAHHHHH! I just about went crazy. So I decide to go try and find some help and get some stuff to clean the wall and chalkboard. I think if I just take the most wild ones with me the others would be ok. (I couldn't handle taking them all with me) Anyways, I come back to 2 crying children and one boy just swinging his arms like hes Rocky Balboa! LOL! ITs so funny to think about now, but lets just say I didn't feel the spirit during primary, and haven't since we were assigned this class ;)
Brett, you have to get some help--they are sweet spirits that need control. Call in the parents to help--what I did was have pieces of string licrorice for each child and hang them on the wall--every time they act off I cut some off and they get what's left after the class-works wonders!
Wow----I wanted to comment on that gorgeous little face but now I feel like Brett needs my help. Leesha's mom and dad have it right on. What a great idea about the licorice.Also, bring in a couple of parents each Sunday until they don't need it, then the parents will work with their kids at home. Believe me they will! Get a member of the Primary Presidency to watch your door and when you place a red paper or some other notice under the door so they know you need some help. That way you don't have to leave the room to find someone. Remember, these are good little spirits who are strong-willed because they need it in this crazy world....they just need a little more help in harnessing it. They are so lucky to have you two, Brett.
Thanks for the hints! We actually have tried alot of different things, but the only thing that consistently works is having the parents help out, which isn't always possible since they have their classes to teach and duties too. I apologize for taking the focus away from little Jill! My bad! She really is dang cute - my bet is she ends up with blue eyes and a darker brown hair.
I agree, primary is the place to be (although I am really enjoying Relief Society right now--especially since I am home all day every day with a child)...the kids are so sweet, and doesn't 2 hours of church FLY by when you are in primary?
Wow! I can't believe you had 4-5 nurseries...sounds like the split was long over due!
Jill sure is a cutie! As for the curl in her hair, she'll probably develop that in puberty or after she has her first child. She will definitely have brown hair. I don't know about the eyes. They look like blue. I looked at some pictures of Sam at four months and his eyes were definitely blue. Jill still has that dark circle. Sam didn't have that. Hmm...
I have decided that Primary is crazy. During the practice for the Primary Sacrament Program, I had at least two kids climbing into the piano, one who kept going to see her mom(who was in the Presidency. She didn't tell her daughter to stop. What was I supposed to do? Her dad also interupts our lesson every week to say "Hi". Grr!), and the other girls were crying because they missed their mom's and wanted to go see them. I've also had them take off after a potty break and run as fast as they can, yelling around the church. If it gets really bad, I threaten to send them to sit with the Bishop or a counselor. I had a class full of kids who would not see it as a punishment to sit with their moms/dads. After almost a year with these kids, they are by far the best behaved kids in Sharing Time. But now I am released. My theory: Make sure they are at least a tiny bit scared that you actually will punish them. Be strong Brett.
Who's going to be the mean parent and who's going to be the nice one, Brett? I'm the mean one and Jon's the nice one who lets Sam do whatever he wants. I can't see either of you two being the mean one.
Okay...for eye color I give Jill a green or hazel. I can't believe it, but Seth's eyes have turned a shade of green. His were bright BLUE for 5 years!! For hair, I guess a brown with redish natural highlights. ;) (I wish I had them...)
Brett, I feel for you. I think 4 year olds are the toughest age of children. Period. Get them together, and it can be really rough.
Wish you could be serving in our Primary. We have 1...count it, 1 Sunbeam, and now 3 little 4 year olds. They're in a combined class (this is Rachel's class) with 3 girls and 1 adorable little boy. But then again, our ENTIRE primary is only nearing 30 kids. And that's on a good day.
(At Christmas time, I brought 2 dozen candy canes and brought a handful home with me, there are just so few kids...)
One thing I definitely have learned. Set some class rules. Kids that age really do like to have boundaries. They'll push and push to see if you'll bend the rules, but they feel more secure knowing what you expect of them. Then praise and praise and praise and praise when you see someone following the rules. They EAT up praise. Hopefully pretty soon they'll see they get the most attention when they're being good...
Has anyone ever watched Supernanny? I LOVE the show. Bring in a rug or something and have them sit on the "naughty mat". Then talk in a British accent, and you'll work magic...;)
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