Loftus cousins

 My sister Danielle and her family came to visit for their spring break and Cambrai's wedding (pictures to come at a later date)  Makayla and Brooklyn in the tub.  They are 10 weeks apart.

 Here are they boy cousins.  Michael, Ben, and Christopher (jumping off the table...such a boy thing to do)

 Girl cousins.  Brooklyn (8 months), Cielo (9 months), Makayla (10 & 1/2 months)

Its so hard to get a pic of them together and looking...they just want to look at each other or gouge each other's eyes out.

 awww...remember when we took pics when they were tiny babies?!  now they are all standing!

 I think each girl looks like their mama

 All the kids together.

 best we could do. oh well.  here's all 6 of the Loftus grandkids.

 the boys again.  Christopher's friend gave him this couch bed & they had fun playing on it.

 cheese

This is a funny story.  my sister Danielle (how did we not get a before & after pic?!) donated her hair while she was here and my brother saw it lying on the ledge, waiting to be mailed in.  I saw him do this w/a funny smirk, so i made him wait for me to get the camera & take a picture of 'his mullet.'  haha!

Makayla lately

 Makayla LOVES emptying the wipes container.  (so it got moved to the dresser)

 Makayla and Cielo playing....in february?  This picture really shows how Makayla has grown a ton & Cielo...hasn't.

 Makayla has mastered climbing up & down the stairs.  she was the earliest one to do it & it makes my life soo much easier- she has free reign of the house.

 walking when pushing her 'bike'.  And so smiley lately!

 sorry its out of order...stairs again.

 happy girl on my bday

 dressed up in a cupcake shirt- so cute!!

 And then she got stuck.  Haha

 and her bow is falling off

 can you tell I thought that was soo funny.

 speaking of stuck....she likes to climb & get stuck.

 (get those 3-6 month clothes out of there!) (and now I put the 9 month ones away)

another favorite get stuck place.  yes, that was the same evening.  next month we celebrate her 1st birthday!

Has it really been that long?

I am soo behind in posting.  I can't believe I didn't post in March because we did so much.  Which is probably why it isn't documented yet.  Way back in January (i think?!) Rob when snow camping with his brother Brian, Brian's wife, Kelsey, and Christopher.  Well, Christopher and Kelsey didn't make it all the way up Rock Canyon.  They came back to sleep in warm beds.  (yes, the adults had snowshoes).  And yes, these guys are crazy.  I wouldn't want to sleep outside in the cold.

 See- ccrazy!  its up to his knees!

 The campsite

 finally, a picture of Rob, (since Rob was taking pictures, he wasn't in the other photos. This is the morning after.

 Christopher lost one tooth. (end of January)

 Then 2 days later the 2nd one got knocked out by a (nerf) basketball.  We could already see the adult tooth coming in right when it fell out.  Yesterday he lost his 5th one as he was eating!

 I made these yummy desserts for v-day.  Rob loved them.

 Even I loved them and I'm not usually a cheesecake fan.

 My friend Melissa posted this on her food blog and I just had to make them: http://www.blessthismessplease.com/2013/01/red-velvet-cheesecake-bars.html

 I saw this idea on my friend Linda's preschool blog and just had to make it.  I love her blog because she uses stuff around the house for fun learning.

 He's feeding the penguin a fish with a letter written on it, so we can practice letter recognition.  See how she made it here: http://www.littlefamilyfun.com/2013/01/feed-penguin.html

And I turned 29!  I celebrated by volunteering in Christopher's class, going to lunch at Tucanos with Rob, and a relief society dinner & program later that night.  Sadly I ate myself, and didn't sleep well that night.  but I think it was worth it. ;)  Oh, and I got tons of new clothes- which is just what I wanted!

Makayla @ 9 months

 Better get this up quick, before she's 10 months ;).  At Makayla's 9 month appointment she weighed 20 lbs & was 28" long.  She grew 5 lbs and 2 inches since her surgery 3 months ago!  She is rivaling Michael in size.  Her iron was low that day, so we have to give her iron drops once a day, with a recheck in a month.

 She is smiling and laughing more.

 sorry, I couldn't choose, they were all so cute!

 She eats cheerios like a champ.  And anything else she can get in her mouth. (i've pulled out cardboard, onion peels, etc.  I only found them because she was trying to nurse, but couldn't.  so I looked in her mouth (which she hates) and there they were.  This was after I swept the floor.)

 This doesn't really show it, but she's starting to scrunch her face up like I do in a funny smirk.

 This is the first outfit we bought for her, before she was born.  I found it on clearance at Sears for $8!  It even came with a longsleeve onesie & it feels like a blanket.

 This was a rare, but special bonding time with Daddy. Feeding the bottle is rare, bonding is not.  She makes a zzzz-ckkk sound w/daddy when he "flies" her around the room chasing her brothers.  Or her mommy.

 She loves standing up next to & walking along the furniture.  Last night she cried out in her "worried" voice, so I looked at her & noticed she had both hands clutching her toy, instead of the table.  She was afraid to move.

 We bought a fireplace insert with our tax return.  We've had tons of fires because it blows the warm air out, instead of sucking it up the chimney.  It raises the upstairs temperature 3-4 degrees, but lowers the basement by atleast that much.

 She also navigates the stairs perfectly (knock on wood).  She knows how to turn around, so I don't have to watch her on the stairs anymore. (yes!)

 Michael wanted to take our picture.  This was the best of the three.  Haha-Makayla looks like an oldfashioned 'serious' picture & you can tell I'm giving him directions through my teeth.

 And then he wants his picture taken.

 Happy girl! (LOOOOVVVVEEE pink!)

Close-up of the fireplace insert.  Its very hot when there's a fire going, so we watch her close during that time.  But when there's no fire, she loves strumming the handle.