Bailey Family

It has been over a month since my last post. Gideon has grown so much, and everyone has gotten into the swing of things around the school year. Gideon sleeps in his crib for naps and bedtime now. (We hold him to sleep at night, but for naps, we read to him, sometimes sing to him, and then put him down. If he cries more than 30 seconds, I know he isn't ready and I need to try again. That is not common though.) He has been having a rough teething week (those back molars must be killing his gums!), and I was happy he slept through the night again last night. He says SO many words and also signs quite a few words. If I don't understand (like this morning, he was concerned about something, but I didn't get what he was saying), he will try to show me. (This morning it was "vacuum" he wanted to say. He developed a fear of the vacuum around a year old and gets very nervous about me using it.) He often goes down for a nap in the morning and sleeps several hours. ...

We're trying to teach the kids new responsibilities, cooking, cleaning, etc. (We always work on these, but we're trying to get them more regular so I have good help this summer and now.) Alee actually likes washing the dishes and doing the dishwasher, but she can't reach anything really (even with a stool) and last week I had to go through the cabinets after I found a mysteriously wet plate (the dishwasher always leaves our plates dry) and pull out all the dishes that Alee put away from one load that had been rinsed and loaded but not yet washed. -sigh- It's a work in progress...at least she meant well. Trying to cram in some field trips before next year when I'll be "grounded" (I love nursing my babies, but it does limit what I can say yes to.) Seth and his honors orchestra class performed for various elementary schools in the district (along with the band, chorus, and dance) to promote the arts available at the middle schools and high schools. ...

General Conference was great. I love hearing from the prophet and apostles. I can feel their love for us and I hear what God wants me to hear. I decided that I want to start taking casual/candid family photos on a regular basis. Not on a schedule, but just several times a year at convenient times. (Or when I just insist.) So, I suggested this to Rob and he thought it was a good plan and agreed to help with sometimes less-than-willing children. Surprisingly, they were all pretty cooperative. (Alee had a moment, but that's to be expected.) Enjoy -  I let everyone take a turn with the camera remote for the whole-group shots. I have no idea who took which picture (and I kept only my favorites), but Seth was obviously the last with the remote because when we were done and everyone went completely candid, Seth snapped another shot. It's actually kind of cute. Rob watching me as I go take care of the camera. Seth standing in the middle of his 4 girly sisters ...