Littau Family

Ally turns 6!

2012-01-12T15:39:00.001-08:00

For Ally's 6th birthday all she wanted was a slumber party like Emily had. Good thing by slumber party she meant just her very best friend Isabella spending the night! Above are the two of them at Red Robin. They have been friends since they were born, they are exactly one month apart.
They insisted on a picture with the statue of liberty.
She was super excited to get a Claire's gift card and she got to go right after dinner and pic some things out with the help of Bella. There were some interesting makeovers later that night.
Emily, at dinner, doing what Emily does best.
Nana makes the best sailor hats out of paper menus.

Ally being sung to by the Red Robin staff. She was so excited for this part. She asked me 3 times when they were going to come and sing to her. Nate got into it too. I think he was half wanting to join in and half freaked out. He's clapping, but looks suspicious.
Ally really wanted a new bike. We usually try to hand down bikes but Ally is the same size bike as Emily currently is so she needed a new one.
Yep!

Ally is huge on ice cream and not so much on cake so for the second year in a row, we did ice cream. I thought they looked cute, and as you'll see below, they were a huge hit!

Opening gifts!
Ally had a really nice birthday and it was super simple and easy for me. I always feel kind of guilty because by the time we get through the holidays and slew of early Jan bday's in our family, I'm kind of celebrated out and Ally gets really small parties every year. But I am so thankful that she thinks it is all amazing and special. She is such a joy to parent. So easy going and quick to please. She is a dream. I'm thankful to get to share my birthday with such a sweet girl!

Emily's 9th birthday

2011-12-16T12:04:00.000-08:00

On Emily's actual 9th birthday she had performance at Barne's and Nobles. Her school offers what's called music appreciation. She goes twice a week at 7:15 a.m. and they teach them to sing, read music and play the recorder. When Mike and I heard she was getting a recorder we didn't expect much but a bunch of squeaks but it actually sounded really good. Especially since they didn't get them until October. Above is Emily in her "concert" clothes.
Here is the happy audience.

Emily and her good friend from school.
Oh my goodness, so grown up looking. How did that happen?
After her performance, nana and papa came over to give her their gift since Emily was having a very girly slumber party, papa wasn't coming and wanted to see her open it.
It was a telescope. She's been DYING for one. My little science girl. Saved all her money for a microscope then promptly put a telescope on her radar. I think she's content for now.
Emily at her birthday party.
My mom made Emily her favorite cake, white with 7 min. frosting. It was very pretty and had her favorite color, red, all over it.
The goody bags for the girls. Emily wanted a makeover party. Funny enough, by the time we got through the birthday events, it was movie time and they only spent about 5 min putting make up on, but they had fun.
Emily and one of her guests, Ava. Such beautiful girls!
Emily's grandma and papa John got her these. She lOVED them. She insisted on bringing a pen and the notebook on the limo ride so she could document everything.
The girls in the limo!! So much fun! So crazy and loud and amazing. From left to right, Leah, Tessa, Ava, Dejah (hidden), Emily and Molly.
The "forced to go" chaperons. Is that champagne for the adults in those cups? Why yes, yes it is!
My poor mom. She had the window seat and everyone took turns hanging out when we got to a street with lights. I think Leah spent the majority of the time there.
Blowing out the candles!

We are so proud of Emily. She has come a long way in her life. She is such a happy, easy going girl who has a passion for learning and reading and writing. She is what I call my "go to girl" because when I need a hand she always immediately says yes. So helpful with four kids. She skipped a grade this year, went from 2nd to 4th and never batted an eyelash. I was so nervous for her both academically and socially but she proved how ready she was. The teacher said she would have never known she skipped a grade if they hadn't told her and that she is easily the top in the class. I wish I had that brain. She definitely got it from daddy. And she's made some really good friends this year. I am so happy for her. God truly blessed us with Emily! Love that girl and am so excited to see where God's taking her in the coming years.

A look back at Rylee's 4 years

2011-08-04T08:41:00.000-07:00

Rylee is four! I can't believe how fast it's gone. I always have to do my "look back" post when my kids have a birthday. So here she is at 4...

Here is her 3rd birthday!

Big number 2.
Her first birthday! She's so sweet!
And her first birthday ever, the day she was born! All 7lb 9 oz. of fun!

Championship 2011 San Francisco

2011-05-29T12:15:00.001-07:00

This year we had Championship in San Francisco. It was kind of disappointing to be going to California again, but it ended up being a really fun trip. We started at the Giants Stadium with a Giants vs. A's game. It was a great game that we won in overtime.

Then we headed downtown to the Hilton and checked into the events. This year Farmers had a nascar they sponsored and it was there for us to see. Not really much of a Nascar fan, but it was cool to see.The second night we were there was the black tie night. Here is Mike's championship ring, now with 5 diamonds, he gets one for every year he makes Championship. This thing only comes out a couple times a year...not exactly fashionable. Looks like he just graduated from high school.
On the third day of the convention, we get to choose an excursion that farmers sponsors. This year we chose Alcatraz. It was really fun. We could have spent more than the 2 hours we had before catching the ferry for lunch. Here I am with my Red Bull before we got on the boat. Mike got me hooked after buying me one at Dutch Bros with a flavor added.
Waiting to get on the ferry.
In line to get on the Ferry...I have my ticket ready.
View from the ferry as we come up.
It's actually a very beautiful island in some parts. They really keep up the gardens along the hillside very nicely.
A few of the notorious inmates who lived in Alcatraz.
On the audio tour. It was really cool. You could stop and start the tour as needed. So we were able to take our time. And it was given by actual guards and inmates which was kind of cool since they lived and worked there.
I think this is a view of the living quarters for families of the prison guards. They actually had the families live there, which was crazy. One lady came on during the audio tour and described life there as a tight, fun community where they felt very safe. That amazes me since the only inmates who came to Alcatraz were the ones who couldn't behave in other prisons.
On the last day, we had some free time so we went with some friends to China Town. It was really neat. We found what looked to be a somewhat safe place to eat and had some egg rolls, pot stickers, and some other stuff I wasn't so sure about. Then we found where they make fortune cookies. It was in this ally..
Here is the lady making the cookies. You could buy regular, chocolate, mixed, or even the flat ones. I loved the flat ones. The place they made them looked like a big closet...very tight quarters.
The last night was American Idol night. Below are Mike, myself and our friends Alli and Robert. So thankful to have gotten to know them over the last few years. Not a lot of people make it from our area.
After the events were over, we made one more game before coming home. We had amazing seats, right behind home plate row A. Seriously close. It was awesome. Great game even though we lost.
I'll leave you with a look at these man's pants. He is an ultra fan. I don't think I could do that!

Next year....Naples Florida!!! Yay. Can't wait to hit the east coast.

Easter 2011

2011-04-24T19:26:00.001-07:00

We had a really nice Easter this year. Church was absolutely amazing. I am so thankful to have such an amazing church family. I really feel like I've made some wonderful relationships at our current church. Our life group was so fun this past season. Worshiping our risen King and watching our family get baptized this morning was so uplifting. We are so blessed.

We started Easter Saturday night, late, by dying Easter eggs. It was really fun but I didn't factor in that their hands would turn colors the night before church. Thankfully the dye seemed to fade by morning. They had a lot of fun doing them!

Here is their buckets from the Easter bunny. Way too much candy this year. Mike and I might have gone to the store hungry.

On Sunday morning they couldn't wait to get their new Easter dresses on. Our girls love to dress up. Mike also made a really yummy breakfast of Belgian waffles with strawberries and whipped cream and bacon. So good!
All four kids in their Easter clothes. Ever try and get a picture of four kids all smiling at the same time? How about just all looking at the camera at the same time? Nearly impossible.
I took the opportunity to take pics of each girl today, Nate was asleep. Here's Emily, 8.
Allyson, 5.
Rylee, 3.5
All four at Nana's, pre-Easter egg hunt.

Nate enjoyed swinging during the hunt.
We put all of Emily's eggs in spots taller than her so she wouldn't get all of the eggs.

I LOVE this picture of Allyson. So photogenic.
I suggested to my mom to get them colored bubbles for Easter. Cheap and fun. However the colors were super dark and very messy. We quickly replaced them with regular soap and water, but they had some fun first with the colored bubbles.

Nate ate a cupcake and watched them blow bubbles.

Blessed

2011-01-25T20:39:00.000-08:00

This morning was a rough morning. None of my kids were in a particularly good mood. No one wanted to either go to school or get ready for school . Nate had been crying since 5 a.m. and was just plain cranky. But by the end of the day, things had turned around. Everyone was happy and doing great. I went from frustrated in the morning to feeling blessed to have such great kids. As I was cooking dinner I was watching my girls play bowling on Kinect and laughing at each others gutter balls and extolling each others victories. I had asked Emily to take her book into the back yard and read and keep an eye on Nate, who loves being outside. She not only happily complied but proceeded to follow him around the yard helping him with what he wanted to play with, including swinging him and making him laugh. In that moment I felt so blessed. I have good kids. They may fight sometimes, they may get an attitude every once in a while or even talk back. But they have good hearts. One of my favorite things on Sunday morning after church, or after school when they bring home their art work is listening to them say, "Look (place a sisters name), I made this for you!" And they ooooh and ahhh over the prized craft. They do that every time. It's rarely made for me or for themselves, it's always reserved for each other. They really lift one another up and encourage each other. I LOVE that and hope it continues.

I never planned on having four. 2 was my plan. I still sometimes struggle with how busy and challenging it is. Just ask my mom who I unload to on a regular basis. I like to have my house clean. I like to have peace and quiet. I have high standards for them, mostly too high. But I feel like I've learned so much. I am really learning how to stop comparing myself to other moms. My house is not beautifully decorated or perfectly clean. There are pencil marks on my wall that I swear I'm going to get tomorrow. Never happens. I'm learning to make my kids a priority over my house. Seems simple but I'm a neat freak and it's not so simple all the time. The last few months I've stopped to play with them more, laugh with them more, read to them more and it's so much more rewarding than a clean house. Ally told me the other day, "mommy you are the best, you are so much fun. You read to us, take us to the park and let us play at Bella's house." That was the best compliment. Especially since she's such a daddy's girl, I rarely get that kind of thing from her.

Emily told me the other day she's praying for the neighbor that she plays with regularly. He told her he didn't believe in God so she said she told him all about Jesus and that she was going to keep praying and telling him more about her faith. She was so concerned for him. I loved it. I worry all the time that we're not doing enough to grow our kids faith. I'm asking myself if I'm saying or doing the right thing...what I forget is that God is living and moving in their hearts. He's doing the work. Yes, I need to help her grow in her faith, but God is doing far more than I ever could.

So all this to say, I am so thankful for my FOUR wonderful children. I am so thankful for each of their different personalities. They challenge me and make me better. They've made me rely on God in a way I never had before. This may seem rambling but it's been on my heart for a while so I thought I would put it down to "paper" so to say.

Ally's Five Birthdays

2011-01-12T10:44:00.000-08:00

Ally's first birthday!
Second birthday...Love that face!
Ally's third birthday.
Fourth Birthday...
Now she's a big 5 year old. The years have gone by fast. She's such a sweet girl and we love her so much. I hope she never outgrows her sweet shy smile she has. Friends and family know what I'm talking about!

For her birthday this year we took her to Leatherby's. We had the place to ourselves and the kids ate ice cream and colored in the coloring books I bought. It was so low key and perfect. She loved it. All the kids had banana splits and they loved them. Ally doesn't like cake so it was just what she wanted. I may just do that every year for her birthday. Cleanup was non existent and shew as so happy. It was a nice little party.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-03T11:48:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas. On Christmas Eve we had my parents, my uncle Mark and Grandma over for Zuppa soup and twice baked potato soup. It was very nice. The girls and I also baked Santa cookies, the traditional sugar cookies cut out and iced with frosting and sprinkles. They were a very yummy treat for Santa and for us!

Santa came in the middle of the night and delivered Emily a new bike, Ally a new camera and Rylee the helmet she wanted to badly. Unfortunately Ally's camera didn't work very well and after 3 attempts at new cameras we gave up and got her a much needed new bike. She loves it. Christmas morning, right after they woke up...at 7:30!
Opening presents!
Emily was so excited to get this video camera she wanted from Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Amy. It was even better than she hoped as it was her favorite color!
We didn't get much for Nate this year as he's still pretty young but the first gift we gave him was about halfway through opening presents. He was so exited to get one he walked around showing everyone and babbling in excitement. He even did a good job opening it. He really liked ripping the paper.
One of the things the girls got in their stockings was a balloon with a rubber band. He loved banging that ball around.

After opening presents at our house, we went to mom and dad's for the day. It was really fun. We ate a yummy breakfast and relaxed all day before Mike's traditional dinner of prime rib, it was amazing!

Birthday and Holidays

2010-12-21T14:54:00.000-08:00

It has been an incredibly busy month. November and December are fast pace for our family with 2 birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and school functions. I seem to be baking, making and preparing for one thing after another. So here's some pictures of what we've been up to these last few months, newest to oldest.

The girls all sang at church this past Sunday. Emily had a little solo. She did really well, even though she forgot to sing the sheep part the first time around and started out singing the cow. It was cute though! They sang The Friendly Beasts and Go Tell It On The Mountain. Ally and Emily sang especially loud. I could pick up their voices both services.

Emily at the second service...she actually was the cow this time!
Allyson had her school performance, and I think she'll forgive me when she reads this someday but is was a HORRIBLE night. LOL! All the kids looked adorable and did a great job. Even though it was preschool, Ally's teacher miss Cindy asked Emily to be the Ghost of Christmas past, present and future. She did a great job. And Ally opened the play by welcoming the guests and announcing their play title. Unfortunately the room was packed beyond the max. capacity. There was no air in the very hot room, no microphones, no music, no stage. So we couldn't hear a thing. The only person I heard talking was Emily. I leaned over to my dad at one point and told him Emily was the entire play. =). The whole thing was utter chaos and a fellow mom and myself vowed to take over the performance next year. This is not my first unorganized play at this preschool. Thankfully her teacher is very capable in the classroom.
Next up that week was Emily's 8th birthday. Her actual birthday was on a Wednesday so I made blue cupcakes with rings on top (her personal request). Then, Mike and I took just her to dinner. She really wanted Red Lobster but that didn't work out with the restaurant not functioning correctly, so we took her to applebee's. She loved the mozzarella sticks, strawberry lemonade and chicken strips. She had a really good time. It was nice to spend one on one time with her.
On Friday, I was preparing for her Saturday party. Actually, I was all week by running tons of errands looking for the best prices on the things I needed. But the actual baking and prepping was Friday. I made 58 Christmas tree cookies. 30 were being wrapped up for her class to take home along with a candy cane, pencil, and yo yo for their goody bags after her party.
My mom and I made Emily's under the sea cake. It turned out adorable and she absolutely loved it.
We had her party at round table. 4 friends from school came and a bunch of friends and family. It was very fun. We played 2 rounds of bingo, 2 rounds of pin the tail on the donkey, ate pizza, cake and ran around a lot!

For her birthday, Emily received 2 Barne's and Noble's gift cards so on Sunday, Mike and I took her to pick out some books before we took her to the movies. It was a lot of fun, she got great books and we got to hang out with just her for a few hours again. Below is her with her stack of books. She couldn't decide between them all so daddy stepped in and paid over $20! He has a soft spot for his girls!
After picking out books, we took her to see Narnia. She was so excited. She had been waiting months to see it. We splurged and took her to the XD 3D showing. It was definitely worth the money. Below is Emily practically running to the theater.
Here she is with her snacks and glasses waiting for it to start. She never even noticed the camera flash she was so into the movie.
After that busy weekend, it was the final week of school. Ally had pajama/game day. She brought Disney Bingo on DVD. It was a huge hit. Then I made pretzel sticks dipped in white chocolate rolled in either smashed butterfinger, candy canes, mini chocolate chips, or assorted Christmas sprinkles for Emily's class and Mike's office. I sliced cheese and used cookie cutters to make holiday shapes for Emily's class on Friday. It was a lot of work but also very fun. Then, after a crazy day of cooking for Mike's office party, it was FINALLY Christmas break.

Below is the girls making a gingerbread tree. It was a lot of fun. They got to frost the star shaped cookies, then I would stack each layer. Then they put on the star and candy ornaments. It took a decent amount of time, little mess, little explanation and it was just a fun time. I think gingerbread houses are fun but I'm just not patient enough with the ages of my girls. This was perfect because you didn't have to be super careful.

Finished product!
Next up...Christmas and Allyson's birthday.

Emily's Story

2010-12-13T18:19:00.001-08:00

Santa's Funniest Trip Of All Trips In All The World

This is the story of Santa's funniest trip of all trips. Once Santa landed on a house red and green with sparkles and snow on the roof. Santa looked in the window and saw two puppies looking in the window. He told them, "shh" cause they were about to bark. Then Santa goes to the roof by a sparkly red and green ladder. On the roof he almost slips but he makes it. Then he goes down the roof. The puppies jump on him quietly. They see Santa at the chimney where stockings are hung. Immediately he delivers presents for you and me under the tree. And finally Santa finishes the last stocking and goes up the chimney. He gets in his sleigh, clicks his reindeer and says MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY. AND GOODNIGHT. GOODBYE!!!!! The end

Emily wrote this in school! I thought it was cute.

Busy 1st Week of December

2010-12-03T11:18:00.000-08:00

We've had a very busy week. We started the week off with Emily's 2nd grade pow wow, a doctors appt. for 3 of my kids, then Emily's award ceremony at school, then Ally had a field trip to All Fired Up. Busy weeks like this are always nice because they make the week go by fast but it also makes it a little exhausting when you add in the regular day to day routine.

Emily was so excited about her 2nd grade pow wow. She talked and talked about it for weeks. At home, we made a guitar out of a shoebox. We decorated it with feathers and beads and Indian signs. She loved it and used it during their pow wow.

Here she is holding her instrument right before they did a dance.
I thought this was so cute, doesn't he look absolutely bored out of his mind?
Walking around chanting. She didn't smile at all. She was very serious. I think she was nervous.
On Friday, Emily got an award for being a top reader. She's now gotten that award 3 years in a row from 3 different teachers. I think she's ready to get something different but we're proud of her. She's reading over 200 wpm and all the time. I can see why she gets this award.
After Emily's award ceremony I took Ally on her preschool class field trip to All Fired Up. This field trip was a reschedule as the lady who owns the shop didn't show up the first time. Ally was very sad. So today was a big day for her. She chose a butterfly to paint and wouldn't let me help her, not one bit. She had to coat it three times on each side and so we had to take it over to a blow dryer to dry it between coats. She wouldn't even allow me to help dry it. Very independent my girls are! The owner drew a face, eyelashes and wrote her name on her butterfly at the end. She can't wait to get it on Tuesday when it's done being "fired up"!
Here's Ally and some school mates waiting to paint.

Nathan had a 12 mo. check up on Thursday. He weighed in at 21 lbs. He was 10% in weight and 70th in height. No shocker there, seems to be our pattern. He is healthy and doing great. He is mostly sleeping all night now and is a very happy boy. He loves balls and brushes. If he has one of those things, he can play for long stretches on his own.

Next week isn't going to be much better. My first baby girl is going to be 8! That is crazy. The years are not going by any slower, in fact, it seems to have sped up. We are so very proud of who she is becoming. She is so smart and fun to be around. I can't wait to have her big birthday party at the pizza parlor next weekend. Lots of pictures to come so stay tuned! And Ally has her school play that even Emily has a part in. They are doing the Christmas Carol and Emily is one (if not all ) of the ghosts. Ally is very excited about that night. Emily is too, except she's missing the AWANA Christmas party and is learning that in life there are choices that need to be made. It's not always easy, but it's necessary.

Happy 1st Birthday Nate

2010-11-18T09:59:00.000-08:00

Man, it's been a super long time since I've blogged. I thought there was no better way to pick it up again than with a blog about my little man turning one. We had a really nice day. I didn't fully plan an outside party because November can be warm or really cold/rainy. But we woke up that day to beautiful weather. It was truly a perfect day to play outside. The kids got to play on the swing set and run around and the adults got to sit and visit. I was sooooo thankful not to have a princess party again so I went all out boy with a monster truck party. My mom and I made the cake for Nate and we bought and re-created a cake for just him to eat.

Nate started walking just before 11 mo. and was fully walking by his birthday. He's my earliest baby to walk.

Nate just waking up from a nap. We got him in his birthday shirt, hat (which he hated), and we were showing him his balloons. He liked them as long as we didn't put him down near them.
His race car/monster truck theme table. I thought it turned out really cute.
The cake!
Nate's personal smash cake. He didn't like it at all.
Grammy and Nana with all the kiddos.
Nana and the birthday boy.
Grandma and papa John came up to celebrate with Nate. We took them to dinner afterward to celebrate Grandmas birthday which happens to be the day before Nate's.
I had to include this picture. Those two LOVE each other, they have since birth and I think they take the cutest pictures together.
We had Tessa, Bella, Jackson, Devon, Kara and Jason at the party. They all had so much fun on the swingset.
Grandma and Papa John bought Nate this Buzz Light year car. He loves to be pushed on it or to walk and push it, that is, when he gets a turn. Rylee, and especially Ally, Love to ride this. They rarely let Nate have a turn on it.
Nathan getting some much needed help from Mommy opening his presents. Can you guess what that is? He loves balls.

Grandma decorated Nate's face in frosting because he didn't even want to touch the cake much less get it on his face. He was less than trilled about this so she took pity on him and cleaned him up.

I am so blessed to have my little boy. Who says the third times the charm? In our case the fourth time is. I think he's going to grow up and be a very easy going person. We love him a lot. And he has the 3 best sisters to share his life with. Mike and I are very blessed.

1st day of preschool, 2nd grade and the dentist

2010-08-26T15:45:00.000-07:00

August 16th was a big day for Allyson. It was her first official day at preschool and her first dentist appt. She was super excited for both. The morning of school she woke up and got ready for school. She was slightly disappointed to find out she didn't need a backpack or lunchbox. The school provides the lunches. But she had a great day and loves going.
Right after school we went home, brushed and headed for the dentist. My kids LOVE the dentist. Go figure. We have a great dentist who usually doesn't take kids but if they're really really good he'll keep them. We're 2/4 so far. Hopefully Ry and Nate will be just as easy. Ally's teeth looked perfect and she walked away the proud owner of a new Sleeping Beauty toothbrush and special toy she got to pick out from their prize basket. She asks all the time when she gets to go again.
Here is Ally playing at the first table she could get to. That was right before she had to go write her name on a piece of paper. She knows how to write her name really well but I made the mistake of teaching her Ally and not Allyson. At school they have her write Allyson. She looked at me like, "What's this?" when she saw the paper. She now proudly writes Allyson!
Emily was so excited to show her the ropes and this was Ally doing her own version of hop scotch which Emily promptly taught her the correct way!

Emily is a big 2nd grader. She is having the best year so far. She is so grown up. She's made several new friends and each day so far has been declared, "the best day so far." I love it. She has such a positive attitude this year about school and soccer. She just loves both. She's always liked school, though, so that doesn't count I guess.
Being goofy. At least I got one cute picture.

Nathan

2010-08-09T13:26:00.000-07:00

Nate is 9 months and growing by the day. I have been very bad about blogging pictures. Not nearly as good as I was with the girls. He is a very happy easy going baby. He mostly only cries when he wants to be held or is hungry. He learned how to crawl a month ago and loves to roam around the house while I do stuff. He quickly learned how to climb up the stairs. He loves to do that and has fallen backwards several times onto the hardwood floor. It would hurt any kid but he especially cries because he is the biggest baby, no pun intended. He has zero pain tolerance.

Nate weighs in now at 18.5 lbs. I can definitely feel that weight increase carrying him around. I'll be thankful when he can walk.

He loves to feed himself. He gets this resigned look on his face when I feed him baby food but when I bring out a finger food for him his eyes light up and he has a light-hearted countenance.

His favorite thing to do right now is growl. He loves to growl. It doesn't matter what he's doing, he's usually growling. It's always a happy growl, though. It's really cute. He also loves to blow raspberries. That ones a little more challenging as he soaks his clothes.

Overall, Nate is a happy, easy going baby. I just wished he slept all night!

Disneyland 2010

2010-07-12T14:27:00.000-07:00

In June we got to go to Toppers in Los Angeles. We had a great time. We visited Mike's sister and family and went to Disneyland. The above picture is of Allyson on the way down. She is very much like her mother. We would rather fly than drive. I think Rylee was sitting here contemplating asking to use the bathroom for the 100th time.
Here we are near Splash Mountain and the Winnie the Pooh ride. We took this same picture last year without Nate or myself though.
The older girls really loved California Adventure this time. Emily even rode Screamin' which goes upside down and it turned out to be her favorite. This picture was of the girls on another favorite ride, the water ride made to look like rapids. There was no avoiding getting soaked on this ride.
This is Ally driving the car at Disneyland. She started out terrible. Rylee and I were jerked around quite a bit. But after a few minutes she seemed to get the hang of the turns and the rest of the ride wasn't as bad. Maybe there's hope for her someday.
Emily had to drive with what they called a cast member because Mike had to sit out with Nate.
Here's Ally after Mike accidentally let Ally take a bite of a frozen banana with peanuts. Minor slip but it made her really sick for about an hour and a half. Thankfully she recovered right when we were thinking about leaving.
Ally riding Thunder Mountain. She had her hands up the whole time.
Nate at the Pirates of the Caribbean restaurant. This is my favorite picture of the week!
Rylee, Nate and I went to the Playhouse Disney show while Mike took the kids on bigger rides. She LOVED this show. It was live on stage and very interactive with dancing and hand motions. It was right up her ally. We had to get creative finding things to do with the younger two while the older two went on their rides. I know Rylee got more ice cream and Popsicles than her sisters.
Mike and I dressed up for the real reason we were in L.A., Toppers. This was the black tie night.
One of the days we met up with my sister in law and her four kids and we hit Huntington beach. It was so fun. The water was perfect and there were dolphins swimming just off shore the entire time.
This is Rylee all messy and looking innocent right before she decided to go on a walk. I had told her, as she lay there to go down to Mike in the water to rinse off. She didn't want to and I was holding a tired and mad Nate so I didn't push it. A couple min. later Mike came up and we were discussing how we were going to get eight kids cleaned off and in the car along with all our gear. I look down and Rylee is gone. I figured she was playing in the pit they were working on the entire time we were there and I just couldn't see her. So Mike and I continue to make plans. I start to walk down to the hole they were digging to get the kids. No Rylee. Turns out she had taken a long walk down the beach. She stopped to talk to a grandma and her daughter and grandkids and when she started to move on, they figured it was probably smart to stop her. Especially since she said she didn't know where I was. When Mike got to the lifeguard station, they asked if Mike knew her name. He said Rylee. She paused and said, "ok, that sounds right I guess. She said her name was Ry RY. How old is she?" Almost 3, he said. Pause. "welll, ok, she said she was 5 but she looks more like 3. She talks really well so we thought maybe she was small." Mike passed the test to make sure he was her dad and she came walking back to us. When asked if she was lost, she looks confused and says, "no."
The pit they were digging and filling with water.
We bought them boogie boards and they were so excited, and then didn't use them.

Last Day of School and Swimming

2010-06-04T09:33:00.001-07:00

Summer and swimming are in full force at our house. We recently stayed at a hotel that Ally could touch the bottom and she was so excited. Generally she is somewhat afraid of the water but she jumped right in here. She had a blast. Rylee was also fearless. I turned around to talk to my mom and she jumped right in from the steps. I didn't even hear her until Mike told me to get Rylee. She was bobbing up and down like a cork. Luckily she was doing pretty well. Nate was ok being in the water but as soon as we got to the pool area he got scared eyes and started crying. I'm not sure if it was the kids splashing or what, but he didn't like it.
The girls in their new suits waiting by the elevator. I found great deals on cute suits at GAP in San Diego.
Below is Rylee in the Lazy lagoon with Mike. She really enjoyed that. Ally, not so much. Like I said, unless she can touch she doesn't really want much to do with the water.
One thing Ally does want, though, is to do everything Emily does. Emily now rides all of the rides at waterworks. This, for all you non-redding people, is the Avalanche. A ride that is shaped like a U and you go straight down, then up until you slow down at the bottom. I tried to tell Ally she wouldn't like it, I don't like it. But since Em did it, she insisted. I thought her face at the bottom was classic. She hasn't ridden it since.
Ryee loves the water this year. The first day we went was kind of cool and she didn't care one bit. She stayed in the water the whole time. Except for the five bathroom trips in 2 hours. One of those times, I had Nate so I told Emily to take her. Rylee is really bad about goofing off in the bathroom and not listening to her sister. But, having four kids, it's necessary for her to go with Emily sometimes. So I gave Ry a big pep talk before leaving that she is absolutely supposed to obey Emily or else. So I'm sitting with Nate way across the park and I'm watching the bathroom area. Sure enough I hear Emily yell "RYLEE, COME HERE!" And just as I hear that, Rylee rounds the corner...totally naked and is running from Emily laughing. Emily is chasing her carrying her bathing suit trying to get her to stop. Mike, who is at the concession stand near the restroom hears nothing. They run right by him. So I jump up and intercede her streaking across the entire park. As I get halfway to her, I see/hear two ladies, (mom's probably), look up and bust up laughing. Now I'm totally embarrassed but realize how funny it is so I'm laughing and trying to get the suit back on while telling her she wasn't being a good girl for disobeying Emily. I don't think I got through to her though! Poor Emily, she looked horrified and says, "Mom, everyone was staring and laughing at us."
No more pictures mom!
Emily had her last day of school yesterday. She is very ready for the break. We had an amazing teacher this year, Ms. Henning. She was so good. She had lots of experience and kept the kids engaged all year. We are so thankful she was able to have her this year. I hope she's still teaching first grade for my other kids.
The first grade class did a class picnic for the last day and the families were all invited. This is Emily with Cassidy and Sydney.
Ally and Rylee eating their sack lunch. They were so excited to get to eat with the kids at school that day. Ally can't wait for preschool next year.

Easter 2010

2010-04-06T13:15:00.001-07:00

We started our Easter weekend out by dying eggs on Saturday. Mike had the girls dye 3 dozen eggs. We now have a lot of hard boiled eggs in our fridge. Good thing Emily and Ally like them. The girls had a lot of fun mixing the different colors together and dipping the eggs. Overall, they did pretty good not breaking any shells.
Rylee had a lot of fun just stirring the colors, she got a little messy but it kept her busy.
Ally loved to let the eggs soak a long time. She would roll it around forever. She had the brightest eggs in the bunch.
Here's the loot Easter morning. They all got glittery tattoos, they love tattoos right now.

Nathan had a little bit of a rough day. He was kind of cranky that morning. I kept trying to get a picture of him with his basket without his pacifier but he would have none of it. I was lucky he let me put him down at this point.
He loves his bunny! He is very much a cuddly baby. He likes to put soft things up to his face.
This is their pre-rain Easter egg hunt. After breakfast we told the girls to go upstairs so we could hide the eggs then when we called them down Mike was going to let Rylee get a headstart, then Ally then Emily. But as we opened the door, it was starting to sprinkle with dark clouds quickly rolling in. So I told Mike to let them loose. They all got a pretty good amount of eggs.

The girls in their Easter dresses before church.
All the kids in their Easter clothes.

Happenings

2010-04-01T08:48:00.000-07:00

Nothing too exciting is happening in our lives right now but it's super busy. Mike and I were just discussing how four kids can really consume all your life. We love each minute with our kids but it is WORK! So here are a few highlights right now, boring to you as they may be! The above picture is of Ally learning how to change Nathan. She's probably the most into him right now. She insists on sitting next to him in the car so she can give him what he needs and loves to hold him as much as possible. She also hugs his poor little head all of the time, but he honestly doesn't seem to mind it too much. She definitely is my little mommy of my girls.

Emily just got awarded Top Reader and Powerful Thinker at school. She was so proud and was thrilled to receive a Baskin Robbins coupon for an ice cream cone. She's doing so well in school, it comes so natural for her. Her teacher said she can read 208 words a minute and at this point in 1st grade she supposed to read 24. Her teacher said she's the top reader in all of first grade and she's pretty sure 2nd grade at least. She loves her books, just like mommy! She also does really well in math and comprehension. She needs to work on her handwriting but if you look at my handwriting and Mike's, I'm not sure how much hope she has!
Allergy season has hit our household again. I'm so thankful Rylee doesn't seem to have allergies. Emily also has them but not like Ally. So between Zyrtec, eye drops, benadryl, and her nebulizer, we're keeping her in check. It was funny, the other night her nebulizer broke and lets just say she wasn't heartbroken over it. Then she realized that Nana had an extra and the fun didn't last. She really doesn't like doing them and it's been a year now that we've been on them. I don't really see her getting off of them in the next year. I can tell when she's missed one. So we'll plug on keeping her breathing well...it's kind of important, right?

Rylee is potty training and doing amazing. On her third morning I was taking a shower and comes in asking for help because she had gone "number 2". I couldn't imagine that she went on her own the first time but sure enough she did, and she did it again later. I'm a firm believer in waiting until they're ready, it's so much easier. She did prove her newness on potty training when we went to Walmart. I was, of course, alone with all four and she went on the floor in the middle of the store. Thankfully I had wipes in my cart.

Nate is such a happy little guy. He's almost 5 mo. and is almost 13lbs! He's gained almost 2 lbs. in a month. That's huge for him. I really think nursing him wasn't giving him the calories he needed. He also loves him some bottle! Too bad it's so darn expensive.

Mike and I will be celebrating 9 years on Wednesday. It's gone by so fast. I can't wait to see what our future holds together!

Soccer and Rockets

2010-03-23T07:51:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was great, the weather was perfect for playing outside and we did just that the entire weekend. Saturday we slept in and then went to Ally's first soccer game. I forgot my camera so I'll have pictures of her playing another time but she had a huge grin the entire time she was on the field. She loved every minute. It's funny because her coach always asks Ally before she takes the field if she is thirsty because she's already known for asking for drink breaks a lot.
Then it was home for lunch and rocket building. The girls have been begging Mike to launch the rocket he bought last year so we decided today was the perfect day to do it. However, when Mike opened the box it was a lot more complicated than we expected. After 1000 "is it done yet, daddy" questions we finally got it in the car and over to the school track near our house. It took a few tries and one run to the store for more vinegar but we got it launched. The girls were sooo excited. It had quite a good kick to it. Mike didn't let go of it quick enough at one point and it actually popped his shoulder out of joint for a second, (an old dislocation injury so it's not uncommon for him).

Here's Nate kicking back in his cute new summer outfit and matching hat Nana had bought him that day so he wouldn't get sunburned outside. After our rocket Mike and the girls ran the track some and played soccer. Emily turns out to be a pretty good runner. She ran 1/4 mile and kept ahead of Mike almost the whole time. Mike has been wanting to run with her and maybe Ally for quite some time. Ally enjoyed the soccer part more than the running part, but she gave it a shot.

After that we went to Nana and papa's house for rotisserie turkey. It was yummy and I didn't have to cook so it really completed our day.
This is the much needed bath after a busy day. He was very ready for it.
This is our rocket we launched. It stayed in tack so we can launch it again sometime soon...and I do mean soon as our girls ask every day.

3 mo. pictures

2010-03-15T15:47:00.000-07:00

Emily- 7 Allyson- 4 Rylee- 2.5 Nathan- 3 mo.

Milestones

2010-03-13T17:54:00.000-08:00

So much is happening in our lives. So many changes for our kids. Life is super busy but a lot of fun. I can't say it isn't without stress...there's plenty of that. But it's fun to watch our kids grow and learn and play and laugh. They bring so much joy to us. So here is an update on our family. Above is Mike and I at a Kings/Trailblazer game. Matt and Tricia's dad got free tickets and we went down last minute with them. We literally got there as the game started and left right after to get home after midnight. It was a fast but fun trip. We had 6 adults in our car. 4 guys and Tricia and I waaaay in the back of my car. But it was a ton of fun.

Ally turned four and is now officially a soccer player. She was so incredibly excited to start playing. She had her first practice on Tuesday, (so now we have dance and soccer that night). She looked so proud in her little soccer gear. She and Mike went to practice, it was 42 degrees and freezing out but she had a blast. Unfortunately she wasn't getting that there wasn't a snack involved but she rolled with it!

Nathan turned 4 months last week. Holy Cow! Where did the time go? He has really really turned a huge corner the last few weeks. He went from me holding him most of the time to happy entertaining himself up to 1.5 hours sometimes. He just sits in his chair or swing and talks up a storm. He's also taking a bottle...hurray! It's been 6 years since a Littau baby took a bottle. Unfortunately my breastmilk was causing him to not gain weight. When I started to supplement formula, he gained almost a pound in a week and he was much more content. Hence the happiness on his own! At his 4 mo. checkup he weighed 11 lbs. 0oz. and was 25 inches tall. He isn't on the growth curve yet for his weight but he's just below the 50th % for height.
Nate's new bumbo chair we're borrowing from our friends. I am so grateful to so many awesome friends for loaning us some of their baby gear so we don't have to buy stuff for our last. We've gotten a car seat, bumbo chair, papasan chair, swing, baby backpack, and clothes. We're so incredibly thankful.

Nate's first little faux hawk! I love it! It helps that most of his hair is on top of his head.

Emily finally hit a huge milestone...she learned how to ride her bike with no training wheels. We knew she could do it but she just never had the interest or confidence to try. So today Mike was determined and she got it in no time. By the afternoon she could take off and ride all by herself. We even took her on a walk at a trail and she rode way ahead of us like she had been doing it all her life. I love these special moments with our kids.

A funny story of Rylee, no picture though. As I was getting ready to go to the ball game last night, Rylee was in my room talking to me. I got out a belt to put on and I guess I don't wear belts often because as soon as she saw me she started sobbing very hard.

Me: Rylee, what's wrong?

Rylee: NO! NO! NO!

At this point I'm thinking, did someone hit her with a belt or something, sheesh!

Me: What's wrong Rylee?

Rylee: NO! NO MOMMY! DON'T GO TO WORK!

Me: I'm not going to work, Rylee. I'm going to basketball game and you're going to Nana's remember?

Rylee (totally fine all of a sudden): Oh, ok.

And happily marches off to play. I guess she knows that the last thing Mike does before he goes to work each morning is to put a belt on. LOL! Smart girl. She thought I was putting a belt on to go to work.

Rice Cereal

2010-02-17T10:06:00.000-08:00

Mike really wanted to try rice cereal with Nathan, it's one of the things he looks forward to with our kids. Since I nurse, he doesn't get to feed them until they start solids. So I broke down and let him try after Mike said he thought he was ready. Nathan, however, disagreed that he was ready. Notice in the video how with every bite he lets out a loud scream. It was so funny. I think we'll be waiting another month to try feeding him solids.

New Happenings

2010-01-27T14:11:00.000-08:00

Emily started dance a couple weeks ago. She's in a tap, jazz, ballet and hip hop class. We hesitated putting her in dance because we knew it wasn't what she has pictured in her head. She pictures flouncing around on stage and wearing cute outfits. None of the practice and routines that are the reality. But after talking about what she should do, we decided to give this a go. So far she loves it. Can't wait to go again. I've also already met some really nice mom's to visit with while Em practices so it's kind of a nice break for me too.

I love the picture, above, of her doing her own version of a ballet move. I told Mike that she looked like a someone drew a stick figure with a sharpie pen and it leaped off the page and was walking around...she's so skinny! I can't wait for her dance recital in June. I think they'll be cute and entertaining at this age.

Nathan is also doing a lot more. He's really starting to push himself up. He can hold himself up for a long time. He's rolled over once or twice but is really trying to do it more often. He's not on his tummy very often so there's not a lot of time to practice. He's also starting to get into a little more routine for naps during the day, not completely, but better than the random here and there naps like he was doing. It helps to have 2 long naps instead of 3-4 shorter naps. I just may get something done after all.

Nathan-10 Weeks

2010-01-21T14:46:00.000-08:00

I Finally caught Nate's smile on camera. Barely, but it's there. He smiles a ton and talks a ton but he gets very serious when the camera comes out. Drives me nuts! He's doing very well. He still likes to be held when awake but he's content to walk around with me while I do stuff around the house or with the girls. And I really can't complain because he goes to bed at 8:30, I wake him for a quick 10:00 feeding and he goes right back down and sleeps until sometime between 7 and 7:30.

He is now starting to enjoy his sisters more. He'll coo and smile at them. I think Rylee is still a little too hands on for him though, as you see towards the end of the video. If he's awake in his swing or bouncer she hovers right over him, shoving pacifiers into his mouth and giving him his blanket. She's definitely still my little mother. She is also the most into my parents puppy, poor thing.

Ally's 1st-4th Birthdays

2010-01-11T08:53:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday, Ally!

Could they be related you think?

2009-12-29T14:38:00.000-08:00

Above, Emily. Below, Nathan

Christmas Weekend...lots of pictures

2009-12-26T20:03:00.000-08:00

My beautiful three little girls. Right before we went and saw Santa. They all seem pretty brave here!

Rylee freaked out and wouldn't go near Santa so Emily and Ally sat with him and Mike held Rylee and took pictures. We decided to leave Nathan out of it.
Finishing my two day baking marathon. The girls helped decorate the cookies. It was hard to explain to Rylee that the whole foil of cookies in front of her wasn't all hers. She didn't get that.

Would you like some cookies with those sprinkles?
I really helped them and did a lot of explaining for the frosting part. I figured the sprinkles would be the easy thing to leave them alone on while I finished making the other cookies. Wrong! They did great with the frosting part and sprinkles went flying.
Christmas Eve, reading the Christmas story. I love that kids Bible.
In front of the tree on Christmas eve. Santa's almost here!
Putting out cookies for Santa. Rylee was mad because she wanted to eat the cookies.
Christmas morning, santa came and brought flashlights for all the girls, and easy bake oven for Emily, Ariel dress up dress for Rylee and a CD and gift certificate for Ally to get her ears pierced.
Opening presents.

Nathan slept through the opening of presents and stockings so when he woke up, he got to open his. All of our kids used this babie's first Christmas stocking. Good thing it's red.
Nathan with his Christmas loot...look at the excitment on his face!
I love this shot of his puppy slippers on his cute little feet!
After opening presents and breakfast at our house, our whole troop went down to my parents for the remainder of the day. The kids got to open a whole set of presents at their house.

Later that night, after dinner, the girls put on their "Biblical" attire and led us in singing Hark The Harold Angels Sing, then Emily read the Christmas story and they finished with We wish you a Merry Christmas. Then we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and Emily blew out his candle.
I wish I could have kept more of a straight face for the performance but Rylee was just so darn funny. Look at her diaper and blanket. She looked so proud.
The day after Christmas we took Ally to use her gift certificate at Claire's to get her ears pierced. We were going to wait until she got older but we decided she was ready and she had watched Emily get it done and knew what would happen. Plus she's been asking and asking since Emily got hers done. So here she is, pre-earrings...
Emily, waiting to watch her sister get it done...she looked so cute in her scarf. She was excited for Ally. She also looks so grown up to me all of a sudden.
Rylee, looking extremely nervous, waiting for Ally to get it done. And by the way, she freaked out and ran into the mall when Ally started crying. She has already declared she DOES NOT want to get her ears pierced.
Ouch!
But it was soooo soooo worth it! Love that face!
Merry Christmas everyone!

Spirit Week and Christmas photos

2009-12-21T09:05:00.000-08:00

Last week was spirit week at Emily's school. On Wednesday it was Business day so Emily dressed up as none other than an insurance agent. She looked so cute with her tie and briefcase. Mike even took her to work early to make her a name tag.
Thursday was blast from the past. So we dressed her up like the 80's. I did a side ponytail with a big hair scrunchy, tied her shirt on the side, colorful socks, and Mike pegged her pants. I didn't know what that was but it's where you take the bottom front of her jeans, fold it over and roll it up 2x. I did a close up for you below.

Cheers!

At her class Christmas party, a parent brought in Sunny Delight. I never let Emily have orange juice so this was very special to her. I even let her have seconds, (because I poured all the kids glasses and they all only got a small amount)!
I had signed up to bring cookies and Nathan had a fussy day so I couldn't make any. So the night before we took Emily to the store to pick out cookies to bring. She chose snickerdoodles. She doesn't like those cookies but insists that she does. So when it came time for her party, this is her taking a bite of one. Notice the look on her face...fake enjoyment.
JOY TO THE WORLD, THE LORD HAS COME!
After church, before going to visit Santa clause. Boy it's hard to get a good picture with all 3!
All four of our beautiful children. We almost got them all to smile. At least they're all looking in the right direction!
After lunch on Sunday, we took the kids to see Santa. They still hadn't told him what they wanted for Christmas. When we were the next in line, Mike ran around the display to the other side to take a picture. So I was holding Nathan and literally dragging a sobbing Rylee across the display to see Santa. She was so strong I had to finally lean down and tell her that daddy was on the other side and she could go stand with him. Then she suddenly found her legs and ran as fast as she could and threw herself at him. So Ally and Emily sat with Santa. Emily asked for an easy bake oven and Ally asked for a princess flashlight and, with my encouragement, earrings to get her ears pierced. She's been begging since Emily got hers.

Nathan at 1 Month

2009-12-11T20:13:00.001-08:00

Nathan turned one month today. He is such a sweet baby boy. He's really starting to have some awake times, which is fun. He stares intently and I keep waiting for him to break out into a big silly grin but it hasn't happened yet. He's also really starting to go to bed on his own well. I think he was a little spoiled with the rocking thing, plus the kid slept a ton so I never got a chance to put him down awake.

I am loving having a boy. It's weird that it can be so different yet so similar. I think pretty much he does the normal infant stuff, so I think it's my mindset and how he sounds and looks, which is all boy! Rylee is still his biggest fan. I find her putting, (or shall I say shoving), his pacifier in his mouth all of the time. And she is constantly kissing him or trying to hug him. He is still "her baby" and don't try to tell her differently.

Nathan and Molly. Molly Grace- born 10/31/09 Nathan Michael- 11/11/09 Don't you love those overalls! Thanks Stephanie for the great hand-me-down!

7 years old

2009-12-11T11:20:00.000-08:00

Emily turned 7 on Tuesday. I have always thought that 7 seems so grown up, and actually having her turn 7 confirms it. She is such an independent person now. She is our cheerful helper, she has really taken the girls under her wing and patiently shows them how to do different things. She is a big reader and loves to go outside after school with her stack of books. We are very blessed to have her as our first born and we're enjoying every year with her. I'm excited to see what this year has in store for her!

Emily, on her actual birthday, taking cupcakes to school. I love that some teachers still let you bring homemade treats.
Emily at her birthday party last Friday. Tessa got to spend the night that night and they stayed up until midnight talking.

Emily opening her presents. She got a littlest petshop, an ipod type music player, $5, books, Barbie Wii game, and Mike and I are taking her in february to Disney on Ice.

I was going to bake Emily's cake to keep the cost down but my mom offered to surprise Emily with a cake so we went and picked out a Hello Kitty cake. It was super cute and really good, although very rich tasting.

Emily in front her of her banner and presents. We've had that banner at all of her birthday parties since her first. It's a tradition. I wonder how much she'll like it at 16?

Christmas and a Wedding

2009-11-09T09:01:00.001-08:00

This past saturday was a busy day at the Littau house. We woke up really early so Mike, true to his word, got out the Christmas decorations. He always wants to decorate early but was worried about getting it done before the baby so he got it out extra early. The girls were super excited that morning and couldn't wait to put their ornaments on. Mike and I always get them a new ornament each year, put their name and theyear on the bottom. That way when they're older they'll have ornaments for their tree along with knowing what they were into that year. Last year Emily got an Ariel ornament, (no surprise), Ally got an Eden ornament from Barbie and the Christmas Carol, (her favorite movie), and we picked out Rylee a snoopy set. This year we picked them out for the girls as they were only $3.99 at Target.

This is Emily's ornament...Princesses.
Ally got to have a Tinkerbell ornament.

Rylee got a Winnie the Pooh ornament.

We rotate who gets to put the star on the tree each year and looking back at pictures, Allyson did it last year so Em had the honor this year...well of at least getting it on the tree because....

Mike felt bad for how sad Ally was and took pity on her and let her straiten it, she did a good job too.

After decorating, we shipped Ry off to mom and dads for a quick lunch and early nap. Then the girls and I got ready and went to Tricia's to get their hair done for my cousins wedding. They looked so so cute. Tricia does a great job with hair. This is Allyson's hair all pinned up. It was so adorable. She has a TON of hair and although it's a pain to do on a regular basis, it's great for things like this.

Here are the girls all dressed up and ready for pictures. This picture was before the actual photos started. By the end of the night, Rylee finally said "no pictures".

I caught Allyson sitting like this and thought it was so sweet. She looked adorable!

So I made Emily pose like that, she did her hand on her face on her own though. I thought it was super sweet.

Rylee wouldn't sit like that so she just sat. Her dress wasn't poofy enough for that anyway!

Emily's hair. It turned out beautiful and lasted all night. It's always a little sad to take it down.

All five of the flower girls. Left to Right...Ellyana age 2, Emily, 6, Ally 3, Rylee 2, and Trinity 5.

Bridal party.

Going down the aisle. Emily was so good during the wedding. She went down so nice and stood up there so still and serious. She was a great flower girl. She's had practice though, this was her third wedding.

Allyson and Rylee down the aisle...Ally was practicallly dragging Rylee down. Not because Rylee didn't want to go , because she loved it, but because Ally was nervous. Just look at the look on her face!

During the ceremony. Ally was a little wiggly and kept doing this huge fake yawn. Didn't expect that from her.

Daddy and Rylee. They look so nice that day!
Rylee, after the wedding, pre meltdown. Mike and Rylee left pretty quick after dinner.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T08:46:00.000-08:00

We had a very eventfull halloween this year. Friday Emily got to wear her costume to school and have a parade and a class party. She had a ton of fun and looked cute.

On Halloween Day, we started with Emily's last soccer game. She's the kid in the red jersey in the middle of all of the blue jerseys. This years soccer was interesting. Sometimes she really wanted to be there, others she didn't. But Mike is thinking of being an assistant coach next year and I think she would really do well with him helping on her team. Now to just finish Mike's last day of baseball, (sunday a.m.), and sports are all finished in the Littau household!

The girls before the harvest carnival at Em's school put on by an awesome church in town. They had a lot of fun even though we didn't stay too long as the turnout was huge.

After the Carnival, we went to my parents and ate a great dinner and then took the girls trick or treating. They had so much fun and it was hilarious to see Rylee try to keep up. She was so excited she could barely contain herself. Towards the end, her bucket was so heavy she could barely keep up but she wouldn't let us help her. Finally, when someone tried to put a piece of candy in her bucket and it was so heavy she couldn't even lift it up to get the candy, we forced her to put some in Emily's already overflowing bucket. The girls were exhausted afterwards. I love trick or treating each year. I love watching them run from door to door. Brings back good memories.

Just some pics and an update

2009-09-09T13:16:00.000-07:00

Emily at her first soccer game. It was around 103 that day which means about 115 on the field. Doesn't she look super grown up? We're not sure soccer is her sport. It's funny. She never is overly excited about going but if we say, "OK, then we won't go" she then retracts and decides she does after all. And then during the first week of school they drew a picture of themselves and she drew herself playing soccer and went on to write how much she loves playing. I honestly think it's the heat during the fall season. We'll see how she does when it starts to cool down, if it ever does!

Emily is doing great academically at school. Her teacher is very impressed with how far ahead she is. She's reading 136 words per minute, and they need to read 50 by the end of the year. She also knows at least the first 500 sight words, which I guess there's 100 per grade. So she's doing well. The only thing is, I guess she's kind of become more, shall I say, outgoing at school. So she occassionally is having to be told to keep it down a little! Not our Emily! Keep it down?

Ally is doing sooo much better. We have an awesome allergy/asthma specialist now. He has been working at controlling her lung function and getting them to perform where they should be. They were saying she was hovering just about 50% and I think she's definilty above that now. I also notice she is more awake. She really needed naps this summer and bed on time. Now she just needs a little quiet time and is still energetic at bedtime. Kind of a mixed blessing there!

The above picture is today. She had to have another blood draw. This one to do a nut allergy panel. That way we can not have to worry about which nuts she can or can't have. So I let her do her hair pretty, wear a church dress, nana met us at the office to hold her this time, (which is special for her and mewe took the girls to lunch at Wendys. I tried to make this a fun time because she's been poked so much lately. She did really well, after the blood draw anyway.

Rylee is a talking machine. Her newest phrase is, "caaaan IIII?" Impretty sure she learned that from Allyson. It's super cute though. Recently she had an ear infection and cold so I took her to the doctor since she had been so sick all day with a pretty good fever. The above picture is her, happy as a clam and cool as a cucumber at the doctors. Why do they always do that to you when you take them in? So sick all day and then BOOM, totally fine? It happens everytime. But the nurse said it always happens, even with her kids. So that made me feel a little less ridiculous. Now she's better and happy. We all are for a change. It's so nice. Now to stay healthy!

30 Weeks

2009-09-07T16:34:00.000-07:00

I'm 30 weeks today and so far we have discussed nothing except the fact that we're definitly not finding out. And I think we may have come to the conclusion that we're going to make our loft into a fourth bedroom. But when and how that is supposed to happen is up in the air.

Every once in a while I'll throw a name out at Mike. He isn't too interested in actually picking out a name yet. So here's the "maybe" list. Thought maybe I could get some votes.

Girls
Hadley (Mike hates this name, my fav. He said she'll be call Hagley LOL!)
Kennedy (one we both agree on)
Sidney (Mike also likes this one)

Boys
Andrew (call him Drew)
Nathan (call him Nate)
Any suggestions. Mike hates Quinton and Eli, boys names I like.

Ally Funnies

2009-09-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

Ally is our heavy heavy sleeper and because of that, she still wears pull ups at night. We tried a while ago to give that up but she just didn't wake up until morning no matter what we tried. But she REALLY REALLY wants to wear underware. So every morning the first thing she tells us is whether she wakes up dry or not. So here's this mornings conversation...

Ally: Mommy, Mommy, I didn't wet my pull up last night!!

Me: Oh, you didn't. Good job!

Ally: Can I wear panties now?

Me: After a couple nights of being dry you can.

Ally: Ok.

Off she goes. She runs off and changes out of her favorite pj's into new pjs. This is really weird because these are the pajamas she has to wear all of the time. She just tells me it's because the other ones "fell into the toilet".

Later that day, Em finds wet panties on the floor, (BLAH!). and brings them to me. I then check her bed. Sure enough it's wet. This is what I pieced together....

Ally, getting ready for bed, completly ignores me when I tell her to put a pull up on, (she does that if I don't actually check). Has an accident. In the morning realizes, hmmm, this isn't good. So she quickly takes them off and puts on a dry pull up. Seeing a rare opportunity, she runs into our room and declares the good news. She then realizes her wet pajamas and takes them off, because remember, "they fell into the potty". So what does she say when I confront her with the bald face lie and evidence? just a quiet, "oh". And off she went.

I was pretty impressed with the planning and strategy that she put into that. Obviously she needs to learn a little lesson on deception but behind the scenes I was laughing.

Later that day, they were playing outside and Emily comes running in, declaring she needs to "go" now. She said to me, "Ally said I'm doing the potty dance and I need to go potty. She told me to come inside."

Ally is just too smart for her own good I think!

Random Thoughts

2009-08-21T08:41:00.000-07:00

We're finally reaching a healthy state in our household. Mike is still getting over the cold but it doesn't seem as bad. He's been good about taking Zinc and he also gets to take all that wonderful cold medicine I can't take so it doesn't seem too bad. Ally had a great checkup at the doctor Wednesday and now only has to use her inhaled steroid for a few months. The combo of steroid and albuterol took 25 mins., not good with a 3 year old.

We've made it through the first week of school. It seems to be going well. I asked Em's teacher how she's doing this week and she responded, "She's been doing great, and boy, she knows A LOT!" Always a nice thing to hear as a mom. I guess she's been a good friend and is always eager to answer questions while she's teaching. Hopefully the enthusiasm will last. What I want to know is, where is that person when she comes home? I think she saves all that energy up for me.

Soccer started last week, taking away 2 of our nights and part of a Saturday. Emily is doing ok. I think she doesn't particularly like the heat. Can't blame her. She's not doing too bad skills wise, however, she wants to be the social butterfly on the field. Doesn't really work with soccer. I think Ally is going to be our sports girl, she is dying to get on that field.

Ally's dr. and I agreed that she should be allergy tested. Has anyone ever done that? I hear it's kind of painful. I feel guilty about the timing. The dr. she's going to is supposed to be a really good one and I figured it would be a wait to get in. Turns out they have an appt. open for next Friday. It's a two hour appt. I feel kind of bad because at the hospital she was poked and proded a lot while she was there. Hopefully it won't be too bad.

Monday I'll be 28 weeks pregnant. I seriously have no idea how I got so far along! It feels like I haven't been to that many doctors appts. but after the 31st I think I'm on two week appts. That is crazy to me. Life goes by way too fast. Emily is dying to know what we're having. This morning she was trying to talk me into finding out for her. Poor thing, she's used to getting to know ahead of time.

I'm ready for fall to be here. This morning, in an hour and a half, it warmed up 20 degrees. I'm ready for long cool mornings and beautiful afternoons. My girls caught on weeks ago that it's too hot to play in the backyard and I'm really ready for them to go get out some energy.

I think that's all for now. Hopefully I didn't bore too much!

First Day Of First Grade

2009-08-17T10:50:00.000-07:00

This is the best backpack picture I got. Not sure why she wouldn't smile well with it on. It was kind of loaded down with the required supplies and lunch box. I'm not sure she's used to that.

We managed to get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, and brush hair and teeth without a problem this morning. I'm hopeful that it will be the norm but I have a feeling it has a lot to do with it being the first day and that she got a new dress to wear. Her teacher, Mrs. Henning, seems really nice. It took Emily a while to learn it only because with my cold I couldn't say it right. It took Nana saying it for Emily to understand it correctly. I'm excited to see what this year will bring to Emily.

As a side note, I was working with Ally on her ABC flashcards this morning and we got to the letter B and for some reason she couldn't remember it. Rylee walks over, looks at the cards and says "B". She then did the same thing when Ally struggled with D for some reason. I just pulled the flashcards out to work with Ally for the first time so I have no idea how Rylee knew what B and D were.

Ry's birthday and S.F.

2009-08-10T16:05:00.000-07:00

Rylee turned two on Saturday but we had her birthday party at Chuck E Cheese on Thursday. We had a really nice time and the kids, (and adults), had a lot of fun.

Mike, Matt, Jed, and Johnny all getting ready to play basketball. I think they'er planning out their "tournament" here.

I took Rylee to the store and let her look through the book and pick out her cake. She pointed very confidently in Dora so that's what we got. I think we lit that candle for her 3-4 times before we actually sang. She thought it was hilarious to blow it out over and over and kept asking for more.

Dylan and Katelynn riding the fire truck, one of Katelynn's favorite things I think.

Rylee playing the ball game. She loved it, however her aim was far from good. She believed all of the lanes were hers.

Emily and Tessa, who have had far too little time together this summer due to being so busy, playing on the virtual roller coaster.

Rylee loved the clock ride. We taught her to put her hands up on this very scary ride!

Ally and Bella, always best friends!

The best part...opening presents. She had a ton of help but she seemed to get the idea without the help!

On Friday, Mike and I left for S.F. He had a Simpson reunion he helped with at the old campus there. So my mom and dad, Josh and Devon met us there Saturday to play at the pier. Unfortunatly Rylee woke up sick Saturday morning so we didn't spend too much time doing anything other than the pier.

Rainforest cafe.

Sitting at the Pier waiting for papa to visit the candy store, didn't want to take four kids in there.

Rylee after lunch, she really didn't feel good at all.

Mike and I at the Giants game on Sunday. We went Friday and Sunday and the only game they didn't lose during the weekend was Saturday. We've decided that maybe we jinx the Giants as they tend to have that outcome when we go.

Random Thoughts

2009-07-27T12:47:00.000-07:00

Rylee had her 2 year checkup today. She looks great. She really put a show on for the doctor and made him laugh. That is unusual for her because she usually just stares when people other than family try to talk to her. She weighed in at 24 lbs which put her in the 25th% and I forgot her height, but she was in the 30th %. I found that funny since Em and Al were always at the top of the charts for height.

Sitting in a room at the doctors office for 45 mins with an almost 2 year old and 3.5 year old is not a lot of fun. I always seem to get scheduled the first day he's back from a vacation, it's never good!

Mike graciously let me drop Em off at his office so I could go with just two instead of three. Those rooms are very crowded with all of us in there. So I made her take her 1st grade prep homework to work on, gave her a goal and told her she was allowed to read after it was done. Not only did she do it but it was done very neatly and she did above and beyond what I ever expected. Including writing two of her 6 or 7 summer stories she is required to write along with drawing pictures for it. And again, I was shocked at how incredibly neat and well done it all was. I think the summer break has refreshed her for school again! School work got pretty sloppy the last few weeks of kindergarten.

I'm dreading the extreme heat this week. But had to laugh at the teenager driving behind me today. It was easily over 100 degrees and he was in a pickup wearing a winter snow hat, hooded sweatshirt and had his windows down. Made me wonder what he was hiding? LOL!

I've made it to 24 weeks pregnant, 6 mo., today. I'm feeling done being pregnant but not ready for the baby yet. How is that supposed to work?

Can someone explain to me why it is that when I order from Amazon that I always get the first book in the series delivered last? It's so frustrating. If it weren't so much cheaper online I would just go to our local christian supply.

Emily is very very into the Berenstain Bear books right now. We have a ton of them. Mike's mom always bought him the new one when he was growing up and brought home the Scholastic book order sheet and she gave him the lot after we got married. She literally reads them for hours.

Sunday was a great family day. We actually drove to church together, normally unheard of. Then went to a great pool party for the worship team. Then I actually got a solid nap while Mike happily played Tiget Woods 10 for 2.5 hours straight. Then we took the girls to Waterworks, Made dinner, gave the ice cream and put them to bed. It was a good day. Made up for not seeing much of each other on Saturday.

I think that's about it. You'd think with the blogging olympics I would have nothing to say.

Question...

2009-07-24T10:17:00.001-07:00

Since Mike and I are on our second "surprise" baby and I've now doubled the amount of children I ever planned on having...Mike and I were discussing him going to the doctor. He "says" he wants more and I KNOW I'm done done done. I can't emphasize the word done enough. So here is our question for you...although just to say, it's all in fun.

If the wife is done having kids but the husband isn't and she wants him to get a vasectomy but he doesn't want one, who should have more pull on the decision.

If the husband doesn't want anymore but the wife does and he wants to get a vasectomy, who should have more pull on that decision?

Or should nothing be done until it is a mutual decision?

Just thought it would be fun to put out there and see what the male vs. female postion is. Don't take it too seriously!

Family Camp 09

2009-07-22T08:41:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of fun at family camp this year. It was perfect weather for the beach on Saturday and we were there for 6 hours of fun.

I love this picture of Ally with her big life jacket and Barbie sun glasses!

Every year, Mike's favorite thing is building the campfire. I swear I have 3 pictures for 3 years of Mike starting a fire and they all look the same. He looks nervouse as he's starting this...as well he should! It's a while before it's low enough for anyone to even think about roasting marshmellows on it.

This last video is of Rylee taking her "bath" in the tent in a bucket. All the girls loved it. They went strait to bed after this, nice and clean. Mike and I have both realized that we are clean people. Having the kids that dirty is not ideal. But they had fun so that's what mattered. We can't say as were were upset to come home and have them clean though!

For the Olympics

2009-07-22T08:07:00.000-07:00

Since Mike started the blogging Olympics, I figured I better post something. So here is a little bit of boring happenings in my life.

Last night Mike went to Trader Joe's and bought some of their Coffee blast ice cream. It's the best coffee ice cream out there. Unfortunately, it must be loaded with caffine. When he gave it to me at 8:30, I was so tired I was fighting staying awake during our movie. By the time we went to bed at 9:30, I was wide awake until 2 a.m. I guess no more coffee blast unless it's lunchtime.

This weather we're having is way too hot. We don't even venture to waterworks very often because it's so hot to get in and out of there. We might brave it today though, only 106. Yuck!

Is it bad that I still have 16.5 weeks of my pregnancy to go and I'm done being pregnant? Too bad it doesn't work that way, that you just have the baby when you are done being pregnant. I guess people would have a lot more kids though.

My dad watched the older two girls while I ran errands yesterday. It's so nice to spend some one on one time with just one. Mike even joined us for Walmart and Costco. Tonight is a couples date night for us so we get to enjoy and evening just for ourselves.

Over the last week, we've watched 4 movies. Taken, which was very good but our girls will never travel alone. Knowing, which was decent. I didn't like the ending. Gran Torino- that was very well done. Sad, but good. And lastly, The Killing Room. Didn't much care for that one. Thought it's plotline was kind of pointless. I don't recommend that one.

I guess that's it.

Probably not the smartest thing to do outside

2009-07-11T19:36:00.000-07:00

Backyard fun

2009-07-08T09:24:00.000-07:00

We have been really enjoying our backyard since we got home. I am sooooo much more relaxed during the day when they can get out and run off some energy. It especially helps during that horrible cooking dinner hour every mom dreads. I just send them out and cook in peace.

The girls favorite thing to do out there is to climb and walk along the retaining wall. They are all scratched up from the bricks though. I told Mike he might have wasted his time building a swing set, they're perfectly content on that wall! But they do occasionally make their way over to swing or slide.

Mike and I used the outdoor fire pit we bought last night. We put the girls to bed and made smores. We wanted to try it out before we started it with them. It was fun but we ended up going to bed at midnight waiting for the flames to get low enough to sleep without worry.

The best part of the backyard is that our girls are exhausted and don't usually wake up before 9 a.m. I don't know what I'll do when I have to get up for Em's school in August.

Here are some pictures of the girls playing...

Here's a picture of one of my flower pots while it's still alive. Just thought I would document it that way! It will never last.
Our patio all completed, however it was run over with toys at this point.

The 10 hour playset Mike and my dad built on the fourth. They love it though. Fearless Rylee. She also loves to hold on the the cross bars on the platform and swing. I don't mind her doing it over the slide but she does it above that rock wall and the other side that is just a drop to the grass. Scares me.

She wanted to pose for a picture. Love the hair? They all look like that after a while of playing outside.

They're favorite thing to do is swing. Rylee and Ally especially love to do it. Rylee has no problem being pushed high. She holds on really well thankfully.

Fourth of July bbq at our house. How many kids can you fit around one little kiddy table? Quite a few we found out.

Zach and Jack on the new kids jungle themed bench. Doesn't Jack look huge next to Zach? I thought that was funny.

For Stephanie

2009-07-05T14:01:00.001-07:00

I updated my picture of the girls on the blog. I've pretty much resolved myself to having at least one of the girls not looking. So I just choose the one with the least goofy expression!

The highlight of the Fair

2009-06-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

Since the rides were to expensive, we let the girls get their faces painted. The lady did an awesome job and did both of our girls in about five minutes.

Last Day of School and Backyard Progress

2009-06-09T10:55:00.001-07:00

Emily had her last day at school last Thursday. It wasn't really a school day as much as a play day. They joined up with another class and had a water day with a slip-n-slide, water balloons and one teacher that was chasing them around with the hose which they all loved. Parents brought in fruit trays and healthy snacks and then for lunch they ordered pizza. So here are some pictures...

Emily taking her turn, but she won't ever slide, just runs. She's never been one to slide.

Mrs. Becky, the aid, I loved her and hope she's still helping in first grade next year.
We got lucky with a christian teacher and aid this year. Not bad for public school!

I just thought her stance was funny. What was she thinking about?

Water balloon toss. Her and her partner made on successful toss, then it was over.

Happy dance you think? Not sure, but it looks like one! Yay schools over!

Emily and Hunter on the swings. She's super sweet.

Friday and Saturday

And to our yard. Mike, my Dad, Joel, Jed, Josh, and Will all came Saturday to help finish digging out our backyard. But the day before, Mike and I ran around buying retaining wall bricks, gravel, shed, and "the rotatillar". This rotatillar turned out to be more work than it was worth. First, they give us a ramp to take home so we can unload it. This isn't just a small tiller, it's a pretty heavy duty one. Well, it's raining out and mike can't start it to get the wheels unlocked to get it down the ramp and it weighs too much to carry out. So he calls me out to continuously pull the starter line, (like a mower), because that momentarily unlocks the wheels. On my first pull, the handle falls off and the cord reels back into the machine, unreachable. Mike then realizes that there's a neutral setting and is able to get it down, but for what? We can't use it now. Luckily my dad comes over and is able to fix it. Jump to the next day. Mike goes to get it started, (and I'm so mad I missed it, but my mom witnessed the hilarious scene), and it is waaaaay more powerful than it looks. As soon as he clamps down on the handle to make it go, it shoots out of his hands and is jets across the backyard full speed towards the house. Mike is leaping over shovels, pick axes and wheel barrows trying to stop it and the other guys are leaping out of this powerful machines way trying to save their limbs. My mom said to have captured Mike's face on camera would have been priceless. It did finally stop itself just before our glass door. Mike finally figures it out, although he did jet across the yard a few more times, long enough for the blades to start falling off. So into the truck it went, back to Guy rents where they refunded us our money and sold us the excavator, (something tells me they got the better end of that money deal!). It ended up being a lifesaver, what we needed all along. So here are a few pictures of my dad driving it and the last picture I got of the progress of our yard.

This is what our driveway looks like after working every saturday.

The rotatillar broke, (see story above, hilarious), and so Mike got the excavator
He had a ton of fun running this, and he admitted it this time!

Sunday

Mike and I worked for 5.5 hours Sunday. He built the wall while I took dirt from one of our many tall piles and filled in behind each layer. A lot of work but it turned out so nice. We also leveled and laid out that pad for our shed, which I am very excited to see put together.

Tuesday's work

This is a truck that has a bed that tilts, Joel is kicking himeself for not realizing one of the youth dad's owned this after two weekends of shoveling dirt out of the back of 3 different pickups.

The youth worked fast today. They removed a ton of dirt and dug out the area for our porch.

A couple bumps!

This is where my dad ran into the fence with the scoop on the excavator. He was actually using a tool attached to the bottom of the machine that pushes dirt and he forgot that it was sticking out. It's an easy fix though, better than our house.

This is from last weekends bobcat hitting the side of the neighbors house. Good thing no one is renting there right now! Another easy fix.

This is the frame for our gate, good thing it's yet again another easy fix! Maybe you should have a license to drive these things.

Look how level that dirt is outside. It's amazing!

Anyone want to lay cement this Saturday?

Conversation With Emily

2009-06-05T09:26:00.000-07:00

Em: Mom, I really want to be a real life fairy.

Me: I'm sorry.

Em: Well, is there a school I can go to to become a real life fairy? I really want to be one.

Me: Fairy's are just pretend, Em. You can't become a fairy.

Em: Well what about the tooth fairy? She's a fairy?

Oooops! What do I say to that? She's not so easy to put off anymore. I need to start getting creative. Or explain that we give her that dollar under her pillow.

Backyard Makeover

2009-06-02T09:20:00.000-07:00

This past weekend marked the start of our backyard makeover. Mike rented a bobcat and had some family and youth come over to help us dig out a massive hill in the back. It was a ton of work for them but they got a lot accomplished. We plan on putting grass back there with some sort of play structure for the girls. They love to play outside and it would be nice to be able to do that without having to accompany them to the park everytime. I can't wait to shove them out there and get some things done. They'll have fun and I can clean without them at my heels the whole time.

I think Mike had more fun than he'll admit driving that bobcat. And for that matter, I think my dad did too. It did look like a lot off fun. I didn't try to drive it. It vibrated a ton and I wasn't sure the baby would appreciate it.

A special thanks to everyone who came to help out. We really appreciate all the effort you put forth.

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far

2009-05-29T09:30:00.001-07:00

Rylee was in time out and this is how I found her after walking in to ask her if she was ready to be good. She is just like her daddy. He can find something fun to do in even the most boring places and so can she! She did have both feet on top before I went to get the camera.

Waterworks is open!

2009-05-28T09:38:00.000-07:00

I love when Waterworks opens each year. The girls have an absolute blast and they're exhausted come bedtime. Plus each year, they're a different age so it's really fun to

see who loves the water each year. Emily is, and always has been, about a 45-60 minute girl. After that time frame she is ready to towel up and sit on the sidelines and just watch. She also isn't a daredevil. She is still too short for the adult slides and is quite content with that. We only have to fight her on wanting to spend the whole time in the lazy lagoon, which Ally and Rylee don't care for due to them having to wear a life jacket.

Allyson loves the waterslides. She also loves to go fast. Mike pushes her down the slides pretty hard and she flies. She gets a kick out of it, even though I worry that we're going to get in trouble.

Rylee loves every part of waterworks. She can't get enough of the water. She also loves all the slides in the kiddy area. My favorite for her is the froggy slide because I don't have to walk up any hills to get her to the slide and then run down as she's sliding and meet her at the bottom.

Can't wait for school to get out and meet all of those moms out there who got season passes too!

2009 Championship Trip

2009-05-23T14:45:00.000-07:00

San Francisco Giants game the first night of vacation.

Mike and I at the Stadium.

Our first night there, and our first Farmer's banquet of the week.

Sheryl Crow giving a concert for Farmers.

Tuesday night, during the Sheryl Crow concert.

Our last night in Palm Desert, the formal awards night.

Padres Stadium for SD vs. SF game. You can see our hotel was super close,

it's the Marriott to the left of the stadium.

Friday afternoon Mike and I returned from our very relaxing trip to Championship. This years destination was Palm Desert. Joel and Leslie's family own a house in neighboring Palm Springs so they came along for 3/4 of our trip. We had a lot of fun and were able to relax by the very hot pool, trying to get a little tan for the summer. There definitly wasn't as much to do as the previous years but we still enjoyed ourselves. We started in S.F. for a Giants game, then made our way south to Palm Desert. Then after the convention we went down to San Diego and watched the Giants lose, again, in the 9th inning. But it was still fun to go to a new, different stadium.

Finally, Something To Blog About

2009-05-13T11:01:00.000-07:00

I have Jack and Bella this morning and generally the kids play and I don't hear from them. So I didn't think anything of it while they were upstairs playing and I was downstairs watching tv while I folded the laundry. As I'm coming up the stairs, I look into the girls room with their laundry. I immediately notice the broken lightbulb and the lamp on the floor. I thought I had seen all four kids happily playing in the loft. Until I look up that is. There, standing on the girls dresser as happy as can be, is a bleeding Rylee. Both her hands are red. The walls have red, a picture on the dresser has red, the dresser has a lot of red. She doesnt' even care that she is cut. She is just happy to have climbed onto the dresser and be playing. The only time she cried even a little was when I dare put a bandaid on her. She pulled both of the attempts of bandaids off. So she is now in the tub until her finger clots.

During all of this I have little kids to keep out of the room while I'm trying to get the bandaid on Rylee. As soon as I say, "don't go in the girls room" they all have to rush in there of course. So I get the first set of bandaids on Rylee and start to clean up the big peices before she pulls it off. Then I redress the bandaid, vacum the little pieces, fix the lamp and stick her in the bath before more blood gets everywhere.

I'm just glad it wasn't Jack or Bella! I would have posted pictures but both of my cameras batteries were dead.

Mike came home and saved the day with the reminder that we had liquid bandage.

Lame Reasons Why I Haven't Blogged

2009-05-11T22:31:00.000-07:00

1. I have major pregnant brain. It gets way worse with each pregnancy. I'll think of a good topic to blog about and forget what it was 10 minutes later.

2. We've been so busy I haven't touched my camera in a long time.

3. When I do remember my camera, I can't use it because it's full and the battery is drained. There a two little girls in my house (not naming names, Emily and Ally), that like to pose their animals and dolls and snap away. I'm talking 50+ pictures. I honestly don't know when they're doing it. I think it's the middle of the night. I'm always with them. I caught ally red handed the other day. She was bold enough to grab it while I was sitting next to it, turned it on and started to take a picture. She literally looked at me like, "what?" when I reprimanded her.

4. We lead very busy, but not very exciting lives. You really don't want to hear what I have to say. That's what facebook is for. Short little notes of the boring things that I do.

Mike...you need to set up the blogging olympics again. We are all slacking and in major need of of a boost!

Updates For Those Who Don't Read Facebook

2009-04-30T19:54:00.001-07:00

We had two doctors appointments I mentioned yesterday so I thought I would update everyone on their outcomes.

The first appt. was Allyson's today. We went to see if she could get off the breathing treatment. Turns out she gets to increase her time on it, from once to twice a day. She has now been somewhat officially diagnosed with asthma. She's actually been diagnosed with a pulmonary disease which is asthma. It just doesn't allow the title "asthma" to be put in her records for the rest of her life. The doctor says we'll do it every year during allergy season so we now get to have one permanantly.

The other appointment was the sonogram today. I ended up really liking my doctor which was nice. And we are having ONE baby! He/she was very active and wiggled around a lot. It was fun to watch. It was also fun because the girls got to enjoy watching their new brother or sister. Although Rylee freaked out when the doctor turned out the lights. But other than that it was a fun appointment.

Random Little Things That Together Make One Blog

2009-04-29T18:52:00.000-07:00

I have my first sonogram appointment tomorrow and I'm most excited about it because I can prove to all of you sick people who keep telling me it's twins, that we're just having ONE little bundle of joy! I'm also excited/nervous to meet my new doctor since, sadly, my doctor moved away right after Rylee was born. It was so sad =(. But this doctor was on call and delivered Em so there's a little history.

Rylee's starting to really talk now. Her favorite toy and a word she says really well is "baby". She's very possessive about that baby though. If Ally dares pick it up she yells in a shrill voice "BBBAAAABBBYYYY!!" and that means give it back or else. Her other big thing to say is "ummmm?" I'll ask her in the morning, "What do you think you should wear today?" And she runs over to her closet and says, "Ummmmm?" and points to some random item in her closet. I don't remember um being around until they were older. But I guess if you have older siblings things come around quicker.

I was a bad parent this week and saved Emily's entire homework packet for Wednesday night, and it's due Thursday. I wish I could say it's the first time it's happened. I generally try to spread it out but it doesn't always happen.

I think Emily has the end of the school year blues. She's informed me every morning since spring break that she is sick. She also had to flip her first yellow card at school today. They start on green, then go to yellow if needed, then orange, then red. She's never even come close to flipping her card to yellow. The aid told me that she yelled out the name of the book when her teacher picked it up. A minor offense but I guess color changing worthy. She lost 5 minutes of her lunch recess also. I guess if you flip your card you lose some recess. I'm sure she won't do it again!

Mike hasn't been able to talk much since Sunday after church. He led worship and then boom, no voice. I'm guessing at this point he may have Laryngitis. Obviously I'm not a doctor but it's been 4 days. Hopefully whatever he does have will pass soon.

And as for Ally, nothing really new. Tomorrow could end the breathing treatments. We'll find out at the doctor. She still is coughing a lot and is way more tired than before so who knows what he'll say. We could definitly use some prayers for health in this family!

Changing Beds

2009-04-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

For some time now Emily has been trying to talk Ally into switching beds. Emily is on the top and Ally is on the bottom. I was a little surprised that Em would want to switch to the bottom but didn't think much about it. Well Ally is a major creature of habit and refused to leaver her beloved bottom bunk. But one night as I was putting her to bed she asked to sleep on sissy's bed. I said sure and tucked her in up there. A little later Emily saw where her sister was at and was so excited. She crawled into bed and then promptly positioned herself in a cubby type shelf near the wall. I told her she couldn't sleep in the shelf and to get into the bed.

Later that night as Mike and I came upstairs to go to bed, I checked on them. Sure enough, she wasn't in the cubby hole. But she wasn't in bed either. I couldn't find her right away. As I go into her room a little more, this is where I found her, sound asleep...

She obeyed, but still found a fun place to sleep, on her desk that's built into the bed. The funny part, the next night after our softball game, we checked on our sleeping kids to find that Emily had taken her top bunk back. I guess if you can't sleep on the shelves then what's the fun of the bottom bunk?

The Verse

2009-04-22T09:51:00.000-07:00

For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Emily was in her first year of AWANA this year and she finished her first book a month or so ago. And I thought she had to go back and review the whole thing since she couldnt' get her next book until 1st grade. The first verse she would have had to say again was John 3:16. She knew it just by the reference. It got me to thinking about that verse. You can ask almost any Christian to recite John 3:16 and almost everyone can. It's a verse etched into our hearts and minds. I've known it for as long as I can remember.

I think that is a verse that God allows us to really hang onto. I've memorized lots of verses in my years at church and I'll sadly admit there are few I remember. But that verse is one that is always there. I think it's an important one. It says it all. God loved us, the world, that he sent his son to die so that we can have eternal life. If you can't remember anything esle when witnessing to someone, you can always remember that verse and share God's great gift. I just think that is a verse that we remember because God gives it as a gift. Yeah, we hear it a lot in church but we hear a lot of things in church. Why does that one really really implant in our hearts and minds over other verses? Maybe I'm way off course but I really just think that is a verse that, in essence, says it a lot.

May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples.

2009-04-18T21:03:00.000-07:00

GOT THAT COVERED!

Sickness

2009-04-09T18:21:00.000-07:00

I was really hoping 2009 was going to be the year of health. 2008 seemed to hold so many colds for us. I had big plans for this year to be just the opposite. Unfortunately my life doesn't always go according to plans.

The past two weeks have been filled with sick kids. Emily has been the strong force throughout all of this, and she goes to school with 17 other kids...go figure!

Rylee came down with the stomach flu late Tuesday night early Wednesday morning and is still sick. She just lies pale on the couch or floor on her blanket. She doesn't say a word or show any emotion. Just lies there looking utterly miserable. I had to leave her with Mike this morning for what I thought was going to be a quick checkup with the doctor to see if Allyson's breathing treatments are working. I hated leaving Rylee. It was just on the cusp of me worrying about her getting dehydrated. It had been about 30 hours since she held any liquids down.

Ally has been our other sick kid. She started at the hospital with a little pneumonia in her right lung that was really giving her a run for her money. Got released Wednesday, got the ok from the doctor Friday that she was on the mend only to start a downward spiral Saturday. She was wheezing and wheezing and by Tuesday struggling again. We got a new anti-biotic (which took 7 different pharmacy trips before I found one that had it), cortizon twice daily (sp?)with albuteral breathing treatments. She started sounding so much better. But I've found breathing treatments can be deceiving. She is doing better however the doctor was still hearing a lot of fluid in her lungs. So up we went for a chest xray. It showed quite a bit of fluid in her right lung, you couldn't even see her heart. And the doctor thinks it's moved into her left lung, which it wasn't there in the beginning. He also said it isn't just bacterial anymore, which the antibiotics take care of, but also viral. So he said we have to wait until it runs his course and we get to continue breathing treatments for 3-4 more weeks with more checkups. Did I mention that they take about 25 mins. each? Every 2 mins. she asks, "is it done?"

I must say that even though this is all a little exhausting, especially while trying to plan out a special easter kids church, that I honestly can really feel God's presence. And it's so strong right now. He's granted me so much patience, so much needed energy at the critical moments, and just a ton of peace. Yes, it's a lot of work. Yes, it's stressful. Yes, I want it all to go away. But with all the juggeling I've had to do with hospital stays, doctors appts., many many pharmacy runs, household chores, kids church planning and more, I still am amazed at how much God is holding me up. I honestly don't know how people function without Him! And I also thank God for an awesome husband who is helping out a ton when the kids don't want to be put down so I can deal with the needs of the house!

Here's to staying positive and joyful,(thanks Mike and Leslie!).

Not fun, But Funny

2009-04-05T12:38:00.001-07:00

It's that time of year again. Time for the annual allergy picture post. This is how Allyson woke up this morning, and no she isn't blinking. Her eye had swollen/adhered together. I felt bad for her but it was kind of funny because it didn't seem to bother her. She just wanted to eat breakfast! I told Mike to grab a wash cloth and he told just to put her in the bath, it would get better. So we put her in there and Mike ran off to tend to the other kiddos and I was getting ready. 10-15 mins later he came in horrified I hadn't helped Allyson with her eye, forgetting he told me to leave it alone that the bath would help. I also was trying to see if the bath would help because she hates her eyes washed. But Mike eventually had to get in there and get her very red eye open. But the whole time she was in the bath, she still didn't mention that her eye was shut. I think maybe she feared the eye drops from the night before!

She's definitly breathing heavier again today, wheezy a little. And she says she's sick. So hopefully we aren't having a relapse. I think she may have a touch of asthma though. I guess time will tell, which stinks when you are watching your child breathing so hard.

Back to Normal

2009-04-02T19:09:00.000-07:00

We're back from Ally's hospital stay this week. There is no getting any good sleep in a hospital room. I was so glad to be home. The last day and night our air conditioning wasn't working and our room was annoyingly hot. I like to sleep with the room freezing and lots of blankets, but that night was totally opposite due to the temperature of the room. Poor Ally was even sweating a lot.

For those who didn't hear what happened, Monday Ally didn't seem to be feeling well. I chalked it up to a little asthma due to really bad allergies. As the day wore on I got more and more concerned as she was so incredibly tired and out of it and seemed to be really struggling. So around 4 I threw some clothes on her and went to the walk in. By the time we got there she was asleep and not waking up well, but still we waited 45 minutes. I was so glad Mike came and got the girls. Rylee was a wild woman, rearranging furniture in the waiting room, escaping outside, throwing all the magazines on the floor, ect. By the time we got called back her oxygen was really low so they made her a priority, then called the ambulance. I was feeling really low for making her suffer breathing all day.

We made it to the hospital after a long ride. Ally didn't much care for the ambulance, I couldn't sit in the back with her. And she did great in the ER except for when we first got there and were swarmed by doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, and x-ray techs. But after a while it all calmed down and we settled in. We were in the ER for 5.5 hours, diagnosed with pneumonia, then transferred to Peds. for 2 nights. She was on oxygen, a heavy steroid, antibiotics, IV, and breathing treatments every 3-4 hours. And let me tell you, the second half of the second day, those breathing treatments absolutely wired her. When she would actually stop moving for a second, her whole body would shake. It was a lot of work keeping her from running and pulling her IV out.

She was discharged Wednesday morning at 9, it was sooooo good to be home. Ally was wired from the last breathing treatment they gave her before we left so she bounced around to her hearts content and then crashed hard for a 3 hour nap. She is totally back to her old self other than I notice she's a little more tired as she took another nap today. And for those who know Ally, that is totally unheard of. Hopefully this will conclude our hospital stays for a while! I am still trying to shake the exhaustion from being there.

A Busy Busy, Fun Saturday

2009-03-28T19:48:00.000-07:00

Today was super busy for Mike, the girls and I. We woke up, got ready grabbed yummy choc. chip bagels to go and headed down to Anderson's Home and Garden show to drop of our satelite receiver for Matt. Mike's goal was to attract clients with sports...I think it worked! Then we ran a few errands before returning home to change Emily and pack up for her first soccer game. Pre-Game viewers in their little chairs...it didn't last!
Emily throwing the ball in, she loved doing that.

Her first game was so fun. We had a blast. Emily did so well! They are called Storm and they played Galaxy. Picture 8 children who have never played a soccer game in their lives all chasing a ball around on a field. It was hilarious. But towards the middle of the game something clicked and they all seemed to catch on really well. The way this younger group works is there are 8 players on a team and they do four on four for four quarters. We thought that Em was going to get to play 2/4 quarters, however the two times she sat out she literally had time to drink some water quickly and was called back in. And for those who don't live here, it was WARM! She was hot after the game and told us she wanted to take swim lessons! I thought that was funny! . They tied the game 3 to 3. We were laughing because the game was actually really intense to see who would score the last goal, but time ran out.

After her game, we headed back down to Anderson where the girls and I hung out while Mike worked the Home and Garden show for a few hours. Then it was home to change and walk the River trail. The river trail is 5.7 miles. Mike pushed RY and Al in the double jogger while Em rode her bike. She did so good riding all that way. We were very proud of all her sportlike efforts today. I think she'll be exhausted, especially since she's on heavy allergy meds and cough meds.

Then we grabbed chilly dogs and topped it off with the best dessert ever! For those cold stone lovers out there, they have these new ice cream cupcakes. They're 6 for $9.99. They replaced the paper cup with dark chocolate cups, then a layer of yummy cake, then ice cream topped off with a light creamy frosting. They were AMAZING! You should try them if you haven't. I guess they killed all that work we did jogging, but oh well!

And Ahh, baths and bed for the girls. It's 8:00 now. I'm loving the warm but not hot weather. If only it would last!

A Little Bit of Everything

2009-03-26T13:03:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since I've blogged. It's funny because we are super busy but nothing blogworthy. So I thought I would combine a bunch of little happenings to create one blog.

Emily officially started soccer last week. She looks so cute and very grown up with her soccer cleats, shin guards and socks. She is having a fun time and Mike says she is actually pretty good at it, for having never played. She practices every Wednesday night, which we love because it's our only free night. And her games are every saturday at our awesome new soccer park. Her first game is this saturday. I can't wait to get some cute pictures of her in her uniform. Mike took the camera to the first practice but as you can see, she was kind of far away.

Mike takes Em to her practices and he takes Ally so he can kick a soccer ball around with her. I'm not sure who is more excited for Wed. night, Ally or Emily! I think Ally is really going to be our athlete.

Rylee is a book lover. She brings me books all day long and doesn't take no for an answer. But sometimes I can't sit 24/7 and read to her so she just started accepting Emily and Ally to read to her. I took some funny pictures of Rylee sitting on Ally's lap, (it's the only way she'll do it), and Ally can't even reach her little arms around Rylee and hold up the book at the same time. It's fun to watch.

This is Rylee's favorite, Mommy Loves Me Lots and Lots and Lots

While Mike was out of town Sunday, my mom, Jennifer, Emily, Ally, and Rylee all piled in my car to go shopping. After I picked up Jenn, I was traveling down the road and a lady turned right in front of me. I braked so hard it turned my car off. She ended up still swiping me with her car but there is little damage. I think if I hadn't have stopped in time, her passenger would have been really hurt. I would have t-boned her passenger side going about 45. Thankfully I saw her and it wasn't the day before when it was raining. But now I have to give up my car soon to have it fixed. When you have kids and all their seats and gear in the car, I hate moving it all around. Oh well!

See, nothing overly exciting going on if those are the only things I can think of. Our days are full with Softball monday, womens group tuesday, soccer wednesday, Awana thursday, soccer game saturday and now we can include Mikes baseball games on alternating week nights and every sunday! That's not including helping at ems school and all the other things I have planned week to week! I need three of me! But hey, at least we're having fun!

New Shades...No Scissors...Must Wear Immediately!

2009-03-12T16:34:00.001-07:00

whirlwind Trip

2009-03-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

We got more pictures with Characters in 1.5 days than we did in Disneyworld this summer in 6 days. We got Donald, Goofy, Micky, and Pluto twice!

Riding It's A Small World

Emily wearing her new Ariel costume

Totally exhausted after day 2!

While my parents were planning their vacation, my mom expressed her wish to be able to have their own vacation yet still get to have the girls at Disneyland for a day. It, of course, wasn't possible to get them down there to them without Mike and/or I taking them so off they went alone. On Tuesday, Mike and I were driving back from running a few errands and I (half joking), said, "lets just get in the car and go down to Disneyland." Mike said, "ok, lets do it." After realizing he was serious, I ran home and packed in 30 min. so we could get gas, cash and Emily and hit the road.

The girls did AMAZING in the car. Ally and Rylee are normally not big on traveling. But Rylee made not one peep the whole way. She was content to sit and read books, look out the window for cows or sleep. So much so that I didn't get her out from 1:30-8:00. Big mistake...she leaked all over her car seat and in my hurry during packing didn't pack any extra pants for her. So mom got the call to run down the street to Target for some pants!

The next day we went to disneyland and had a blast, although it rained all day. It isn't supposed to rain in L.A. right? This was my parents second day so they even allowed Mike, Em, and I to ride the fun rides while they went on the girls absolute favorite, It's a Small World. All the girls loved that ride, even Rylee.

We left the park at 6 to get dinner and not spend a fortune and were going to go back for the Fantasmic show but low and behold, it started pouring again. So we scraped that and went back to the hotel. Mike and I got our family season passes because we plan on going back a few times so we went for a half day the next day and of course it was beautiful. We rode a ton of rides both days as it was not busy at all.

Emily had a funny story. We told the girls ahead of time, this is not a trip where we're shopping. It's just to ride rides and have fun. But in the castle they have a princess store with dresses and accessories. Well, they had an ariel skirt and top that she was dying for. Mike told her later that day if she was brave and rode the Tower of Terror at California land that she could have it. She wouldn't do it the first day but the next morning said she wanted to. So we waited in a line before they opened and were the first on. She and I went together while Mike stayed with the girls. She was ok until we right as we're getting on but I made her get on at that point. I had been on the day before so I held onto her and told her drop for drop rise for rise what was happing. When we got done the guy told us to all buckle up again and get a free ride again. Emily started sobbing. I told the guy we needed off and he looked at me like, "no!" I then sternly said, "we want off!" and he let us off. I don't think she could handle another ride. Darn it though, it would have been fun! But she did pretty good and true to his word, Mike bought her the outfit which is the last picture on the blog.

Overall, it was a super fast trip but a ton of fun. All of our girls really had a great time!

Thoughts On TV Favorites

2009-03-09T11:30:00.000-07:00

Since most of our friends watch the same shows as us, I thought it would be fun to write down what my thoughts are for some of the favorites. Might be fun to compare notes... Oh, and a warning...don't read if you are behind in any shows!!!

Amazing Race: If we didn't have work and kids, Mike and I would apply in a heartbeat. This show is great, especially with people like, models, hillbillies, brother/sister teams that seem more like boyfriend/girlfriend teams and of course the every season struggeling marriage/relationship that this game is going to determine whether they stay together or not! So great!

Chuck: This is one of my favorite shows. I love the chemistry between Chuch and Sarah. I just wish the would stop bringing on old and new flames. First it was Chuck's turn and now Sarah's. It's like Pam and Jim all over again.

24: Love love love this season of 24. We caught up yesterday and I'm glad we didn't watch it until then because I'm dying to know what happens and now I don't have to wait long.

Heros: This season is waaaayyyy better than last season. I'm actually really getting into it this year. Normally I have to make myself watch it and we watched 3 episodes while my mom had the girls and I wanted to watch the next one that's on tonight.

Biggest Loser: Mike really likes the new, nicer format this year. There is definilty not as much conflict as in past seasons. I actually find it a little slow. Still like it but as much as I hated icky Vicky, it did bring an element of drama. Maybe a much scaled down version of that wouldn't hurt. Also, I have to admit to being a big black team fan. I have since that one season where Jillian was working out with the "hidden" first day eliminated underdog black team. Go black!

American Idol: It's been ok so far. I'm so glad we're at the final 13, this is where it gets really good. And HALLELUAH that the annoying Tatiana didn't make it!

Lost: This season is a lot better than last season. I feel like we're getting more answers quicker. Last year it felt like they were just throwing in more senarios that confused you but didn't answer any of them at the end of the season...throw us a bone people! This year is a slight improvement.

The Office: The Office speaks for itself, it's awesome. Got to love the lunch Jim and Pam had for Valentines day. I also love what they've done with Angela's character this year. With the other set of dueling boyfriends! That's great!

ER: A little sad it's the last season, especially with all the favorites from the past coming back. But it does need to come to and end and ultimately I won't miss it that much.

Hell's Kitchen: Not too sure who out there watches that but if you do, were you as happy as I was that he sent back the 2 people voted to be eliminated and went with his personal choice of Colleen? She was a disaster each and every week. That one girl nailed it when she said..."at least Colleen's consistant...she's bad every single night." So true. I wonder what will
happen to her cooking school now?!

Survivor: As most of you know, Mike's old baseball coach, aka: coach, is a contestant on this show so we are watching it for the first time this season. It's interesting. I felt bad for Sandy being voted off but at the same time, she was the dirtiest person on that show. She was always filthy. I was just glad for her sake that she could take a shower. I felt bad for her! Tyson is by far my favorite. He cracks me up. He is hilarious and I hope he wins.

30 Rock: This is also new to Mike which we watch when nothing is on, (which looking above at all those shows I don't know when that is ever possible). It's hilarious. You should watch it if you get a chance...great cast.

Wow, we watch a lot of shows. But I don't know what I would cut out. They're all great. At least ER is going off so that will elimnate one.

The Day After

2009-03-06T15:50:00.000-08:00

Mike, the girls and I just returned from a very fast trip to Disneyland. I'll post about that later but I just had to comment that I love the day after vacation. The girls are so content with their toys. I don't hear a peep from them. I think they are so grateful to be home on familiar territory, with their toys and their beds that they just want to sit quietly and play. They don't ask for much, they don't whine, they just play. It's wonderful! Do your kids do the same thing? I would love to know.

Milestone

2009-02-27T20:32:00.001-08:00

Emily has had many milestones since she was born. Crawling, walking, first day of school, first dentist appt., and so on. But tonight she seemed so grown up as she sat in the chair at Claires and got her ears pierced. We weren't planning on it but we've talked to her in the past and she's wanted to but not enough to go through with it. But tonight she went for it full force. She even got to watch another six year old little girl go right before her, and she was really brave so that helped.

We picked out her earrings and in true Emily fashion it took her all of two seconds. She isn't one to deliberate for very long. She picked out her birthstone and that was that. I even pointed out some cute flowers but to no avail. She then got up in the chair with cautious excitement and was fine, until the first ear. Then she started crying, not hysterical but crying. She didn't want to do the next ear but then actually handled it very well. We let her get an Ariel hair piece for being so brave, which she knew about ahead of time, so she bounced out of the chair with little thought to her aching ears.

I of course didn't have my camera because I was downloading the scavenger hunt photos so my dad graciously used his camera phone...thanks dad!

Her earrings look really nice! I can't wait to buy some really cute ones in 6-7 weeks. Although Emily has declared she'll never take these ones off! Oh, and Ally really wants hers done now. Not sure we'll be able to hold her off, she wants to do everything her sister does!

Christmas In February

2009-02-25T08:24:00.000-08:00

Last night our women's group went on a scavenger hunt, it was a lot of fun! But as we're driving around I notice Christmas lights not only still up but on. I commented to the girls in my car that I've been seeing a lot of that lately and they agreed they had too. Well this morning blew the christmas lights on the houses out of the water when I looked over at a house that still had their tree lit up in their big front window. It was crazy! I did a double take, I couldn't believe it. It had to be fake because it was still green as could be and all lit up! No one told me we were celebrating Christmas in february here in Redding!

We Want To Go To Disneyland Too, Nana and Papa!

2009-02-24T15:12:00.000-08:00

Riddles

2009-02-20T20:07:00.000-08:00

I told Mike a long time ago he should do a weekly riddle. I thought it would be fun. But he didn't keep up on it so I thought I would try. So, here's the first one. I hadn't heard it so if it's one everyone knows I'm sorry! =)

What common English word will describe a person or thing as not being found in any place and yet with no changes other than a space between syllables, will correctly describe that person or thing as being actually present at this very moment?

Our One Picture

2009-02-19T17:27:00.000-08:00

I downloaded our camera from Vegas and I had to laugh, the one picture Mike and I took together is at the M&M factory. And to be honest it was for the girls. But how sad is it that we're in Vegas where we could have taken tons of pictures of us and we get one in the M$M factory!? The only other pictures were of the castle hotel for Emily and the lions for the girls.

2009-02-18T10:04:00.000-08:00

I'ave been meaning to do this post since my mom did hers but kept forgetting. So here I go...

1. Vacuuming – Run it through the house hitting the heavy-track areas; or, move most of your furniture to get as much carpet as possible? (I honestly think I'm half and half on this. I don't move the heavy furniture but I do make sure all the big floor toys are up like rocking horses and play chairs.)

2. Milk – Use well past the date on the carton, until it smells funny; or throw it out the day after the date on the carton? (I follow the 7 days rule, and also the smell rule...if it remotely stinks it's out!)

3. Childhood – What do you do as an adult that you weren't allowed as a child? (My parents were pretty easy going so nothing really comes off the top of my head.)

4. Toilet Paper – Roll the paper over the top, or roll it under? (Oh my gosh, this is such a thing for me, I HAVE to have it over the top. It drives me nuts the other way.)

5. Bed-Making – It's made every morning, occasionally, or not at all? (every single morning. And if for some reason I can't get to it all day, (rarely happens) then I'll even make it before bed. I love getting into a made up bed.)

6. Most Hated Household Chore – Cleaning bathrooms; doing laundry; or dusting/vacuuming? (Bathrooms don't bother me one bit. I hate hate hate dusting. My parents used to work in a furniture store and they had Josh and I dust on the weekends. Yuck!).

7. Favorite Type of Vacation – Each day planned out with reservations; or, hit the road and go wherever you end up? (So opposite my mom here. I am horrible at planning vacations I actually don't like to do it. Mike is our planner. He makes all the reservations and looks up local attractions. But we both love to just go places spur of the moment.)

8. Butter – Stored in the fridge, or in the pantry? (On the counter. I like soft butter We did that growing up so that's what I'm used to.)

9. Bathing – Shower or bath; and once or twice daily? (Ditto on my mom's. Shower in the a.m. and bath in the p.m..)

10. Handling Life's Curveballs – When life hands you a big lemon, which way do you tend to handle it: get upset then make lemonade out of the lemons; or smile and make lemon creme pie and figure you may as well enjoy the lemons you were handed? (I think you should ask those around me but with most things I don't typically get over upset about things. I try not to let it get to me, it is what it is, you can't change it so you might as well move on!)

It would be fun to hear from other people what they say. I think it's a great way to learn something new about other people.

Crazy Vegas People

2009-02-17T09:33:00.000-08:00

When in Vegas, I found you saw and heard many weird things from people. The first one happened for me in the elevator when I was getting Mike and myself breakfast. It was just an older lady and myself heading to the lobby and she turns to me and asks...

"Did you see the snow on the mountains this morning?"

Me: "Yes, it's beautiful. It's definitly a very nice day outside?"

The lady, with a look of total confusion: "Is it, I didn't look outside."

She then turned away from me looking like I totally missed the point of her comment. I was so confused. How do you look at the mountains without looking outside?

The second time was way funnier. We were walking the strip towards Bally to watch the Price is Right and if you've never been to Vegas, they hand out cards for, how shall I say it, naked girls looking to "hook up" every 5 feet. Well, we've never actually seen someone take one, until Saturday. The lady directly in front of us took one from every guy passing them out. We hear her mumble to herself as shes sorting them like trading cards, "oh, I have that one already, oh that's a new one..." Mike and I look at each other like, "are you seeing this?" and Mike asks her if she likes those. LOL! This was her hilarious answer, (and by the way she's probably in her early 40's), "No, I'm collecting them for my brother in law as a gift for when I get back home." Mike and I bust up laughing, there was no restraint to get past her before we laugh. Honestly, that was the best thing all weekend. What must her sister in law think of her collecting nude pictures for her husband? Do you think she'll gift wrap them? I wish I had my camera playing during that conversation! Mike said maybe he should collect some for Josh!

Bucket Of Water

2009-02-10T21:19:00.000-08:00

Today was another whirlwind day. I was super busy all day. After school, I picked up Tessa from Jed's and they came home and had a blast doing valentines for their classmates and homework. Tessa stayed for dinner and then womens group. Well, tonight I under estimated how wound up having a friend over all evening and left on your own can cause Emily to be.

After we got the bedroom all cleaned up, I turned out the light, and Ally asked for water. So I took her sippy cup to fill it up when Em then wanted some. I knew they would fight over it, both being tired, so I made Em use a dixie cup in the bathroom and firmly told her to hurry up and get into bed. This was one of the many excuses to get up. Well, next thing I know, Ally comes out and calmly informs me that she's wet, Emily had thrown water on her. I'm thinking little dixie cup here. I turn on the light, and realize that there had been a bucket we had bought for easter last year in the bathroom and Emily had put quite a bit of water in it and threw it on Ally and her bed. WHAT WAS SHE THINKING????

I was so mad, so frustrated at her that I was completly speechless. I literally had no words. It sounded so stupid to say, "don't throw water on your sister." DUH! No brainer here! Honestly, I could have wrung her neck. I asked her why she did this, (not that it mattered). I got answers like, "I don't know" and "It was a joke" and "It was an accident". Yeah, an accident. You accidently put water in a bucket, carried it in the room and whooops, sorry sis! I would love to have thrown water on her and make her stay in bed all night like that but it was so cold it was snowing outside, so not exactly the best time. There really wasn't a good punishment for this crime. So tomorrow night we'll be trying to learn the correct way to go to bed, only quite a bit earlier.

Sanity returns in two days, or should I say, insanity goes to someone else in two days! Thanks mom and dad!

Ahhhh, Monday!

2009-02-09T16:16:00.001-08:00

Today was one of those days that wasn't over busy, wasn't bad, wasn't good, wasn't great....just kind of weird. One of those Mondays where I'm tired. Mike is gone and I woke up at quarter to six and couldn't go back to sleep. Something I don't think would have been a problem if he had been there.

The pre-school morning went well, especially since I was up so early I was completely ready before the girls even got up. It's so nice as a mom to get ready without saying NO 100 times because they're getting into your makeup, hair stuff, cleaners under the counter, ect. Anyway I got Emily to school and came home long enough to have a quick conversation with Mike. Then it was back to Emily's school to put in my hour and a half at center time...and of course there was a sub today. I'm sure she loved seeing me walk in with 2 kids in tow!

The project with the kids was fun but it involved pretzels. And I had to tell the kids not to eat them, but how do you convince your one year old she can't have them? It wasn't pretty! She finally did manage to sneak some in between group changes. Afterwards, I'm always tense and a little stressed with the busyness of the school kids and keeping my kids out of, well, everything! So I wisked them home to feed them and put them down because, since Mike is gone, I have to pick Emily up and go to the doctor for Rylees 2:30 18 mo. checkup. What the heck was I thinking setting a 2:30? I must have lost my mind!

So we leave just in time to pick emily up and as I walk in I notice she is looking like she's trying not to get upset on the rug with the other kids. Sure enough, as soon as she see's me she bursts into tears, not like Emily. So she rushes over to me and I ask what's wrong. She tells me she doesn't know. Her face is bright red and I can tell she's embarrassed about crying. Turns out that the substitute had used these weeble type animals to keep the kids in line. She put them around to room to "look" for good behavior and then drew names at the end of the day for who got to take them home. Well, Em's name didn't get drawn and she was heartbroken! So we rush out, me trying to comfort her but get home in time to get a new shirt because Em managed to somehow cut a hole in the middle of her shirt, oh and get half her lunch on it too.

We make it to the doctor and the nurse opens the door and calls for Rylee. Rylee immediately starts hysterically crying. She remembered that this nurse gave her shots last time and is trying her darndest to not go back there. I scoop her up and try to put her down on the scale to be weighed....yeah right! She clings to me, I can't get her off of me and make her stand still...so she and I got weighed together. Which means I have to put her down to weigh myself so we can subtract the two numbers. As soon as I put her down she runs off to leave, and almost made it out the door. And measuring her height almost didn't happen either. She was really not wanting to be there. She calmed for the doctor as usual and then freaked out again when the nurse came back in the end to give her the shots. Luckily, as soon as she was done and I said, "All done" she was totally fine. Checking out with 3 kiddos is hard enough without adding loud crying on top of it.

After all that, we find out that Rylee is healthy, no kidding! She weighs 21 lbs even and was 32 inches long. ( I know I always give those numbers but they're for me for later too!).

All in all, it was a tiring day. It's 4:30, the time of day when I start the countdown to Mike getting home. But there's no countdown today. Mike won't be here tonight. It's sad. I already miss him. I hope he's having fun, but I wish he were here to! Thankfully I can have a countdown tonight as Jenn promised ice cream and Chuck together tonight! What a friend!

Hats

2009-02-05T13:11:00.000-08:00

Wednesday is my day to watch Jack and Bella. The first thing Jack and Rylee did was start putting on hats. They both would wear a hat, then switch, then go get new hats and repeat that process. Funny enough, the only one to wear the crown though was Jack. Rylee wasn't interested in that one at all. And at least Jack wore the pink hat backwords, looking a little more cool! My personal favorites were Jack with the pink hat backwards and Rylee in the cowgirl hat. And if you ask my parents, I would usually NEVER think a cowboy hat looks good on anyone. Soooo not a country girl.

This and That

2009-02-03T14:22:00.000-08:00

Mike an I instant message throughout the day instead of calling one another. That way we can respond when we have the time. Yesterday we were both busy so it was slow going in our conversation. So yesterday, I told Mike we should really decide how we want to use some rewards money that we've earned on a card. We had it narrowed down to Sears cards for a new television for the loft or food type gift cards, applebees and such. As we're instant messaging the last thing I wrote was, "we really need to order those gift cards." When I came back, here was Mike's response and lo and behold, my response...

Mike: Do you want Sears or Food?
Jamie: Food
Mike: Are you sure? sidenote (Last he talked to me I wanted Sears)
Jamie: Yes

As I'm reading this, I'm so confused. I didn't write that??!! Emily was sitting on the chair behind me with Ally reading her a book. She, as calm as day, says, "I wrote that." I bust up laughing because Mike totally thinks it's me and is going to order a ton of cards I don't want. I rush to the phone and call him, thankfully he didn't order the cards! This wasn't the first time she had conversations with people. The other day Mike walked away after typing with his brother and Emily got on and asked him, "woodyoulikeacoffy" aka if you can't read Em's spelling...would you like a coffee? I ask Mike that all of the time.

On to Ally...she has somehow gotten her name and Rylee's name confused. Rylee is now Ryleeson. Mike gets a kick out of that and of me trying to correct her all the time. So now, we're all jamieson, emilyson, and ryleeson to him. Lovely!

And for myself...I got my invisalign braces on today. You really can't see them that much so that's good. BUT, they are incredibly hard to get off so it's a need to eat basis from now on! The assistant told me it would get easier, I hope she's correct. I'm also bummed because I love sodas and I can't just drink them whenever anymore. She said water is the only thing with my retainers on. She said the acid from anything else gets caught in there and isn't good for the enamel. So I'm down to water and the neccessary 3 meals a day! I also have to brush everytime before I put them back in. So I'll be looking skinny and have great white teeth when I'm done...good deal I guess! But they aren't super comfy right now. In the back of my mind I keep thinking that I can't wait until bedtime when I can take them off. I wish, they'll be on 24/7 till I'm done!

Datenight

2009-02-02T15:09:00.001-08:00

Last week was a pretty busy week again. Mike had 2 important lunches...Wednesday with his boss and his bosses boss, recognizing his achievments and then Thursday in Sacramento was a rewards lunch with about 30-40 other agents. So when he's gone a lot from work for things like that we don't really see him the other hours of the day because he's at work. Add working out every evening when he gets home, and it's been a lot of me and the girls! So, Mike surprised me and took me out to the , not so new anymore, Rivers restaurant. It was amazing! He wore a suit, and it wasn't even Valentines Day! And I wore a red dress I bought for Valentines day last year but didn't wear. We were pretty dressed up! We got a bottle of wine, something we've never done and it was so good. We then got a seafood appetizer with shrimp, crab and prawns. Then I got an angel hair shrimp carbonara. It was amazing! So so good. I'm not sure I would want to order anything else if we went again, it was that good. I would love to have the recipe. Mike ordered the lamb and gave me a taste. I don't like lamb but he really enjoyed it! We then topped it off, although I'm not sure how, with dessert. I got the very yummy choc. trio!

Mike even had flowers delivered earlier that day. Red, white and pink Tulips. They're cut down pretty small in this photo as they were starting to fall, but they're still really pretty.

We had an amazing time. Thanks, honey for spoiling me that night! I love that you care enough to take time to plan fun nights for us, even when you're swamped at work!

And afterwards, well...it was super romantic...we put on pajamas aaaannnndddd...picked up Emily and Tessa from AWANA!

What Joel and Leslie REALLY did on vacation...

2009-01-30T09:24:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, before leaving, Joel and Leslie made one last check that they had everything they needed. As they get in the car they realize that they forgot their traditional hymns CD. How can they go on a trip without old favorites like "Nothing But The Blood" and "Oh Come Thy Fount"? Laughing at their near disaster, Leslie runs back in the house to grab it out of their CD player. Joel and Leslie take off on their long trip singing "To God Be The Glory" and anxiously await their arrival to their retreat.

Upon arriving and checking in, they receive their welcome packet that includes their scheduled events for the week. They are excited to see fun things like fishing and games, and horseback riding. Leslie has always wanted to go horseback riding, her only concern is the ankle length skirt that she feels is appropriate for a strong baptist wife to wear, but she figures she can side saddle it. Unfortunately, they are distraught to find out that tonights event is karaoke and dancing. Knowing that dancing is not a reverent activity, they choose instead to stay in their rooms and pray for the pastors and their wives who are participating, hoping they will turn from their evil ways. After a half hour bowing on their knees in front of their bed, they realize the late hour...8:30 and decide to turn in...to their twin beds. It's much more appropriate.

The next day sees Joel and Leslie beginning their day getting ready to their beloved hymns again, this time their favorite...Blessed Assurance!
They are excited to see that today is horseback riding. They excitedly make their way down to breakfast. After eating they take off to the stables. Unfortunately, they don't have side saddles...no one told them it wasn't 1845 anymore. So Leslie, not wanting to disappoint Joel, mounts her horse. The ride loses its charm because Leslie feels she is showing way too much skin, her skirt doesn't cover her calves and ankles! But she's reminded of her favorite verse since becoming married...Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord...It calmes her and she's able to enjoy the rest of their ride.

After riding, they were hungry so they made their way to lunch. After serving Joel his food, Leslie then sits down to her own food. She gets a little teary because she misses Zach, but quickly puts herself together and moves on.

The next few days follow a similar pattern. They love their outdoor time and the fellowship of collegues who understand what it's like to lead a church. They find that they are a little more wordly than Joel and Leslie. They like to do things like take naps, laugh, sing, dance...and someone mentioned missing a TV show, can you imagine? They actually watch TV back home. Joel and Leslie decide to kneel in front of their twin beds and pray for their fellow pastors and their wives again and to remember the verse..."judge not lest ye be judged". And are able to move on happily.
The last morning is the morning they've been looking forward to the most. It's a morning filled with devotion and prayer. Unfortunately they are confused when the head pastor begins reading the Bible. They are having trouble following his reading. And then it dawns on them, he's reading from the NIV! They are used to the Hebrew Bible or at the very least the King James version. There are no thee's or thou's in there at all. Joel and Leslie come away feeling sad and empty. But, Joel was able to understand the references the pastor read so they hurried to their rooms and looked up all the verses. As understanding dawned on them, they happily packed their bags, refreshed from their devotion, all the while singing "Sweet Hour Of Prayer". As they get in their car, so ready to go see Zach, their beloved CD finally burns out after hours of use. Leslie, starts to softly cry, but Joel comes to the rescue and pulls out Bill Gaithers latest CD! They travel happily all the way to Redding.

A Day At The Park

2009-01-26T19:23:00.001-08:00

Jenn and I figured today was a little chilly but would still be nice enough to go to the park. We didn't factor in the wind chill though. The kids had fun but Rylee and Ally didn't enjoy being cold so we didn't stay overly long. But I was able to get a few cute pictures of Bella and Ally, who played together the entire time, and Tessa and Emily. Rylee wouldn't get down to play for very long so there's no cute pictures of Jack and her.

The car picture is after the park. Jenn invited us to come over to play so the kids could go outside if they wanted to and those who didn't like the cold wouldn't freeze. Of course all the kids wanted to ride together so I had, (from back to front), Ally, Bella, Rylee, Tessa, and Emily all in my car. I had to get a picture of all of those kids sitting back there. It was a lot of fun!

So Jenn, seeing as you'll have every other Friday off, don't plan anything...those Fridays are play days with your friend!

Why I'm Glad Jenn Had a Boy!

2009-01-26T12:50:00.000-08:00

It's officially happened, we now have four girls BEGGING got come over to each others houses. And I mean begging! It used to be just Tessa and Emily but lately Bella and Ally have been conspiring to come to each others houses. Today, Jenn watched Ally and Rylee while I helped at Em's school. And when I went to leave after picking them up, Bella went flying down the hall to get her shoes because she was coming with us. Ally, who was all for that, was already telling me that they would sit together in the back of the car. So Bella got to come over and play with Ally this afternoon. They really do play well together!

And that wasn't a first. Last Thursday I picked up Tessa to come over to dinner before AWANA and poor Bella was heartbroken when she couldn't come, so much so that her mom and dad took pity on her and took her to ice cream. So in closing...THANK YOU, Jenn and Jed, for having a little boy. I can't imagine 6 children begging to come over each and every time! It's too heartbreaking not being able to say yes all that often!

Haircuts

2009-01-21T16:39:00.000-08:00

I have been growing out Ally's hair because she has a lot of natural wave that's annoying and I thought that the longer it got the heavier it would get and it would naturally straiten out. Not the case. It's been so annoying to keep looking nice and it never does. So, we decided to cut it and give back the bangs...she looks sooo much better. And for a change we cut Em's too but decided to not cut bangs. Her's are all grown out and I probably won't ever cut them until she's old enough to decide for herself.

The Substitute Mommy

2009-01-19T11:21:00.001-08:00

When Emily was little I read to her a lot. It was one of the things I was most excited to do when I was pregnant with her. I love books and couldn't wait to read to her. But, having Rylee and Ally so close, they haven't gotten my attention as much where reading is concerned. And I've always regretted it, (see post below where I'm corrupting their minds by not reading to them! =). But that is all solved now. Emily, who also loves to read, is always tucked away somewhere, reading to Ally. And they both really enjoy it. This morning it was on the couch with a Dora The Explorer book. At bedtime, when I'm feeling frazzled but it's not quite time to put them down, I tell them they can read on their beds and everytime Ally climbs up with Emily so she can be read to. It's really sweet.

So there is hope for Ally being a reader too...thanks to her big sister!

A Second Chance Please!

2009-01-16T11:19:00.000-08:00

Mike and I have stuck through this last season of ER on tv, I don't really know of anyone else who watches it. Well, last nights episode had 3 alternate endings, basically the same day 3 time 15 minutes each during the show. It was showing how little things she said or did changed the course of her day and 2 patients days.

It got me thinking about all the choices I make for my kids, big and small. I'm a natural born worry wart! Add the typical mommy guilt and it makes for a bad package most of the time. Sometimes it seems that I'm always stressing about what choices I'm making for my kids now...am I reading to them enough, are they getting their spiritual nourishment, am I making sure their teeth are cleaned well enough and often enough, is my disipline helping them to become strong independent God fearing kids or am I not even reaching them? Do I push Emily too much, Ally not enough? Are we too strict, not strict enough? Are we setting bad food habits? When should we get them involved in extra activies like sports, it's important, isn't it? Am I playing with them enough, or am I creating dependent kids?

I could go on and on and on. Does anyone ever feel this way? Like every choice we make is going to drastically change their future, good or bad. Sometimes I definitly wish I had made a different decision and wish I could go back.

But in thinking about it, I forget that God has a hand in everything. That I need to give my kids back to God and let Him lead them and Mike and I in parenting and directing them through life. And truly, worry is a sin. In worrying about making the right choices all the time, it is actually causing me to stumble. It's so hard though, not to be in control. It was hard for me to send Emily off to preschool last year. Not so much because she was growing up and I was sad, but because I couldn't control her actions anymore. I had spent 4.5 years of her life stopping bad behavior, feeding her, telling her what activities we were doing, ect. She had to stand on her own and hopefully the work we had put into her would pay off.

I don't really know why I'm blogging this, I may delete it later, but it was on my mind and I wondered to what extent other parents, or maybe more specifically, those worrying moms out there, thought about this? Do you agree to some extent? Not at all? Wholeheartedly?

Sickness

2009-01-14T14:53:00.001-08:00

2009 was supposed to be the year of health since 2008 seemed to be our year to catch everything. But it so far hasn't played out that way. Rylee is down with another cold, running fevers all day, falling asleep off and on, only wanting to cuddle. She's congested and miserable. Em stayed home yesterday with it and Ally's been fighting it but I think it's starting to claim her too.

Even though I have been busy sitting holding Rylee, (who doesn't want down for a minute), I did manage to snap a few pictures of Rylee doing what she does best when she's sick...sleep, even in unusual places like the floor.

So Much For That

2009-01-12T14:56:00.001-08:00

In an earlier post, I showed you a picture of Rylee's Santa gift. The riding train that she loved to ride on. Well, I figure that was just a scam to make us believe she would use it correctly. As soon as we turn around, she's using it for her own gain.

I put up the hungry hungry hippos game today so she couldn't get into it while I finished on the computer. Next then I know I see her pushing her train down the hall, parking it in front of the desk, climbing on the seat then the steering wheel so she can reach the game. She does this all the time with things she wants.

It's really become a big problem. She's forever dragging that thing around to reach whatever she wants. I finally put it up in her closet. I figure if she isn't going to ride it, then she doesn't need it. We'll make it an outside toy. I know she'll just push over something esle now, but maybe I'll have a day or two before she figures out what that may be. One can only hope!

It is winter, isn't it?

2009-01-09T07:36:00.000-08:00

I know most people think I'm probably crazy...but this weather is depressing! I want it to rain or be really cloudy or something that feels like winter! I know I'll probably enjoy the weather but I definitly wouldn't mind the real winter weather to come back! Does anyone else feel that way?

2009-01-02T09:28:00.000-08:00

This morning Emily was the last of the three girls to get into the bathtub. Rylee and Ally were already in and playing with their toys when I told her to get it. For Christmas, they got all new bath toys so there are a lot of fun things they want to play with and one or two that they really want.

So as Em is getting in, I hear her ask Ally for the toy she has. It's this turtle that is a sprinkler. Ally, of course, says no. So in Em's sweetest mommy voice, she proceeds to tell her this...

"Ally, you need to share because that is the kind thing to do and God wants us to be kind Ally. God tells us we have to be kind and share, that's what he says. So you should be kind, Ally, and share that toy with sissy."

I thought it was so funny. Pulling all the stops out to get what she wants. I've never heard her give herself that lecture before!

Christmas Part 2

2008-12-29T14:15:00.000-08:00

Christmas started out really nice this year. Emily had asked Santa for a princess alarm clock and a cotton candy maker. Santa was happy to oblige the princess alarm clock, for which she was so excited that she didn't even ask for the cotton candy machine. Rylee recieved a little train that has a million buttons on it, she is happy to go backwards on it all day, (she can't figure out how to go forward). And Ally recieved girly blocks to play with. She absolutely loves to make towers and only had boyish colors to play with.

On Christmas day we went to my parents house from breakfast on. It was so relaxing and we were all having a great day, that is except for Allyson who got the stomach flu at 1:30 and was down and out the rest of the day. Then Rylee woke up with it Fri night/sat morning. And last but not least, Emily sat.night/sun morning. Luckily it was only a 5-8 hour bug. They literally went from sick one minute to totally fine.

In between all of that, we visited Mike's family in Dunnigan. It was a chaotic morning, not knowing if Rylee was going to be well enough to go but we made it there and had a really nice time. It was fun to get all of the cousins together. It was especially fun for Emily and her cousin Abby, who are about 3 months apart. I'm pretty sure we didn't see them the whole time.

All in all it was a great, relaxing Christmas. Em's winter break is going by way to fast. I think I've said it before, but I prefer having her home. It makes the day so much more relaxing not rushing to get ready and out the door.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T21:13:00.001-08:00

This has a been an unusual Christmas season for me. I got in the spirit super early and have never had that rush rush rush feel. I'm not sure why, as the girls and/or I were sick almost all of December so we didn't get a lot of the traditional stuff done. I think God must have given me an extra measure of peace because I was able to let it all roll off of me. We didn't get our family picture done this season and normally I would stress over that because I really like it done, but I figure we won't change that much if we have it done after the new year! So, don't expect that holiday letter from us, it won't be coming but maybe be looking for a new year's letter!

Since Friday, I have been doing a little Christmas catch up. Trying to squeeze in some holiday fun. Mike took off most of Tuesday and all of Wednesday. It was so nice to have him home, I love it. We had a lot of fun family time at home or just going around looking at lights.

I'll gave a brief explanation of each picture and try not to make it too long, that way you won't give up on this posting!

Emily at her Kindergarten Christmas party on Friday

Emily with her teacher, Ms. Maeder!

My dad and mom were kind enough to take the younger two so I could go to Em's school and watch them have their party. I was just getting over being sick so I didn't get to help plan or do anything but it was so much fun watching her at school. She is so good, and so respectful. I love watching what an amazing little girls she's turned into.

My mom wanted to do a Christmas program this year, (which was wonderful) and she wanted to include the kiddos. So she put together the music and scripture reading and my kind awesomly talented Aunt Leslie made all of the costumes herself and donated them to the church for further use. They all looked super cute.

And if I may brag for a second, Emily did the scripture reading and she memorized it and it was flawless on Sunday. She was so serious and did an amazing job. Mike used our camera to record it but accidently deleted it. We were disapppointed. So, since I was going to download it for you and can't, here's what she recited...

Matt. 2:1-2
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

The two most adorable angels you have ever seen !

Christmas Eve we finally made it to see Santa. It was about a 25-30 min wait. The whole time Ally is so excited. Then when we're about 2 families from the front, she starts to shake, then when we're next, she starts to cling to me and cry that she doesn't want to see him. Rylee is fine at this point, she's too young and there's a little puppy in line behind us that is licking her hand and she just thinks that's the funniest thing. Anyway, we start to move towards this super sweet santa and when we get in front of him, Ally lights up and wants to sit on his lap. After telling him what they want, he instructs me who to put where on his lap for a picture. As you can see in the picture, Emily is serene, Ally is holding it together (barely) and Rylee wants nothing to do with him. The only time she wasn't sobbing was when I would ask if she wanted a candy, she would wail "Yeah", look up at Santa like, "Are you giving me the candy? If so , hurry up already" and then start wailing again. I thought the picture turned out cute though.

Decorating Christmas cookies on Christmas eve. Em helped make the dough then wanted to watch a Christmas movie. Ally moved in and was really into cutting out the cookies with cookie cutters. Ally is much more my project girl.

Oh my gosh, look at the pile of sprinkles on that cookie! Only a 6 year old could enjoy that! She was quite proud though!

The girls before Christmas Eve service. I love Ally in this one!

Wait, are you kidding? We actually got a cute picture with all 3 looking nice and in the same direction at the same time?!! It must be a Christmas miracle!

Happy 6th Birthday Emily!

2008-12-08T19:14:00.000-08:00

I took a trip down memory lane yesterday and found the pictures from Em's 1st birthday party. In some ways it seems so long ago and yet it feels like just the other day. I still remember her ripping into that cake that first year, it was such a special and fun night. One of Mike's co-workers back then gave her a leopared stuffed animal purse that she fondly calls "yellow kitty" and still sleeps with every night.

Now, she's a big six year old. Full of life, loves to learn, and has a lot of passion.

I also wanted to show pictures of Em's 2-5th birthday but can't seem to find year 2-4 pictures (so nana, send a few over if you can find them). The thing I love in all of those pictures is there is always one person at her side, opening gifts, singing happy birthday ect...Tessa. And it's so fun to see how much they've changed over the years. Tessa is definitly a loved and valued friend!

Anyway, I just wanted to tell her happy birthday and to share with you how much she's grown over the years. I'll post about her actual party another day.

P.S. I've been getting so many comments lately about how much Rylee looks like Ally, but I totally see a little Rylee in Em's one year birthday picture!

Just Wanted To Say Thank You...

2008-12-08T08:40:00.001-08:00

Mike, I just wanted to say thank you for teaching our 16 mo. old how to climb the ladder to the top bunk, something she never even considered before you taught her. And double thank you for not teaching her to go down! It's her absolute favorite thing to do and if the ladder is down, she's on it. Luckily, she hasn't yet tried to come down without me.

Oh, and Mike, I know what you're doing next weekend...teaching Rylee how to safely come down. Love you!

2008-12-04T07:59:00.000-08:00

Early this week I took the girls out front to ride their bikes as it was beautiful weather. Rylee came out with us and as usual was into everything, including other peoples garages. So I sent up Em to get the bag of Leggo blocks that are in the back of the closet because the girls never play with them. I figured since I never have them out maybe they would distract Rylee.

They didn't distract Rylee but they did distract Ally. She played with them for an hour and a half strait and has basically been playing with them a good portion of every day. It is the ultimate babysitter for me. Now I just have one child following me around. Ally builds towers up as high as she can until they fall, (or Rylee knocks it down), and then builds them back up all over again. She's getting much better at connecting them too. At first it didn't take to long to topple over but now she gets them almost as tall as her. And by the way, she's usually wearing a princess dress while she's building...gotta keep it girly ya know!

4th File 4th photo

2008-12-03T11:57:00.000-08:00

This is the morning of Ally's second birthday.