Happy 1st Birthday Nate

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

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

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

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

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.