Update

The last few weeks we've been busy with various holiday activities.  Last Sunday Katie and I made headbands and bows for her.  I should have waited until nap time so I could have given them to her for Christmas but I was so excited to make them and then have her put them on. 

Then we made ornaments for the tree.  Our first project was painting a pine cone green then decorating it with glitter and ribbon.  Next, Charles wanted to make reindeer.  The kids painted clothespins brown and Katie and Charles made theirs super sparkly with glitter while Eric left his plain.  They turned out pretty cute.

Tuesday Eric had his String Concert.  He's been playing the violin for about three months now.  He plays well and loves it too.  Dean and I weren't sure what to expect from the fourth graders but we were pleasantly surprised.  They sounded awesome. 

Thursday, Katie, Andrew and I had our Christmas program at St. Luke's.  Our theme was Christmas Around the World.  My class represented Sweden, Katie's class represented Africa and Andrew's class represented America.  Each class dressed in traditional Christmas costumes from their country and said Merry Christmas in their language. It was a cute program.  I forgot the camera so their are no pictures.

Saturday, our ward put on Christmas in Nauvoo.  The primary kids sang and participated in the Nativity.  Katie, who is not yet a Sunbeam snuck into the program.  I went in the room where the boys were getting their costumes to  get her and somebody and given her a halo to wear and a candle to hold.  She was a bit of an unruly angel.  She  walked in front to go stand next to her brothers, who were shepards, then she took her halo off and had a hard time getting it back on again.  Oh, well she's just a few weeks away from being a Sunbeam.  I forgot the camera for this event as well.  Dean joked with me that it was ok because memories are overrated. 

Give Thanks

I have soooo much to be thankful for.   I'm thankful for my beautiful family.  I'm thankful they are all healthy and happy.  I'm thankful that I have food to eat, clothes to wear and a home to live in.  I'm thankful that I have a job and that I get to take Andrew and Katie with me and see them throughout the day.  I'm thankful for my parents and my brother and sisters and for their families.  I'm thankful that my parents raised me in the gospel and that I have a Heavenly Father who knows and loves me.  I'm thankful for His son and the Atonement.  I'm thankful for my husband. I'm thankful that he is always there for me and that he is a great father.  I'm thankful for my dishwasher and chocolate cake and Dr. Pepper.  I'm thankful that I live in a free country and for those who fight to protect us.  I'm thankful for a warm bed and a comfy couch and hot water.  I'm thankful for my friends.  I'm thankful that I have so much to be thankful for.

Happy Halloween

Halloween was fun this year (isn't it always fun?).  Eric wanted to be a bandit.  Easy enough.  Charles wanted to be a skeleton with a homemade costume and Katie changed her mind every other day.  She went from Belle to Sleeping Beauty to Snow White.  After going to three different stores I found black clothes for Charles and decided to use glow in the dark paint for the bones.  I should have used white paint first, then the glow in the dark paint.  Live and learn.  His costume turned out good anyway. Katie ended up being Cinderella because I wasn't willing to pay $40 for a Snow White costume. She was super excited because I put make up on her.  Andrew was the cutest little elephant ever!  Here are the pics of our fun.

Happy Two Month Birthday

Our little Andrew is now two months old.  Being a parent has taught me that most cliches about babies, children and time are true.  He has grown like a weed, he is cute as a button, these are the best years of our life, he is the apple of our eye (along with the other three), time does go by in a blink of an eye and it flies when you're having fun. 

The last two months have gone by so quickly.  In the beginning, many of the days seemed to pass by in a sleepless blur.  Nevertheless, I have enjoyed each day since Andrew was born.  He is out growing that sleepy phase and moving into a much more happy, awake, smiley, cooing phase. 

He had his two month check up today. His stats are: 23.5 inches long, 15.25 cm head circumference and 13.2 pounds.  When the doctor came into the room he jokingly said that I have a "failure to thrive baby". 

These are a few of his likes and dislikes.

Likes
being held
bath time
the swing
riding in the stroller
playing on the floor

Dislikes
sleeping in his crib before 11:00 pm
when I eat the wrong foods
having gas
getting laid down
when his sister and brothers get too close to his face

I walked into the living room this afternoon and Katie was eating dry Cheerios with a clothespin.  She said to me, "Hey, mama, I'm eating these Cheerios with my chopper sticks."

Butterscotch Cookies

Butterscotch has long been one of my favorite flavors.  I remember as a little girl visiting my granny and pa.  Pa always had a pocket full of Brach's hard candy.  My two favorites were butterscotch and root beer barrels. 
This weekend I was on Sugardoodle.net.  I frequently visit this website for Primary ideas but  had never noticed that on the sidebar there is a link to recipes.  I came across a recipe for butterscotch cookies and had to try it. 
I sure am glad that I did!  I love to bake but usually only bake chocolate chip cookies when I make cookies because that is what my family likes best.  This just might be my new favorite cookie.  They smell amazing as they are baking and taste even better.  Here's the recipe or you can check it out on the Sugardoodle website.

Butterscotch Cookies

4-1/2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 c. butter

1-1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. white sugar

2 pkgs. butterscotch pudding (3.4 oz)

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

3 c. butterscotch chips

Mix flour and baking soda and set aside. In another bowl, cream together the butter, brown and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Stir in the butterscotch chips. Bake at 375 for 7-9 minutes. Just watch until edges turn a golden brown.

Try them, I promise you'll love them. 

Say Cheese!

Eric is going to learn to play the violin this year

Charles is a proud big brother

The Future's so bright Andrew has to wear shades (even if they are pink)

Sissy thinks Andrew is so cute in her sunglasses

Daddy snapped this picture when Andrew was fussing but it looks like a smile

This hair is NOT due to static electricity

Charles

Charles came home from school last week with a tooth box around his neck and a gap in his smile.  There was no tooth in the tooth box however.  Eric was quite excited to tell me the story.  Charles was on the playground and ran into another kid.  His already loose tooth was knocked out and disappeared in the wood chips.  I guess the tooth box was just to show that he lost a tooth at school.  The evidence of this incident was a semi excited boy with a fat lip.  He was of course sad that his tooth was missing but happy that he lost a tooth. 

Charles also learned to ride his bike with no training wheels this week.  He has been riding with only one training wheel for quite a while.  He didn't have the courage to ride without it.  The kids were out riding and Eric ran in the house to tell me that Charles was riding on only two wheels.  I went outside and sure enough there was Charles riding his bike with the training wheel up in the air.  He hadn't even realized that he was riding without the help from the training wheel. 

mama called the doctor and the doctor said...

I love the advice the doctors and nurses give as they send you home from the hospital after having a baby.  "Get lots of rest and take it easy".  Easier said then done.  When the baby is two days old they have to visit the pediatrician for their first visit.  Then, in the case of Andrew, he had elevated Bili Rubin levels so we spent four of his first seven days running back and forth to the hospital for blood tests.  Then he had to see an orthopaedic doctor for his collar bone yesterday and back to the lab for his PKU test and another hearing test today. 

Lucky for us, his Bili levels dropped to a normal range so Saturday was his last day of photo therapy, the x-rays showed that his collar bone is starting to heal (only one more week of pinning his sleeve to his chest) and he passed his hearing test just fine this time.  Now Tuesday is his two week well baby check up then we should be good to go for a few more weeks. 

I shouldn't complain.  Things could be a whole lot worse.  I have a perfectly healthy, happy baby that came home with me from the hospital after he was born.  I am just a little out of practice with this newborn baby stuff.

Welcome Baby Andrew

Our newest edition arrived on Friday, August 13th at 4:19 pm. He weighed 8 lbs. 13 oz. and was 20.5 inches long. I was induced 6 days early (at the time of the birth I was second guessing myself in making this decision but in the end I was happy I did because he would have easily been 9+ pounds like my other children).

My doctor asked if it bothered me that he would be born on Friday the 13th but I didn't care. However, there was some "bad luck" involved. First off, my epidural did not take full effect. I only felt it in my right leg. I felt absolutely no pain in the births of my other children. Knowing that I would feel this birth scared me to death. I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to pain. I cried and panicked the entire time. I wanted to give up and stop pushing because it hurt. I still wonder why anyone would choose to not have medication. You ladies who choose not to are definitely braver than I.

The second bit of bad luck was that Andrew fractured his collar bone on the way out. It went unnoticed until the next day during his circumcision. The nurse came back and said he didn't move his left arm from the elbow up during the process and an x-ray confirmed the fracture. He spends his days and nights with his sleeve pinned to his chest to keep it steady.

We've had Andrew in our lives for 6 days now and love him to death. The kids are thrilled to have a baby brother. Katie is like a little mommy. She always wants to hold him. We are so happy he is here and is healthy and beautiful. Welcome to the family Andrew!!

Friday the 13th

I don't know if any of you are superstitious or not but I am not.  It's probably a good thing too because I am scheduled to have the baby tomorrow, Friday, August 13th.   As you can see on the baby tracker to your right I technically have seven more days to go.  I went to the doctor today and nothing has changed since last weeks appointment except that the swelling in my legs and feet has gotten a lot worse, by belly is still growing and I can't quite get comfortable.  This pregnancy has been easy (just like my other three, thank goodness) but I am ready to meet our new, tiny baby. 

There is lots to be done in the next twelve hours.  Eric still needs new school shoes and clothes, I need to buy two more notebooks, the house isn't quite as clean as I would like and there aren't a lot of groceries in the house.  However, the nursery is ready and I'm not too far behind on laundry.  We'll get things taken care of and be just fine. 

I can't wait to see what we have hiding in this belly of mine!!

Cute Quote

We went up to Cripple Creek this weekend (I'll post more about it later when I can get the pictures off of Dean's phone) and stayed in a hotel.  They didn't have one room with two beds so they gave us two rooms.  The kids slept in one and we had the other.   FYI: I stayed with them until I knew they were fast asleep.  I told Eric to call our room if Katie woke up or if they needed anything.  However, I didn't know you had to dial a 2 before the room number in order for the call to go through.  The next morning Eric  knocked on our door to tell Dean they were awake.  He said, "I tired to call but there was no send button".  This is the product of a child raised without a land line.   

4th of July Weekend

I never thought we would vacation in Alamosa but we did.  Usually when we go to the Valley we stay with my parents or siblings.  This was a little vacation for us though so we stayed at a hotel instead.  The kids were bursting with excitement over this.  Katie, who hasn't had much experience staying at a hotel was excited and a little mixed up.  Here is where the mix up began.  She has show and tell at school.  She couldn't remember that the hotel was called a hotel.  The entire trip she referred to the hotel as "the show and tells".  It was adorable.

The kids loved swimming everyday and playing on the water slide.  Friday night we ate dinner at Mrs. Rivera's and were entertained by a Mariachi band.  Eric said he thought the music was good for a while and then it got annoying.  He was right.  They played right next to our table and there were quite a few of them so talking and listening to each other was a challenge. 

Saturday we went to the 4th of July parade in downtown Alamosa.  There was not a lot to see but the kids loved it because they got about as much candy as they did on Halloween.  After the parade we went to Cole park for a Tea Party Rally and to let the kids play.  I can't even remember the last time I had been at Cole Park to play.  I do remember going there on field trips in elementary school  though. 

After that my family came up to swim then we went to Aaron's house for a cookout and horseback riding for the kids.  My kids were in heaven all day! 

Sunday, we swam for a few more hours then came home to get ready for the fireworks.  We were able to do sparklers and small fireworks before the rain drove us inside.  We saved the big ones for Monday night. 

San Isabel

Two weekends ago we decided to go camping.  Dean and the boys went Memorial Day weekend but I opted out at the last minute.  After hearing their stories I knew I had missed out so I was really excited to go this time.  We went to the La Vista campground at San Isabel.  It was great for several reasons.  A few of them being  1.  close to home 2.  bathrooms and running water near by 3. walking distance to the lake.  We stayed two nights which was just right.  We got rained on the first night and then again the next afternoon but it really wasn't that bad.  The kids had fun fishing and playing in the water.  Dean was the only one to catch a fish (actually three).  Charles had one and was reeling it in as fast as he could.  It flipped out of the water a few times and eventually got away. 

the simple things in life

Last night Dean grilled burgers out on the patio and we ate dinner outside.  Charles who only recently started eating hamburgers thought they were the absolute best.  As we sat eating and talking Charles got a big smile on his face and said, "Ahh, this is the life".  He couldn't have been more right.  You can't beat cooking and eating outside and just being with your family. 

Saturday night our ward had a luau. Unfortunatley it was cold and rainy so they had to move it inside. It was fun nontheless.

A family from the ward roasted a pig for dinner and there were polynesian dancers to entertain us. At the end they invited the kids up to learn a dance. They were so cute!

Happy Birthday Eric

Tomorrow is Eric's 9th birthday!  Nine years come and go rather quickly.  Eric is such a blessing to our family.  He always tries his best and is a great big brother to Charles and Katie.  He is sweet and caring and artistic.  He has always been so easy going.  I remember when he was a month old we flew to Vegas for a conference and one of Dean's co-workers couldn't believe how good he was.  He never cried or became fussy while at the airport or on the plane. He was a very happy baby and I'm glad that he has turned out to be a happy boy too.  All of his teachers have said that he is a great student, that he is respectful and he puts a lot of effort into all that he does.  He makes us proud everyday.  Happy Birthday Eric!!

We celebrated his birthday on Saturday with family.  For months he has asked for a root beer float cake and party.  I was looking at cake decorating web sites to get some ideas and instead of finding cakes that looked like floats I found recipes for cakes that taste like a root beer float.  I tried two different recipes, made three different cakes and two different kinds of frosting.  I spent hours trying to get this cake the way he wanted it.  It should have been very simple to make and decorate but I had so many problems.  The first cake I made was a round layer cake but he didn't like it because it didn't look like a mug of root beer ( I saved that cake to take to the ward party instead).  The next cake stuck to the pan even though I sprayed it and had parchment paper on the bottom of the  pan.  It crumbled as I tried to take it out.  It was almost ten o'clock the night before his party and I wasn't going to make another cake so I salvaged it.  I held it together with lots of frosting.  I then had to bake another round cake for the handle of the mug.  I was ready to cry or scream or do something dramatic by the time I finished the cake. 

The good news is he loved the cake, said I was the best mom and that I deserved a cupcake because of all the hard work I put into it.  The party was lots of fun.  I bought soda glasses for the kids to drink their floats out of and Dean made hamburgers.  Then he opened presents and we ate cake and more ice cream.  He got his first BB gun and was so excited to try it out.  We set up cans in the back yard for target practice.  He had a good time. 

It's been a while...

I haven't posted in quite a while, but that's because I haven't done anything terribly exciting in a while.  Over Memorial Day weekend Dean took the boys camping.  I seriously considered going then backed out at the last minute.  It was actually quite nice to be home with just Katie for a few days.  We cleaned house, did laundry, cleaned up the back yard and planted some flowers.  I came very close to painting the kitchen cabinets as well but ran out of time and energy.  When they got back we spent a day going to the movie, playing in the fountain at the theater, going out for lunch then while Katie and Dean rested the boys and I went mini golfing. 

This weekend the kids and I washed and cleaned out the cars.  To the passerby it probably looked like I was breaking some child labor laws as I sat in the shade while they cleaned away.  Luckily for them it was a lot more fun than it was work so I didn't feel a bit guilty.  We now have two very clean cars. 

One last update.  Three weeks ago at my last OB appointment I did not pass the glucose test AND  I had to have a doppler scheduled for my leg to make sure I didn't have any blood clots forming in the oh so attractive varicose vein running down my calf.  I cried because I thought I was going from healthy to possibly having gestational diabetes and blood clots.  Lucky for me the doppler came back clean.  There was nothing harmful lurking in my veins  and today I had the three hour glucose test and passed with flying colors.  I am very thankful for my health!

Mother's Day

Today is doubly special because it's Mother's Day and Katie's birthday. The primary kids sang Little Purple Pansies and I Often Go Walking in sacrament meeting today. I love when they sing! In primary the kids made a book of kisses for their moms. It has a poem and blank pages that they either kissed with lipstick lips or used stamps and stickers. This is what the poem says:

Mommy I Love You
by Nicholas Gordon

Mommy, I love you
For all that you do.
I'll kiss you and hug you
'Cause you love me too
You feed me and need e
To teach you to play.
So smile 'cause I love you
On this Mother's Day.

Mom, this is a book of kisses for you. You can redeem each page of this book for a real kiss. Happy Mother's Day 2010.

Dean bought me flowers and a Dyson hand held vacuum. You may be thinking the flowers were a nice touch but the vacuum? I have actually been wanting one for a very long time and was absolutely thrilled to get it. Thank you Dean, Charles, Eric and Katie for making my Mother's Day so special.

Here's something funny that happened today. I was in the kitchen getting things ready for lunch and Katie was at the table waiting for her food. She kept asking me for different things like carrots with ranch, two slices of apple not just one, a big glass and on and on. As I'm trying to keep up with her Eric comes over to me and says, "Man, I'm glad I'm not a mom!"

Happy Mother's Day to all of you hard working moms out there, especially my own!!!