She's walking!!!

This year Belle has left us in awe. She has learned and grown so much. She hasn't let any sickness or heart surgery slow her down one bit. She has accomplished so much this year. We are so proud of her. She is amazing. We all just want to eat her up. I think if she could talk she would say her favorite accomplishment this year is walking. She has been walking for a month now or maybe I should say running. She is incredibly proud of herself and we are to. We love to see her new independence. This video is a bit dark and not so good but we just wanted to show you how stinking cute she is walking.

If you are listening to our playlist. This is her song. We blast it through the house and sing as loud as we can to her. "When we see your face there's not a thing that we would change cause your amazing just the way you are. And when you smile the whole world stops and stares for awhile because girl you're amazing just the way you are. "

She is the world to us and we feel so very blessed to have her in our family.....

Happy Birthday Jonah!

It's hard to accept that this little bug......


Is now this big bug....


I can't believe he is 10 already! Where did the time go? This kid is an amazing kid I tell you. He is kind, helpful, loving, smart, obedient, creative, he is a great brother, and can always make me smile. We are so proud of you Jonah! Happy Birthday buddy!

Halloween

This year was Belle's first Halloween she dressed up. She was going to be a ladybug with a tutu but everyone kept saying she looked like Minnie Mouse. In the end we borrowed Minnie ears and she made the cutest little mouse I've seen. Since I was pretty focused on little miss, for the boys it came down to whatever you could come up with before school the next day. Jonah decided he didn't want to be anything scary and decided on a laundry basket. Kiegan was his idol of all times, John Lennon. And Tate was dracula but refused to wear the fangs that Tony drove all over town searching for the night before. It was an interesting Halloween but they of course made out like bandits and they all had fun. Belle decided she didn't so much like Halloween. Mainly just other people dressed up in paint, masks, and hats. Not fun for a little one. She does like to play in her tutu and make it swirl. She is so girly!
(The pumpkins start with Kiegan and go down to Belle)

The long trip to Disney......

Last summer Disney had a "give a day get a day" promotion. We tied 15 fleece blankets and earned one free day each at Disney. It was the perfect opportunity to finally plan a vacation there. We have been anticipating this trip all year and finally it came. It was so much fun and so worth it.
The car ride was long but my sweet friend Vicki made us a big bag with little presents in it. She made a map and at different destinations along the way we got to open up a present. It was brilliant and so fun. The anticipation for the next city made the time go by much faster. We got lots of yummy treats along with toys, music, and books to pass the time. She is a genius!

Some of us were:

Sleepy.....

Silly......

Mischievous.....

Bored.....

and Goofy.......

Disneyland

Oh how we loved Disneyland! We wish we could have spent more time there and can't wait until the next time we go. It was so much fun! We couldn't have done this trip without my mom though. She stayed in the hotel with Belle so that we all could thoroughly enjoy ourselves and of course go on ALL the rides. Belle loved spending time with Grandma and we loved playing.

Loved all the Halloween Decor.

Our friends the Schwendtke's hid a penny back in July for us and YES it was still there. The boys were able to find it only from looking at a picture clue. It was shoved into one of the cracks in the brick. So fun!

I had to post this picture because Tate's face is perfect. There is a reason only the boys went on this ride. Uggh! :)

Califiornia Adventure

We were ALL scared on that dumb Ferris wheel, not fun!

The boys had to fit in one more Grizzly River run before the night was over. Then of course they froze but said it was so worth it.

Our other favorites were Tower of Terror, California Screamin', and of course Soaring over California.

The Last Day......

On the last day we hung out with Grandma Nancy until she caught her flight and then spent that night at Downtown Disney. The trip definitely wasn't long enough but we had a blast. (We are already planning our next trip to Disney) We couldn't have done it without my mom. I am so lucky and grateful that she could come spend some time with us and especially Belle. We love you so much Grandma Nancy and thank you a million times over.....

Uncle Terry

Uncle Terry (also known as the tickle monster) came to visit. We were so so excited! It was so nice to hang with him. He spoiled the kids rotten of course. He brought them gifts, played lots of games with us, and even took all the boys up the Space Needle for their first time. While he was here we took him to Pikes place, Ivar's (of course), EMP, and the Space Needle. Thanks for coming to visit us Uncle Terry. We had a blast and miss you already! :)


Bros.

Two peas in a pod. "The Jokers"

A Girl, Her Stool, and The Wiggles......

Belle loves the Wiggles, and even more she loves to sit on her stool or on the table. She loves to sit on her stool and read a book, do a puzzle, or have snack up to the table. She often hauls all her toys and books up there just to sit and play. We call it her throne. And of course there's no better place to sit and watch the Wiggles.

The BIG Day!

Despite waking up at 6:30 a.m. and not being allowed to eat, Belle was an angel. She thought it was all fun and games the morning of her surgery. This is the before picture. Being silly in her cute little hospital gown. (If we all could be so cute in them huh?)She had no idea what was about to happen.

This is the Amplatzer Duct Occluder II. This is what they inserted through a catheter to fix her hole. The picture is a bit fuzzy but I couldn't find any real pics online only drawings. The one on the left is the old version and the right one is the new one. Everything went awesome she did great through surgery and was able to go home after (what felt like a long stay) only 5 hours of recovery. She initially was not a happy girl when she came out of the anesthesia so they had me go back to the recovery room with her. The poor girl was wrapped up like a mummy with just her arms free and then a sock on her one hand to protect the IV. They were making her stay flat for an hour, I could hold her if she was in cradle position but she has never ever liked that position. She was ANGRY! Once we finally got into the "real" recovery room we were able to turn on Elmo and she was a happy girl. She didn't have to be so confined and was able to eat a bit. 4 hours and some X-rays later we were on our way home with one very sleepy little girl.


This is how she spent the next couple days. Zonked out on the couch like a big kid. It was so cute.

I couldn't resist sharing this one with her belly button hanging out trying to cool her down from the fever the first night.

All in all she is our trooper. One more thing to cross of the list. She is amazing!

Side note:
Since her surgery she has decided she really wants to walk and has taken up to 5 steps on many occasions. She is so so close. It's so exciting!

An echo, an EKG, and two surprises....

Last Tuesday I took Belle to Children's to see the cardiologist. What I thought was just a regular checkup turned into an eventful day.
After Belle's echo the sonographer (who has a little 5 year old with Downs and was super nice and super good with Belle) told me that it looked like her VSD had finally closed on it's own. (1st surprise) Which is fabulous news! I told him that was great but was surprised since her pediatrician had just heard it at her two year checkup a couple months ago. They thought that was strange and so they listened and guess what???? They heard something. They were very surprised by this and while she was having her EKG they went over all the film to see what they had missed. Dr. M (her cardiologist) came in and almost the first thing out of his mouth was "so there's a surprise". I got a bit nervous but of course thought that he was referring to the VSD being closed which he quickly told me that is great but she has been "misdiagnosed". My heart instantly sunk and then I tried to laugh it off with "Oh she doesn't really have DS" ha ha! No really what does that mean you wonder....so did I. It means that for the past two years she's had a hole in her heart known as a PDA that they have overlooked because they were more focused on her VSD.
**A PDA or patent ductus arteriosus is a heart problem that occurs when a blood vessel fails to close after birth. It should close permanently after the baby's first breath. This opening allows blood to flow directly from the aorta into the pulmonary artery, which can put a strain on the heart and increase the blood pressure in the lung arteries.
You can only imagine what was going through my mind. I of course was concerned why and how it was overlooked. He said that he didn't want to make excuses but everybody that ever looked at her heart (which by the way has been a million people) was so focused on her VSD because they knew she had that from before she was born. And when they would listen to the audio they only assumed that what they were hearing was from the VSD. That's fair but had this caused damage, what does this mean, will she have to have open heart surgery? I had a million questions. This is what I learned:
She is not in any pain, her heart doesn't show any damage, she is one lucky girl, PDA's are linked to respiratory problems and hopefully fingers crossed she'll have a better winter this year, there is also a possibility that this will help her grow but he like all the other doctors thinks that her being petite isn't linked to this it's just in her genes. Yes, she will have to have a surgery. She is very lucky it doesn't have to be open heart surgery. They will insert a catheter into her artery in the groin and through that they will place an occluder into the hole and close it up. She might even be able to come home the same day if all her stats look great afterwards.
It was all so surreal when I left Children's that day. I guess I didn't quite believe it until the surgeon called. But all in all it should be an easy peasy procedure and she will be as good as new.
With all that said this has totally rocked my world. I have barely slept in the past week and probably won't sleep much in the next two weeks leading up to this. As much as I say to everyone that she's going to be fine (which I truly believe) I am a mess. I keep telling myself that Belle is an amazing little girl with a will. She has overcome so much in her short little life and this is just one more thing for her to rise above. She is going to prove more to us in this life than we ever thought of.
So here's to September 8th: may it come quickly, go smoothly, and soon be forgotten.

Temple Square and the Haymonds

It's been way to long since we had been at Temple Square as a family. This has always been my favorite temple. It has an extra special meaning to me because this is where we were sealed for time and all eternity. The best day of my life.

We met up with the Haymonds and completely acted like tourists. The boys loved it. My heart swelled to watch all of them be so excited about every little thing there. They loved the paintings, the statue of Christ, the replica of the temple, and especially all the fountains. I loved watching them react to all the beautiful things around them. Temple Square is a special place. Thank you Haymonds for meeting us there and spending the day with us. The visit was way to short but I'm so glad we got to see you all. We love and miss you guys already.

(We like to laugh that this family picture portrays us as the typical Mormon family, I look pregnant and with Ellie with us it looks as if we already have 5 kids.....YIKES)

All the kids loved the many fountains. Sadly I didn't get any good pictures of the Haymonds. So this one of sweet little Amelie will have to prove that we really did see them. Sorry!

Summer Vacation Part 2....

We all went up to Idaho and spent a week at my moms house. The kids once again thought they were in heaven with the playhouse/play structure in the backyard. They played out there for hours which let us ladies get some fun projects done. I love love love all my new pillows, thanks Mom and Wendi! I haven't been to Idaho in the summer time for years and was quickly reminded how much I love the breeze and the evenings. I thought for sure that it wouldn't feel like home since it was Idaho Falls instead of Sugar City. But if you have ever heard that saying "Home is where your family is" it is so true. Mom's house is definitely home. :) Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Lyle took all the kids to a movie and a baseball game. They of course loved it. Poor Lyle probably felt like he was working on my car the whole time. He had to replace the brake pads and roters. Which were down to the nothings, I guess metal on metal isn't the best way to stop your car. He did many other little minor fix ups as well. Only by the grace of God did we make it through all the passes on the way to UT and ID. Thank you Lyle for all the work you put into my car and keeping us safe. We also went to a little lake that was the hit of the trip. The water was freezing but the kids didn't want to leave. We were able to see my Dad and Margaret which was really nice because it was the first time they met Belle. After the initial introduction to Grandpa Dal, Belle let him have it. She sure babbled to him on and on. I don't know if she was telling him off or if she was just catching him up. It was pretty funny. All the kids played in the ditch which took me back to memories of when I did the same thing....day in and day out.... The last night at Grandma and Grandpa's we roasted smores. YUM!!! I think Jace is the only person I know who doesn't like a smore. Crazy kid!!! I also got to have lunch with a dear friend Carren, it was so so nice to see her. The trip to Idaho was a success. It is always so hard to say goodbye but I bet Grandma and Grandpa were so happy to have peace and quiet again. Thanks for hosting us and making many wonderful memories with the kids. We love you all!

Summer Vacation 2010

Kiegan started off our vacation by going to Utah for two weeks. He was spoiled rotten by the Birch's and Steel's. We all missed him terribly at home. We made the long trek down to Utah and were so glad to see him. It was a long 14 hrs..... The dvd player stopped working after 1 1/2 movies. Which meant Belle pretty much screamed the last 12 hours of the ride. She was not happy. Once we got to Utah we had so much fun with all the cousins. My kids thought they were in heaven. It's really to bad we have to live so far away from all the cousins. Speaking of cousins.........We had a lovely BBQ and got to see a few people we hadn't seen for way to many years. Thanks Megan and Jessie for making time for us. I can't tell you how great it was to see you both and your handsome escorts. It was so so nice to catch up with them. I only wish it could have been longer, next time right? We had lots of fun with the Birch's and the Steel's. We goofed off, played night games, went swimming, and ate lots of really good food. Belle learned how to go down the stairs and is slowly overcoming her fear of dogs. (I think she thinks Pepper is a muppet or something since she is the only dog she isn't afraid of) This is the first trip in a long time that no one got sick. I was so HAPPY!!! I was even happier that they have AC there. I realized that I have been spoiled up here in the Great Northwest where the weather for the most part is so lovely. It has been in the 70's since we got home and I am not missing the dry, hot, desert at all. The people yes but not the heat. Belle is loving her cooler climate also.....she does not like to be hot one bit. While in Utah I got to see two dear friends, Jenny my bff from high school and Laura my old roommate and her beautiful new baby. It was so nice to see them to.

Sigh......

Dear Family,

I wish you good luck without me here for the next 2 weeks. Dad don't work your tail off and when we get the chance to talk, tell me about all the good sports games I'll miss. Mom, take care of Belle and don't let the boys annoy you to much. Jonah, I expect you to beat Super Mario Galaxy by the time you get to Utah. Tate, don't go buggin' anyone and when you come to Utah tell me all about your B-Day (which I wish will be great) and all about Despicable Me. Belle, I love you dear and I hope you will be safe and as cute as ever. Pepper, don't make messes in the house and scare away intruders. I will miss you all sooooooo much (even you Jonah) and I love you all! Sincerely, Kiegan Austin

One scary night...........

So here it is....the scary night! If you don't want all the details (that I so easily give) then skip down to the blue paragraph for the gist of the story.



Friday night Tony, Kiegan, and Tate went to the Mariners game. After Belle went to bed Jonah and I snuggled up in my bed and watched a movie and ate popcorn. It was still pretty light outside when the movie started so naturally I hadn't turned the lights on in the rest of the house. I have been so so tired lately so I was dozing in and out the whole movie. At 9:45 Tony called and woke me up to tell me they were on there way home. Jonah and I watched the last little bit of the movie and while we were laying there I heard a noise outside but the houses are so close together here that I just assumed it was my neighbor. When the movie got over I really wanted to just stay in bed and fall back asleep but I was pushed (still small voice) to get up and turn some lights on and let Pepper out. That's when I heard more noises. It sounded like something was getting dragged or a window or something was trying to be opened. But I didn't think much about it because I just figured it was the neighbors or an animal or something. While I was in the kitchen the noise was louder but I still let Pepper out not really thinking. Pepper instantly went running to the corner of the deck and started barking like crazy. She has a pretty ferocious bark when she is really mad so I hurried and opened the door and let her back in and closed and locked it. I couldn't see anything because the light was on behind me so it was pitch dark out there. I heard some noises again but Pepper was still barking like crazy. She kept running back and forth from the slider to the stairs growling and barking. I was totally scared but was trying to convince myself and Jonah that it was just an animal out there not a person. I didn't hear any more sounds so I opened the slider and stood out there for about 10 min trying to see anything and to get Pepper to go check it out. Pepper wouldn't go down the stairs but kept growling and barking a couple times at the cracks in between the planks. (like someone was down there) I came back in still trying to convince ourselves it was just an animal. We both were still pretty scared so we stood in the doorway of my bedroom until Tony got home. The whole time Pepper was still growling and barking a few times. We figured that if someone was in the house then we would hear them coming up the stairs and Pepper would let us know and we could go in my room and lock the door and call the police. We didn't hear anymore noises so we just stayed in the doorway. It felt like forever before Tony got home but it was only about 30 min. I told him I had been hearing some noises and Pepper was going wild so he needed to go see what was going on. He took the flashlight and went on the deck and looked around the backyard but didn't see anything so he started to go down the stairs. He asked me how long the screen had been laying on the floor and that is when my heart sank. He flashed the light on the window and the window was wide open so he came up the stairs and I called 911 immediately. I was so scared because I didn't know if they were still in the house or exactly where they were so we stayed where we were and huddled close to house. The police came with all their lights and glory. They checked the backyard first and then walked straight in through the downstairs slider. (Yes right in) They checked the downstairs and then had us get sleeping baby out of her bed and head on downstairs. They shoved us out under the deck (I'm assuming because they had already cleared that area to be safe) while they checked the rest of the house. As they were checking the house I realized that I was standing there in all my glory with lets just say no bra on and it was a little cold outside. My pajamas aren't very thick and I was mighty embarrassed. I also was a bit embarrassed because my house was a bit more messy than usual. Why would I think of these things when a man could be in the house? Only me right? Belle didn't like the police men. She usually likes men but it must have been something about their uniforms that she didn't like but she would scream every time she spied one of them. It was kind of funny. I thought they were handsome all dressed up ready to save us.



So for the short story:

The "man" first dumped the recycling bin over under the window of the garage and nicely cleaned off the window to spy in. (Which he saw my car here and Tony's gone) He then proceeded to make his way through the side gate and around back. (first noise I heard) He then popped the screen off with a crowbar and opened the window and climbed in. He was in the house or under the deck for the 15 minutes that I stood out there looking for something. (or someone) He then decided to let himself out the slider downstairs and ran like a ban chi down the street. (He showed up on my neighbors security camera at 10:15, not clear enough to see details though running down the street) The police tried to get some fingerprints and checked that nothing was stolen.



I almost wish he would have stolen something because of course in the deep dark place in my head I wonder if he was here to hurt me, take one of my kids, or truly to just rob us. I keep telling myself it was the last but still am unsettled about it. Why would he still come in my house when he could see and maybe hear the movie playing in my room? I didn't get any sleep that night and not much last night. I am avoiding the playroom at all costs and am very glad that it is summer which means I won't be home alone during the day. Kiegan won't be sleeping downstairs for awhile but soon we'll all get over it.

I am just so grateful that I was "pushed" out of bed to let Pepper out. And that she went crazy and scared the man away. I'm grateful we are all safe and don't seem to be scarred for life. We now have alarms on all the doors and that window now has a stick in it. (It was the only one that didn't before) Someday I'll be able to sleep again.....

Two year appointment

Belle had her two year appointment last week and weighed in at a whopping.....

20 lbs 1 oz. ****Seriously this girl is tiny. She can now officially have her car seat facing front. Which she loves by the way.
She is 30 1/8" tall. Growing a little bit at a time. All her buddies that are younger than her in our DS playgroup have now officially passed her up. I guess she'll always be my little peanut. (p.s. I like it that way)

I couldn't resist sharing this picture. She is totally posing!

Work in progress.......

I'm working on a new blog...........


You can copy and paste this:
http://funredone.blogspot.com/
or you can click Fun Redone on the bloglist to the right to see it.

Dear Belle,
My beautiful little girl, I can't believe you are two already. This past year has especially flown by so quickly. You are such a big girl now and doing so many many new things. You have 8 teeth now (your four molars, two bottom front, front left top, and your tooth next to that) very strange arrangement but it's one more thing that makes you YOU. You are learning to walk and are very close but you think that monkey crawling is much faster. I love your little buns stuck straight up in the air. You can sign more, all done, eat, milk, water, cheese, go, and recognize much more. You have started to say many more words than you sign which is so fun. A few of your words are Stop it, don't, out, baby, Jonah, Peppa, wow, and me me me. You definitely know how to tell us when "you" need something. You have started your own little language when you are frustrated, it kind of sounds like monkey sounds. You adore your brothers and think that daddy is your hero. You have decided that you don't like to go to women anymore but you will try to go to ANY strange old man that will pay attention to you. (Scary....yes) You are starting to pretend play. I love to see you naturally be such a sweet mama. You love your baby and give her many hugs and kisses and bottles all day. It makes me so proud. You love your therapists and love going to your co-op class. I love to watch you become such a big girl playing with others, singing & doing the actions during circle time, and cleaning for snack time. Everyone who meets you falls in love with you. You can be very mischievous. You think it is funny to empty all the kitchen cupboards, the snack cabinet, and anything you can get your hands on in the bedrooms. You love to put things underneath other things which makes cleaning the house an adventure.
You have helped me remember what life is all about. It's about love and loving others and doing our very best at all times. It's about not giving up when things are tough. And always helping the next person and making them smile. Thank you for reminding me. Life is good especially with you in it. Miss Belle, we are so so proud of you. You have met and exceeded so many milestones this past year. You can do anything if you put your mind to it. We all love you so much and are looking forward to the mountains you will move this year.
Happy Birthday love!

love,
Mama

Complain, complain, complain.....

I know, I know..... the whole three of you that actually read this blog weren't expecting that the first thing out of my mouth for four months was going to be complaining. So sorry but today is the day.
It has been one of those days that I'm realizing how bizarre certain things in my life are. I'll try to tell you the quick story which is hard for me because the three of you know that I am a girl of details. It is very very hard for me to not include every single detail.
It begins with a simple phone call to our landlord to complain about the toilet running and the fan in the same bath not working which is making mold grow on the walls. Yes, disgusting I know. I also have a theory about said mold affecting our health. We all have been feeling crummy but especially Tony and Belle which would make sense since they both have bad asthma. (I am so so tired of baby being sick that I am trying to blame it on anything I can.)

Our landlord wanted to come over at 10:00 this morning and I suggested 10:30 because I needed to go grocery shopping before he came and I got stuck here. And when I say stuck I really mean stuck. One entire day down the drain. Did I mention Wednesdays are my ONLY days that I am not crazy busy? The ONLY day I get to do ANYTHING I want. This is not what I wanted to do today.

I got back from the store this morning at 10:15 and of course he was here waiting for me. Which automatically sets me off because I said 10:30. Now I need to haul in all the groceries, let him in and talk to him about the problem, put all said groceries away, and feed Belle because she is tired from waking up early blah blah blah.... He proceeded to go into the bathroom and instantly started in on me on how I should be listening to the toilet everyday because I stay at home and then I need to fix it or have him fix it as soon as possible and how the fan must have been broken for a really long time for it to be growing mold....once again...blah blah blah! Like I have time to go in every day and listen to the toilets to make sure they are all working properly. I sometimes barely have time to take a shower and brush my teeth. My kids can vouch that I sometimes don't even have time to feed them. I really wanted to tell him to tread lightly. Today is not the day to be blaming me for anything. It was all I could do to not let him have it. There are so many things I would have liked to say if I wasn't a nice person. But I chose the high road and bit my lip. You can imagine how I felt when he proceeded to prove to me in multiple outlets that the fan in deed was working just not in the ceiling. Bite my lip again. He then decided that the upstairs bathroom fan is some how connected to the downstairs playrooms outlets that don't work. Biting lip again. He then took the next THREE hours yes I said THREE hours to detect which outlets weren't working downstairs and replacing them. Now keep in mind that my dog is locked in my bedroom since I went grocery shopping and now is barking off and on like mad at him. Belle has gone down for a nap and all the things I had planned for the afternoon aren't happening because he is here. (double bite) At one point I realized that he had turned off the switch for everything in my room which meant no phone service for about 45 min. bite. By the time he left four hours later he had gone to the hardware store twice, the fan was fixed (no relation to the downstairs issues, if you can imagine that), Belle had woken up from her nap early because of the barking dog, all the clocks in my house now needed to be reset, I was at my wits end, had a fat lip from biting it all day, and the toilet still isn't fixed. Which means he is coming back tomorrow morning to fix that. BITE!

Another thing to add to my day, it has been pouring like crazy all day long yet between Kiegan's track meet, Jonah's baseball game, and Kiegan's scout bike ride tonight not one of them have been cancelled. Imagine large Sigh here!!

I couldn't call Wendi to vent and benefit from her talented calming skills because my phone wasn't working which unfortunately for you, brings me here to the lovely blogging world that I have so horribly neglected. Yes, once again I apologize to the few of you that may have been excited to see that I finally updated our blog just to read about me complaining. Whining like a little school girl who didn't get her way. I am truly sorry.

So here I sit with a fat lip, getting the kids off the bus with my too good to be true fake smile, and telling myself over and over things could be worse. Just not today......

Kiegans Birthday

Kiegan got to celebrate his birthday twice this year. He first had a birthday party at the beginning of winter break with his friends. They went to a movie and then came back for pizza and dessert. Kiegan chose marshmallow fudge brownies in place of his cake. It was a very crazy bunch of boys and I was so glad that Tony was willing to take them to the movie without me.

On his actual birthday he chose his favorite donuts for breakfast. He opened his presents and was pleasantly surprised to "finally" get an ipod touch. I think he would sleep with that thing if we only let him.

We took him out for lunch and then that night we celebrated again with the Bennett family. New Years was full of fun and good food and of course dessert #3...lemon bars.

I can't believe he is so grown-up. I am so proud of the wonderful young man Kiegan is turning into. He is a great big brother. He is always willing to help and very rarely complains when we ask him to. Belle has him completely wrapped around her finger. And he couldn't adore her more. He has always had a heart of gold that just keeps growing and growing. This year at school he took it upon himself to get trained to work with the special needs kids. I didn't know he was doing this until he told me about his first day. He gives up two of his big recesses a week to go and help them at P.E. I don't know very many boys his age that would do this. He especially loves to work with the little boys who have Down Syndrome. They absolutely adore him. He has also taken on band, crossing guard, and basketball this year. He loves playing his trumpet but hates early morning practice. We often find him awake all hours of the night reading a book. (which makes waking up early for band even harder) He is quite funny and loves to tease his brothers. But best of all he is truly genuine. He is a really great kid. I'm so lucky that he is in our little family. It makes me teary to see him grow up so fast. I couldn't be any more proud of him. Love you Kiegs!

Christmas Day 2009

It was so fun to watch all the kids faces as they opened their presents. Santa was very generous this year. I don't know who liked it more us adults watching or the kids. We all were completely spoiled.

I don't think Santa realized how completely obnoxious this toy is though. It really should say on the outside how fun it is if you love really loud carnival music that proceeds to get faster and louder as the time runs out. For some bizarre reason ALL the kids like this one. I thought that maybe it would get old but no no no, they don't skip a day trying to "catch" something.

We played lots of games including Monopoly, (not me I HATE this game), Clue, Trouble, and Scum or Presidents. The biggest hit though was Beatles Rock Band. To the few of you who don't know, I am a little obsessed with the Beatles. Which means I have totally loved every minute of my children wailing to all the songs. We love it so much that a drumstick got broke courtesy of Kiegan. Oops!!

Raven, Jonah, and Bryce jamming out. Amelie very sleepy.

Calder couldn't quite decide if he liked Belle or not. She on the other hand was obsessed with him and wanted to be in his face and grab him constantly. The poor guy. It was a bit overwhelming for him. The plus was that Belle is now crawling on her hands and knees. I'm saying Calder taught her that one. She still army crawls when she wants to go fast though. She also just last week started pulling herself up to standing position. YEAH!!! She is growing up so fast. Thanks Calder for the little boost!

Calder 15 months Belle 19 months

In the end we all had such a great time with the Haymonds and wish they lived closer. We miss you already. We really hope you come again. Thanks for coming!

Kiegan w/Calder, Jonah w/Belle, Amelie, and Tate