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

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was full of traditions. We first baked and decorated cookies for Santa.

We played games, ate homemade clam chowder, and opened presents from Grandma and Grandpa Austin. We read about Jesus' beautiful birth and talked about how grateful we are for him. The kids were all anxious for the big man and what he was going to bring. They tried to wait up for him but I think they only made it to 10 o'clock. Us parents were waiting up for him to........I think until close to 1 o'clock.

A Fabulous Holiday Break

We had a fabulous Holiday break with this wonderful family:

It was so nice that they drove 883 miles to spend Christmas with us. It was definitely a Christmas to remember.

We went to the aquarium while they were here. It's always a hit.




The best part was to watch Amelie ooh and aah over all the neat new things.

Most of us went to the Botanical Gardens in Bellevue to see all the lights. It was so crowded and cold but the lights were absolutely beautiful.

A few firsts

The first of the firsts is Belle's 18 month stats:

Weight 17lbs 4 oz---20% One more pound, yeah!

Length 28 1/4 in---25%

She is still a petite little thing.

Belle has really taken off the last couple months. She is doing so many new things. It is so fun to see her grow and learn because every little thing is such a big milestone for her. It is very exciting and we find ourselves constantly oohing and awing over her.

She fell down the stairs for the first time, ate dog food, and got her first finger tip snipped while getting her fingernails clipped. I know....horrible mom. Because she ate the dog food I found out she got her first two teeth which were molars. Last week her front bottom tooth decided to make an appearance. Because of the fall we now have a lovely gate (did I mention I hate the look of gates) that traps babies, dogs, and adults upstairs. As for her finger it is now healed but it was a bad one that bled forever. I admit I shed a few tears over that one.

Other firsts are: having her first piece of cheesecake which she thought was heaven, she is now pulling up to EVERYTHING, and she is just starting to crawl on her hands and knees. She still relies on the good ol' army crawl since she can go much faster that way. Her hair is getting so long and I don't have it in me to cut it. When it's wet it is down to the middle of her back. I keep telling myself that when she is two she can have a big girl haircut but for now she's still my baby. She/we have started a co-op class at Kindering (the center where she gets all her therapies) and she absolutely loves it. The first time was interesting which is a post in itself but she was such a big girl and loved the group activities. It made me realize how mature she really is.

This is how I found her when she woke up from her nap one day. It was so cute, I love firsts.

And just a couple more because she's just so cute.