Week by Week

12 weeks along...

I signed up for the weekly pregnancy emails this time around. It has been fun to read them each Thursday. At 12 weeks along our baby is now the size of a lime. This week our baby's fingers will begin to open and close, it's toes will curl, it's eye muscles will clench, and it's mouth will make sucking movements.

I am still nauseaus and exhausted most of the time but I am feeling slightly better... only throwing up only one or two times a day instead of sometimes four. It is amazing what a lime sized baby can do to my energy level.

I'm having trouble regulating my body temperature these days. Chris teases me that I have a very small range of the perfect temperature anyway... but pregnant it's even worse. I'm freezing cold or boiling hot, always.

My favorite time of day... 11:00am... naptime. That's when Luke goes down for his first nap of the day and after getting Megan set up with Dora and a buffet of food to snack on, I quickly follow suit. Megan has been a real trooper.

My favorite foods... potatoes-- mashed or baked, hot chocolate, chicken noodle soup (althought that's getting old now), and popsicles. I want to eat fruit but usually it makes me feel awful. I sure hate trying to find something to eat. What a chore! Just the smells of the fridge make me close it right after opening. Then I spend a couple minutes standing in the pantry staring at the shelves and usually coming out empty handed. Thankfully Chris has been doing the grocery shopping... otherwise I'm not sure the kids would eat anything other than potatoes and soup.

Ok, gotta go. Time for a popsicle.

Butter

Megan was sitting beside me today as I buttered my baked potato... a total craving these days. She was eating Doritos since every time I eat she wants to too... and I wasn't about to share my precious potato. "Mom, I think I'm going to put butter on my Doritos!" she said with wide eyes and a smile. I made a face and a pretend gagging sound (which comes very natural to me these days) to which she replied, "Mom, I think it's going to be very good, and guess what, you don't even have to try it!!" ---Needless to say I didn't let her do it or I would have made a real gagging sound.

Emily's Letter

This adorable letter from my five year old made it onto my bed exactly one week after Chris and I found out we were pregnant with baby #6. One week later we told the kids. Of course they were thrilled. We all are!

I'm eleven weeks along and feeling miserable... but happy. Exhausted... but elated. Moody... and well, just plain moody.

Due date: May 14, 2009. Emily, you'll be six!

Note: 'Cilly' is Emily's spelling for the name 'Kieli'. I told her it said 'silly' and she said, "Mom, a 'c' can have a 'k' sound!" You're adorable, Emily.

Megan

I told Megan I wanted a few pictures of her and she gave me a few sassy poses until she said, 'That's enough Mom" and ran to play with the other kids.

This girl is something else... well, ok, maybe I've had a couple others just like her... independent, silly, energetic, creative, stubborn... yep, a perfect little three year old rascal.

A couple weeks ago this rascal cut her hair. Not just a little. She grabbed a huge chunk right in front and cut bangs right above her eyes. Actually she did a pretty good job, I mean they're pretty straight at least. You can tell in the second picture all the little hairs sticking out of her ponytail. Luckily they are long enough to go back but during most of the day this girl has thick brown bangs. The day after she did it she was looking in the mirror and said, "Mom, I think I'm in Camp Rock!" She looks exactly like the main actress with thick brown bangs.

Maybe it's cuz she's bored. She misses Emily terribly while she's at school and Luke is not quite ready to follow her directions. I've tried to step up to the plate with play doh time, puzzle time, and even bought little alphabet and number books to have school time... all of which she loves because I am right there beside her.

She still loves Dora and Backyardigans and the Leapfrog movies and likes the new show 'Kai-lan'... the chinese version of Dora.

She loves to eat. She wants to snack all day long. A couple of days ago she came and asked if she could have a popsicle. When I said yes she pulled the popsicle out from behind her back -- wrapper off and everything. What a character. She often tells me to 'Look at the clock". When I say, "The clock says it's 9:15 and not time for a snack." she gets mad and says, "Well, then look at a different clock!" One time she was even so bold as to get on a chair and move the hands of the clock. She thought she was so brilliant. Then she asked me to "Look at the clock again". When I did I was both frustrated and silently amused.

The other day she said, "hey mom, check it out." I said, "Did you just say 'check it out'?" She said, "Ya, that's my 'check it out' thing that I say." What a character.

She loves it when the kids come home. She loves to go anywhere with Dad. She loves to play Pokemon with Ryan and house with Emily. She's pretty easy going actually. Almost always happy and fun.

She cracks me up. She is full of life, full of smiles and full of surprises.

Preschool Field Trip

Megan's preschool field trip to the Fire Station was so fun. The kids explored the big red firetruck from all sides, tried on the heavy jackets and big boots, got up in the drivers seat and pretended to drive, and held on with both hands to the heavy helmet atop their heads. They were just as excited about the old 1930's fire truck sitting inside the fire station. They sat on the open bench together and took turns ringing the loud bell by pulling the cord while plugging their ears. The field trip was perfect for Luke too. The firemen wanted him to try everything too worried he was being left out... or maybe thinking he was the most interested. He did love it. I haven't done the Firestation since Ryan was in preschool. So fun to spent the morning with Megan and Luke and our friends.

Photo Assignment #1... Light

Just like Amy, I've been taking a photography class for a couple weeks now. It's been a lot of fun. Our first assignment was to experiment with light... different kinds of light and light during different times of the day.

1/160 F 4.8 ISO 200

Here's my house taken at 8:00am and noon.
18mm 1/15 F20 ISO 200

Rain girl

"Mom, is she just here in case there's ever rain?... she's been waiting for a long time." Emily

This is one of our favorite statues along Broadway downtown Columbus. We see it every time we turn the corner to go to ballet. And although we have had some hurricane-induced rain here lately, I guess it has not been on ballet days. Most of the time, she wears red shiny boots in the glorious sunshine.

My husband

This is my husband. He is a Cougar fan.

Not just any Cougar fan... there are few in his league... and you know who you are.

This is what I see each week. Chris, watching without moving a muscle,
STILL as if any sudden movement will affect the plays outcome.
NERVOUS as if the team were relying on him for the win.
CALCULATING how each play will affect the rest of the season.
FOCUSED on nothing else in the room but the game.
With ADMIRATION, (bordering on man-love) and Cougar PRIDE.

It is a picture that captures his level of 'fanhood'.

After watching the game... sometimes a second time, listening to the post game show, reading Cougar fan post game comments, hearing Coach Bronco's humble report of the game, calling other die hard cougar fans to review the game play by play, and watching all other football games and interpreting how their failure or success will affect the Cougars -- he is ready to retire for the night. But not for long... there is much to read, watch, talk of, and think about in the morning.

Summer Clubs

I just came across a few things in my "record or journal before filing" pile... home to cute stories, random funny things the kids say, beautiful artwork and creative minds at work... and thought I'd better get this recorded.

We had four weeks after school got out and before all of our summer vacations. The kids were so excited about being at home and playing together. It was then that I started the summer points system and taped their charts to the white fridge in the laundry room. (See here for chart pictures and more)

Soon I noticed other pieces of papers being posted on that fridge. They were posters and sign up sheets and ‘kid announements’. It looked like the white fridge was the center of all the kids summer activities. It made me laugh…

First up was the “MARIO, ZELDA, Wii, and HARRY POTTER CLUB” Club Initiator: Ryan. On his poster he had spaces for people to sign up with their 'full' names and informed us that the club would met every other day. There was even a line that said Minimum people 3 – Maximum people 7. On the back was a list of spells they would learn on Harry Potter day. Within the next couple hours Ryan, Katie, Emily and somehow Luke signed up. When Dad got home from work he eagerly signed up too. They played video games, watched Harry Potter movies, learned spells all under official Club rules.

Katie initiated THE BOOK CLUB. Her poster was neatly typed and said… “We will each get a turn to pick a book. We meet every Thursday. We will read a book and then talk about it the next Thursday. Emily Ryan and Megan signed up.

The Wii SPORTS CLUB… also initiated by Ryan. “Play Wii Sports with the rest of the club. It’s lots of fun! Sometimes we’ll go outside to play sports. Every Tuesday and Thursday. Sign in and say if you want to be part of everything or only outside play. Katie and Emily quickly signed up and even wrote “Thank you Ryan” by their name. So cute.

I think there were a few more clubs but I have lost the sign up sheets. The official SUPER SHOPPING MALL CLUB where they transferred the bonus room into a mall and put price tags on everything we own... The TRAMPOLINE CLUB, obviously where they played on the trampoline together and tried new flips. Oh, and I'm sure there was a POKEMON CLUB in there somewhere.

The best part of this was that they came up with the ideas on their own. They thought of the clubs, made the posters and sign up sheets, taped them to the fridge and then signed up. It made me smile. My kids… being creative… and having fun.

Cougar Kids

We love this time of year... when football starts and our wardrobe turns blue. Our BYU season is off to a fabulous start as you can tell. Three great wins.

Chris flew to Washington for last Saturday's game. He was in the stands with Jim and Joe as BYU blocked a kick in the final seconds of the game to win 28-27. It was intense and a fun game to be there for. I think they talked BYU football for the entire 48 hours that he was there. I was so sad I wasn't there! I watched it alone in my living room screaming and 'sounding like Dad' says Ryan. This week's game was less intense but even more exciting. A 59-0 blow out against UCLA. What a first half.

Rise and shout, the Cougars are out!

It's a big day.

Today is my youngest brother's first day of college. That's big.

My Mom and Dad took him down to Rexburg, Idaho to get him all settled in. They've made that same trip with all six kids now. Six trips to Broulims to get food, six stops at Walmart to get school supplies, six tours of the campus, six traditional pictures in front of the BYU Idaho sign (or Ricks College sign for a few of us), and six trips back home with one less child... only this time they have no more children back home. After almost 34 years they are the proud owners of an empty nest.

Congratulations Brian and Mom and Dad. It's a big day.

Wrapped around his finger...

Boy does this kid have his family wrapped around his finger. Every day the kids say, "Mom, I Love Lukey!... He's so cute... He's so happy... He is the best baby in the whole wide world..." And Chris and I would have to agree. We are enamored by him and who wouldn't be with all those sweet little faces.

Luke at 9 months old
It's been a while since I journaled about Luke... so for our sake more than yours... here's what Luke is up to these days...

- Loves to stand up to EVERYTHING... the kitchen cupboards, the couch, the ottoman, the coffee table, any book shelf, the kids beds, the wagon, his crib, the bathtub faucet and my legs... always.

- He has just started walking around the coffee table but is still slow. It's much faster to get down, and crawl at lightning speed over to the other end and then stand back up.

- He used to love going to bed. Just give him a soother and his light blue fleece blanket and he'd roll over, snuggle his blanket up to his face and go to sleep. Not anymore... now that he stands he immediately rolls over, pushes himself up and stands up... and screams at me. He is not happy. Sometimes I go in to lie him back down but usually I just let him cry it out. After a minute or two he realizes it's bedtime and lies down himself. Always on his tummy with his little butt in the air. He still loves his fleece blankets.

- He loves to hold my keys. Babies always love keys. Every time I get him out of his car seat he grabs the keys I'm holding in my hand and holds them for me until we get into the house. Tradition.

- He loves his bottle. He was my earliest weened baby... thank you Europe trip... and my only baby on formula. (Holy cow - I don't know how everyone affords this!) His ears have been trained... and the second he hears me shaking his bottle he crawls straight for me, sits up on his knees, flexes his muscles and shakes his fists, grunting like he's so thirsty he's going to die. Ok, well not always is it this dramatic... but close.

- He grunts all the time. Total little boy sounds. So cute.

- He actually hugs me when I get him out of his crib. He grabs on tight like we haven't seen each other for ages. I love it.

- He loves Baby Einstein movies. As soon as he hears the intro music and sees that colorful little caterpillar toy come onto the screen he is hooked.

- He is so wiggly. It is tough to change his pants. He's just all over the place. He usually rolls over and speed crawls away naked while I'm wrapping up his diaper. Daddy is smarter than I am and usually gives him something to play with so he's distracted... but then you wouldn't see his cute little bum crawling away from you!

- His favorite toys so far are Ryan's pokemon figurines, his BYU cougar bear, his bath toys, the little people toys in his room, the plastic animals on his book shelf and all kinds of balls.

- He plays peek a boo with us by hiding his head below the couch and then popping up... (It's so cute and he loves it!) He claps his hand, waves bye-bye, says 'Dada', says 'oh', and tries to 'throw' his little basketball (he does it pretty good and gets so excited about it when we all clap for him).

- Naturally he is starting to get into everything. His favorite places are the DVD cupboard and the cupboard under the sink where he pulls out the dishwasher soap. Someday soon we might have to move some stuff but as for now... I'm ok with him playing with the DVDs. It keeps him busy and only takes a minute to clean up!

- He wears 12-18 month size clothes. He's 6-12 clothes are just too tight and have been since the beginning of the summer. He only has about 10 shirts... I just bought him two more... so he wears everything he has once a week. When the fall weather starts (late November) then I'll go shopping again!

- He looks exactly like Ryan but he has Emily's eyes.

- The kids still LOVE to take care of him. It's one of the things they most look forward to when they get home from school. (Me too! Sometimes I say... "Ok, your first after school job is to play with Megan and Luke," and they cheer!)

- He constantly has a few bruises from all of his standing up and falling down. A couple weeks ago Luke fell down our 15 hardwood stairs and landed on the tile at the bottom. Needless to say the whole family was quite panicked... especially Ryan who broke down in complete sobs. Ironically Emily had left the upstairs gate open when she came down to hand over the little pieces of chalk that "Lukey would choke on". When we heard his scream and came running he had a bloody nose and mouth but after cleaning him up and a trip to the hospital for a CT all he had was a swollen lip and a bruise on his head to show for it. It seems he is made of rubber. Good thing.

- From that trip to the hospital we learned he is now over 20 pounds... not surprising.

- He loves to walk with us holding his hands. He is starting to try to balance and walk with only one of our hands too.

- He loves to be outside. Loves it. Loves the trampoline with the kids, the baby swing on our playset, crawling around on the grass, playing with balls... everything. When we take his high chair out and eat on the patio he is so much more mellow. It's just fun to be outside.





Why sit in a wagon for a picture when you can kneel, crawl, stand, push and practically drive it?

Spider

When I opened Luke's blinds this morning we discovered a huge spider living right outside his bedroom window. Yuck. I grabbed my camera and ran outside to take a picture. As soon as Luke saw me he stood up to the window. I don't know if he even saw the spider... he was just ticked that I was outside and he wasn't.

Dinner time

This naturally easy going happy baby boy changes when put in his highchair. Zero patience.


Usually I try to put some star puffs on his tray to buy me some time to get dinner ready, the table set and the mess cleaned up.


These days, though, it just doesn't cut it. He wants the real food. He eats two or three and then cries,"Give me substance!"


Mad as he is, he still eats them.


...and then shows his frustration again.


Then he gets distracted looking out the window, completely forgetting that he was screaming two seconds ago.



Oh, look, food.



... and all of a sudden he remembers and he shrieks... "I want food!" And boy, this kid can scream.



..."I wonder what the kids are doing over there?"



As soon as I bring his food over to the table and sit down he smiles while still waving his arms in desperation. As I open the jar this little turkey quietly and purposefully picks up the remaining star puffs and drops them over the side. "No need for these. It's dinner time."

Balloon Glow

On Friday night we went up to Robin Lake at Callaway Gardens for the annual Labor Day Weekend Hot Air Balloon Festival. We wandered through the big balloons, and crowds of people that surrounded them, and headed around the lake to the perfect grassy area jetting out into the water. There we laid a blanket and sat to eat snacks and wait for the sun to set. When it was dark the fun started. Given a signal the crowd shouted, "Five, four, three, two, one!" and each hot air balloon was given a burst of fire that lit up all the balloons. It was really fun to see. Next year maybe we'll go back on Saturday when they all take off. We love our Callaway Gardens!

Take me out to the Ball Game

A couple weeks ago our friends gave us tickets to the Atlanta Braves/ Chicago Cubs game. We got a babysitter for the little kids and took Ryan and Katie. We drove an hour and a half to Turner Field in Atlanta... an impressive field, one of the biggest ball fields in the US, build for the 1996 Summer Olympics. It was a gorgeous night and mild... perfect for a ball game.

Chris has been a Chicago Cubs fan since he was a kid. He was so excited. He, and Ryan - who naturally chose to cheer for the Cubs because he is in every way his dad - started yelling "Go CUBS!' right from the first pitch. Katie and I, up for a little rivalry, decided to cheer for our new Home Team... "GO BRAVES!" The crowd was split in half too. There were Cubs fans everywhere and the cheers were just as loud for each team.

It was a great night... The Cubs won and while the boys celebrated Katie and I decided we really didn't care who won we just had fun watching... and singing 'Take me out to the Ball Game', and eating ice cream and hot dogs, and watching the jumbo screen, and cheering, and keeping score, and staying up late.



... Katie and Ryan - loving being the big kids.

...and what's a baseball game without a $7.00 hotdog?

...Katie brought a notebook so she could keep score. She recorded every strike, every out and every run in every inning. It was so cute.

...once the pitcher hit the batter and players from both teams came running in ready to fight. Pretty exciting.

Back to School

The kids have been in school for two weeks now and everyone is happy -- including me! Ryan got the teacher he was hoping for - Mr. Smith, a young teacher fanatical about sports - and is already leading the class with 'accelerated reading' points... He took tests on three books he read over the summer and has read two and a half books since school started two weeks ago. (He is almost finished the second book of Lightning Thief, Lindsey, and loves it... thanks) Like always, Ryan finishes most of his homework on the bus everyday.

Katie got Mrs. Elliott and she is with her friend Allie again which she is thrilled about. She has a little homework every day and is doing great getting it done and being very responsible.

Emily has Mrs. Ammerman and is loving being at school with the big kids. She comes home excited to see me, since Kindergarten here is all day, but loves her class and is constantly singing new songs and talking about the gingerbread points, the calendar, what questions she answered and what she writes in her journal. I just went to the Kindergarten orientation this week and am thrilled with the program.

Looks like it's going to be a good school year. This is the one and only year that all three of them will be at Eagle Ridge. Next year Ryan is off to middle school!

One Last Vacation

The weekend before school started we decided to hit the road for one last vacation... but this time just an overnighter. When I asked the kids to grab some pjs, a bathing suit and some clothes I went upstairs to find that Emily had packed up every piece of clothing she owns. She was so proud of herself too. Well, how is she suposed to know we're only going for one day? "Only one night?" she asked.

Chris had the Friday off since he was on call the previous weekend so we woke up, packed the van, and headed South to the Florida Gulf Coast. We live only four hours away from beautiful white sand beaches and warm turquoise ocean. We'd been once before with Amy but it was February and the beaches were beautiful but windy and cold. We've been anxious to get back ever since.

We arrived too early to check in so we hit the outlets for the afternoon and then came back, and headed straight for the beach. The kids loved swimming in the ocean, digging in the sand, throwing a ball with Dad and being pushed onto shore by the waves. Lukey kept wanting to crawl right into the water. That kid has no fear. The only bad part... Ryan, Emily and Chris got stung by jelly fish. Ouch! We played until the sun set and it was almost dark. I got the kids into jammies back at the hotel while Chris made a run for PF Changs and Wendy's for the kids. We ate our late dinner on our beds while watching the opening cerimonies for the Olympics. We stayed at the Hilton Sandestin Beach and Golf Resort and got a great deal. The best part about our hotel room was that is had two queen beds, a pull out couch and BUNK BEDS... Yeah, finally a hotel room that fits our family. It was great!

We woke up early and were almost the first on the beach. Only a couple other people passed us as we walked along the water. It was warm already at 7:00am. The kids were ready with bathing suits on under their clothes but the clothes didn't last long. How can you resist those warm waves? By 8:30 we were set up by the pool and ready for a day of water. We swam, ate, read, relaxed and hit the beach again. At 5:00, tired and water logged, we loaded up and drove home. Megan fell asleep as we drove out of the hotel and slept the whole way home. What a way to end the summer! We love Sandestin!

The beach at sunset...

Early morning walk...

(It won't let me add anymore -I'll add more later!)