Growing So Fast

I can't believe how fast my little baby is getting. She is also getting to be not so little. I definitely think that she has gotten bigger faster than any of the other kids. When I took her in for her 2 mo. appt., she was 77 percentile for head circumfrence, 88 percentile for weight, and 99 for length. Still, she is such a sweet little angel who is just so appropriately named!

Since I never managed to get birth announcements, I never displayed these beautiful pictures that my friend took of my sweetie. Here she is at 3 weeks old:

Was she really that small!?!?!

Now, for 3 months old. I took her with the rest of the kids to get her pictures taken. Here she is in her blessing dress (I was actually quite worried that she wouldn't be able to fit into the dress anymore!) I found a little "angel" charm so I had to use it for her head band. (Just by way of reminder, her name means angel).

Seriously! Look at that chin! It's nothing compared to her thighs.

My sister made me and the baby matching bracelets for the blessing.

We all just adore this baby. None of us can imagine life without her. When I was pregnant, the boys really thought they wanted a brother. Now, they will both admit that they wouldn't trade this little girl for anything in the world!

Bottles

While A is such a perfect baby in so many ways, the one thing she hasn't been great about is taking a bottle. Unlike the rest of my kids, she really hasn't needed a pacifier (she just doesn't cry), so I never gave her one. Well, before long, she couldn't take one...she would just sort of chew and gag on it. Since she couldn't figure out the the pacifier, she also couldn't figure out the bottle. Oh well. She can't be 100% perfect, right?

Well, over the last week or so, she has been chewing/sucking on her thumb more and more. I decided to see what would happen if I gave her a pacifier again. What do you know? She took it like she had always used it. I thought maybe we could try the bottle again, and sure enough! No problem. Here she is with B being fed by someone other than me for the first time. B was very proud of himself and has asked several more times if he can feed her. She really is an adored little baby!

8/3/10

14 Great Years

Dave and I recently celebrated our 14th Anniversary. We didn't do much, in fact, we just met up for lunch, and then I made a nice dinner for our family. Still, I just have to acknowledge what a great blessing it is to be married to Dave. He is a wonderful husband and I'm so thankful for the life we have together.

(We always laugh when we look at these pictures. We both look like we are about 12!)

Friend Reunion!

A few weeks ago, my sister orchestrated a little get away up to the cabin with some of our fabulous neighbors, both past and present. Chad and Tara with their 2 boys who are D and B's ages came. They live 2 doors down from us and are the perfect neighbors. They are the kind of people you always pray you will live by. I'm am constantly trying to persuade them that they need to move to wherever we do because I just can't bear the thought of losing them! Shawn and Debbie with their 5 kids who are the same ages of all my kids (except A) use to live around the corner, down the street from Jill. Most unfortunately, we lost them 3 years ago when they moved back to Debbie's hometown. We still miss having them around, but they were able to come and meet us at the cabin, even though I didn't tell them about it until the very last minute, well technically, it was the day before, but still! Not a lot of time to prepare.

The kids were so excited when they found out we were going to the cabin and then with their best friends. It just couldn't get any better. As David said, "It's a Friend Reunion!"

We had to pull of the side of the road on our way up at a look out point because the view was so amazing! It was 60 degrees here with the clouds down below us. So much nicer than what we had left behind.

The cabin in all it's glory. The weather was so great the whole time we were there. It was overcast and cool the whole time with the fabulous summer rain showers.

Lily just loves A. She is always trying to hug and kiss her, especially when she is sad. Here she is giving A a kiss. Doesn't A look like she is loving it?

Cute little friends: KL and Kayla. They are 3 weeks apart. KL has been asking ever since we got back if Kayla could come and play. If only... if only...

We were there over pioneer day so there were some festivities in Snowflake which is only about 20 minutes away. Jill, Scott, Chad and a couple of Jill's boys all got up and ran the race first thing in the morning, then the rest of us went down to meet them and watch the parade.

The 2 Carson's with every one else in the back. (Notice Zach sporting his metal from the race!)

KL just loved the parade. It may have been the fist parade I have ever taken my kids too. Anyway, she loved getting the candy thrown at her the most, but she still loved to wave as the people went by.

D wanted to get a picture of him by this green gorilla float so all the boys lined up and were holding up their hands like the gorilla. Of course, since the picture cuts that off, you can't see that is what it is doing, but still... you can take my word for it.

Right after the gorilla passed, it started to deflate. Here are all the boys imitating that

B

Anna, L, Savanna

The Girls:

Anna, Lily, L, Savanna, Kiera, Kayla

Tara with Lily

The boys all heading off to expore

The Boys:

Carson S, Zach, Scottie, Josh, D, Cole, Shawn, B, Carson T

It was short, but so much fun. I can't wait until we can do it again next summer!

Gweat Daddy

A couple of weeks ago, KL walked to Dave who was looking over some papers and put her arm around him and said, "Daddy?" "Yes?" "You a gweat daddy." It was so sweet. I pulled out the camera and got a little bit more of her being her daddy's little girl. We just get such a kick out of her.

(Just a sidenote: a few days later, she told me I was a "gweat, gweat, gweat mommy."

PS: I just watched this and remembered how dirty my kitchen was. I had been making cinnamon rolls, so please don't think too little of me!

Our Very Own Dirt

Around Christmas, Dave started seriously looking at possible lots we could buy to build on in the future. While I liked the idea, I never really thought we would be able to find something that we could afford, but it was still fun to look and dream. There was one lot in particular that we both really liked. It is pretty close buy. It was the right size (1/2 acre), in a nice neighborhood (or what looks like it will be...no homes have been built on the street yet, though the next street down is the street of a really good friend of mine), and it was bank owned, so the price wasn't too high. Still, it was too high for us to really do anything about. We watched it on MLS over the next couple of months as the price would start to drop. Finally, we decided it was low enough that we could make a low-ball cash offer that they might accept. I called my cousin to ask about her realty services. She said she hadn't worked on land deals, but would find me someone who could help us. Then, she called me back a day or 2 later to say that she decided to look into the purchase so she called the listing agent only to find out that someone had made a cash offer for over their asking price so we were out. Too bad. I shut the door on that idea and moved on. A month or 2 later, Dave was once again looking on MLS and saw the same lot relisted. Hmmm...wonder what happened with the previous offer? Still, we decided once again we would move on it (and again, the price was dropped again to even lower). We put our offer in and were told that there were multiple offers. So we upped our offer a few thousand and hoped for the best. A few days later, we were once again told too bad. It went to someone else. Once again, I closed the door and moved one. A couple of weeks later, I was at girl's camp and Dave called me to say our real estate agent had called and told him that once again, the lot was listed (and again, the price was lower). They resubmitted the offer and then the real waiting game began. Finally, a few weeks ago, we heard back. We got the lot!!! We are very excited and I've been having lots of fun dreaming up my dream home and thinking of all the fun things I want to do in our house. Yesterday, we were finally able to go and sign and today, it will officially recorded. Yea!!!

Here it is... Our very own piece of dirt.

Our dirt also came with a mystery pipe sticking out of the ground in the back. I've checked every recorded map, talked to the developer, the city, and the surveryor. I've gone out and measured how deep it is (my tape is only 16 ft long, so the length is still a mystery...at least 16 feet--it goes about 3 ft down, then runs parallel to the ground as best I can tell). Dave went out with a shovel and pick and started digging at it. Still..no answers. I've decided whatever it is can't be too important or something would have turned on the maps. Still, we are quite curious. Any guesses? Does it really go down into some surprise gold mine? Hmmm... Tell me what you think.Anywho... we are really excited about this new experience in our life and are really grateful for this opportunity!

A New Year! (School Year, That Is)

Another new school year has begun. Some of the kids were really excited to go back (namely, CK), and some were not so much (namely D). As for me, there are certainly things that I will miss about having my kids gone, but I am just so happy to have our routine back. I feel so much more productive when I have a set schedule, even if it does mean getting less sleep.

CK is still going to a different school this year so she is on a slightly different schedule. She started school a few days before the other kids. She is in a kindergarten/1st grade class. Since she has late birthday, I don't want her going onto first grade until next year. My original plan was for her to do kindergarten 2ce, but half way through the year, the state said you couldn't do that anymore. Long story short, she is in a class that is covering both kindergarten and 1st grade curriculum and next year she will move on to 1st grade. She is really loving it all.

Here she is on her first day (8/4/10):

The rest of the kids started yesterday (8/9/10)

Zach was already at our house before we had a chance to leave so he could get B so of course we had to get these 2 little best friends pictures together. (cute little side story: Zach's family is going to be moving soon, and it looks like we will too. Z asked his mom if after we moved if he and B would still be in the same school. When Jill said no, Z said, "Who's going to be my best friend then??" These 2 boys really are cute together. They truly are the best of buddies. What fun to have your cousin that close! What I wouldn't have given for this when I was a kid.)

B and Z 3rd grade (of course they are wearing their Bronco jersey's)

D: 7th grade. Here he is tolerating me taking his picture.

L: 3rd grade. She was only all too happy to pose for a picture.

All the school kids together;

B, D, L, CK

The Kids: Summer 2010

I recently took the kids in to get their "start of the school year" pictures. I just think they turned out great... that could have something to do with the fact that they are all exceptionally good looking kids. (OK, so I know I'm a little biased.)

A: 3 mo. old in her blessing dress

KL: 3 yrs old (What a little poser. She actually goes through a process before striking this pose that includes touching up her "makeup")

CK: just a few weeks short of 6 and starting K/1 (it is our answer to having her repeat kindergarten so she wont be the youngest kid in her class when she starts high school and getting upset that all her friends are old enough to date and drive but her mean parents won't let her do those things.)

L: 8 and starting 3rd grade

B: Also 8 and starting 3rd grade

D: 12 and starting 7th Grade!!! (When did he get that old?)

CK and KL

The Twins

D will sit with A like this all the time and he can get her to laugh up a storm, so I had to have a picture of him holding her like this.

Them all together

Doing what they all do best: adoring their baby sister.