Jessica's Engaged

My cute little sister got engaged last night.  We are super excited for her and her fiance, Jeremy!  March 28th is going to be the big day.

 

We are now going to have two Uncle Jeremy's.

Christmas Dance Recital

Yesterday we had dance recitals for a good portion of the day.  Our dance company the girls are in is so big that there were 3 different programs throughout the day.  Kate danced at 1 and 3.  Maya at 5 and 7. 

Maya got to help me with Kate's group, and she thought it was great being big enough to help.

This was Kate's first recital, but she wasn't nervous at all. She really got into her dance, which made it super fun to watch.

Gingerbread Houses

It's a tradition to make gingerbread houses at my parents house every Christmas.  This is something we look forward to every year.  My mom was a saint to make 9 houses this year, 5 of them for my family alone. :)  As the kids are getting bigger they are putting a lot more thought into their houses. They aren't as concerned about the amount of candy on their house, but more on how their house actually looks.

Here's the crew, minus my mom, who was taking the picture.

 

 

We always have to have a lot of fun too. 

My brothers pretending to be walruses with pretzels. Nice !?!

Kate's 5th Birthday

Kate turned 5 at the end of November.  She was so excited for her birthday!  We had fun as a family on her birthday.  I was pleasantly surprised when she didn't ask for a friend party, since all the older kids ask for one every year.  However, the surprise didn't last long, the day after her birthday she asked when her friend party was going to be.  We quickly planned a friend party for 3 days later.  So between her actual b-day, friend party and family party, she had 3 special days.

Decorating cupcakes at the friend party

Eating cupcakes.  Yum!!!

We cut into the cake before the party because one of her cousins was sick, so we let them take some cake home before the party started.

 

I'm so glad Kate is part of our family!  She is our giggly girl.  Everything is funny to her, even when she is getting in trouble.  We love you Kate!

October

So I have to admit, Halloween is not my favorite holiday.  I think it's silly to spend a bunch of money on costumes that get worn for such a short amount of time.  And then it's such a pain getting them all dressed up.  So I guess with that being said you might think I'm a Halloween Scrooge when I admit that after a few days of hiding candy, getting candy bags out multiple times a day and seeing candy constantly in my kids mouths, I offered to buy each one of my kids candy bags.  I told them they could keep 10 candies, but that I would pay them for the rest.  Surprisingly, all of the kids took me up on my offer, even Jarren, who last year had his bag of candy gone in 2 days.

After Brock wore his costume for a Halloween party, we realized his costume glowed in the dark.

 

Princess Snow White!
 

 

Kate started out being Arial for the first few parties, but by Halloween she changed her mind and was Super Girl!

 

We didn't have time to carve pumpkins before Halloween, which really bothered Maya, but we eventually were able to do it a few days after.  The older 3 kids wanted to "gut" them.  I was able to talk Kate and Halle into just painting theirs.

 

 

Yes, Halle's finger is up her nose. :)

 

 

One of my painters, bless her heart.

 

 

Jarren and his Cyclops pumpkin.

Brock is 3 Months

Our little guy is 3 months old now.  We love him being part of our family!  I love how he is smiling now!  He is still a little grumpy in the evening, but I'm trying to avoid dairy to see if it makes a difference. 

My Pajama Girl

Halle LOVES pajamas!  Every day I make her get dressed.  But almost every day after lunch I will see this cute little girl coming down the stairs, all smiles, in her pajamas.  If any of you know me very well, you know that this is very hard for me.  In my mind pajamas are for sleeping.  It's a good thing this little girl is so cute!

Curly Karli

Most of you know that Karli has naturally curly hair.  For the first 4 years or so of her life we could scrunch it up and have it be curly. Well, for about the last 2 years she absolutely HATES curly hair.  If she feels me scrunching it up at all she freaks out.  So today when she came down the stairs, trying to get her hair curly, I was completely surprised.  I was even more surprised when she asked me to use the curling iron and make it curlier.  This girl is always out there to surprise me with something. :)

Little Helper

Brock was crying tonight and I came down to see Halle giving him toys to try and help him.  So cute!  I absolutely LOVE this girl!!!

My Boys!

Jarren and Brock have matching jammies, and we didn't even buy them that way on purpose.  These two sure love each other!

These boys sure love each other!  It took 10 years to get another brother, but I think Jarren thinks it was worth the wait!

Brock's Big Day

 Brock was blessed at church yesterday.  Brock made sure that he let everyone know he was there by letting out a little cry during the blessing.  Luckily the cry didn't last for very long.

Waiting to go to church.

 

All the kids.  I sure love them!!!

First Day of School

We have to have our yearly first day of school post.  Jarren and Maya started 5th and 3rd grade on Tuesday and then Karli started 1st grade on Wednesday.  They all seem to have really good teachers, which our family is very grateful for.  Karli's complaint is that the day is too long.  I agree, it's hard going from half day kindergarten to all day.  Hopefully she will adjust quickly, however, Karli isn't one that loves going to school, she would rather be home with me :) so we will just have to see.

How did he do that?

I went in to check on Brock this morning and this is what I found.  I'm not sure how he was able to slide half way out of his pajamas, but he did.  The kids all thought it was pretty funny.

He's Home!!!

After 12 LONG days in the NICU Brock is finally home!

I feel like the Lord really took care of our family while he was in the hospital.  We had wonderful family and friends who were more than willing to help take care of other kids and bring in meals and offer prayers in our behalf.  To all of you, our family says THANK YOU!  We couldn't have done it without your help!

As soon as Brock came home yesterday, the kids have been loving him to pieces.  They just can't seem to get enough of the little guy.  I don't even know how many times the kids have asked me to hold him, especially Karli and Maya.

Jarren's nickname for his brother is "BrockStar".

 

Sweet little boy! We're so glad to finally have you home! 

Brock Update

Brock is continuing to improve.  He finished his antibiotic treatment for pneumonia yesterday, so the nurses were able to take out his IV.  He let them  know how bad it hurts to pull tape out of hair.  He also got rid of his feeding tube.  He eats pretty good, but the nurses make him eat more than he seems to really want to eat.  Now we are just waiting for him to get rid of his oxygen.  They keep trying to turn it down, but Brock just isn't ready yet.  Hopefully, that will change soon.

Halle's Birthday

Halle turned 3 on Friday.  Since I had just been discharged from the hospital, she had to wait awhile to open her presents, but she was a good sport.  The day was somewhat chaotic, but it was fun!

Presents are always fun!

Happy Birthday Halle!  We love you and are so glad you are part of our family!