Andrew's New Kite

Andrew made a kite at Joy School today & right when we got home he took it flying in the driveway. He quickly at lunch & then hurried back out side to fly it some more before heading to preschool. I love the joy this boy finds in any & everything.

Catching Sunbeams

Almost every afternoon when the sun is starting to set we get a great stream of light in the front of our house & the kids start dancing & chasing sunbeams around. It's so much fun to watch the excitement each day as they catch & frolic around.

First Ponytail

Eliza brought me a rubber band today & tried to put it in her hair. I can take a hint: she's sick of her hair getting stuck in her runny nose. So, into it's first ponytail it went.

She loves washing her hands. This girl would stand here for hours if we let her. She is so stinking cute!

And after a long day (& refusing her afternoon nap) she falls asleep in her high chair.

Awards Assembly

Lexie & Joseph both got awards this trimester at school.

We are so grateful that they are good kids & are working hard in their classes!

Quick Trip

We picked up Rick from the airport late Friday night. It was great to have him home. We survived our 2 weeks without him without many problems (the kids are amazing!), but I'm very grateful that he doesn't have to travel very often.

Saturday morning we made a fun breakfast & asked the kids what they wanted to do for the 4 day weekend & gave them some options. We mentioned go to Kansas & immediately they all began shouting that they wanted to go there. They hurriedly got their trip bags together & we quickly packed & headed out to Grandma's house!

Unfortunately, I did a terrible job of taking pictures, but we really had a great time. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins & Eliza started warming up to other people. I went on a fun walk with Janae & Lexie & was surprised to see so many buds on trees so early.

On Sunday afternoon we headed down to Emporia to see Uncle Nathan for a bit.

On Monday afternoon we went over to the Great Wolf Lodge to stay the night. We played LOTS in the water park. The kids loved all of the water slides & sleeping in their own little cabin.

Here's Lexie meeting Wiley Wolf after story time.

And after playing for a few hours in the water they slept really well only to get up & go swimming again! Then we headed back to Grandma's for a bit & then began the long drive home.

It was a really quick trip but we are glad we did it & had lots of fun seeing everyone!

Rick's California Trip

Here are a few highlights from Rick's trip out to California. He had 2 weeks of classes out there. He visited the Newport Beach Temple,

the Los Angeles Temple,

Manhattan Beach,

and (his words) a basketball temple for a game.

He had a great time but is super glad to be home! It gets boring being by yourself after awhile.

Snug Fit

Lexie is the best! She loves to help everyone & finds ways to make life fun for others. Eliza really loved being pushed around in the lego tub while reading of course.

It's Valentine's Day & I'm amazed that we got all 80 valentines made for the kids classes. It was fun also watching them look through the valentines & share with each other. These kids sure are sweet & I'm grateful for them!

Weekend Fun

Rick is enjoying sunny California & going to the Newport Beach & Los Angeles Temples. We had lots of fun with crafts. Joseph made this dinosaur creation out of 3 pieces of paper. He was quite excited to show it to Dad.

All Wet

I guess Eliza didn't get the memo that she was supposed to staying in her pajamas all day today.

As I was letting the water warm up for my shower as I brushed my teeth & turned around to find Eliza standing in the shower just smiling as the water soaks her. This girl loves her showers!

She was not thrilled that I took her out of the shower, as the pictures show so well.

Snowed In

We had a great snow day yesterday! The kids had a lot of fun helping Dad shovel & playing outside for what seemed like hours!

Today the kids played out back. We got LOADS of snow & are grateful that we had the weekend snowed in with Rick before he takes off to sunny California for 2 weeks!

At least he was here to help with the shoveling instead of my by my lonesome.

Rick's Christmas Present

For Christmas I gave Rick a little poem (if you can call it that-I'm not the best poet)...

along with these pictures of the kids.

They really think he's pretty neat from their heads to their feet.

He smiled as he read, "These 8 little feet love you & adore you!"

But his expression changed pretty drastically as he read, "Our cute little family will grow two more feet in 2012." His jaw literally dropped! Priceless!

He sure was surprised! I don't think I've ever gotten him this well before.

Today we got to see those 2 little feet!

Here is our little one greeting us with a fist pump.

We're grateful we got to see this baby before the big snowstorm tonight & tomorrow. It was getting really hard keeping it a secret.

Due date: August 18th. (Although today at the ultrasound the baby measured due August 16th. close enough.) And yes, the 18th is Andrew's birthday & was also his due date.

I should add this awesome detail. The best way to buy a pregnancy test is to take all 4 of your kids with you & go to a line with an innocent looking teenager. The look on her face when I put the pregnancy test up there was absolutely awesome!

Hooray!

On Monday we took Eliza in to a kidney specialist to get the blood work done again for RTA. I was so grateful they were able to get us in so quickly. She didn't love the appointment-not one bit! But she survived it & with Rick & I both holding her down they were able to get her blood draw done by only having to poke one arm & much more quickly than at the pediatricians.

Here is our cute little patient waiting patiently for her appointment. She really loves to read!

Today we had her follow up appointment where they gave us the results. It was great! Her potassium levels were much more normal, everything was normal, & her CO2 levels were 22! Perfect! Here she is celebrating her perfectness with a cookie! That made her super happy!

I'm so grateful that she is fine & we're not going to have to get her blood drawn every month for the next few years & that I don't have to touch the yucky medicine. The doctor was very funny in how she told me she would send the results to our pediatricians with a nicely worded letter telling them that how these tests are drawn often give false positives & would be better if they suspect something to send them to a specialist to begin with or to change how the run the test. It made me laugh. But for now we are going to be grateful that she is healthy & growing at her own rate. We think she is perfect!