The 'Pink' One

Well, we have finally adjusted to all this pink in the house. Evie is 4 months old, and changing every day! Especially recently. She rolled over for the first time this weekend, and is a huge chatterbox. She squeels and babbles all day long to her toys, and she makes this hilarious choking sound in her throat when she's excited. As you can see she has enormous blue eyes, and she has started chewing her fingers. She won't suck them, just chew them, and its always the same two. She is great at a routine (just like her mother) and sticks to her schedule wonderfully. We had her sleeping through the night in June, but since the first week of July she gets up once a night. She is just growing so rapidly!! I can't give you her current weight yet, her 4-month appointment is in a week, but I'm sure she is keeping with the tradition of her brothers and keeping above the 85th percentile. She is the BEST baby. She needs no attention whatsoever, and is happy laying on the floor underneath her hanging toys for hours. When she's tired we just wrap her up tight in a blanket and lay her in her crib and she is asleep in minutes. I don't think we could have asked for a better baby. Well....a little less spit-up would be nice :)

The 'Active' One

Jack is almost five and thinks he's 7, like his big brother. In his eyes there is no difference between them. Jack gets to go to headstart this year, and I am so glad. He really needs to be in a school-like environment. Jack is basically the complete opposite of Kale. Like his dad, Jack has the biggest imagination. You give him a pile of legos and in minutes he is presenting to you a great creation, complete with elaborate description. He LOVES to color and draw, mostly draw. His pictures usually include his family. Jack loves to run and play and be outside, and doesn't have the patience for video games. Jack is my real cuddler. He curls up so well on your lap....and in your bed. He is struggling with wanting to be a big boy, but not quite ready to give up some of the perks of being a little boy. I think its hard because he can see the pros and cons of each in his two brothers, and he just isn't sure where he wants to be. He loves to help me as well, and even though he was the one least-interested in his little sister when we first brought her home, he is the one who gets the most smiles out of her now. And he loves to make her smile. Through Kale he is picking up letters and counting, and begged me all summer to unbox the books from our move. He is the one who makes the biggest noise when I get home from work, never failing to run to me and give me a hug, no matter what he's doing.

The 'Chubby' One

What can you say about a two-year old. Luke is textbook two. He wants what he wants, period. And you don't wanna see what happens when he doesn't get what he wants. Other than that, he is a really fun kid. He has the BIGGEST personality. He is a huge ham, and can make you laugh no matter the situation. He loves to pull faces and get you to copy him. He wants to do anything his brothers do, which is probably one of my bigger problems on a daily basis. He is just too little to do most of the stuff they do, and then the two-year-old comes out in him, if you know what I mean. I think he is finally starting to thin out though. He is still VERY chubby, but I think he's growing height-wise, and since he's decided he doesn't want to eat anymore, he's stretching out all that chub. Luke doesn't talk. At all. Okay, I guess he says about six words. It's very troublesome, and frustrating. We are trying to teach him a few signs, and his first two signing words were 'more' and 'cookie'. Lucas is a lover, but NOT a cuddler. He is incredibly independent and refuses to hold your hand when we walking anywhere. He is a scaredy cat. He won't ride any rides at the amusement park, and hates being in the air. But that boy can make us laugh.

The 'Smart' One

The K-man starts 1st grade tomorrow. Wow. I can't believe one of my boys is going to be gone all day. I am so excited for him. He LOVED kindergarten and did so well! There isn't a subject he doesn't have a handle on (if you can call them subjects in kindergarten.) It is so much fun to have a boy this age. He is such a huge help to me around the house, and with his younger brothers and sister. He loves to do chores, and get paid for them. Right now he is saving up for a new Wii game. I love watching my boys get older and seeing their personalities come out. He is just like his mom in the way he gets things done. He has to have instructions, step by step preferably. He loves to follow them, and know he did it right. When it comes to legos he has to have the instruction booklet or else they are just a big pile of stuff. He doesn't enjoy coloring or drawing much, but building things or figuring out how things work is his forte'. He LOVES to dance, and loves to be the boss. He starts soccer for the first time next week. I am a little nervous because he is at least two years behind all the other kids his age, but I am sure he will catch on quick. His favorite thing in the world is playing video games, and second to that is watching his dad play video games. He is really branching out in the food he is willing to eat. He used to be such a picky eater, but now will try things willingly and actually likes them. He is incredibly sensitive and gets his feelings hurt very easily. He wants so badly to make people happy and gets upset when he realizes he has disappointed you. It is so fun to grow with your children, and I am loving this age!

Lukie turns 2!

I can't believe my little Lukie is two! We had a really mild birthday for him this year. Grandma and Grandpa Mineer were in town to see Evie and visit great-grandma, and Grandpa bought Luke an ice cream cake for his birthday.

By the time it got home Luke and the boys were already in bed, so we had ice cream cake for breakfast the next morning and opened presents with Grandma and Grandpa.

Luke was terrified of the fire on the cake, but once the candles were blown out he dug right in.

Kale's finishes kindergarten!

Kale finished Kindergarten in June and his program was so adorable. His last few weeks were filled with field trips and fun activities. He loved kindergarten, and is a great reader, writer, and counter!

Here is Kale and his teacher Mrs. Stephens.

and his best friend, Olivia. They have been friends since the very first day of school.

Here they are getting ready to 'perform'

She's here!

We welcomed Evelyn to our family at 8:09 am on April 28th. This labor was a lot longer than the other three, and, unfortunately lasted all night long :( My doctor this time wanted me to come in at 8 pm on Tuesday night to start labor, expecting that I would sleep all night, wake up in labor, and then labor for a few hours. Well....he should have listened to me because he was wrong. The medication they gave me to trigger labor actually started me contracting right away instead of the 6-8 hours he expected, and I spent the next six hours laying in bed waiting for my water to break. Finally at seven thirty in the morning my doctor came in for rounds, broke my water, and she was ready to come within 20 minutes. Even though I've known since December that she was a girl, I cried when it was official. I think a part of me just wouldn't believe it until I saw it. She was so alert in those first minutes, and when they laid her on my chest I said hello to her, and she turned her head and looked right at me.

She was awake for over an hour, just checking out this great big world. My best friend and sister-in-law was able to be there for the delivery, and was so special to have her there. The following day Mark brought the boys in to meet her, and they were so excited.

They came flying into the room, and Kale wanted to hold her immediately. He got to feed her a bottle, and thought it was so funny when she sucked his fingers.

Luke was a little intimidated by her but once we put her on his lap he was all smiles.

Jack was a little indifferent. He was excited to see her, but not too interested either. It is so much fun to have a little princess in our home!

watch it grow

Easter

I only have one shot of Easter for some reason.....Compared to last year it was a very quiet holiday.

First Tooth Fairy Visit

Mark and the boys spent the week between Christmas and New Years in Montana, while I stayed home alone and worked. When they left Kale's tooth was pretty loose, and every night on the phone I made sure Mark new how upset I would be if he pulled it out while he was in Montana, because I wanted to be there for the experience. So...when they got home I was so glad to see he had no holes in his smile. Then the night they got home, New Year's Eve, while I was at work, I got a picture message from Mark, and this is what I saw when I opened it.....
oh, I was heartbroken! I mean, look at that face!! You can tell he was upset, but trying so hard not to show it, but excited all at the same time, and I wanted to hug him so bad! Kale doesn't do well with pain at all, and I know losing a tooth can sometimes hurt just a little, but for Kale a little is a lot. I found out later that those tears dried on his cheeks weren't from the 'pain' but from the anticipation. He had bitten into an apple and his tooth was basically sticking straight out the front, so he and Mark yanked it out, and the waiting, and having dad's big fingers in his mouth got him a little nervous. But he made a point to tell me that it didn't hurt at all :)

Kale turns six

Kale turned six this year, and every one of his birthdays makes me cry. For some reason his are harder on me than the other boys' birthdays. Must be because he's my first, and by the time Jack will turn six it won't be such a big milestone for me. This year we had a small present/cupcake party at our house, just the five of us, but then we met the Mineers at Chuck-E-Cheese's to play, and then to Arctic Circle for ice cream and cupcakes a few days later.

Mark and I were really excited about our present for him....we finally got that boy a Nintendo DS, and he was so excited. I just couldn't capture it on camera though.

I think Chuck-E-Cheese was designed with boys like Kale in mind (and his dad, of course) These guys could have played for hours and hours. And I was surprised at how much fun even I had.

Here's the little dudes chillin at the Cheese

...and the big kids at the Circle....

.....and the big boys too!

Happy Birthday Kale, we love you so much!

Christmas, 2009

Christmas was fun, and low-key for us this year. This was the first year we weren't within driving distance of any grandparents, which was fun and sad at the same time. It was nice to not have any company or go anywhere, but kinda lonely. I also had to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas day this year, so we celebrated a few days early. We had a talk with Kale and asked him if it was ok if we called Santa and re-scheduled, and he said, 'no problem!'

Here is Kale playing with his favorite toy, his legos. This kid is so in love with legos!

And here is Jack with his favorite toy, a new train set. It's great because the trains are battery powered and drive around the track all by themselves.

And here is Luke with his favorite present, a barrel of cheese balls. He pushes the barrel around the house and snacks all day long.

Here are the boys in their Christmas pajamas from Grandma Wendy. This was the first year I didn't know what they were going to look like, so it was fun for me to watch them open them as well.

All dressed up for church!!

Oh....and we have another Christmas surprise as well........we are pregnant! We found out in August that we were expecting, but decided to keep it a secret from everyone until we were able to find out if it was a girl or a boy. My entire family came down the first weekend in December for my niece's baptism, and we told everyone over lunch that we are expecting a little girl in May. We are all so excited, and a little anxious about what a little girl will bring to a house full of boys!

December 2009

And here are a few shots of December....

The boys got new bunkbeds for Christmas, and Luke moved from the crib to the toddler bed, all in one night. It was a huge success! The boys love the bunkbeds, and Luke hasn't gotten out of bed once.

Grandma Janice wrote and published a children's book this year, and here she is reading it to Kale.

When Grandpa came to visit he and mark and Kale changed the brakes on the car. He was such a good helper!

November 2009

Just a few random cute shots of some going-ons in November...

Here are the boys watching the air popper. It was super exciting, and the caramel popcorn it made was icing on the cake!
Luke has finally figured out how to monkey up onto the table, and he lives up here, literally. It's impossible to keep him off of it.
The big boys showing off their fall craft.
Luke has a fettish for eggs. Two different instances at the grocery store where he got into the egg carton in the cart and tried to bite into them like an apple. On this particular day I had brought in all the groceries and had the bags lined up on the floor in the kitchen while I was unloading. After putting them all away I realized I was missing a carton of eggs. Right about then Jack came in telling me something about Luke and eggs, so I ran into the toy room and found this......raw egg on the carpet, in the toys, on the table. YUCK

First good snow

Here are just a few pictures of our first good snow of the year. Funny how we get so excited for it in November and December, but dread it in February.

Disney on Ice (Princesses)

In November I won tickets on the radio to Disney Princesses on Ice. I had told Jeannie the week before that I was planning on win the tickets, so when I actually did, it was kinda funny. The original plan was that Jeannie and I were going to take her two girls and have a girls night out. Well, it just so happened to land on a weekend when Jeannie was out of town, so after lots of debating, I decided to take Mark and the boys. The place was full of little girls in princess dresses, but I thought the boys would love it anyway, and I was right! It was such a fun thing to do together, and they really enjoyed every minute of it, even Mark!

(I didn't think enough ahead to take my good camera, so all the pictures of the actual performers are dark and unclear.)