Fantastic Five

Six months old

2012-01-24T14:24:00.000-08:00

She is sweetness, and smiles, hugs and open mouth kisses. She's blue-grey eyes searching me out where ever I go. "I'm here Cora, I'm here." Her hair is still dark, as are her eyebrows. Her dad calls her Cora Karen in an Irish brogue and I call her Coraline and when she hears her siblings cry she worries. She is sensitive and soft and in need of affirmation, touch, love. Her eyes tell stories. And in her sleep she pats my chest, to reassure herself I am still there. She is mostly serious, intense and serious, when others are around. At home with her favorites though she is smiley, goofy, and on occasion a firecracker.

She is finally the owner of her very own high chair and loves being included in meal time.

She is a whopping 15 pounds 6 ounces, sitting up like a big girl, and is sporting a lovely bald patch on the back of her head, as her favorite mode of transportation is to lay on her back, push off with her feet, and slide. She also sports some lovely rug burns, too on occasion.

She has the house wrapped around her little finger. All she has to do is complain once and someone is there to scoop her up. She is lucky to be number 4.

It amazes me to think it has been 6 months since I brought her home. The months seem to go faster than the days at times.

And here is a look back at some other 6 monthers I have raised.

Alaina

Jonnie-who I still think Cora resembles the most.

and Sawyer

They all look a little similar and yet different. I see Cora in each of them. I am a lucky mom.

Hanging out with daddy

2012-01-05T08:58:00.001-08:00

"Hey mom!"

The stare down...

"Hey dad, I think you need to shave!"

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T19:27:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

I am looking forward to see what the new years brings for us. We had a pretty great 2011 that was full of lots of changes in our house. One being the birth of our precious little girl who we cannot love and adore any more than we do. It's amazing how fast we all adjusted to her little presence in the house and I can hardly remember what it was like before we had her. Second, is Jon's accident. It has been both a challenge and a blessing. A blessing in that it has allowed him to slow down a bit and spend lots of time with us as a family. Not many people get that opportunity in their life and for that we are grateful.
The challenges are only temporary and I refuse to dwell on all that.

I have a feeling this will be a great year. Bring on 2012!

Buon Natale!

2011-12-28T20:59:00.000-08:00

Which means Merry Christmas in Italian! This year, on my side, the country we celebrated was Italy, so once again the food, gifts, and traditions were Italian. It was a lot of fun and great seeing everyone again.

Here's two sweet cousins Neve and Cora.

And then Alaina joined them..

And then Courtney, Cassidy, and Liam joined them (:

My two sisters Danielle and Sharyn. We also had Italian wine, but I can't remember what it was called.

Me with my sweet girls.

Before we ate, mom lit the advent candles and said a nice prayer...

Then we ate...salad with Italian dressing, Penne with sun-dried tomato pesto, Italian chicken and noodle bake, Italian sausage noodle dish, and Italian bread. It was delicious!

Next, we opened gifts... Some of the gifts I remember were necklaces with Italian words on them, Ghiradella chocolates and hot chocolate, fondue set, Ferari model car, Italian charm bracelet, Italian cookbooks, and I am sure a lot more that I can't seem to remember right now.

My dad has been making us all our own model ships. He has been making ships for as long as I can remember and now he is making us each our own. They are beautiful and here is Sharyn posing in front of her ship my dad just finished. Looks great, dad!

My sweet boy

This year my sister decided to bring a project for us to work on and have something to take home to remember the day by. Here she is explaining how to do it...

Half way done and they are drying now until the next step.

Finished projects! They turned out awesome!

Alaina's is the owl one and Sawyer and I did the one with the muscle car. I love them both and plan to hang Sawyer's in his room.

On to dessert! Sharyn brought cupcakes and cookies, and Danielle brought gellato (an italian ice cream like dessert). It was delicious and that was the first time I had tried it.

The day after Christmas we all went out to visit Jon's Grandma's since we didn't get the chance to visit her on Christmas day. We brought over a vanilla pound cake and we had tea and other goodies she had out. My kids love going out to great grandma's and love to explore inside and out (: We had a nice visit and hope to get over there more often!

So once again we had a great Christmas and I hope you all had a wonderful holiday as well!

Christmas morning

2011-12-27T22:00:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

The kids woke us up around 8:30, so not too early but I still felt like it was about 5 in the morning. I was sooo tired as Cora still keeps me up a lot but that is a whole other post!

Here they are coming down to see the gifts for the first time..

Alaina is VERY excited! (:

First to open a gift was Dex. He helped out a little and remained on his bed the rest of the morning enjoying his bone.

The little lady just hanging out and watching her siblings.

Alaina's gift from Sawyer (:

They all had a great time opening all their gifts!

And checking out their stockings.

They were happy.

Cora got a sleep sheep which is supposed to help them sleep better. I am trying it out tonight so I will let you all know if it worked. I have it on the rain setting. I am crossing my fingers it will help her sleep longer at night!!

Jon bought me a donut maker and I was so excited that I made a batch of donuts for everyone and they turned out great! I can't wait to try some of the other recipes!

After playing with their new stuff for awhile, we all got ready to head to my mom's for the rest of the day. It was a great morning and Santa gave the kids a lot of great things.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-26T19:59:00.000-08:00

We survived another Christmas! We once again had a wonderful couple of busy days. Christmas Eve started out by Jon and I running into town to do some last minute shopping once again. I always say I will have everything done by the middle of December, but this year I kept forgetting at least one thing every time I went shopping. All turned out fine, like it always does, so I try not to get too stressed over it all. When we got home our friends Lee and Heather (and Cora's God parents) came over to give Cora her present they bought.

They bought her a pink Radio Flyer trike that she will love in a couple years. I guess that is tradition of theirs to give all their god children their first trikes (: They also surprised us and bought us a Wii for our family which was beyond nice!!

After they left, we went to church at Old Mamre and it was great for half of it until Cora got hot and frustrated, so I left and walked around outside for awhile and cooled her off. Then her and I stood in the back and sang the Christmas songs there. I still enjoyed it.

Then we headed over to my in-laws and enjoyed spending the evening with everyone. We enjoyed Swedish meatballs once again and all the dishes that everyone made.

Here are my girls waiting to open presents...

Here's Cora who just turned 5 months and Ella who is almost 8 months.

Gift opening, which gets a little crazy and overwhleming, esp. when you have four kids and you are trying to see what each of them get. I still need to go through Jonnie's stuff to see what he got! The Swanson's are very generous and we appreciate it all!

Cora's first talking dolly. She really liked it!

Sitting her in the middle of all the paper. She's not sure what to think.

She'd rather eat it.

Sawyer opening a gift...

Jonnie got two turtles which he was so excited about. He named them Mitch and Marty. They are a good pet for Jonnie!

My beautiful niece Kate!

This is about how I felt, too. Sweet Ella had enough.

Sawyer and the other boys put together some of their trucks and tractors and had fun in the kitchen playing with them.

Cora hanging out with her Uncle Tim. They matched so they looked pretty good together (:

Arriving home the kids got Santa's snack and letter ready and we read our books. This is the first year Jonnie didn't want to sleep in Alaina's room with her and Sawyer. He said he was just tired and wanted to sleep in his own bed. That made me a little sad as it just means he is getting older and the excitement is lessening a little for him. Sawyer slept in her room, though and I think they were sleeping a half hour after I said goodnight. I had some tired kids!

(We didn't have any cookies)

At least someone or some dog enjoyed the crackers. He probably thought I left them out for him! When I caught him he had his big nose in the cup drinking milk-it was hilarious!!

Santa's response...At least this year he didn't say P.S. Rudolph says Hi! (;

Santa arrived and it looks like the he thought the kids were pretty good!

Their stocking were stuffed, too! And I can't wait for morning for them to see and open everything!

5 months old!

2011-12-14T08:21:00.000-08:00

My baby girl turned 5 months! It's weird to even write that. What is new with Cora these days? Well, she is starting to get stronger and kind of sit up with support. She doesn't like to lay on her back anymore and is always trying to sit up-mostly to see what is going on around her. She is an observer and doesn't miss anything that is going on, who is in the room, where is mommy?, etc. She will be a happy girl when she can sit up all the time.

Here she is in her diaper and you can see she is little but chunky at the same time. I love it!

We started her on food a few weeks ago. She has been so interested in eating, so we decided to try it out and she has done so well. So far we have only tried rice cereal, peas, green beans, squash, and just the other night we tried sweet potatoes and the girl was SOO excited about that-she loved them! She doesn't seem to mind any of them, but sweet potatoes are her favorite so far.

Here she is tasting green beans for the first time...

"What the heck is this stuff, mom?"

I am not happy to report that she is not sleeping through the night yet. She still gets up a few times a night and acts so starving that I have to get up and feed her. Have I mentioned that she is stubborn and when it is in the middle of the night, she will always win. It will come. I hope.

She is still a mommy's girl and I love it. She seems like she is getting a little better around other people and will let them hold her now. She still likes to know where I am at all times, though. I guess I should write that she is great with her siblings and daddy, too (: When she sees them or the older kids come home from school she just lights up, makes raspberries, and can't stop smiling-it's adorable!

She is growing so fast and this month will be filled with lots of firsts, triumphs, and challenges. It will be so fun at Christmas to see her reaction to everything!

Rolling Over

2011-12-06T14:33:00.000-08:00

Cora rolled over for the first time on December 1st from her back to front. The funny part was that it was in the tub and she got a face full of bubbles and water-pretty traumatic for her and also myself trying to grab her quick! Anyway, she has since rolled over once more back to front and now this afternoon she rolled over front to back and luckily I had my camera this time!!

I even got a short video of it. It surprises her every time and now she is a rolling over machine! It's all she wants to do-so adorable.

Good Job Cora!!

4 months old!

2011-12-06T08:38:00.000-08:00

My baby turned 4 months a couple weeks ago, so I thought I would share a few pictures of her cuteness!

Thanksgiving

2011-12-05T14:45:00.000-08:00

This year we enjoyed good food,

Good naps,

Good fun (making gingerbread houses),

Good family,

Good moods,

Good conversations,

Good new friendships,

and an all around good time!

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera for Thanksgiving on my side, but it was an equally good time there as well (:

Halloween

2011-12-03T18:06:00.000-08:00

I will be playing catch up on here for a little while and here are out Halloween pictures. The first group of pictures is from a Halloween party at my sister-in-law Melanie's. It was a lot of fun and she did a great job on the food and decorations! She recently got a job at her son's school as a lunch lady so she decided to make fun of herself and dress the part for Halloween-very clever (:

Jon and I decided to sort of make fun of ourselves, too and went as a patient and doctor. On the way to the party we questioned if it was appropriate, but then decided it was-haha. Alaina did his make-up and did a pretty good job! The best part was before we left home, Jon took out the garbage and there was a bunch of people playing at the park across from our house. When they saw him, they couldn't stop staring! It was so funny-most people hadn't seen him since his accident so they must of thought he was REALLY injured!

My nephew the Ghost Buster and Sawyer the Power Ranger.
Cora and Ella=Kitty and Monkey
The whole gang!
Alaina broke free from an insane asylum and Katelyn was a vampire. Beautiful girls-haha!
Katelyn's new boyfriend
Jon's grandma and Aunt Jan showed up and it was the best! It was so fun to see his 80 year old grandma dressed up as a 70's musician!
The littlest taking a moment to chat
And last but not least is Jonnie the skeleton.
Here are my 4 on the actual Halloween night. It started out pretty warm and I was excited Alaina decided to trick-or-treat for one more year. I thought there were more houses handing out candy this year than previous years. We had a lot of fun and the kids made out pretty good in the candy area!

Cora stayed nice and cozy in her stroller.
Kitty's tail
"I just can't resist pulling all this hair!"
The wrapped up the night eating the delicious caramel apples my mom had made for them and dropped off. They were a great way to end Halloween night!

Dad's little buddy

2011-12-01T14:16:00.000-08:00

Here's Jon resting the first week after the accident...It was too uncomfortable for him to sleep in bed, so for the first 5 weeks or so he slept on the couch.

We didn't realize how much Jon's accident affected Sawyer until he refused to leave his side when he got home and started sleeping on the opposite couch every night. In fact, after Jon started sleeping in his own bed, Sawyer moved onto a sleeping bag in our room to stay close to his daddy and is still there to this day. Also, at preschool, his teacher told me that he talked to her about it for about 5 minutes-the longest he has ever talked to her! So it has really affected him more that I thought. Jon hasn't gone back to work yet, but that is the day Sawyer said he will go back into his own bed...we'll see (:

Also, a week after Jon came home, Cora turned 3 months!

Jon has enjoyed being home with his little, spunky girl. It has been good for her, too to realize mommy is not the only one in the world who can take care of her (:

Perspective

2011-11-07T09:17:00.000-08:00

Sometimes in life you are given the chance to put your life into perspective. We were given that opportunity on October 8th to do just that.

The day started out normal enough. It was a cloudy and drizzly morning and Jon was at the farm waiting for their new tractor to arrive. I went to the farm later that morning to sign papers for the tractor and had left Jonnie and Sawyer at home. After signing, I needed to run errands and asked the boys if they wanted to come with me or stay with dad at the farm and see the new tractor. On ANY other day, they would have went to the farm and hung out with dad for the day, but this time they chose to come with me to pick up Alaina and run errands.

After picking up Alaina, we went out for lunch and did a few more things and was having a good day hanging out together. The last thing I wanted to do was go to the craft show in town. Outside the craft show I decided to feed Cora in the car and got a call from Jon telling me that he was headed to a town about an hour away to pick up a chrome pipe for the new tractor. I was annoyed and told him so and we ended up hanging up with me being mad and saying it was foolish, not needed, etc. So, I went into the craft show and bought a few things and talked to some friends and had a good time. As I was leaving and walking across the parking lot, I saw the Life Link helicopter some distance away. Since it wasn't near the hospital I thought it didn't have anything to do with someone injured, but I said a little prayer anyway as I always do when I see an ambulance or the helicopter. What I didn't know at the time was that it was my husband in that helicopter headed toward Minneapolis.

While I was shopping, Jon was the passenger in his brother's pick-up when a car ran a stop sign and was hit by Jon and Tim (Jon's brother). In the car were two brothers, ages 28 and 29, and both were killed instantly. Jon and Tim flipped over the car after hitting it and rolled head first over it then rolled on the side, as well. Jon suffered from a head injury that was bleeding quite profusely and was unconscious, so the helicopter was called right away to take him to the trauma hospital in Minneapolis, which is about 2 hours from where we live. Tim was conscious and taken by ambulance to the local hospital where he was treated and released. Luckily he didn't have any broken bones, but had many bruises and scrapes, and was very sore.

The kids and I arrived home around 3:00 and didn't have a clue what was going on. The accident happened around 2:30 and it wasn't until a little after 4:00 I got a call from Karen (my mother-in-law) asking me what I knew. I asked her about what and she proceeded to tell me that the boys were in an accident and Tim was at the hospital and will be ok, but that Jon was more critical. That is all she knew and at that moment I felt like my stomach was turned inside out. She told me to head into the hospital right away and find out how he was. I was shaking so bad at this point and then I turned around and saw my three oldest standing there staring at me. They knew something was happening by the tone of my voice. I had them get in the car right away and I'll never forget the ride into the hospital and looking back and seeing all their big eyes filled with tears. I didn't know what I would be arriving to find out, would the kids have their dad anymore? Will I still have my husband? We were all very quiet.

When we arrived at the hospital the ER receptionist couldn't tell me anything and told me to have a seat and someone would be out to talk to me. At that point I thought Jon had died and that was why she wouldn't tell me how he was. I immediately went to the bathroom so I could pull myself together so I could be there for the kids. When I got out a nurse was there waiting to tell me that Jon was airlifted from the scene and was already at the hospital there and all she knew was that he was unconscious at the accident and that he arrived at the hospital and they were working on him. Not much information but at least I knew he was alive.

I had called my parents on my way to the hospital and they arrived just as I was told the news. They offered to drive me and Cora to the hospital and Karen said she would drive the other three with her after they went back home to get a few supplies. I just wanted to get there and still had to drive 2 hours-it was the longest drive ever! A friend of ours ended up driving our car to fit all the kids and Jon's parents in, so we are forever grateful to him.

After about an hour in the car something came over me and I can't really explain what the feeling was, but I all of a sudden knew everything was going to be ok. I just knew that Jon was going to be ok, if not right away, then eventually. So, when we finally arrived and finally got to the ER room he was located in, I felt pretty calm. That was until I saw him laying on the bed. Nothing can quite prepare you for seeing your husband covered in blood, hooked up to machines. I couldn't even talk as the lump in my throat hurt so bad. He was actually talking and grabbed my hand right away. What was really sweet was that Cora at this point hadn't eaten in hours and was crying in the hall and one of the first things he said to me was, "that sounds like my baby" and then he smiled. I was so happy and relieved to see him, but it was so awful seeing him in pain. He was also repeating the same questions over and over which was kind of scary, but the doctors assured me it was normal.

Jon's sister and her daughter were already there when we got there and I was so happy to see them and that they were able to get there and be with him until I could. A couple of his aunt's were there as well right away and that was so nice, too. The rest of that evening is kind of one big blur. They eventually cleaned him up in the ER before moving him to his own room to wait before he went into surgery. He needed to have surgery on his arm that was pretty injured and also to clean his head wound and staple it up. At this point we knew that Jon had a head injury, his arm injury, a couple broken ribs, other lacerations on his hands and arms that needed stitches, and lots of bruises. He was VERY lucky in that it could of been much worse.

After we moved up to a room the kids arrived with Jon's parents. Sawyer immediately went up to his dad and held his hand, which was so sweet. Jon and Alaina also went up to him right away but both were feeling a little nauseous and I could see how worried they were. My sister Danielle drove down from 2 hours away to be with me and for that I am forever grateful. She helped me a lot that night and the next day.

Here is Jon waiting to go into surgery...

While we were waiting for him to go into surgery, his grandma arrived with his Aunt Jan and Uncle Dan. Also, a good friend from high school he doesn't see very often came to see him. I don't think he remembers much about that night, but he does remember the people there and it meant so much to him that they came to see how he was.

Later that night I sent the three oldest kids home with my parents and Cora stayed with me along with my sister and Karen. I was actually comforted having Cora with me and she was a good girl. She wasn't quite 3 months so she was a nice age to have in the hospital. Jon's surgery went well and I don't think any of us slept that night. I was still in disbelief that this was all happening to us.

The next day Jon had many visitors. Even his brother came to see how he was doing because he felt so guilty and wanted to see for himself that Jon was OK. Tim was very sore and it meant so much to Jon that he would come see him. He also passed all the tests the doctors and nurses were performing and they told us he could go home the next day since everything was going so good. I was shocked but we were told that they are a trauma hospital and once the trauma is taken care of they send you home to recover. That made sense I guess, but it was hard to think he could go home when he couldn't even walk. They also showed me how to care for his arm, which was very intimidating-the worst part was packing gauze in a hole under his arm so that it could heal from the inside out. But I did it and really it was not that terrible. The only part I really hated was when he would flinch or get really pale-I hated seeing him pain.

The next day Jon was able to come home and the kids were there waiting. They had made signs welcoming him home and it made us all a little teary. They were so relieved to have their dad home! Dex was happy to have him home, too!

It is now the end of November and I am finally finishing this post. Jon continues to heal. His head is all healed up and he has some trouble with memory but we were told that takes time. His arm continues to heal and looks really good, though he will have some pretty major scars there. I am quite proud that Karen and I took such good care of it and it never became infected.

I feel blessed every day to have him still with us. At times I still tear up in the shower when it all hits me that he could have died. I have put my life into perspective and know what is important and what is not. I try to tell those I love that I love them everyday because honestly things could change in a split second and I always want them to know. As we just finished up with Thanksgiving, I definitely know what I am thankful for.

We love Fall!

2011-10-06T17:23:00.001-07:00

Especially when it's in the 80's in October!

The many faces of Cora

2011-09-29T17:25:00.000-07:00

Happy 11th Birthday Jonnie!

2011-09-27T19:50:00.000-07:00

Time seems to be speeding by these days and I can't believe you are already 11! Pretty soon you will be a teenager, but I will always remember you as my little squeaker baby (:

I am so proud of the boy you've become...so helpful and kind to everyone you meet, whether old, poor, or a different race, you only see the person. I am so proud at school that you are friends with everyone and don't care what others think. Also, you amaze me all the time with your kindness to your brother and younger cousins. We are all so lucky to have you in our lives.

I hope you have lots of fun on your new bike!

Happy Birthday Buddy! Words cannot describe how much I love you!

Cozy Bed

2011-09-24T16:16:00.000-07:00

This is partly why I don't get much sleep these days. Cora likes to curl up by me at night and Sawyer on occasion visits, as well.

It's very cozy (for them) and definitely cute when they curl up to each other!

A word from the dog...

2011-09-20T17:21:00.000-07:00

Things have changed around here...and not for the better.

My mom doesn't take me for as many walks like she used to.

She gets mad at my dog hair more lately-like I can help that!

When she talks all sweet and I happily walk over to her, I realize she's talking to that little person and not ME!

She gets annoyed at me when she lays a soft blanket on the floor and I curl up on it-after all it is for me right??

And the worst most depressing change is she doesn't let me sleep on her bed anymore...sniff, sniff...I sit beside the bed every night hoping that this will be the night she lets me up there, but it never comes. Then I lay in the corner of her room and won't even look at her no matter what she says or how much she pets me. I'll show her!

So if your ever in the neighborhood, give an old dog a bone...cuz I'm not gettin any around here!

-Dex

Back to school

2011-09-17T04:03:00.000-07:00

Alaina is in 8th grade and her last year at the Middle School. I think she enjoys being the oldest in her school, but says this year so far is really boring. She has some pretty boring teachers, I think, and I wish they would do something to liven it up or make it fun for them. Also, she really hates Phy-Ed and I have heard a lot of complaining on the days she has it. I keep trying to tell her in the long run, phy-ed does not matter. Hopefully it will sink in. She still loves to create things and loves Art. She tries to paint something weekly at home and is currently in Art at school so she likes that. She still loves orchestra and playing her cello.

Jonnie is in 5th grade this year. So far he is enjoying it, but he is quickly finding out that 5th grade is harder than 4th and he really needs to keep himself organized. I think the teachers are trying to prepare them for Middle School next year. I have to keep reminding myself not to swoop in and organize everything for him. I want him to do it and come up with what best works for him so that next year is not such a shock. It is very hard for me though. He currently is not involved in any extra curricular activities unless you call girls extra curricular! He is already getting girl crazy and I know it won't ever stop now! It is funny for me to hear and to hear what different girls like him (: I am trying to talk him into trying out for the Jack and Beanstalk play starting in October, but we'll see. I think he would enjoy acting as he is on the dramatic side!

Sawyer is in his second year of preschool. We thought he would benefit from one more year of preschool where he will be the oldest and build more confidence before he enters Kindergarten. I am glad we made that decision because his stuttering has increased lately and he has become very bashful and worried about school-new kids, etc. I think the stuttering and baby-talk (which honestly drives me insane!) comes from the birth of Cora and will improve soon. Currently he is very into cars and racing cars. It amazes me daily how much he knows about them and that is all he plays these days. He even brings them in the tub! He loves having mom to himself (for the most part) during the day and it's nice for me to be able to do things when the older two aren't home.

Have a great year you guys!

Two months old

2011-09-16T12:13:00.000-07:00

Cora is officially 2 months old already! I feel like I just brought her home!!

We had her to the doctor and all is good. We found out that her larger than normal belly button is actually a hernia and will eventually fix itself and she will have a "normal" belly button eventually. So I am not happy she has a hernia, but am relieved there is a reason and it will look better (: She had to have 3 shots and an oral vaccine and I felt horrible as usual pumping her little body full of all that, but I know it is for the best in the long run. She only screamed for about 10 seconds, but complained for quite a few minutes afterward (: Later that afternoon she screamed like I never heard her before every time she moved her little legs-it was so sad ): She recovered quickly though and has been better the last day or so.

It is fun for me to compare her growth to her sister and brothers, so I got out their baby books and looked up their weights and heights when they were 2 months.
Alaina was 9# 12 oz. and 23 inches long
Jonnie was 12# 1 oz. and 23 1/2 inches long (I remember thinking I was going to have a really big boy :))
Sawyer was 10# 6 oz. and 23 inches long.
I guess I never wrote that Cora is 10# 6 oz. and 22 inches long. So she weighed the same as Sawyer but is an inch shorter than he was. She is in the 50th percentile for weight, height, and head measurement. Time will tell if she will be like the rest of them and be in the 5th-25th percentile eventually.

She still likes to snuggle, especially in the night (and I am not complaining) and is very smiley. She also is "talking" more and enjoys playing on the floor for short periods. She is definitely still a mommies girl and I'm not complaining about that either!

Over the weeks...

2011-09-12T12:30:00.000-07:00

I am going to do a little bit of catch up here. Since Cora is 8 weeks old now and I haven't put any pictures of her on here yet I thought I would catch you all up (:

Here she is at 1 day old. She already looks so different from when we first brought her home.

One week old...She's had a little scowl since birth and still has it today (:

Two weeks old.

Three weeks old and I love, love this little dress. I don't want her to stop wearing it!

4 weeks old and this pictures was taken at the zoo, her first big outing and she was an angel.

5 weeks old and I just love this picture, one, because I love her dress, and two, because I love her expressive little face.

6 weeks old. She started smiling at 4 weeks, but I couldn't get a picture until now.

7 weeks old. I still see a lot of my side in her, but I am told over and over how much she looks like her daddy.

and here she is at 8 weeks. She smiles all the time now and sleeping a little better at night, though she is still up at around 2am and then at 6ish, so I'm thinking that is pretty good!

She is a sweetheart and honestly I think she is one of the most kissed babies in the world (:

The birth story of Cora

2011-07-23T14:56:00.000-07:00

It all began on July 13th. I woke up thinking my water broke and had a slow leak. I was excited and nervous at the same time and quickly took a shower and made sure my bag was packed. Since I didn't have a huge "gush" like in my last two pregnancies, I kept second guessing myself and wasn't 100% sure. So, I decided to lay down and see what happened because I read somewhere if your water had truly broke and you lay down it will leak out more or something like that. So, sure enough after laying down a lot of "fluid" started leaking down my leg. I was so excited!! I woke up Jon (who had worked all night)and told him it was time to go to the hospital. We told the kids who were beyond excited and off we went. I wasn't having any contractions yet at this point and didn't think anything of it. Well, after arriving at the hospital and quickly finding out my water had NOT broken, they did a stress test on baby and then sent me home in tears. I didn't want to tell the kids or our parents that it was a false alarm. I couldn't believe this was my 4th baby and I couldn't tell if my water broke or not....I still wasn't convinced. They were trying to tell me that it was my bladder and basically I was peeing in my pants all morning.

After I got home around noon I started having small contractions. I had a regular Dr.s appt. later that day and decided to keep it. At the doctors, they checked again to see if my water broke and once again they told me it hadn't. I hadn't gained any weight all month and was measuring shorter this week than last so they decided I should have an U/S to see if all was ok. My sister Chris was visiting from Colorado and she came to my appt. with me so it was fun to see the baby with her in the room. The first thing I had her do was confirm it was a girl (: She said the baby was measuring around 6# 6oz. and from what she could see all looked good. By that time I was having more contractions, but nothing severe and they weren't very consistent. By this time I was exhausted already and had a small dinner with the family and then decided to try to rest on the couch that evening just in case. My contractions were starting to get stronger at this point and were about 15 minutes apart. We couldn't decide if Jon should stay home from work and in the end I just told him to go to work. He had to drive about 2 hours away so I was a little nervous! Around 10 that night my contractions were getting very painful, so Jon and I decided he would turn around and be home by midnight. I decided to try and sleep but I was in a lot of pain so that didn't happen. When Jon got home, I sent him to bed to get some rest and I sat on the couch timing contractions and trying to breathe through them. I was in so much pain but didn't want to run to the hospital too quickly! By about 5:30ish I couldn't stand it anymore and woke Jon up, left the other 3 kids sleeping, called my mother-in-law, and we headed into the hospital.

Once we got to the hospital, I was checked and thought for sure I would be dilated to at least a 5 since I had been having strong contractions since the evening before. Depressingly I was only dilated to a 1 1/2. The nurse told me they would wait for about half an hour and check me again. If I had progressed they would consider keeping me, but if I hadn't they would send me home. I was shocked and scared they would send me home-I was in so much pain!! At this point I was shaking so bad and had started throwing up. I couldn't even walk and couldn't imagine trying to get to my car and go home when I knew I was in active labor. So, after being there for about 1 1/2 hours a nurse came in and checked me and I had NOT progressed at all. At this point I knew I had tears in my eyes as she told me to get dressed and they were sending me home. As Jon and I were getting ready to leave, I was hanging on to him and the bed and having a severe contraction just as the doctor on call was walking by. He immediately stopped and said, "Hey your in labor! I didn't realize you were in that much pain." He then told one of the nurses to get me in a room right away. I was so relieved!! Once in the room, they drew blood to check my platelets to see if I was able to have an epidural and make sure they weren't dropping too fast (as in my previous pregnancies). The nurse started the tub for me to help relieve my pain and I think it worked a little bit. After about an hour, they checked me again and I was at a 4. I was still vomiting , exhausted, and in so much pain that I said I wanted an epidural if my platelets were ok. This was my 4th baby and I didn't think I could stand it much longer. My platelets had to be above 100 to get one and the results came back and they were 102! The anesthesiologist couldn't come fast enough! Once I got the epidural, I didn't feel a thing and felt awesome. After 45 minutes I went from a 4 to 10 and the doctor said it was time to push. I burst out crying and was so excited I would see my baby within minutes. I probably pushed about 7 times and she was here! The first thing we noticed was her dark hair and thought she looked just like Jonnie. And here she is born July 14th:

Cora Karen 6# 10oz. and 19 inches long-You had long fingers and equally long toes. You were a little peanut and we thought you were perfect!

We thought you were so beautiful and we felt so blessed to have another healthy, perfect child. You were very bright eyed and sweet.

Grandma Jeanne gave you your first bath. You didn't like it at first but soon relaxed..until you had to get out!

Our family is complete and I couldn't be happier! Everyone was so excited to bring you home.

And here you are ready to go home. You are such a peanut and didn't fit very well in your car seat. (:

I love you so much Cora and couldn't be any happier these days. I can't imagine my life without you in it. Welcome to the world sweet angel (:

What's new

2011-07-08T20:48:00.001-07:00

First thing, Jon celebrated his 20th class reunion this summer (boy is he getting old :)). I think he had fun seeing all his classmates and old friends again. Here is a class picture of them. Jon is off to the left.

We celebrated Alaina and Sawyer's family birthday party with my nephew Tucker, who turned 5 only 5 days before Sawyer. I made the boys a Cars cake since they are both into the movie and Alaina wanted an ice cream cake. It was nice to do it all together this year. On Alaina's birthday, she went to the movies with a friend and had a sleep over-still can't believe she's 13.

We celebrated Sawyer's birthday at the aquatic center. He's been wanting it there since winter and he was very happy it all worked out and he had a lot of fun! I loved that they did everything (:

Two of my sisters have been home visiting and I loved having them around for awhile. My sister Chris is visiting from Colorado and is staying until the 16th in hopes of being here when I have the baby. So I am crossing my fingers I don't go over! I would cry if she has to leave before the baby comes ):

We spent 4th of July at the pool. It was great to just sit in the sun and float in the pool, plus there wasn't many people there which was even better. Sawyer started jumping off the diving board, too! We spent the day at the pool today, too and there was sooo many people there it was crazy! Sawyer continued to jump off the diving board like 30 times! That's a lot of work for a little guy-he will sleep well tonight!

Doing a "twisty turn"

Sawyer started t-ball about 4 weeks ago and yesterday they started their first game. It was hilarious! At one point the ball rolled right to Sawyer and he just stared at it. All the kids needed constant direction or else they would just stand there clueless-so funny! I think next week will be better and they will have more of an idea on how the game is played (:

And now we are just playing the waiting game. Baby is due in 5 days and I am so excited the time is near to meet her!! I am very ready and we have narrowed a few names down, so hopefully when we see her one of the names will click. So, I hope my next post on here will be of my new baby girl! Wish me luck and lets all hope and pray for an easy, fast labor (:

Happy 5th Birthday, Sawyer

2011-06-28T17:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my daughter turned 13 and today my baby boy turns 5!! I think it is equally as crazy...I seems like I just had him and now I am waiting for his little sister to arrive!

Happy Birthday to my sweet little guy and stop growing for a awhile!! Hope you have a great day swimming at your pool party and have an awesome 5th year! Love you.

Happy 13th Birthday, Alaina

2011-06-27T06:25:00.000-07:00

It's happened and it's hard to believe....my girl has turned into a teenager!!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet, awesome, beautiful, strong, funny, sassy daughter! We love you so much and we will not take personally what you say and do these next couple years-hahaha! Have a great day and an awesome year!!

Duluth

2011-06-13T10:54:00.000-07:00

We finally made it up to Duluth after trying to plan it since March. We were only up there for two days and one night since I was over 35 weeks and it made me nervous to be away from home too long-you never know! Even though it was a short trip, we had a lot of fun with my sister and her family. As soon as we got there, we took the kids to canal park. It was fun to see the cousins run around together and Liam just basically run in the opposite direction of wherever we were going! I felt bad as I was no help at all in trying to catch him. My sister sure got her workout (: It was so fun just being around that little boy-he is adorable! Here is Danielle and Liam in front of the lift bridge.

All the cousins together.

My sister Danielle and I. Not too fond of this picture, mostly because of my belly button poking out ):

The kids climbed on everything they could...

Watching a sail boat come in and go under the lift bridge.

Liam falling asleep eating his ice cream cone-so cute!

We spent a couple hours on Sunday on Lake Superior. Another beautiful day! The kids skipped rocks, looked for treasures, and made a sand castle. This is as close to the ocean as you can get around here (:

Nothing cuter than a naked boy on the beach wearing his cousins shoes (:

We had a great time and next time I will plan to stay longer as there is so much to see and do-thanks again Gorts!

Ella Grayce

2011-06-04T14:13:00.000-07:00

My new niece, Ella Grayce, came to visit Grandma. She is so cuddly and cute and I didn't want to let her go! Here her big sister Katelyn is holding her and showing her off to her cousins.

Yay, I finally got to hold her! I could have taken her home with me. Such a doll.

Jonnie can't wait for his little sister (:

School's Out

2011-06-03T08:55:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe school is over for another year! I am thrilled it is finally summer, though and that much closer to meeting our little girl. I am carrying so low that it is starting to be really uncomfortable and I am just tired of being pregnant. Anyway, here are a few events from the last couple weeks of school I hadn't put on here. Some of the events were Jonnie's play day that I forgot my camera for and also Sawyer's last day of preschool.

One event was Jonnie's All-Star afternoon for his class. I think every teacher should do this and it was a great way for the kids to show off their writing and reading skills. They read us poetry and reenacted a play. They also presented us with a folder and book with all their poetry and stories they had been working on. I was very impressed! Jonnie had a pretty tough teacher this year, but he said she was one of his favorites-she really pushed them to do their best! Also, they presented the class helpers with a certificate and a plant, so I was pleasantly surprised to receive one (:

I was so, so proud when Jonnie walked up with a little boy with special needs who can't talk. Jonnie helped him push the buttons on his machine to read his poem he picked out. I was trying so hard to hold back my tears, especially at the end when all the parents were applauding and looking at Jon and I proudly. The Special Ed. teacher later told us that it was Jonnie's voice on the machine and he had worked with her on recording it. She also said we have a very special boy. I agree! He has such a big heart (:

Showing his dad his poetry and writing book. It was so sweet in the beginning of the book it said, "This book is dedicated to my dad and brother." Jon was pretty proud (:

Another event was Jonnie's spring songfest. The orchestra played for everyone their songs from the concert and since Jon wasn't able to make it to the concert, it was nice for him to hear Jonnie play at the songfest. He did a great job and he also held up a flag during one of the songs.

And we can't forget Alaina's concert. She played beautifully once again and once again I didn't get any good pictures. I'll just have to walk up near the stage and get one next time.

So now I officially have an 8th grader, a 5th grader, a preschooler, and an infant on the way! Sounds strange to me...(: Let the summer begin!

Rock Pickers

2011-05-30T19:50:00.000-07:00

Well the field work hasn't gone as quickly as usual and the guys are still trying to get the corn planted. Hopefully they will get it done by the weekend and then they can start on beans. I thought I would share a few pictures of the kids rock picking. The first ones are the boys with their Uncle Tim and Carter. We have let Sawyer do it a few times and he's out there for a good hour or more each time-he is growing up so quickly! Jonnie goes out there any chance he can get and still loves it!

The next pictures are all three kids with Jon. He was very proud to have all his kids out there helping him that day. Alaina actually likes it and she likes being around her dad-getting paid doesn't hurt either (:

Let's keep hoping for dry days!

Drenched!

2011-05-23T21:01:00.000-07:00

I sent the boys out yesterday on a walk with the dog. About 5 minutes later it started pouring! And I mean pouring! Jon and I laughed so hard and then we started to worry because they weren't coming home. Jon quickly got into his pick-up and went searching for them. They weren't in the location they said they were headed in and Jon quickly found out they actually traveled farther and they were giggling, laughing, and dancing around. Jon said the dog looked miserable and couldn't figure out why he was still out in the rain. They also refused to get in the pick-up and chose to run home. Luckily I had my camera to capture the moment when they got home! So funny (:

Oh, and I feel like I should mention that Sawyer wanted to wear one of Jonnie's shirts for the walk (don't ask me why). (;

Kick-off to summer

2011-05-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to get these pictures on here since last week. The kids and the neighbor kids all got together and had a water fight on the first hot day. It was so fun to watch them get soaked! The best was when one of the boys down the street dumped a bucket of water over Alaina's head. They are both the same age and she went running after him, but unfortunately she never caught him. I would have loved to see what she would have done had she caught him (: Sawyer was in his glory and Jonnie came home to get in on the fun, too! Looks like we'll have a fun summer this year with the new neighbors down the street!

Our yard is no longer safe...

2011-05-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

Dex is out enjoying a beautiful spring day. Little did he know....

That something was watching him very closely.

Until all Robin fury was unleashed on him! (Notice the bird above his back)

"Hey, what was that for?"

She must of dove into his back 50 times and after the first 10, Dex didn't even seem to notice. Sawyer and I were laughing so hard-especially when we noticed the fur on his back was sticking up and messy from her claws (:

She must of really thought Dex was a threat to her babies. They now have some feathers and are growing bigger every day.

As the mama bird was protecting her babies, Sawyer felt the need to protect his buddy, too.

That's some pig

2011-05-16T19:59:00.001-07:00

Didn't think you could train a Guinea Pig? Well, think again. Alaina has trained Coconut to lift his front legs every time she says "no feet." As soon as he is up on his back legs she gives him a carrot. It is the cutest thing! Now, if only she can potty train him...

Spring Babies

2011-05-11T20:47:00.000-07:00

Our babies we've been watching have hatched! After the bad storm we had the other night, Jon and I checked on the nest to find it leaning on it's side and all the eggs were on top of each other. We knew the birds would never survive if they hatched like that, so Jon rigged it up on the one side and secured it in place. I think the mama Robin was grateful (: Luckily we did that because today when we went to check on them they had hatched. Well, all except one and Sawyer must have checked it about dozen times today and was a little worried the bird couldn't get out. Hopefully in the morning it will be hatched.

I'm also surprised Sawyer thought they were soooo cute, even with no feathers...he is a true animal lover (:

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T16:10:00.000-07:00

Brunch, homemade cheesecake, dinner at my mom's, and three amazing kids (and one on the way)-what more could a mother ask for on Mother's Day?

I'll share some of the sweetness I received with you all (:

Sawyer's card he made me at school. At least Sawyer sees me as 20 instead of 68 like Jonnie wrote in one of his preschool cards!

The card he made me at home...that's Sawyer, me, and Dex (:

Jonnie's card.

Alaina's card.

Alaina also made me a painting. She is very into painting trees these days.

Maybe I am feeling more hormonal these days, but I cried after opening up each card. I just love them all so much!!

I also received some much needed athletic shoes from Jon which was also sweet. I didn't take any pictures of them, however (:

Hope everyone else had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Finally

2011-05-07T09:54:00.001-07:00

Well, I think I can FINALLY write this...Spring has arrived! Even though a couple times this past week we woke up to 30 degree mornings. But this next week will be in the 60's and 70's and there are signs springing up everywhere and it makes me happy! Finally!

Dogs are happy-here's Dex with Mady, my mother-in-law's dog we are watching.

We found the most perfect Robin's nest in one of our small Evergreen trees.

The grass is greener every day.

Some of my perennials are starting to come up.

Now I can't wait to go out and buy some flowers!

Not a future Bass player ):

2011-04-27T09:41:00.000-07:00

Jonnie had his last orchestra concert and by last I mean last forever. He says he no longer wants to play the Bass (though I am trying to talk him into one more year). He mostly wants to quit because he hates having to leave class twice a week for lessons and then he gets behind in the class he has to leave. I honestly understand that and wish they could figure out a better way for lessons. He also doesn't like to practice and hasn't practiced much since after Christmas break. However, he is REALLY good at playing the Bass even if he hasn't practiced! He is natural and has a musical gift, though I may be a little bias (: He now says he wants to take guitar lessons, which would be wonderful if I didn't have to buy a guitar and pay for those lessons. He also says he will be in band starting in 6th grade, but we'll see. Maybe if he waits a year he'll be willing to try again. I just hate for him to take a year off of music, though. So the mother in me has now started looking for used guitars....

Here he is playing the Bass-I love the Bass!!

To be continued....

Easter

2011-04-25T17:35:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Easter this year! We started out the holiday dying eggs at Grandma Karen's. Normally I get together with my sister Danielle and her kiddos, but she didn't come home this year ): Here are a few pictures of the dying.

My side didn't get together this year which seemed odd, but my parents came over the day before and spent the day with us. Mom made a delicious raspberry dessert, too!

Easter morning the two oldest and I headed to church to work at the Easter brunch. We had to be there at 7:00, which is very early for me. I was surprisingly not tired and actually had a lot of fun. Sawyer and Jon met us there later that morning to eat with us before church started. During church, Alaina played her cello and sounded great!

After church we went over to my in-laws. We started out right away with the Easter egg hunt and the kids were all so excited-I love it!

My cutie pie nephew Levi.

Here's the whole gang~Levi, Sawyer, Jonnie, Alaina, Kate, Tucker, and Hunter.

My sister-in-law Melissa and I are both pregnant (obviously) and I wanted to get some pictures of us together. Here she is at 39 weeks and I am 29 weeks. We are both having girls, so it will be so cute and fun for the little ones to be so close in age!

The four youngest loving and going through their Easter baskets.

The three oldest getting their baskets..

I really wanted a family picture but for reason it always escapes my mind until it's too late, but I am glad I got at least one picture of my three. It's also nice to see Jonnie and Alaina getting along!

After we left Grandma Karen's house, we headed home and the kids were able to finally find their baskets from the Easter Bunny.

Sawyer found his under the Living room end table. This picture makes me laugh because you can tell by his eyes how tired he was (:

Alaina found hers in the movie cabinet...

Jonnie found his behind the rocking chair...

Going through their baskets...they were happy with what the Easter bunny brought them!

One tradition we have is to fly kites on Easter and we weren't very successful. It seemed windy all day until we got the kites out (:

Even though our kites didn't work out, it was still a nice day to play at the park.

It was such a beautiful day!

Spring Party

2011-04-20T16:36:00.000-07:00

Sawyer had his Spring Party yesterday and it was sweet and adorable as usual. They started out the program re-enacting the "Very Hungry Caterpillar" book. Sawyer was a piece of pie. He was feeling a little bashful having all the parents looking at him, but he did do the motions and on occasion I would see him sing (:

I love his sweet face here (:

Here they are singing and signing a song about the colors of the rainbow.

Sawyer and Kelsey signing I Love You in one of the songs.

After the "show" we had muffins, cupcakes, and fruit with the kids. Sawyer had enough of pictures, I guess.

I tried for awhile to get a picture of Sawyer and I, but of course he wasn't cooperating... We are looking at the gift Sawyer gave me, it was a book of pictures throughout the year of him and his class and also recipes. Very sweet!

My friend Julie snuck this picture in when he wasn't looking. It's the best we could do (:

I finally got him to pose for a picture in front of their grass they are growing and their butterfly cocoons. It is so adorable hearing how excited all the kids are to see the butterflies break out of their cocoon!

It was a great little party and I do have to say once again that I LOVE Children's Corner Preschool!

Goodbye Chelsea..

2011-04-07T19:40:00.000-07:00

Another sad day at the Swanson house in the loss of a pet. I discovered Jonnie's hamster died early this afternoon and had a heavy heart thinking of having to tell him when he got home from school. The look on his face when I told him it totally broke my heart-I hate to see him so sad. We really have no idea why she died. She wasn't sick and was so active to the point of being little crazy. I am now thinking she maybe had a heart attack or a panic attack or something. She would never really let anyone touch her, but we all did enjoy watching her roll around the house in her ball, climb upside down on her cage, or feed her different fruits and veggies. She was a good first pet for Jonnie and tonight when I tucked him in he said through tears, "It's just too quiet in here without her." She was a noisy little girl and it took a long time for the boys to get used to her when we first got her, and now it will take some to time to get used to the quiet now that she is gone...

Swimmers

2011-04-05T16:21:00.000-07:00

This year I decided to do private lessons for the boys since Jonnie has been in level 2 for quite a few years and just can't seem to pass it due to the front crawl. He was worried he would be the oldest one in the class and that embarrassed him. This was Sawyer's first year at lessons and instead of enrolling him in level 1 where all they pretty much do is stand on the tot dock and play games, I signed him up for private lessons, as well. It was the best thing and I loved that they got all the attention. Plus, it was only half hour lessons instead of the hour lessons we had to do before when there was so many students. I was so proud of them both!

Here is the last night and I was AMAZED at how awesome they both did after only 8 lessons!

Here is Jonnie starting on his front crawl.

He did it, he did it!! He finally mastered the front crawl and passed level 2 on the last night of lessons!

Sawyer floating on his back and front. At one point she even let go and he stayed floating!

Here he is jumping off the side of the pool and going under.

Sawyer has never been as scared of water as the other two, but I was amazed at what he would do. He wore a life jacket for part of it and they would swim in the deepest water and Sawyer thought nothing of it.

Way to go boys!!

Night at the Hotel

2011-04-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

The kids were on spring break this past week so we decided to surprise the kids to a night of swimming at a hotel. We realized the night we picked landed on April Fool's day, so we made it our April Fool's trick on them this year. It was also the boys' last day of swimming lessons, so it was a celebration of sorts, too. They were all pretty surprised that we pulled into the hotel instead of heading home. Jon and I couldn't stop grinning the whole way there (:

We had a blast just hanging out, swimming, and eating pizza and snacks. We were the only ones swimming that night and the next morning so that made it extra fun and we could just be goofy without anyone watching.

Alaina tried over and over to do a handstand so I could take a picture of it...it's hard to have a pesky dad and brothers sometimes.

She finally did it before being harassed again.

So proud of this little boy. It was so fun seeing him jump in the pool and swim around and go underwater!

Yup, I was there, too and my legs at least enjoyed the hot tub...

Alaina and Jonnie racing doing the front crawl. Alaina is still just a bit faster.

All swimmed out and ready to rest and eat snacks. Notice the matching t-shirts given to them by Grandpa Earl (:

We had a great time and it was so nice to just hang out together for the night! We went out for omelets the next morning which was equally fun.

Sleeping Beauties

2011-03-13T12:38:00.000-07:00

Last night Alaina and I were downstairs watching a movie and realized how quiet the house was. We went up to check and see what the boys were up to and found this:

Such tired boys...so sweet (:

Belly

2011-03-10T20:53:00.000-08:00

I am really popping out these days, so here are the first pictures of my belly. I'm feeling great, minus the hip pain, and my little girl is wild and kicking up a storm ALL day. So, I hope this means she sleeps at night and will already be on a great sleep schedule when she is born. It could happen.

18 weeks to go!

Think Pink!

2011-03-01T16:09:00.001-08:00

Well, I am half-way through this pregnancy, which honestly seems like I should be due next month or something as I feel I've been pregnant for a very long time already. It must have to do with this never ending winter and as soon as spring comes (any day now right?) things will move along faster. I hope.

And now onto the whole point of this blog post...Jon and I went to the doctor for my ultrasound and check-up yesterday. We were both so excited to see this little one and were so amazed by how improved the U/S have become even since Sawyer was born. She (the u/s tech)even zoomed in on the face and we could not only see the eye sockets, but the lenses moving around, as well. It was a little creepy, but cool at the same time.

Baby looked awesome and adorable and I was very relieved to see that all the measurements looked good and we counted all the fingers and toes. We told her right away we weren't 100% sure we wanted to know the sex, so I gave her some paper and an envelope to put the answer in so I had that option later. Well, once she sealed the envelope and handed it to Jon, it was like the elephant in the room and all I could think about. He made the mistake of giving it to me to put in my purse and when I was sitting in the exam room waiting for the doctor, I took it out and held it up to the light, hoping to maybe see through the envelope. Well, I couldn't but I did however see a G imprinted on the envelope and on closer examination I could see an i and an r. I wasn't totally convinced, yet and thought maybe I was seeing things. I showed Jon right away after my exam and he said, "Only you would notice that!" So we decided to open it up and see and sure enough it said GIRL!! What happened was as she was writing girl on the paper she was pushing so hard that it imprinted on the envelope underneath the paper. So funny that that happened and I said it was just meant to be that I find out. As soon I knew it was a girl, I couldn't stop crying and realized then how much I wanted a little girl. I was relieved for Alaina to have a sister and also that Sawyer can stay my baby boy. It all worked out so perfectly and balanced for all of us! Jon is beyond excited and sweetly said, "now I feel like I have to worry about you more and take more care with you knowing there is a little girl in there." I thought it was sweet, even though I am no more fragile with a girl than a little boy (:

So it looks like pink, dresses, hair bows, etc. are in our future and I can't wait! now on to picking out a name. Nothing has jumped out at me yet and honestly we already had a couple boy names on the list. It seems a lot harder to pick girl names for me for some reason.

And here she is. I think she looks adorable already (:

And here she is looking at us and waving.

So if you hear any cute girl names, pass them along!

Sledding!

2011-02-07T15:57:00.000-08:00

We've had quite a bit of snow this winter and lately it has been waaay too cold to even be out to enjoy it, until last Sunday! It was finally in the high 20's, so we decided to finally get out and go sledding.

First, I took a picture of the kids in front of the pile of snow outside our house. Perfect for a snow cave. The last time Sawyer and I made a snow cave, the snow plow came by, took all the snow and ruined it ):

Here's Alaina. She hates to go too fast and always has her hand out to brake.

Here's Jonnie catching some air. His neck actually hurt today, poor boy. But he has to go fast and he has to hit all the ramps.

Sawyer preferred to sit back and watch for awhile.

And try to roll snow balls with a stick he found.

Jon and Jonnie

Alaina still has the brakes on (:

Sawyer then thought it would be more fun to run down the hill instead of sled down.

Alaina and Jonnie-every time they went down together they would totally wipe out and all you would hear is laughing (:

Jon finally talked him into sliding down a tiny hill-haha.

Next, we talked him into going up a little ways and sledding down and he LOVED it!

Here he is wiping out at the end. Don't worry he laughed and then...

He went down all the way from the top!! He ended up loving it and I was proud of him.

Jon resting on the mountain. He said he didn't feel as young as he used to (:

The rest of the week will be below zero or single digits and that is depressing, but we are almost half way through February and it is bound to warm up soon. It better.

Power Rush

2011-02-04T16:17:00.000-08:00

Tonight I attended a Power Rush concert. It was pretty awesome.

Happy Friday all. Rock on.

Happy Day!

2011-01-28T16:28:00.000-08:00

Feeling great today and relieved. I am 16 weeks along and had a doctor appt. and I don't know if it's because I'm older and know what can go wrong or what, but I am more nervous about this pregnancy than I have ever been with the others. So, it was great to hear the baby's heartbeat and hear that the baby is wild and my Dr. had a hard time finding the heartbeat over and over because it was moving around so much. He/she was even kicking the doplar thing-so cute! Sawyer was with me today because he wanted to hear the heartbeat and he thought it was pretty great. He thought it sounded like horses running. Everything else is going great, too. Gained a few pounds and even my platelets (which usually start dropping by now) are on the rise! Yay!

Also, I had lunch with my parents and ate the omelet I've been craving all week, and the boys got their haircuts today at Denny's downtown barber shop and they both look so cute! I couldn't be any happier today!

Belly pictures will follow shortly. I know my sisters have been waiting. I will start doing a monthly belly shot, but honestly I am not showing that much yet-can't complain about that and that I am still wearing my regular jeans (:

Happy Friday everyone!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T13:54:00.000-08:00

It's a new year and it's bound to be one filled with changes. I always like the start of a new year, mostly because it feels like a new start, and a time to make permanent changes to my life. I have not done that this year, however and did not make any new resolutions. I'm still sticking to past resolutions and they, for the most part are going well. I do need to start exercising more, but that will come when my energy picks up a bit. I do need to de-clutter more and organize things around here, too, especially now that the little one is coming. That will be our biggest change this year, obviously. Just getting used to another little person in the house and adjusting to the no sleep again and not being able to just pick up and go. Lots of planning, feeding, and sleep schedules to think about again! But on the other hand, I am looking forward to meeting, rocking, and snuggling this baby and July seems like a long way away. I am thinking 2011 is going to be a great year, I can just feel it!

Happy New Year to you all!

Christmas

2010-12-26T17:29:00.000-08:00

I survived another Christmas!! Hard to believe all the stress involved for one day and then it's all over. But, we really had a great Christmas filled with family, food, and some great gifts.

We started out with our usual candlelight church service at old Mamre and then over to my in-laws for Swedish meatballs, etc. I forgot my camera ): So no pictures over there. We ate a lot of great food and all received some pretty awesome gifts-thanks again all of you!

My pictures begin when we arrived home and did our preparations before heading to bed. Jonnie wrote the Santa letter again and got the milk and cookies ready.

All set!

Next, we read our usual books-"Twas the night before Christmas" and "Room for a little one."

And off to bed they go. They all slept up in Alaina's room and Sawyer lasted until midnight and had to sleep in his own bed, and Jonnie lasted until about 12:30 until he got into a fight with Alaina and then went back into his own bed. Sigh....It was a late night before Santa was able to bring his gifts.

Santa finally arrived and it looks like they were all pretty good.

Stocking were hung and filled and Sawyer's was too heavy with play-doh to be hung back up.

This is probably too dark to see, but it's Santa's response.

Christmas morning! They were up early and were tired, but that doesn't matter when there are gifts involved!

Gifts were passed out....

Now time to open!

Checking out the stockings!

Dad made breakfast and here they are waiting patiently drinking their coffee.

Here's Superman bending steel, no big deal.

Then, we were off to my parents. Every year we celebrate a different country, but this year we decided to have a Slumber Party theme. We all came in our jammies (except one scrooge, my husband), had appetizers throughout the day like meatballs, chicken wings, turkey sandwiches, a couple hot dips, fruit and dip, played a couple board games, made popcorn and watched a movie, and visited and had fun with my sisters and nieces, nephews, and parents.

Here are my parents with my nieces Cassidy, Courtney, and Raquel.

Here are the Stutleberg ladies.

The Gort kids, Nevie, Liam, and Aidan

The Gort Family in matching monkey sock pajamas-so cute!

Our family, this is the first time Sawyer did not want his picture taken...

Stutelberg girls again.

Grandma and Grandpa with the grandkids that were there, and yes, this was the best picture-hahaha!

And here we all are-well the ones that were there that day. I thought it turned out pretty cute. My favorite part was the rabbit ears behind my head from Nevie! (:

Opening gifts and we followed the theme here and everyone got stuff related to slumber a slumber party, such as pajamas, robes, slippers, popcorn, diaries, blankets, etc.

My last picture is the wrapping paper fight the kids got into with Grandpa-it ended with the kids throwing paper in his sweatshirt! They all loved it, including grandpa (:

Whew, so that's it and today I am exhausted! I am excited the kids are home all week and I can sleep in and have some fun with them! Hope everyone had a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Three Chefs and one taste tester

2010-12-23T17:19:00.000-08:00

Notice their mouths are full in every picture.

Alaina had someone who really wanted to help or mostly taste test everything. Every time she turned her back, he would inch closer.

Stupendous Six??

2010-12-20T16:19:00.000-08:00

The word is out everywhere but here and if you have not heard the news, I am expecting again! The little one will arrive this summer, July 14th to be exact or a little later as I always seem to go over.

I will be honest on here as this pregnancy took me totally by surprise. I never thought we would have a surprise baby as we have done nothing different for the last 4 1/2 years and nothing ever happened. But, everything must of lined up perfectly and it was just meant to be and I am fine with it. I was worried, stressed, and overwhelmed right before I "officially" found out, but as soon as I took the test a sense of peace and joy came over me. It's hard to explain, but at that moment I got over all my fears and really wanted this baby.

We are about as unprepared as if it were our first baby as I have been slowly getting rid of baby stuff over the years and just this last October I had a garage sale and got rid of the last of it (not knowing a few weeks later I'd find out I was pregnant). Also, I had the kids pictures taken in early Oct. and spent a lot of money thinking now I can since this is all my kids. Guess again (:

A positive look at it all is that my children are older and more manageable (: Plus, they will be a big help. It will be heavenly to have them look after the baby when I take a shower or bath, something I have never been able to do with the others! The baby would just come in there with me and I only had as long as the baby let me (: I'm a little worried about the loss of sleep, however. I like my sleep. So, let's all pray this baby is a good sleeper.

I waited almost a whole month before I told Jon. He's been wanting #4 since shortly after I had Sawyer. I think I finally had him convinced 3 was great and we were done. So I wanted to really surprise him and waited for his birthday (which is Nov. 16) and wrote it in his birthday card. His face was priceless and then he just stared at me for the longest time. Finally, he said, Really? Really? When I nodded he just got a huge grin on his face and gave me a huge hug. He couldn't even speak for awhile, he was so overcome with emotion. That moment made the torture of keeping it to myself so long worth it.

A little while later, we showed the kids the card. Alaina just said "YES!" and was giggling. Jonnie started screaming and jumping up and down and screaming, "WHAT? WHAT?" Sawyer was the funniest and started hugging and kissing his daddy over and over and he didn't even know what was going on! It was the best moment. I, of course, was bawling and Jon, who won't admit this, was crying as well. It was a great moment and their excitement and joy started making me more excited, too! Here is a picture of it, but it doesn't quite capture the moment. I wish I got it on video.

And here is the baby. He/she looks like a little kitten in my opinion. Still contemplating finding out the sex. I really want to, but then it would be fun to have one last surprise. We'll see, I have until February to decide.

I am sure I will have plenty of belly shots in the months to come. I am not really showing yet at 11 weeks, but I know that will change quickly!

Sawyer's Preschool Christmas Program

2010-12-17T15:50:00.001-08:00

Last Tuesday I went to Sawyer's preschool Christmas program. He was so excited to have his mother there! It was sooo adorable and he looked so cute up there singing.

Some songs they sang were "Jingle Bells"

"Away in the Manger"

and a song about a Baby in a blanket. He sang a lot more and I couldn't begin to tell you what they were. They all did a great job!

Then, the kids gave their mom's a present. He couldn't wait to give it to me.

And here it is! He is so proud and won't let anyone at home touch it because it "might break!" I think they heard that a few times from his teachers.

Next, they gave us a snack that they helped make. They were delicious!

And here's his whole class with their teachers. A cute bunch of kids! His teacher's gift to them were the aprons they are all wearing and had a cookie cut-out and recipe in the front pocket-so cute!

Tis the season

2010-12-15T16:12:00.000-08:00

We put up our tree a couple days after Thanksgiving and once again the kids carried the tree up from the basement and put it together for me (: It sure makes decorating a lot easier!

This is the first year Sawyer didn't hang all his ornaments on one branch! He's growing up!

I guess I didn't get a final tree picture this year. Just look at last years pic and it is the same (:

We kicked off the season at Karen's work Christmas party. It is always a good time and we eat good "kid friendly" food, play games, do crafts,and get to talk to Santa. It was a fun afternoon!

This is the only thing I could get Alaina to do-pose for the picture. She felt too old to do any of the other games. I knew the day would come ):

The Santa Semi has rolled through town and it is quick, but fun for the kids. I think this is the first year I didn't get any pictures of the actual semi!

Here's Jonnie dancing with one of the characters right away.

Jon and Alaina trying to stay warm.

"Oh, Spiderman, cool!"

The kids posing on the sled on the semi. I love this picture (:

I was surprised when Sawyer went up to the bear and hugged it and then danced a little while. That was a first for him!

Then we went inside for cider and cookies and chat with Santa. Sawyer told him he wanted a motor-cross bike and Jonnie said he wanted a go-cart. Dream on, boys...

Next up, is the Christmas program at church. Even though we had a blizzard the previous two days, the show went on, and the usually crowded church was pretty empty. We really could have used one more week to practice, but in a way it was nice to get it done and over.

Sawyer was a farm animal and luckily we borrowed my nephew Hunter's horse costume from Halloween (thanks again, Mel). By the time the play started all the little ones were tired and sick of it. They looked cute, though.

Alaina opted not to be in the play this year and instead played a few Christmas songs throughout and she sounded beautiful!

Jonnie was a wise men and did an awesome job. He knew his lines and just what to do.

And here they all are singing "We wish you a Merry Christmas" at the end. Whew, it is nice to be done!

And that wraps up a few of the x-mas festivities we've done so far this season! We've had a lot of snow, so everything is looking Christmasy! Hope everyone else is enjoying the holidays this year!

Golden Anniversary

2010-12-13T09:32:00.000-08:00

It's been 13 years since we said "I do." So in honor of my husband, I will write 13 things I love about him.

1. I love that he works so hard to provide for us, so I am able to be home for awhile and be the mom I want to be.

2. I love that he loves his kids so much and worries about them constantly.

3. I love that he looks out for me, makes sure my car is warmed up when I have to go places, the driveway is shoveled, and that I am safe and sound.

4. I love his goofy side and how funny he can be. Mostly when he falls backward on the rocking chair or one minute he's watching TV leaning on the coffee table, and the next minute he is draped over it sleeping (:

5. I love that he loves babies, especially ours, and how excited he is to be a father again.

6. I love the long conversations he has with his boys about tractors, farming, or whatever they are interested in that day.

7. I love that he takes Alaina out shopping or running errands to stay connected with her and how giggly they are when they come back home.

8. I love that he always smells good.

9. I love that he always scratches my back-without even being asked!

10. I love that he has a hard time sleeping without me in bed.

11. I love how helpful and sweet he has been the last 2 months because I have been so tired and sick.

12. I love that he is not concerned with material things and is happy with what we have.

13. And most importantly, I love how much he loves me and I feel it every day.

I love you so much and hope you always know this. Here's to many, many more years together. Happy Anniversary!

Thanksgiving

2010-12-04T20:37:00.000-08:00

Well Christmas is fast approaching and I need to start posting some holiday pictures and am, as usual, behind in getting this blog updated. So here are my Thanksgiving pictures, finally.

We spent Thanksgiving day at the AG church as usual with my mother-in-laws side. The food was delicious as usual and I always wish I could eat more or take a plate home for later, but then we usually go over to Karen's house later for leftovers anyway.

Here is my family enjoying the delicious food.

One of the uncles is a photographer and brought his camera to take pictures of whoever wanted them done. Here is the matriarch of the family. I love these pictures of Jon's grandma. She is such a sweet lady, and I plan to eventually print these pictures out.

And here is the whole crew-all ten of them!

We also had our annual gingerbread house making. Alaina and Kate decided to work together this year.

Jonnie's masterpiece and his chipmunk cheeks full of candy!

Sawyer's uh, house? He is always so proud of his creations. He put a "tarp" on the top of it to keep it safe (:

And the girls made a high rise. Good job ladies!

The next day we headed over to my mom's. It was a quiet year over there as only two of us made it home. It was nice, though, in that we got to catch up and hang out-it's been way too long. We had a delicious meal (my mom's turkey was awesome), played games, had dessert and chased a 1 year old around! It's always fun for the cousins to play together.

And here they are. Just hanging out waiting to eat. Liam is adorable and so busy! He is either climbing on something or whipping down the stairs at lightening speed and he would be in the basement before we knew it! I loved it, and him (:

Onto dessert-YUM!

Sweet Nevie.

Sawyer took a picture of Grandpa.

We also enjoyed music throughout the day. I really want to get piano lessons for Sawyer. He always seem be drawn to the piano.

As always, it was a fabulous Thanksgiving, and there's nothing like spending time with family!

Birthday Girl

2010-11-18T20:15:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Karen's, my mother-in-law, 60th birthday. We made Chinese food, played oldies music, had pictures honoring her life, and Melanie decorated her house for the festivities. None of could have predicted that the first snow and ice of the year would fall that day, but we still had a good time!

Here's the Birthday girl!

Alaina and I also made tye-die t-shirts with the grandkids "number" on the front and their names on the back. Karen's favorite color is yellow (:

It was a great party honoring a great lady!

Little Sister

2010-11-17T16:46:00.000-08:00

I am thinking Alaina would love a little sister, don't you?

Sawyer's usually embarrassed when she dresses him girlie, but this time he loved it (:

Halloween

2010-11-17T16:16:00.000-08:00

Well, I am finally getting my Halloween pictures on here. It only took a couple weeks.

Here they are the night before Halloween carving pumpkins. The boys wear gloves and hate touching the "pumpkin guts" and Alaina loves touching and playing in it with her bare hands.

Drawing their designs....

Scraping the guts out....

Starting to cut.....

And here are the finished results...

Halloween this year turned out to be pretty nice. It was in the 40's and no wind or snow, so we were happy.

Here are two of my nephews looking for candy (: Tucker-shark and Levi-giraffe

Here are my boys. Sawyer-spider man (surprise, surprise)and Jonnie-alien

Another nephew, Hunter the cowboy.

Alaina and her friend dressed up as Goth fairies. They had a lot of fun getting dressed up.

Their wings...

Alaina says it's her last year of dressing up, but we'll see. She loves it!

Now onto Thanksgiving!

My entrepenuers

2010-10-30T14:17:00.000-07:00

My kids love making money, so any chance they get they are trying to earn it. I love it because they always have money with them to buy gum, etc. that they want and I don't have to buy (:

It was enterprizing kids at the mall again and this year Jonnie decided he wanted his chance to sell. So him and I made candy necklaces-little trains and scarecrows and his business was named "Candy Cravers." Very appropriate for him don't you think? He ended up making around $80, but he had to pay back his suppliers (aka me) and it was a great lesson to learn about how businesses run.

Alaina and her friend Rossy teamed up again this year. They were in a tough location and didn't make as much as usual this year. Their friend Angelica was with them and they all worked so hard. At least they had fun together and learn new things every year. Their store name was "Sweets and Co."

Alaina made over 50 pairs of earrings!!

Also, the day before Halloween the kids sold pumpkins along the highway. They were out there most of the day and made $20 each! Not bad, and I love seeing them work together. They are great friends again when they are out working together!

So proud of these two!

Cool Bassist

2010-10-29T14:37:00.000-07:00

Jonnie had his first orchestra concert last week and he did a great job! I was so, so proud of him up there. Jonnie plays the Double Bass and what a cool sounding instrument. It is so low and not squeaky at all-I love it! He is doing really well with his first instrument.

The Bass is bigger than him and probably weighs about as much, so it's been interesting watching him carry it around (:

Great Job Buddy!

We are approaching winter.....

2010-10-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

I am feeling down these days. I think it is the change in weather and I know winter is coming and fall is ending. I get this way every year and I dread the long, cold winter. Everything seems so overwhelming, too. Holidays are coming and I never have enough money to do everything I want with and for the kids, and there is always something going on with school stuff for the kids...I am not very organized with myself and it is always challenging for me to keep track of everything they need, too. This year seems especially challenging with Jonnie and Sawyer. Jonnie has so many projects and homework to be done nightly, that it is like I have homework just trying to keep up with it all and make sure he gets it done. I know I should be letting him be more responsible for it all, but honestly he is a lot like his mother and organization is a struggle for him. Sawyer also has a lot of things I have to remember for preschool. It's adorable and wonderful, but it's little things like having to bring him to school at 7:00 am for donuts with dad and hoping Jon gets off work in time to be there. And, I have the other 2 at home getting ready for school by themselves. I know, it seems trivial, but it is just one more thing to figure out. It's just the mood I am in and I know I will be better tomorrow....
Also, Halloween is approaching fast and I haven't bought anyone costumes yet. Luckily Sawyer wanted to be Batman and I already had that one in the dress up bin. So I was grateful he had a costume to wear for school today. I think it all boils down to money this time of year. So much is due and so much is expected from us, it just gets overwhelming at times.
Now I am going to go drink some tea and maybe throw in another endless load of laundry...

Amazin Farmyard!

2010-10-23T20:02:00.000-07:00

I finally made it to the Amazin Farmyard this year. I've been wanting to check it out for awhile now. We went with my sisters-in-law and their kids and it was a really clean, cute little farm.

We were able to buy bottles of milk to feed to the VERY hungry goats. Goats are always hungry, aren't they? We were also able to buy food to feed them and with all the people there throughout the day, I am surprised they are not all obese!

Here's Sawyer and Hunter in the kitten room. The kittens were all pretty sweet. They also had a puppy room, but the puppies weren't real interested in being handled all day.

Here's Katelyn and Alaina in the rabbit area. Alaina fell in love with the rabbits and would have loved to take one home.

"Look ma, no hands!" I couldn't talk Sawyer into riding a pony with his brother.

They had this really cool maze there I and ran around in it with the kids. After awhile I got dizzy and just wanted out! Kate and Jonnie cheated and went under the fence at one point (:

They also had a large slide. There's Kate, Alaina, and Jonnie going down if you can't tell that is them. I couldn't talk Sawyer into this either. The boy is fearful of heights I'm afraid.

But, he is not afraid of 4-wheelers! They had a really cute "road" for the kids to drive their vehicles around. He loved this part.

All three of them in one of the bouncy houses.

Next, my kids and I boarded a little train and had a very slow train ride into a field and back. It was relaxing and Sawyer said this was his favorite part of the day. Mostly because he was sitting on my lap, playing with my hair.

They had the cutest, sweetest donkeys that were just walking around. Other cool animals they had were camels, pot belly pigs, and these strange looking cows that I have never seen before (I forgot to take pictures of them) and I forgot what they were called.

So, all in all it was a fun place and I will definitely go back. I recommend it to anyone in the area!

Harvest

2010-10-23T09:12:00.000-07:00

I am happy to report that everything is complete for this years harvest-including the plowing! An awesome year and they were done early. Last year at this time, we hadn't even started combining yet! Good Job guys!!

Hotel Extravaganza

2010-10-17T09:17:00.000-07:00

We got together with the Hillenbrands for our second annual hotel bash. We get together to celebrate all our birthdays and just have fun together. So swimming, pizza, swimming, cupcakes, games, and wine (well for Julie and I) to celebrate a fun night!

Nelson Farm!

2010-10-07T18:02:00.000-07:00

I had another awesome field trip to the Nelson Farm today. I think this is my 4th (maybe 5th) time chaperoning a Nelson Farm trip and I still love it! I could probably give the tour and the safety talk myself (:

Here's Sawyer and his partner for the day. They were very cute together. In fact, all the kids today were adorable. For a lot of them this was their first trip without their parents and they were all so well behaved and held our hands, etc. So sweet. I am not sure how Sawyer would have done without me. I am sure fine, but I am glad I was there anyway!

Learning about angora rabbits.

I always enjoy the pigs. Even thought they stink, they sure have funny personalities.

My favorite animal of the day was "Menace." He was hysterical. This picture was taken right before he ripped off Sawyer's name tag and started eating it. He was so cute!

"Who me?"

Here's the whole gang. This is actually the morning and afternoon class together so that's why there is so many. It's funny how Sawyer and partner are the only one's in the sun and you can't see their silly faces.

Waiting to take our wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch and giving rabbit ears (:

Sawyer and his best bud Kelsey. Unfortunately Kelsey was in another group, but I think she would have preferred to stay with us.

"We got our pumpkins!"

Wrapping up the day on the bouncers and trikes!

What a fabulous day and the weather was so beautiful! The only downfall was the bees at lunchtime and the fact that I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted due to the fact that preschoolers are very hands on and I was always helping someone (: I loved it, though and so did Sawyer. I still find it strange that I have started chaperoning Sawyer's field trips!! The first of many, I am sure.

Jon's Birthday and Sunday School

2010-10-05T13:56:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of Jonnie's birthday. On the day before his b-day, we had a little party for him at my in-laws and had cake and opened presents. Then we took him out to El Tapitio for supper. The next day was his official birthday and he brought cupcakes to school and was All-star kid for the week in his class. Which means he was honored everyday of the week with something. Grandma Karen even went in and had lunch with him on Thursday. He finished out the week with a friend party out for pizza and a movie and one of the boys stayed overnight. Pretty great birthday, huh?

Oh, and he even got a hamster! He named her Chelsea. She's pretty sweet.

Also, Sunday School has started up again and I realized I never put my rally pictures on here. We had our Rally Sunday at a nearby lake and played games and had treats. We also had our church service there as well and celebrated Grandparents day with poems and songs throughout. We followed everything with a potluck lunch and swimming for the kids. It was a fun day!

This year I am teaching 2nd and 3rd grade and they are a little more challenging then my easy K and 1st graders last year. Here's to a great Sunday School year!

Happy 10th Birthday, Jonnie!

2010-09-27T21:17:00.000-07:00

Jonnie is a treasure
A blessing from above
He is laughter, warmth and special charm
He is happiness and love

Jonnie brings a special joy
That comes from deep inside
And as he grows into a 10 year old
He fills my heart with pride

With every year that passes
He is more special than before
Through every stage, through every age
I love him even more

No words can describe the memories
The pride and gratitude
That comes from having a son that is wonderful…
a son just like you.

I love you so much, Jon. Happy double digit birthday!

Mom

My Preschooler

2010-09-09T11:27:00.000-07:00

Sawyer's big day finally arrived! He has been so excited to start preschool all week, especially after the other two started already. I knew just how excited he was this morning when he was up a little before seven. He hasn't gotten up before 8:30-9:00 all summer. I made him a smoothie because that is what I did for the Alaina and Jonnie on there first day. Also, he wanted me to pack his lunch like I do for Jonnie. It is so darn cute!!

And we're here. He LOVES his cool Twins back-pack he got from Grandma Karen. He's been wearing around and playing "school" all week.

When we walked in he became pretty quiet. We found his name tag where to hang his backpack, then we had to use the bathroom and wash his hands before I left. This is a requirement from the teacher, and I think it's a great policy-definitely saves her time and hopefully minimize germs and sickness.

I walked him back to his classroom and his teacher showed him a few things and asked if he wanted to play cars with her. That was all it took and he hugged me, said goodbye, and I was off. I wasn't really sad at all like I thought I would be. I was more excited for him because he was so ready for preschool and he wasn't sad or scared at all. Maybe a little nervous, but that's normal. I couldn't wait to pick him up and hear all about it! Here's one last picture before I left.

And here he is at the end. I should mention quickly how wonderful I think his teacher is. She has been teaching there since 1974 and definitely knows what works-everything runs so smoothly! She is very soft-spoken and the kids just really seem to listen to everything she says (: He had a GREAT day and said he really liked it. Here he is checking his mailbox before we left.

When he first ran over to me, he said "All the kids are really nice to me and their going to be my friends!" This actually made me a little teary by the sweetness of it. He also said he loved it all and couldn't wait to go back! So relieved and happy for him, but honestly, did my baby just go to preschool? Sniff sniff....

Back to school

2010-09-07T07:28:00.001-07:00

School has arrived. I could not sleep last night and laid awake for hours it seems. Once I finally fell asleep, Sawyer woke up screaming and scared and I had to lay with him for awhile. Then it took what seemed another hour to fall back to sleep. Six-thirty was very painful this morning. I don't think I have been up this early since the last day of school last spring. I made smoothies and packed lunches and felt pretty good, but I know it will all hit me tomorrow morning-it's going to be tough getting back into the school routine!

Here's my 7th grader. She couldn't sleep last night and was pretty quiet this morning so I knew she was nervous. She seems to be growing up at lightning speed these days, especially as I look at her pictures this year compared to last. I always worry about her and pray she has a great year. Pulling up to the Middle School this morning it hit me how cruel it is to lump all these Pre-teens and early teens all together in one large school. Hopefully, she is happy and talkative at the end of today and she had a great day!

And here is my 4th grader. He bounced out of bed, drove us all crazy with his crazy giddiness, and was generally beyond excited. I know this will be the one and only day he wakes up like that this year. He has some great kids in his class and his teacher seems pretty awesome so far. Time will tell with that one and I am sure he will let me know all about it if it's not (:

Good luck, you two! Here's to a fabulous 2010-11 school year!!

Geocaching

2010-09-06T18:00:00.000-07:00

The kids start back to school tomorrow and it is hard to believe it's here already again! I will post pictures of the kids tomorrow as usual. Sawyer doesn't start preschool until Thursday, so he has a couple more days to wait. He's excited, especially now that he got a new Twins backpack today from Grandma Karen.

Last Saturday we got together with friends to try Geocaching. For those that don't know what that is, it's where you use a GPS and find clues throughout the woods and trails to find the box of treasure at the end. It was fun and the kids enjoyed themselves. Here are few pictures of the day:

Welcome Coconut!

2010-09-01T19:00:00.000-07:00

Alaina has a new baby! He is cute and sweet and will be very loved.

I've always loved Coconuts myself!

Finally, canoing

2010-08-23T19:22:00.000-07:00

Jonnie and I were signed up to go canoing back in May, but it was postponed until June. June came and it was postponed until July. July came and you guessed it, postponed until August. Well, it finally came and it wasn't canceled! We were excited to finally get to go canoing together.

Here's Jonnie all ready to go. We listened to a quick lesson and then we were on our way.

It was really peaceful and beautiful out there in the wetlands. I was loving it.

Jonnie was, too.

We canoed through different channels....

and through the weeds....this was so funny and the more I laughed the less strength I had to get us out of the weeds.

Our leader yelled for all of us to follow him through this really thin channel out to the open water. Jonnie and I were the last ones to try to get to the channel and all of a sudden the winds came up and we had no control over where the canoe went. We were trapped in the weeds and when we finally got out we would just end up in another pile of weeds-it was exhausting but so hysterical. We never made it to the open water with all the others, which we found out later was probably best since they were all pushed into the weeds over there, too. To top things off it started pouring rain, which honestly made me laugh even more. We finally got to learn to canoe and it pours!

So, even though it was technically a disaster, I had a lot of fun and can't wait to go back. Plus, it was awesome to spend time with my Jonnie.

Fun Days were here again.

2010-08-18T13:08:00.000-07:00

Our town's Fun Days were here again and we all had a good time. The kids' still love everything about it (:

On Friday the boys brought Dex up to the pet show. He was a stubborn mule and wouldn't sit or shake or anything, he just sat there like the big lazy dog that he is. They didn't do ribbons this year either, which kind of bummed us out. All the entries received a t-shirt, which is something, but it is always fun to hear what award each one receives.

Later that evening was the antique tractor parade and the men were in it again with their sons. Here's Tim and Tucker. Sorry, Mel I didn't get a picture of Hunter. He was turned away and then I lost the shot.

Here are my boys. I tried to get a great picture to blow up for Jon but didn't quite capture it. It's so fun to see them put-puttin down the road together (:

Here's my attempt at another posed picture. Still not the greatest.

The next morning was the town parade and this year we did a "corn and beans" theme and all wore our Jon Deere t-shirts. I thought it turned out cute.

Melissa and Levi.

Alaina, Jonnie, and Sawyer waiting for the parade to begin.

Kate's butt (:

After the parade, the kids went on the bouncy houses. Here Jonnie was giving Sawyer some pointers.

Sawyer had a blast and thought it was so fun, until.....

The end and he was terrified to slide down the slide. Jonnie had to quick get up there and rescue him. His face says it all-hahahaha!

The bouncy castle was much better and not scary at all (:

Next onto the pedal tractor pulls. This was Sawyer's first year and he was so interested in looking all around at everything that was happening. It was adorable and even though he didn't get very far, he sure looked like he was giving it his all!

Jonnie was up later and struggled a little this year. I think he needs to start riding his bike more and not his motor bike to build up his leg muscles again, right Jonnie?

I love his face here as it says, "man, that was tough!"

He still got third, but wasn't too happy he was beaten by a girl, he said. I was proud of her (:

So, overall it was a fun day. This was the day before I found out I had pneumonia and was deathly sick by this evening. I even cried myself to sleep that night because I felt so horrible. But, two weeks and minus 4 pounds later, I am finally feeling better! I am now fighting dizziness and upset stomach from the meds, so can't wait to be done with everything! We are slowly getting ourselves organized for school and just registered Alaina for 7th grade today-it's coming up way too fast!