This Just In!!!!

Males ages 10-19 and people over 80 are most at risk for Golf Cart accidents!

I swear, I just saw it on the news.

I guess that means that I'm still good for driving a golf cart......

Technical difficulties....

Internet..... spotty..... can't.... post......
Must....get...new internet......

lately our internet (which technically isn't ours, it belongs to whomever we can hook up to at any given time) has been really spotty. We can basically get on for about 2-5 minutes at a time, just enough time to check emails, which makes it virtually impossible for me to update my blog, or upload pictures. The preceding picture of Lilah took us several attempts, over two days to upload. However, we really can't justify paying for internet in our current financial state. So I'm really not sure what our solution will be. We use(d) the internet for EVERYTHING before it crapped out on us, Library, Banking, Google, Movies, TV shows (LOST, to be precise) so we are missing it's convenience, to say the least. And I'm really missing blogging!
Okay, time to see if I can update this thing.

Wanna see the cutest baby ever??

School's Out!

Our school year is officially over.  And not only did I survive, but it actually went pretty well. I was apprehensive about attempting school while taking care of a newborn, but it went better than expected, and amazingly, I'm already looking forward to next year! Our curriculum for next year looks like a lot of fun, and I'm planning on starting Ellie in 1st grade. A couple of months ago, I would have said she was no where near ready to start reading, but at the moment she's a little sponge, eager to learn and picking up everything she can on her own. She recognizes and writes all of her letters and many numbers, and has learned all of it with absolutely NO instruction from me. Her favorite activity at the moment is to sit down and write letters on paper. She asks me how to spell things, or writes the names of everyone she knows. She's really excited to learn to read- and although she'll still only be 4 years old, I'm a big believer in following your child's cues for learning, so she'll be starting school in the fall. 

Jaxson ended his 1st grade school year with a flourish. He's reading VERY well and has excellent penmanship. I'm so proud of him! He's done so well this year. He's very eager to be a 'big' second grader... and to be 7 years old so he can catch up to Alex! 

AND...... it's hopeless. My baby figured out how to find her thumb and now it's all over. She won't even take her binky anymore. Oh well, at least now she can self-sooth! 

A Mother's Day For the Books

I have such a wonderful husband and four wonderful children! Brady does such an amazing job making special occasions special. 

I got to sleep in on Mother's Day until 7:30 AM, which in and of itself is a wonderful thing, then I found a sweet note and a beautiful 16x20 on fine-art watercolor of Lilah's baby picture. Brady fixed me a yummy breakfast of fresh strawberries and danish, after which we dashed off to take Janelle her flowers and coffee. Then on to church at RLM, where we met my mom, grandma and grandpa. After church we went to my sister's house for dinner. It was a great day, full of hugs and back/foot rubs from the kids, and lot's of appreciation from my wonderful husband! I love  you guys so much, and I'm so proud to be your mommy! (and wifee)

This is a picture of the gift Brady gave me. It's handmade and has pictures of all of my babies. Isn't it beautiful? Now I have to try to outdo him for Father's Day.... I'm never as good at it as he is!  

Side One 

(sorry, it's a little blurry, cell phone pic)
Side Two

Waitin'

Jerry is coming tonight! 

I can't wait to see him, even if it is just for a couple of days. I haven't seen Jerry since he and Jess helped us move home. I can't wait for the day when we go help them move back....  :>P

This will probably be the last time I see Jerry before he becomes a father. The next time will probably be next Christmas and at that point he and Jessica will be the proud parents of a four month old baby boy. Amazing. I can't wait to see them as parents. 

Vancey got a haircut today! 

He really needed it, he was beginning to look shaggy. Or as he says, "shaddy", as in "The Shaddy Dog" which happens to be a favorite movie of his. Here he is in all of his handsomeness, showing off his muscles!

Baby Legs

Ok, so I think we all know that leggings went out with the 80's, but I couldn't resist these adorable little Baby Legs. Are they not the cutest things ever? 

In other happy news, spring has finally found our corner of the world!! Yahoo!

Makin' Banana Pancakes

Saturdays at our house are known as "Pancake Day". On all other days breakfast is pretty boring, but Pancake Day, now that's something different. That breakfast is so special, that the entire day is named after it! Here are the kids this morning enjoying their banana pancakes with chocolate chip smiley faces.
Not the kids, the pancakes.... although the kids soon had chocolate chip smiley faces as well....





The other day, Brady and Jax were playing a video game and Vance wanted to get in on the fun. He was a bit tired though.....



Lilah on her 2 month birthday! She's wearing what Brady calls her "ridiculous socks". I think they're cute! He just doesn't understand that when it comes to little girls, the more lace the better!




I'm without a husband again this weekend. He's in San Diego shooting a wedding. I'm jealous because not only does he get to see Jerry and Jess all weekend, but it's also about 80 degrees there! He called to let me know that he already has a suntan.... wasn't that nice of him?

There doesn't seem to be any other interesting news to share, so I guess I'll sign off for now.... cheers!

Newest Taste treats....

I need a direct line to the Poisen Control Center. Evidently I don't feed my kids enough. Today Vancey decided to tear the plastic wrap off of the raw chicken I had defrosting on the counter for dinner and eat a bite. I know, it's 'scusting as Vance would say. I found out about it just as I was leaving to take Lilah to her 2 month check up, so Brady quickly called Poisen control, and they said to give him lots of fluids and watch him for the next two days. They said if he doesn't get sick in that time period he'll be fine. They also said that if he's healthy and not taking any medication he only has a 50% chance of getting sick. Seriously, I realize it was almost lunch time, but he can't have been THAT hungry.... Quick, everyone tell me that I'm not a bad, neglectful mommy!!

As previously mentioned, today was Lilah's 2 month check up. Healthy as a horse (who came up with that saying, anyway?) and weighed in at 11 lbs, 7 oz. 4 pounds gained since birth 8 weeks ago!

Well, I'd better go fix dinner, or risk one of my children helping themselves to some raw meat again.....

This, That and the Other Thing.....

So I was inspired while reading my cousin Sarah's Blog . She had just gotten a new hair cut and mentioned the fact that she hadn't had it cut since last August. I laughed when I thought about it and realized that I hadn't had my hair cut for over THREE years (not counting me whacking at it). Then I thought that perhaps that wasn't quite so funny, and I quit laughing and promptly decided to go get a hair cut. And I really like it! So here are the pictures. Is it me?





Brady got some great smiling pictures of Lilah this weekend...she smiles at daddy all the time. All he has to do is talk to her and whistle and he get's the best grins!



Since Jerry is so bad at updating his blog (love you bro) and everyone is always asking me about Jess and how she's doing, I thought I would post this cute picture of Jess and Cohen that he sent me this weekend!



Here is a cute picture of the kids in the King Solomon crowns that we made in school today. Vance had just declared that he was NOT going to smile! The kids decided that they were King Peter, King Edmund and Queen Susan. (We are reading the Narnia books for our read-aloud right now)



Lilah is doing well, but is wildly unpredictable when it comes to sleeping at night. She can go to bed at 9 and sleep through the night, or go to bed at 9 and wake up in four hours, or decide to not go to bed until 12, or go to bed at 9 and wake up for two hours in the middle of the night..... and on it goes. Last night it was the last choice on the list. I got 2 hours of sleep, was up for two hours and then got 3 hours of sleep before it was time to get up. 5 hours interrupted is so NOT enough for me. It makes me crabby.

Our weekend weather was so lovely! It was about 75 degrees Sat and Sun. We worked outside all day Saturday and got the lawn thatched and raked. It looks so good now! On Sunday, Shan and Marcus came to church with us at RLM and then came over to play. We had dinner and took the kids to the park, the guys threw the baseball around and then we came home and played a game of Scrabble (of course!). I would have won, but with my last tile I set Brady up for the win. Dumb me! :>)
It was a fun day, and wore the kids (and parents) out completely.



AND THEN.... this morning we woke up to an inch of snow. And it has snowed and melted repeatedly all day. YUCK. Where is spring????? Rain I can handle. Snow is ridiculous. Come on spring.... we're waiting for you with baited breath! Come out, Come out wherever you are!

Here comes the sun

Well, Da, You'll be happy to know that I obviously jinxed myself with that last post.... I should have known better than to brag! :>) The last two nights have been terrible. I think I've gotten 5 and 6 hours of sleep respectively, and those were interrupted. It isn't that she's not sleeping once she's asleep.... it's getting her to sleep. All I can do now is hope and pray that this isn't the beginning of her "colicky" phase (all of my kids went through one). She has been such a good sleeper since the beginning that we were hoping that we had avoided that this time around.  

I think spring is finally here! According to the local news it's going to be 70 degrees by Sunday!  Wahoo! I'm really excited to have some warm weather. 

 Of course, that means that I have to go work on the lawn... we rented the house in January with tons of snow on the ground and unfortunately found out when the snow melted that the previous renters did NOT rake the grass before it snowed. It looks like there are the clippings of about 3 mowings now choking out the lawn. It's a mess.

 We also found out the the neighbor next door thinks that it's a good idea to let his dog use our front lawn as a bathroom-- that way he doesn't have to clean up after it! Grrr. I've actually caught him at it- with his dog on a leash no less. If Brady had been home I would had given him a piece of my mind, but unfortunately the guy quickly ducked intohis own garage and I wasn't brave enough to go after him without backup! :>)

Here's a picture of my big boy. I had to take this the other day when he was on his way outside to play because he's just starting to look so "grown up". I can't believe he's going to be 7 this summer! 

We want to give a quick congrats to Cristy and Nathaniel.... They're getting married!! Congratulations Cristy! He's a lucky guy. 

Okay, well I have to go wake Lilah up. She's obviously tired from the last couple of nights; she's been sleeping all day! 

 

Here's the proof. She smiles when she has nice dreams....

Talk to everyone soon....

Big news

Lilah slept through the night for the last 2 nights in a row!!!

She nursed at 8, laid down at 9 and slept until after 5 AM! 

It was great.... we hope she keeps it up!

Let it snow.... yada yada yada

We woke up on Saturday morning to 10 inches of snow! No, I'm not joking. I wish I were. Thankfully it's already beginning to melt, and hopefully will be gone by next week. We are supposed to be into the 50's by the weekend, so that should help. It's rather ridiculous. Must be all that Global Warming.....

Here's a picture of all that lovely snow.....

Lilah-li (thanks for the nickname, Georgey!) is growing by leaps and bounds. Today (drum roll please....) I got the first REAL smile out of her! Wide awake, big ol' gum showing smile. It was so cute! It didn't last long enough for a picture, but I will write the date in her baby book!

Here's a picture of the baby getting ready to go run errands with mommy the other day!

Think she's wearing enough pink? :>)

I got so much accomplished last week, as detailed in my previous post, thanks to Janelle having the kids for 4 days and 2 nights! I was also able to add to my list of completed tasks getting my drivers license changed, and getting a library card. So I guess we are now officially residents again! Ah, feels good.

This weekend Brady is headed out of town for a photography convention. It's in Wenatchee, so it's also a good chance for him to see and spend time with Grandma Rothrock.

But, it means I'll be handling the kids alone for 4 days. I'm glad he gets to go, but I know we are going to miss him.

And, last but not least, I have to mention that I was informed by Jerry that today is opening day for the Mariners! I used to keep up on these things myself, but just don't have time anymore, so I rely on Jerry to keep me updated. So I'm off to turn on the radio and listen to them (hopefully) beat the Rangers! Go M's!

Things I was able to do yesterday and today... (thanks to Janelle)

1. Grocery shop (very important, we were completely out of food)
2.Change the tires on the van (it had better not snow anymore)
3.Pick up and sign income tax returns (yay for refunds!)
4.Pick up pictures at Costco (they had been ready for a week)
5.Exchange my phone at the Verizon Store (I dropped it and it wasn't pretty anymore)
6.Clean and vacuum the car (very dirty!)
7.Scrub that coffee stain that's been on the carpet for 2 weeks (Brady had some momentary clumsiness)
8.Make several phone calls, sort through and file misc. papers (I've been putting it off for a while)
9.Clip and file my fingernails (I realize some of you are laughing right now, but those with four or more small children get it)
10.Fill photo album with previously mentioned photos (and mail some to misc. people who don't have internet)
11.Watch the end of a movie that I fell asleep watching 2 weeks ago (sorry Tricia! I'll do better next time I promise...)
12.Pee in the middle of the afternoon (usually I get to the end of the day and realize I've been holding it all day....)
13.Take a minute to breathe. It was so nice to only have myself and the baby to think of for a couple of days! I know that sounds selfish, and I L-O-V-E my kids.... but it's been a bit much lately. So I appreciate so much Janelle keeping them and doing Spring Camp with them this week. Hopefully after Thursday and Friday my list will include:

14.Raking and thatching the front and back lawn! (it's spring!)

PS
Just as an aside.... I find it absolutely amazing how CLEAN my house stays without the kids being here! I mean, I actually clean something... and it STAYS clean. Wow.

Happy Spring?!??!??

....or is it Merry Christmas? 2 days ago it officially became spring. This was the view of our backyard this morning. We had some lovely pre-spring days last week- beautiful sunshine, birds chirping, grass greening, virtually no snow left on the ground. This week it's snowed 4 times-today being the worst. The other 3 times the snow was gone by mid-morning. It's 1:15 PM, and there is about 4 inches of snow on the ground here. And it's still coming down..... Seriously, it's a little much. I'm not complaining, I'm just.... disappointed. It's supposed to be spring, after all.
There is an Easter Egg hunt at the RLM tomorrow that we were going to take the kids to-I'm assuming that if the snow isn't gone by then, they will be canceling it.
Oh well...

A few nights ago we went to Anne and Carl's for a Happy Spring Dinner. It was a fun night, and... drum roll please.... I actually WON a game. I NEVER win at games. Especially when there is money at stake- I won $20 bucks! The Couser's play this game called Squiggle- you basically have to predict how many tricks you're going to take based upon the cards in your hand and the trump card on the table. I've played it before but we called it something else- I can't remember what- if anyone knows, let me know 'cause it's driving me crazy. Anyone, the point is that I won, to my great surprise, as I have already pointed out that I never win games. So woo-hoo for me!

This week, I actually met with another success. I managed to get up on time, do school Tuesday through Thursday-completing 2 lessons per day, keep the house clean and catch up on laundry. I feel so accomplished! It helps to fit more into three days, and give myself a little leeway the rest of the week.
Next week is an exciting week for me. Janelle has offered to have the kids over for 2 overnighters and a Kid's Spring Camp next week! They are so looking forward to all the fun- and getting to spend time at Grandma's house and I have a huge list of things that are much more easily accomplished with only a baby in tow, Including getting a library card and going to the DMV to take the written test so I can finally change my driver's license. (Yes, I know that you are supposed to do so within 90 days, but come on people, I'm a busy women!)

Lilah is officially 1 month old today! She's so very sweet, and a really good baby. She's finally started to get herself on a bit of a schedule this past week- waking around the same time in the mornings and eating on more of a schedule. She's been doing really well sleeping at night too. She's on about a 4 hour schedule at night, so I really can't complain too much. I'm still exhausted though, and can't wait to get more than 3 hours of sleep at a time.

Okay, well I'm off to feed the baby and start some laundry. Cheers!