My Baby?!?

Well, I guess I have to give in and admit that he is no longer my baby...Owen is TWO today. I can hardly stand it. I love this kid so much! He makes me so incredibly happy. He has so much energy! I am having a blast learning about all things boy! He is all about wrestling and physical interaction. The kids wants to take down anything and everything in his path. The problem is, he has no idea that he is smaller than almost all of those obstacles. He jumped up into the 10% for weight this year(24 lb 4 oz)--quite the accomplishment! Last year he was only in the 5%. He dropped down to the 8% for height though (31 1/2 inches). He was only in the 10% last year though, so it wasn't a huge drop. Owen is incredibly active and has taken more falls than the girls combined, yet they don't seem to bother him nearly as much.

He sleeps well (at night anyway) and eats...well...sometimes. The doctor told us not to take him off his whole milk, at least for now. I think that they are still hoping that he will gain some weight. Good luck with that...

At two this little man is in LOVE with "Ka-Chows." For those of you that don't speak this language, that would be Lightening McQueen and the other cars from the movie CARS. He loves Mater and McQueen the best. He will take several cars to bed with him rather than any blanket or stuffed animal.

This guy brings me so much joy! He keeps us all on our toes and he will keep us fit because he will not hold still. His sisters adore him, and as much as I try to get upset at him and scold him when necessary, his little mannerisms and faces melt me. He will grab the sides of my face and tell me "I done mama" and kiss me. Seriously--how are you supposed to discipline that?!? Don't worry--he has seen his fair share of time outs, but it isn't easy. Owen--you are my man, my angel, and I love you! I hope you are always so full of life that you can't help but infect those around you!

My baby is SIX?!?

It is hard to believe that Tori is already six! This has been such a big year for her! She started "big girl" school this year, and even though it is only half day she is learning tons and growing like crazy in every way! I am so proud of this little princess. She is in a special reading group once a week with the "GT" teacher. She started at the beginning of the year because there were so few kids in kindergarten that were reading that the teacher wanted to have a way to encourage them to continue. She is learning a lot of social things too, which is really exciting and really scary at the same time. She asks questions constantly, she is an amazing writer, and her imagination is fabulous. I am a very proud mama! She never ceases to amaze me.
She reads the scriptures all by herself. She loves to say prayers and is really starting to learn how to be aware of the needs of others and she takes those needs to the Lord. She is also learning how to manipulate her siblings, which I don't love. She still wants desperately to please people though, so when we tell her that she is being a "bully" she gets all upset.
Tori is still running a little bit small for her age, but she is definitely catching up! She is in the 60% for height (46 inches) and the 25% for weight (41 lbs) which puts her in the 5% for bmi. A little shrimpy still, but getting there. She dropped a tiny bit in the weight rankings, but looking at her that isn't a shock. She shot up in height though! Thanks for the height genes Daddy, 'cause that definitely didn't come from me.
All in all she is a beautiful, healthy, smart, fun and energetic young lady, and she is a great big sister. Tori, we are so blessed to have you in our family, and we love you so much!

My "Top Banana"

Tori got to be top banana the week before her birthday! It was perfect timing. She was SO excited! These are the posters that she brought in. She got to share them with the class.

She brought in a treat, and she read the class a book. I was so proud of her! She did a great job and her brother and sister loved being with the big kids. I was shocked at how well they behaved!

One for all....

and all for TORI! Today was Tori's Barbie and the Three Musketeers birthday party! She was so excited, and it all came together pretty well. I don't know why we make these things so complicated every time, but we do. I am not used to working with a theme like this, so we had to be a little creative. We started by decorating masquerade masks for the masquerade ball (that is where Barbie and her friends save the prince of course).

Next the musketeers needed to be armed and trained.

Once they were trained, and past the test, they were outfitted with their capes.

A quick break for presents and cake, then...
the masquerade ball (basically, the annual dance party).

Happy birthday princess! I hope it was what you wanted!

Smarty Pants Preschool

Just a quick update from the business side of my life. On Friday I opened up registration for the 2010-2011 school year. If you are interested in signing up a child for preschool, please email me or give me a call and we can talk details. Your child will hold an official slot once the registration papers and deposit have been received! Ok, enough business...I have so many posts to catch up on...

New Year, New Experiences

2010 has already offered us many new opportunities, but among the first few were these:
Lizzie's new hair cut! She looks super cute, and she loves it because it takes Mommy less time to do it (Mommy loves it because there is a lot less screaming involved!).

The before shots

and the after shots. LOVE IT! Thanks, Aunt Manda!

Lucky for you, we didn't take pictures of Tori's new experience. She finally cracked her head open. We knew it would happen, we just assumed it would be either Owen or Lizzie. She cracked it pretty good, but we didn't think it needed stitches. She has a nice scar now though! Apparently the universe thought that somebody needed to go to the hospital though. The next day my niece ended up at the hospital after nearly cutting her finger off in the church door during primary. Nice, Soph!

Last, but certainly not least, my little man was showing off on the ladder in his sisters' room and fell off. I was so used to the sound of his tumbling that I didn't worry about it too much until the screaming started. By the time I made it up there he had bled on the carpet, the clothes, the stuffed animals, and himself. Awesome. These pictures were taken a day or two later, and you can't really see the damage, but you get the idea.

Happy 2010...hope this isn't a sign of things to come!

Papa

The new year started off a little different than expected. Papa went into the hospital to have minor surgery. Unfortunately the surgery was much more extensive than we anticipated and they found another tumor. It has been 2 1/2 years since they found the first tumor. We were all a little upset. The worst news for Dad though, was the fact that he would be in the hospital longer than expected. The first week went by. All of us girls went to visit him regularly, but because of H1N1 no kids were allowed in to visit. Papa was getting pretty lonely for his little ones, so we paid him a visit with ALL 11 kids. Of course we didn't bring them in, but they had a message for their Papa.

I went to visit him earlier that day and scoped out a place that we could stand all eleven of them so that Papa could see them. They each colored one piece of the sign and then stood there waiting for him. We could barely make him out when he came to the window, but we could see him well enough to see him wipe a tear from his eye. I love the picture below where you can see his reflection in the window looking down at the kids. He loves them so much, and we all love him!! We are so thankful that he came home and is doing so well! We love you!