Ninjas

Liev and Keen have recently become interested in swords, knives and ninjas.  They always stick things in their pockets or in their pants and pretend that they are "ninjas with swords."  I thought this was hilarious.  Liev got the plunger from our vitamix and used it as his "sword."  This is the only place he could put it that it would stay.  Josh could not stop laughing when he took these pictures.

 And this day the boys decided to use real knives to play ninjas.  They got into my canning stuff and borrowed these knives to play with. Josh was watching the kids while I worked this day and these are the pictures he sent me.  Nice.  

Crazy Hair

Keen has some crazy hair.  It's really cute sometimes because it's thick and curly.  But lots of times it's just a mess because I don't do anything with it.  Most days when he wakes up it looks something like this.  It's pretty wild bedhead!

Museum of Natural Curiosity

We have loved having our pass to Thanksgiving Point this year.  The new children's museum is super fun with lots of things to do for the kids.  We have been a few times and this time we took Hayley and her kids with us.  We had a blast and there is even stuff for the triplets to do while the other kids play.  Such a fun spot and a good break for the kids!

Painted faces

These two boys are pretty cute I admit.  But they are pretty sneaky too.  I know I am in trouble when it gets really quiet in the house.  That means trouble.

 This week it was the stamp pads.  

I could just spank their bums.  What little devils!

2 Months!

Hi guys!  I'm two months old today!  If you can't tell, I've been growing the past couple months - especially my head.  I'm very sweet though and for some reason mom always wants to kiss me.  I get a little tired of her kisses sometimes, but I guess she just loves me or something.  I smile a lot now - that seems to make the grown-ups happy.  They're always talking to me in this weird baby voice and when I smile at them, they just keep doing it.  It must be some sort of game grown-ups like to play.  Kinda weird.  I love being the baby of the family cause everyone takes care of me.  My brothers love me and my sisters always want to hold me.  That makes me feel good.  I sleep all night which makes me and mom happy.  Overall, life is pretty sweet.  I get held, fed and changed all day long.  Basically I get anything I want.  That's what I get for being so cute I guess. 

Dr. Erickson says I'm pretty awesome too.  Here are my stats:

Weight: 13.34 lbs - 83%

Height: 24.02 inches - 83%

Head: 16.4 inches - 84%

School Pictures

The girls came home with their school pictures today.  I almost started to cry when I saw them because they look so grown up!  I can't believe I have a 5 and 7 year old.  These two girls of ours are so sweet and are doing so good in school.  We are so proud of our beautiful girls!

Tummy Time

We've been working on tummy time with Beck.  He doesn't love it but he is getting pretty good at it.  He has such a large noggin that I think it's hard for him to hold it up.  He's getting some good neck strength though and does pretty good for a little guy!

Scones and Pickleball

We have a really fun neighborhood and there are lots of activities that go on throughout the year.  We decided to add to the activities and throw a pickleball tournament along with scones on Labor Day morning.  Andy helped us make these cute invitations to deliver to the neighborhood. 

 Another family helped us with the scones and we had a really great turnout!  It was perfect weather.  The scones were delicious.  And the company was amazing!

Josh has been wanting to get into pickleball  all summer  He decided it was time so he ordered a net and paddles online and painted a court on the street right in front of our house.  It turned out perfect!  So many people were really excited about the tournament.  We made it so that the teams had to be boy/girl teams.  The prize was a bottle of homemade pickles and the "pickle platter" which will be passed from winner to winner each year.  The "dream team" which was Karson and Savannah won the tournament this year.  It was such a fun day and so great to have the neighborhood all get together!

Cousin time

We love that our kids get to see their cousins so often.  It is so fun for them to all get together and play.  Today I had all the boys in our car and took them all home to play together.  Such a fun little group of boys and I know we have lots of years of fun ahead of us!

More Beck

More pictures of our little guy who just keeps growing up!  And a few things he's doing right now at 1 1/2 months old.

Beck loves being swaddled in his miracle blanket.  He started sleeping through the night at 5 weeks!  He's my earliest to do that - bless him!

Unfortunately Beck doesn't like his binkie.  I keep trying to give it to him but he's never interested.

Beck loves to eat.  He's eating 6 oz now and just drinks his bottle dry every time.

He is a smiler!  Loves making people happy with his darling grin!

He is seriously such a chill and sweet baby.  Loves to just hang out with whoever is holding him.  

We cannot get enough of this boy!

Rhen's 1st day of school

Rhen started a week later than Rease because they did Kindergarten assessment tests the first week.  She could not wait until it was her turn to go to school.  We also met her teacher at back to school night and she had each of the students make an owl that told about themselves and bring to school to be hung up in the classroom.  Rhen's turned out super cute.

 She is all ready to go!

 She insisted that she wanted to ride her bike to school like the other kids but told me I could meet her at the school to take pictures of her first day.  So I sent her and Rease on their way and I drove the other kids in the van.

 I could tell she was a little nervous but she was also really excited.

 Two of her little neighbor friends are also in her class so that makes it fun!

 This is where the kids all line up when the bell rings.  Mrs. Richardson came out and had all the kids blow their parents a kiss and then they marched into the school.  Such a big girl!

She said she had a great first day of school.  This is the picture she drew of herself on her first day of school.  She is getting so grown up!  Happy Kindergarten Rhen!

1st day of school

The girls have been super excited to start school.  We are on D track again this year so we got to start later than the other kids.  It has actually been perfect since Beck was just born to have a little extra time before this kids went back to school.  But it's time and the girls are really excited about their teachers.  Rease is in Mr. Woolf's class and he seems like he will be really fun.  We went to "Back to School Night" a few days ago and she got to meet him and see the classroom.  Mr. Woolf sent each of his students this letter before school started and welcomed them into the "Spy Academy."  Rease is so excited to see what that's all about!

Ready to head to school on her first day.

All the kids wishing Rease luck on her first day of school!

Good luck Rease!  We know you will love 2nd grade!

Keen and Caleb celebrate!

Keen has a special birthday becuase he shares it with Uncle Caleb!  Even though we had a party for Keen, we also got to celebrate with the family for Caleb and Keen together!  Uncle Caleb chose a delicious cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory.

 And he even let Keen blow out the candles!

 We love to play games when we get together with the family.  This time the kids decided they would give Ladder Ball a go.  They were all so cute trying to get the balls to land on the the ladder. 

Happy Birthday Uncle Caleb and Keen!

Photo strips

My cousin Andrew got married and these cute photo strips were part of the reception.  I think technically we were all supposed to have just one set of pictures, but as you can see my girls couldn't get enough!  I think it is a darling idea and such fun pictures!

Keen turns 2!

Our baby Keen turned 2!  Technically he's not the baby anymore since Beck has arrived but he was my baby for almost 2 years so sometimes I still think of him that way.  Keen LOVES Despicable Me so we decided to throw him a minion birthday party this year.  Just family and close friends came but we had fun and he was super excited about his cake and cupcakes!  We love this boy of ours!

 There's something special about my boys and the bond that a mama has with her sons.  Keen is awesome and I love this little man!

My favorite things about Keen at age 2:

1) Keen has become very clingy to me the last few weeks.  Sounds like it would be a nightmare but actually I love feeling loved as a mom!  I didn't think that he would have a hard time adjusting to the new baby around because he loves to play with the other kids and most of the time just didn't care what I was doing.  But he really has had to adjust to life with a new baby.  He whines and cries a lot and always wants to be with me - especially when I'm holding or feeding Beck.  Poor guy doesn't know what to do now that he's not the baby!  Anyway, whining and crying aside - I love that he loves being with me!  

2) Keen has some pretty dominant features on the appearance side of things.  He has the roundest, chubbiest cheeks (that I love to kiss!), super blonde hair, big eyes and a big wide mouth.  Overall, I think we are in for it when he gets older and the ladies start to notice him.  Josh calls him the "Lady Killer."

3) Keen is a super fun and happy boy.  He loves to play with his brother and sisters and wants to be one of the big kids.  He follows Liev around all day long and they love playing together with their cars, bikes or whatever they can find.  He has a great smile and contagious laugh that makes me happy.  I love this boy!

2 year old stats from Dr. Erickson:

Weight: 31.86 lbs - 88%

Height: 37.01 inches - 97%

Head: 20 inches - 92%

Happy Birthday 2 year old boy!

Super Heroes

Uncle Greg gave Liev and Keen these super hero shirts a few months ago.  They are the cutest thing with capes attached to the shirt.  The boys LOVE wearing them and pretending to be supers!  They run faster and fly higher with them on.  Such funny and fun boys we have!

Beck's Blessing Day

Today was Beck's blessing and it was such a great day to gather with family and friends.  Josh gave him such a special blessing and I always love the spirit that fills our home on days like this.  I am so grateful for another sweet little son and so glad he is part of our family.  It has been a little crazy with the birth and my gallbladder surgery this month, but I couldn't be a more happy mama today!  We love our little Beck!

Gall Bladder Surgery

It doesn't seem fair for a new mom to have to worry about anything else besides taking care of her sweet newborn.  I found out first hand that gall bladder attacks right after having a baby are really common.  No fair and no fun.

2 weeks after we had Beck we were just hanging out and enjoying a Friday night at home.  I started having a lot of pain in the middle of my chest right above my stomach.  I took some time and just laid down for a little while to see if it would pass.  Josh got the kids all in bed and I was able to just hang out while trying to figure out what the pain was.  For the next 2-3 hours the pain got worse and it started to go into my back and right near my right shoulder blade.  I got to the point where I couldn't stand up straight and I couldn't lay down.  Josh had been looking things up online and had decided that I was having a gall bladder attack and wanted to take me into the ER.  Finally around midnight I decided the pain was bad enough that I agreed to go to the ER.  My dad came over and stayed with the kids and we took Beck with us (since he isn't sleeping through the night yet we didn't want to make dad get up with him!)

We got to the ER and right away the nurse knew that it was by gallbladder.  She asked how old the baby was and where I was having pain.  I told her and she said "You'll most likely have your gallbladder out tonight!"  After a visit with the ER doc and a trip to the ultrasound room to check out my gallbladder, we were told that the nurse was right - I needed my gallbladder out.  Apparently it's very common for new moms and a pretty routine surgery.  I was admitted into the hospital, given a room and told that my surgery would be first thing in the morning.  

This is me in the ER waiting for the doc to come in.  I couldn't find a comfortable position.

Josh and Beck fell asleep in the chair while we were waiting.  It was almost 2 a.m. before they got me checked into the hospital and we were all very tired.

Josh and Beck headed home after I got to my room and was given morphine to help with the pain.  I finally fell asleep for a couple of hours until morning.  Dr. Le my surgeon came in early Saturday morning to talk to me about the surgery.  He told me that I had a lot of gall stones in the gallbladder but that it should be a pretty routine surgery and I would be going home later that afternoon after recovery.  I went into surgery and woke up in the recovery room with Josh by my side.  I never recover very well after anesthesia and get really shaky and cold so I remember that happening.  I also remember Josh saying that I was going to need one more surgery the next day and that I wouldn't be going home.  Turns out that I had some stones stuck in the bile duct as well and they needed to surgically remove those.  Another surgeon would have to do that surgery and couldn't do it until Sunday morning.  So suddenly I went from going home later Saturday afternoon to staying in the hospital until at least Monday morning. I was pretty bummed.  And also in a lot of pain.  The rest of that day I was pretty sore from the incisions that he made to remove the gallbladder and also dealing with the fact that I couldn't eat or drink anything in preparation for the next days surgery.  Plus, even though Beck was 2 weeks old, I was still recovering from having a baby.  Overall Saturday was a pretty crummy day.  I had some great nurses though that really tried to keep my pain under control.  They also wheeled up a baby bed from the labor and delivery floor so that Beck could stay in the room with us while I was there.  The other kids were with our great friends, the Hammers, and we felt lucky to have everyone being taken care of.  Sunday morning I went into surgery again and it was quick and I was into recovery again.  The surgeon said everything was successful and that I could go home the next morning.  I headed home Monday with instructions to not lift anything over 25 lbs for the next 2 weeks and to stick to a low fat diet.  Foods high in fat could make me sick now that I don't have a gallbladder to help out with the digestion.  The recovery was not quite as quick and easy as they had promised.  I had a lot of pain in the main incision site for quite a while.  I couldn't stretch my arms all the way over my head without having a twinge of pain or soreness.  And little movements here and there would make things flare up again.  And then one day after about a month, just like that, everything was better.  I didn't have any pain and all the soreness was gone.  It was a miracle.  I am completely healed now and have figured out pretty much what kinds of food I can't eat.  I'm so glad to have that all past me.  What a deal.  

My mom brought me this cutest little bouquet of flowers while I was in the hospital.  After having a baby and then the gallbladder surgery, I have had enough of the hospital.  I'm ready to just have life back to normal.  Thanks mom for cheering me up with these cute flowers.   And thanks Josh for taking care of me and the kids while I recovered!