Sims Family

Abigail

2012-02-08T14:25:00.001-05:00

Abigail...

silly
fun
talking more...and more clearly lately. She has a difficult time pronouncing the "s" and "r" sounds, but she's doing great.
simply will not smile for the camera...only silly faces .
her hair has gotten so long, and it's curly (mostly on humid days). I have to make sure it is pulled back when she eats because she will constantly push it back and get her hair sticky with whatever she is eating.
she can run! She can run and run and run. I took her to the Monticello trail recently and made her stay in the stroller on the way down the trail and let her out to walk up, thinking she would need to get back in before long, but she ran the whole way up (a mile and a half uphill). I had to get her to slow down a few times because she was running faster than I was going. When we go down to the bus stop to get the kids after school she runs the whole way too, and then one of the kids will hand her something of theirs to carry and it doesn't slow her down.
does not like carrots. She won't eat them. We were reading a "Winnie the Pooh" book the other day and Rabbit was holding a carrot and Abigail said, "I don't like those things".
early bird! I would say she gets up at the crack of dawn, but really she gets up before dawn even begins to crack. It doesn't matter if she has stayed up later than usual the night before, she's still up, getting dressed on her own some days.
still loves her blankies
doesn't like to me to sing her songs before bed, which I think is sad. It's not that she's just fine if I don't sing to her, she tells me to stop singing if I try to. If I somehow convince her to sing with me, she will for a minute before she starts singing in a silly voice. She loves to sing and will sing at any other time of day, just doesn't like it at bed time.
can do somersaults all by herself.
likes to do anything that her older siblings are doing. If they are playing the Wii, they give her a remote and she goes to town. If they are practicing the piano, she is tapping keys beside them (I have to make her stop that one). If they are riding bikes, she wants to go out and ride her trike. She learned how to ride the scooter the other day so she can ride it like they do.

She can curl her tongue

Run Abigirl, Run!

Silly, silly

Helping Mommy make cupcakes for Analeigh's birthday party

I was just trying to get a picture of the blue mouth...

Watching some shows...probably Mickey Mouse or Dora

Andrew

2012-01-06T22:12:00.000-05:00

Andrew...or Drewby, as some of us like to call him, is growing and growing each day. Of course, he is only 16 months old, so the past year was full of all the normal, exciting milestones...solid foods, sitting up, crawling, talking, first birthday, but we are still amazed every day to find that he has learned some new words or signs or can now stack blocks or some other feat (he's still supposed to be my baby). He's not walking yet, so we are working with him on that and he is getting better...or braver, I should say. I think he has mostly been too nervous to get up and walk. He has always held his breath if we hold him up too high, and shakes if he is crawling up the stairs and looks back...things like that. It won't be long before he's walking though. He is walking while holding our finger and walks pushing things, so he's close. He is still super snuggly and happy. He says "thank you" when we give him something...it's too cute. But then, he is mighty feisty when it comes to food. He wants it, and and he wants it NOW. We have had to move him away from the table a few times until he settles down and can ask nicely. Balls are definitely his first love, well, maybe second to mommy ;) . If he spots a ball somewhere, oh boy, he is after it like lightning. Any ball. Or anything shaped somewhat like a ball. He has an arm too and loves to throw it back and forth with us. But if he doesn't have anyone to throw or roll it with, then he just pushes it around chasing it. He got some blocks for Christmas and absolutely loves them too. He has been stacking some pretty great towers. Oh, and I can't forget about the froggy blankie. My mom made him a blanket out of some fleece frog fabric when he was born and he has become attached to it. When I get him out of his crib he begs "please, please, please" until I get it for him. Love that kid!

2011

2012-01-06T14:14:00.000-05:00

I realize I am probably past the deadline for a 2011 posting, seeing as it is already January 6, 2012! Oh well. I was not very good at keeping up the blog last year...at all. I will blame a few things ... 1. I had just had my 4th kid. That 4th one has thrown a whole new busy-ness into the mix. 2. Our computer was very old...and slow...and my laptop broke and I was left with only that old, slow computer to use in a corner of my bedroom (not really a place you can hang out and blog from with those 4 kids running and crawling around). 3. Then we got a new computer (yay!), but it is a Mac, which I have had a hard time figuring out when it comes to blogging. Especially getting to our photos that we brought over to the Mac via external hard drive. So, no photos + no good computer + no time = no blogging.
However, I just got a new laptop, and I know how to use it (mostly anyway, I'm not really too technologically capable, haha), so I intend to pick back up on the blogging. I'll just pick up here and hopefully move forward at a steady pace. First, I'll give an update on everybody...to come soon, kids just got home from school.

Labor Day Weekend and Andrew's Birthday

2011-10-09T23:21:00.001-04:00

We have been wanting to make a trip back up to Lock Haven, PA for a long time now, just for the fun of it. So we decided it was Labor Day weekend or never. They have Labor Day Regatta races down the Susquehanna River and a fair that whole weekend, so it gave us a good excuse to go. We left Saturday morning, had a nice drive, loved driving north through PA along the Susquehanna, and seeing the Amish again. We were staying in Williamsport, so we first stopped there and got checked in to the hotel, then headed to Lock Haven. It was so fun to drive around town again. It was fun to see Alex remembering things. Analeigh didn't remember a thing, but she sure loved it there.

Can you tell how hot it was?

Here they come!

Scott and Abigail

When the kids were on this ride, a huge storm came blowing through. We even heard there were tornado warnings. We took off to find shelter and finally had to huddle inside one of the craft show tents to wait out the worst of it. It blew through pretty fast, but it was a little intense for about 15 minutes.

Amish boys walking down the road on Sunday

On Sunday, Andrew's birthday, we went to church in our old branch. It was so fun to visit. After church we went to the park right by the river for a picnic and cupcakes. It was very muggy and buggy and hot, so we didn't stick around there for too long. We watched a few boats race and then we decided to go back to the hotel and swim and have cupcakes there.

We took his presents from the Sims' with us to the hotel, so he opened those on his birthday. (We left ours at the house.) He got a gift card to Toys R Us (which we used to buy a really fun train...that Abigail keeps trying to swipe from him) and a very handsome sweater and shirt from Grandma Sims, and a car and Goldfish crackers from Aunt Melissa and fam...Andrew says thanks everyone!

Opening presents at the hotel

We stopped by the Little League World Series fields in Williamsport on our way out of town.

We opened presents at home on Thursday because we got home around dinner/bedtime on Monday night, then Tuesday night was Scouts, and Wednesday I had book club at our place...soooo, Thursday it had to be. He didn't mind waiting :-) . We gave him a dump truck and a little red car and two balls (balls are his FAVORITE thing!) He got some cute, cute clothes and fun cars from Grandma and Papa. Thank you Grandma and Papa!

2011-10-09T23:17:00.000-04:00

Andrew is ONE!!!

Andrew turned one last month, on September 4th. I took him in for his 1 year old check up and he is 20 pounds 5 ounces and 28 inches tall. He is super snuggly. We LOVE to get hugs from him. Even my friends love to hold him because they know he is good for a cuddle. Andrew has 6 teeth (4 on top, 2 on bottom) with his one year old molars trying to push through currently (so that will make 10 teeth when they're all in!). He is not walking yet, but I'm in no hurry for that. He Army crawls around everywhere, and he is speedy! He pulls up and stands and he has even taken a few steps with the walker toy. It should be soon that he's running around here. I would like for him to stay my cuddly baby boy though =-) . We laugh with him every day. Peek a boo is has favorite game to play. He says mama and dada and milk. He holds one finger up when we say "how old are you?" . He signs milk, more, and eat/food. He is an impatient eater, so lately we have really been pushing the signs to give him another way to express himself rather than demanding by yelling. He likes to feed himself, which makes for messy mealtimes. Abigail and Andrew can really get each other going...they like to sit in the van and try to match pitches (aaahhhhhh)...and hold it. NOisY! It makes us laugh at the same time as driving us bonkers. Oh, but we sure love this kid.

April 2011

2011-09-25T23:23:00.000-04:00

For the Beauty of the Earth...

The kids were out of school for spring break and I had heard of this tulip farm that is about 40 minutes north of us, so we took a picnic lunch and went to explore. It was beautiful. Although, I think if we had gone about 5 days later it would have been spectacular. Most of the tulips had not quite started to emerge. The best part of it was that you could pick them (I think they were about $1 a stem, so I had to watch the kids and make sure they weren't picking too many). I had told them that each of them could pick 5 tulips, and they all obeyed.

The youth had a temple trip scheduled for the day before Easter. A friend offered to watch our kids so we could both go up that day, which was a treat! We took Andrew with us, but left the other 3 behind. Scott was able to go through a session before the youth got there. Then I went in as a chaperone to the baptistry. I loved walking around the temple grounds pushing Andrew in the stroller and spending time with just him. It was such a peaceful, beautiful day. The trees were absolutely bursting with spring blossoms.

Charleston, South Carolina

2011-09-19T22:38:00.000-04:00

Another post from the past...lots of words, and lots of pictures at the end.

We found a new love. It is Charleston, SC. Scott was able to go to a conference there, so we planned a family trip around it. We knew going in March could mean cooler temperatures and possible spring-like weather, but we lucked out with the most gorgeous weather we could have possibly hoped for. It was in the high 70s and low 80s every day.

The conference was scheduled to run Thursday thru Saturday (3/24-3/26), so we went down on Monday the 21st so that we could enjoy a few days together before Scott's conference started. We embarked on our 8+ hours of drivng journey after the kids got home from school that day, planning to stop about 6 hours into the drive to stay overnight in a hotel that had an indoor pool. We didn't get very far before everyone was complaining of hunger. So we stopped and ate and changed everyone into pajamas (hoping to not stop again...we ended up stopping 2 more times for various reasons, including the nourishment of one infant) and continued on our way. We finally arrived at the Holiday Inn and got everyone tucked in.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and did some swimming in the pool. We got everyone cleaned up and ready to head on our way. So here is what we did each day of our trip:

Day One:

Finished driving the 2 hours or so into Charleston, SC. We stopped about a half hour before we got to our beach house to grocery shop (we had planned so that we would eat breakfast and lunch at the beach house each day and go out for dinner every night) and eat lunch. We were all so excited to get our feet on the sand as soon as we arrived. We played on the beach all afternoon, until we were ready for dinner. We didn't end up having any internet access, so we weren't sure where to go for dinner and ended up going to the grocery store and getting a rotisserie chicken and macaroni and potato salad. Then it was bed time. The kids all decided which beds they would sleep in and they actually had no trouble sleeping. I thought we would have some problems with the sleeping since they were in different beds, and Abigail still sleeps in a crib at home so I wasn't sure she would stay put. But everyone did great.

Day Two (Wed. 3/23):

South Carolina Aquarium was on our agenda this day. We had a great time there. All of us really love aquariums, so we try to go every time we are in an area that has a good one. This wasn't the largest aquarium we have been to, but it was a decent one for sure. The whole thing was based on what you would find in South Carolina (rivers, ocean, marshlands). It was 3 levels. On the top level they had a big outdoor exhibit that was enclosed with mesh where they had birds and otters that were adorable, among other animals and creatures. You could also see the top of the huge saltwater tank from up here. There were divers in feeding the fish when we first saw it. Then we went down to the 2nd level and they had a touch tank with starfish, horseshoe crabs and stingrays. The kids were brave and even fed the stingrays. I have no desire to let a stingray eat out of my hand. Wait, we must have still be on the top level because they had an outdoor portion here also, where they showcased some more stingrays and water turtles of some kind that were really beautiful. The designs on their shells were very interesting. Analeigh completely fell in love with turtles here. We asked one of the workers if Analeigh could touch one of the turtles, so she got it out and put it in a bucket so she could pet(?) it. That was a highlight of the day for Analeigh. Anyway, I lost track of what was on which level, but we saw some fun things...an albino alligator who was actually swimming back and forth in the water, the kids got to pet a baby alligator and a snake (YUCK), sand samples from all over the world, and fish and jellyfish of varying sorts. It was a fun day. We had brought a picnic lunch, so we sat out on a balcony and ate our food in the wind.

After we were done at the aquarium I needed to feed Andrew and there was a great little park across the street so the kids were able to play there for a while. The weather was so beautiful...some of us were dressed a little too warmly for the temperature. Then, after we picked up a rental car for Scott so he could get to and from his conference without leaving us stranded without a car, we came back to walk through downtown Charleston and eat at a restaurant we were told was a must-do in Charleston. It was called Jestine's Kitchen and the walls were covered with newspaper and magazine articles talking about how great their restaurant is. I thought it was ehhhh, so-so. The dessert was really good though. Scott and Alex shared a coconut cream pie slice and Analeigh and I shared a piece of coca-cola cake. Definitely the best part of that dining experience. We stopped by the Charleston Candy Kitchen on our way back to the car because I spotted some caramel apples in their window that I just had to have. We picked up one caramel apple to share then headed on our way back to the beach house.

Day Three (Thurs. 3/24):

This was the first day of Scott's conference and he had to be there by 7am, so he was up and at 'em before any of the rest of us got out of bed. I had planned to play at the beach and in the beach house with the kids this whole day. We were so blessed to have a beautiful beach day to play out in the sand and in the water. I did attempt biking to the Morris Island lighthouse by myself with all 4 kids. That turned out to be a disaster. First, I had trouble getting the bike tires pumped up. When that was all fixed and the big kids were on their bikes ready to roll, I put both Andrew and Abigail in the bike trailer. Andrew wasn't sure he was loving the ride and he kept grabbing and pinching Abigail trying to get ahold of something. Unfortunately what he was able to get ahold of was Abigail's arm and hair. She was screaming and crying. When we made it to what I thought was going to be the trail to the lighthouse there was a sign saying no bikes were allowed. I had Alex and Analeigh run ahead and see about how far it was to the lighthouse. It was farther than I was prepared to go with the 2 little ones, so we decided to try and come back when Scott could come with us. While turning around Alex lost his balance some how and came crashing down from his bike hitting his chest on the handlebar as he went down. Let me tell you...we couldn't get back to the beach house fast enough. We were all done by that point! So we went back and had a lovely, relaxing day on the beach that helped us all forget the fiasco of the morning. Scott stopped and picked up Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner on his way back from the conference. We ate and watched the BYU sweet 16 game and listened to the waves roar. Ahhhhh, perfection.

Day Four (Fri. 3/25):

Scott had to head to his conference early again this morning and it was a little chilly and windy in the morning, so the kids and I played some games inside and did some crafts. We made a quick trip to Piggly Wiggly to pick up some batteries and baby ibuprofen for Andrew (teething). After about noon it was much warmer and nicer outside so we went back out to enjoy the waves. We had a great time looking for cool shells and playing on the beach again. But then I started to notice jellyfish here and there. Pretty soon there were too many of them to safely be in the water, so we just stayed on the sand, which was fine. It was interesting to see them all washing ashore. I think the windy, unsettled weather must have caused them to wash up or something. That is totally a guess, but that was the only conclusion we could come up with because it was the only windy day and it was the only day we had lots of jellies. Scott got back around mid afternoon. He had talked to some people that were staying a few houses down from us who said they found a few starfish on the rocks between our houses He and the kids went out to check out the rocks and see if they could find some starfish. Pretty soon they were yelling that they needed something to put some starfish in, so I grabbed a skillet from the kitchen and took it out to the beach. They had found so many! We put them in the skillet with a little bit of water so we could watch them. Then we needed another pan, so I grabbed another one and the kids had them filled with starfish!! We had at least 15 at one point before we started putting them back. It was amazing. None of us had ever seen starfish in the wild. It was really exciting.

After we were done with the starfish we attempted the lighthouse again. This time Scott rode the bike with the trailer and I walked with Andrew. Abigail would not even consider getting in there with Andrew again, haha. We took some picures out there and then went back and got the van and went in to Folly town area to eat dinner. We ate at Taco Boy where we got fish tacos and nachos that were all delicious! It was a good night.

Day Five (Sat. 3/26):

Scott was at his conference again, but he was done by 11:30, so we went and met him at the car rental return. Our plan was to head back in to downtown Charleston area for the day because there were so many things we still wanted to see and do down there (there still are plenty of things we would love to be able to do if we ever go back there!). First, we went on a harbor boat tour. It was a little boring for the little ones. Alex enjoyed the talk about the Fort Sumter, but other than that it was a little slow going. When we got off we headed straight for the outdoor market and had fun looking at all the knick knacks and art work and other wares for sale. I got a tree pendant that looks like a family tree and even has six little stones in it...one for each of us! Analeigh bought herself a sea turtle shirt and Alex bought a notebook and pen set that says "Charleston" on it. We were all so starved by then and were having a hard time deciding where to eat. As we passed by Bubba Gumps Shrimp Co. they were handing out samples of their "Hush Pups". That sold it for us. They were so good. It was definitely the priciest dinner for us of the week, but it was all soooo very, very yummy. After dinner we drove past Charleston's "Rainbow RowHomes" and the Battery Park area and wished we had enough time to walk through the whole city. As we were getting everyone ready for bed a thunderstorm rolled in and lit up the night sky over the water. Scott and I packed everything up after the kids were all tucked in.

Day Six (Sun. 3/27):

Alas, it was time to say goodbye to the beach and go home. The kids were able to go out and play a little more while we finished all the packing and got the car loaded up. We attempted a few family pictures on the beach...they didn't quite turn out as we hoped. Then we piled in the van for the long drive home.

We had a great trip and we would go back to visit Charleston again in a heartbeat. It was a beautiful city with so much Southern Charm.

The Fun Bus

Ma & Pa

Cutest 7 month old, Andrew, hanging out on the floor at the beach house

Folly Beach (right in front of the beach house)

Our playground for the week

Loving it

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Our big man, Alex

Sweet Abigail

Cute girl

Learning about the beach

So many interesting and beautiful homes to look at

South Carolina Aquarium

That's one big aquarium tank

Waiting to feed the sting rays

Feeding a horseshoe crab

Ahoy mateys

Abigal found this little rocking chair to take a break in...and eat some goldfish

Turtles!

Interesting shells

She's loving this

Great day at the aquarium

Wonderful spring day

Jestine's Kitchen

Food + cute girls

Andrew is not in that many of the photos, so here is one with the fire station in the background. I know you can't really tell in this photo, but the fire hydrant is painted like a dalmation dog, and there is a statue of a dalmation laying on a dog bed just outside the doors.

Porch swings on the pier

On the deck of the beach house

On our beach

Uh oh...jelly fish on our beach!

Mom and Drewby

Collecting starfish

LOTS of starfish

Morris Island lighthouse...Andrew didn't like the sun in his eyes

Taco Boy...yum

Goofy Sims

He's a charmer

6 1/2 months old

Charleston Harbor tour

Ready to ride

Fort Sumter

Bad day for pictures...it was very cloudy and dark

Inside the beach house

View from the porch

View looking South

Straight of the porch

Packed up and ready to head home...well, the car is anyway.

Abigail hated the seagulls everywhere, so she was yelling "doe away birds!"

Battery Park

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Rainbow Row Homes

Street of downtown Charleston

Looking up on the Aravanel Bridge

March 2011

2011-09-03T10:14:00.000-04:00

I just realized I never posted a couple of my posts from earlier this year, so here they are...

I know it's been a while...it is time for a big day of blogging. I've decided that life will not slow down now, with 4 kids, for a very long time. We are constantly on the go. March was an especially hard month because Scott had to work 4 Saturdays in a row. He tries to only work two 12 hour shifts a month at his job in the ER in Richmond, but the way the schedules worked out for him he ended up doing the 4 in a row thing...which was awful. Then the first weekend he didn't have to work was our stake YM/YW basketball tournament, then we went on a trip with Scott to a conference, then he was on call and ended up doing 2 cases on Saturday, and on and on and on. I don't remember the last free Saturday Scott had. Between work and his church calling as Young Men Pres. he rarely (ok, never) has a free moment. It is crazy. I keep wondering why I am so exhausted all the time and why everything seems so busy then I take a look at our calendar and remember. Well, here goes March...

I took Andrew in for his 6 month check up. He was 15 lbs. 7 ounces. The doctor asked me if he was sitting up yet and I said not yet. But I went home and tried sitting him up and he did it! So March 7th was his first time sitting up all by himself.

The kids each have a tray table that I have decorated for them when they are old enough to use one. Well, the kids were horsing around in the living room one day and Alex ended up stepping right on top of Abigail's and it snapped. She was sad. It's kind of funny though. I need to make her a new one.

Some other things we did in March:

Soccer season started back up
Andrew had his first ear infection, was treated with a round of amoxicillin
Andrew started really eating solid foods. He eats baby food twice a day and usually has a couple of ounces of juice also (of the prune/apple variety). We have yet to find any foods he doesn't like.
We went on a trip to Charleston, south Carolina with Scott for a medical conference.
I chaperoned a 4th grade field trip to Jamestown with Alex's class
Alex and Analeigh both had their doctor check ups. I promised them that neither of them would need any shots because they were all caught up and then had to eat my words when I found out that Alex had missed a couple of immunizations somewhere along the lines. I made it up to him with ice cream!

Oh, Analeigh, girl

2011-07-28T12:01:00.001-04:00

I know there is so much I need to blog about, but I just have to blog this really quick.
Tonight Lady Gaga was a guest judge on one of our favorite shows, So You Think You Can Dance. We let Alex and Analeigh stay up to watch the first half of the show with us. Then we went up to say prayers and tuck them in bed. Analeigh said our prayer and then as soon as she was done she said, "what I wanted to say during my prayer was, please bless that Lady Gaga won't capture me." I don't think I need to explain =-) .

*Although, I do have to say...I was pretty impressed with her comments and knowledge. I thoroughly enjoyed her being there.

OBX

2011-06-08T17:02:00.000-04:00

Mom and Dad rented a beach house in Corolla, Outer Banks, North Carolina for their 40th anniversary and invited us to come and stay for a few nights with them!! Lucky us!!!

It was windy while we packed up the cars at the hotel in Norfolk!

Kayaking on the Currituck Sound

Flying kites at the beach

Abigail is checking out her shadow

Andrew turned his head

Father and Son

Analeigh finding some shade

Analeigh and Alex racing at the track

Me, Mom, Dad, Abigail - hanging out at the pool on Memorial Day

Cute little stinker...eating a bagel

We were some of the first people at the pool for the day...and we ended up staying for about 4 hours

Currituck lighthouse in the background. This is almost as far north as you can go on the outer banks

Watching from the comfort of his stroller

Grandma helping Analeigh catch blue crabs in the sound

Caught one!! Analeigh was a good crab catcher!

Waiting for a crab

Thanks for letting us come Grandma (Mimi) and Papa!!! We loved it!!

Andrew is:

2011-06-08T15:40:00.000-04:00

9 Months Old
17 pounds even (10th%)
27 1/2 inches long (25th%)
getting teeth! He has his two front bottom teeth so far and the top ones will come in soon.
sitting up
trying to scoot on his stomach to reach things he wants to grab
driving his big sister (Abigail) crazy pulling her hair every time she gets close...and he thinks it is funny!
a terrible sleeper...nights and naps. There are no guarantees as to what amount of sleep he is going to get when we put him down - if he even goes to sleep. I'm sure this stems from the fact that a)he is the 4th child and has almost no kind of set schedule, b) 3 other children to attend to and take places, c) our callings at church that keep us out late some nights, d) his interest in being around people...if he hears anyone nearby he wants to be looking at them and mimicking their noises and e) reflux...we had taken him off of his prilosec for a few months because it seemed like he was doing really well and may be over it, but the doctor is pretty sure he is still refluxy...he even has a chronic cough lately that she said is from the reflux.
back on Prilosec
a charmer - he makes lots of eye contact and gives lots of smiles
ticklish on his back, big time
not sure what color eyes he wants to have. Sometimes they look more blue, sometimes brown. They are blue around the outside, with brown around the pupil.
a biter...ouch! It's those sore gums trying to erupt with more teeth!
my Drewby lovebug

Happy Little Guy

Flying a kite with Mommy

Daddy

2011-05-11T16:51:00.000-04:00

Every morning when I get Abigail her bowl of Cheerios she says, "there's Daddy" and points to Bob. Ha. Scott has been sporting the bearded look for quite a while now, so there is some resemblance there.

Pinewood Derby time

2011-05-01T16:28:00.000-04:00

This is old news...but I wanted to go ahead and post this one even though it is from January.
Alex got to participate in 2 Pinewood Derbies this year. The first one was on January 8th and consisted of our pack combined with 2 other packs (in our stake). This is the one we have always participated in as a pack, but this year our pack decided to hold our own pinewood derby as well. Alex did almost every part of his car on his own this year. He drew what he wanted his car to look like and Scott helped him get it cut out. Alex took care of the wheels and axles all on his own this year. He has become a big Pittsburgh Steelers fan over the past year and so, of course, he decked his car out in Steelers insignia. By the time our 2nd derby rolled around on January 25th Alex was really pleased that his car was representing one of the teams that will be playing in the SuperBowl this weekend!
Analeigh brought Alex's car from last year to race as a family car. We didn't realize they were going to race the family cars in the final race. Well, Analeigh's car ended up coming in 2nd overall, with Alex's car this year in 3rd. He was so mad that he had let her put his old car in the race because it bumped him to 3rd. We thought it was funny...we had to help him see the hilarity of it though =) . That was in the first derby. Alex's car came in 1st overall at our own pack's derby. It was really fun to have a smaller derby...I enjoyed that more.
I still don't have a picture of his car...I need to take one. Then I'll add it to the post. I just wanted to get this blogged so I don't forget.

Little big guy

2011-02-26T16:16:00.000-05:00

Don't you just want to squish him and eat him up?!

At 2 months Andrew was 13lbs 4oz. At 4 months he had only grown by 3 ounces and was up to 13lbs 7 oz., but he had grown an inch taller. Now at 5 1/2months he weighs 15lbs 4oz!

At 2 weeks old Andrew could roll over any time he pleased. Now he only rarely rolls over. He is mostly content to stay put, but every once in a while gets frustrated trying to roll. Especially when I put him down on his stomach. He needs to work on those rolling muscles!!

He is a mama's boy. He loves to make eye contact with me and then just smiles so big when I look at him. He could melt me into a puddle. He smiles all the time. He smiles at strangers in the store and makes them smile back at him.

He is grabbing at toys now and pulling them to his mouth for further inspection. He still doesn't love his pacifier. He takes one to go to sleep, but other than that it is mostly to entertain him. He grabs it and pops it in and out of his mouth (and throws it on the floor).

He started eating some brown rice cereal at 5 months old (a few weeks ago), and then we started to mix in a little banana with it, which he loved. Then he got sick and lost his appetite and wouldn't eat solids anymore, so we have stopped for now and I am just working on building up his appetite for milk first, then we will start back on the solids.

He has a great big sister who looks after him. Abigail has got his back on anything. She is always making sure he has his blanket or pacifier and showing him toys or helping to hold his bottle in. I am a lucky mama!!

February

2011-02-26T15:40:00.000-05:00

Oh, boy...so another month has slipped by. It seems like we have had one illness after another for the last several weeks. Abigail started out with the stomach bug. It was a long one too. Not just a 24 hour thing. It was more like a 3 day thing. As soon as she was over it, Analeigh started with it. Maybe this is gross and you don't want to know this, but I don't think Analeigh has ever in her life thrown up into the toilet. The thought revolts her and she keeps insisting that she's not going to throw up until she does... all over the floor (or sometimes into a bowl). Ugh!

Well, we had a good week in there with Analeigh's birthday party thrown in. It was a lot of fun! We had a drive in movie theme. The guests brought cardboard boxes to make their cars with. We set out stickers and crayons and scissors and let them decorate their "cars". Then they parked their cars in front of the tv in our "parking lot" and watched the movie "Cars" and ate pizza. Afterward we had cake and ice cream. The kids were very well behaved and had a great time. Just have to note: Scott was the creative genius of the party. He created a road and parking lot from heavy black plastic and white duct tape. We have had a couple of church activities where the kids were supposed to make and bring a cardboard box vehicle, so we just took it a step further and had them make them here at the party and used them to sit in for the movie, etc. Analeigh was really pleased with her party!

I had a great birthday this year. It was on a Friday, which is always fun. I went out to lunch with some friends and our babies at Panera Bread. That night we had a babysitter and Scott and I got to go out to dinner at the same restaurant that we went to last year for my birthday - Duner's in Crozet. It is really tasty! I had pork tenderloin with a mushroom sauce that was soooo delicious. For dessert we had an apple crisp that rivaled my mom's. Ooohh, it was good. The best part was we had a gift card to Duner's from one of the Doctors Scott works for so it was freeee. That makes it taste even better! Then we came home and had cake with the kids (they were allll still awake, lucky us). Alex and Analeigh had helped decorate it. They couldn't wait to have some! It was a fun cake. And very moist and such a good chocolate cake (thanks to my honey!). Scott had taken the kids out shopping for my birthday present the night before (he took all 4 of them with him...that was part of my birthday surprises!!!!) and they got me a whole outfit: pants, top, necklaces. They did a great job picking it out. I may have mentioned a top in a store window that I really liked ;~) , but they picked out the rest! It was a fabulous birthday!

The big kids did the frosting...Abigail got to add the candles!

The night of my birthday Analeigh started complaining of a sore throat and headache. I thought, oh no, I hope it's not strep. But by Monday she didn't have a fever anymore and wanted to go to school, so I thought we were pretty much done with it. Every once in a while I would look at her and say, "are you sure you're feeling ok?" and she would say she was fine, but her throat still hurt a little. Well, all of her symptoms slowly faded and she was pretty much back to normal.

Oh, yeah, we started Andrew on brown rice cereal this week too. He loves it! Especially with bananas mixed in!

Then Valentine's Day came. Analeigh was so cute and worked for about a week handmaking all of her Valentines for the kids in her class. Which is the opposite of what happened for Alex: 9pm on Saturday night (2/12) Scott rushed Alex to CVS to pick out a box of Valentines for his classmates. Luckily we remembered on Saturday. Handmaking them just wouldn't have happened with Alex. While they were at school on V-Day I made valentines for each of them and then for dinner we had breakfast with pancakes I had seen somewhere on the internet with pink hearts in the middle. I colored some of the pancake batter pink, poured that on the griddle first in the shape of a heart and after it cooked for a few seconds poured regular pancake batter on top. They were cute. I should have taken a picture, but I just don't usually think about getting photos of everything. I also made chocolate dipped strawberries and raspberries for my valentines. Scott brought me roses, Analeigh tulips, and Abigail carnations!! And then I started to complain to Scott about how tired I felt and achy, and how I'm tired of being tired and blah, blah, blah. Well, the next morning I woke up siiicckkk. I was able to get the kids off to school and managed the little ones during the day. But my throat felt like I had swallowed a flaming golf ball. By the time the big kids got off the bus I was on my bed. When Andrew wasn't napping I had him laying by me on the bed and the other kids were just running amok. I was counting down the minutes till Scott would get home. He finally did come to my rescue and took the kids to get some food and got Alex to cub scouts. Then I didn't see the light of day again until Thursday when I felt life start to come back and felt like I might be able to make it to the doctor without passing out. Diagnosis: strep throat and stomach virus. It was awful!! They put me on antibiotics and as soon as Scott started feeling that sore throat come on he got himself on antibiotics as well. As soon as we were feeling better Andrew started to get sick (and still is...and now Abigail is too). He has bronchioloitis/RSV. It is terrible to listen to a baby's cough and rattley sounding chest. He is doing better today. We have constantly had the humidifier on and are using saline drops and the bulb syringe. But he is happy and playing, so that is good! He is such a sweetheart!! He can cough and cough and then just look at me and grin so big. I love that baby boy!!!!! So that has been our life lately. Today soccer season starts back so that means life is about to get much busier than it already is...is that possible?!

Analeigh is 7!!!

2011-01-24T16:53:00.001-05:00

Today is Analeigh's 7th Birthday!! We will be having a birthday party this Friday evening. She is looking forward to having a party this year.

Analeigh is very helpful to me and her teachers. Teachers often seat her near other students who they know might need extra help. She is such a good big sister to Abigail. She loves to play school with her (although her 2 year old sister is usually a naughty student =) and Analeigh is quite a strict teacher) and she will set up all the Little People for her to play with and play Hide and Seek with her. Analeigh also loves to wear dresses. She would wear a dress or skirt every day if I would let her (some days it is just too cold) and if she has a scarf to match...even better! We went to the mall to pick her out a birthday outfit. We looked at all kinds of clothes, but she stuck with the dress that she found right away. She loves Crazy 8 clothes. We found that store while we were in Utah last summer and were sooo happy that they opened a store here just a couple of months later. Pink has been bumped from her favorite color spot and has been replaced with BLUE. Followed by purple, then pink, and finally green. She is a terrific reader and speller. She mostly likes to stick with story books still. She has never been a big t.v. fan and that still holds true, although if Disney channel is on, she will watch "Good Luck Charlie". The kids think that little girl is so cute and I remind them that they have an equally cute little sister that they could play with if they turned off the tv. =) Analeigh writes very well also and I always enjoy reading her "weekend news" that she writes in school on Mondays. We get a kick out of reading her descriptions of our weekends.
She is a fun daughter, sister, granddaughter, and friend. We love you Analeigh!!!
I had fun trying to pick out photos of her to post, but there are so many cute ones!! I ended up doing one per year, two for some years. And I had to include pics of the decorating Scott did last night to surprise her this morning. He loves to draw on the pictures in frames around the house with dry erase markers.

9 months old

Niagara Falls - 20 months old

Also 20 months old - Niagara Falls

Throwing rocks in the Susquehanna River - about 2 1/2 years old

2007 - I love, love this picture. Classic Analeigh, she doesn't like too much affection. She wouldn't let Alex hug her for the picture so he pretend hugged her and she was ok with that.

Halloween of 2007

September 2008 - 4 and a half years old

August 2009 - starting Kindergarten

Big sister...again 2010

Scott's artwork

Our Beautiful Analeigh Eva Sims

December 2010

2011-01-15T11:47:00.001-05:00

A recap of the month of December in the Sims household.
December is always a fun time at the Sims house. This year was no exception with days full of SINGING, DANCING, TALKING, GROWING, DECORATING/JUGGLING AND WORKING.

SINGING: Alex and Analeigh have enjoyed going to their school choir concerts since we moved here and this year decided they wanted to be involved. They got to perform at the Paramount Theater here in C'ville as part of a Holiday program early in the month which was nerve racking and fun at the same time. They also got to sing on the radio in a "Christmas Idol" competition that one of the local radio stations sponsors. Everyone can vote online for their favorite group and the winner gets some cash to spend on their school's music program. Their school did not win (thank you to those of you who voted though!), but it was fun to have their little Sims voices on the radio!

Alex and Analeigh at the Paramount

DANCING: Analeigh has been taking a jazz/tap class this year and had her first performance on December 12th at the community college's performance theater. She has done very well in her class and loves to tap everywhere we go, in the grocery stores, down the hall at church, here at home (I'm so excited she has a love of tap like I do!!!)! She was very excited to perform and did a great job for her first time on stage under the lights! Also dancing is Abigail. She seems to have some true musicality. She can keep a beat with the best of 'em. She claps her hands to keep time. I love to watch her bouncing along to music, swinging her little hips. She also likes to play the piano, but instead of just banging on it like you would expect of a toddler she just gently plinks the keys.

TALKING: Abigail has recently come a looong way with her talking. She has always been really quiet when it comes to talking, and perfectly happy with letting her older siblings speak for her or using her body language and few signs to communicate her needs. When she turned 2 she was making more effort to talk, but we couldn't understand much of it. Lately, however, she has made great strides in her speech and we can understand most of what she is saying (well, WE can understand it anyway). And she is very polite, always saying "chin choo mom" (thank you mom) when I help her or get her something. She says it to all of us. After she coughs or sneezes she says "tooz you mom" (excuse you). She always adds the name of whoever she is talking to to the end of her sentence so we know she is talking to us, I guess. It is very cute. Yesterday I was on the phone with Scott and she was trying to get me to get something for her and she finally let out a "peeeaaase Mooom!" (please Mom). It's hard to ignore such an adorable plee.
Andrew is starting to get in on the talking action a little bit too. He goos and coos at us and gives us his big open mouth grin.
CHRISTMAS: The weekend before Christmas we went drove up to Washington D.C. so we could go to the temple and so we could see the lights at the temple grounds since. Analeigh has been learning about the monuments in DC this year in school, so it was fun for her to see them up close and personal again. We also went to a live Nativity called Bethlehem Live! in Afton. We went to this same nativity two years ago. Last year we went to Richmond to one that they do at the Zoo there. It was ok, but we were excited to go back to this one this year.  A church out in Afton has built a mini Bethlehem on their property. They have buildings where people are "working" doing the kinds of jobs they would have been doing back in Jesus' day.  Weaving rugs, carpentry shops, food market, weaponry, etc. There are also sheep and shephards in the field, an inn, and a stable and manger. When you enter "Bethlehem" they give you a coin and tell you it is to pay your taxes with. There are Royal Guards standing by to make sure you pay your taxes and sign the census.  When you go to the inn they tell you they are full. Suddenly music starts and there are angels singing over by the shephards. They announce the Good News to the shephards and they leave the fields and head to the stable. The crowd just follows along and they lead you to the stable where Mary and Joseph are with baby Jesus. The three wise men come. There are camels.  The Angels sing some more.  The cold, dark night in this little quiet town in central Virginia makes it a touching experience. The kids love it and we do too. The hustle and bustle of Christmas stresses me out every year. I am grateful to be able to step out of that world and enjoy a night like this with family and friends.
On Christmas Eve we opened our gifts that the Sandman left us. He was nice enough to leave them by the front door this year since we asked him in a note to leave them there. Some of the family members are a little freaked out by the thought of the Sandman coming in our house (Analeigh-I can't say that I blame her). That night we went for our annual drive-around-town-in-our-pj's-while-drinking-hot-chocolate-to-find-Christmas-lights before going to bed.  We were given a suggestion as to where to find some good lights this year (thanks to Mychael Ann!), and we were not disappointed. The kids went to bed easily, excited for the morning.

Alex got a Steelers Snuggie and I made a blanket for Analeigh

Ready for our drive

The required stairs picture

The stockings had been hung...and filled!

The girls were very excited to find a kitchen!

Our gingerbread house...also a yearly tradition

The day after Christmas church was cancelled due to our skiff of snow . It was really nice to stay home and enjoy each other's company for 2 days straight.
As always, we missed our families

Little Mister

2010-11-30T23:32:00.000-05:00

Our little Mister is starting to have some control over where those hands go. He has started the phase of staring at those oh, so interesting hands and batting at his toys when he is laying on his play mat. I just love my little Drewby.

Oops...I didn't turn it, oh well.

Thanksgiving Week 2010

2010-11-30T23:22:00.000-05:00

Scott's mom came to see us for a few days the week before Thanksgiving. She came in on Wednesday night (11/17). On Thursday we took Analeigh to her dance class and then went out to eat at Littlejohn's on "the Corner" and finished up the night by going to the elementary school's variety show. Friday night Grandma babysat so that Scott and I could go on a date to see Dave Matthews! Unfortunately, we ended up at the laundromat and coming home a little disappointed in people and our evening. But, we were glad Grandma was there to babysit. They had fun making french bread pizza and watching movies. Saturday we went to a Thanksgiving/Christmas parade on the downtown mall. It was fun! The kids had fun catching candy...one group that went by even gave each of the kids a beanie baby. Abigail was especially excited about that.

The girls LOVED the horses. Analeigh could not get enough of this carriage. After the parade you could pay to go for a ride on it, so it kept passing by us and she would stop and watch it and ask if we could go for a ride every time.

Having fun at the parade...

Riding around town

Fully loaded minivan

Saturday afternoon we played a rousing game of Disney Scene It! and Grandma got a good dose of our competitiveness when it comes to games in our house! Then that night we went to the Stake Youth Roadshow. All of the wards did a fantastic job! We had a great time. It was very entertaining and interesting to see the talents that members of our stake posses. Sunday we went to church and had a relaxing evening.

Scott had Monday and Tuesday off. Monday was Susan's last day here. We went to tour Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's house). It is located about 7 miles from our house. It was such a gorgeous time to visit Monticello. This path, called Mulberry Row (it was where the servants quarters were), was just breathtaking.

Scott, at the beginning of Mulberry Row...

Ohhh, what a sweetheart...

And there it is, the famous Monticello. It really is an amazing house. That Thomas Jefferson thought of everything. My favorite room in the house is the octagon shaped guest room. Did you know that his wife died only 10 years into their marriage and she made him swear on her deathbed that he would never remarry? Interesting. However, that didn't stop him from fathering more kids, or so "they" say...

This is a little pond where they would keep fish alive that had been caught until they were ready to eat them.

After we left Monticello we went and checked the big kids out of school early so they could spend a little more time with Grandma before her flight out that evening. She treated us to lunch at Michie Tavern.

We didn't have time to tour Michie Tavern, but we did walk around to the little souvenir shops around the main house.

We said goodbye to Grandma that afternoon and dropped her off at the airport. It was fun to have her visit!

Our Tuesday of Thanksgiving week was packed with activities. Analeigh had a pumpkin pie party in the morning, with the most delicious pumpkin pie I have ever eaten. I need to get that recipe. The kids were so cute eating their pie and sharing what they are thankful for. Analeigh said she was thankful for the friends in her class.

Immediately after that the kids had their dentist appointments (no cavities again...yea!!). Then we sped back to the school for Alex's classroom feast and plays.

That night we made yummy little pilgrim hats (out of fudge stripe cookies, chocolate dipped marshmallows, and a little piece snap pretzels for the buckle) and our annual Thankful poster. It's always fun to see what everyone comes up with to glue on our poster. I just bring out a big stack of magazines and we each have scissors and a glue stick and spend the time flipping through the magazines looking for things that remind us of something we are thankful for.

We had our friends, the Croslands, over for Thanksgiving dinner this year. Analeigh helped me make the turkeys for our place cards. She really enjoys helping me in the kitchen...and I love having her help!

The table all set and ready for the FOOD! I took this picture and then realized I hadn't put the water goblets on yet. Then I forgot to take another picture.

It was an exhausting but fun week! We stayed home and played lots of games on Black Friday. We did venture out to Target late in the afternoon though.

Thanksgiving is definitely one of my favorite holidays all year. I love everything about it. Focusing on being thankful, being with family and friends (without the pressure and cost of gifts), good food, playing games, days off from school (but not too many days off!)... I love it!!

Pictures! of November (so far)

2010-11-14T23:25:00.000-05:00

Abigail has learned to say "Mine!" and uses it fairly often these days (although she is still sweet as a peach). She really wanted the camera so she could look at the pictures here.

We decided to go down to the lake in our neighborhood and take some family pictures. Unfortunately with the time change last week we got there right before the sun went down and we quickly lost any light we had. We managed to get a few, but they are too dark to really do anything with.

Abigail got her ears pierced right before her birthday. I think this is the first picture of her where you can see them well. She looks adorable with them!

I have been trying to get out and walk every morning with the babies, so I just pull the stroller into the front hallway. The other day when we got home from walking I was sitting on the couch feeding Andrew and could hear her playing behind me. When Andrew was done eating this is where I found her playing...

She looks a little concerned here, but really she was happy as a lark. I had to help her get out.

So we tried taking family pictures again this weekend. We had a little better light, but the leaves have definitely started falling and wasn't as beautiful of a background as we were hoping for. This is one of the better pictures we got. It's hard to get everyone to look good at the same time!!

My handsome men

And look at this beautiful girl...she is growing up! The Primary Program was today at church, so we did something special with her hair. She gave a talk that she wrote all by herself. It was so wonderful!

And this is Andrew today...2 months and 10 days old. I took him in for his 2 month check-up last week and he is weighing in at 13 lbs. 4 oz. and 23 1/2 inches long.

I could just kiss those cheeks all day long! Ok, so I pretty much do.

Pictures! of October

2010-11-14T22:51:00.000-05:00

We started off October with General Conference and soccer games and Beautiful Fall in Virginia weather. The second weekend in October was when we celebrated Alex's birthday with a party at the park for him and his friends. He wanted to play Capture the Flag and Kickball and make S'mores. He and his friends seemed to have a great time. Three hot air balloons floated right over us just as the party was starting. It was very cool. We could hear the fire and everything. Two of Alex's friends are twins and as they were driving into the parking lot at the park and saw the hot air ballons they got very excited and said to their mom, "maybe that's Alex coming to his party!!" Wouldn't that be some entrance to your own party!! Haha. We got a good laugh out of that.

I just love how happy this girl is!!

Oh my, she is SWEET!!

Oh, Andrew...look at that grin...oh, I love it. These were some of his first real big smiles (mid-October).

Cute Analeigh. We took a walk one Sunday afternoon along the Monticello trail. The kids had so much fun chasing these geese and watching them fly down the hill into the pond.

Abigail has decided that being a baby is really fun. She never took a pacifier as an infant, but now she is infatuated with Andrew's pacifiers...crazy girl!

This is the night of our ward Halloween party and trunk-or-treat. Our cowgirl and fairy. Abigail actually really had a lot of fun dressing up and "trunk-or-treating". I wasn't too sure she would like it because she is terrified of people dressed up and especially those wearing masks. Thanks to the no mask rule, that was only an issue at the very beginning, she did fine with the costumes.

Out of order picture: This was the first time Andrew drifted off to sleep on his own. He was sitting in the bouncer chair (yes, he is sitting in a pink chair...that's the unfortunate price of being the 4th child following 2 girls) while I did the dishes.

Back to the Halloween party...this was a fun game - they were shooting pom-poms at Goliath with slingshots.

Oh, here's Alex - that's right, Sumo-wrestler, ha. He borrowed this fun costume from his friend.

And the girls trick or treating at our van.

A couple of days before actual Halloween (the church party was on the 26th) Pres. Obama made a stop in Charlottesville (to help in the democratic candidate for congress in our district's campaign). We thought it would be fun to go up near the airport and watch Air Force One come in for a landing and then watch the motorcade go past. It was pretty fun. I was surprised how easy it was for us to get right up close to the airport. We decided to park down the street and walk toward the airport. A security guard came over and told us we were too close at one point, so we went back down the road a little ways. The kids were really excited to see the plane land and then about 40 motorcycle cops came flying past with their lights flashing followed by a few Escalades. The one with Pres. Obama in it had the dome light on. They were going so fast though, he could have been on one of those motorcycles and we never would have known, hahaha. Anyway, it was an interesting opportunity to be that close to an American President. Something fun to do on a Friday night.

Then came Abigail's 2nd Birthday!!!! While she was napping that afternoon we blew up balloons and threw them around the room and wrapped her presents, so when she got up she was really excited and surprised. She LOVED the balloons and couldn't get enough of them. If all we did was play with balloons for her birthday she would have been completely happy. Lucky for her though, she had some more fun stuff waiting for her. Grandma and Papa Waters sent an outfit that Grandma made. Grandma Sims sent a cute jeans and puffy vest outfit and a gift card to Toys R Us. The kids got her some baby doll diapers (so she'll stop stealing Andrew's diapers to put on her dolls :0) ) and a doll bottle. She is such a sweet little Mommy! From Mommy and Daddy she got a Little People take-along castle and a rocking horse that makes galloping sounds and whinnies and neighs. She was so excited about everything!

Analeigh and Andrew were the only ones that got dressed up for Halloween night, since they weren't going trick-or-treating (Charlottesville did Sunday night trick-or-treating). They had fun handing out candy and then we went down to the spook house that some neighbors put on every year. They do a great job for a free backyard haunted house. Then we came back to the house for cake and ice cream!

This is the back of Abigail's jack-o-lantern...last year we did a one, this year a two...we'll keep this tradition for her birthday every year!

Ready for the trick-or-treaters! Analeigh and I dressed up her bandana a little (recognize that Jessica and Mom?)

Here is her cake. She tried blowing out the candles once and then wanted the fire AWAY from her! (and this picture totally shows off the water that sloshed all over my leg out of the sink just moments before, haha)

Let's not forget our handsome boy. He is doing so much better!! The doctor prescribed Prilosec for him for his reflux and it has made a WORLD of difference for him. He is so much happier and calmer and easier going. What a miracle (to me!). He is smiling and gooing all over the place now. It is so much fun to see these kids progress!

Look at that Chubby Wubbins!

And that is a very brief recap of some of the best parts of our October.

2010-11-03T14:49:00.001-04:00

(I just found this already written post that I never published from a couple of weeks ago...I'll be back soon with an update and some pictures!)
The first six weeks of Andrew's life have been filled with stress, exhaustion, and busy-ness (and some fun and beautiful weather too!). I was exhausted before he was born, just from the pregnancy itself and also from how active he was in the womb at night. When he was born he was just as awake in the late night hours as he had been inside of me. And ever since we have had quite a time trying to get him to sleep at night. Once he is asleep he is sleeping about 5 hours at a time, which is good. However, when we can't get him to sleep until almost midnight and Scott has to get up for work at 5:35am and the big kids get up for school at 6:25am, it is wearing us both out. I shouldn't expect Scott to help me get him to sleep at night, I guess, but I can't help it. I am tired by that time from the busy-ness of my day: taking care of 2 babies, running the big kids around to various activities, cleaning up after everybody and making meals, etc, etc. So I have him help me get Andrew to sleep. He will usually go to sleep easier for Scott because Daddy doesn't smell like milk.
Another issue we have been dealing with is Andrew's fussiness. He has been extremely fussy most days and has yet to sleep laying down in his bassinet or the crib. He always sleeps in his carseat at night and the swing, usually, during the day. His belly is so distended some days, just full of gas. We started treating him with Mylicon drops, but that didn't do a whole lot. We pump his legs and try and help him work it out, and that helps some times. I finally talked to Dr. Wolfe about it at his one month check-up and she prescribed Zantac for reflux. He has been taking that for a week and a half and it seems to be doing some good for him, but we have still had some very cranky days.
Last Friday evening Scott and I had a dinner to go to with Scott's coworkers so we got a babysitter for the older three kids and took Andrew with us. I was very nervous to go because I don't know his coworkers very well, or their spouses/significant others, but they all know each other because they all work at the hospital. I am the only stay at home mom in the group. I was worried because Andrew's fussiest time of each day is in the evening and I didn't want to look like I didn't know what I was doing (pride...I know, sigh) with my 4th child! Scott assured me it would be just fine and that they all knew that we were bringing the baby. Well, Andrew didn't disappoint and started fussing as soon as we got there. He fussed through the entire meal. Luckily our party had our own table down in the wine cellar so we weren't disturbing other people at the restaurant. I had to make one run out to the van to feed him (trying to get him to sleep), but that didn't work. Other than that, one of us just stood with him the whole time. Spencer's girlfriend held him for a while and got him to sleep. We were able to enjoy dessert. It really was a nice evening though. We were at a restaurant at the Clifton Inn where they served a multiple course dinner to each of us. We could choose our courses. I had 4 courses...a salad with artichoke hearts (a little salty for my taste, but still good), the most delicious ravioli ever that had shredded pear and cheese in the middle, bass, and sticky toffee pudding cake...yummmmmy! Plus, they brought out two cheese platters and fresh bread. It was such a treat. If we had had to pay for it our meals would have been over $200...just for food. So glad the medical rep was paying for it!! =)

In other news, Andrew is smiling now. Really big smiles. He smiles almost every time Abigail kisses him on the head. Sooo cute. I love those first smiles. It makes the hard days easier for sure. He has also packed ont he pounds!! He was born at 7 lbs 12 oz and at 5 weeks weighed 11 lbs 8 oz!!! That is insane. My kids always take off on the charts as soon as they are born. I just happen to make cream rather than skim milk ;) .

You wouldn't believe it...

2010-09-22T11:28:00.000-04:00

...if you didn't see it for yourself.
This is Andrew at 16 days old, turning over from front to back. He has been doing this for 3 days. Everytime we put him on his stomach. Crazy! He has some strong muscles! That's my boy!

Andrew

2010-09-19T12:27:00.001-04:00

This is my whole labor/birth story...and it is long...just skip to the next post down (it has pictures) if you want.

Andrew Boyd Sims

Born September 4, 2010
1:11 am
7 pounds 12 ounces
20 inches
This is my labor and birth story for Andrew:

I had high hopes that Andrew would make his arrival before my actual clinical due date (Sept. 6th) came and went. I have hit (and usually passed) my due date for each one of my kids so far, and I really did not want to go through the extra days of carrying a child over due. Also, when I had Abigail her shoulder got stuck a little bit (shoulder dystocia…which resulted in a shoulder pop for her for about her first 9 months and luckily went away after that) and she was 9 pounds. At my 38 week OB appointment we discussed the shoulder dystocia issue and how that is a good indicator for another possible shoulder dystocia with this delivery. That had me concerned and the doctor decided to schedule an ultrasound for the following week to try and determine the size of the baby. I also was hoping they would strip the membranes to try and kick start some contractions. Well, the ultrasound tech guesstimated the size of the baby to be around 7lbs. 7oz. and the doctor that I saw that day did not want to strip the membranes. So the appointment had me feeling a little relieved that the baby didn’t look too big, but very discouraged because it looked like I would end up going at least until my due date. He said to make an appointment for one week later, but that would be Labor Day, and they weren’t open that day, so it would have to be Tuesday…the day after my due date. I was sooo bummed. The doctor could tell I wasn’t happy, so he said I could make an appointment for Friday (Sept. 3rd) so I didn’t have to wait all the way through the holiday weekend. Ok, so…what good is that going to do me? Oh well. I decided to go ahead and make that appointment because maybe that doctor would strip my membranes.

The rest of the week I was very tired and wasn’t getting much sleep. I usually had contractions during the night that would go away during the day. It was getting frustrating because I just wanted to go into labor so badly on my own, without being induced. I did not want an epidural this time, and I was afraid that being induced would limit my ability to get through the labor without an epidural.

So, Thursday night I had contractions again all night and was very tired in the morning. Scott stayed home that morning so he could go to the appointment with me. The appointment was at 9:20am. I went in ready to request that she (Dr. Carr) strip my membranes and have a plan for induction as soon as possible. Well, she told me that I was dilated to 4cm and starting to thin out, so the contractions were working…yea! And she asked if I wanted her to strip my membranes. Yes, please! Then we talked about an induction date in case I didn’t go into labor on my own over the weekend. They wouldn’t schedule for Monday (Labor Day), Tuesday was already full at the hospital, so we had to go with Wednesday (Sept 8th). I was so worried we would have to wait until that date, but hopeful that I would have him sooner since I was already at 4cm.

Scott decided to take the rest of the day off and I started contracting on our way home from the doctor’s. I had contractions all day and was ready to head to the hospital by 3pm. We called the neighbors to see if they would watch the kids and they said they would be able to. We saw Alex and Analeigh get off the bus, kissed them and told them we were heading to the hospital and they were sooo excited!!

When we got to the hospital, I got all situated and ready to have a baby and then the doctor (Dr. Culver) came in to check my cervix…and I was still at about 4cm. Ugh!! I had contractions ALL day for nothing?!?! I was shocked. And disappointed. And frustrated. The nurse tried to make me feel better by saying that maybe my cervix just hadn’t caught up yet. We decided I would stay a little longer and he would check me again a little later and then make a decision on what to do next. He came by about an hour and a half later…with me still having contractions every 5 minutes. He checked me…nothing. Still 4cm. I just broke down crying. I was so tired and frustrated. He suggested that I just go home and get some rest and come back when I was in “active labor”. What?!? What do you call what I have been going through? And how was I supposed to know what “active labor” was like if this wasn’t it? He also said he could go ahead and break my water, but that could potentially stop everything or I could keep having no progress, then I would end up on Pitocin to try to move things along. I didn’t want to have to do that, so I chose to go on home and take some Benadryl to try and sleep and hopefully the contractions would just stop so I could get some rest!! On the way home my contractions stayed steady and were becoming even more unbearable. We stopped at McDonald’s and got some dinner to take home and eat. Then I took 2 Benadryl and got in the tub while Scott went to gather the kids from the Eastlack’s house. Alex and Analeigh were watching a movie with Maggie and Katie, so they stayed to finish their movie, but he brought Abigail home and put her to bed.

My contractions just kept getting worse and worse and I was bleeding quite a bit every time I got up, so I was really getting nervous that something was wrong if I wasn’t dilating but all of this stuff was happening. Scott helped me into bed and I was in so much pain and hadn’t really felt the baby move much since we had left the hospital. That made us really concerned and Scott called Dr. Culver and he said to come back in.

So…2 hours later (9:00pm) we were headed back to the hospital, and very nervous about what was going on inside of me. Thankfully, on the way to the hospital I felt the baby wiggling around again, so we were hopeful that everything was at least ok with him! I got back up to Labor & Delivery, changed back into that horrid gown, and got ready to be checked again. I’m sure they thought we were crazy coming back in so soon. But, hallelujah, I was progressing! He said I was about 5 ½ cm and that things were happening, so I was there to stay. Yea!! Although, I was not too sure about getting through this as tired as I was, plus I had just taken 2 Benadryl!! Those suckers knock me out.

I was in so much pain, so I decided to get in the jetted tub there in my room at the hospital. I love the delivery rooms at that hospital! I spent a lot of time in there…moaning and groaning and breathing. Then my back was hurting so bad I needed to find a different position, so I sat on the birthing ball (basically a big exercise ball) and rocked around for a while until I almost couldn’t stand the pain anymore. I asked the nurse if they could check and see if I was progressing any more so that I knew it was not all in vain. She checked me and said I was about a 7 (a little after midnight). Dr. Culver came in to check on me and see if I wanted him to break my water now. I decided that since I was progressing (7 ½ or 8 cm he said) to go ahead and have him break my water (around 12:30ish am). That has always moved things along really quickly in my past deliveries and holy moly, it worked this time too. I had just had the nurse give me a half dose of Fentanyl to relieve some of the pain and it just wasn’t doing anything for me. This was intense pain. She said it probably wouldn’t relieve much of the pain of this part of the process and she was right. It was so bad. Scott says I kept pinching him in the stomach around this point. Haha I was so out of it. Subconsciously I probably wanted him to feel some of the pain I was feeling. I knew things were moving quickly because I wasn’t getting any kind of break between contractions. I could barely open my eyes. Then all of a sudden came that need to push. I told the nurse that I was feeling a lot of pressure, so she came to check me and told me to do a little “tester push” because the head was right there, but there may be a little bit of cervix left. HA! There is no such thing as “tester push” with no pain medication. Your body just says…get it out!!!!! As soon as she saw that this little guy was on his way out she yelled for them to get Dr. Culver ASAP and bring back-up. She thought she was going to have to deliver the baby herself. She kept telling me not to push and I was trying my darndest not to, but I kept yelling I’m pushing, I’m pushing!! It was so hard to control. I knew they wanted to get the end of the bed off and get Dr. Culver in there because of the shoulder dystocia possibility, but it was definitely close. Between the time she said “tester push” and his whole body being out was mere moments (two pushes). I have no realistic idea since I was in the middle of it all, but probably 4 minutes, tops. Luckily they all know how to spring into serious action. Haha It was very awesome and completely rewarding to see my handsome little guy laying on my belly and know that I had accomplished what I wanted in having a natural childbirth. I am pretty much a wimp usually, yet I. DID. IT! And it was hard and long and I can’t say I would do it again without an epidural or something, but it was amazing.

Andrew came out looking and sounding wonderfully. Healthy with a perfectly round little head. He did have a true knot in the umbilical cord, which is very unusual. Luckily, there were no problems from that!! We are so glad he is here to join our family!!!! He is going to be such a great addition to our kids!!

I am so thankful to Heavenly Father for helping us get Andrew here safely. I am so grateful that he came before his due date and that he wasn’t a big baby. I prayed so hard last week that I would be able to get through all of this and accomplish the goal I had set for myself to avoid induction and an epidural. He heard my prayers and helped me through it. I know a lot of others have mentioned to me that they were praying for me, and I know those prayers were answered. When Scott brought the kids to see Andrew the next morning Analeigh told me that she had wished on a wishing star that I would be able to have baby Andrew that night, and her wish was granted. That was her little prayer, and it was answered.

Two Weeks of Growing . . .

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The day we came home from the hospital was a beautiful, sunny day. It was Labor Day, Monday Sept. 6th. The hospital gave Scott and I a luncheon to eat together (sandwiches, chips, M&Ms, drinks) and a video to watch (The Happiest Baby on the Block). It was nice. I was ready to get out of the hospital though. I had been at the hospital since Friday and had been longing to get out in the sunshine that I could see from the window! We stopped by the nurse's station on the way out to get Andrew's little alarm snipped off and the nurse asked if he was our first. Haha. No. We have 3 more at home, we told her. She said she thought we were seasoned parents because we didn't look terrified as we were leaving. Haha. True. That first one is scary.  I was excited to get home and see the kids, and I knew they were excited to have me and Andrew come home. As we pulled up I saw the signs the kids had made with Scott and my mom and dad. They were so cute!! Scott always makes sure to have the kids help make big signs like that. It is one of my favorite parts of pulling in with a new baby. Everyone came running out when they heard us pull up.  All of them were so cute, wanting to look at Andrew and hug me. After we got all settled in my Dad and Scott took the big kids out to Putt-Putt golf and Mom and I stayed home with the babies.
I'm so glad Mom and Dad came out to help for a week!! It was so helpful! The kids are just getting busy again with the start of the school year and have so many activities going, so it was nice to have them run them around for the week. School started, plus both Alex and Analeigh were asked to be part of the chamber singers group at their school. Alex is on a soccer team that practices twice a week and games on Saturdays. Analeigh is taking jazz and tap once a week (and doing so well! I love that they have a little window I can peek through and watch!). Not to mention Cub Scouts and our church callings. Mondays and Fridays are our only days without extra activities going on, so those will be nice days! Abigail was such an easy going baby that I have been able to cart around with me as needed, so hopefully Andrew will just fall into the swing of things as well. We survived this week, so I guess we just might make it.

Some things about Andrew:
*When he was born he weighed 7lbs. 12oz. While we were in the hospital he dropped to 7lbs 6oz. But at his Dr. appointment on Sept. 8th he was back up to 7lbs 14oz . . .growing well!
*The first couple of nights home from the hospital he kept me up until around 3/3:30am. Everytime he fell asleep and I laid him down he would wake up crying. This was not surprising to me since when I was pregnant he would turn and turn inside of me from about 11pm until 2am or so. Not fun, but not surprising. I was so exhausted!!
*Speaking of turning and turning inside of me...when Andrew was born he had a true knot in his cord. Scary! I'm so glad it didn't cause him any problems!!! I wish we could have gotten a picture of it. But, unfortunately, we didn't even have our camera there when he was born. Sad. I had checked in to the hospital Friday afternoon and while I was having contractions every 5 minutes for hours, I wasn't progressing from 4 cm dilated. But I was determined to go all natural this time, so I chose to go home so they didn't end up putting me on pitocin. We ended up rushing back a couple of hours later and didn't take the time to grab everything we needed (including camera) : ( .
*Andrew is so aware of sounds and seems to be listening intently to people talking or the tv. You can tell he is thinking about what he is hearing. He also responds to me when I come to pick him up when he is crying. He will calm down and snuggle against me.
*He has been giggling in his sleep the past few days. It is sooo sweet to hear!

Pictures of Andrew and the family

2010-09-09T22:15:00.000-04:00

Family of SIX

2010-09-05T15:41:00.000-04:00

Andrew Boyd Sims
Born September 4, 2010
1:11 am
7 lbs. 12 oz.
20 inches

38+ Weeks

2010-08-24T23:32:00.000-04:00

I went to the OB today...and actually got someone to listen to me there. Wow. That was a first for that office. Anyway, I raised my concern about how big this baby may end up being, seeing as how Abigail was 9 pounds and had shoulder dystocia (her shoulder was stuck, and she ended up with a shoulder pop for about her first 9 months...luckily hers was a mild case), and the fact that after an ultrasound they put off my due date by a week very early on. The doc today said, "hmm, that's weird that there is no mention of that in your chart...let me go find the birth record for Abigail." So, I waited, and lo, and behold he found that they had actually recorded it and now was as concerned as I was. Hallelujah! Someone is going to do something besides make me wait till I am 41 weeks to consider inducing or even stripping the membranes! So, next Monday I have an ultrasound to try and determine approx. size of the baby and then they will try stripping membranes and schedule an induction. I do not want to have to be induced, I am really hoping to go on my own, but I also would like to avoid trauma to the baby (or me) in the delivery room!!
So, a succesful doc appointment today...yea!

37 weeks, 4 days

Random shot Alex captured on Sunday

The rest of July

2010-08-23T15:15:00.001-04:00

July activities included:

Celebrating Dad/Papa's birthday with cake and ice cream, and Richard, Lisa, Rebecca and Gabriel and a walk along the Jordan River parkway.
Playing with Gracie at her house and getting to see new nephew/cousin Hayden
Going to dinner at Cafe Rio and to see Eclipse with mom, Lisa and Michelle (one of my personal favorite activities of the month)
Wheeler Farm with Susan/Grandma, Brian, Melissa, Gracie and Hayden
Experiencing Cabela's...wow, that place is cool. I just wish Scott could have gone- he really would have gotten a kick out of it. We loved the shooting range!
Seeing Toy Story 3 (Shhh, don't tell him I told, but Alex got a little teary at the end)
Swimming lessons at West Jordan pool every morning for 2 weeks
Celebrating Scott's birthday without him by having Papa Murphy's pizza and ice cream
Playing in the water at Liberty Park with Michelle and the kids
Going to Cottonwood Rec Center pool with Mom/Grandma
Fishing up at Silver Lake at Brighton with Papa and Grandma
Costco (so much better than Sam's Club which is all we have here)
24th of July Parade float preview with Grandma and Brian. The kids also got their face and arm painted and had cool balloons made for them there. It was much better than going and sitting out in the heat to watch the parade! I would highly recommend it!
Temple night with my parents and their ward at the Jordan River temple
Visiting my Uncle Larry's shop up in Ogden. He makes bath salts, lotions, body scrubs. Plus, he gave us tickets to a Real Salt Lake game!!!
Alex and Papa went to the Hill Air Force Base museum and Alex loved it! He took a picture of every thing he could!
Gracie's birthday party
Going to the Real Salt Lake game vs. the Chivas USA, with fireworks afterward for the 24th of July.

THEN Scott finally came to Utah!!!! We had 3 days with him before we all headed down to the big Waters Family Reunion. We filled all 3 of those days completely up. We celebrated Scott's birthday with dinner and cake &ice cream with his family (and Susan gave hime a nice GPS-geocaching, here we come!), went on a tour of the Sweet's candy factory and bought way too much candy, ate dinner at Olive Garden with Susan/Grandma, Brian, and Amanda (Amanda works at Olive Garden), went to the Zoo with Susan, Brian, and Melissa and Steve and kids, went down to Provo to visit Grandma Sims and JaVan and were treated to dinner at Brick Oven by Grandma (and JaVan showed me where my favorite blogger lives, heehee), I got my hair done by "my girl", and had pictures taken of the kids with Gracie and Hayden. Whew!

Kids' blogs

2010-08-16T16:04:00.001-04:00

They updated today if anyone still checks them.

Fourth of July weekend

2010-08-12T19:58:00.000-04:00

Stadium of Fire

Our weekend of fun started Friday when Robby and Michelle and their kids, Richard and Lisa and their kids, me and my kids, and Dad all went swimming at the South Jordan Rec Center pool. It is such a fun pool with sprinklers, a lazy river and even a water slide. The kids must have felt like they had died and gone to heaven at that pool with their cousins. We all had fun swimming and then went back to my mom and dad's to have a BBQ and watch fireworks that Dad and Richard set off in the circle. Then all the kids slept out in a tent in the backyard with my Dad and Richard, and Robby slept in his hammock by the tent. Luckily us women got to sleep inside on beds =) . Saturday morning we ate pancakes and the kids played until afternoon.

Then we headed down to BYU to watch Stadium of Fire. Carrie Underwood was the performer this year. They always have jets fly over right after the national anthem. That was about the point Abigail gave up and went to sleep. She couldn't figure out what all the noise was about and must have decided to sleep rather than deal with it. We put the noise protector headphones on her and she slept. Alex was a little overwhelmed by all the noise also and needed to go out for a few minutes. It can be scary to be in such a big, noisy crowd. Analeigh loved the concert, but wasn't so sure about the fireworks. She relaxed after a few minutes though and enjoyed most of them. We didn't get back to mom and dad's until around 12:30am (and we still hadn't quite adjusted to the time change all the way). By Sunday morning we were almost sick we were so tired.

My Mom had Monday off, so she and I and Abigail went shopping (Quilted Bear, IKEA, and WalMart for some necessities) and Dad took Alex and Analeigh up to meet Robby and Savannah and Will to go hiking. We all had another fun day that day.

It was great being able to spend a holiday weekend with family!!

She gave up on the show

Or...maybe this one =)

2010-08-12T14:32:00.000-04:00

My favorite picture ever

2010-08-12T14:31:00.000-04:00

What A Summer!

2010-08-11T17:14:00.000-04:00

I gave up on blogging for a while while we were out having so much fun in Utah.

The last week in June Alex attended Cub Scout camp. I volunteered one day of the week and Scott volunteered the next day, so Analeigh was able to go those days also. They had a "sibling camp" for kids who were there with their parents who were volunteering. It was HOT ! This summer started hot with high humidity and hasn't let up yet. The day that Scott was at cub scout camp it got really stormy as they were all leaving. He ended up having to pull off the road because he couldn't see anything. Gravel and dirt were blowing against the car and thunder and lightning were booming, and the kids were scared. It ended up being a microburst storm that blew through Charlottesville and took down trees and knocked out power and made a huge mess of the city. It took them more than 2 hours to get home (it should have taken only about 25 min) due to blocked roads and down power lines. It was a mess and I was so glad when they finally made it home.

Hot! at Cub Scout Day Camp

Badminton at Cub Scout Camp

June 29th the kids and I headed for Utah to spend 5 weeks with family! Luckily my Dad is terrific, and he flew out here to help me fly out there. I never would have made it there if I had been on my own. The STUFF you have to take when travelling for over a month with 3 kids and being pregnant is slightly overwhelming. Luckily my kids are great travellers and they did great, even with all of the delays we had and changes of gates, etc. Our flight left here at 5pm and we should have arrived in UT at 11:30pm, but with weather and mechanical delays we didn't get in until around 3am. Then Abigail was a little freaked out about being put down to bed in the crib at mom and dad's, so by the time I went to bed it was 7am my time. Yuck. We all slept in that day, except my poor dad who had to be at a clients at 8:30am that morning.

Getting ready for take-off!

From there on out we got busy having fun!

We've Been Busy!

2010-06-13T17:48:00.000-04:00

This past month has been spent making forts and sleeping in them (ok, not me) . . .

Blowing bubbles . . .

Welcoming a new pet (Zinky) . . .

Cherry picking . . .

Strawberry picking and making Jam (yummy!) . . .

That's us in the background picking

Finishing up the last bit of school and making cities . . .

And most especially, having a Great trip to Utah! We can't wait to go back in a couple of weeks!

The kids had so much fun with their cousins. It will be so great to get to play more this summer!

Mother's Day 2010

2010-05-18T14:18:00.001-04:00

My husband and kids are so good to me!! This Mother's Day I woke up to Scott in the kitchen making a delicious French Toast breakfast (he makes the BEST french toast). French toast, eggs, bacon, orange juice...yummy! Oh, yeah, and a beautiful bouquet of flowers the boys had brought me on Saturday. We had to kind of shovel our food down though, because we have church at 9am and the kids and I were all singing that day, so we needed to get there on time. The kids couldn't wait for me to open presents they had gotten for me, so I opened those quickly too... a box of chocolates, The Blind Side movie, and a new chain for my diamond pendant. Both Analeigh and Alex had made me cards and pictures too. So we went to church and they gave out the traditional rose for each mom. Then after church I got a nice long nap and Scott made dinner too! He made one of our favorites: Orange Cashew Chicken with Jasmine Rice, which is not the easiest recipe to make, but he did great! I think I might just turn all the cooking over to him...haha. Then brownies and ice cream and The Amazing Race finale for dessert! Couldn't have asked for a better day.

Man, I love these kids! PS-Please ignore my hair...it will be fixed as soon as I get to Utah!

Mmmm, orange cashew chicken

The whole family after church

Me at 23 weeks with #4

It's A.....

2010-05-09T23:59:00.000-04:00

BOY!
I'll have to scan in the ultrasound pictures another time, but it is most definitely a BOY! Scott would have been really happy to not find out until the birth, but I am too impatient for that...I like to be ready! Well, as soon as we saw the baby on the ultrasound screen we both knew it was a boy. You can just tell when you have had so many ultrasounds. We are thrilled...especially for Alex. I actually thought he might cry when I told him. Both of the big kids were really hoping for a boy. Alex had told me he was going to move away to South Africa if it was a girl, so we're glad we don't have to ship him off now. Although, I think I figured out his train of thought with the whole South Africa thing...that's where the World Cup will be held this year...haha. In that case his Dad might have gone with him! I'm glad they'll both be here with me instead!
The day I had the ultrasound the kids were so anxious to hear what we were having, and apparently the whole school bus couldn't wait to find out either because they stayed parked in front of our house until the kids found out and could tell them, haha. The video is pretty funny.

Miss Photogenic

2010-05-09T23:54:00.000-04:00

Oh, Analeigh, you are so silly!!

Everytime I want to take pictures of Analeigh we have a little session of photos like these. She is too funy.

I have to sneak up on her if I want some like these:

She was playing "gardening".

Church Nursery Age

2010-05-09T23:27:00.002-04:00

Sweet girl...ready to eat!

Nap time with Daddy...well, at least Daddy's getting some sleep.

Abigail absolutely fell in love with this dress that some friends passed along to Analeigh...she HAD to put it on!

      Abigail is 18 months old! How did that happen? Last Sunday was her first day to go to the nursery at church. I was very hesitant to let her go. She is my little side-kick and goes with me everywhere. And she is such a sweet girl. With Alex we were definitely on the nursery countdown for a few months before he went into the nursery because he was so busy I hardly heard a lesson during the 3 hours. When Analeigh was around 10 months old, Scott was a nursery leader, so she went to nursery from 10 months on. Easy. But Abigail, she is just a little sweetheart and usually either falls asleep in that last hour or just plays by us (and both Scott and I have had teaching callings in that 3rd hour of church). It's just been the last couple of weeks that she has been more restless and wanting to get down and explore more during church, so I guess it is time, sigh. There are currently about 15 kids in our nusery and it was a little overwhelming to her. She just sat and watched everybody most of the time, I think. When I came to pick her up she had one little tear sitting on her little chubby cheek and was holding a nursery worker's hand. They said she cried a few silent tears for a bit, but seemed fine. We'll see if she'll go back next week. (Update: it's next week, and it didn't go well. I could hear her cries throughout the church halls. I think we'll be hanging in the nursery for the next little while!)
       I took her in for her 18 month appointment today. She is 32 1/2 inches tall (50%) and 23 pounds (25%). She has a very good memory and did not want ANYONE to touch her but Mommy. Unfortunately for her she still had to get her two shots, which she screamed through, but then was fine after the nurse left the room. Funny girl does not like nurses (even when I am the one being seen). When I take her with me to the doctor she cries when they take MY blood pressure.
      Last week we were all at Target and she kept wanting to hold these crazy looking Iron Man toys. Alex found an Iron Man mask and I told him to show Abigail, thinking she would like it with him wearing it. I have never seen her more terrified. The scream that eventually escaped her mouth was heartbreaking. Alex said hi to her, but she couldn't tell it was him, so he quickly took the mask off. She kept shaking for several minutes, until that mask was well away from her. It was so sad.
      She loves to wait for the bus, and waves and waves when it comes down the street. She is so excited to see her brother and sissy.
      She also loves dogs and cats. She will run for them when she sees one (and there are a whole bunch in our neighborhood-we have tiny yards so everyone walks their dogs up and down the street), but when she gets close she realizes how big they are and runs back the other way, haha. Her high chair sits right in the window and she will bark ("uff uff") when she sees one walk past.
      She says Mama (but she calls for me, "ma!", Dada, something that sounds close to Alex and Anna (we can tell what she is saying anyway), Papa, we're working on grandma, more, milk, uh-oh, all done/gone, and she randomly will repeat us when we say something, like "fishies".
We love our Abigail!

Alex, Movin' Right Along

2010-05-09T23:15:00.000-04:00

Alex received his Bear Badge at last month's Cub Scout pack meeting. He has such a great time doing cub scouts! He is also into another season of soccer and it is going great! Scott is coaching and their team is really looking good this year! They both love soccer so much. Alex has scored a goal at almost every game this year. I told him I would give him a dollar for every goal he makes (which I started last season) and he is actually making money off of me this season. We have a lot of fun with it.

Bun In the Oven

2010-04-15T14:47:00.002-04:00

Just FYI, I am definitely far enough along to have an ultrasound and find out the gender of this little bun, but my ob office will not do an ultrasound until I am 22 weeks along (can you believe it?), which is scheduled for May 5th (3 weeks from yesterday). I am not happy with them. They are not nice. They refuse to budge. I even told them how nice it would be to know what I am having before our big neighborhood yard sale, which is May 1st. They didn't care.

PS - due date for now: Sept. 5th
PSS - We are coming out to Utah for Amanda's wedding May 30th- June 6th AND then me and the kids will be back June 27th-August 3rd! Scott gets to come out for the wedding and then join us again for the last week in July. Yay!! We are so excited!

April Fools

2010-04-15T14:37:00.001-04:00

I know it is somewhere around the middle of April, but I still have to blog about our April fool's day. I woke up to find plastic bugs by my bed, and a toy snake in the cereal cupboard (which the kids know I head straight for after getting up). They thought they got me good. Scott had let me sleep in that morning and gotten the kids on the bus, so I discovered their bugs and snake tricks after they had already gone to school. So, I figured I had better get in on the hijinx myself and come up with something to fool them with. I found what I was looking for on the internet! You have to click HERE and see what I printed and cut out. Go ahead and look and come back...

When they came home from school I told them how grossed out I was by the bugs and how high I jumped when I went to pull out a box of cereal and found a snake instead (wink, wink). I helped them get a snack, and they sat down to enjoy a few minutes of tv relaxation. While they were watching tv, I pulled out the flyer and said, "oh, hey. Look at the brochure I picked up while I was out shopping today (side note: summer camp brochures and advertisements seem to be everywhere around our city right now, so this wasn't unusual). Dad and I talked about it and we decided to sign you two up for this summer camp." Then, I handed them the flyer. Alex got mad. Analeigh said, "IIII'm not going". Hahaha I could barely keep a straight face. "Sure you are," I said. "It will be fun, and you guys need this camp." "When is it?" they asked. The first week you are out of school for summer. "Uh-uh, no, I'm not going, that's not fun". Oh, man I got them good. I had them going for a few minutes too, pointing out the different "activities" at the camp. They read the whole thing. Finally I said "April Fool's!!!!" We had a great laugh about how badly I tricked them! Well when Scott got home I showed him the flyer thinking he would catch on to the fact that it was an April Fool's trick right away, but as I handed it to him and he was looking at it I realized he thought it was for real too. The kids were right there too, so we all had him thinking I was signing the kids up for this camp. It was great! I highly recommend using this on your kids next year (or when they are old enough).

And here is a picture for you (me with, what's that, a box of cereal? Yes it is) because you have to add a pic to every post, right? Isn't that the rule of blogging? *pic taken by Analeigh, I have no idea when.

Just an Update

2010-03-15T10:56:00.001-04:00

**Turned out quite long, but there are pictures at the end!**
How did it get to be the middle of March? Time flies...March began with the Broadway production of Annie for Analeigh and me. Grandma and Papa Waters had given her two tickets to go see it for her birthday. The show was on March 1st and every day leading up to it she would ask me how many days until Annie. That night she wore her pretty red shirt, black skirt and red tights. We ran into a friend she knows from school there and her friend was wearing black tights, red skirt, and black shirt. They got a kick out of that! We had great seats and it was a fun show. It got over at 10:20pm, so Analeigh was very tired at the end...Analeigh very rarely is able to stay awake that long.

Analeigh can pretty much read anything you put in front of her now...she is doing great! And she is learning to tell time. She just finished a session of gymnastics classes through the YMCA that she loved and can now do cart wheels pretty well! It was a great class for her. We just might have to sign up for the next session.

Abigail is 16 months old now and the end of February brought her first ever trip to the doctor for a sick visit. Poor baby. She had ear infections in both ears, and a super runny/congested nose. She and I have been passing colds back and forth since the end of January. She is so pleasant all the time though, so the only way I knew she probably had an ear infection is from noticing her swatting at her ears throughout the day. Luckily she has a daddy that can take a peek in her ears and see if it is worth a trip to the pediatrician, and it was. The doc prescribed some Amoxicillin for her and she was feeling better in just a few days (I should probably take a trip to the doc myself so I can get rid of this lingering head cold :) ). She is feeling better now. Some stats on her: she is 22 lbs., 30 and 3/4" tall, has 8 teeth in front and 2 molars all the way in with 2 more coming through. She has been the slowest one to talk so far, but is really picking up on it now. She says Dada, Mama, all done, all gone, mmmuuh for milk, and her most recent - mooo (cow) and uff uff (dog). She gives the sweetest kisses (she can actually pucker and give you a real kiss and not just the slobbery open mouth ones, although we'll tak those too!) and waves bye-bye or hello. She gets so absolutely happy when the school bus pulls up in the afternoon and waves and waves until Alex and Analeigh come running over to her. She LOVES books. She cannot get enough of them and most of her books have found their way into the toy bin downstairs because she prefers them over the toys. She has become quite the copycat to Scott and I and we catch her doing the funniest things, like...pretending to blow her nose, stretch her arms back behind her head and rest them there, finding anything to use as a rag and wiping at the floors and walls. She also helps me do the laundry. I will be leaning over the washer putting laundry detergent in and she will come walking over with an arm load of clothes from one of the piles. She is too cute. We just can't get enough of her!

Alex got lucky and was able to go with Scott to see the Harlem Globetrotters a few nights ago. They went with some friends from church/cub scouts. What a dream come true for a couple of 9 year old boys! Alex bought one of the programs with all of the pictures of the players in it and they were able to stay afterward and get several autographs from the players!! I am told they had a blast and laughed sooo hard because it was so funny! AND they had fantastic seats too!

Alex has been part of a team this year for Destination Imagination at school. They had a tournament the last weekend in February. The teams have been preparing for this all year. This was the first year for all of our team members (and the team manager), so we weren't really sure what to expect, but the kids all did really well in the end and had a good time. It is really hard to explain what Destination Imagination is, but they have several particular subjects that they have to research (such as glaciers, pitcher plant, California Condor, etc.) before the tournament and be prepared to make up (in 7 minutes) and act out (in under 5 minutes) a skit as a group involving one of those subjects and a characer trait. Then they also have to do an instant challenge where they are given a set of objects and have to make something out of them that works in some particular way (such as have a moving part of some kind, etc.). Really hard to explain it all, but it was right up Alex's alley. There group was a little difficult to work with. They had a couple of rowdies that weren't too keen on staying focused and Alex would often come away from their team meetings very frustrated. The day of the tournament, though, they all worked together really well and focused and came in 5th out of 10, which is, in all honestly, better than I thought they might do, haha. But it was a good experience and he will want to do it again next year. Now it is on to SOCCER SEASON!!! Yea!

I am plugging along with this pregnancy, and actually feeling pretty darn good this time around (so far anyway, let's not jinx anything). I am still fitting in my regular clothes at 15 weeks, which is a plus for a 4th pregnancy. I am already anemic, which is not too surprising because I always am, but besides the tiredness, not too much of a problem. I am taking my iron and vitamins and hoping I won't get too anemic.

Scott was a judge for the instant challenges at the DI tournament (not Alex's team, of course). He had a good time. It was interesting for him to see the different things these kids would come up with (grades 3-5). On the day they had training for the judges they made each of them tell the others one thing about themselves that is interesting. Scott chose to say that he was born in Idaho (which got him the nickname of Spud-Man). From that fact they had to come up with some sort of hat to wear that represented that fact. I told him I would make a potato out of a pair of nylons to attach to a hat and he was horrified. After he saw how funny it looked, he was a little more ok with it. And then he remembered he was wearing it for a bunch of kids and then it was all ok (although I never saw him with it on at the tournament, but he claims he wore it in the room where he was judging). =)

We are ALL looking forward to May 30th when we get to fly out to Utah and stay a week for Amanda's wedding! I made a paper chain for the kids to keep track of how long we have to wait until then. It can't come soon enough!!

Alex and Scott after the DI tournament-Alex has "glowing teeth" in his mouth

The Spud-Man hat we put together for Scott for the tournament-awesome, huh?

Right after "Annie"

Abigail LOVES her baths!

Alex with one of the Globetrotters

Thirty

2010-02-23T23:28:00.000-05:00

Oh, yes, I did. I turned the big 3-0 at the beginning of the month. No, it doesn't bother me yet. I like being 30 so far. To me 30 sounds in control, mature enough to be the mother of (almost) 4, and when people ask how old Alex is (thinking that I'm 25 or so), I can say I'm 30 and they look LESS surprised that I have a 9 year old than if I was still in my 20s.
The morning of my birthday I woke up and went in the bathroom and Scott had written "30" and "Happy Birthday" all over the mirrors in there with dry erase markers. I opened the bedroom door to go out and he had hung streamers everywhere. He had also taken the dry erase markers to a picture frame more mirrors and the microwave. It was a fun surprise. When I went upstairs to get the kids up for school I opened the door to Analeigh's room and both Alex and Analeigh were sitting in her room at the train table and about had a heart attack trying to cover up their surprise (birthday cards they were making). I tell you what...those kids of mine are so super sweet to me!!

My good friend Candace came over later that morning and brought me a couple of good books that I can't wait to read. She had offered to watch our kids so we could go out that night also...best gift ever!!! Scott was trying to get out of work a little early that afternoon so that we could go to dinner at a decent time and back to have cake with the kids before bed time. Well, when you try to plan around surgeries and medical procedures, things don't always work out as planned. So, he didn't get out early, BUT it was still a decent time. He gets to his car after leaving work and....it won't start! Ahhhh! He was pretty sure it was the battery so I stop in to Advance Auto parts and grab a new battery ($100 dollars later...) and go meet him at his car. He changed the battery, and it started! (He told me one of the battery connector thingys needs to be changed too, but it's still working fine so far.) Anyway, long story short, we DID finally make it out to dinner, just a little later than planned. We went to a fabulous restaurant that people at Scott's work had told him was good - Duner's Restaurant in Ivy. I had Beef Tenderloin and Scott had Salmon. It was really good. We never get to go out to real restaurants (where there are no kids) so it was a real treat! Even though it was past bedtime, we let the kids stay up to have cake with us when we got home. Scott had made me a double layer Chocolate cake (which I requested this year...I have been dying for a good chocolate cake - and a reason to be able to eat one!), which was so good! The kids had each made me a birthday card and they had gone shopping with Scott and bought me a really cute coat/jacket. I was impressed!! It really was a great birthday!!!

The Olympics Are Wearing Us Out.

2010-02-23T22:49:00.001-05:00

We let the kids get in our bed and watch the Olympics for as long as they could stay awake on Saturday night (they are on until around midnight every night here). We went in the other room to watch. It didn't take long before it was awfully quiet in our house. Scott went to peek in the bedroom and came back laughing and looking for the camera, so I went to see what was so funny.....

We always find this child in strange positions while she is sleeping.

Oh, funny girl!

Stuck At Home

2010-02-08T11:33:00.001-05:00

It is kinda starting to feel like the kids may never have school again this year! We have gotten one snow storm after another this year. Oh, and a bout of flooding in between that also shut down school for a day. And somewhere in the middle of January the big kids both had the stomach flu which kept them home for a couple of days. Oh, that's right, they were sick for 2 days after having two days off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Alex went one day that week and Analeigh went for two. They went to school ONE day last week, and that day had a two-hour delay. I like having my kids home, but my goodness we are BORED. Appointments have been cancelled. Church has been cancelled two weeks in a row (not to mention Scott had to work and Abigail and I were sick the week before that, so we have missed 3 weeks of church IN A ROW). Cub Scouts has been cancelled. The Blue and Gold banquet was postponed. After school clubs have been cancelled. Aaaaahhhhh! We need to get out of here! Luckily we have been blessed to keep our power throughout most of the storms. We lost power most of the day Saturday, but it was restored around 3:30pm. MANY people in our area lost power Saturday morning and still don't have it back on yet. Sooo, despite going stir crazy, we ARE very lucky.
We have had lots of opportunity to play in the snow, which has been fun. On Friday the kids went out and built a snowman with Scott. Then, Saturday they went out and built a very cool snow fort. We have been down the hill to sled a few times, and have shoveled lots of snow (mostly Scott!). When the kids and I were on the way back from sledding yesterday, they were talking about how they think they have the BEST dad in the world, because they haven't seen any other dads outside doing all the stuff Scott had done with them (snowman, snow fort, pulling them around the snow on the tube, making hot chocolate for them to drink in the fort). I have to agree!! He certainly added to the fun of the snowy weekend!! And yes, he really did make them hot chocolate and take it out to the fort for them. I came in the kitchen to see what he was doing and he had the cocoa all ready to take out to them.

Abigail doesn't have any snow clothes so we have mostly kept her inside throughout all the snow, but yesterday I decided that she has had to be inside TOO much. So, I put on her most sturdy sneakers and coat and mittens and we went exploring in the snow. She absolutely loved it. She threw her mittens off as soon as she could and got down so she could touch it and see what it was all about.

Stinker Abigail

2010-01-28T22:53:00.000-05:00

After I finished frosting Analeigh's cake and tore the label off the frosting can so I could get recipe ideas from the inside, I threw the frosting can in the garbage. We were all in the living room and realized Abigail had wandered into the kitchen, so Scott went to find her. He called me in there to see what she was up to and grabbed the camera. This is what we found...

At least the can was right on top!!

Oh, and for those who haven't seen (or heard)...Abigail got a new book to start studying...

She'll need it come early September!

Super Splendid Six-Year-Old

2010-01-28T21:58:00.000-05:00

Analeigh had a birthday last Sunday! She is now a big 6 year old. For the past few months she has been telling me that she didn't want to turn 6 because she wanted to be 5 forever. I don't blame her. Five is fun! But I'm sure she'll grow to love 6 too.

During her 5 year old year she:

*learned to swim without floaties and under water

*learned to ride her bike

*really started reading. She can read so well now!

*found out she has a couple of wiggly teeth, but they are far from coming out yet.

*started Kindergarten and riding the bus to school

*taught herself to hula hoop and loves to jump rope

She's so funny...she said she wanted to have a party, but that she didn't really want the guests to bring presents because she has enough toys already! Haha! What kid thinks like that?! Well, we decided to talk her into picking something special she wanted to do with our family on Saturday instead and then we had cake with one of her friends on her birthday (Sunday). She chose to go ice skating. We forgot to take our camera with us, bummer! Scott watched from the sidelines with Abigail while I skated with the kids. Both Alex and Analeigh took ice skating lessons back in Utah (what, 3 years ago now?!), so they were little at the time. But they did pretty good. They both ended up hurting their wrists pretty badly. They were sore for a few days after, but overall they had a good time! Sunday we had cake and she got to open her presents. Monday I was going to take cupcakes in to her class, but school was closed due to some flooding in the area. So, I took them in on Tuesday instead. They announce the birthdays over the intercom and give them a ribbon to wear which made her feel very special for the day.

She got tickets to go see the Broadway production of Annie from Grandma and Papa. In the picture she is reading them trying to figure out what it was. As soon as she realized what it was she was sooo excited. The only hitch is now she has to wait until March 1st, but she and I are going to have so much fun!

Grandma Sims sent her a cute jacket that she put on immediately and a gift card!

And Scott made her a bed for her American Girl doll and I made a quilt and pillow to go on it. Oh boy, did we surprise her! Julie had been sleeping in a box next to her bed for over a year, so we thought she'd be happy to give her accomodations of her own. Wow, that's a bad glare off the tv.

Her cake...

And the cupcakes for her class...

Celebrating at school...

Happy Birthday Analeigh!!

Highlights from Christmas

2010-01-07T22:55:00.001-05:00

*One of my best friends from Connecticut made last minute plans for Christmas that were going to take her and her family through Richmond (an hour away from us), so we met up with them for Christmas Eve dinner at Olive Garden. We had a great time catching up with them. Before we left for home we changed into our new sandman pj's for the drive home. We drove around to see if we could spot some fun Christmas lights (in sticking with our Christmas Eve tradition) and happened upon probably the best lights in Richmond! It was exactly what we were hoping to stumble upon...one of those roads where several houses in a row are all decorated extensively and everybody is driving really slowly past. So much fun!

*The look on their faces when their dreams came true! haha

*Analeigh opened this present from Grandma and Papa Waters and we teased her by saying, "oh, look you got your very own hairdryer." Poor thing took us completely seriously, and because it came from Grandma she was pleased as punch with it. This was taken before she found what was really in it...

...A beautiful new dress that she wore 3 days in a row after Christmas is what was really inside.

*Analeigh and I tricked Alex by wrapping his Bakugan from the girls in a washrag and then wrapping paper so he couldn't figure out what was in it. We obviously did a good job disguising it, ha.

*Sibling love!!!! She's holding a coupon book she made for him (their FAVORITE thing to give)!

*Scott grew a beard...and looked pretty darn good I think. Oh, and he got an awesome hat.

*Abigail fell in LOVE with her new baby doll from Alex and Analeigh...

*I love these kids!!!

*And Scott made a yummy breakfast for us!! (ha, I just realized that in this picture you can't even see any food)

*Other highlights include talking to our families on webcam! playing Clue! Christmas dinner at our friends and neighbors' house! watching Mr. Kreuger's Christmas! finishing our 12 days of Christmas activities! carolling at our neighbors' houses!

We got a LOT of snow!

2010-01-07T22:01:00.001-05:00

We got a HUGE snowstorm the weekend before Christmas, spoiling any plans for last-weekend-before-Christmas shopping and mailing and delivering. The whole city shut down for a few days. It started snowing Friday afternoon (12/18) just as I was picking up Alex from his after school team he is a part of. It started sticking immediately and before long we had an inch, 2, 3, it was falling fast! Many people got stuck on their way home from work and ended up abandoning cars EVERYWHERE. If you did not have a 4 wheel drive vehicle you were out of luck. I heard of people walking a couple of miles in the snow to make it home. Thank goodness Scott got out of work before the snow got too bad, and that we live close! We had a great weekend all snuggled in at home though. Besides the fact that we could not find Alex's snow pants anywhere, so he ended up wearing mine (ha! that was a sight! it worked though) and Analeigh burned her hand on the stove :( ,we were kind of glad for the snow-in. We were making hot chocolate on the stove after playing in the snow on Saturday. Analeigh came in to see how the cocoa was coming and stuck her hand right on the hot burner!!! I hate our stove!! It is one of those flat top electric ranges, and the circular burners don't even light up if they are hot! Makes me so mad. I have ruined a few plastic things by sitting them on a hot burner, and now her hand got burned. Her hand blistered up right away...4 fingertips, pointer finger and the top of her palm. We put an ice pack on it and gave her motrin and tylenol that night and expected her to wake up in pain the next morning, but she felt much better, the blisters were helping I guess. It's healing really well now.

We spent the next few days shoveling out and having fun inside playing. Our streets did not get plowed at all until Monday late evening. Scott was on call though, and it is a good thing we had shoveled our way out to the middle of the road because he got called in for a heart transplant Sunday middle of the night. So, he made it to work but most of the rest of the city didn't go back to work until Tuesday or Wednesday. We had lots of fun in the snow....for a while anyway. I think we are all ready for it to disappear now that it has been sitting around for weeks.

We don't have any snow clothes Abigail-size, so she got to watch from the window. Plus, she would have been buried in it. The other kids had a hard time walking in it.

Sold

2010-01-06T22:34:00.000-05:00

I actually sold a couple of rocking chairs. And gave one away to friends and made another for Abigail (those aren't pictured here...I didn't take photos of those). I'm bummed that my camera doesn't do a really good job of capturing the colors of these chairs. It just makes pastel colors so bland and then the red one looks so orange...and it didn't even hint of orange. Oh well, I am proud of how they turned out. Analeigh LOVED the fabric for the light pink chair cushion. She wants me to make something, anything for her out of it, haha.

2009-12-24T14:30:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends!!!

We love you and miss you, especially at this special time of year.

Jolly Old St. Nicholas...

2009-12-17T23:03:00.001-05:00

obviously doesn't make Abigail too jolly...

Here, Alex is feeling sorry for his baby sister and trying his best to help her out. Analeigh just really wants a good picture...

Don't worry, these are the only two I took then I quick saved the baby! She very rarely gets too upset, so you know she was not loving the jolly elf.

More November

2009-12-17T22:44:00.000-05:00

The end of November brought another belt ceremony for Alex (he earned his camo belt), and a great Thanksgiving! We make a Thankful poster as a family every year. We always have too many pictures so we do both sides.

Analeigh made a cute picture of our Thanksgiving dinner. We were invited to go to our friends' house for Thanksgiving dinner this year. It was fun to have somewhere to go, being so far away from family. They have 4 kids, so our kids had a great time playing. We've obviously been away from family on holidays for a long time because Analeigh actually cried when I told her we were going somewhere else to have Thanksgiving dinner this time. She is used to just being with our little family and she was worried they might not have all of the usual Thanksgiving food dishes that we make (rolls, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole). After I assured her that almost everybody has those foods on Thanksgiving she warmed up to the idea of leaving our house to spend the day with another family.

I took Abigail grocery shopping to buy what we needed for Thanksgiving...umm, apparently someone needed a nap, ha! She was out like a light for most of the shopping. What a sweetie! As long as she has that blankie, she is happy anywhere!

Alex receiving his camo belt...go Alex!

2009-12-17T22:12:00.000-05:00

Variety Show 2009

2009-12-14T23:59:00.001-05:00

So, I better catch up on this here bloggity blog. The time between Halloween and Christmas is so busy it just FLIES by!
Well, in November the kids participated in their elementary school's Variety Show. They went to watch the variety show last year with Scott. I had just had Abigail so I had stayed home. But Analeigh could not stop talking about how she wanted to be in it when she started Kindergarten. Every day on the way to preschool she would talk about what song she was going to sing when she was in it, and what it would be like, and we would listen to different songs and she would "practice" and sing along. Well, somewhere along the year she fell in love with the musical Annie. She loved watching it and listening to the soundtrack. Finally she started Kindergarten, and as soon as she heard the variety show was coming up she asked if I would sign her up for it. She had decided she would sing "Maybe" from Annie. Well, I was a little (ok, more than a little) nervous for her, but did not want to discourage her from something she had set her sights on so long ago. So, we signed her up and practiced at home. Meanwhile, Alex decided he also wanted to be in the variety show, so he was working on a plan for himself. He had great plans to do a little funny skit with one of his friends. He really had it all planned out well (they would plan it on the bus on their way home from school), but his friend ended up not being able to do the skit with him. He was really bummed, so I suggested he do his own thing...a comedy act. He loves telling jokes and getting people to laugh, so it was right up his alley. Well, both kids worked hard to get ready for the show. The rehearsal came and I was very interested to see how it would go (especially for Analeigh who has not been up in front of people much before). They did great!!! Analeigh got to have another rehearsal when her teacher asked her to sing for her class so that they would all get a chance to hear her. The night of the show finally came. Both kids were very nervous and jittery with excitement. And they did AWESOME (if I do say so myself)!!! I was a very proud mama!! Analeigh was the very first performance of the show, and she opened it up perfectly. And Alex provided some much needed comic relief around the middle of the show (you have been to an elementary school talent show, right?). It was a great night.
It's too bad these are the only pictures I got of the evening!! I must have been nervous or something......Oh, and I will post a video of their performances in the morning. It's too stinkin' late tonight, I need to go to bed.

Halloween

2009-11-07T16:08:00.000-05:00

We had a great halloween! October was a very busy month for us and it ended just perfectly! Alex had a soccer game in the morning. Afterwards we went home and started preparing to carve our pumpkins (we got our pumpkins about a week earlier after hearing about a habitat for humanity store here in town that had a huge load of pumpkins dropped off there. They were giving them away for FREE. They had around 1000 and were telling people to come get them, so we did. Of course we left a little donation for the habitat house). Anyway, Scott got online and looked up some jack-o-lantern stencils and we found some super cool ones for our jack-o-lanterns. Analeigh drew her face the way she wanted hers to look and Daddy was able to help her make her jack-o-lantern turn out just right (he is the pumpkin expert around here).  We think they turned out pretty great! Then we got our porch set up for the night, got everyone in their costumes and made pumpkin milkshakes before heading out the door.
We did some trick-or-treating and went to a house in our neighborhood that had set up a "haunted yard" in their backyard. I expected it to be a little cheesy, most likely done by some teenagers or something. The closer we got to it I could tell it was better than that. EVERYONE in the neighborhood was there.  It was obviously done by some Halloween loving adults, and it was great (and free!).  Alex was with his friends at this point, but I wanted to see it, so I talked Analeigh in to going through with me if I held her while Scott waited with Abigail. The lady who was letting us in secretly warned the people inside that it was a little one coming through, so they went easy on the scaring. But it was awesome...coffins, a spider lady, all kinds of fun. It would be so fun to go all out for Halloween like that. I made Scott go through by himself just so he could see it (as brave as Analeigh was, she didn't have any desire to go through again, ha). After the haunted yard I took the girls home so we could hand out candy and Scott went around with Alex and his friends. Analeigh had lots of fun handing out candy...she loved that job. I think I'll do that with her next year instead and have Alex split his trick-or-treating candy with her (yeah, right...it might be worth trying though!). And Abigail had her first lollipop, and oh my goodness, she wouldn't even give me the stick after it was all gone. She had to lick it one more time!
I love Halloween!

Our Sweet One Year Old!

2009-11-02T19:14:00.000-05:00

Our little sweetie is ONE!!! We had a party for her the night before her birthday (so that neither the holiday nor the birthday got overshadowed), and it was perfect. We had our friends over who have a boy who turns one in a couple of weeks. We had dinner, opened presents, and then ate jack-o-lantern cake. Before our friends arrived I let Abigail help me open her gift from Great Grandma Sims. She got two pair of the cutest socks and a $1 bill (thanks Great Grandma!). She had the brightest smile ever and held on to BOTH pair of socks AND the money and wouldn't let go for the longest time. It was too cute! So, later, when she got to open MORE presents she was so happy and excited for each one. Thanks to the Grandmas and Papa for the really cute clothes and fun toys. Alex even had Scott take him to the store with his own money to pick out something for her. He was adamant that he needed to get her something. = ) Analeigh made her a beautiful picture too! We gave her a ride-on/walker toy (it seems to be a tradition for our kids to get one of these for their first birthday's...and they all love them!). She has had sooo much fun with it so far and it really has encouraged her to start walking around more since she has something to hold on to. Analeigh loves it too, and it's funny to see Abigail defending her toy. Analeigh has to either be playing with Abigail with it or play with it while Abigail is sleeping because Abigail doesn't let anyone else touch it yet, haha (no, really, she is the sweetest thing, but she really does love this toy!).

At One Year Old, Abigail:

is standing on her own and walks with assistance
LOVES graham crackers
can say mama, dada, anna, alek (once, but we're counting it...that's a hard one!), hi, nods her head to answer yes, shakes it for no, waves bye-bye, blows kisses, gives great kisses, signs more
Is not a picky eater and has eaten all veggies and fruits we have given her with no problem
is a mosquito magnet
loves being in the baby backpack
has 4 teeth
is taking a shorter nap in the mornings and a longer nap in the afternoons
still sleeps through the night
adores her brother and daddy and loves any attention they give to her
craves the companionship of her big sister...they love spending time reading together
is a mommy's girl
is starting to want to feed herself (messy mealtimes, here we come)
HAS to take all of the movies off the shelf everyday or her day is not complete

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABIGAIL!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Abigail in the swing at the playground

2009-10-29T16:26:00.000-04:00

This should have gone before the last post...oh well! Here's our little sweetie!

For the Beauty of the Earth...

2009-10-29T16:17:00.000-04:00

Going for a Sunday walk on the Monticello trail...

Gorgeous!

Rolling down the hill

I LOVE the Fall!!

My favorite picture with my favorite people!

If you walk the whole trail it takes you up to Thomas Jefferson's famous Monticello. Last year at this same time of year I became very familiar with the trail as I would walk it constantly with Coldplay on the iPod trying to walk Abigail out of me! Ha! It didn't work though. Now I put her in the backpack and carry her up it and she loves it! Luckily, Scott could do the carrying this day!

Playing at the Neighborhood Park

2009-10-29T15:42:00.000-04:00

We should have gotten a picture of us playing tetherball since that's actually our favorite part of playing at the playground. That and 4 square!

Alex's 9th Birthday

2009-10-11T15:09:00.001-04:00

Alex's birthday was last weekend. It is always a struggle to celebrate around the general conference schedule. This year we decided to let him invite his cub scout friends to go miniature golfing with him. He LOVES going mini-golfing and had been begging to go for quite a while, so we thought he would love that idea. We had the party at 10am (since conference starts at 12:00 out here). One of his scout friends was sick and ended up not being able to come, so we had 3 boys there plus Alex and of course, Analeigh. They all did really well and took turns golfing nicely. What cute boys! Alex even got the first hole in one! Yay Birthday Boy! I was impressed with how well Analeigh was doing too, and she ended up getting a hole in one!!

Then, last Wednesday he received his Wolf Badge in Cub Scouts! Way to go Alex!

2009-09-29T11:09:00.005-04:00

I have so many things I SHOULD be doing right now, but I keep thinking it is about time for a proper update on here. So, here goes...

Third grade is really suiting Alex! He is having a really good year so far. We are making sure he has plenty to do to keep him engaged and learning, which makes a huge difference for him. He is funny and comes up with great plans and ideas. He gave a great lesson for our family home evening last night about obedience. I hadn't had time to help him come up with a lesson, so I told him I would just do the lesson. He had just gotten home from soccer practice and we were going to start right after he got cleaned up. When he came out he told me he still wanted to do the lesson and he just needed to find one of the Friend magazines that had the story he needed in it. I was so impressed. He did so great.

He also just had tae-kwon-do testing again and passed and is now a Yellow belt! And he finished all his requirements to get his Wolf badge in Cub Scouts. Plus the Leave No Trace Awareness patch and SEVERAL belt loops and arrow points and the summer activity pin. He is now on to work on his Bear requirements!

Analeigh is busy in Kindergarten! She is having lots of fun. I have been going in to eat lunch with each of the kids once a week or two weeks. It is always entertaining to eat with the kindergarteners. She has a cute little class, and her teacher always tells me how much she enjoys Analeigh (which I love!). She loves to help me cook or whatever I'm doing. She gets a lot of joy from drawing and coloring and uses it as an outlet. She can tie her shoes now! And she is reading more and writing on her own (sounding it out, then writing how it sounds). The day at school gets a little long for her and she wishes she wasn't gone so long, but she mostly enjoys it.

I can't believe Abigail is almost one!! She is standing on her own now, so it won't be long before she takes off on those two little feet! We have a great time together during the day. I LOVE her kisses, and when she blows them to me. She is the cutest little clapper you've ever seen. She loves pat-a-cake. She even claps when she hears people cheering on the tv, haha. She loves to pat Alex on the head. It seems to be her thing with him. The big kids get such a kick out of her and get so excited when she does something new. Fun!

I am trying to get more of those rocking chairs made and planning to get in on the holiday city market here. Hopefully I can sell some rockers!

We have had lots going on every weekend and the weeks are always busy! The weather has been NICE. We are grateful for that. We are really looking forward to the leaves changing in the next month!! We plan to get some family pictures taken outside while the leaves are in all their glory. We'll be sure to post them when we get them done. It probably will be around Halloween.

She got her face painted at a Work Picnic/BBQ that Scott took the kids to while I was in DC at the temple. She was so sad to have to wash it off.

Analeigh took this one at the tae-kwon-do studio

Alex and his instructors

Getting his Yellow belt

Rare moment

Scott heard a funny crunching noise coming from the kitchen area and went to investigate and found this:

The Finished Product

2009-09-20T22:16:00.005-04:00

What do you think?
The fabric (I LOVE) - I don't think the other pictures do it justice so I had to get a close up.

Back View

It is a nice light sagey green color, but it is hard to tell in the pics

Different lighting

Service For Pres. Monson's Birthday

2009-09-20T21:38:00.001-04:00

Anybody see this? Yep, we're famous.
http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/57808/Birthday-gift-Do-something-for-others.html

Something I'm working on

2009-09-10T11:05:00.005-04:00

I am working on making little rocking chairs. I'm not finished sanding and painting and everything yet, but I wanted to show my mom how it was going (she made these same chairs when I was little and sent me the pattern). I'll post a picture when it is ALL done too.

I just had to add this little cutie too...she's teaching herself to play already, heehee

Kindergarten

2009-08-26T11:20:00.002-04:00

I sent my little girl off to all day kindergarten today. Go get 'em, Girl!!!

Luckily, she has a good big brother who is VERY eager to show her the ropes!

Here comes that big Yellow bus!

And like many other moms before me, I had to follow her to school on her first day to get some pics (she's funny, she didn't even try to talk to me, she just smiled and waved)!

And now I am home with the babe in a very quiet house....