It's a Party!!

Nearly everyday the girls throw a party. This means that every blanket and pillow in the house is draped over one of the girls' beds. Then a variety of stuffed animals, dress-ups, and whatever else they are in the mood for ends up piled as high as they can get them. Then they sit on the bed and tell stories, play games, and giggle. Ashley always includes Justin in this. Now he asks, "upstairs, party?" to Ashley. He loves being involved in this kind of stuff. They are cute kids. They play so well together and have endured the endless hours of being home amazingly. I am grateful.

Mia just might be the happiest baby around. She loves to smile and has started cooing. She is getting big way too fast. I love babies. We're excited to drive to Utah tomorrow and show her off. It is 50 and sunny here today, but we hear a storm is coming. I'm not brave enough to cross Wyoming in a storm, but all of our presents went home with Melanie and Jeff so we need to make it there before Christmas. Hopefully we make it quickly and safely. I am busy packing today and getting everything taken care of. It's quite a bit of stuff for a family of 6.

Another shout out for the Odyssey to hold it all.

Santa Crafts

The girls are very into crafts. The joy of crafts never ends. I am amazed at Ashley's creative side and I admire Katelyn for her ability to concentrate on something for so long. She can outlast me, and she's 3. Ashley built an entire jungle gym out of paper for her little dog toy. It was so great. And she made a crab out of a pie tin, complete with bendy legs and eyes that stick up. Yesterday she made a ladybug that actually looked like a lady bug. It was the same size and quite the accomplishment. Today we did some more santa hat ornaments. The girls love these. They get to trace their hands, cut them out, and then glue all the peices on. They can do these without any direction. Ashley is upset that the cheeks on hers aren't under the moustache (my fault, since I told her to do the moustache (is that how you spell that?) first. I'm grateful that today's craft didn't cover the kitchen floor in glitter, but the glitter snowflake crafts are quite fun as well. If you look closely you can see that the girls did their own names, with the date. We have these from last year as well. Ashley is great, but I was impressed with Katelyn for writing her own name, even though it's backwards. They are in their leotards, since we had gymnastics today. It was quite exciting since Mia pooped through her outfit and Justin spilled the graham crackers and then make nice little crumbs out of them. I make quite the spectacle wherever I go. I get this, "Wow, you have your hands full" everytime I go anywhere, and I mean anywhere, even church. This is a personal favorite, "Wow, are all of those yours?" To which I nearly always reply, "Why in the world would I be in Walmart (or insert other store name) with this many small, crying children, if they weren't mine?" If I'm in a better mood, I smile and explain how lucky I am. Which I am. Just not when I am in walmart. That place makes me irritable.

Justin

Justin is too young to be talking like he does. For example, this morning our conversation is as follows:

Justin: "The fish died."
Me: "The fish died? Really? Are you sure?"
Justin: "I don't know." Which I love to hear him say. He says it like this, "I nun know."

Later in this morning to Hans:

Justin: "Knock. Knock" (And this is annunciated perfectly)
Hans: "Who's there?"
Justin: "Orange."
Hans: "Orange who?"
Justin: "Banana." This followed by lots of laughter.

What 20 month old does this? I love that he can talk. It's quite funny.

Katelyn is also quite advanced for her age. (It's my blog, so I'm allowed to brag) Her pre-school teacher says she hasn't seen a child quite so ahead of her age. She can write her name, speak perfectly, and carry on complete conversations. She's been doing this since she was barely 2. Lots of the kids her age still don't do this. I guess that is more normal. She started going to Ashley's CTR-5 class with her since nursery is filled with babies. (Says Katelyn) Nevermind that 4-5 of the kid are her same age minus a few months at the most.

I can always brag about Ashley. She's great. She had two parties yesterday. She can't wait to go to Utah.

The kids had such a great time with Melanie and Jeff. They are so great at loving our children. We are really hoping they move here.

Beautiful Mia

Mia has such big beautiful blue eyes. How's that for alliteration. Is that the right word? She's such a great sport with all the car trips and my "hold on, just a minute Mia" that happan all day long for her. She is learning to self-soothe, as a result. Which really is a great skill. I wish I could learn to self-soothe sometimes. I just end up eating half a pan of pudding brownies or running myself to death on the treadmill. Luckily they end up counteracting each other, but I'll try and take a lesson from Mia. Why don't we all?!

December 11, 2007

It's been an eventful week and a half. Ashley was able to perform in her Nutcracker and did a great job. She concentrates really hard while she's dancing. She was able to be the leader and show the rest of the girls how to do the dance moves, so she felt proud, as she should. It was fun to watch her dance. I think the most fun part of the recital is the make-up and costumes. Following are some pictures of the girls in all their make-up. Pretty cute. Katelyn is with her friend Claire, who she plays with often, as she is in her pre-school, playgroup, and gymnastics classes. Ashley is with Kaylee, her very best friend, who she plays with often, as she is in her ballet and kindergarten class. The girls are lucky to have nice girls to play with here.

Justin amazes me with his language skills. He says things like, "ice cube, please" when he gets any food item, since he knows the girls ask for one when their food is too hot. He always says thank you when you give him something and lately he is really into whole wheat banana muffins. He at 6 in about 5 minutes. I was very impressed. He still is into telling me, "Don't want it" when it refers to any clothing item, but we are improving. He loves playing with his bikes and trains and loves to read books. He can identify the most random animals thanks to Ashley teaching him and he loves to count. He says, "one, two, one two" in a very pretty southern drawl. He still wanders the pews in church asking everyone and anyone for candy, and you'd be surprised at how much candy he can collect. He loves nursery. He is a very cute boy. I love the way he says towel, shower, all done, all gone, monkey, show (he asks me - "watch a show, please", which he doesn't actually watch), shoes, snow, and boots. He loves to wear his sister's snow boots and especially Katelyn's new silver sparkly shoes. He cries when she puts them on. I'm tempted to buy him his own pair. I get lots of laughs over his hot pink snow suit. He still attracts attention whereever we are, as he loves to drag behind the grocery cart. It makes maneuvering the cart pretty tricky. I've entered the world of needing two carts when I shop as I need one cart to hold all my kids. I can fit a gallon of milk and some bananas in the cart with the kids, but that's about it.

Mia is officially two months old and such a cute baby. We went today to the Doctor. She is 9 lbs 2 ounces and 21 inches long, putting her at the 10th percentile for both. She is a perfect baby in everyway. She smiles all the time now and showed off her new talent by smiling first at the doctor and then for the medical assistant about to poke her with 4 needles. She handled it all very well and is sleeping peacefully. She is starting to fill out her newborn diapers and clothes. She has outgrown almost all of her preemie stuff. I love having a small baby. I can't believe she has grown 3 1/2 pounds in two months. She's about doubled in weight. She is a great eater and sleeper. The kids still love to hold her. Justin especially. If he's not following me around saying, "hold you" he's sitting by Mia yelling "hold her" repeatedly. She is a well loved baby.

We miss all of you!

Mia's Blessing

Mia was blessed today. She slept soundly through the whole thing. Hans did a great job blessing her and it gave us a chance to talk about what we want for her in this life. And mainly all we want for her is to have a testimony of the Gospel. Hopefully she does! She is such a sweet girl. She has brought a lot of Joy to our home already. A lot of panic too, in taking care of 4 small ones, but mostly joy! It was nice to have Grandpa Egbert to stand in the circle, along with some good friends - Damon Pullman, Mike Duncan, and Dave Losser. We've been blessed with such wonderful friends. It's so nice to have a ward where everyone is so incredibly nice.

We've loved our ward here. Hans blessed her that she would have a love for the Gospel, that she would have a positive attitude and a joy for life, that she would know that we love her and that she has a Father in Heaven who loves her. I can't remember too much beyond that since Justin was crying for Daddy the whole time. I still haven't figured out what to do with him during church. But it was a great blessing and nice to share the day with the Pullmans, who blessed their son Liam. I'm grateful for Mia. I was able to play Mary in the nativity scene at our Relief Society party and hold Mia while Hans stood next to me as Joseph. It was such a great reminder of the true purpose of this life and a chance to just hold Mia and to look at her. I love her a lot. It takes more effort to just sit and hold her, so when I get to, I'm filled with love for her. She's a great addition to the family!!

Following are pictures of my cute kids.

Gingerbread Houses

We had another successful year making gingerbread houses. It's a fun project. Justin thought the whole thing was too good to be true. I didn't make him a house, so I used the leftover peices and made him a small one so he could frost it and decorate it with candy. They all did a great job and were proud of their work. Candy torments Justin and now I get to endure the month of asking for candy at the gingerbread houses. There is so much candy from Halloween until after Christmas. I think you can learn a lot about someone's personality by the way they pile on candy for this kind of project. Ashley is very methodical. She takes her time and makes sure the house looks just perfect. Katelyn, on the other hand, hoards as much candy as possible and piles it all on at once. She wants to make sure everything is fair, meaning she has more candy then anyone else. She stuffed a good amount of candy inside her house. Justin just eats it. He ate cinnamon bears for breakfast. Grandpa and Grandma Egbert have been here for the weekend. We decorated houses, bought our Christmas tree and decorated it, and played a lot. Grandma brought beads and the girls spent hours making necklaces, bracelets, and anklets. They have incredible stamina for that kind of thing. We're looking forward to Christmas and spending some time in Utah. It's been two years since we've spent Christmas with extended family and the girls' are are really excited. Ashley wants to do ski school and Katelyn wants to play with her cousins. It'll be so nice to have that time with Hans as a family. He's been SO busy. I've seen him more this weekend then I have the whole past month. I like having him around!!

My Cute Reindeer

Ashley makes such a cute reindeer. She is getting excited for her performance in the Nutcracker where she stars as a reindeer and a spanish girl. Her costumes are so cute. She's happy her hair is long enough to get into a ballerina bun. She has enjoyed ballet so much and has learned a lot. She is excited to start gymnastics next week. Justin just pulled Mia off the couch. There is no safe place for baby Mia. What should I do?! Ugh. I try telling him no, but it doesn't stop him from doing it again. Luckily, she seems okay. My heart always skips a beat when he tries to hurt her. Back to Ashley - she's been such a great helper to me. She is such a sensitive soul that I worry for her with her friends. She got her feelings hurt by her best friend Kaylee and it breaks my heart to see her so sad. I'm not sure I'm ready for this part of parenting. I think it's easier to change diapers then to try and explain how some people aren't nice, but since we're Egberts we always need to be nice. And Ashley is. She wants everyone to be included and feel a part of things. It's amazing to watch her do this and she's only 5. Any suggestions on how to deal with kids not being nice to my sweet Ashley? It's oh so frustrating.


I finally got my van back last night. I missed it! They washed it and vacuumed it and I am so happy to open the doors from my keys and tell the kids to climb in and buckle themselves up. I'm all about convenience and comfort. You moms with big, cooler looking cars, reconsider the minivan!!


Justin loves to talk on the phone. He has dialed all sorts of random numbers. He says Hi and then hands it to me and says, "don't want it." He's so particular. We walked to the park yesterday and he went barefoot even though it was freezing. He hates socks, jackets, and anything that touches his skin the wrong way. Everything kind of bugs him. So he follows me around whining telling me how he doesn't want it. It is impossible to get anything done with a 1 year old. He has learned to tell me he loves me. That erases all the whining...well, most of it anyway:)

The First Smile

There's something so special about that first smile. I love it! I think it's because the smile is so big and goofy and makes me feel like there's a reward for all the work I'm putting into this tiny person. Mia is such a great baby. She is on a great schedule and is not fussy at all. She smiles at everyone and loves to cuddle. What more can you ask for from a baby?! She weighs in at 7 1/2 pounds. I've finally scheduled her to go to the doctor when she's 2 months old, which is next week! I've tried limiting my trips to the pediatrician as much as possible. I hate going there!!

Here is a picture of Katelyn at gymnastics. She's a superstar. She does every move with grace. It's amazing. She has quite the crush on Zach, her teacher. I love the smile she gives when she talks about going to "nastics." We are keeping her going until she gets bored. I doubt that will ever happan! She gets to do flips and cartwheels, backbends and backflips, and many other acrobatic moves. It's very impressive. I can't believe that she is almost 4. What a cute girl. Everything she says is preceded by, "And yes, I do want ice cream." Or "And yes, I do need to go to bed." etc. Very fun.

November 18, 2007

I've had yet another one of those weeks. But I feel hope for this week, thanks to Hans giving me a nice blessing. I seriously don't think I would survive without his help, his holding the priesthood, and the gospel. How do people without these things survive? Every ailment had an upside. I got to have two two hour appointments at the endodontist having a root canal. It did put me out of my miserable tooth pain and the Dr. did it for free. Which was SO nice. I also had several people babysit my kids. And Mia did just great drinking a bottle and my friend's children are all grown so she was more than happy to babysit. Very nice as well. Then the crazy pain from my stupid husband spraining my rib is going away thanks to the nice chiropractor in my ward popping it back into place. And then today I woke up and fit into my clothes again thanks to the stomach flu I got on Friday on the way home from the chiropractor. Justin had it on Wednesday and Katelyn on Monday. Ashley and Hans have escaped it. Mia threw up once. She seems fine now though. So that was my week. Crazy. My OB also refunded me the money Hans spent on the wrong prescription. I was so happy about that since I was so mad at her for it. She was very professional. Hans made the call since I wouldn't have been too nice about it. I think that's all. Attached are pictures of the kids. One is of Justin with mascara all over his face. While I am nursing Mia, he likes to destroy my house. He knows I am not capable of stopping his mischief. Which may be better then him standing at my knees and screaming every time I feed her. He came down today, handed me the tube of mascara, and said, "pretty." He sure is. Luckily for me it wasn't waterproof since he dragged the tube down the stairs. There's a lot of mascara everywhere. Then when I finished cleaning that up and came back downstairs he had dumped out a box of cereal for me to clean up. He's a pest. But a very cute, loveable one. Mia is growing. She is very cute. We all love her. The girls are great. I love them incredibly. Ashley was a star at her thanksgiving party singing songs and Katelyn had a fun party as well. We are looking forward to having this week with no where we have to be at. Hans is busy. He had one day last week where he broke even so we're happy about that. The future looks bright:) We hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. I'm grateful for all of you!

An Ode to the Minivan

The door fell off my minivan while I was trying to get Mia out of the car at Walmart. It is in the shop. I fit all the kids in the civic so we could make a trip to Mr. Biggs just to get out of the house. Driving that car, which I love since it reminds me of my college days, is not the greatest when you need 4 carseats. I don't recommend it. So this is my ode to the minivan. I love it. I love it. I love it.

Starting a Blog

I've decided to join the trend of blogging. We'll see how it goes!