Twelve!

Oh my gosh, I can't believe my big girl is so big! Ryann turned 12 yesterday! It was so fun that her birthday fell on a weekend - we spent the whole day celebrating! She & Daddy went out to get doughnuts, then she opened presents after breakfast. One of her presents was matching flip-flops for the two of us and mommy-daughter pedicures. It was Ryann's first pedicure and she loved it! She got over $200 in gift cards from Mom & Dad, friends & grandparents, so after our matching pedicures, we went shopping at the mall. Old Navy is her favorite and she picked out some cute outfits. After our shopping spree, we picked up Daddy & the other girls and headed over to VillaSport for some swimming. (We are SO loving our new membership!) The girls had a great time in the pool! Ryann picked a new Thai restaurant for dinner and I was so proud when she ordered her Pad Thai extra spicy. :) It was an awesome day and so fun to get to spend it with my best 12-year-old friend! I love you kiddo and am so looking forward to spending lots more fun girl-time together!

Happy Birthday Baby!

Party Girls

Ryann & her friends at her birthday party Friday night.

More Dance Pictures!

Ryann's Ballet - these are my favorite.

Madi's Tap & Jazz

Skye's Tap & Ballet

Ryann's Musical Theater

Five Months Old!

My sweet baby is 5 months old today!! I just hate the way it's going so fast! But every day she gets cuter, chubbier & more fun! At 5 months, she still loves to nurse, loves her Exersaucer, loves her sisters, can pick up & hold her toys, can roll from front to back & back to front and can sit unsupported for a few seconds.

Today seemed like the perfect day to do this tag from Maelynn...

10 Things I Love About My Baby:

1. I love her chubby, chubby, chubbies!
2. I love her sweet little voice, her adorable talking & her delighted little squeals.
3. I love her laugh.
4. I love her chubby little warm feet.
5. I love her huge Baby Shamu smile.
6. I love that she always stops crying as soon as I pick her up.
7. I love kissing her big chubby cheeks.
8. I love the feel of her little head in my hand.
9. I love holding her, nursing her & the way she still feels like part of me.
10. I love her happy, relaxed, easy going nature.

I love that I have a baby that I can write this about! I'm so blessed.

Bayli was much more interested in her cool new shirt than her photo shoot - gotta love a girl who loves fashion!

Dance Pictures, Day #1

We got the first proofs back from Picture Week!

Here's all three of my tiny dancers...

Ryann's Rhythm Tap

Ryann's Pre-Jr. Ensemble Tap

Pre-Jr. Ensemble Jazz

Madi's Musical Theater

School Stuff

Ryann and her best friend Claire made this aesthetically pleasing machine for 6th grade (with a little help from Daddy, who Claire calls "Mr. Dude") - it catapults marshmallows into hot chocolate...
So exciting! Skye gets to be Star of the Week in Kindergarten! We got to make this fun poster to go up in the classroom. It's so hard to get time to scrapbook with my new little one, so I had fun getting my scrapbooking fix here...

I don't have a picture, but Mad is working on a mystery book report for 3rd grade & gets to be Line Leader this week! :)

Disney on Ice!

We had so much fun yesterday at Disney on Ice - Finding Nemo. The girls all loved it, even Bayli! She sat in my lap completely enthralled - she didn't even budge for the first 20 minutes! Madi & Skye convinced me to buy some $10 cotton candy and we got a free Nemo hat... It was a great family activity and I was so impressed with the creativity of the costumes and the choreography! It made me excited for our trip to Disneyland next spring! Here's my kiddos having fun...

Picture Week!

Next to Rehearsal Week, Picture Week at our dance studio is the busiest and most stressful of the year! I have to preface this by saying that my girls love dance and this is totally their idea... But their love of dance does not equate a love of tights & itchy costumes. My sweet hubby tells me not to let it stress me out, but for anyone that has ever had the joy of putting several small children in itchy costumes & uncomfortable tights, doing their hair & makeup & cramming them in a minivan full of tutus, you will understand that this is completely unrealistic! I always love the pictures afterwards but the process is absolutely not fun! I actually did take a video of Skye & Bayli crying in the car on the way to the dance studio, but decided to post this cute picture of Skye from my friend Amy instead... (I love the cute gap-tooth smile!) I'll post all the girls' pictures when I get them back.

My 100 -

I got tagged by Alisa to write 100 things about me. Sadly, I don't have her insight or eloquence, and I couldn't make it to 100, but here's my best... :)

1. Some people think I'm a picky eater because I don't like meat, but I've never met a vegetable I didn't like.
2. I met my handsome hubby in high school and have spent more years of my life with him than without him.
3. No one makes me laugh as much or feel as happy as my happy hubby.
4. I absolutely loved being pregnant.
5. I wish I could have met Steve Irwin.
6. I am an impatient driver & drive too fast.
7. I've gotten several speeding tickets.
8. My hubby bought a radar dectector & put it in my minivan (see #7).
9. I find this (#8) a little embarassing...
10. I love foreign foods - especially indian, thai & greek.
11. I wish I could dance but I have NO rhythm.
12. I love the way my sweet 6-year-old makes me pictures every day. :) They all say "Skylar Love Mom" (her way of saying to Mom, Love Skylar)
13. I really appreciate my super handy hubby - he can fix anything!
14. I am a cake snob - it has to be really good - and my favorite bakery just closed.
15. I am a clean freak - it's a truly difficult thing to be with 4 kids...
16. I'm also a germaphobe, especially where the baby is concerned.
17. All four babies slept in bed with us.
18. I've had 2 home births & all four babies naturally - it's so empowering!
19. I am a huge advocate for natural childbirth, midwives, attachment parenting & breastfeeding.
20. I think the best thing you can do for your kids is trust yourself and follow your instincts. You know your child better than anyone else.
21. I LOVE to go to the movies, especially on a hot date with my hubby!
22. I hate horror movies & refuse to watch them - not only do they scare the crap out of me, but I hate allowing such evil things in my head.
23. I make calendars for my girls every year that have all my favorite pictures, quotes, experiences & memories of them for each month.
24. I love to shop, especially for clothes.
25. I excel at finding excuses to do something fun. My kids know this about me and totally milk it - "Mom, since it's the second Tuesday of the month and I got an A on my spelling test last week, can we go out to lunch?..."
26. I am extremely picky about what my kids are allowed to watch. I love that their favorite TV show right now is "I Love Lucy"!
27. It drives me crazy when people don't use their turn signals.
28. I love to scrapbook.
29. I love my camera & take it almost everywhere.
30. I am afraid of forgetting all the beautiful little moments with my kids.
31. Holding my sweet baby makes me feel complete.
32. I love to read! I've read in bed every night before I go to sleep for as long as I can remember. Since Bayli was born, there's been many nights I've fallen asleep with the book in my hand & the light still on, but only one that I was too tired to even open my book...
33. I love The Office!
34. I still check on all of my kids every single night before I go to bed (and make sure that they're all breathing!)
35. I prefer overcast days - they're so peaceful & relaxing.
36. I love walking my kids into their classrooms every day. I cried when I had to start dropping them off instead because of our stupid, stupid mold problem that threw our school-life & life as we knew it into a state of complete turmoil...
37. I love rainstorms - I usually open the front door to let the sounds & smells in.
38. My worst pet-nightmare came true twice when I had to put both of my dogs to sleep this past year (Casey in August & Toby in January). They were my first babies & it was completely heartbreaking.
39. I never go outside without my sunglasses on. Never.
40. I adore my Mom and wish she didn't live so far away.
41. I have a B.A. in Psychology.
42. I was seriously considering graduate school but decided I would rather stay home & have babies.
43. I'm addicted to fantasy books - wizards, magic, dragons, etc. - it's such a complete departure from reality.
44. I have an early-bird baby - I really miss sleeping in!
45. Family traditions are super important to me.
46. I love the holidays & pretty much countdown to Thanksgiving & Christmas starting on New Year's Day.
47. Every pregnancy, I thought I was having a boy.
48. I never got to use my awesome boys' name - Nikolas Strider
49. I really love chocolate.
50. My cousin Christine taught me to drive in her little red car, the summer I came back from Germany.
51. I fall asleep every night listening to white noise.
52. I love looking at Pikes Peak every day.
53. I've been going to a chiropractor regularly for 13 years.
54. I broke my toe on Madi's suitcase when we were in Denver on a family vacation. We were on our way to Six Flags & I knew the kids were excited to go, so I spent the entire day walking on it and hoping it didn't get stepped on in the crowds.
55. I'm so lucky to have two really awesome sisters-in-law- I love them both!
56. I'm a really loyal friend.
57. I feel like a bad mom because I've never taken my kids to Disneyland. (We are going with my parents next spring - hooray!)
58. I used to want to work as a prison psychologist.
59. I love Sea World - Shamu is my favorite.
60. A Toyota Sequoia is my dream car.
61. I love the ocean.
62. I have to live someplace that snows.
63. The Lord of the Rings trilogy are my favorite books. It's still bothers me that so many people first experienced Tolkein through the bad movies that didn't come close to doing the books justice.
64. Ryann & I are both huge Harry Potter fans!! We were at Barnes & Noble 'til 2:00 am the night the last book came out. I love sharing that with her.
65. I love playing board games and am always on the lookout for the best new game. I almost always buy Games magazines Game of the Year.
66. I had braces twice for a total of 10 years and have had three root canals.
67. I'm adopted and thankful to have ended up where I did. :)
68. I really just want everyone to be happy.

I tag Erika & Maelynn. :)

1st Lost Tooth!

My little Kindergartener lost her very 1st tooth this morning!!! :)

Sweetest Surprise

I had a complete emotional meltdown Monday morning, mostly due to a horrible night's sleep and four blissful newborn months of trying to do it all by myself. Instead of getting grumpy or having me admitted, my sweet hubby was super understanding and made me feel SO much better. That night he picked Ryann up from Rythym Tap for me, and came back with this...

Definitely a keeper. Thanks Baby for being so sweet & understanding! I Love You!

Thanks Jessica!

I have to say thanks to Mindi's friend Jessica who is responsible for my super cute new blog look! I totally love it! You're so talented!

Check out her cute business, Scrap-n-Scribe.

Field Trip!

Skye & I had the most fun today when I got to be a chaperone on her field trip to the Garden of the Gods. We saw a fun slideshow about all the wildlife that lives in the park, then got to take a beautiful walk in the gorgeous spring weather. It was Bayli's 1st real outdoor adventure! I was looking forward to watching her happily absorbing all the wonders of the great outdoors, but our walk happened to take place right at naptime, so she was less than enchanted... She was hungry & tired, and I actually spent the entire 40 minute walk nursing & carrying my sleeping 17 lb. chunky! Even still, it was SO nice to spend the morning outside in the sunshine with my sweet little girls!


Sorry to disappoint, but I am sending my hubby to Madi's 3rd grade class on Friday for the sheep eye dissection and I know he won't be taking any pictures...

Got Milk?

My sweet, chubby baby had her four month check-up yesterday. Like always, I was dreading the shots and the accompanying fever & fussiness :( but excited to see how much my little one has grown. And even though I know she is One Chunky Monkey, I was completely floored to discover that she is seventeen lbs.! Seventeen! At 4 months old! That explains why she doesn't fit into her 3-6 month old clothes... That puts her in the 97th percentile for weight. At least she's proportionate: her height is in the 90th percentile and her head's in the 93rd. She's just one chunkalicious baby:

For the sake of comparision - at 4 months, Ryann was 12 lbs. 13 oz., Mad was 13 lbs. 14 oz. and Skye was 13 lbs. 13 oz...