Soren's first haircut

Soren got his first haircut yesterday.  He was definitely more mellow than Asher was...no tears.  Now he looks so much older!  Not a baby anymore :(

For a fun comparison, here's Asher's first haircut pictures at about the same age.  Think they're related? ;)

Asher is five!

Happy birthday to my not-so-little-anymore-man, Asher.

Asher, you are such a smart and inquisitive little boy.  I can't wait to see you go to school next year and make lots of new friends as you navigate this great big world.  A few things for you to remember about yourself as you turn five:

• You are full of energy and constantly on the move.  Running, jumping, moving...that may explain why you're always hungry.  Seriously, like every 5 minutes: "Mom, I'm hungry".  Not three minutes after we clean up breakfast: "Mom, I'm hungry."  
• Speaking of eating, you're a little pickier eater than Reese but you love quinoa and rice.  You also like macaroni and cheese, most fruits, a few vegetables :)...
• You like to help cook and bake when we're in the kitchen.  You pull the stool out and position it by the mixer and you like to pour all the ingredients into whatever we're making.
• You're a great helper with Emily and Soren.  You like to entertain them, too and them love playing with you.  You and Emily are good buddies; she tries to keep up as best she can.  Soren adores you and likes it when you laugh and play with him.  You can make him giggle pretty easily.
• You and Reese play together a lot, and fight A LOT.  It's about 50/50.  You get on each other's nerves, which is understandable.  But you actually play together pretty well, too.
• Your favorite color is red and if we'd let you wear your red tank top and red shorts every day (yes, even in the winter) you would.  [We don't, I promise.]
• You like to wear your "tools" on a belt around your waist.  Sometimes they're just tucked into your pockets or your waistband, sometimes you actually put a string or belt on.  The tools can be actual tools or pencils or whatever you feel like putting in there.  You're always interested in what Dad's doing when he's fixing something or putting something together.  You will probably start to take things apart soon that we don't want you to take apart.  Can't wait. ;)
• You seemed a bit concerned about going to school next year.  When we took Reese to visit her classroom this summer, you were relieved when I told you that you didn't have to go yet.  Just  a few months later, however, I think you're getting ready and will be happy to go come September.  
• You're still a bit shy around new people but you're getting past that some.
• You and Reese still share a bedroom and we can hear you chatting away a lot of the nights after you're supposed to be sleeping.  You ask lots of questions and sometimes you're ok with Reese's answers and sometimes you have to ask Mom or Dad to get the "real deal".
• You still like to cuddle with Mom and Dad, which we love.  I hope you always do, although I'm sure there will be a time when you won't.  Until then we're going to enjoy it!

Asher, you are a sweet and handsome little man and we love you very much.  It's hard to believe that 5 years ago it was -26 degrees as Daddy drove me to the hospital in labor (from Auntie's house where we were staying at the time).  You have grown into a tall, curious, fast-moving, loving little boy and we can't wait to see where the next 5 years take you.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Happy Second Birthday Emily!

Happy Birthday to our not-so-little-girl Emily.  I am a day late in posting this but Emily I wanted to mark down a few things about you at 2 that might be fun to remember when you get older.

• You are a very "spirited" little girl.  You are definitely in the "no" stage of saying no to everything, testing us, running away when we ask you to come to us for something.  It's certainly normal behavior at this stage and we've seen it before (looking at you Reese and Asher) so we're just hoping your "terrible twos" don't last until 4 like Asher's did ;)
• You still have a small red streak in your hair (at about your crown).  We sometimes call it your Anna streak (after the Frozen character that gets a white streak in the movie).  I hope you always have it as it appears to be the only redhead we're going to have.
• You may be our most athletic child at this age.  You love to throw and kick balls and you seem to have a pretty good arm.  We'll see if that remains as you get older.
• You have started talking so much in the last few months, really putting together sentences and asking for things.  You love saying "Hi Dad" or "Hi Mom" or "Hi Soren" when we pick you up from daycare.  You like to sing your ABCs and count the stairs when we go up and down.
• You never sleep in the car.  After a long evening at Auntie's house, for example, the other three kids will easily fall asleep on the car ride home.  You, however, never do.  You're just hanging out waiting to get home.  That being said, you're a pretty good sleeper and sleep well in your crib.
• You really like books and will tell us to "sit down" on the couch and then bring over a book to read.  You like Reese to read to you, too.  Your favorite books have animals, particularly puppies in them. Sometimes you call any animal a "puppy" which is pretty cute.  You know all the animal sounds, though, and will tell us what they are when you see one.
• You're still wearing your glasses and we're actually still patching your left (dominant) eye every other day for a few hours just to be sure your non-dominant right eye is getting a chance to develop.  The eye surgery you had in May worked really well and you really can't tell any dominance just by looking at you.  Hopefully these things will get your eyes developed fully now while you're young.
• You seem to like having Soren around for the most part and often go over and try to play with him.  You don't always know that you're playing hard or you get frustrated with him and push once in awhile.  He is fairly laid back and tolerant and will often giggle when you're around or when you start laughing yourself.  I can tell the two of you are going to be close as you get older, which will be fun to watch.
• You love playing with your big brother and sister and are finally old enough to do most things with them (e.g., play outside, play in the playroom, color).  You and Asher seem to have a special relationship, probably since you're both still together at daycare every day.   But you also love seeing Reese and I can already see you are looking up to her as a big sister.
• You're a great eater and sometimes can outeat your siblings.  You like to shove a lot in your mouth at once, though, so we have to keep an eye on you.
• You're more into babies than Reese was/is.  You have a few of them and like to carry them around.  You got a new one for your birthday with a carrier and you like to play with your babies and put them in the carseat and the high chair.
• You have a love/hate relationship with Lindsey's pet lizard she got this year.  You are fascinated by it and want Lindsey to take it out of the cage but you also get scared when it gets too close to you (not a bad trait to have!)

It's hard to believe that two years have gone by since you joined our family (even harder to believe you have a 10 month old brother, too!).  We are so lucky to have your adorable smile and spunky personality as part of our clan.  We love you very much and can't wait to see you grow and change (but not too fast, ok?)

Love,

Mommy & Daddy

Halloween and Nana's visit

Halloween was surprisingly warm and the kids enjoyed trick-or-treating without gloves and boots for a change.  Asher, Reese and Emily were Kristoff, Elsa and Anna from Frozen along with 80% of other kids between the ages of 4-8.

 One of the few pictures I got with all 4 of them in it.

 Reese entertaining the post-Trick or treating party- with a rendition of Let it Go (of course)

 Once in awhile I get brave and give Emily and Soren a bath together.  This time it went relatively well.

 Mom (Carolyn) came to visit on her way to Arizona.  We had a great visit and she timed it well as the day after she left it snowed and dropped to -2 degrees.

We celebrated Emily's second birthday last weekend while Mom was in town.  She loved all of her gifts and her cake!

Daddy reading to the kiddos

 Strength training toddler style

 another from Halloween, barely got them all into the same picture

 Soren has started crawling after months of simply rolling everywhere.  He loves his new freedom and has started to explore the entire house.  our new challenge is keeping him from eating every book, paper and plastic toy in sight.

 He's also gotten another tooth (middle top) and is enjoying eating bananas and Cheerios with the big kids

 Reese really likes reading to Emily (and Soren)

Early October update

So I missed September...

I didn't really miss it.  It happened and life was busy as usual.  So busy that I never got a chance to update the blog.  Sorry.  So here are some updates from the last 6 weeks or so:

• Reese started 1st grade; she loves her teacher and talks about all the friends she's made.  She's also learning to really read, which is so fun to watch.  Emily has also entered a stage where she loves books so it's great to watch Reese read to Emily.
• CK turned 39 and is enjoying his last year of his 30s ;)  His parents are making great progress on their house and are hoping to get it ready for possible move in by the end of the year
• We've been trying to enjoy the last few days of fall before winter hits.  We've actually had some flurries already but this week has been in the 70s and beautiful.  The kids are enjoying going on hikes on the property and playing in the backyard.
• I've been traveling all over the place with lots of sales meetings and projects in Boston, Minneapolis, Phoenix and LA.  
• Soren isn't crawling quite yet but he rolls everywhere and manages to get around pretty well by just doing "the roll".  He's definitely growing and is up a few times a night to eat.  Where's that kid that slept through the night at 4 months?  He's also giggling a lot and is particularly "tickled" by things his siblings do.  Sometimes he just cracks himself up and starts giggling which is pretty adorable.

Happy 6th Birthday Reese

Reese,

Six years ago I became a mother to the most beautiful baby I had ever seen.  I can’t believe you are starting first grade, learning to read and teaching your brothers and sister everything you know.  Here are a few things I’d like to remember about you as you turn 6:

-You had a great first year of school and loved your Kindergarten teacher, Ms. Mihelish.  So much so that this year when I asked you what you wanted to be when you grow up you said, “a  teacher.  And also a Mom.”  J

·        - You have been begging us to let you go to McDonald’s.  We’ve explained that the food there isn’t very good nor healthy for you but you really, really want to go.  Not sure if it’s the forbidden nature of the place (from our standpoint) or good advertising.

·         -You’ve starting reading books to Emily (now that she wants to sit still long enough to listen) and it’s pretty adorable to watch.

·         -You love arts and crafts and anything that involves using tape, glue, glitter, paper, etc.

·         -You’re pretty adventurous and like to try new things.  You even did the ALS ice bucket challenge with Grandma, Grandpa, Daddy and me (google that)

·         -You love to swim and be in the water.  You and Asher took swimming lessons this year and you did very well, jumping in, going under water and swimming around (with a life jacket on).  You scare us because you think you can swim now and don’t realize that you really can’t. J  When we went to the lake and the ocean (at Nana’s in Rhode Island) this summer you stayed in the water the entire time until we had to drag you out.

·         -You still love to dress up and usually have at least 3-4 outfits on a day.  When you come home from school or day care you immediately put on a princess dress.  You usually ask to borrow my shoes and I let you wear “the flat ones”

·         -You’ve become really helpful in the last few months, helping with the babies and starting to sweep the floor and clear the table. 

·         -You love to sing and talk to Soren.  You try to help with him a lot and you often try to pick him up even when we tell you not to.  You’re really just trying to make him feel better by picking him up when he falls down. 

·         -Your favorite movies are currently Frozen and Aladdin.  The former came out this year and you now have it memorized and regularly sing the songs and say the dialogue without the movie on.  The latter Nana introduced you to while we were in Rhode Island this summer.  When Robin Williams passed away, they played it over and over again and now you’re hooked.

      -You still like rainbows and would probably say that rainbow is your favorite color :)                                              

             It is so much fun to watch you grow up, just don't do it too fast, please!  We love you very much.

               Love,  Mommy and Daddy

First Day of School 2014

Reese started first grade on Wednesday.  Her teacher is Mrs. Bubb who took over last minute for another teacher who is getting treatment for a serious illness.  Reese had a great first week and was able to celebrate her birthday with her class yesterday.  This is her last first day of school "alone" as next year she'll have to share the picture with Asher :)

Rhode Island vacation

We flew to the East Coast last week to celebrate Mom's 65th birthday (and her retirement).  We had a really great week and the kids got to meet all of their new cousins.  Below are some pictures from the trip.

3 of the 4 2014 babies...Elijah (blue chair), Hunter (brown chair) and Soren rocking it in the pink chair

 Hunter

 Soren all smiles

 another view

 Asher as a lobster at the clambake club

 Emily wanted in the picture, too

 Soren, Charlotte and Elijah in their "I love Nana" shirts

 Soren and Elijah bonding on the floor

 Grace decided to join in the fun

 Reese with the sandwich hug

 Nana and Soren

 The Jenga champions Michelle, Sarah and Fred

 Soren sleeping in the cradle that my grandfather made for me 36 years ago

 Reese and Asher tuckered out after a long day playing with their cousins

 The 2014 babies- Michelle with Elijah (4 months), Nana with Hunter (10 weeks), CK with Soren (7 months) and Fred with Charlotte (8 weeks)

 Jeff and his mini-me

 Fun with Sarah and Fred

 The kids loved the beach, although I think CK liked playing in the sand as much as they did!

 Jeff taking his turn at baby-watching duty

 Doesn't everybody wear goggles in the ocean?

 Emily searching for...?

 Emily buried in the sand

 and after

 Reese riding the carousel

 Asher too

 Grace and Jeff

 Cousins

 Emily and Grace are about a year apart in age

 Soren was tuckered out after a tough day

 Soren and Elijah spent a lot of time "talking" about life in their chairs

 Reese and Grace had so much fun playing together

We had an amazing time and it was so good to see everyone.  Our trip home was a bit rough, however.  Here's the breakdown:
Wed. 715a- leave Nana's in Newport and drive 4 hours to Newark
drop off the rental car at the offsite rental car place and board the shuttle for a ride to the airport with 4 kids, 3 suitcases and 4 carseats
check luggage and go through security; get to our gate at Newark
mechanical delay of 1 hour- still think we can make our connection in MSP
mechanical delay extended to 3 hours- realize we'll definitely miss our connection
get rebooked out of MSP Thursday morning (to SLC and then home to Helena); Delta offers hotel room in MSP due to mechanical delay- not great but not terrible
2 hours later Delta tells us there are no hotel rooms in MSP anywhere (all sold out) so they need to send us to SLC instead (so they can put us up in a hotel room).  Catch is that the Newark-SLC flight in sold out so they need to book us on the JFK-SLC flight at 8p EST
go to baggage claim and get 3 suitcases and 4 carseats
load 4 kids, 2 adults, 3 suitcases and 4 car seats into a minivan taxicab and ride in rushhour traffic through NYC to JFK
arrive JFK and re-check 3 suitcases and 4 carseats
grab quick dinner at JFK before departing
4 hour flight to SLC; arrive 1130p MST
check with Delta desk in SLC to get our hotel voucher (that they promised us in Newark) for the night since our flight to Helena was not until Thursday at 11a
SLC Delta agent laughs and says there are no rooms available anywhere in SLC because there is a convention in town.  I ask him what he expects me to do with 4 kids who are now way overtired and starting to melt down
He gets a Delta red coat (customer service agent) who is very nice but not very helpful.  Says they told us incorrect info in Newark (really?  thanks, I already figured that one out).  In the meantime I called 3 hotel chains I use in SLC often and they were all booked so at least Delta was truthful.  He finally offerred us the unaccompanied minor room in the C terminal where they house kids traveling alone who have long layovers.  It had 2 small cots (child size) so we made the best of it.  The kids actually got some sleep.  CK and I, not so much.  It was also freezing in the room.  Anyway, we made the best of it and eventually got home 35 hours after we left Nana's.  The kids had an adventure and CK and I made it through.

It certainly didn't ruin our vacation but it's good to be home!