Sadie's Princess Teeth

Last Wednesday, Sadie was put under general anaesthesia to have some dental work done. We got there at an early 5:30 to get everything started before the procedure. We opted to get it done when she was asleep because she had some extensive work to be done, like 5 visits at the dentist worth. We also did not want her to have bad feelings associated with dentists. We told her she was getting princess teeth because she got crowns. In all she got 5 fillings and 3 silver crowns done. Now, before you pass judgement on me and my family for not taking care of her teeth, I would like to say some words defending myself. For the last year we have brushed her teeth 3 times a day. We floss her teeth, and before that we brushed twice a day since she was 1. The dentist thinks she has a higher bacteria count in her mouth and that the teeth that have crowns on them now had flaws in the enamel because she believes the cavity started from the inside out. The other thing is that I have crappy teeth and my mother has crappy teeth, so now I think Sadie has inherited those crappy teeth. Now you can judge.

And you can definitely judge this. Nate and I partook, as Sadie was having her procedure done, on this doughnut the size of half a loaf of french bread. Sadie did so well with everything that happened. She was happy and never once got upset about anything going on (except for her saying she couldn't wait another second for her popsicle after the procedure was done). The only thing she complained about later that day was that her gums were a bit sore and she had a cut on the inside of her cheek. I was so relieved that everything went so well.

Happy Half Birthday!

Juliette is already 6 months old! It has gone by so fast. The girls and I celebrated by making cupcakes. Even though Juliette didn't get any, she pulled a fast one on me and got her little fingers in the frosting as I was taking the picture. Here are some of the things she is been up to.

She can sit all by herself, but not lately. She wants to move so badly that she leans forward, gets up on her toes and goes onto her tummy. She also wants to see what everyone is doing, so she knocks herself over as she tries to turn to see us.

She likes to breath in and out of her nose really fast and loves it when we do it back to her. She is a very smiley baby, but it takes a lot to get her to laugh. She does not really giggle or squeal. She is very quiet. We get comments about this a lot. She does her share of crying (in the car and nap time) and she has times of the day when she babbles, but she does a lot of listening without making a sound. We will be at friends houses and they will say that they forgot she was even there because she is so quiet.

This little girl has her front two bottom teeth. They are cute, but she can sure bite.

The last few days she has started scooting backwards when she is on her tummy. She really wants to get somewhere, but sadly she is moving in the opposite direction. I guess it is about that time that I need to figure out my stair situation. Juliette has been a great addition to our family. We all love her sooooo very much.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving with my family this year. It was such a beautiful day the kids played on the play ground and we even ate outside. I thank Heavenly Father ever day for the life I have. I am so blessed to be able to stay home with my kids. I may complain at times about my three girls, but I would be nothing without them and they really are great. I hope to find joy in them and my life everyday, have a more positive attitude, and have a thankful heart because I really am blessed.

Katelyn is 6!

We had a great day with Katelyn on her birthday. She started the day off with Chocolate chip banana pancakes. She was excited that she got to go to school on her birthday.

We made some Hello Kitty cookies for her class. I think they turned out super cute. Katelyn was so fun to watch at school handing them out to all her friends.

After school she had two of her friends come play. That evening we had a family party. Grandma P, Grandma and Grandpa Thompson, and Sarah's family came.

Katelyn loved all of her gifts. Sadie asked where hers were.

The Hello Kitty cake and cupcakes turned out really nice.

We finished the night by playing some Just Dance.

When I was one, I had just begun.

When I was two, I was nearly new.

When I was three, I was hardly me.

When I was four, I was not much more.

When I was five, I was just a live.

But now I am six, I'm as clever as clever,

I think I'll stay six

Forever and ever.

Please do Katelyn!!! I am enjoying her more every day. She is sensitive, caring, and thoughtful. She is so smart and is reading extremely well. She is so creative and is always playing make believe. She is super silly and playful. I would no longer call her shy. She is a people pleaser and is really responsible. We love her so so so much. My life would not be the same without her.

Happy 6th Birthday Katelyn!

Trick or Treat

We had an awesome Halloween this year. The girls decorated two of our pumpkins that we grew in our garden. There was parades, parties, trunk or treating, food, dentist appointments, real trick or treating, costumes, a surprise wedding, and candy candy candy.

Our Witch

Katelyn was so excited to go back to school after being out for a week for fall break. They had a school wide parade and a class party.
We had ourselves some Mummy dogs for dinner.
She was all ready to go trick or treating with Dad.

Our Rapunzel

Sadie had long golden locks for her costume. We braided it so it would be a bit more manageable.
She got good at using her frying pan as a weapon. Good thing she didn't have it with her at the dentist. Instead she screamed her head off and kicked her feet and didn't let anyone come near her. It made a mother very proud :( She is sure a feisty girl.

Our Pumpkin

Hanging out with Katelyn
Juliette is getting to be such a big girl. She is now 5 months old and is sitting up all by herself. She is definitely drooly and we are awaiting a tooth. She is unbelievably lovable.

Our Jolly Green Giant and Candy Corn

Nate handed out treats at the trunk or treat and I had to bribe kids just to take a picture with me.
After a long night, the best part is sorting to see what everyone got.
We really did have a great Halloween. It is so fun to see the kids get so excited. We were so excited to hear that my brother and long time girlfriend surprised everyone and got married all dressed up as Gnomeo and Juliet. I love you Travis and am so glad that you and Tara did it the way you wanted. Happy Halloween!!!

RUGGED

I'm a couple weeks late on this, but I'm going to blame that on my work computer since it died on my trip last week. As long as it's in before Katelyn's birthday I'm good, right?

Anyway, a couple weeks ago I participated in a little event called the Rugged Maniac. The Denver version was just your standard 5K run across a motor track through old tires, under barbed wire, over walls and, of course, through lots and lots of mud. I signed up for the 10:30 wave with 17 others that made up our team, the Mormon Maniacs. It was the most difficult fun I've had in a long time.

There really isn't a very good picture of the whole course, but even if there was, it wouldn't do it justice. There were some pretty mean looking hills, but you couldn't really get the full effect until you were struggling to run up or down them. Even walking was difficult at times because the ground was rutted with motorcycle tracks and you had to be really careful where you put your feet.

The whole course was ups and downs, but the first hill took me by surprise and I ended up sprinting down just to keep from doing somersaults. Then it was nearly straight up the next hill before the other obstacles hit...

The taller walls had a "helpful" board for the shorter people, but I ended up helping a few because it got so muddy and slippery that it really wasn't that helpful.

One of the concerns was that the race was in the middle of October and that it would be cold. Well, the weather was nice enough, but that's barbed wire we had to go under and the water felt like mountain runoff so we got our cold experience.

The end of the race was marked with a big slide into a pool of water with buoys to go over or under. It was very nice of the creators to give a place to clean off and it worked pretty well. If only I could see what way I was supposed to go...

Here is most of the group. As you can see, we made up matching shirts with our team name and slogan on the back. The race advertised a free beer for each of the runners so we on the back of the shirts it said "Mormon Maniacs" and then below "you can have my beer."

It was a lot of fun and most of us can't wait to do it again next year.

Time Out

Last Friday and Saturday I attended Time Out for Women with my sister and mom. We had a great time listening to speakers, music, and laughing. Juliette was so good. On Friday night she got really tired and cried a little, but Saturday I didn't have to take her out once. She was perfectly happy sitting with us, eating, and napping. All the speakers were wonderful. The highlight for me was listening to Hilary Weeks sing. I love spending time with my mom and sister and are so lucky to live close to them.

Our very own Wendy

This beautiful girl is my niece Anya who is now 10. We were able to go see her last week in her first ever play. They put on Peter Pan and she was Wendy.

Friends and Family all waiting for the play to start.

Anya did a great job. This was Sadie's first play and she loved it. She is now coming up with all sorts of ideas of what play she wants to be in with Anya.

One of our days

Our day starts by walking Katelyn to school. Kindergarden starts at 9. Katelyn rides her scooter and Sadie rides it home. Juliette usually takes a nap on our walk home.

While Sadie plays and I clean, Juliette sucks on a finger or two. We pick Katelyn up from Kindergarden at 11:45. The afternoon consisted of nap, quiet time, homework and/or watching something.

We also get a lot of show productions at our house. We have dinner when Nate gets home and some time in all this we have:

Tummy time!

After dinner we go ride bikes and then when the sun goes down the kids go to bed and I relax.

Four months and sick

Juliette has been sick for the first time. She coughs a lot and has been really congested. Sadly I added to this problem by taking her to her 4 month appointment and getting 3 shots. She was a bit cranky that night. I think it was the first time she has really screamed and been unconsolable. We felt awful that we couldn't help her feel better. Other than that, she has been doing great. Her stats are:

Weight: 17lbs 10oz (99%ile) Height: 26.4in (98%ile) Head Circumference: 41cm (59%ile)

Am I suprised that she is 17 pounds? No. I carry her around all day and try to fit her in clothes. Plus all my babies have been similar. At 4 months Sadie was 18lbs 13oz and Katelyn was 16lbs. I love those cute chubby legs.

A few weeks ago Nate called me to bring the camera. I found Juliette with a bubble hanging off her lip. It was pretty cool.

The amazing bubble

My First Crap Ever!

It's not very often one gets to celebrate a Bag of Crap. In fact, yesterday I got to have my very first experience. For those who may be unfamiliar, I will try to explain:

There are many different websites out there that offer deals on a variety of products ranging from paperclips to sports cars, but my favorite is Woot. It is a site that offers a pretty good deal on generally one item every day until they sell out. Shipping is always $5 regardless of the item and most of the time the item is some sort of electronic doohickey. There are also spin offs of the site focused on shirts, kids and other deals. Anyway, occasionally the warehouse gets full of random items or the people running the show want to have a little fun so they offer what is officially known as a Bag of Crap (though it goes by many other names as well). Inside the “bag” are at least three items for $1 each. Add the $5 shipping and you have $8 of excitement. You never really know what could come in it and it is usually just what it says it is, but they sell out in a mater of minutes because there is always an off chance that something inside might actually be worthwhile. There have been rumors of televisions, iPods and various other items.

I joined the Woot community in April 2006 and regularly check the site to see what’s there. I have been trying to obtain my own Bag of Crap for nearly that long and achieved that dream yesterday. Here’s what was inside:

2 - Wibby balls, one zigzag and one noodle
1 - Furniture polish kit
1 - Reusable bag with a lobster on it
5 - Polo shirts size small (I generally wear at least a large, though I was able to put one on!)
And
1 - 4 channel DVR surveillance system

The surveillance system was quite a surprise. I was a little disappointed that they took out the hard drive, but it was a lot better than a bag of rocks. Otherwise, I was very happy with my first experience. Hopefully I will have another chance (and that my wife will continue to be okay with me spending money on something actually labeled “crap”) and to those who are still in the pursuit, I wish you the best of luck!

Growing fast

Cleaning and scrubbing

Can wait 'til tomorrow...

For babies grow up

We've learned to

Our sorrow...

So quiet down cobwebs...

Dust go to sleep...

I'm rocking my baby

And babies don't keep!!!

My baby turned 3 months today. Here are some pictures from this last month that I wanted to share.

Playing is really hard work.

Her hair is so fuzzy. All of us can't stop rubbing it.

She just started putting weight on her legs. She loves to stand now.

In this picture you can see her birth mark. It is the dark spot on the back of her left hand. She loves to suck on her hands and just a few days ago started to suck on her pointer finger. Juliette even giggled for the first time today. We love her to pieces.