First Day of 2nd Grade!

Where is the time going??  I have a 2nd grader!!  What??????

I totally forgot to take these in front of our house (our grass is actually green lol) but I remembered to take them before she got to school!  

After we started to walk back home Beckah started to cry saying we had to go back and get Cadence because she missed her to much.  I have a feeling it's going to be tough when Rory goes to preschool in a couple weeks.  

I'm so proud of Cadence!  She is growing up to be such a wonderful young woman and I am so thankful that the Lord sent her to our home.  I look forward to seeing how she will learn and grow this year!  

Our July Trip!

We took a family trip back to Las Vegas to visit our family at the beginning of July!  It was very fun.  One of the best parts was getting to see Brady's oldest brother, Colin, and his family.  The are Army and we haven't seen them in three years!  They had never met Beckah or Owen in person.  It was so wonderful to see them and play with cousin's Saylor and Paisley.  They have grown so much!  

Brady had to fly home after the first week, which was sad.  The second week the kids and I got to spend the week in California with my parents, most of my siblings and niece and nephews. We spent some time on the beach and went to Lego Land, the San Diego Zoo, and Sea World!  

Sunset on the beach in San Clemente

We went to Legoland first.  Shortly before we entered the parking lot to Legoland, Beckah threw up all over the place.  We ended up having to take her car-seat apart and clean the cushions in the bathroom of the park.  We also had to buy her a new shirt and borrow some extra shorts my sister-in-law, Megan, had for her son, Liam. I'm so glad she had them with her! Not the best way to start the day.

When we got into Legoland we went through their aquarium first.  It was pretty nice and the multiple touch tanks were definitely a hit with the kids! 

While eating lunch Beckah managed to tip her chair over and hit her chin on the T bar of the stool behind her.  At first we thought she was fine.  It happened really quickly and no one really noticed that she had actually hit something on her way down.  I noticed she was bleeding a few moments after sitting her back up though and thanks to quick action by my parents and sister we had ice and towels in quick order and off I took her to the first aid building in the park.  The medical personnel were wonderful at Legoland.  I didn't really get a good look at her chin until we to the first aid building and I was shocked at how deep the cut was.  They offered to refer us to the hospital to get her stitches (which would have really complicated things with the my other kids since we just got to the park and coming back another day wasn't going to happen) or they could steri-strip it for us right there and we could stay at the park.  The medic told me that either way she was going to have a scar, but that if we could keep her hands off of the steri-strip and keep it dry for at least three days it would heal very nicely.  We chose the steri-strip, mostly because Beckah was so calm at the first aid building and getting it placed there was less likely to upset her.  She held perfectly still for him to clean and sterilize the area, apply the glue and place the strip.  Then they covered everything with a big butterfly band aid.  The medic said Beckah was the best patient he has had in a long time. He sent us off with a goody bag of first aid supplies and a dose of Motrin in case Beckah started to hurt.  

Ouch! 

There were lots of rides at Legoland and tons of awesome stuff built out of real Lego's!  Cadence was having the time of her life on all the roller coasters.  She's a girl after my own heart that one.  Rory was scared, but grandma convinced her to try small coaster and she was hooked after that!  Beckah went on every ride she was big enough to ride.  Watching her stick her hands in the air on the little train and squeal was so fun!  Even Owen got to ride a few things.

Cool Lego Spider that was easily as big as a Smart Car. 

Beckah did so good letting me change band aids and never once played with her chin.  The next day was Owen's first birthday and we spent the day at the San Diego Zoo!  We got lost in the Lost Forest and never did see the Gorilla's.  We saw quiet a few amazing animals, but the highlight for my kids was the Polar Bear.  It's Rory's favorite animal and it was all they would talk about most of the day.  They got their faces painted and we celebrated Owen's birthday with some ice cream!

Beckah the Butterfly

Birthday Boy!!

Cadence the Cat

Birthday Ice Cream!!

Rory the Tiger

I think we wore them out...

The third park was Sea World.  It was really packed at Sea World and we didn't get to see as many shows there as we would have liked.  We did see the Shamu Show and we got to watch the dolphins in their tank while they played with toys and had some interactions with people.  We also touched sting rays and saw beluga whales and more polar bears!  Cadence and I got to ride the big roller coaster in the park a couple of times and the younger kids loved the Sesame Street play area! 

Hanging with Grandpa waiting for Shamu to start!

All in all it was a really fun day.  It was nice to just spend the day at the beach on Saturday though.  It was a super fun week in California, but I was glad to head back to Vegas. 

On the way back to Las Vegas we blew a tire on the van.  It the radial part of the tire tread just peeled off like an orange. The rest of the tire stayed inflated. It was super weird and shook me up pretty good.  Thanks to my parents and a good manual we were able to get the spare on the van and made it to Baker where we were able to get a new tire.  The inside of the wheel well was duck taped back in place and the only thing with issues was my left turn signal in the front wasn't working.  Back in Vegas we had a mechanic look at it and it was a surprisingly simple fix.  Considering how much damage could have been done we were very lucky.  He fixed things up and secured things very well for us so we could drive home to Omaha safely.  My van has some cosmetic damage but other than that it's good as new. 

Brady's mom, Suzi, was kind enough to make the long drive back with me and the kids.  She stayed for a few days after we got back too which was wonderful!  

We had a great adventure but it was so nice to get home to Brady and our own beds!

Cadence's Piano Lessons

Cadence is taking piano lessons.  We gave her the option of picking what instrument she wanted to play and picked piano so she could play like her Grandma Vivian.  :o)  She is doing exceptionally well.  She started lessons in October and has been flying through her first set of books.  I am very impressed with how willing she is to practice and how easily things come to her.  She loves her teacher and is looking forward to performing in the recital that is coming up soon. 

Cadence's 7 year stats

Cadence had her well check today!  She is growing as always.  She is 54 pounds and 4 feet 3 inches tall.  Another 13 inches and she will be as tall as I am.  She aced her vision test which was great news to me.  Brady and I both started having vision trouble about her age.

Cadence has been complaining about her eyes feeling funny and the room spinning a couple times a day.  I thought it was related to the recent cold/cough we all had but even though Cadence has been feeling good for a couple of weeks now she still has this dizziness going on daily.  The doctor told us that her adenoids were very swollen and she has a lot of fluid trapped in her tubes/ears.  Cadence couldn't get the to "pop" when the doctor had her plug her nose and blow.  He is going to have her take some Zyrtec every day for a while to see if that will clear it up.  He is sure once we get her ears clear she won't have the dizzy spells anymore he also thinks her adenoids are swollen in relation to her ears and all the fluid/nasal drainage.  We will go back in a month to make sure it is getting better.  I hope this takes care of the problem for her!

Other than that she is perfectly healthy and above average!

Cadence's Birthday Videos and Pictures

Here are pictures of Cadence's Cake and us singing to her!  

We also have some video of her bowling (her activity of choice for her birthday!). 

Cadence is 7!

My oldest baby is 7! Time is going by much to fast.

Cadence wanted to spend her birthday with just family.  When I asked her if she wanted a party she told me that she just wanted to spend the day her family.  She said, "It doesn't matter if you get presents or not, just that you get to spend time with the people you love."  She is such a good kid.

So we spent the day together.  Cadence slept in and then we went bowling.  I made home made strawberry cake with vanilla frosting and it was super yummy.  She did get presents.  She has been asking for her own Minecraft account for a while (it's a computer game Brady plays...like Lego's on steroids on the computer). She also got a Furby and a big remote controlled HexBug from the grandparents.  She had an awesome day, despite Beckah getting bit by the cat and having to go to the ER that afternoon.

My computer is down or I would have new pictures of her for this post.  Once we get it running again I will put new ones up!

Happy Birthday to my Cady girl!  You are wonderful, sweet, responsible, and amazing!  I love how much you love to be with your sisters and brother.  Thank you for being such a wonderful daughter and here is to many more awesome birthdays!

Cady loves him...

And he really loves her.

Rory said it best.  After dropping Cadence off at school in the morning, Rory looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, "Mom, Cadence is an AWESOME big sister."  It's true.

Cadence is so grown up.  She often picks Owen up for me and will rock him, cuddle him, and talk to him for me.  He laughs and grins and giggles for her (and all the girls really).  It's so sweet to watch them together.

And here is a rare smile.  He smiles and laughs a lot actually, but the second I get the camera out he gets his serious face on and stares that big black thing down!  :o)

Halloween 2012

Halloween was super fun this year!  We had a Minion (from Despicable Me), Merida (from Brave), and She-Ra Princess of Power (from the TV show She-Ra)

Cadence made my life easy and bought her costume this year.  I'm glad she choose this route because I barely finished the other girls costumes on time!  

 

She didn't want to wear the red wig that they had available to purchase (it was itchy so I don't blame her) so we bought a can of red hair spray and curled her super short hair.  I think it turned out great though it did take three rounds of shampoo to get that stuff out of her hair.

Rory has been begging to be She-Ra for Halloween for most of the year.  She watches the show on Netflix any chance she gets and we have several foam swords that make acting like She-ra very fun for our girls here at the house. I knew that I was going to have to make this costume and it wasn't super easy. 

This is the first time I have used the applique stitch on my sewing machine.  I bought the leotard, appliqued the star/flower thing on and added a blue stone we found in the jewelry making aisle at Michaels.  The skirt and belt weren't too hard (I attached them to each other).  Heck even the cape was pretty easy (it attaches with velcro on the shoulders).  The wrist cuffs were the second hardest part to sew.

The headdress/crown thing was a bit harder.  I lucked out and found a foam crown at Michaels in the glittery gold and found some 8x10 sheets of the same gold foam on the next aisle!  I cut the pointy parts of the crown off and made the wing shapes and then hot glued them to the crown.  Add the red stone (also found at Michaels) and we were golden!  ;o)  

I was pretty surprised by how many people knew who Rory was.  Most of them were of my generation or older and it was cute to see faces light up and say, "Hey! It's She-Ra!!"  

Beckah was easier in the sewing department.  Couldn't find a yellow hoodie for her in her size anywhere so I made one out of some fleece.  The goggles were a whole 'nother story.   Lets just say that I got lucky with these steam-punk googles we found at Nobbies.  They had black lenses in them that I popped out.  I was just happy that she kept them on.  

Pretty much everyone knew who Beckah was the moment they saw her.  Everyone LOVED her costume and I think she is the darn cutest Minion I have ever seen. Despicable Me is her favorite movie right now.  She will sit and watch the whole thing over and over again if we let her.  It's handy for when I need to get things done...like sew a minion costume.  

My girls.  They brought home more candy than we bought to give out.  It was insane. 

Owen stayed in this halloween and didn't have a costume.  Next year he might be a Minion...

Owen 3 months...

Things have been a little bit nutty for us.  Good but Nutty.  

Owen is three months old and I have no idea where the time has gone.  

He is very beloved by all his sisters though.  They are all offering to hold him all the time. Poor kid might never learn to roll if they keep this up.

Beckah is being...well...Beckah.  She keeps going through this weird phases where she doesn't sleep well and is a cranky nut for a week and then sleeps like a champ is the sweet, funny girl we know and love.  

 

Cadence isn't in these pictures.  She was at school.  She is super amazing girl and is doing AWESOME at school.  Her teacher told us that if she had a class room full of Cadence's she would be in heaven. She really is one awesome girl and I will do my best to get some pictures up of her soon.  For now you will have to settle for some of Owen being silly. And cute.  And both. 

I know...he is just so handsome.  Sigh.  He gets it from his daddy. 

Rory is actually doing much better this last month.  She has been having some issues with not listening (I know...a 4 year old not listening?? What??).  She is getting better at listening the first time I ask and things have been MUCH less tense around the house. It's nice.  

Beckah actually took this next picture...I held the camera up and she wiggled it a bit, jabbered some nonsense, waved her arms at Rory, then said "Cheeeese!" and actually pressed the right button.  Pretty awesome right?  

We are gearing up for Halloween now and I am excited to have been making two of the girls Costumes this year!  Hope you all are looking forward to Halloween too!

Comparison Pictures...

Here are all my kids at roughly the same age...

I think it's fair to say there is a resemblance.

First day of First Grade

We have a first grader!  How did this happen??

Newborn pictures...

There are so many things that I don't want to forget about this time in our lives.  I am the busiest I have ever been in my life.  Things seem to snowball into crazy so fast with four young kids, one day bleeding into another until you forget what day it is entirely.  Case in point? My baby is a month old already and I am just now putting up his newborn pictures. 

It was a struggle just to find quiet moments just to take these pictures.  I remember it being so much easier with the girls to find moments of peace to take pictures.  I remember there actually being moments of peace to find.  

Owen is pretty easy.  He eats, sleeps, and poops.  He poops a lot. 

I want to remember that though.  That he pooped a lot.  That he has the saddest little high pitched girlie cry.  His cry makes me smile, though I probably shouldn't find it amusing that my only son has a girlie squeal of a cry.  But I do.   

I want remember his crazy long feet and toes. His wicked long fingers.  

I really hope he grows into these suckers.

I love the faces he makes. 

And how he looks like the girls...but still like a boy. 

I want to remember how noisy he is when he eats.  And sleeps.

And how much he loves to cuddle with me at night.

I want to remember how much my girls love him.  How they have adapted better than Brady and I to having him around all the time.  Like he has been here all along. 

I want to remember how much he reminds me of his sister Rory.  She too was little and long.  She still is and probably always will be.

I want to remember how good Cadence is with her siblings. 

How ready she is to help me when I need it.  And how she is way to grown up.

I want to remember how silly Rory is. How much she loves us all. 

How excited she is to have a little brother. 

I want to remember how fun 16 month olds are.  How sweet and crazy Beckah is.

How she has accepted her little brother with no jealousy, only love.  How quickly she learned to say his name.  Almost as quickly as she learned to say cookie.  How curious she is about everything. How she loves to be rocked to sleep. 

These are Beckah's huge feet next to a three week old Owen...

Owen you have changed us. When I first found out you were coming to our home I was overwhelmed.  Scared.  With your arrival you have brought chaos, yes, but you have also given our home a sense of completeness that we didn't know we wanted.  That we didn't know we needed.  I feel a wholeness to our home now that wasn't here before.  I am so grateful. For you.  I love you.  We all do.  

We can't wait to watch you grow up.