Vacation.....

....for 5!!! Well, lets see. Natalie had her first plane ride. The boys thought it was great and want to go back to the airport and ride the airplane. They especially liked the moving sidewalks in the airport. I keep telling Nathan that when he grows up he can fly his own airplane. We had a great but a whirlwind vaca. we flew to Oregon to Oma and Opa house. We were there for a few days swimming and getting re-acquainted with Oma and Opa. We then travelled in the car for a few hours to the beach at Brookings, OR. It was fun, the kids had a blast playing in the sand and were not as afraid of the waves as last time. Kyle enjoyed chasing the seagulls on the beach. Natalie like putting her toes in the sand. Our hotel was right on the beach. We stayed there for a few days and then headed back to Oma and Opa's house. Basically we were there long enough to do laundry and get settled back then we started packing again for a drive to Cali. We drove to Sacramento to see Hunter's aunt and his cousins kids. That was an 8 hour drive but the kids did amazing. We stayed in Sacramento for 2 nights. While in Sacramento we went to Fairytale Land, The Sacramento Zoo, and The Train Museum in Old Sacramento. Then we headed to Vallejo to go to 6 flags. When Nathan saw the roller coaster he said "oh WOW! I want to do that." Nathan and Mom rode a smaller roller coaster that was just enough jerking around for a little guy. There was Thomas town and we rode Thomas, Bertie and Harold. Oma, Nathan and Mom went on a splash boat ride and that was fun. We also saw a whale and dolphin show. All 3 kids LOVED that. We stayed the night in Vallejo and headed back to OR. the following day. Back on a Friday we had just enough time to get settled in before we needed to pack up to head back home. Sorry for the crazy paragraph but I just wanted to get it all out and post more pics. Also I don't think the pics will be in order. Sorry!! Glad to be back!!

More Pics...

look down further for more pics and my actual blog entry!!!



Natalie in a few dresses. It is very funny watching Hunter trying to figure out the tights!



Another dress and standing up.



Getting into the cupboard. Already! Wearing cowboy hat.




Nathan came to me for help putting on his pants...he already had one leg in so I finished helping him. At least he tried right!



New big boy bed...my mom got these bunk beds from somebody at work for $75!!!! We still need to put the top one on. So far Nathan has done really well with all that room to kick around at night.




Kyles bloody nose and fat lip. He was standing on a chair and then all of the sudden the chair was on the floor. Oops...I am sure it will not be the last time.

Big brother holding baby sister. All 3 of them.

Just showing how big Natalie is...at 8 months

she weighed 20 lbs!

I'm Back!!!

Okay...after a long time of not blogging I am back. I don't really have much to talk about. I will just give you a quick update on each of the kids and then I will post a bunch of pictures.

Nathan: Nathan is still loving school and is now coming home and talking about the day a little bit. He tells us when one of the other students has been sick "her was at her home". He sings songs...he is so into music and dancing. He certainly has come a long way from when he first started school and from when he turned 3. He knows his left from his right and is finally showing an interest in getting himself dressed. I am going to attempt potty training over spring break. So far he is a pretty "strong willed" kid so wish me luck. He is getting more into playing with his baby brother and baby sister. He picks up Natalie and transfers her back to her pile of toys.

Kyle: Kyle...well where do I start. Kyle is still a Curious George. If he is upstairs and it is quiet he is probably in the toilet water. I can't tell you how many times he has drank toilet water. Gross I know. The memories he has made for us. He has quite the vocabulary and is talking in 3 to 4 word sentences. If Nathan is mean to him (which is quite often) he will say "stop pushing, get over there and sit down" hmmmm I wonder where he has heard that?!?!?! He is willing to try different foods and loves cereal. We recently got bunk beds for the boys but I am not one bit ready to switch Kyle to a "big boy bed". He is still in a crib (cage). Kyle loves his Grammy and Papa and LOVES his baby sister Natalie. As soon as he hears her on the monitor waking up from a nap he says " I hear Natalie" and he gets very excited to go climb in with her. She of course lights up as soon as she sees him.

Natalie: As of the 23rd of Feb. Natalie will be 9 months old. She started crawling on Christmas eve and the following week got her first tooth. She now has 8 teeth and they are still coming. She is already pulling up on the couch (and anything that she can stand next to) and does a little bit of side stepping. Natalie has quite the personality. She is very silly, and understands that she is being silly. She says DADA and is working on MAMA and BABA. We are working on weening completely from nursing. She can clap her hands when you ask her and she knows how to dance. She is working on waving hi and goodbye. She LOVES her big brothers and enjoys playing with them...whether they like it or not.

Well, I guess that is all for now. Enjoy the pics!! Please leave a comment!

Our back yard Mid-January!!!! Our front yard Mid-January!!!!

Natalie...

...CRAWLED!!! Tonight she crawled about 4-5 steps a few different times. What a wonderful Christmas present. I think she will be a much happier baby once she becomes completely mobile and once she gets her teeth. Her top 2 teeth are really giving her trouble. Poor baby.

Merry Christmas to all!!!

Wait for it... wait for it...

...one day a couple weeks ago, Kyle and I were leaving Walmart. As we were walking out the door to head to the suburban a truck went past. In the truck you could see a dog and they headed down the same row of cars that we were parked in. Kyle saw the dog and started yelling "Wait truck, wait!!!" It was so cute he was holding my hand but he starting running to try and catch up with the truck. Kids are so darn cute.

Thank you Hunter...

...for introducing me to the wonderful world of real Christmas trees. MMMMM..as I sit here and type the room is filled with the wonderful scent of a Noble Fir. We went up to P & M today to get our tree, what a wonderful experience. We walked in we were the only ones there. Nathan, Kyle and I all had on Santa hats (we only had 3 hats in our Christmas stuff). Picked our tree which is about 8 feet tall, it is beautiful. The guys at P & M had it fresh cut, wrapped up and tied to our suburban before we even knew what was going on. The nicest thing is that it is only a 5 minute drive from home. We usually go to Bells Nursery which is a 40 minute drive for our tree. We will see how long this tree lasts and then next year we will go back. After I get it all decorated I will post a picture.

Happy Holidays to everyone!!!

Drum roll please......

...ta dah. Natalie can sit up with out any help!!! Not for long but she can do it and her back is fairly straight up and down. If she tips to the side she can somewhat correct herself so she won't tip over. She is very happy when she is being talked to and paid attention to...typical girl.