Oh hey.....

We are still alive, just busy busy busy. The kids are well, school is going well, we are about the have 3 kids playing soccer and piano lessons. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. Enjoy some pics!!

blackmail material right there

the baby turned 1. boo

we snuck out of the house for a wedding. it was quite a show!

we headed to the farm

Mario time!

The gangs all here!

brothers. we are a 2 cart costco family.

Thanksgiving with cousins. the best.

cousin time!

someone in our family reads multiple chapter books a week. it's not me.

littlest jedi

a picture for mom.

what it's all about.

ANOTHER American Girl doll arrived on Christmas

Ben 10 and Beyblades. 

some of us don't photograph well

New Years with cousins

i love them.

a whole lotta trouble right there.

we celebrated our besties 7th birthday

We celebrated our Jedi's 6th bday

Mary photobombed us

some of us are VERY naughty.

in October we dressed up and had a Halloween party. Love my lady friends.

We had no cavities

We loved a little extra on LOVE day.

We went to the school dance and these girls danced the night away and tried to dress as twins.

Joseph and I had a sword fight. I took a picture in case I need proof he attacked me.

And we had a lateover with our favorite friends.

So as you can see life is good and we are well. And it will probably be another 5 months before I catch up again. :)

Josh goes to school

Josh finally started preschool! He was so excited that his day finally came. His school is brand new and he gets to go with his cousin Will and his buddy Ashton from church. Makes drop off a lot easier when you already have friends. He loves school and could not care less when I say goodbye. He is growing up!

Eli turns 1!

I cannot believe that Eli 1! This year has gone so fast. I've been remembering my labor with Eli and I thought I should probably write some it down so I can remember it.

I was admitted to the hospital for induction and got my drip around 7:30. . Dr. Thurston said "I'll bet we have a baby early this afternoon!" I laughed and said "nah it'll probably be tomorrow" She didn't believe me. After 5hours on pit I was still a fingertip dilated. So my Dr. tried to break my water but she couldn't get to the bag of water. I got my epidural so she could do what she had to do to get the bag of waters broken. Once she broke my water we were both SHOCKED by how much water I had. It was no surprise my body wasn't dilating there was so much water between his head and my cervix. I soaked the entire bed and floor of the room. more than once. 

At about 10pm Eli's heart rate started dipping when I would have contractions and would come back up afterwards. It was making me crazy. Finally at midnight I was a 10. They wanted to me to wait a bit for him to come down a little farther (less pushing). At 12:45 we started pushing. 3 pushes later we had our sweet little baby. He was such a doll from the beginning. 

He is such a sweet boy. He has been walking since the beginning of September, climbing stairs, trying to play in toilets and basically being a stinker. :) We love him so much. He is the perfect ending to our family.

I didn't think I would ever have a 4th child and I am so glad that we did. He is the best.

My Glaa

Growing up I always lived 10mins from both sets of grandparents. I loved it. When my brother and I had games they were always there, always around for birthday parties, Sunday dinners, and special things. My Dads mom, Glaa as she was known to us, was especially funny. She would often pick me up from school and take me dress shopping or out for a milkshake. The only thing was we couldn't tell my Papa. She had a separate checking account and he would give her $$$ once a month and she could do whatever she wanted with. However she often would dip into their joint account when she ran out. She was a spender. As a kid my brother and I knew if there was something our parents wouldn't buy us we could hit up the grandparents, they wouldn't disappoint. One year my Glaa called my Mimi (my moms mom) and said "we are buying Heather Marie a dollhouse. Jack (my papa) and I will pay for it and you and Paul (my moms dad) can put it together!" She was so funny. Every year even after I was married and had kids she would send each of us a check for our birthdays and Christmas, often writing "don't tell papa". She turned 90 back in August and right after her big party she started downhill. She finally passed away on Monday Oct 8. She had been living in an assisted living home for 7years since my Papa passed and she ran the show there. Everyone was a friend and she lit up the room where ever she went. After her funeral at Quantico (my papa was a Colonel in the Marines during WWII and Korea) where she was buried with my Papa, we returned to her home and had a party where loads of people came to celebrate her life with us. She was truly one of a kind. I will miss her smile, her infectious laugh, and our silly phone calls but I know I will see her again.

Pumpkin patch 2012

We headed to the pumpkin patch this weekend. It was crazy and fun. The kids loved the slides and mazes and rubber tires, forts, giant bouncing pillow and rides. They were exhausted...and so were Joseph and I.