Birthday Mania!

We have three of our four girls birthdays within five days in January. I wouldn't recommend it. For starters you have the whole Christmas hangover going on and then wham...Birthday Mania!!! Addison turned four this year. That's crazy!!! August turned four when we first moved to Idaho. Where has the time gone? She had a great party with a cake frosted orange and pink, just like she ordered. (Thanks Grandma and Aunt Brooke.) She is so excited to be four. She's a "big girl" now! The babies turned one on the 17th. Can I call them babies still? Well, they're MY BABIES. Avery & Aiden loved their cake, but didn't quite understand the present thing. This year has gone by so fast. It's all just a blur really. We have learned so much this year. We feel so blessed to have our four,beautiful, healthy, little girls. I think Brandon and I have learned to appreciate each other even more. Our life is very structured and scheduled (out of necessity) and it takes both of us to keep things running smoothly. My mom was here all week to hit both birthdays and she helped Brooke and I arranged furniture and hang pictures. It was a lot of fun...thanks for being the shuttle, Dad. Brandon's parents just got back last night from Arizona so we're over here visiting. They brought lots of grapefruit and lemons back...yum! Thanks for all the presents and cards everyone, and I'm sorry I had three kids so close together right after Christmas!

Random pics

These are just some pictures from the last couple of months. I'm hoping this will buy me some time before my Christmas post.

I love Christmas!

Well I hope we're ready for Christmas because here it is. Ah! Last weekend we went to Utah for a family Christmas party. It was a quick trip (in between snow storms) we figured we were only there for about 20 hours! It was worth it though. Every year we have a Christmas party with my mom's family. We've been doing it for as long as I can remember. We eat yummy food (of course), play bunco, and decorate gingerbread cookies. This year I think we had more babies than adults. The Wyoming and Colorado fams weren't there so we were few in number, but we still had a good time. My dad's family has a caroling party every year on the Sunday before Christmas which is also an awesome tradition. August has only gone once or twice when she was pretty little and she still talks about it. We couldn't make it this year because of the storms but maybe next year.

Tonight we are having a Christmas Eve dinner at Brandon's parents' house and then tomorrow morning we are going to Grandpa Larsen's for Christmas breakfast. All of Brandon's sisters (except Robyn who is in Korea-love you, Merry Christmas!) will be here this week some time. I really love this time of year so that we can reconnect with our family. Isn't that what it's all about?

Here is my new favorite picture of the babies, doing their new favorite thing...emptying drawers! Don't they look so proud of themselves.

We're back!

Wow...it's been awhile! I guess my blog is a pretty accurate respresentation of my life. A lot of other things are being neglected in my life as well...ie: laundry, dishes, Brandon! :)

Instead of trying to catch up I'm going to start afresh with renewed determination to make this the best blog ever! (or at least a mediocre attempt to stay in contact with the few friends I have left)

August is as hilarious as ever! Today she added singer to her list of "what she wants to be when she grows up." The list also includes: moviemaker, author, and mom. She is extremely creative and writes and illustrates her own books. She wrote one titled, "Flowers" and took it to school for show and tell. Her teacher Mrs. Austin read it to the whole class (bless her heart) and August loved every minute of it. We've learned not to throw anything away around here. August can quite literally turn trash into treasure. Her book was written on some of our extra wedding invitations from 8 years ago.

Addie had her Christmas Dance Party today. They did their Christmas dances for us, Santa came and surprised them, and then we had some goodies. August was at school, Brandon at work, and Brooke babysat the babies for me so it was just Addie and I. She was funny during her dances. She would dance along, then stare at some of the other parents, pull some funny faces, and then do it all over again. When Santa came she looked shocked and confused, not necessarily happy. She told him she wanted a candy cane and a doll for Christmas...huh? She's been telling us for weeks she wants a bike and a Kung Fu Panda movie.
This was our ensuing conversation:

Me: Why didn't you tell Santa what you really want?
Addie: He wasn't the real Santa, so he doesn't have magic.
Me: Why do you think he wasn't the real Santa?
Addie: Because I saw his skin and it was different.

I don't know if she was talking about his beard, or what. At this point I'm just trying not to laugh my head off. After some more discussion I said that it was probably just one of Santa's helpers dressed up to make the girls happy. To which Addie replied: "but I wasn't happy, it wasn't the real Santa." HILARIOUS!!! She wasn't going to waste her real Christmas list on an impostor.

Avery & Aiden are getting so big! They each have 5 teeth and will be 11 months old tomorrow! They are very close to walking. Yikes! When I lay them down for their naps they stay up playing and laughing for about 20 minutes. I like to watch them from the hallway without them knowing I'm there. It's so cute. They like to touch hands through their cribs and they also swap binkies that way too. When I'm feeding them in their high chairs they like to hold hands sometimes. Precious. I don't want them to grow up! Sigh. Sniff Sniff.

Brandon is really liking his new job. He started about a month ago working at a local TV station. He still sells ad time but now on TV instead of radio. He liked his other job too, but this will be better for our family. It's hard for him to jump ship because he's so loyal and he'll miss all the friends he made, but we're really glad we took this opportunity.

I love staying home with the girls. It is so challenging some days, but extremely worth it! I'm basically behind on every aspect of keeping our home, but my kids are clean and fed and happy (with one 3-year-old exception that apparently can sniff out fake Santas).

Happy Halloween!

Tonight was our ward's trunk or treat. Avery is sick...are they always sick? She is croupy and Aiden is acting like she will soon follow. Brandon took the big girls and I stayed home with the sickies. The girls also got to dress up in their costumes for dance lessons yesterday and then August dressed up for school today. They have had a blast. Addison especially loves the makeup and will do almost anything for glitter! She's such a girly-girl! If you can't tell they were Hannah Montana and a ballerina-princess-fairy (you get the idea, someone cute and sparkly...every 3-year-olds' dream, right?) This week has gone pretty good, considering. Brooke is gone, need I say more? Actually I'm just a big complainer, we're doing great. (minus the croup issue) August and Addison are really great with the babies and that helps me a lot. I put the pack n' play up so that I can have a quick shower if the babies aren't napping together. It's crazy that they're crawling...it really changes everything.

Anyone have any advice about croup? I don't think my other girls ever had it. Do the steroids really help a lot? Can they just get over it if it's mild enough? I see a doctor appointment in my future!

I hope everyone is doing well. Stay healthy! Happy Birthday Dad!! Love You!