He Did It!

I can't believe my baby is old enough to roll over!! He's been working on it for a couple of weeks, and he's got it down now. Here come the wrestling matches during diaper changes!

More Christmas

I roasted a turkey for dinner on Christmas day, and I was really excited about how well it turned out.
Hannah made lots of presents for everone. She really had fun putting things under the tree. I think the best thing she came up with was the card that said she would play polly pockets with Nikki, do the dishes for dad, and hold the baby for mom after she opened her presents. Here she is giving dad his present.

Christmas morning

We had a nice, relaxed, simple Christmas. It was a wonderful day.

Here is our early bird coming excitedly down the stairs followed by our not-so-early bird grumpily making her way down. Even on Christmas.

It's great that they are still excited with little things and don't realize that other kids get way more than they do. Yes, that's a bunch of diapers coming out of Ryan's stockimg -- a very practical present, right? Hannah got some new scriptures with a carrying case. This morning she showed me a bookmark she had made and told me she put it where she had been reading in the scriptures. She is such a wonderful child.

Christmas Eve

We had a fun Christmas Eve at Mike & Sherrie's. They got home the night before from their trip, and then JW & Alli came up to their house for our family dinner. We had the kids act out the Christmas story, and just about everybody participated this year.

Here's Uncle Nate with a bunch of cute girls.

pre-Christmas vacation

We went to my brother's house for a few days before Christmas to watch their kids while he and his wife went on vacation. You can click here to see some pictures and highlights from that trip. I'm too lazy to post it again. I will say that being in charge of 6 kids ages 7 and under is tiring. And that is with them all being pretty well behaved. It's been nice to have the past few days to just be home and relax. Even Nikki hasn't complained about not having anything to do. :)

Gingerbread

I wasn't so much of a grinch when it came to making our gingerbread house. We had a lot of fun with it. I didn't realize when I bought the kit that the house was already pre-assembled, but that was fabulous! I didn't have to stick cans of green beans inside to keep it standing up this year! And I took a page out of Kellee's book, and the girls dug right in and enjoyed it two seconds after they finished decorating it. I think it always tastes so gross, but it's just fun to have that much sugar concentrated in such a small space.

What a terrible hiding place

The other day I had gone shopping just before getting the girls from school and hadn't put everything away yet. They were in the kitchen getting a snack and I noticed there was a bag right in front of them that had a couple little Christmas presents for them in it. I snatched it up really quickly and asked if they saw what was in the bag. They said they didn't, and I ran it upstairs and hid it in Nate's closet. When I came back down they kept asking what it was, so I told them it was a present for them. Hannah asked me where I hid it, and I gave her a surprised look and said, "I'm not telling you that." So she explained she wanted to know where I put it so she wouldn't accidentally come across it. If any other child had said that to me, I would have said --yeah, right! But the thing is, I really believe her. Then yesterday, I asked Hannah to gather up all the laundry and take it down to the washer. I completely forgot that we have ALL of the Christmas presents wrapped and hidden in Nate's closet. That small bag that I had thrown in there the other day was under the dirty clothes basket, so she almost HAD to have seen it. I asked her later if she had seen any presents in there, and she told me she knew there were some presents in there so she just looked at the clothes. She didn't look around. Hmm .... Maybe I'll just stuff those presents in her stocking and see what she has to say about Santa after that. I'm just about ready to be done with the jolly old man anyway. I want to give my children presents. Why should he get all the love and gratitude? Because you know that Nikki doesn't care about anything else except what Santa is bringing no matter how much we have talked about the Savior and doing things for other people this year.

Christmas Cookies

On Saturday I decided I was ready to make Christmas cookies, and the girls didn't want to have anything to do with it. I was a bit surprised, but I thought -- Fine. So I did it myself, and I enjoyed it so much I made 5 different kinds. My Grandma Bass used to make a bunch of different kinds of Christmas cookies, but it seems like I didn't care for her variety very much. I think just my dad liked them all. But I have her cookie tin, so I thought I would fill it up this year. I made sugar cookies all by myself (they aren't pictured), and it was the easiest and cleanest process I have ever had without little fingers dripping icing everywhere and messing up the shapes. I also made lemon bars, no bakes, apple-cinnamon oatmeal bars, and lady fingers (or Mexican wedding cookies, Russian tea cakes, sandies, or I like Hannah's name best -- powdered sugar cookies). I guess it was kind of a grinchy thing to do it by myself and exclude my kids from even icing the sugar cookies, but my afternoon went so smoothly! And they did enjoy the results.

Ryan's 3 month picture

 

Live Nativity

We had a neat experience tonight that we may never have again. Our stake puts on a live nativity every year, and Nate and I volunteered to be a part of it with Baby Ryan. Of course that made us Mary and Joseph and the Baby Jesus. I think I've only ever played the part of an angel in any rendition of the nativity. I'm sure Mary wasn't wearing glasses and the Baby Jesus probably didn't need a pacifier, but even with those deviations from what the real scene may have really been like, I felt very blessed to be a part of this reenactment. What must it have been like for Mary to have people come to worship her son? How humbling an experience that must have been. How filled with awe she must have felt. I know the love that I feel for Ryan is incredible, and I'm sure that is something of the same kind of love that filled her heart for her Child. Ryan is so pure and innocent, and it is amazing to think that the Savior never lost those qualities. How wonderful it must have been to just be around Him. I am so grateful for the perfect life He lived and the infinite atonement he performed.

If I were a better mother ...

I would have run for a tissue instead of the camera.

Little Cutie

Holidays

I have been trying to get a good picture of the kids together for a Chrismas card picture, but I'm about ready to give up. How can a family with 5 or 6 kids ever make this work? The thing is, I still like the pictures even with Ryan fussing or Nikki looking the wrong way or Hannah moving out of the right spot. They're all cute to this mama.

And, it may be a little late for a Thanksgiving post, but we enjoyed the holiday. On our way down to Jay & Alli's we each took a turn telling what we were thankful for. We kept it going for just about half of the ride there (which is a little over an hour). I thought the girls came up with some good blessings. Our list included: the world, baby Ryan, trees, scriptures, the Savior, family, turkey, toothpaste, a warm home, Dad's job, glasses, that our cars run well, ability to read, disposable diapers, school, the prophet, temples, and many more that I can't remember after more than a week has gone by. The point was that we have been blessed with so many things. I think even Hannah and Nikki caught that. What a wonderful holiday to be able to celebrate gratitude.

I think Thanksgiving leads very well into Christmas, which is celebrating the greatest gift we have been given. I feel a lot of gratitude for the gift of the Savior, and I really hope we can convey that feeling to our children this year. I'm not going to ask them any more about what they want for Christmas. The rest of the season is going to be about what they want to give to others around them. The Friend this month has a page with a scripture to read every day about the Savior's life up until Christmas. We're reading those each morning before they leave for school, and I hope it will help them understand Christmas a little better this year.

And finally, I really loved the quote President Monson shared in this month's Ensign from President David O. McKay: "“True happiness comes only by making others happy—the practical application of the Savior’s doctrine of losing one’s life to gain it. In short, the Christmas spirit is the Christ spirit, that makes our hearts glow in brotherly love and friendship and prompts us to kind deeds of service. It is the spirit of the gospel of Jesus Christ, obedience to which will bring ‘peace on earth,’ because it means—good will toward all men.”

K9 Web Protection

We have a great internet filter that I thought I would share. It's free, so I didn't know how good it would be when we first got it, but we have had it for over a year now and it really works well. It doesn't slow down our internet like I thought a free filter would. I was thinking about it this morning because I was trying to see a video that a friend had posted on her blog, but it was blocked from my computer because it was on Youtube. Of course you can change the settings to be whatever you want them to be. Occasionally I will adjust the settings to look at something someone suggests on Youtube, but I really like that my kids can't just get on there and look at what they want (they don't surf the internet by themselves yet, but they will someday).

It's called Blue Coat K9 web protection. There is a version for sale for businesses, but they offer a free version to families for home use. They even have a new beta version available for Mac users. The internet is wonderful, but we definitely need to protect our families. Anyway, thought I would share something that we found that is working for us.

Customer NO Service

67:59 minutes

What a ridiculous amount of time to be on the phone with customer service. After being placed on hold for the FOURTH time I finally hung up because I was not feeling like a nice person, and the next person to speak to me would not deserve the treatment I would be giving them. I can't tell you how frustrated I have become with AT&T. I just might have to write a letter next time because I can't stand the thought of ever calling them again.

Ryan's new trick

So does this look like just the beginning of putting everything in his mouth, or maybe we have a thumbsucker on our hands? I wonder if he swallowed a fuzzy there at the end.

Finally

We finally got a new camera. I was so tired of trying to find a paperclip to be able to snap a picture. The button had broken off, and I can't tell you what a pain that was. What do you think of my new glasses? Our last camera had a terrible zoom, so I was playing around today to see what this one can do.

And here is the perfect little model to try out a new camera on. Now I have some more pictures to play with on picnik -- when I'm finished with my current class. I'm almost done!

Look what this baby has done to me!

Has anyone ever gone bald because they had a baby? I would like to know that I'm not the first. I remember losing a lot of hair with my other babies, but I think I had more then to lose. I've been doing laundry this morning, and I've been pulling strands of my hair off of everyone's clothes even after coming out of the dryer. It made me think of Gary. He was so grossed out to be living in a house full of girls whose hair seemed to be everywhere. Maybe Santa will need to bring me a wig.

Yesterday Nikki was sitting on my lap in church and she said, "Mom, why is your tummy a little bit big?" Just tell it like it is, Nikki. If only the truth wasn't so brutal. I told her it was because I had a baby and I like to eat ice cream.

I must say Ryan is worth a bald head and a squishy tummy. He has been doing so much better since we got a new reflux medicine for him. Yesterday Nikki burned her finger pretty badly on my hair straightener, and Ryan was the only one who could get a smile out of her. For the past three days, I have found him playing happily in his crib in the morning. He is the sweetest little boy. Everyone says to just wait three years, but I'm choosing to not think about him growing up yet. I am enjoying this sweet stage where I can leave him in one place and he'll still be there when I get back. He can't talk back. He's sleeping well most of the time. He doesn't require a lot of entertainment. He is just perfect right now.

A great week

First, after reading over my last post, I think I may have come across sounding like I was being mean to Nate. I love my husband, and I love that he can laugh at himself. We have a good time laughing at all the crazy things that he gets himself into. For instance, at this last campout he wore thermal underwear and a flannel shirt and huge thermal socks. Makes sense to do when camping in mid-November, right? Maybe not. That night the temperature got down maybe into the 50s, and since it was raining pretty much the whole time the humidity was at 100%. He was dying! See, that's where I get my "poor Nate." Even though he was sweating, he did stay mostly dry from the rain and had a good time at the campout.

So, after he was gone last weekend, he had a business trip to take during the week. I didn't think I could take having him gone again for so long, so at the last minute I decided to go with him. I called my wonderful brother and sister-in-law to watch the girls for us, and we had a great time away. No cooking, cleaning, dishes, or laundry for a whole week, and I got three lessons of my history class done during the day while Nate was in his training classes. I also got all of my Christmas shopping done for everyone except a little thing or two for Hannah. When we picked the girls up yesterday, Hannah was pretty clingy. I think she missed us, but Nikki probably could have handled another week away. Thanks so much for watching them, Mike & Sherrie. What a wonderful week, and now we have Thanksgiving coming up this week! Life is good.

Poor Nate

I've been chuckling to myself all morning thinking about Nate. He just had some terrible luck last night, and it reminded me of this story. One time he went shopping for me at Wal-Mart. He said it took him over an hour to get everything in his cart, and then when he got to the check-out he found that he had forgotten to bring his wallet. So, the nice cashier said she would just hold his basket of goods while he ran home and came back with the money. He got home, came and told me what he had done, we had a good laugh, and he left again for the store. When he got back up to the register ..... he had forgotten to pick up his wallet at home!!! HaHaHa! I still laugh at that one. Some sweet lady behind him in line took pity on him and paid for his groceries. I'm sure she never thought she would see that money again with how absentminded he was that day, but he did come straight home and write a thank you note that he mailed her with a check.

So, anyway, that just illustrates the kind of things that happen to Nate. Last night he was on a scout leadership training campout. The night before Ryan woke up every hour after 2 am. I commented to him that he would probably be excited to be sleeping on the ground just to get away from an infant. Then it rained ALL NIGHT LONG last night. And the wind is still blowing and it is still raining this morning. HaHaHa!! I know I should be nicer, and in my defense I have been praying for him, but I can't wait for him to get home and hear the stories of what has happened to him. The poor guy just can't get a break.

On the other hand the girls and I had a great night. Since it was just us girls (and baby Ryan, of course) on a Friday night, we decided it was time to welcome in the Christmas season. We made sugar cookies, got some egg nog, broke out the Christmas music, and started making some paper ornaments for our Christmas tree. I let the girls stay up as late as they wanted, and they had a pretty surprised look on their faces when I told them I was going to bed. I don't know how late they stayed up, but they were both on the couches when I got up at 2 am. Ryan at least just woke up once last night instead of 4 times, which makes me think of Nate again! HaHa!

I love these kids!

The other day Nikki said to me, "Mom, we're not kids. That's baby goats. We're your children." She's too cute. I think if she ever got in trouble with the law she could whine her way out of jail. The guards would be begging the judge to send her home. It's amazing how she can turn a simple task into a drawn-out-all-day "why-do-I-have-to-do-this-but-I'm-thirsty-but-I-want-to-play-a-game" affair. It's a very good thing she is cute.

Ryan is trying to figure out what his hands are. I love watching the confused looked he gets when he puts them in front of his face. He doesn't quite get it yet. And I want my happy baby back. Is it possible that his reflux is getting worse because he's growing and eating more? Maybe his medicine isn't doing enough for him now? He's been out of whack for a couple of weeks, and it's progressively getting worse. He's not sleeping well, and he's too uncomfortable to eat well. I think I'm going to call the pediatrician today. I'm ready for a break, so I'm sure he is, too.

And then we have our sweet Hannah. I am so proud of her for the progress she is making in school. Moving to 2nd grade in a new school where the other kids were almost a whole grading period ahead of her was quite a challenge. But she has really worked hard, and I love watching her learn. She is also such a great helper with Ryan and Nikki. I hope someday they appreciate how blessed they are to have such a wonderful big sister. And her big news.......... one of her top teeth is starting to come in! Now she'll be able to eat corn on the cob again!

Because I'm supposed to be writing a paper ...

8 favorite TV shows :
1. The Cosby Show
2. American Idol
3. Alias
4. Loony Tunes
5. Rachel Ray
6. I Love Lucy
7. Bob Ross painting his "happy trees"
8. any cooking or home design show (I'm no good at either and love seeing people who are)

8 things I did yesterday:
1. church
2. straightened Hannah's hair
3. helped Hannah write a talk for Primary
4. watched Hannah give said talk (she did a great job)
5. cooked pancakes for supper
6. planned this week's menu
7. read Elder Nelson's conference talk
8. relaxed

8 things I look forward to:
1. Thanksgiving break
2. date night
3. finishing my paper
4. then finishing this stinkin' history class
5. naptime
6. picking the girls up from school (it's been so quiet here today)
7. Nikki putting the groceries away for me this afternoon-- she's trying to earn money for a Tinkerbell doll
8. eggnog because then it really will feel like Christmas is coming!

8 favorite restaurants:
1. The Olive Garden
2. Applebee's
3. The Melting Pot
4. Torero's
5. Parker's (or any good Carolina BBQ)
6. Chic-fil-A
7. Granddaddy White's cooking
8. IHOP

8 things on my wishlist:
1. new camera
2. lots of new shoes
3. hot tub (I can dream, right?)
4. birthday get-away (hint, hint Nate :})
5. 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep
6. that I didn't have to write this awful paper
7. a house in the country where my neighbors can't see in my windows
8. a trip to some tropical paradise

8 people to tag:
1-8. I don't know that I have 8 people who read my blog, but if you have something like writing a paper to procrastinate then I tag you. =)

Sugar

Loving this beautiful fall weather!

Grandma and Grandpa

Nate's parents came to visit us for a whole week, and it was wonderful to have them here. I hope we didn't wear them out too much. I'm sure they will be happy to sleep in their own bed tonight with no crying babies around! The girls were in heaven with Grandma and Grandpa always ready to play a game or read a story to them. Hannah even asked Grandpa some questions about the election last night. They were able to watch the girls' gymnastics class last week, and H&N loved that. On Sunday, I was in the mother's lounge with Ryan when Nate's dad bore his testimony in Sacrament meeting. We could hear it over the speaker, and another lady who was in there with me said, "You must feel really lucky to have in-laws like that." She was right. I am blessed to have them as in-laws and grandparents for our children. We only wish we lived closer and could visit with them more often.

Ryan's blessing

Ryan was blessed last Sunday, and we were so happy that Nate's parents could come from Utah to be with us for it. Nate gave Ryan a beautiful blessing. I had been thinking beforehand about all the things I would want my son to blessed with in this life, and I think Nate mentioned them all. We feel so grateful to have this little one in our home. It truly has been a joy to have him added to our family. It's amazing to me the capacity our hearts have to feel love. I can't even describe how much love I feel for him.

Almost...

We finally caught Ryan's smile on camera, well ... kind of. But he was giving really big smiles.

Bumblebees

Nikki wanted to be a ladybug until she decided she wanted to be a pumpkin until she saw Hannah's bee costume, and then she settled on and was happy with being a bumblebee. We had a fun Halloween night this year. For the first time we are in a neighborhood with kids and actually got some trick-or-treaters. Nate and Grandma took the girls out while Grandpa and I stayed home with Ryan and handed out candy. Eventually we got tired of handing it out and just set the bowl on the front porch. The girls were so generous and just dumped all of their candy together and let us all have at it together.

Pumpkin Carving

Here is the artist planning out how he will carve a better pumpkin than last year's.

We love carving pumpkins, and it was fun having Grandma and Grandpa Robbins here to watch this year. They didn't care to get into the mess, and I can't blame them!

My Favorite Hairdresser

My uncle Billy was at it again. The pictures of me are from years past. Billy just couldn't help himself when he saw my girls' hair in pigtails. Hannah asked what he had done to her hair, and her eyes got really big when I told her he tied it in a knot. Yes, he would and he did do such a thing. We all love him!

It was so great to visit with Billy and Jill and my cousins Luke & Eric's families. Luke & Holly just had a baby boy, Jackson, who was smaller than Ryan ever was. Ryan looked humongous sitting in his carseat beside Jackson! Aunt Ruth and Jamie also came to visit. We really have great family! Lots of good times.

NC Cousins

We have quite a crowd when we get together these days. This was at Emma's baptism two weeks ago. Yay for three little boys being added to the bunch!

Quick update

Here are all of my siblings together. This is the first time we've all been together for 8 1/2 years.

This was funny because JW flipped out because a bee flew in his face right as we were taking the picture. Okay, he didn't flip out, I would have done that, but it was funny.

And I couldn't resist adding a picture of my chubby baby. I just want to squeeze him he's so cute!

What fun times we are having, and we're not done yet. So, this is just a quick post, and I'll have to give more updates later. This has been the month of family get-togethers. Nate's parents flew in yesterday to be here for Ryan's blessing this Sunday. We're excited to have them here for a whole week!

And congratulations Julie & Phil on your new baby! He is precious!

Baby Weight

Hannah at 4 months -- 13 lbs 2.5 oz

Nikki at 3 months -- 13 lbs 6 oz

Ryan at 2 months -- 13 lbs 3.5 oz

I think a fourth child might weigh enough to bend the rods in my back.

Crib time

This picture is to help me remember that Ryan can sleep in his crib, and he should be sleeping in his crib. He had his 2-month checkup today, and the doctor was breezing through several no-brainer questions. He's in a rear-facing carseat? He's never left alone with pets? He sleeps in his crib? ...... Umm, I admit that I didn't stop him when he passed over this question, which kind of makes me dishonest. Ryan actually sleeps in his car seat. Yeah, all the time. He wouldn't sleep in his crib as a newborn, and now I think it was because of his reflux. I just haven't wanted to mess with his sleeping arrangements when he has been doing so well. But there have been a couple of times when I went to get him in the morning and he had slid himself down into a really uncomfortable position. He's going to slide out of it one day if I don't just bite the bullet and make him deal with the crib. So, right now he is crying himself back to sleep in his crib because of course he didn't stay asleep very long when I put him in there. Oh, if he only knew how much more it hurts me than him.

Fun picture

I just love this smile!

Build-a-Bunny?

Hannah needed a little special attention this past week, so we went on a mommy/daughter date to Build-a-Bear. She loved it! Neither of us had ever been there before, and I thought it was a lot of fun, too. I was afraid she was going to pick out the hideous pink-and-white-heart bear and then was relieved when she settled on the cute bunny. Yes, I was living the experience through her. I wanted the scruffy puppy. We had a great time.

Smiles!

My baby does like me!

I was starting to think he was going to have such a serious personality.

And then he smiled.

So big! Lots of times!

But of course not for the camera yet -- just for Mom.