Reunion

Tess turns 11!

Tess turned 11 while traveling to Utah for the family reunion. Dan and the girls celebrated while in  in Colorado and stayed at Mesa Verde National Park on her birthday. Dan bought her some pretty turquoise tear drop earrings made my Indians and they ate out at Denny's. Then when they drove into Provo we had a yummy dinner with cheese cake ready to celebrate. I think she felt pretty special.

Tess really enjoyed planning the road trip with Dan and putting together their binders of information, coloring pages, and games. She was a huge help to Dan on their road trip and was the perfect big sisters. That's Tess! She continues to be so thoughtful and cheerful. We love you Tessie!

Clara turns 5!

Clara is 5 years old! 

Once Aubree had her birthday Clara had a hard time waiting for her special day to finally arrive. When it finally did she was awake early and got cheesy eggs for breakfast in bed. She loved the no work on your birthday rule. She chose meatballs and potatoes for dinner and a Mini-Mouse cake. She got some a couple things all Mini-Mouse themed: remote control car, bracelets, and outfit. She was one happy little girl, only not so little.

Clara has really grown a lot this year, like Tess has. Clara's shoe size is a half size away from Abby! I wouldn't be surprised if pretty soon Abby and Clara become like Lizzie and I were in height. Clara is a very spunky, happy, and compassionate girl. She makes friends with everyone. And by friends I mean hugs them too! At the grocery store one day she hugged the lady in front of us checking out. Unfortunately this lady didn't appreciate that. I quickly pulled Clara to the side and reminded her of personal space and stranger danger. As we checked out the cashier was very friendly and talked to Clara about stranger danger as well. Well, it must not have sunk in much because Clara soon walked around to the cashier and gave him a hug.
She is so quick to dish out compliments. Abby and Clara play well together most of the time. I love that they both have great imaginations.

We had her birthday party just 2 days after her birthday. She chose the Mini-Mouse theme. Clara has a couple of preschool age friends she wanted to invite plus all her Warner Cousins. She also invited Patti Lui. (Patti and Clara have become best buds since Dan was put into the bishopric a year ago and Patti sits with us on Sundays. So, when we saw Patti at sewing camp Clara was quick to invite her. Of course Patti came and brought the perfect present.) Since Dan couldn't be there to help me I enlisted my oldest 3 to be over certain things. Abby took care of the treasure hunt, Tess made the "pin the bow on Mini" poster and ran that part of the party, and Jake took care of the pinada. I got a kick out of how Clara treated Mini kindly the few days before the party before "killing" her. We had a lot more people come than I had initially thought but Clara had a blast.

Our Baby is ONE!

Aubree is officially "our" baby. She has finally connected with Dan. She adores her siblings and they adore her. She is not just my baby anymore.

Aubree babbles and talks constantly. Her first word was "hi" and now she says mama and dada. She's on the move every waking moment. She loves the walker and gets going fast and then lifts her feet and coasts. Super cute and funny to watch. She crawls and pulls herself up on furniture. She loves to walk with us and I love that Tess is her #1 walker, Abby enjoys it too. Unfortunately she still hates the car...which is the #1 reason Jake and I will be flying to Utah this Summer.

For her birthday the kids helped me make bumble bee cupcakes. We invited the Conovers' to come watch Aubree eat her cake. She had the same reaction as Jake on his first birthday...she wanted nothing to do with the frosting and wouldn't taste any of it. We all thought it was funny, Aubree cried.

She still takes two naps and sleeps through the night like a champ for the last month! Hallelujah. She eats constantly, though that may be my fault since I feed her to try to keep her happy constantly!

She is the cutest little chub ever and is adored by everyone that sees her. We love her "white" hair and can't wait until there is enough for a bow!

 Birthday Breakfast was Eggs. She loves eggs!

 Bree the Bumble Bee Birthday Cupcakes (the kids had fun making these).

The Conover's brought her a gift. She loves her cell phone.

 This is the traditional 1 year gift re-gifted...ever since Tess was born!

Aubree HATED her cupcakes. As we tried to force her to try it she cried and cried. Funny girl, the only time in her life she'll be crying in resistance of sugar!

Busy Season

Busy season for me happens about twice a year now--Christmas and the last month of school.

There are band concerts, piano recitals, parties, award ceremonies, graduations, projects, work corrections, grades to monitor and a whole lotta celebrating.

So, today was the last day of school, an especially exciting day for Tess who finished elementary school. Dan and I enjoyed going to her graduation and bringing her home early. Jake and Abby had an early release and we celebrated with cupcakes, Popsicles and water games in the backyard.

Then I headed to the airport,  on my way to surprise my parents for their 50th wedding.

Aubree at 11 months

This past month has been a busy one for Aubree. Just when I think I'm figuring her out she throws me another curve ball...

Sleeping: I started sleeping upstairs again at the beginning of April. We moved Aubree into our closet when Steve and Steph came for a visit. Aubree miraculously started waking only once a night! Then by the end of April she sleeps pretty much through the night. If she does wake I don't feed her.  She still takes two naps (the morning nap is the best 1.5-2hours). I read to her before putting her to bed. She really likes Goodnight Moon right now. She points at things and turns the pages. If she is over tired she just wants to throw the book:)

Teeth: The beginning of April she got her first 2 bottom teeth.

Food: A huge change! The week my brother and his family spent with us was fun but I think it may have thrown Aubree off her game big time. Aubree has always been a Mama's girl but during this week she was pretty much on my hip. Then Sunday morning, the day after company left, she decided to go on what is called a "nursing strike". She just refuses to nurse! She cried constantly for Dan at church so I kept her with me throughout the 2nd and 3rd hour in primary. Any time I tried to nurse she would throw her head back, arch, and scream. Since she doesn't take a bottle, or really a sippy I decided to take her to the Pediatrician first thing Monday morning. Aubree did have her 5th ear infection and the doctor thought that, with a possibility of teeth, may have caused this nursing strike. I was told to just keep working with her and she'd return to nursing within a couple days. HA! Over the next week I went to or talked with the doctor almost daily. Aubree wasn't drinking and the ogmentin was causing diarrhea. Dan and I were really worried she was getting dehydrated. I tried multiple types of sippy cups, juice, formula (because my milk supply changed drastically), milk, a medicine dropper full of fluid, regular cup, and pedialyte push pops. I tried nursing her in the tub, dark closet, to sleep, when she was well rested, in bed but nothing has worked. So, I guess I'm done. She's had almost a solid 11 months of breast milk and that's good enough. I give her the 6oz of breast milk I can pump now and a little bit of cows milk, water, and pedialyte push-pops.  I do miss the cuddle time of nursing and really wonder why this abrupt stop? With the end of nursing has also come her complete disinterest in baby food. She eats what we eat now.


Moving: By the end of April Aubree started rocking on her hands and knees. She does't crawl but falls forward reaching for what she wants and rolls around. She can walk holding our hands but hasn't started pulling herself up to anything or holding on to furniture.

New tricks/words: Her first official word is Hi! She'll say it ovFive Little Monkeys and does the actions with us. er and over or just once when she sees you. She has started opening and closing her hands to say hi and bye. I'm trying to teach her to blow a kiss, she puts her hand to her mouth and it's the cutest. She loves the song

I can't believe Aubree will be ONE soon! And yet its been a tough and long first year!

Five kids and each one has been such a different experience!

My Handful

I am so grateful to Dan for working so hard so that I can be home with our kids. Though this motherhood job is the hardest thing I've ever done it's the best job.

Jacob:
Is doing great in school. He is self motivated and stays on top of all his work. We've had several letters/emails about his attendance though. Jake still has 22 more weekly allergy shots to go before they become less frequent. I'm having a hard time knowing how to keep up with all the appointments for the kids without it affecting each other or their attendance. Jake alone has seen the dentist, orthodontist, dermatologist, and allergist in the last two months. At his Orthodontic appointment we learned that he needs oral surgery to get rid of 4 baby teeth that are stuck in his bone before he get braces. He has started to have small reactions to the allergy shots each week and we're doing Zyrtec daily and steroid creme to help his skin not react so badly to grass and pollen. He's a trooper, hardly complains. When he has a rough day I think it really is because he just not feeling well. After a couple months of waiting to see if the wart on his hand would go away Dr. Yeager decided to take care of it. He prescribed numbing cream which Jake caked on the hour leading up to his appointment. Unfortunately the cream didn't really do anything. It broke my heart to stand next to Jake holding his hand while he cried in pain. The numbing shot really hurt and lasted longer than I thought it would. I was fighting the tears as my little man cried. Poor Tess was there with me holding Aubree and became very quiet too.

Jake became a car rider in March and now only takes the bus occasionally.
Jake is enjoying soccer again. I'm grateful he's got such a great coach.

Funny moment-- I was laying on my bed while the kids were getting ready for bed. Jake came and plopped down on the bed beside me. I caught a whiff of his body odor! I smiled and congratulated him just as Dan walked in and gave him a high five. Jake was grinning ear to ear. It just made me laugh that this will probably be the ONLY time I'll be excited for him to be stinky by me! Ha!

Jake and Dan have been to the D.C. Temple twice now for youth temple trips. Jake was grinning ear to ear when he came home the first time. I think he felt the happiness that is present there and was glad it came home with him. He has taken on a mowing job for our new neighbors until they move in the Summer. He does most of the job with a little help from Dan.

Tess:
Is doing great in school. She is involved in a lot! She is doing the musical, 5th grade talent show act, Running Chics and Activity Day Girls. She wanted to do soccer with Abby and Jake but I knew her schedule was too full already. She stays after school 3-4 times a week. It's funny, Jake asks me on a weekly basis to stay home from school where as Tess wants to go no matter how she's feeling. She recently had a planer wart frozen on her foot. I offered to have her stay home that day but she wanted to go to school. Unfortunately she called me at the end of the day crying in pain.

Tess has a tender heart, she felt so bad when one of her friends wasn't invited to a birthday party that she was. When Dan left for his big hearing in Florida Tess asked him to come in and say good bye at 5a.m. before he left. She then started her stop watch counting the hours until she sees her Dad again!

Tess came to me after completing her assigned reading for school and asked if what she had just read was "inappropriate". I read it and sure enough, it was. I was proud of her for listening to her feelings and for talking to me about it! I hope it is always that way between us.

Update in June of Tess : Tess surprised me at her band concert.  When her instructor announced that it was time for the fifth grade solos the first one up with Tess. I had no idea she was doing a solo. She did a wonderful job and I was so proud. There was a big crowd to perform in front of and she sailed right through it.   She's has surprised me with her ability to perform in front big crowds. The fifth grade act she danced confidently and smiled the entire time. During the school musical she didn't stumble or forget any lines. Her hard work shows and I am so proud of her.

Abby:
Has lost her two front teeth. The one that wasn't as loose as the other came out first. Dan challenged her to pull her snaggle tooth and promised a $5 reward. Abby went into the bathroom and yanked it out eager to earn her money! Funny girl. I'm sad that her little girl look will change with her smile but it is adorable!  I love how she talks too! Abby is best friends with Hannah Smith who lives back behind us. The Smith's are a great family and I am so thankful Abby has that kind of a friend. Abby was the favorite again this year with her cousins Tate and Lucas. I was so proud of how well she played with everyone during their visit. I love that Abby can be so great at playing with Clara and allows her imagination to take over! She is a very artistic and musical girl. This year of school hasn't been the easiest because of her teacher.  I'm proud of how well she has done and am eager for a better fit next year.

"I call myself cracker-neck. Cause i can crack my neck" as she rolled her head around.

Clara:
Is getting so big! Her legs are stretching out and she's getting tall!
She loves to sleep with Daddy. While I've slept downstairs with Aubree I'm afraid Clara has taken my spot on a regular basis due to "bad dreams".  That'll be fun to fix.

Clara goes through a lot of underwear and cloths each day. Its her second bath and third outfit today and it's only 2pm!

 Clara is the sweetest at giving compliments and love. I have started to see a very unique gift she has of showing Christ-like love. At church last week stopped to talk with Amy Johnston several times and hugged and rubbed her arm. She is so quick to tell everyone she loves them and give hugs.  Her prayers of full of praise and love.

Funny things I've written down that she's said--
1. "This is kinda awkward!"--having to undress down to her undies at a doctor appointment. Yep it sure is!
2. "Can I tell you something?" is asked before saying anything these days.
3. "Ingenious" is the expression she used to describe her mountain of stacked shoes in the mudroom.
4. "Boy Dad, I sure missed you! Top to Bottom!!" This got a loving laugh from her adoring daddy.
5. " and Heavenly Father, I know that this is really hard for you to answer but, How are you doing today? And please bless that Siri will come down to earth."


Aubree: Is the center of our family right now. The kids still enjoy chanting "go Aubree" to see her happy reaction. Dan still love to whisper in her ear. And I have a 23lb attachment throughout most the day. She is growing and changing so quickly. We're gonna miss this!!