How long can this possibly go on?????

Okay so Natalie started sleeping through the night (8-10 hrs) when she was about 2 1/2 months old. (Sadie was 13 months old and that was after she cried herself to sleep for about a month, 5 hours a night) We were stoked! So in mid july the girls and I went to Monterey to see my sister Andrea and family. Natalie is very routine-oriented and got upset with me for taking her out of her routine. She has not slept through the night since. And the nights are awful. She wakes up sometimes every 30 minutes to eat. Needless to say I have been getting NO sleep. So Richard and I started sleeping in the other room on 2 twin beds next to each other on the floor. That way we can't hear her cry. It's awful I know but necessary. It's been a week and she is still crying all night. I feel so terrible and hope this doesn't last much longer. She is however, extremely strong- willed! On a side note ~ the doctor said she is probably hungry and we should try some food. We have tried peaches, nectarines, sweet potatoes, and green beans. She loves food! (We don't really do the rice cereal first for very long)

Holy Cow

It seems like a few weeks ago that little Nattie came into our family. But today she turned 5 months old already. She is getting super big. She is a very serious baby and extremely observant. She doesn't give away smiles to just anyone anytime. She is definately the baby of the family. Since I know she is our last, I tend to baby her...alot! She cries if I put her down for even a few minutes. So it doesn't happen a whole lot. But she is a doll! Looks just like the other three.

another year...

And here we go again! School started yesterday and we are back into the swing of things....at least we will be shortly! It's hard to believe that McKenzie is already in 3rd grade and Halie in 1st. Sadie begged and begged us to go to school. She is only 3 but we decided to let her try it out. If she doesn't like it, we will pull her out. But she absolutely loves it. McKenzie and Halie both love their teachers and classes as well. I take them all to school at 8:00 (Sadie's preschool is at the elementary where the girls go), and then pick up Sadie at 11:00. The girls are riding the bus home this year for the first time. They were so excited to do this since they have never taken the bus. It wore off after 1 minute of no air conditioning. They are the first drop off though and it's like a 2 minute bus ride so I don't feel too bad. They are super cute! All 3 of them with their back packs. Wow life is good!

say good~bye to summer

In May we had a nasty heat streak where it got up to 110 degrees for a few weeks. Our house usually stays cool from our huge swamp cooler (which works surprisingly well). Unfortunately it was broken and we were roasting so I went out and bought one of those 18 ft x 48 inch pop-up pools. We have loved that thing throughout this hot summer. We had our end of summer swim today after church and boy did we have fun. Of course it is still hot and we still have at least another month of swimming.

Father's Blessings

When I was growing up, the day before school started my dad would gather us all up and give us Father's blessings. The blessings are just to start the school year off right. We have continued that tradition with our kids. They love this tradition and this year Sadie got her very first one! It was so cute. She has been begging me to go to school since last year. I found out there is a little preschool at the girls' elementary school so I enrolled Sadie. She is so excited she can hardly wait! So the girls all got their Father's blessings tonight and it just bonds them all together. Here are some sweet pictures!

gotta love 3 year olds

Sadie has been experimenting with what she can and can't say. We've had lots of chats like "Sadie it's not appropriate to say that." So Halie tells me that Sadie called her 'poop and a boys private part.' So I say
"Sadie did you call Halie a boys private part?"
and she says "no mommy, I called her a penis."
I know it's not supposed to be funny but... where does she come up with this stuff?

Bouncy Baby

Natalie is just one of those babies that you can't put down no matter what. We have tried everything, the swing, the bouncer, a play mat. We moved on to the johnny jump-up. To my surprise she absolutely loved it!!!! That lasted for about 10 minutes and now just like everything else she hates it. Next is the exersaucer.

Jr Giants

The girls love playing baseball with Richard so we put them in the JR Giants league. They have been having fun. They are divided into leagues by age. 4-6 and 7-9. Halie will be 7 in november but they let her be on the team with McKenzie (thank goodness). she is so tiny on the feild and when she has her batting helmet on, she looks like a bobble head doll. They are really good at hitting and getting better at catching.

full circle

It has been three months since Richard was transferred out of Applebees. We just miss it. So much in fact that I got a job there serving 3 days a week. Actually Richard got me a job there of course. One night we talked about it and the next day I had a job starting in 3 days. Crazy how life comes full circle. Everybody of course tells me how much they love him and talk about him ALL the time. Everyone keeps tell me how things aren't running smoothly since Richard left. He is so awesome. I swear that I have gotten more training from him than from Applebees. I like it though. I get out of the house a little and get to interact with adults. But I know that my kids are safe and loved since they are at home with their daddy. The girls love it and even Natalie has bonded more with daddy since he gets to give her breastmilk in a bottle.

High fives

I just love my nieces and nephews. They are always making me laugh. I wanted to share a cute story of my niece Taylor (Andrea's daughter) who is Sadie's age. Every now and then this story pops into my head and just makes me laugh.......So when she started potty training she was getting the typical 'potty treats' for going in the toilet. Like M&M's or whatever. I think that it was either the second or third day, after a successful trip to the potty, her dad went to hand her some M&M's and she looked at him and said, "Daddy I don't want anymore M&M's. Let's do just high fives instead." And that became her potty treats. High fives! What a little cutie!