It's A Boy!!!

That's right! Our new little baby is a BOY!!!! Raleigh was so excited when we found out that he just couldn't hold it in. He kept pulling his arm in and say, "yes, yeah, I knew it, a brother, yes!" And he wouldn't stop talking after he found out. He even talked to the ultrasound tech and the nurses!

Audrey was excited too. She had said she wanted a girl, but when we found out it was a boy, she said, "I really wanted a boy." And she told her new little brother, "Don't worry brother, we'll get you out of the tv soon." So cute!

Heidi had no idea what was going on and was just enjoying some teddy grahams. I point to my belly and say baby and she laughs and says "bellybutton."

On other updates...

Heidi has now moved completely into Audrey's room into her toddler bed (the crib turns into a toddler bed). She is doing better than I thought she would. She gets out for about the first 30 minutes or so and then eventually gives in and goes to bed. And Audrey is really good at staying quiet and going to sleep even when Heidi is awake. Heidi is still teething and I can't wait for these final teeth to come in. They are moving so slow! It seems like she has been teething forever! She has learned a ton of words and is Audrey's little shadow now.

Audrey is still our dramatic girl, but she adjusts to changes surprisingly well! She has asked every day if it is Christmas and luckily Raleigh knows so he answers her. She is super loving now and likes to yell "I love you I love you I love you" randomly. She had her heart set on going to CA and she finally won since we are going at the end of the month! YAY!!! At bedtime today she told me sadly, "Mom, I'm not a star." I was confused so I asked if she meant like a movie star or a star in the sky, and she said a movie star. Then we got into a whole conversation about it and she asked me if we could go to Hollywood so she could try to be a star. She will always be my little star...and no, we are not going to Hollywood this trip. :) Maybe next time!

Raleigh has become such a big boy. He is so independent and has started avoiding us girls. If we are upstairs he usually goes downstairs to play Legos or video games. If we are downstairs then he goes upstairs to read books or do whatever he does in his room. It makes me kind of sad, although sometimes we just need a break from each other. He is as strong willed as I am. He is doing amazing at school and came home with a sparkling report card. He is also a very caring and thoughtful kid. This morning he woke up and threw up twice on his bed, and waited until we woke up to tell us. He said he just climbed on the floor and read books because he didn't want to wake us up. We felt like horrible parents but that just shows how considerate he can be.

Trevor has been home for a while now. Work has been slow...probably because of Christmas. It has been nice but I think he is done and ready to work again. He had the worst day ever yesterday and I was shocked that he didn't complain about it once last night. In the morning (early), the cat pooped in our bathroom and he had to clean it up. Then, after breakfast Raleigh had a BAD accident. He peed in the girl's room (a full pee) and had a diarrhea accident in his boxers (I think this was all related to his little flu he had). And Trevor was the man on duty who had to clean that up. Then, we had the ultrasound which pushed the kid's naps really late, so we had to change our normal plan. I had Audrey sleeping in my bed and when I had gotten her to sleep I heard Heidi playing with the door on her room. So, I texted (yep I texted) Trevor to come up and get her back to bed. When he came up he was in for a big surprise. He went to push the door and it was stuck. He thought Heidi was pushing against it, so he pushed a little harder. It opened and he walked over to Heidi and found her laying naked completely covered in poop! So he ran in our room to grab the wipes and as he walked through the girl's door he stepped in the poop that Heidi left in front of the door...which was what had pushed against the door when he opened it. It was smeared everywhere. So, stud dad cleaned up the baby, himself, the room and didn't even come to get me to help! I would have yanked him out of the bed and started yelling at everyone if that was me! What a good dad!!! And then this morning he came in and helped me clean up Raleigh's barf. He is a better man than I am! :)

As for me, I am just plugging along doing the mom things, working and baby growing. My muscles in my back and stomach are stretching so much right now that it feels like someone is giving me a wedgie with my muscles. It hurts so bad. But seeing the baby yesterday made it all worth it. I can't wait to meet the little guy and watch him as he becomes "just one of the kids." As for work, I still work at night and it is exhausting but it has definitely saved us...especially on slow months like this!

Pictures should be up soon!!! With Christmas a couple of days away I feel like all we are doing is just waiting for it, so maybe tomorrow I will convince myself to post some pics. :)

A New Post...

I had to get some pics up of the little ones, although I have SO many pics on my camera that I am anxious to put up here. The top one is of the new baby at 12 weeks. I am 13 1/2 weeks now. :) And the bottom one is of my Little Red Riding Hood, Barbie and Captain Jack Sparrow who brought in bucketloads of candy that I wish I could have eaten! My nausea is depriving me!

Speaking of the pregnancy, the morning sickness has been pretty bad and I am actually taking an anti-nausea medicine for it. It definitely takes the edge off, although I still feel nauseous all day. This should be over soon though. I am anxious to see another picture of the baby or hear the heartbeat...or something. I was standing in the doorway and Audrey said, "Mom, you really look like a mom with your belly so far out now." I was kind of glad I didn't look like a "mom" to her before, but am still wondering what exactly she meant by that, haha. She always tells me like it is! They all love the baby though and the big kids love to talk to it. Heidi gets a mischievous smile when I point to my belly and say baby. I think she might think we are kidding.

Raleigh is excelling in school. I don't know if I already wrote this but he is reading at the 1st grade level and is in a special reading group with one other kid. He has been working really hard at writing and as some of you will see soon, he is getting really good at it. He has lots of friends at school and has a crush on a little girl who is a twin (not sure how he picked since they are identical). He loves to play at recess and him and his friends chase the girls. I hate hearing about it already. He is still my sweet little boy who is oblivious to girls other than his sisters. And he is now the official Lego Master of the Halgren House. He is constantly building Legos and has amazing patience for it! I plan on posting pics soon. He told me all he wants for Christmas is every Lego in the Lego aisle at Target. It makes me wish some of them weren't so expensive! Oh well, mom and dad always have to buy lame gifts like clothes, so I think we will stick to that. We know our place!

Audrey has finally accepted going to preschool and she is loving it now. She doesn't cry and is happy when I pick her up. And she plays with the other kids at recess now too. She has been working so hard on learning her letters, sounds and reading. She wants to be able to do what Raleigh does and she is very impatient trying to catch up. She has a book of "first words" that she can read and she knows her princess stories by heart so she loves to read them to Heidi. Audrey and I fight every morning over clothes now that it is cold and she can't just wear her skirts and cute shirts. Usually we compromise and she wears tights and has to 'take" her jacket. Not wear it, but take it in case she gets cold. It gives her some power so it makes her happy. And I don't look like a terrible mom sending my daughter to school with no jacket on a 30 degree day!

Heidi is our family clown. She is always trying to do something to make the big kids laugh and drive us crazy. She is very smart, just like the others, so she knows how to manipulate us. She is almost 19 months old and has a huge vocabulary. Her favorite thing to say is "I want ______." And she says it a hundred times in a row. She is not mean, just excited. So when she says, "I want drink" or "I want try" then it is hard to get mad at her even though I am pretty sure my brain starts smoking! Trevor was playing a game with her today and she told him, "I'm gonna eat you." She wouldn't repeat it for me but he swears she said it.

Trevor has been SO busy...SOOO busy! It is very good for us but we are both exhausted to the bone. I don't want it to end but I would love to have him for more than a couple hours at night. He finally got a full day off on Sunday. It has been well over a month. And it was SO nice to have someone else there to talk to! I am sure he just wanted to sit and watch the football games but I don't get to talk about my stuff when it's just me and the kids. :)

And we sold our truck and bought a new car. It was SO sad to sell our truck. We have had it for 7 years and it felt like we were giving away a part of ourselves (I know, so superficial but it's true). But we bought a new to us Sequoia and it has been so nice to have to space to separate the kids out. Trevor and I love it but we are both so paranoid that something will happen that we aren't enjoying it as much as the kids. They want to show it off to everyone and I want to make sure it is going to last before I brag about it. :)

I hope everyone is doing well. It's the holidays!!!!!! Time for craziness and fun! Raleigh is already talking about Santa and has taught Heidi all about him using a stuffed Santa my Aunt Kim gave him. :) She loves to say Santa and Ho Ho Ho now. We'll see how happy she is when she is face to face with the real thing, haha. Audrey is already backing out of a Santa pic. So it may just be Raleigh.

So Far Behind!

Well, I had committed myself to keeping the blog updated but life has been coming at us SO fast!!!

First of all, we have a new baby on the way...that makes 4! The baby is due sometime in May and I am about 8 weeks along. My morning sickness has calmed down quite a bit so I am actually doing well this time! I have an appt at the end of this week and I am SO anxious. I hope the Dr does a sneak peek!

Raleigh has started Kindergarten and he LOVES it. He is learning so fast that I can't even keep up! We have parent-teacher conferences at the end of this month and I am eager to hear how my used to be shy guy is now doing. He took a month of Tae Kwon Do and did awesome. He knocked the blocker over when he kicked the bag thing. He is such a powerhouse! His new kick is being healthy. For some reason he has become really passionate about eating healthy...which has been tougher with my nausea. So I have to reassure him at each meal that I put thought into it and I have to tell him what is healthy. I feel like I am on Biggest Loser or some hardcore weight loss show!

Audrey has started preschool and after a rough start she is starting to come around. She has become more clingy to me at home but I think this is just a phase. She is SO excited that I am pregnant. We talk about it ALL day...I am loving the attention! And she is always rubbing my belly. She even makes sure I am eating healthy for the baby. I had a cream soda and she told me that the baby can't drink that. Oops! She can count easily to 10 and sometimes past that. Today she did some addition (she told me, "1 eagle plus 1 eagle is 2 eagles"). She hears Raleigh say "equal" and thinks it's eagle. It is so cute! She wants to learn to read SO bad and I keep explaining to her that Raleigh is older and that is why he can read, but she insists that I show her what every word is on book covers and signs. She is a girl on a mission! She loves to sound out words and practices spelling letters, although I haven't been very good at sitting down and helping her. It is my goal to make time to teach her while Raleigh is doing his homework...while Heidi is not climbing on the table interrupting everyone.

Heidi is still a little crackup. We started training her to go into her own crib without being rocked and without nursing (I am weaning her). Last night she fell asleep standing up for 4 1/2 hours!!!! She REFUSED to lie down. Finally her legs were shaking so bad that it was making her jaw bang against the rail of the crib, so I decided to trick her into laying down. She slept for 5 hours after that. A record! In her whole 17 months of living I think she has done that once before! Tonight we had more progress. She started out falling alseep standing up, so I told her to hold my hand and sit down and I would sing to her. After some coaxing she did and started to fall asleep sitting up. Eventually I reached both of my arms in through the ridiculously skinny slats and got her to lie down but not before my hands and arms were completely asleep and in pain. She is still asleep though, so it was worth it. I think she will get the hang of it, she is just really strong willed. I love my strong willed kids because I know no one will push them around. :)

Trevor has been working with another contractor and they have been trying to keep each other busy. It has worked really well so far, so let's hope that Fall and Winter stay busy and we can make our trek down to CA!

I have been completely thrown head first into this whole school thing. Of course I would be lying if I said I didn't love it, but it takes all of my time and my days are packed full. It was almost impossible for me to make a Dr's appt! But I have loved being so involved and I think it has brought me and the kids even that much closer. We have SO much to talk about now!

I hope everyone is doing well and I am SO excited to announce that Trevor's little sister, Alisha, is going to be a mommy about the same time our little one is coming out. It is going to be so much fun to watch her become a mom because I know she will be AMAZING! And my cousin, Dyana, is getting married!!!!!!! She has an amazing fiance and I am SO happy that they found each other. They truly are a match made in heaven. I can't wait for the wedding and to watch them celebrate many happy years together! Oh, and my best friend is pregnant with her second little boy too! Sam is due in December so I can't wait! She is such a wonderful mom and Eddie is such a wonderful dad! And I know Noah will be an amazing big brother to Noah! SO MUCH BIG NEWS! And now starts the holidays! We are all ready for Halloween and we are SO excited! Even Heidi has been practicing Trick or Treating!

We are SO busy but I feel truly blessed to have such wonderful kids and such an amazing and supportive husband. We truly our living out our dream (although our budget is tighter than we dreamed). :)

A Repost from A While Ago

A friend of mine is going through the same thing I went through with medical school. I posted this email a long time ago but when I went to look for it I couldn't find it (although I had a ton of fun searching through all of the old pics). So, I am reposting it for all of the stay at home moms I know who are SO much more than stay at home moms. :)

Invisible Mothers…Building Cathedrals

A dear friend sent this to me today. I wish I knew who wrote it so I could credit the author. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. (Emphasis added is mine.)

Invisible Mother…

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I’m on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I’m thinking, ‘Can’t you see I’m on the phone?’ Obviously not; no one can see if I’m on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I’m invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this ? Can you tie this? Can you open this?

Some days I’m not a pair of hands; I’m not even a human being. I’m a clock to ask, ‘What time is it?’ I’m a satellite guide to answer, What number is the Disney Channel?’ I’m a car to order, ‘Right around 5:30, please.’

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude – but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She’s going, she’s going, she’s gone!?

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was
feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, ‘I brought you this.’ It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn’t exactly sure why she’d given it to me until I read her inscription:
‘To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are
building when no one sees.’

In the days ahead I would read – no, devour – the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals – we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building
was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, ‘Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it. And
the workman replied, ‘Because God sees.’

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, ‘I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’ve sewn on, no cupcake you’ve baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it will become.

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to
sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don’t want my son to tell the friend he’s bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, ‘My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.’ That would mean I’d built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his
friend, to add, ‘You’re gonna love it there.’

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we’re doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

What we've been up to!

These past few weeks have been super busy! Heidi has had tummy issues so we have been spending every spare moment at the Dr's and Walgreens. Luckily I think Heidi's tummy is on it's way back to normal. And we met with the urologist who told us that he is not prescribing her antibiotics unless she gets another urinary tract infection, and we can also wait 2 years to do another VCUG (the catheter/x-ray test thing). Phew! And. Audrey had her 1st dance recital. She did awesome! She got up on stage and was beautiful! It was weird not being the one on stage though. Now I am the audience! My mom and sister both flew up for a visit and got to go too!

And, our quiet, shy son was quite the heckler in the audience! As soon as Audrey was on stage he started yelling her name. And he sang the song and did the dance moves. He was so funny!
The pic above was on Raleigh's last day of school. He was so excited but really misses school. He said that he wished it wasn't over!

And this is a pic of Raleigh riding around with his doll on his bike, and typical Audrey with her goofing off face!

Superdad!

As we get closer to Father's Day, I am reminded how great of a dad Trevor is! Here he is filming Raleigh's Preschool Performance while holding Heidi and trying to get Audrey to sit still. What a man!

First Bday Present Part I

Audrey got her 1st Birthday Present in the mail and we wasted no time in opening it! When the kids got the mailing paper off, they saw the chip box and screamed with excitement thinking they got chips, haha! And then when they opened it, they could barely contain themselves! Audrey even went to sleep that night in her Rapunzel dress and has hardly taken it off since! See the next post for the rest of the video...my camera is dying a slow death and it randomly decides to shut off. I am not ready to buy a new one!
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

First Bday Present Part II

This is the rest of the video :) The kids were SO excited! And THANK YOU Great Grandma, Great Aunt Kim, and Great Uncle Paul! All 3 kids have thoroughly enjoyed EVERYTHING!
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Grandma Lovin'

We had not seen family in SO long that we were long overdue! We loved having my mom and sister up and we were all so sad to see them go! Here are some pics of the Grandma Love!

Uh Oh!

Heidi has a new hobby...she LOVES pulling everything out of this drawer! And as soon as she starts, Raleigh and Audrey are usually right beside her! It keeps her contained for a while though!

Easter Eggs!

The kids dyed their Eggs and I think they turned out beautiful! Audrey was a little hesitant at first to do it because she didn't want to wear Trevor's shirt over her skirt (we have a fight every day because she ALWAYS wants to wear a skirt but she only has a couple so they are always in the wash) but once she saw Raleigh doing it she couldn't resist!

And on a side note, I have no idea why part of my typing is "linking" itself. I can't figure out how to fix it either! :) So I'm sorry!

She LOVES it!

Well, it's official...our sweet little baby has turned 1!!!! And the day after her birthday she cut her 3rd tooth! She also got 4 shots and has not felt good since! BUT, she has LOVED being the center of attention and I cannot think of a present that she did not love-maybe the sand toys Trevor and I got her, haha. And as you can tell above, Heidi is a HUGE fan of Yo Gabba Gabba and is in love with her new Foofa Doll. My Aunt Kim and Uncle Paul got her this so she would stop fighting with our other resident Yo Gabba Gabba Fan (Audrey) over her Foofa, but somehow Audrey keeps ending up with both Foofas. I have to keep correcting her when she says "my Foofa Doll." When I correct her, she laughs and says, "Oh right, Heidi's." So Happy Birthday Sweet Heidi! You sweet, funny personality has added another dynamic to our family that was not complete without! We love you SO much!!!

Heidi's Cake

Heidi was a little hesitant at first about her Birthday Cake but eventually she came around and dug right in!

Easter Egg Hunt

My mom, sister, Trevor and I took the kids over for the Easter Egg Hunt for Hope. The kids loved it and we all came home with tons of eggs and covered in mud!

Shopping!

The kids loved shopping with Grandma and Aunt Cris!

Cutie Pies!

Here are a few pics of our cuties!

Wedding Practice

Here is a video of the kids practicing for Alisha's wedding. They crack me up! They are so excited to be a part of her wedding! There is not a day that goes by that they don't bring it up somehow! And now that Heidi is almost 1 (aaaagggghhh), I am trying to re-commit myself to the blog. We have been so busy and crazy but I am anxious to document these times before they are gone! Plus we have lots of fun plans coming up so I want to make sure I get those pics on too. I have been posting a few pics from Trevor's phone onto Facebook, but this should be updated more regularly now. :)

Short Update

In the past week and a half, Heidi cut her first tooth (her top left), her second tooth (her bottom left), and has one more on its way (top right). She has been in pain but not as bad as I remember with the other kids. Maybe its because she already doesn't sleep at night so I haven't noticed.

The little princess (yep, she already acts like one) can now say kitty (kihhhhh) and dog (dahhhh) and LOVES to sing and dance. She plays alongside the big kids now and almost keeps up with them.

Audrey is still madly in love with our cats and dog and takes really good care of them. Heidi has started loving on all of the animals too, but she is not gentle...AT ALL! She gets bit by the cats all of the time. It drives me crazy!

Audrey is having MAJOR separation anxiety and obsesses over me. She has to be with me all of the time or else she freaks out. If I leave the room, within a minute she yells, "Mom, where are you?" And if I don't answer she will search frantically for me. If she thinks I have gone downstairs while she is upstairs, she stands at the gate and yells, "MAMA, WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE ME?" Like I have EVER left her. I only lost her once! And SHE left ME!

Heidi has become very helpful and loves to pick things up and put them away, hand me things, and just watch what I do to try to learn. She is very observant!

Raleigh is still reading like a champ and LOVES to read all of the time. He will grab a book and follow me around reading it to me. I love it! And he is doing awesome at Karate! He can do a front roll, back roll, side roll, punch (flat handed of course), kick and block. He even tried to break a piece of wood last class. So cute! He gets really nervous and freaks himself out, but I remember being that way too, so I am pretty good at talking him out of those moments. Bribing helps too.

Raleigh has two friends at school who have become his best buddies. I am sad because they will be going to a different elementary school, but I think they are good "practice" for him. He plays Star Wars with them all of the time. And on Friday, his teacher came up to us before they were out of their music class and told us that Raleigh had really come out of his shell that day. He took his hood off and was running around giggling and having a great time. All of the louder kids in the class were gone, so he may have felt more comfortable.

We have been preparing for Trevor's little sister's wedding and we are SO excited. The kids are in it, and Raleigh and Audrey practice pretty much every day. They can't wait! We can't either...although I still can't stop thinking of her as 13 years old.

Trevor's business has been SLOW! But we have a feeling that it will pick up soon. We are hanging by a thread! We have become pros at all of the free marketing on the internet. We even pulled together and created an "official" website! And it looks pretty dang good!

All of the kids are asleep right now and I feel like I am pushing my luck, so I am going to go and try to post pics tomorrow. Maybe I will get a little sleep tonight!

Look What We Found in Storage!!!

I think we'll keep them in the house from now on :)

Update Update Update

Well, Heidi has started walking! She can take 5 steps before she falls down! She is so proud of herself that she smiles and giggles when she walks. She loves to clap and wave now too. It is so cute! Her sleeping got better and then last night it sucked! She didn't go to sleep until 7:30am!!!! Yes, I said AM!!!!! I wanted to scream! And I did at 3:30am when I begged Trevor to come in and help. I wasn't so nice to him...I am shocked he still helped! He had to get up and work in our wintery weather though, so I only made him rock her once. I think he was fearing for her life. Hopefully she gets back to normal. She has a cough so it keeps waking her up. It's a croupy cough too. Yuck!

Raleigh can now READ!!! He has been trying for a while and then my friend Sam got him a Bugsby (by V Tech) for Christmas and he can read almost anything! It is so fun to sit and listen to him read books. He is so cute! He has had a terrible testosterone surge this past week or so. He has been randomly going into rages and has a re-found interest in his "little Raleigh." He goes around hitting things and making AARRGGHH screaming sounds. It is like living with a gorilla! I can't wait for this phase to end. Ugh! He now talks about playing with his friends at school though and it reassures me that he is not sitting in the corner alone. We are setting up a playdate with one of his buddies, Talan, and they have already planned what they want to play with. It is so cute! It reminds me of being a kid!

Audrey has done a complete 180 and is doing really well at controlling her emotions. She still has meltdowns but they are easier to handle and she works to try to stop them. She LOVES helping me in the kitchen and is always "cooking" something in their pretend kitchen. Today I found her laying in my bed, talking on the phone to "her mom." I am proud to be her inspiration, haha! It is a nice compliment! She is still mischievous and trys to do everything herself but she is also learning so much! She can get herself almost completely dressed all by herself! And she is doing SO well with Heidi now. They are buddies. Audrey shares toys with her, teaches her how to do things and gives her lots of love!

Trevor's business has hit a usualy "February Funk" because everyone seems to be waiting on taxes. He is working but it is slow. He has been out bidding though, and hopefully things will pick up soon.

I have been busy occupying myself with work, paperwork and Ebay. I have been selling some things on Ebay since we cleaned out our storage and we had some things that were Ebay worthy! We got ourselves out of foreclosure (thanks to very supportive parents), and now we are waiting for the Wells Fargo lady to finish her investigation into our account so we can get our $ back! I am not holding my breath but it would be nice to get it taken care of the easy way! Okay, Heidi woke up and now it is really late, so...adios.

Christmas Eve

Here are the little monkeys on Christmas Eve after they set out their goodies for Santa and his reindeer. Well, Audrey ran out of the picture screaming. I think she was testing Santa. He must not have notice her because she got presents anyway. There she is! She was pooped and ready to rest for the next morning!

And here they are all in their pj's.

Firetruck Ride!

Every year our firemen give fire truck rides, and this year we did it. Raleigh wants to be a fireman, so this was especially exciting. He even asked the fireman a question while we were driving...but my sleep deprived brain forgot what it was! Raleigh's girl-friend at school even bought him a set of firetrucks for Christmas. We had SO much fun and we can't wait to do it again next year! Thanks Sherwood Firemen!

Here's me and Heidi getting ready to go!


Here is Audrey and Raleigh who were excited and nervous. They thought it was awesome though. The kids even made the firemen cookies and brought them as a thank you.Here is Daddy waiting with the kids. It was about an hour wait...Trev looks thrilled! It was totally worth it in the end though!And I was sitting next to a helmet so I had to try it on. it was heavy! I don't know how they wear all of that stuff!

Sweet Serenade

Heidi loves music so here she is doing a duet with Daddy. She likes to sing and dance to music too. When she hears Raleigh turn on his CD's, she makes a beeline for his room.

Jokester

Raleigh is always doing practical jokes now...I am just thankful these were french fries!

Re-Motivated

I have been in a funk lately and have been completely overwhelmed with life. BUT, I recently had a wake up call. A friend of mine was just diagnosed with Stage 2 Breast Cancer. She is only 29. My heart fell apart. We were pregnant with our first kids together and we constantly wrote back and forth about the pregnancy, deliveries, babies and nursing. As the kids got bigger we stopped writing and let our lives take over. I hate that it is something like this that made me realize that I would regret not keeping this blog up if something ever happened! This blog makes my sad days happy and makes me feel like I am a pretty decent mom. So, while I am waiting for the pics to load onto the computer, here is an update...

Raleigh - Is getting SO smart! He knows all sorts of words and reads me them. He can color perfectly in the lines. He wakes up every morning and turns on his CD's (sometimes WAY too loud), puts on his guitar and rocks out. He is still an awesome helper and has a HUGE heart. He is slowly breaking out of his shell...slowly. He had his 5 year check up and is healthy. He has started getting into video games but since I can't ever figure them out without Trevor's help, he is self-limiting on them, phew! And I can finally say RALEIGH IS POTTY TRAINED! He has not had an accident in a LONG time! YAY!!!! He still wears a pull up at night, but I think that will work itself out. Oh, and Raleigh and Trevor are peas in a pod. Trevor will say a joke and Raleigh will crack up...while the rest of us are left wondering why it was so funny.

Audrey - What can I say about my little firecracker? We are slowly working on her tantrums. When we were in CA she was especially wild and we have had to reign her back in. She was overtired and overwhelmed. But, we did have fun! She is going through what Raleigh went through at 2...she is mean to Trevor. I don't know why they both have done it, but it is really frustrating. He has been working a lot too, so I think that has thrown her off. She always has to know where I am and is always trying to be a part of what I am doing. I took a bath the other day and she was outside of the door crying for me. She is growing up so fast though. She is so smart and is very observant. She loves cooking with me and that is how I get her to eat everything. Every day she dresses up like a princess. She also likes to act like a baby or a cat. She is a crack up though. She is very quick witted and craves attention. And, she made me call Poison Control for the first time! She opened and drank a bottle of infant's ibuprofen. Luckily it was the infant's kind and she was fine. But now she knows how to open the childproof bottles!

Heidi - She is another firecracker! She is an EXTREMELY happy baby, but she is also ridiculously busy! She has been getting the dog's water bowl and completely pouring it out lately and it is driving us nuts. She loves opeing things, closing things, pouring things, and basically keeping me on my toes. She eats EVERYTHING she comes across and Trevor just told me that she was choking on a temporary tattoo, and when she threw it up another one came out too...along with rice cereal and broccoli...eew! I also have found beads and stickers in her poo. It's like a treasure chest! Heidi has learned to high five and clap her hands. And she cracks herself up. She will do something and then bust up laughing. She's a cutie! She can stand for a few seconds without help and is walking all along the furniture. She is determined to get those chunky legs mobile! She is a daddy's girl, and she cries if he doesn't hold her as soon as he gets home. When she is tired she is a mommy's girl though, but she still struggles to sleep. She doesn't like quiet and sleeps best during the day when the kids are playing downstairs. That is always around 10am or 11am which is when we have things to do though. I get about 2 hour stretches, except one night she slept for 4 hours straight and I thought I would pass out! I couldn't fall asleep though! I kept thinking she was going to wake up! Dang it! She had a double ear infection which I think is gone...I hope it's gone! It was tough though.

Okay, now to pics....